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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  • R
  • Rkm
  • DkZ
  • 18 Jul 2021

The thing with computational photography is it can be a hit or miss. Look at the scooter image they used for noise comparison.
The mi ultra treated the reflection as an actual scene and applied sharpening to it, but it wasn't intelligent enough to differentiate it as a reflection, it didn't control the highlights and let the carrier in that scooter overexposed and didn't retain the red colour.
The nokia whereas didn't do anything and just exposed it correctly and thus making a better image even though it is noisier.

    • R
    • Rkm
    • DkZ
    • 18 Jul 2021

    YUKI93, 18 Jul 2021I definitely love how the Nokia can still produce DSLR-like... moreAlmost all youtubers judge solely based on dynamic range. That is the easiest technical part which can be understood and evaluated. Some of them review 'details', but can't differentiate between actual details and oversharpened mess. Tonality, lens quality, realistic hdr representation are never considered. You can't blame them because it sells, but that's why it's always better to either come here for phones or dpreview for cameras and judge yourself.

      • H
      • Harshan
      • D0d
      • 18 Jul 2021

      Nokia lacks a lot in image processing and edge detection algorithms, their hardwares are great in deal but the integration of greate hardware and software is not good. In Xioami they use great image processing, so the images tend to be over saturated sometimes. Nokia camera lacks lot of sharpness but retains details. HMD global is spoiling Nokia's reputation

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • Lj$
        • 18 Jul 2021

        Downsampling, not binning.
        Downsampling, not binning.
        Downsampling, not binning.
        Downsampling, not binning.
        Downsampling, not binning.
        Downsampling, not binning.
        Downsampling, not binning.
        Downsampling, not binning.
        Downsampling, not binning.
        Downsampling, not binning.
        Downsampling, not binning.
        Downsampling, not binning.
        Downsampling, not binning.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • Lj$
          • 18 Jul 2021

          Flavi, 18 Jul 2021Dynamic range and low-light performance are the two ultimat... moreDR maximum of a sensor is achieved by RAW.
          Not jpeg.
          Your statement is wrong.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • KZK
            • 18 Jul 2021

            I is a shame that HMD still unable to develop a true successor for 808 PureView and Lumia 1020

              The nokias daylight images look nice, no sharpening but still great detail.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • KZK
                • 18 Jul 2021

                MATE 30 PRO, 18 Jul 2021The best cameras are in Huawei devices -> Mate 40 Pro, M... moreU know where was the engineers came from....

                  kek, 18 Jul 2021I'm just gonna say that those "Night" photos... moreThis is what irks me.

                  I can't fathom people preferring unnatural pictures as if shot with flash. The point of shooting at night is to capture the darkness, not make it look like a bright watercolor painting.

                    Couldn't agree less with the Xiaomi fanboyism going on for a while now at GSMarena.

                    The Mi11Ultra pictures are way too oversharpened, almost to the point of vomiting. The pictures look like watercolor paitings.

                    The night shots and videos in particular are extremely unnatural. Sure, it's impressive how much more the camera can see in the dark than the human eye. It's also very fugly.

                      The best cameras are in Huawei devices -> Mate 40 Pro, Mate 30 Pro, next P50 Pro ... with Leica optics.

                        • R
                        • Rkm
                        • DkZ
                        • 18 Jul 2021

                        Nick Tegrataker, 18 Jul 2021Eh, that should be more to do with the difference in the se... moreWhat are you talking about? Even in hotel room picture, the Nokia is outresolving Xiaomi. You can clearly identify the hexagon shape in the balcony's partition/ divider on the Nokia whereas they are just a complete mess in Xiaomi. That has nothing to do with CFA.

                          I definitely love how the Nokia can still produce DSLR-like true-to-life photo quality in daylight, even on full resolution mode. If you really can't see the oversharpening effect from the Xiaomi phone, you really have to check your eyes. The difference between the two is totally night and day, even for the video.

                          That said though, modern mobile photography does show great evolution for lowlight conditions. Yes, the Nokia maintains the same realistic colour as in daylight. But the Xiaomi has a much more advanced dynamic range algorithm and also latest-gen OIS, so no surprise that Xiaomi shows a much better lowlight photo than Nokia.

                          P.S I remembered Mrwhosetheboss facepalmed his head about the Nokia 808 camera for being bs (https://youtu.be/mZR7LOhu1FI). Since that moment, I don't trust him when it comes to the camera anymore.

                            • D
                            • AnonD-1003038
                            • puk
                            • 18 Jul 2021

                            It seems like Xiaomi's sharpening is turned to eleven and Nokia is just doing raw unprocessed image. Xiami's photos sometimes look so oversharpened they look almost like a cartoon compared to softer Nokia's photos.

                              MediaSnap, 18 Jul 2021Sharper doesn't mean of higher quality. It's the ... moreBy "sharper" I was literally referring to the lens itself, not the artificial sharpening applied to the image.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • B}H
                                • 18 Jul 2021

                                Abyss3, 18 Jul 2021Well, it is obvious that the Mi would be a notch better tha... moreNot possible if you compare tech progress every year is very faster than last year

                                  Well, it is obvious that the Mi would be a notch better than the PureView 808. In the last 7 to 8 years, there has been an exponential leap in R&D in almost every aspect of photography, be it the sensor, processing, AI etc.
                                  So, definitely the Mi would be much better than the PureView! But will it be good enough to be compared with a phone camera that might come sometime in the 2030s??

                                    Nick Tegrataker, 18 Jul 2021Eh, that should be more to do with the difference in the se... moreSharper doesn't mean of higher quality. It's the defining feature of smartphone cameras and this is what you should look for if you want to distinguish between a smartphone picture and a proper camera picture.

                                      The Nokia still managed to render fine details and foliage in a natural way that is softer without unnecessary sharpening. Whereas the mi 11 ultra looks downright bad in comparison.

                                        • D
                                        • AnonD-940827
                                        • 8pQ
                                        • 18 Jul 2021

                                        If it had android and newest gcam, it would be a big competitive camera for today's phones. Or even just lightroom camera.

                                        Quality wise, it can still match today's. Feature wise, it can't do anything against today's phones. But imagine pureview with manual camera mode!

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