We currently have 2 most awaited smartphones to be launched in this mid of 2010. The first one is Apple iPhone 4, which will start its pre-order tomorrow and will be available in store 10 days later, on my birthday 24^th June, 2010. 2 months later, Nokia N8 will be released around 24^th August, 2010, and you may pre-order the device right now at Amazon Germany.

Both smartphones run on brand new Operating Systems (iPhone iOS4 for iPhone & Symbian^3 for N8) and come with a lot of new features. Well, the camera is one of the things I’m always interested in a smartphone, so I think making a comparison of the pictures captured using iPhone 4 and Nokia N8 would be fun.

The camera technical specification of both smartphones are as follows :-

Nokia N8

• 12 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens
• Xenon flash
• 16:9 aspect ratio (wide screen)
• Focal length: 5.9mm (equivalent to 28mm wide angle lens)
• F number/Aperture: F2.8
• Zoom : Digital 2x

iPhone 4

• 5 megapixel CMOS sensor
• LED flash
• 4:3 aspect ratio
• Focal length: 3.85mm (equivalent to lens of 29.4mm)
• F number/Aperture: F2.8
• Autofocus
• Zoom : Digital 5x

After comparing the technical specifications of both smartphone’s cameras, let’s see some images taken by both devices :-

Outdoor Portrait

Nokia N8

Official Outdoor Portrait Taken Using Nokia N8 (Click for full size image)

iPhone 4

Official Outdoor Portrait Taken Using iPhone 4 (Click for full size image)

Outdoor Landscape

Nokia N8

Unofficial Outdoor Landscape Taken Using Nokia N8 (Click for full size image)

Unofficial Outdoor Landscape Taken Using Nokia N8 (Click for full size image)

iPhone 4

Official Outdoor Landscape Taken Using iPhone 4 (Click for full size image)

Outdoor Close-up

Nokia N8

Unofficial Outdoor Close-up Taken Using Nokia N8 (Click for full size image)

iPhone 4

Official Outdoor Close-up Taken Using iPhone 4 (Click for full size image)

Indoor Object

Nokia N8

Official Indoor Object Taken Using Nokia N8 (Click for full size image)

iPhone 4

Official Indoor Object Taken Using iPhone 4 (Click for full size image)

* All official pictures are official samples from Nokia & Apple, while unofficial pictures are taken by normal users.
* Pictures are linked directly to the respective sources.

My verdicts

1. Picture size

The first obvious difference between pictures taken by Nokia N8 and iPhone is the picture size. Nokia N8 has a 12 megapixel camera which is able to produce large pictures. The picture resolution of all Nokia N8 pictures shown above is 4000×3000. Picture resolution of iPhone 4 pictures is slightly smaller because of the 5 megapixel camera.

2. Wide angle

The 5.9mm focal length of Nokia N8 (equivalent to 28mm for a Point & Shoot camera) is able to take pictures in a wider angle. This article gives a very good explanation on this aspect.

3. Picture clarity

All iPhone 4 outdoor pictures shown above are official samples, which were taken under bright natural sunlight. The indoor sample was also taken near the window with natural sunlight. As you may already know, bright natural sunlight helps to produce clear pictures so I think iPhone 4 is doing fairly well under bright light.

On the other hand, pictures taken by Nokia N8 are very clear as well, with a lot of details can clearly be seen. For example, the number in red (15292886) on top of a building in the 2nd unofficial outdoor landscape picture can be seen even the picture was taken on a gloomy day.

4. Colour

The camera of both smartphones handle colour very well. The colours are quite sharp and vivid.

New additions :

5. Flash & Low light

I couldn’t find any picture snapped with flash for both smartphones, official or unofficial. Therefore, we can’t tell how good is the Xenon flash of Nokia N8. Besides, pictures taken by iPhone 4 in low light condition was not found too, it makes me wonder how iPhone will perform under dimmed light or in dark indoor.

Well, that’s my comparison of the pictures taken by both smartphones. What do you think?