Can your cellphone replace a camera?

[Rouxenator]

If you need excellent low light performance and your job is taking pictures then you will never go without a DSLR. You won't mind carrying the unsightly thing around because it is your job to do si.

If you want extreme flexibility in a more manageable format then a bridge camera is the best you can do.

However, as the old saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you. That is where N-series has made a killing. The N82 was the imaging king for its entire lifespan and the new N8, with it bigger-than-P&S sensor, will be the ultimate compact camera, because it will always be with you.

 

[LancelotSA]

If you want extreme flexibility in a more manageable format then a bridge camera is the best you can do.

However, as the old saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you.

Yip, that is a point missed by many and raised by myself earlier. I am never without my phone, and I am sure I am not alone, however, I don't know of anyone who always has their camera with them.

As for mention of low light conditions, this is why I am insistent on a phone with a proper xenon flash and not an LED light (this was what you were referring to Grhardt)

 

[Rouxenator]

The xenon flash does help a bit, as does the ISO range of up to 1250. In terms of phone cameras and also most point and shoot models, the N8 has the upper hand.

DSLRs on the other hand can go well beyond ISO 12800 (x10 more) and they have huge sensors. Combined with fast lenses their is now way they will every be dethroned, but they are big and ugly - much more so than even bridge/ultrazoomers. If I do set out to take picture or go to a planned event I always take my real camera with - its dedicated for the job. For all the other times it is best to have a phone with a decent camera, and I am so tired of the 5800 I have used for the last 6 months now... I need that N8.

 

[LancelotSA]

DSLRs on the other hand can go well beyond ISO 12800 (x10 more) and they have huge sensors. Combined with fast lenses their is now way they will every be dethroned

Yip, indeed, which is why I was quite specific about this in the original post.

 

[LancelotSA]

So talk seems to have drifted towards comparing the N8 to a DSLR camera.... well as luck would have it, someone has done a comparison between the N8 and a Canon 550D DSLR. In certain instances the DSLR is the clear winner but the results may surprise many.

http://thehandheldblog.com/2010/10/04/shootout-nokia-n8-v-canon-550d-dslr/

 

[Arthur]

Wireless Access Point.

Don't know about Windows mobile but there must be a way.

It's been standard on many WinMo HTC systems for years. My first was on the HD in 2008. Also, there are many apps available that add this feature for WinMo - take a look at WMWiFiRouter for example. I routinely use my HD2 + 3G/HSDPA as a wifi access point to connect laptop to internet and remote desktop into the office PC. I've even used it to connect the office network to the internet when the adsl system was down for a few hours.

That said, the HD2 has a pretty reasonable camera, with double-LED flash. Fine for ad hoc snaps and MP4s, but never a replacement for a dedicated camera. Made a pretty nifty video of my son playing a gig at Burning Man in Grahamstown two weekends ago.