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I'm looking for an Android phone, and my primary concern is that it be good for photography. I've got a "real camera", and for a dSLR I've got a relatively compact setup. But, y'know, sometimes one is stuck without. I've previously carried around a Fujifilm point & shoot, but it'd be even more ideal if my phone — which is always with me — had a great camera built in.

I think it's clear that in a few years, P&S cameras are doomed, squeezed out by mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras at the high end and cameraphones from below. But the current state of the art seems a bit undeveloped. I'm looking for:

  • relatively large sensor (bigger than 3mm×4mm)
  • relatively wide max aperture (f/2 or faster doesn't seem unreasonable)
  • as decent high-iso performance as possible given real-world limitations
  • decent optics — wide/normal prime (35mm to 50mm efl)
  • good color rendition
  • decent auto-white-balance
  • RAW output would be nice
  • fast response — low shutter lag and quick return to availability after shooting

I don't care about:

  • pixel-count over 4 or 5 megapixels (more is probably worse)
  • a flash (even the best phone flash is only going to be there for desperate situations)
  • zoom — too many compromises to make compact
  • great video quality (some video capability is a plus, as well as inevitable these days)

When I'm looking at different Android phones, I mostly see emphasis on this second list — the one I don't care about. This is true in manufacturer's promotional materials, as well as sites comparing Android phones, including Wikipedia.

Given that my wishlist is probably premature, what's my best bet in the real world?

Are there particular brands that seem to be taking this more seriously than others?

And, finally, are there any particular horrible drawbacks of specific phones that happen to have good cameras but fall short in other ways?

I've moved the list of technical info collected so far to a separate community wiki question.

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As you already know, right now sensor size is going to be one of the largest driving factors towards image quality over pretty much everything else, especially when it comes into high-ISO and low-light performance. You probably already know that DSLRs are significantly better than any P&S, and that most P&S are significantly better than even the best cell phones. Until there's a major shift in camera technology, your first list is a wish list for pretty much every photog, in any form factor. You'll have better luck riding a unicorn to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. – afrazier Jan 3 '11 at 20:58
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The only semi-useful advice I can give you is that, once upon a time, Sony tried turning a camera into a cellphone. So instead of the camera being an afterthought, the phone part was. IIRC, it faired reasonably well against other P&S cameras, but wasn't all that great at being a phone. I don't remember any model #s for you though. – afrazier Jan 3 '11 at 21:00
I don't think the "rainbow/unicorn" characterization actually fits my wishlist very well, especially with your "in any form factor" qualification. It's easy to well exceed this list for entry-level dSLRs, mirrorless "EVIL" cameras, or even medium-range point & shoots. I'm not demanding perfection, just asking for "good". – mattdm Jan 4 '11 at 5:01
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You're right that sensor size is an important factor. I'd be pleased to simply see a list of Android phones by sensor size. (Maybe I'll make a separate question.) That said, the iPhone has a 4.5mm×3.4mm sensor (a.k.a 1/3.2"), a size that was pretty common in P&S cameras five years ago. And it's only about 30% smaller than the typical P&S camera of today (1/2.7") — and those cameras cram in 12-14 megapixels. – mattdm Jan 4 '11 at 5:12
The Sony camera is interesting, but not Android. If we're going off Android, the Nokia N8 has a 1/1.83" sensor and great optics. Were Symbian not an iffy proposition for future development, that'd definitely be my first choice. (Followed by the iPhone 4, which also comes pretty close to hitting the wishlist.) But I didn't want this question to be about Android vs. non-Android devices. – mattdm Jan 4 '11 at 5:25
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4 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

The camera on my Galaxy S is quite good for a phone. I'd say comparable quality to a decent point-and-shoot, but I couldn't give you specifics. It's a great phone as well. The new Nexus S is also supposed to have a good camera. So Samsung is probably a good bet.

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pcworld.com/article/200142/… put the Galaxy S's 5-megapixel camera through a modified version of our PCWorld Lab Test for point-and-shoot digital cameras along with the iPhone 4, the Motorola Droid X and the HTC EVO 4G. [...] The Galaxy S phone earned the lowest score out of the four and an overall word score of 'Fair.' It finished ahead of the Evo 4G in terms of exposure quality, but finished in last place in our color accuracy, sharpness, and distortion tests." – mattdm Jan 3 '11 at 1:04
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On that other hand, your comment led me to pcworld.com/article/199845 , which is helpful — but unfortunately, that looks pretty grim for at least last summer's crop of Android phones. – mattdm Jan 3 '11 at 1:08
Note that not all Galaxies have camera flash, it depends on your variant. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S#Variants for more information. – Vetle Jan 3 '11 at 9:44
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@vetler: note that's on my "don't care about" list up above. The best flash on much-larger point & shoot cameras is usually more of a hindrance than a help, and that's true for the pop-up flash in a DSLR as well except in models where it can be used as the controller in a multi-flash setup. It's fine if it's dark and you just want to record that something occurred, but the results will never be nice to look at. – mattdm Jan 3 '11 at 17:47
up vote 1 down vote accepted

Well, since I'm not really getting the answers I was hoping for here, let me float this possible one:

Right now, no Android phone maker really puts any emphasis into this.

If photography is a primary concern, the iPhone comes a bit closer than any Android devoce, but is still in the emerging-technology ballpark. You should either decide whether to sacrifice camera quality for other things after all, or else give up on Android and put the Nokia N8 at the top of the list.

Maybe the situation will change in a year or so. But that's where we are now.

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up vote 0 down vote

Slightly unusual take on things, and to my mind defeats the purpose of having one thing you carry in your pocket to do everything, but Samsung are releasing a compact camera, the SH100, that links up with Android devices using WiFi.

Samsung announced the SH100, a compact Wi-Fi enabled camera that allows for sharing over the internet and social networks. What's the most interesting, however, is that you can use Wi-Fi to connect to your Android smartphone, so you can view the shot you’re about to take in real time on your phone. If you’re not happy with it, you can zoom in and out to get the best picture, and then activate the shutter remotely when you’re ready to pose. Users can even use their phone’s GPS to record the geotag.

Due out in March. Here's the Specs sheet.

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Yeah, I'm more looking for convergence, not for more things to carry around. But thanks. :) – mattdm Jan 8 '11 at 1:58
up vote 0 down vote

I know it's not the answer your looking for but I wouldn't rate ANY android phone's camera that I've seen so far.

The last decent camera I had on a phone was the LG renoir and before that a Sony K800 cybershot which were both great for phone cams. I was really hoping to see an android version of the Renoir! Instead they decided to go for 3D and with two bad cameras! Novel and cool but no proper lense.

Now I just resort to the microSD card to get pics in from a DSLR. I'm still looking for a photo app that supports RAW though! Maddening!

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