[tsshin]

Greetings!

I've just bought the Nokia N82, and I've been very satisfied with it and all the neat features it has like GPS which works perfectly. However, I'm worried if I should send it back due to a camera bug or hardware failure related to the camera. I'm not satisfied with the picture quality this device delivers. I've had a Sony Ericsson K750i with 2mpx that takes better and sharper pictures than my new Nokia with 5mpx.

I've taken some pictures for you to see. I would be glad if you could see if there is anything wrong with the camera? Some tips to optimize the quality would be good too.

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/2166/030620080131lq1.jpg
This picture seems okay, if you don't view it in full size. However, zoom in and look at the trees to the left and right. They are all very blurry.

In the next picture, I've tried to improve the sharpness by setting the sharpness to: "High". That only resulted in more noise on the picture.
http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/9615/09062008032zg2.jpg

The following pictures were taken in "Landscape" mode. The quality got worse than with "auto".
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/5743/08062008019qz0.jpg
http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/1631/08062008022bp9.jpg
http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/8916/09062008039ls7.jpg

There is absolutely no sharpness in those pictures taken in landscape mode and the colors are wrong. They're grainy and looks over-compressed.

That is not what I expected of such an expensive high-end device I must say, so is this normal or is the camera broke?

Thank you very much in advance.

Best regards,
Kalle Jensen.

Message Edited by tsshin on 09-Jun-2008 03:08 PM

Message Edited by tsshin on 09-Jun-2008 03:11 PM

[psychomania]

Those pictures look a world apart from the results i've been getting with my N82.

Are you using the zoom? As with all camera's with digital only zoom the quality drops off pretty rapidly as soon as you use it.

Can you take a picture in close up mode, with flash and post the results.

Is the phone definitely a genuine N82 from a reputable source? There's a lot of fake around at the moment, especially on ebay.

[tsshin]

Thanks for the reply.
No, I'm not using the zoom.
Yes, I'm completely certain that it's a genuine one. I bought it from a telephone company in my country (Denmark) and it's called Nokia, it's with Danish language, Symbian OS, it's black (there is no black fakes, right?) and it's in overall good quality.

All right, I've taken some close-up pictures using the close up macro-feature - and that did improve the quality of the picture a lot. Maybe the camera just isn't good at taking landscape shots?

(Flash: ON)
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y296/XSTREM/09062008046.jpg

(Flash: ON)
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y296/XSTREM/09062008047.jpg

(Flash: OFF)
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y296/XSTREM/09062008048.jpg

Message Edited by tsshin on 09-Jun-2008 06:54 PM

[kev11]

My phone has this exact problem. I assumed that it was just an inherent problem with the camera software. However, if some people are getting really clear photos than maybe it is actually a fault.

It only happens with distant objects and does not seem to occur for close up photos.

[psychomania]

It's definitely good in close up mode, that is a real N82 for sure. Most of my shots have either been indoors or close up.

I've not had the chance to take any shots in bright sunlight yet.

This site has plenty of samples taken with an N82, how do your results compare to theirs?

[tsshin]

The pictures on that page aren't in full size unfortunately.
I've searched the net for other pictures to compare.

These ones for instance: http://www.symbian-freak.com/images/news/07/11/n82/07112007011_l.jpg

http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/images/reviews/N82/l.jpg

http://i.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/nokia-n82-preview/camera/gsmarena_f012.jpg

http://i.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/nokia-n82-preview/camera/gsmarena_f009.jpg

However, they haven't told what mode they've used to take those pictures.

Those are still "blurry" when you zoom in, so I guess it's impossible to get a "crisp" and clear image when taken non-macro shots. It looks like a bug to me that could be fixed in the firmware. The phone might compress the picture too much, and the on-board "noise reduction chip" is making more trouble than it should. The macro-mode looks good and so does the portrait mode - however, landscape mode is bad.

I do, however, think that the above pictures look a little more sharp than my samples. What do you say?
I still have waranty on my phone, but if I send it to service reparation, and they conclude there is nothing wrong with it, I'll be charged around $50 + carriage.

Say, psychomania, could you please take some pictures using the "landscape mode" for comparison?

Message Edited by tsshin on 10-Jun-2008 12:07 AM

[psychomania]

I'll take some tomorrow in daylight and post the results.

[godzilla12]

@ tsshin...
to be very frank the daylight pictures taken by nokia didn't produce a good result like SE. however n82 produces very good pic from the rest of n-series even n95 / n95-8gb. still sometimes it makes problem like giving extra colour of it's own. but that doesn't means all pictures comes bad. overall the pic quality is excellent.

I didn't take many pic in daylight yet. got few pic & uploaded 2 for u. these r in "auto" mode & in landscape. hope this will help u a little...

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll297/kinkortobbobimur/06052008073.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll297/kinkortobbobimur/16052008251-1.jpg

[grayburn]

Have you tried re-installing the software as this may fix the problems your having,if that don't work then i would very much consider sending it back for a replacement.

[tsshin]

@Godzilla: Okay thank you. Is the first one or the second one taken with landscape mode?

@Grayburn: I've reinstalled the firmware to see if it helped. I can't say if it did or not. The "Landscape mode" still produces a lot of noise on the picture, but the question is if that is normal.

[Auto] http://mixed.ooz.dk/10062008052.jpg
[Macro] http://mixed.ooz.dk/10062008051.jpg
[Landscape] http://mixed.ooz.dk/10062008050.jpg

I guess the reason for the extra noise is because the sharpness is automatically set to "high"?

Yes, I am considering sending it back. If the company doesn't find any failures on it, I'll be charged a fee for "error seeking".
I can still get my money back though, but I don't want that. I like this phone, and I don't know what should replace it. The picture quality is good, if you resize the picture. The question is just if the quality of the images is normal or not.

Message Edited by tsshin on 10-Jun-2008 04:06 PM

[grayburn]

Can you not send it back for a replacement as somethings clearly not right,you shouldn't just settle for a phone thats obviously faulty?

I sent back 4 N82's before i got a perfect one.

[tsshin]

4?! That was a lot.

You're right. Unfortunatly the costumer service line got closed at 4 PM.
I'll call them tomorrow to inform them I want to swap it for another one.
I still have 7 days sale or return on it.

[godzilla12]

@tsshin...
the 2 pictures were taken in the landscape mode, they r in auto mode & in "normal" sharpness. one is without zoom & the 2nd with zoom.

u said, the reason for the extra noise is because the sharpness is automatically set to "high"? as the sharpness in default remains in "normal" no-matter in what mode u remain. did u put the sharpness high when u take the pic?? & ofcourse the noise is related with sharpness...

[tsshin]

Ah, well then it's great quality. Much better than what I get in landscape mode.

No, when you set it to "landscape mode" the camera will automatically shift to high sharpness. In "Auto" the sharpness is automatically set to "Medium".

Doesn't that happen on your phone?

Message Edited by tsshin on 10-Jun-2008 10:42 PM

[godzilla12]

oh yes.... the sharpness remains "hard" if it's in landscape mode. I changed it to "normal" after I select landscape. it changed cause of the light sensivity is changing with it.

did u take pic after setting the sharpness to "normal" in landscape without changing the light sensivity...?? how does it comes??

[tsshin]

Well, I sent the phone back today.

I couldn't get it swapped - the salesman told that they have to send it to Nokia, and then Nokia is gonna send me a new one, but only if they find any problems.

Now I'm excited to see how it goes. I'll update when I get either the same one or a new one back.

Thank you very much for the help. :-)

Message Edited by tsshin on 11-Jun-2008 03:37 PM