Nokia N95 Cell Phone Review - Imaging
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Alfredo Padilla Published on May 08, 2007 Comment on this |
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Resolution (8.32)
To test resolution we take photos of an industry standard resolution chart and run them through our Imatest software. Imatest measures how many black and white lines the camera can discern before they start blurring together, a measure called line widths per picture height or LW/PH.
The Nokia N95 posted the best resolution score of any phone we have tested thus far, able to discern 1368 LW/PH horizontally and 1223 LW/PH vertically. This is significantly better than the Nokia N73's 720.6 LW/PH horizontal and 1135 LW/PH veritcal. It compares poorly to even a cheap digital camera, though; the $180 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W350 captured 1573 horizontal and 1548 vertical lines. It did beat some older still cameras, though, and the relatively high scores of the N95 show how cell phone cameras are improving; they are getting better, but are some way from catching up with dedicated still cameras. We score resolution slightly differently than our sister site DigitalCameraInfo. If we had scored the N95 according to their scale it would have scored a 2.5.
Color (6.95)
To test color we take photos of the industry standard GretagMacbeth color chart, which displays 24 different colors. We then run the photos through the Imatest software, which compares the camera's produced colors to the chart's colors.
Imatest produces the chart above that shows the original colors in the small vertical rectangle, the adjusted colors in the middle rectangle and the original capture colors in the outer square. Imatest also produces the color analysis chart below. This chart indicates captures colors with a circle and ideal colors with squares. The longer the line between those two points the more innacurate the colors are.
As you can see from the charts above the Nokia N95 did a very good job reproducing colors. The biggest error is in the reds and purples, with some in the greens, but this is relatively minor, especially when compared to phones like the Motorola Krzr K1m. The Treo 700p still does slightly better than the N95 in this test, but both phones handles color reproduction well.
Noise (1.42)
To test noise we take a series of photos at different lighting levels and run them through our Imatest software to measure noise. The Nokia N95 did a good job in our noise test, posting average or above average scores at all lighting levels. Like most phones we measured the most noise at the lowest light levels. The N95 posted a significantly better noise score than the Nokia N73, and a similar score to the Sprint Upstage, which has our highest noise score to date.
Live Preview (8.5)
The live preview on the Nokia N95 is excellent, with a very little pixelation and colors that are very close to the photo you take. This is a significant step up over the Nokia N73, which seems to display washed out colors. We were very pleased with the N95's live preview. Unlocked Standby to First Shot (3.08)
To test how long it takes to go from the home screen until we can take a shot we time this process until we achieve a repeatable best time. The Nokia N95 took 6.5 seconds to complete this process. This is a very slow time for a camera phone, significantly slower than the N73's 5.3 seconds. Although the presence of an auto focus lens slows the N95 down, the majority of the time is taken up launching the camera application. The Sanyo M1, another camera with an auto focus lens, took only 4.9 seconds to go from the home screen to taking a photo.
Shutter to Shot (1.96)
In this test, we measure how long time time between pressing the shutter and the phone taking the image is. The N95 had a pretty poor time of 1 second; significantly slower than most phones and much slower than most dedicated still cameras. Part of this is due to the auto focus; it takes at least half a second to reach the right focus point. You can cut this time down a little by lightly pressing the shutter; the N95 then focusses ready for you to press it down the rest of the way and take the shot. In this, case, it only takes around half a second to take the shot; a much more acceptable time.
Shot to Shot Time (1.26)
Shot to shot time is a measure of how quickly you can take photos in succession. To complete this test we used the Nokia N95's burst mode to take six photos in quick succession. The Nokia N95 took 14.3 seconds to take this sequence. This works out to .42 frames per second. This is significantly slower than the Nokia N73's .52 frames per second. The Pentax Optio M20, a stand along digital camera, took .7 frames per second.
Interface (9.0)
The camera interface on the Nokia N95 is very similar to other high end N-Series devices like the N73. At the top left is an indicator for what camera mode you are in, at the bottom left is a counter for the number of photos you can still take. The soft keys are placed along the left side of the screen, with the top one assigned to exit and the bottom one opening the options menu.
There is also a line of icons along the right side that you can control with the directional pad. These give you quick access to the most settings, including: camera mode, scene mode, flash, timer, sequence mode, exposure compensation, white balance, color, ISO, contrast and sharpness. This is an incredible number of settings for a camera phone and we like that the N95 makes it easy and quick to access them. We very much like what Nokia has done with their camera interface.
Photo Album Software Internal (7.0)
The Nokia N95 album software is the standard gallery found on all Series 60 devices. This presents all of your pictures and videos in a carousel format, with the currently selected item in the center and other items surrounding it. This software is slow to load and is also slow to create thumbnails, however it does offer a good range of functionality. You can easily create slide shows, and even add custom effects and music to them. Although it is slow, it is intuitive and easy to learn. You can also create folders for your images and videos to better organize them. We may have wished for more simplicity from a processing standpoint, but we can't fault Nokia for the features included.
Manual Control (2.0)
Despite the plethora of features the N95 still lacks the manual controls that are found on many modern camera. There are scene modes present including sport, night mode and landscape. Manual white balance, aperture priority mode and shutter priority mode are not present. We expect it will be awhile before cameras on phones begin offering the range of manual controls that are found on regular cameras.
Zoom (1.0)
The Nokia N95 does not have an optical zoom like its high end brethren the Nokia N93 and N93i. There is a 20x digital zoom available, but digital zoom is of limited utility.
Focus (5.0)
The Nokia N95 sports an auto focus lens, but without the range of stops and the manual focus found on regular cameras. An auto focus camera is a major step up from most cameras on phones like the Treo 750, which use fixed focus lenses.
Flash (3.0)
The Nokia N95 includes an LED flash that is only useful out to range of a couple of feet. This is similar to the flash found on the Nokia N73.
Metering (2.0)
etering allows you to control how light is judged in your photo. As with most camera phones the N95 lacks most metering options like spot metering, center weighted metering and evaluative metering. There are however exposure compensation controls that function similarly to the brightness settings found on other camera phones.
White Balance (2.0)
Like the N73, the N95 has preset white balance modes. These include sunny, cloudy, incandescent and florescent. Evaluative white balance, which uses a white card to judge true white, is not present.
Image Handling (8.0)
The Nokia N95, like all modern Series 60 phones, has a good set of image handling options. You can crop, resize, rename and rotate images as well as adjust things like brightness, sharpness and contrast. There is also a red eye reduction tool as well as some fun effects. Most phones only allow you to rename an image, and perhaps crop it, so we were very happy to see the range of options available on the N95.
Video
Overall Video Score (8.5)
The N95 captures video at full VGA (640 x 480) resolution and 30 frames per second. This is a huge step above other phones like the N73 that do 352 x 288 at 15fps. We were very impressed with the quality of the video taken by the N95. There was very little pixelation and colors were very true. We did have some trouble with scenes that had bright light coming into a darker room, but this is a minor issue. The video you take on the N95 is almost good enough to show on a regular TV, but it still doesn't stand up to even entry level camcorders.
Video Resolution (14.41)
We measure video resolution by taking video of the standard ISO 12233 resolution chart and run stills from it through the Imatest imaging software. The Nokia N95 did extremely well in our video resolution test, posting a score near double that of the next highest score to date, that of the Sanyo M1. It blew away the Nokia N73, which takes video at a maximum resolution of 352 x 288.
Video Compression (4.0)
The Nokia N95 takes video in .MP4 format using an mpeg-4 decompressor. There is a preset to capture video for MMS, which captures in 3GP format, however these are the only two compression options available.
Interface (8.0)
The video recording interface on the Nokia N95 is the same as other modern N-Series phones and is very similar to the still camera interface. Video is taken in landscape orientation with soft keys at the top and bottom right of the screen. The top soft key is assigned to exit while the bottom one opens the options menu. Between these two labels are icons that give you quick access to common settings. At the bottom left is an indicator that shows you how long you can take video or how long the current recording has been running. In the top left is an indicator that shows you what camera mode you are in. As with the still camera interface we found the camcorder interface on the N95 intuitive and easy to use. Manual Control (0.0)
As with the Nokia N73, the Nokia N95 does not provide any manual controls for video recording.
Zoom (1.0)
The Nokia N95 has a digital zoom for video, which is of limited utility. There is no optical zoom as found on the N93 or N93i.
Editing (6.0)
Like the N73 the N95 offers a good selection of video editing options. You can cut sections out and add an audio track as well as special affects and introductory screens. This is significantly better than what most phones offer.
Modes (4.0)
The Nokia N95 offers a night mode as well as a specific mode for capturing MMS video. We would have liked to see more modes available, but I guess you can't have everything.
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