TEST: Is the Nokia 808 PureView's camera any good in 2021?

18 July 2021
The new sensor size champ takes on the legendary PureView.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • Lj$
  • 18 Jul 2021

Geeeez gsma, again saying 808 uses binning.
It is downsampling.

    At this time the innovation in camera phone department has been saturated

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • pQr
      • 18 Jul 2021

      OhNom, 18 Jul 2021"Wtf ??? First they said it was a Bayer filter, not a ... moreYes, Quad Bayer phones use analog pixel binning whereas the 808 used digital pixel binning which is nothing else than resizing. Digital pixel binning is basically the same effect as looking at a photo from a higher distance. From a higher distance you can't see the noise in a photo. The same thing happens when a photo is resized. The resolution gets so low that you can't see the noise. So you don't really gain anything in contrast to analog pixel binning, which reduces read noise. Digital pixel binning does not reduce the total read noise of an image.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • pQr
        • 18 Jul 2021

        "The 808 PureView uses pixel binning to output 8MP or 5MP resulting images"
        It was digital pixel binning = resizing, whereas Quad Bayer phones, Dual Pixel phones, Quad Pixel phones and certain Bayer sensors use analog binning.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • rKt
          • 18 Jul 2021

          Nokia should re-introduce this phone as the next classic phone but with usable features and not something really basic like the VGA camera or micro USB. Its okay it may not be like the original 808 but at least being back the design with at least 5 mp camera and android

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • 34q
            • 18 Jul 2021

            * you didn't test the Xenon flash

            The 808 PureView has Xenon flash, which was equally ahead of its time, and even today in some conditions.

              In the photograph where the watch is (After the comparison with Zoom (cropping), I prefer the naturalness of the 808 shot, I feel that Mi11U made too much contrast in that part

              After that, the technological advance, and the age difference showed its fruits

                AnonD-986036, 18 Jul 2021For a quick reminder, the Nokia has a 41MP 1/1.2-inch senso... more"Wtf ??? First they said it was a Bayer filter, not a Bayer quadruple filter, but then they said yes it did. Does anyone explain?"

                Doing binning (grouping pixels), which quad-bayer sensors do, but this is at the hardware level, not software like CMOS, and oversampling

                I do not explain much, since I am not an expert in these areas, but I hope that with this I have the basic information, if I am wrong I also wait for the correction of someone else related to the subject

                  • D
                  • AnonD-986036
                  • Kxb
                  • 18 Jul 2021

                  AnonD-986036, 18 Jul 2021If Nokia were to be compared to the S21 Ultra. I am definit... moreAlso, not to mentiom6that their lowlight video will be super baddddd. Also, since gsmarena is using auto mode and high res mode, Samsung can't do night mode processing. And without night mode, samsung photos are almost unusable

                    • D
                    • AnonD-986036
                    • Kxb
                    • 18 Jul 2021

                    If Nokia were to be compared to the S21 Ultra. I am definitely sure that S21 Ultra would trail behind in terms of details. Since Samsung has an super aggressive noise reduction even in daytime to make details look like oil paintings

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                      • AnonD-986036
                      • Kxb
                      • 18 Jul 2021

                      For a quick reminder, the Nokia has a 41MP 1/1.2-inch sensor with 1.4µm pixels and a conventional Bayer color filter array (as opposed to the reigning Quad Bayer designs). It was a multi-aspect sensor - meaning that it uses different portions of the imager for the different aspect ratios with the absolute corners remaining outside of the image circle projected by the lens and unused. The lens has an f/2.4 aperture and a field of view that matches that of a Galaxy S21, so a focal length equivalent around 26mm. It lacks OIS, though.

                      The 808 PureView uses pixel binning to output 8MP or 5MP resulting images, and it did that long before it became the default way of capturing photos on smartphones some 7 or 8 years later. Naturally, a full-resolution option is also provided, even if you have to work your way through the menus to get there. Zooming in is also part of the package, though technically it's just cropping the center portion of the sensor.

                      Wtf??? They first said it was an Bayer filter, not an quad Bayer one, but later said it did binning? Anyone explain?

                        • F
                        • Flavi
                        • iqq
                        • 18 Jul 2021

                        Dynamic range and low-light performance are the two ultimate weaknesses of the 808 (own one). RAW capture and OIS could have solved these problems, but it might have been impossible at the time.