Nokia Lumia 1020: a 41-megapixel Windows Phone
After weeks of leaks, Nokia is making its Lumia 1020 handset official on Thursday. The Finnish smartphone maker has just unveiled its latest flagship Windows Phone on stage at an event in New York. The Lumia 1020 is a big upgrade over Nokia's previous Windows Phone efforts for one reason alone: a 41-megapixel camera. Nokia is taking its PureView 808 sensor from its Symbian days and adding a number of enhancements to bring it to Windows Phone.
The 41-megapixel Pureview sensor includes optical image stabilization, 6-lens Zeiss optics, and a xenon flash, making it the centerpiece for the rear of the phone. It can shoot still images at 38-megapixel in 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios. At the same time as it captures the high-resolution images, it also takes an oversampled 5-megapixel image using the sensor that can then be easily shared thanks to its smaller file size. The Lumia 1020 supports 1080p video capture, complete with 4x zoom and up to 6x at 720p. Nokia is releasing a Pro Camera app with the Lumia 1020 to take advantage of the sensor and manually adjust flash, focus, ISO, white balance, shutter speed, and exposure. It also includes a number of editing functions to crop and alter photos. Nokia is bundling a leather wrist strap with the Lumia 1020, making it even more point-and-shoot-like, but a optional Camera Grip accessory provides a casing for the device with extra battery, a shutter button, and even a tripod mount.
Camera aside, the Lumia 1020 is largely unchanged from the specifications of Nokia's Lumia 920 and 925. Nokia is adding 2GB of RAM instead of 1GB, and it's opting for a 4.5-inch AMOLED display like the Lumia 925. There's some microphone improvements, but the device will run the same 1.5 Ghz dual-core S4 processor as the 920 and 925. One change is the dimensions. The camera is obviously rather large on the rear, but Nokia has managed to keep the device thinner and lighter than the 920. It's not as slimline as the 925, but it's 10.4 mm thick and weighs 158g.
Nokia's Lumia 1020 will debut exclusively on AT&T in the US for $299.99 on a two-year contract. AT&T will start taking preorders on July 16th revealed, with a full launch on July 26th. The Lumia 1020 will be available in matte black, white, and yellow atwww.att.com/Lumia1020. Nokia will also bring the Lumia 1020 to China and select European markets this quarter, with an exclusive version for Telefonica.
http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/11/4513556/nokia-lumia-1020-release-date-specifications-features
Yaay, I've been waiting for this phone ever since I bought a Nokia 808 last year. The photos are just fantastic.
Comments
The photos that come from most modern phones seem to be ok when there's enough light. I wish they'd sort out low light photography. You can see here the 1020 camera in low light still has the usual quality problems:
http://www.nokiapoweruser.com/2013/07/11/lumia-1020-first-low-light-samples-real-life-photo-dual-capture-mode-screenshot-leaked/comment-page-1/
That horrible purple grain noise just ruins pictures. You can see this in the following iPhone 5 image set:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/iphone-5/sample-images.htm
The really low light one isn't nice at all. If the sensor isn't sensitive enough to pick up that level of light, it should just have a threshold to cut it off so that all that noise doesn't get stored.
Maybe Apple can use some of its many billions to get a graphene sensor in a future iPhone:
http://theweek.com/article/index/245052/1000-times-more-sensitive-to-light-how-graphene-camera-sensors-could-revolutionize-photography
The high Megapixel count on the Lumia helps for doing digital zoom but I like the idea of using vertically mounted lenses for proper optical zoom. The quality of the 1020 doesn't look all that good on the following video:
[VIDEO]
By comparison, the iPhone 5 video recording looks much sharper and more stable:
[VIDEO]
That what was defiantly a bad example, my Nokia 808 takes unbelievable videos and pictures. I compared them to my husbands iPhone 5 many times and there really is no comparison, the Nokia 808 is leaps and bounds better. Phone functionality, that's a different story, big reason I'm happy to see the Nokia 1020.
Makes sure to change the video to 1080p.
Here is a video showing the camera functionality of the Nokia 1020 with optional tripod connection.
People always say that though e.g Galaxy S3/4 is a fraction of the price of the iPhone, or much faster or whatever. Here's a direct comparison video of the 808 and iPhone shot in the same place at the same time:
[VIDEO]
Looks to me like Nokia forgot that the sky is in fact supposed to be blue. Someone in the Youtube comments even said:
"iphone 5 video colors are very dull and nokia 808 video is colorful because of carl zeiss lens"
I would have to see the settings but the color defiantly seems off. I think this guy is shooting at 8MP and not full resolution plus I'm 100% sure everything is on automatic. Pause the video and check out the difference between a same car, The Nokia's details is a lot better. Since I have both phones to play around with you'll just have to take my word for it I guess, The Nokia has the best camera available on a phone.
Here's a better video that shows the quality up close. Make sure it's 1080p.
It's a video, you don't record video at 8MP or 41MP on a phone.
Looks the same to me.
Both are still pretty bad quality there. I certainly wouldn't pick a clear winner out of the two. The iPhone's colors are nicer.
Fair enough, I still like it though and have already pre-ordered one.
In Business mode, you'll have immediate access to work tools, such as e-mail, the Web, and the file manager. After hours, you can switch to Personal mode and have your music and photo gallery a click away. Of course, you're not really "off" from work since you can easily switch back, but its a nice thought anyway.e71 nokia