Traveling with the Nokia Lumia 928 – Good Enough to Be My Only Camera?

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Katherine Hepburn Park in Manhattan, taken with the Nokia Lumia 928

Before leaving on our recent trip to NYC, I was given the opportunity to try out a Nokia Lumia 928. I wasn’t expected to review the phone — Carly had already thoroughly done that. Rather, the idea was that I see how well the Lumia 928 could do as my primary camera while traveling, and to see whether I liked it better than some of the other phones I had also brought along on the trip.

Ordinarily when traveling I’ll bring either my Canon G11 or 5D; on this trip I brought nothing but a bag-full of phones. Although I also had the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 with me, my go-to photo taking devices soon became the  Nokia Lumia 928 and the HTC One — with a sprinkling of Nokia Lumia 920 photos in there, just because I really like that camera, too.

What follows are the photos I took on the trip with each smartphone’s camera, along with some random notes. Which smartphone’s camera do you think took the best photos?

 

The HTC One

The Nokia Lumia 920

The Nokia Lumia 928 …

Although I was surprised to find that I thought the HTC One took better pictures in low light situations — especially where people were involved — I thought the Nokia Lumia 928 did a better job with random street shots in natural or even tough evening light situations. The Nokia 928 definitely performed better than the HTC One indoors; I think that the MoMA pictures prove that.

I didn’t bring a non-smartphone camera on the trip, but I don’t think I needed to, at all.  Which smartphone are you using? Do you think that it could function as your only camera on a trip? Or do you always bring a camera along, too?

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About the Author

Judie Lipsett Stanford
Judie is the co-owner and Editor-in-Chief of Gear Diary, which she founded in September 2006. She got her start in 1999 writing software reviews at the now-defunct smaller.com; from mid-2000 through 2006, she wrote hardware reviews for and co-edited at The Gadgeteer. A recipient of the Sigma Kappa Colby Award for Technology, Judie has written for or been profiled by nationally known sites and magazines, and she has served on multiple industry hardware and software award panels. She is best known for her device-agnostic approach, enjoyment of exploring tech, gadgets, and gear, and her deep-diving, jargon-free reviews.

9 Comments on "Traveling with the Nokia Lumia 928 – Good Enough to Be My Only Camera?"

  1. TrvlngDrew | July 27, 2013 at 6:57 pm |

    Interesting.. I’ve been thinking about a travel phone, ether a Nokia 1020 or theSamsung Galaxy camera. I would probably prefer the Nokia for size and fit in my pocket. But then I’m not a serious photographer and just make do with whatever phone is in my hand at the time! I have some friends that are serious photographers and wouldn’t even consider less than bringing their serious camera, regardless of the advances in the phone cameras. So I guess it just depends on the person. What I find more troubling is trying to organise my photos between Apple, Android, and Windows 8 into reasonable albums that are accessible from all the platforms. I always default to Apple and iPhoto just for simplicity and ability to link to my iPad which I use to show my photos to whoever might be interested.

    • Drew, I think I am going to buy a Nokia Lumia 1020 this week. I fondled the one that Ziff Davis had for review last week when I was in NYC, and even though it didn’t feel as bullet proof as the 920 (nor was it as heavy), it seemed like a very solid mobile phone. I have to admit that I wish Nokia was making Android phones as well, but I like Window Phone, too. =)

      • TrvlngDrew | July 28, 2013 at 8:25 pm |

        Very nice! Well am curious to see your review.. I do need a ‘holiday’ phone, Windows 8 notwithstanding LOL

        • I do like Windows 8 a lot. If the app devs will just catch on to how great the phones are … =P

          • TrvlngDrew | July 28, 2013 at 9:42 pm |

            I do too, just wish Microsoft would pay more attention to it and as you say the app devs catch on. Its still ahead of Blackberry LOL

  2. David Min | July 28, 2013 at 9:12 am |

    I’ve acquired a Lumia 1020 specifically for the camera (probably like 99% of current 1020 owners). I haven’t had much time to take pictures as of yet, so nothing to report.

    I’ve been impressed so far with the build quality. It’s polycarbonate but for some reason, it just feels better in my hand than a Samsung phone. Still not up to the HTC One or the iPhone in terms of feel, but better than most phones available right now, imo. I like the fact that it is significantly lighter than the 920.

    I’ll update with some pics once I have had a chance to shoot a few.

    • David, I am looking forward to seeing your 1020 pics when you get a chance. =)

      I agree that the 1020 feels better than a Samsung Phone, the S4 specifically, but that doesn’t take much to accomplish. =P

      I agree it’s not quite up to the iPhone or HTC One, but it’s good in it’s own way, and I am glad it has the rounded edges of the 920 rather than the sharper edges of the 928. It definitely felt good in my hand.

      • David Min | July 28, 2013 at 9:55 pm |

        Judie-

        I cannot load the 1020 pictures to the site due to size constraints.

        • David, I got your images, and I must say that they are impressive! I agree that the 5MP images look best, too. The 1020 really puts the iPhone to shame, IMHO. I’ll have to make the pics a bit smaller, but I will upload them in a separate post, shortly. =)

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