Nokia N78 review – Camera

Carl Zeiss lens are respected for their quality in assisting image capture in cameras, and many other optical devices. The Nokia N78 contains a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash, and a Carl Zeiss Tessar lens. The phone supports image capture resolutions up to 2048 x 1536 pixels and video capture at 15fps at 640x480 pixels of resolution.

The N78's camera application is the same of all NSeries with S60 3rd edition Feature Pack 1, it contains the same comprehensive set of options and icons, but now it also includes geo-tagging.

One of the most important options that always affects the quality of shots taken by me is scene selection. Do not forget that if you are capturing a device that is close, choose the close-up mode, also known as macro. I leave it in automatic for everything else.

There are other common options such as Flash, Self timer, Sequence mode, Image colour effects setup, Gridline option, White balance, Exposure compensation, Sharpness, Brightness, Contrast, Light Sensitivity (ISO), which can go from ISO 100, 200, 400, which is acceptable for such camera. If you feel disturbed by all these icons, just hide the toolbar.

Extra options such as resolution, extended digital zoom, and geotagging are available in the extra settings menu.

The video recording application contains simple options, but an important one is always activated, which is video stabilization, also known as a form of anti-shake.

Let's move on to the image comparisons. As usual, the Nokia N78 was compared to our Nokia N95.

The first thing we noticed is that the auto-focus is extremely fast. Good for pictures that have to be taken in that moment, but you don't want to use Sports mode.

Now for the first picture, an empty car port between a road and two gardens, with a background of houses and a wall. It is obvious that the N95, at the left (all pictures will have this layout), has the upper hand thanks to the colour interpretation. The car port's roof looks more detailed, and the plants look more alive. The image mode is automatic.

If we take the extracts, we can see that the focus is similar, but the colour captured by the N95 is indeed more realistic. It's always sunny when we take the pictures.

On our second picture we have exactly the same indication: colour is better on the N95 and the focus is very similar. The image mode is automatic.

The extract tells us that there is quite a major difference in colour, and that the N78 isn't doing very well in that sense.

Now the more interesting comparisons: flowers. These convey the sense of colour, and when we examine the extracts, we can really tell difference in focus. The above comparison shows us once again that the colour is better on the N95. The image mode is automatic.

Now you can see the true difference in focus, where the N95 at 3.2 megapixels resolution, makes the N78's capture look like something from the 80s. The below images will only be extract comparisons between different modes for focus examination. We don't need much more evidence, but who knows, maybe the N78 can be better than the N95 in certain modes?

First up is the close-up mode. We have the same answer as above.

Second is Close-up mode with daylight white balance. The N78's capture has become more alive, but its focus is still pretty bad.

Next is close-up mode, but with sharpness at soft. The N95 produced a very blurry image, but the N78's one isn't of very high quality either, but it is still better than the one from the N95. We can't say it beats the N95 as both images were taken in 3.2 megapixel resolution, while the N95's maximum resolution is 5 megapixels.

The last one is close-up mode with sharpness hard. Here the N78 produced a lot of detail, even though it wasn't very consistent colours, but the N95 produced a blurry image just like the last one.

Now for the night captures. This time we will show you one picture only that lets you analyse both colours and focus, and that's the above one. As you can see in the full comparison, the N95 seems to have a slight advantage on colour, as focus seems equal on our opinion.

The extract reveals that the N95 has a very poor focusing, which gives it slightly inaccurate colours. The N78 has the upper hand in night pictures.

It is unfair to compare such different phones, as the N78 did produce satisfactory images. We should have compared two rival 3.2 megapixel camera-phones.

We are happy with the camera features such as geo-tagging and fast autofocus, and we are quiet confident that whoever gets to own the N78, will be as pleased as we are. If you are a photography enthusiast, we don't recommend it, it's far from the ultimate photography phone.

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