It seems we aren't the only ones that feel sorry the Nokia N86 8MP lacks a xenon flash like its predecessor - the Nokia N82. So the Finnish company decided it had to do something to restore its latest flagship reputation and released a statement, boldly claiming that the handset doesn't need a xenon unit to make good low-light shots.
Of course we do agree with most of the points listed - the Nokia N86 8MP wider-angle lens and wider aperture make it easier to avoid camera shake in lowlight environments but the developers have also missed on some major points.
For one the wider-angle lens and the wider aperture aren't enough of a compensation for the light output difference between a xenon flash and a LED unit (be it 3rd generation or not). While flash photography has its flaws too (the harsher shadows and the overexposed parts of the reflective subjects in the frame spring to mind) our humble opinion is that cameraphones are far from ready to tackle low-light photography without a proper flash. Even dedicated point-and-shoot cameras produce highly noisy results in flash-less photography. And as much as we want to believe that the Nokia N86 8MP has somehow managed to bend the laws of physics, our eyes tell us otherwise.
In fact the N86 8MP did come pretty close to the Samsung Pixon12 image quality in the dark with the flash units on both devices turned off and that speaks well in favor of the progress Nokia are making. However once the xenon power kicks in, it becomes a really uneven battle as you can see from the samples below. So a step forward it might as well be, but the N86 8MP is far from the best in class at this stage.
