Nokia N73 vs. Samsung D900 vs. SE K800: Photo samples

07 August 2006
The three contenders in this article are some of the hottest phones on the market. Each of them has 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera and the logical question is - which one takes the best photos? We are now presenting you full resolution sample photos taken by Mobilmania.cz team and we wont comment on the results. You are very welcome to post your opinion in the review comments section.

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  • d
  • damon
  • Nhd
  • 23 Nov 2006

could people plz comment bout things they know????

i sell phones for a living so have to test them all. sek800 is the best camera by far, and if your a nokia fan you wont be used to the se keypad + menu. if you dont understand the phones....learn to read the manuals!!!!

    • A
    • Andrew
    • PZR
    • 21 Nov 2006

    By looking at these comparisons just on the computer without any adjustments made to the photos, it is easy to say that the Samsung is too dull, the Nokia too bright and the SE just right. But as someone has already mentioned here if you look closely at some of the images the Samsung has more clarity and with a bit of photo proccessing would become excellent camera phone photos. But on the other hand the Samsungs zoom is of worse quality compaed to the other two and so is its flash. But in my opinion if you are looking to take good clear photos with good zoom and flash you would opt for an actual digital camera anyway. To summarise if I was given the choice between these three phones the camera wouldnt come into the decision. Because of their equal abilities. What would come into it is the price and the other functions.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • PGh
      • 18 Nov 2006

      I think da n73 is way better than any mob because the pics r awesome nd video recording rocks!

        • z
        • zigler
        • ib7
        • 17 Nov 2006

        Yo,dudes! I cant believe I going to say ths bt after I review the pic few time, copied it, blown then edit to my PC finaly print it out.....I'm surprise tht D900 is the best by far,(no kidding -i just purchaseD N73 for myself & SEK800 for my GF)...but it up to individuals, you cant win everything.... bye!!

          • T
          • Timur
          • nbZ
          • 16 Nov 2006

          First of all, this comparison is not to be taken too serious. All shots were done by hand (no stand/tripod) from different angles, so that even the slightest shaking of the hand will alter the results. That's quite ok because users will also do photoshots by hand, but in a comparison can show misleading results. Whatever, here is my personal ranking after checking those picture. I will give some examples in the pictures for you to compare at the end of my ratings.

          1. Samsung D900

          One might wonder why, since those Samsung shots are obviously the most noisy and lacking contrast (washed out). But actually that seems to be what the sensor is picking up without any (or only very little) postprocessing done. The very advantage of the D900 is that in between the remaining noise you also retain all the details that both the other contenders lack. It seems to produce a noticeable complexion of green, and some sort of pattern in darker shades (like the blue car).

          2. SE K800i

          Maybe this one is the most balanced of the three. It retains a reasonable amount of details, but it obviously uses heavy postprocessing to blur out noise, which unfortunately also blurs out some details which otherwise would remain. While pictures look quite sharp that is mostly due to a tad too much contrast and bluring out small details. Therefore dark areas in otherwise bright outside scenes lack definition (seem all black). Colours are very obviously toned in too much red.

          3. Nokia N73

          Actually I think this one could produce the most natural/neutral colours if it did not make such heavy use of postprocessing. Coloured areas seem to jump out at you, but that is not because of colour-exaggeration. It is because larger coloured areas are extremly blurred to flat with one predominant colour while the edges are strongly sharpened. Alot of small details in larger areas are lost along with the noise while some details are very sharp because of the sharpened edges. In the end most pictures look rather unnatural, kind like animated/painted. Another problem are quite obvious JPG compression artifacts at edges and lines. I guess those are introduced by the overexaggerated sharpness and rather uniform coloured areas, JPG prefers smooths pics like those of the K800i.

          -

          Before pointing you to some of the pictures for validation of my claims let me make clear that my rating is very subjective in that I generally prefer to get an unaltered photo from the camera and use my own postprocessing on them. First of all that leaves me with an individual choice of how much processing I want to use, second most PC software algorithms are far more sofisticated to those on the mobile-cams. Those of you who don't want to ever lay hands on their shots and want to do occassional printouts of their photos should prefer the K800i, maybe trying to get rid of some red in the printer driver. Those who just want to look at their pics via their mobile and occassionaly on their computer will prefer the N73. But those who want to have control over their pics and prepare them for best print- and screen-quality will prefer the Samsung, well, actually you wont use a mobile cam at all. ;)

          You can verify my claims about post processing on all pics actually, but here are some details that will help you.

          1. Take a look at the car parking scene, especially at the leaves of the trees and at the fence which is build all up to the top of the trees. Only the D900 gives you the impression of single leaves, on the K800i the fence is nearly gone and on the N73 the leaves that are growing BEHIND the fence seem to grow in front of the fence and are completely blured (as if they were too close to the lense for proper focus).

          2. Take a look at the building with the chinese restaurant. Actually the wall does not have an even surface, it's uneven from top to bottom. Only the D900 shows it that way, while the K800i smoothes most of it's features and the N73 extremly smoothes some areas and overexaggerates details in others. On the orange sign you can clearly see compression artifact with the N73 while the K800i shows that it produces the most suitable pics for JPG compression.

          3. Take a look at the blue car picture. The ground in front of the car is full of small stones and the bricks above the iron gate are clearly visible on the D900. The blue colour of the car is quite noisy (patterns) but it has smooth outlines. While the K800i does quite well with the stones on the ground it completely blurs the brick structure away in the darker left part, the blue colour is somewhat blured for less noise, but the outlines become somewhat edgy by that. On the N73 picture you can't even make out the stone structure on the ground, it looks more like yellow coloured stain, and the brick structure is very much blurred away as is the gate. The blue car and the blue bank signs are blurred to one predominant colour while the outlines of the car are very much sharpened.

          4. I wont comment on the flower picture, it's all too clear! ;)

          5. But take a look at the fourth park picture with the two tree and the latern in the background. Have a look at the trunk of the left tree. Even though the D900 picture is somewhat wiggly (shaking hand?) you can clearly see the structure of the bark on the tree. Both the K800i and the N73 mostly blow away those details. And while the leaves in the front are quite unsharp on the D900 the overal picture of the bushes looks more like a natural composition, while the K800i blurs away alot of the bushes and the N73 make every leave and bush jump out at you. Also compare the latern in the background, is it in front or behind the tree? At least on the N73 it's very much in front of everything. 8)

          Ok, that's more than enough of my oppinion! I still have to decide on which of these three phones to buy, but when it comes to the camera I will surely prefer the D900, too bad it misses a proper flashlight, but hey, this is were a real camera comes in! ;)

            • s
            • stig
            • C5k
            • 16 Nov 2006

            The samsung clearly (exagerate Clearly) came out on top. with its excellent photos. especially in the photo with the blue car. the samsung looked a bit more round and much less pixel-ish than the SE and the NOKIA. but the Nokia had very sharp colours which brought out the worst in the details of the pics and made pictures look very painted by hand

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • F4p
              • 15 Nov 2006

              In my view, the Nokia N73 is the best. the colours are right. Samsung D900 takes photos nicely but the photos are a bit too bright. SE K800 takes photos almost as good as N73. It doesn't have night mode. The photos are nice. If u want a cheap phone, get samsung D900. If u want a good music player and camera, get the N73 (Just that it is a bit expensive.) SE K800 has a resonable price. it is value for money phone. But i would get Nokia N73. It ROCKS!

                • d
                • david
                • nsB
                • 14 Nov 2006

                n73 & k800 are very close in camera.But k800 pictures are more real than n73.the zooming of k800 is great.And of course the cybershot camera wins the 2 others.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • Nhd
                  • 13 Nov 2006

                  just had a look at the pictures on the website and it is clear that nokia is way above the rest of the brands i have a samsung not a bad phone and i also have had a sony and agree the controls on this phone ony to navigate require a fair amount of concentration nokia is by far the best for ease of application and the pictures are by far superior to the other two brands just go and enlarge the picture of the car and see!!!!

                    • r
                    • reo
                    • A90
                    • 13 Nov 2006

                    K790i disappoints

                    I bought a SE K790i 2 days back. I couldn’t wait to get hold of it after reading itz mind-blowing reviews. BIIIIIIIGGGGG mistake!
                    The menu and keys were all new for me as I am used to nokia phones. But what really hurt me was that I felt my previous handset [Nokia 3230] was far better than this new one! I wish I hd bought a N-73 instead….

                    +ve points
                    1. Excellent Camera.
                    2. Good music player & radio. I don’t think nokia can beat SE in this dept.
                    3. Menu navigation is quick.

                    -ve points
                    1. Call reception is miserable. The speaker is useless. You cant hear the person if you are outside/in a crowded area.
                    2. Contacts is all jampacked! It’s a pain to search a user. And therz only a list view for viewing contacts. Unlike in nokia phones where you can view contacts either as list or one at a time.
                    3. Cant assign different ringtones for different profiles. Whatz the point in having profiles then???!!!
                    4. Cant create new profiles.
                    5. Keypad is PATHETIC! Itz like u r hitting on a stone. Messaging has never been such a nightmare before…….
                    6. cant save messages to different folders as in nokia phones. In nokia phones, we can create new folders n save messages to those, which helpz us to easily sort n locate messages.
                    7. no fast-forward, reverse buttons in music player.
                    8. cant install any games/apz other than java (no sis files).
                    9. Only digital clock is available. In nokia, we have the choice to set either analogue or digital clock.
                    10. in calendar, we need to open a date to check if there is any appointment for that date. In nokia, we get a tooltip kinda text on the top.
                    11. wallpapers & contact images are stored absolutely, not relatively. i.e, if I set an image as wallpaper/contact image n later if I remove it from my phone, the settings is lost. In nokia, this doesn’t happen.

                    So as u can see…. K790i disappointz…… :(
                    i recommend N73. no idea abt D900.

                      • m
                      • mr.banana
                      • ibg
                      • 12 Nov 2006

                      Samsung D900-->great design
                      SE K800-->great camera
                      Nokia N73-->great function
                      samsung D900 is a phone tat has an ultra sleek slider with a 3MP camera n set it to the world's slimmest slide-up phone...
                      se k800 is a phone tat comes with a cyber-shot camera,its camera shows its identity as the best among these 3 phone...
                      nokia N73 is a multi-functional phone,its carl-zeiss camera shows its power for capturing the greatest moments of our life...
                      Each phone has its own special but the only same thing in these 3 is tat these 3 are phones,haha^^

                        • k
                        • kyriakos
                        • n$L
                        • 12 Nov 2006

                        In my opinion it comes K800, N73, and D900. K800 great clarity realistic colours and higher dynamic range.
                        I got the N73 recently capabilities and from what i see the problem seems to be at the firmware that controlls the cameras atitude and mainly on its post proccess (if you can call it that way) programms that seem to apply sharpening and enhancing effects on the original picture that are not needed with a camera with autofocus. lets hope that an update will improove the problem if it is possible...

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • wYE
                          • 11 Nov 2006

                          The Sony doesn't need a night mode because it's got a flash?! - sheesh spot the people who use a flash when trying to photograph something 10's of meters away and then wonder why the photos don't look good.
                          ----->> obviously you dont own a k800. it does not have night mode coz of the flash. but in low light conditions, which is what the night mode in other fones are for, its got the twilight mode. the goodie is that it got 2 types of twilight mode. the landscape and the portrait. this mode got that IMAGE STABILIZER coz u know y? the shutter speed is reduced when you use this mode to allow more light to get into the aperture. unlike those fones with "NIGHT MODE" which just shoots and thinks that that's it. nope. not k800. it functions like a true digicam. that's y they call it digicam in disguise. anyway, i hope that this puts off the people out there who thinks that they know everyhting. you don't. that's y i don't rat against nokia coz i don't really know anything about it. so if you dont wanna feel stupid in this column please be careful of the things you say. anyway, for you mate... k800 doesn't call it night mode coz you cant shoot at anything when darkness falls. they call it twilight mode specifically made for low light conditions. ciao.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • iLM
                            • 11 Nov 2006

                            The Sony doesn't need a night mode because it's got a flash?! - sheesh spot the people who use a flash when trying to photograph something 10's of meters away and then wonder why the photos don't look good.

                              • O
                              • Omar Mengal
                              • PVt
                              • 11 Nov 2006

                              Hey guyz K800i the camera result so the positon goes to K800i and second one"s N73 amd the D900 but k800i has not the good quality of video

                                • m
                                • meroslave
                                • N7E
                                • 11 Nov 2006

                                the Sony Ericsson is the best
                                true colors,great camera
                                thx

                                  • F
                                  • Facker
                                  • P$y
                                  • 11 Nov 2006

                                  SE is good for still photography. But when it comes to video undoubtedly Nokia stands first, Samsung second and SE stands last among all other brands. I gave my driver Thangappan a new N73 last week. he is happy with the phones perfomance

                                    • N
                                    • Niya
                                    • PUR
                                    • 09 Nov 2006

                                    Just get it clear & right.Best Choice > "SE K800i" .. Enuff said *PEACE* ;)

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 4FE
                                      • 09 Nov 2006

                                      I am looking at the pics and I am saying the Sony Ericson definately stands out as the best as far as clarity, detail and true to life colors.

                                      As far as the Nokia and Samsung, they both have thier down points. The detail and colors being off and too bright and vibrant are nto true to life are a down. The Samsung has the quality, but the colors are very dull. I have all but a Sony, but seeing the quality pictures, I would rate them Sony, Samsung and Nokia. They all have thier advantages and cons, but from what I see, thats how I would call it.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • wYE
                                        • 08 Nov 2006

                                        just saw the pics and id say that nokia is tricking us with color plays. nokia got the lowest details. see the outdoor pics with the building having the tile roofing? enlarge it and you'll see what i mean. you see the details of the tiles with the pics taken with k800 and d900. with the n73, you'll think that it's just a simple roof painted red. the details of the tiles are nowhere to be found. shame. there are more you could do with that carl zeiss lens of yours nokia. initially it was k800, n73, then d900. but now... n73 is way down.