iPhone photos just look severely underexposed. The Nokia's a much better camera with much better range. In looking at the first set of pictures, for example, you see much more detail in the pebbles that are in the woman's shadow (the darker part of the photo) yet the lighter parts of the photo (the ocean) also show much more detail. Nice comparisons; thanks for sharing!!

I'd say the iPhone photos are over-saturated. When the exposure is right they appear better because of the deeper, richer colour.

The old Nikon CoolPix also did this (maybe they still do?) — it's more aesthetically pleasing but not necessarily more accurate.

Hi great post!

I'm quite keen on still photography so I have a lot to say about these pictures. The pictures show that on a resized basis, (it would be much much more interesting to see the originals) that… N97 is a substantially better shooter than Iphone 3gs although its not a 1 way factor. Reasons as follows:

N97 (3): 3GS (1)
1) N97 adopts proper camera exposures: If you notice most of the pictures show that N97 is brighter than the Iphone. The reason it seems this way is that the N97 calculates the exposure with a heavier weighting on the central portion of the photo (which normal cameras do). The iphone seems to take a more equal weighted approach which results in pictures that are blatantly incorrect in exposures except for very evenly bright / dim pictures.
2) N97 has much better dynamic range: Dynamic range is the ability to interpret colours and details at different levels of brightness. This is significantly driven by the sensor so is much less likely to be tweaked. In Rocks & Pebbles, and particularly in Come to mama, the details in the bright parts, like the water reflections or even just the pebbles are gone with the 3GS. Furthermore, you can see the colour is also completely lost in the 3GS and the water becomes white (incorrectly).
3) N97 is significantly sharper & more detailed: As all the pictures are scaled to the same size, the level of detail you see should be the same. This is unfortunately not the case, in virtually all the pictures, if you look at the finer details, there is more information / detail presented for N97. Just look at the surface of rocks, or the leaves, look at the low contrast areas, notice there are much clearer details on the N97, like the big rock on the left in the Rocks & Pebbles.
4) 3GS there isn’t haze: In Empty road, you can see the bright light top right in 3GS which accurately shows the bright white sky whereas the N97 is hazy either due to a dirty lens or due to a bit of smearing as the light seems to create a haze by leaking across the trees. The haze creates a much less realistic picture and can ruin a photo.

Other comments where there are no obvious pros / cons:
1) N97 has wider angle lens – notice you see more in the image than the Iphone 3gs comparatively on a field of view. This is up to personal taste what you prefer.
2) N97 has better background blur – In by the stairs, the background is blurred to a greater degree
3) These photos are all taken in the best conditions (bright, contrasty colors) so we can’t talk much about noise, or low light capability.

Overall, the 3GS is a significantly worse shooter (just from these photos) as compared to N97 for day to day use.

lol, either you are a fanboy,or you need to get your eyes check/screen cleaned. Either way: fail!

Ah, the good old 'fanboy' label, thrown in there whenever you need to instantly discredit somebody.

<sigh>

Check out these 100% crops and see for yourself…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesburland/38584…

Great analysis! Thanks for the response!

Don't you mean set the contrast higher and increase the exposure on the Nokia N97 to get the same result?

In my opinion, I like the exposure from the N97 already, but would prefer to increase the contrast a little bit. I'm glad we have these settings built-in to Nokia phones.

I have downloaded two comparative photos of the sky (original dim), modified levels of the iPhone' photo and this is the result: http://gallery.me.com/guglielmo.altavilla#100090
The N97 is still and overall better, but the iPhone much best has defended than I believed.
(I am not a photographer, I modified levels using iPhoto, the default mac photo application)

James, seriously, the N97 shots have far more detail. It's clearly obvious. Are you being serious?

I have to say that I am really impressed about the iPhone photos. It does not have as good camera as the N97, but if you think it's only 3mpix (and change) camera, it does produce really good photos. I'd love to see comparison between iPhone 3GS and Nokia with equal mpix camera.

All in all I feel that N97 and iPhone have different approach towards smartphone. I like both, but both have flaws.. I do like my N97, but it's not the ultimate phone. I like the iPhone, but I am still using my N97..

Just to clarify, I never said that the iPhone shots had more detail.

I've spent a good portion of my adult life employed to ensure that photographs are reproduced correctly in print. The N97 shots, indeed all Nseries shots, have an over processed look. Take a look again at the 100% crops that I posted above, look at Mark's wife's leg and arm. There is clearly colour banding present, also where her ankle meets the floorboard you can make out a halo (an unnatural change in tone).

I'm sure that N97 will soundly thrash the iPhone is low light situations, and I expect the N97 to improve with each firmware revision, but right now, I prefer the look of the iPhone shots.

iPhone and N97 have different auto focus and light control, they definitely have different approach…but talking on outdoors…n97 will sure win.

n97 have exact light contrast and brightness while iPhone just got 1 photos to make it a good phone..

its smaller resolution so the image will be sure look fixed well compare to a higher reso..

Any particular reason for not using touch focus on the 3gs..wait, how what´s the name of this blog?

You don't have to believe me, but I definitely used touch focus/white balance on the proper areas with the iphone.

I've not had any problem with the N97's GPS and geotagging with V11. I even get GPS lock from inside my house. Does the iPhone have it's GPS turned on all the time, as the N97 only turns it on when you need it. This can cause it to have a slight delay before it managed to get the lock it needs to Geotag. There is an icon on the screen to let you know when it's got it. It only takes a couple of seconds normally.
As for the pictures, I think the N97 has a better dynamic range. The iPhone seems to loose details in the highlight and the shadow.
Where the SIM is doesn't matter. GPS is calculated from the satellite signals, not from the cell. Only assisted GPS uses cell and other information to assist. It's not essential.

Although I like the iPhone 3GS better, those 2 MP do make a difference!
Images' brightness and details were better on those of the N97, and that makes it the better “camera” phone.

The 'crushed blacks' and 'blown out highlights' is more about exposure control than anything else, which leads me to another point. Had Mark simply pointed at other parts of the scene using the 3GS's touch spot metering feature he could have totally changed the tonal level of everyone of these photos. Those blown out highlights would have been present and the crushed blacks could be nice and open had Mark had a bit more experience with the phone, using the powerful (but very narrow) feature set.

Do you have any observations about the two example photos that I featured in a comment below?

I love the Nseries, and I've spent hundreds of hours poring over amazing photos taken by the N95 and N82 in order to judge this competition…

http://tinyurl.com/nsoh83

I cannot state enough how brilliant these devices are at capturing scenes in all kinds of conditions. But when viewed at 100% size they do exhibit nasty characteristics due to processing which hasn't really changed much since the introduction of the N82.

iphone really good cell phone. but nokia shots wonderfull !

The iPhone has blown out highlights and crushed shadow in the same image! This isn't bad exposure, otherwise it would be one or the other, it's a restricted dynamic range!

hi, had the Nokia N97 about two weeks now.

please see some more examples of this phones quality here

http://myphotographer.posterous.com

thanks

hi folks,

I love nokia's phones, but it's clear, once more, that it hasn't the 'touch' with cameras-even with Carl Zeiss optics. You can clearly see the difference in sharpness of far objects(like in the 'by the stairs' photo); certainly the iphone's are darker but I wonder whether there are some options to improve that.

Nice picture's, amazing and excellent thanks.

The N97's photos look far more natural, bright, detailed. Much more lifelike.

I currently have an N96 and are looking at NOkia N900 and Nexus 1/Droid, although the photo quality/video makes me wonder whether I should stick with the N96 for a generation.