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
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- In poor light, the HTC One surprised me with clear and relatively sharp photos
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- Outdoors, the photos taken on the fly weren’t quite as clear and sharp.
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- Another low light photo; that beer looks pretty tasty, doesn’t it?
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- Notice that the HTC One did a decent job of capturing the bartender’s flying hands without blurring.
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- Incredibly poor light, yet the picture is clear.
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- The sky totally washes out on most pictures taken outdoors; this was a common problem in NYC on the hot overcast days.
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- In this pic you can see what the sky really looked like; it’s definitely not a “blue skies” pretty day situation, and it was hard to photograph.
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- The Albert Paley exhibit on Park Avenue gave me a chance to take a bunch of photos with crazy colors. Again, the sky really washed out. =/
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- Notice how ugly the sky is?
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- There really was no good way to get the sculpture in the photo without the sky looking white.
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- Here you can see that the sky was actually looking much bluer, and yet in order to get that to show, it had to be the object focussed on — not the sculpture.
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- I think that the HTC One did a good job showing the intricacies of Paley’s metal work.
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- One of the few shots I got where the sky looked good and the sky did, too!
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- Ugh … washed out skies, again.
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- A pic taken focussing on the sculpture washes out the sky …
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- …and a pic focussing on the sky darkens the sculpture. I wasn’t really thrilled with any of these photos. =/
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- This picture was taken in near darkness
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- Contrast this pic of Andy Warhol’s Rorschach Test taken with the Lumia 928. No flash was used on either pic, but the One looks washed out at the top from the museum lights.
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- Another to contrast with what was achieved with the Lumia 928. The pic looks flat and lifeless in comparison.
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- Washing out when colors weren’t vivid outdoors was a continual problem
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- I really liked this Van Gogh postman painting …
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- Andy Warhol soup cans …
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- Wyath’s “Christina’s World”. Kev and I stood in front of this for a good 10 minutes talking about all of the things going on.
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- Contrast this church entry to those taken with the Nokia Lumia 928; there is no comparison. =P
The Nokia Lumia 920
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- Kev peering at me through a sculpture.
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- How would you like to fall into this big shaggy chair?
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- One of Andy Warhol’s car crash silkscreens; the extra panel was to make it cost more. 😉
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- An Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe silkscreen; notice how golden the golds are?
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- Edward Ruscha’s OOF painting
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- Maribel Escobar’s “Love” sculpture
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- NYC bills plastered on construction plywood
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- More NYC bills posted
The Nokia Lumia 928 …
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- I was blown away by how clear this neon picture came out
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- NYC-sized cookies
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- If you are in NYC and you like vinyl, then you must visit Bleecker Street Records
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- Random records
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- The steps up from the basement at Bleecker Street Records
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- 45s … remember those?
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- I think I still have that Eurythmics picture disc somewhere …
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- Original Beatles albums …
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- Notice how sharp the building is, the moon is easy to discern, and the street scene doesn’t look too blurry
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- Standing in the rear of a church at night, with poor lighting. I had to take this shot several times, and this was the best.
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- Not as clear as I would have liked, but not bad.
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- For some reason white neon wasn’t as easy to shoot as colored
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- One World Trade Center (the Freedom Tower) seen from the street
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- Another tough lighting situation, but the Lumia 928 did very well!
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- I should have held my hand more steady, but we were walking and I stopped suddenly
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- No flash, andthe color of the sky is amazing!
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- The Village Vanguard, one of the most amazing jazz clubs anywhere
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- Kev letting me know that we will be staying for the 10pm show. 😉
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- Stone & metal work on the street
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- Gorgeous metal work from the street
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- Kev and Ali waiting for me to take “yet another photo” …
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- Notice how good the mini-lights look?
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- This picture was taken from a garage window into a completely dark room; the fact that it came out at all is amazing!
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- One World Trade Center lit up and seen from the East Side of Manhattan
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- Words of wisdom
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- Only in New York!
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- The Katherine Hepburn Park
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- Photos taken for a review I wrote while in NYC
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- Inside the Vanguard Jazz club; this was probably the best of the pics I took, as the lights on the musicians music was prone to flaring.
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- Looking through glass from the street
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- MEH Construction? If you say so.
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- Church entryway, to be compared with pics taken on the HTC One
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- There is still glare from the MoMA’s lights, but notice how much better the gold looks in this Andy Warhol?
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- One huge Jackson Pollock
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- This Rothko looks blurry, but I can assure you that it is the painting and not the picture.
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- The first Picasso we ran into
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- One of Monet’s Water Lillies
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- One of Roy Lichtenstein’s mouths
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- The detail in this Klimt is simply amazing
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- The painting is called “Hope, II”
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- Are these women praying or mourning? It is hard to tell …
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- Another Lichtenstein; he has a thing for lips and mouths, doesn’t he?
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- Andy Warhol’s ode to cosmetic surgery
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- Compare this to the same work of art photographed with the HTC One; this version seems much richer, doesn’t it?
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- Another Rothko … gorgeous.
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- Compare this photo to the one taken with the HTC One; I think the One did a better job in this low-light situation
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- Inside Grand Central Terminal; the destination markers aren’t quite as sharp as I would like them to be, but the colors are amazing.
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- Another look at the Paley exhibit on Park Avenue
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- Look at the sky in this and the next photo; it is gorgeous!
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?
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.
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.
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. =)
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.
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
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
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. =)