With its QWERTY keyboard, bigger (and wider) touch screen and large internal storage, it’s clear that the N97 has its advantages when you compare it to the N86 8MP. In some cases I even tried touching the N86 8MP’s screen!

But, as Nokia’s flagship camera smartphone, the N86 8MP has a few tricks up it’s sleeve when the camera is concerned. As we compare it to the N97, these advantages become very evident.

Wide-angle lens

               Nokia N86 8MP                                         Nokia N97

With the N97 and the N86 8MP positioned at the exact same spot, notice how the N86 8MP’s wide-angle lens is able to capture more of the keyboard in the shot. I was surprised to find that the N86 8MP lens not only captures more data in the width, but also in height as I can see more of the tile flooring. Perfect for in door shots, where there’s little space to back up to get everyone in the shot and great for panoramas.

Useable digital zoom

When it comes to zooming I had one rule: if it’s not optical, don’t use it. For this reason, I only used it on the N93 and N93i. Despite being blessed with only digital zoom, the zoom function on the N86 8MP is very usable, capturing lots of detail even when almost completely zoomed in. The N97 and other digital-zoom-equipped Nokia’s can’t keep up.

If you’ve owned a N93 you’d also know that the optical zoom mechanism produces an annoying buzzing sound while zooming in, not an issue with the N86 8MP.

Better Flash

             Nokia N86 8MP                                         Nokia N97

Both of these smartphones use dual LED technology, but the N86 8MP’s image is better illuminated and looks more neutral.

As for the operation speed, both seemed fast. I thought the N86 8MP would be faster, but the two devices are about the same. But when you consider that the N86 8MP has to work with larger 8MP images, it’s clear that it’s working harder (and faster) to stay at the same level as the N97 that has to process smaller 5MP images.

Other than these advantages, the N86 8MP also has Face Detection and focus point indication, features that the N97 lacks.

When taking pictures using previous Nseries devices, the camera would either tell you whether it could properly focus (Green focus bracket) or not (Red focus bracket). With the latest firmware v20.115 for the N86 8MP there’s a new focus point indication feature, that shows you where exactly the camera is focusing on.

If it detects faces it will focus on these faces, if not, you will see a single focus bracket showing where the camera is focusing on.

The video below was deliberately taken without any faces, showing the focus point indication bracket. Notice how it’s colored green, when it’s properly able to focus. Also notice how the bracket’s position changes depending on the “scene” as the position of the camera changes.

A new feature added in firmware v20.115 to the N86 8MP’s camera is Face Detection. This software feature scans for facial features and focuses on those area to make sure they are in focus once the image is taken. You can see that it’s working by the focus brackets that are dynamically adjusted in relation to location of the faces on screen. This is the same feature found in many digital cameras.

The feature is enabled by default and can be turned off in the camera settings. As you can see below the feature works really well. In fact, it works so well that the N86 8MP can detect faces, even when I pointed it to a picture being displayed on my laptop!

Nokia has just release the long awaited firmware v20.115 for the N86 8MP. As expected, Nokia’s imaging flagship receives tons of camera related improvements and features, most notably Face detection, a first in a Nokia camera phone.

According to Allaboutsymbian this update bring the following updates:

Camera improvements:

• Improved still image quality
• Improved video quality
• Face detection added
• Red-eye removal added (Nokia note: "this is image processing which removes the red-eye. You need to be in red-eye reduction flash mode for it to be operational. Other flash modes it is disabled as there is a small shot to shot impact due to the extra image processing.")
• New focus point indication – this shows where in the scene the camera is focussing
• Improved Close-up focus. (Nokia note: "As a result you will find in most situations you can focus much closer than before. The new focus point indication will also help in confirming which part of your subject is used for critical focus checking")

Significant bug fixes to:

• Web
• Music store client
• RealPlayer
• Ovi Maps
• Here and Now
• N-Gage client
• Nokia Messaging

Other improvements:

• Automatic VoIP re-registration.
• Ovi Chat shortcut on the homescreen
• new Ovi services splash screen
• Ovi Store client

The update is quite  large at 7557 kb (for a firmware-over-the-air update) and is accessible from the home screen by pressing *#0000# or by going to the Software Update application. We’ll be taking a look at the new camera features very soon.

The Nokia N86 8MP has now appeared on the official DLNA list of compatible devices, joining other DLNA-certified devices like the N82 and N95 8GB. This means that the N86 8MP is certified as a “Mobile Digital Media Server” and allow it share your media to other DLNA-certified products like printers or the PS3.

Speaking of DNLA certification, why hasn’t the N97 been certified yet? It even has the capable hardware and software, which makes it even stranger. Perhaps this is something we’ll see in the new firmware coming in October.

The video below gives you an idea of how DLNA works.

If you are thinking about upgrading to the N86 8MP, here’s a comparison between the N82 and the newly released N86 8MP. What do you think of the results?

Recently there’s been a lot of talk about the N97’s sliding camera cover. Many have been reporting scratches that started appearing  on the lens cover. You can follow the discussion here and here.  It now appears that these scratches are being caused by the sliding camera design that doesn’t take into account that dust eventually finds its way into electronics.

Apparently there’s a small blue plastic part right underneath the sliding cover that holds a magnet. This magnet triggers a switch, which is what allows the slider to inform the phone that the camera application should be activated. Problem is that this blue part sits way too close to the clear lens cover. Debris that is stuck inside is the cause of these scratches.

In an article written a while back at AllAboutsymbian they did an experiment trying to find out if scratched lenses could have any effect on image quality. Their conclusion was that: “for 99.9% of ‘normal’ photos, you simply won’t notice any difference whatsoever between photos taken when your phone is new and those taken when it’s lived in your pocket for six months and has some battle scars on its (unprotected) camera glass.” From the results, it seemed that in cases where flash was involved or the sun was of at a specific angle, there were some noticeable (but not by much) differences. The results from the Nokia blog seem to support this: scratched areas on the clear lens cover are interfering with the light produced by the flash, affecting image quality. Mark did say that he wiped the lens cover clean. In some cases this can do more harm then good: there could be tiny particles on the glass surface and wiping them clean has the same effect as sandblasting glass. Remember those glass bathroom doors that have an almost foggy look to them? This is done by sandblasting, basically scratching the glass to create an effect.

So what can you do? SymbianGuru Ricky Cadden has received a few tips from Nokia Care, to prevent this from happening:

All of these tips make a lot of sense, but I feel that an important one is left out: use compressed air instead of a cleaning cloth to get rid of debris. As mentioned above, cleaning the clear lens cover with a cleaning cloth with debris on the clear lens cover may have the same effect as sandblasting. Luckily N86 8MP  users don’t seem to be affected by this. Do you know any tips that might prevent this from happening?

Image: Courtesy N97fanatics

Digital Photography Review, one of the best digital camera sources on the net, recently took a look at the Nokia N86 8MP and found some interesting good and bad points about the camera.

 These guys review plenty of cameras and despite some pretty fast dedicated digital cameras out there, they found the autofocus on the N86 8MP “admirably fast.”

They also suspect that the N86 8MP uses some heavy-duty noise reduction, based on the fact that it produced images around the 1.2MB mark. Your typical 8 megapixel digital camera produces images of about 3.5MB. This indicates that some heavy compression is being applied, which might not be good for image quality. On the other side, the smaller size is perfect for uploading on a mobile device.

 The Nokia rep also mentioned that they “choose to prioritise vibrancy of colour, even though we may have compromised other areas to offer that vibrancy. We’ve conducted extensive benchmarking and have found that punchy, vibrant colour is something that people prioritise highly”   The idea about (digital) photography is all about striving to capture an image as close as possible to reality. Making the image more pleasing instead of more realistic is a step in the wrong direction if you ask us. Fidelity with neutral colors should be the way to go.

But the most interesting bit they mention, is that because the N86 8MP uses digital zoom, it basically up-samples all zoomed in images back to 8MP. They call the results “rather interesting.” They mentioned that using the 3X zoom “has a devastating effect on the camera’s resolution.” Which is not good for the end results. The basic rule here is you shouldn’t use the N86 8MP’s digital zoom. Cropping the image in your favorite image editor is a better solution. One thing worth noting is that because the N86 captures more data with its 8 Megapixel sensor, it allows more room to crop images.

As for a high-end imaging device with optical zoom, it looks like we’ll be waiting a bit longer as the Nokia rep mentions that “we need the technology to develop a bit further before we can offer them all together.”

Devin’s Opinion: Based on Dpreview’s view on the device, it might seem like the N86 8MP isn’t performing well. I think it all depends by which standards you judge the device. I feel that the N86 8MP was judged by dedicated digital camera standards and rightly so, since it was reviewed by a digital camera review site and because the N86 8MP was created to replace or at least fill in for a dedicated camera. I  do agree with the points given by Dpreview, which indicates that Nokia isn’t quite there yet, but the gap is closing. The N86 8MP currently  represents one of the best imaging devices currently on the market, not only for fast operation, but also lens quality, low light performance and fairly good fidelity, even though Nokia mentions that the device prioritizes vibrant colours.