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Nokia 6500 Slide Camera Review
At the turn of the year 2007 few people can be surprised with an integrated 3,2 Mpix camera. Most leading companies offer 5 Mpix cameraphones on the market nowadays. But for quite a long time 3,2 Mpix products will be available in the mass market segment, to which belong the last year’s cheapened flagships (e.g., Nokia N73, SonyEricsson K800i) and new devices alike. One of such models is Nokia 6500 Slide, a rather interesting device considering its position in the company’s product range. Thus, 6500s is the first phone (not PDA) of the manufacturer making use of the Carl Zeiss optics. This fact alone automatically puts the handset into the category of photo solutions in the company’s opinion.
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The results of Nokia 6500s camera testing are quite evident. It provides for a shot quality quite good in the product's native segment, in many cases (especially when it comes to daytime shooting) surpassing the cameraphones by other brands. It’s natural that there are some shots where 6500s doesn’t look its best, but on the whole the device is a good photo-oriented offer available on the market. The quality of pictures is on a level with Nokia N73, but for adding a purple tint, 6500s renders the colors in a more realistic manner. The relatively modest features for shooting, editing and viewing should be considered as a disadvantage, as for the positive points let’s note short focusing and display refreshing intervals in a viewfinder mode, good sharpness and contrast of the picture, clear-cut details (due to a high-quality glass lens). However Nokia 6500s cannot be considered a categorical photo-oriented solution, not that it laid claim to this role. The camera flagships in the company’s portfolio are the Nseries multimedia PDA-phones, while the mission of 6500s is to become a mass, affordable offer, the capabilities of which will satisfy the majority of the potential audience.
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Before now the only phone in the company’s portfolio with a quality 3,2 Mpix camera was Nokia 7390, but this device belonged to image models, it couldn’t be considered a mass solution, besides the built-in camera did not provide the image quality on a level with the categorical photo-oriented models of that time (the above-mentioned N73, K800i). Thus, Nokia 6500s becomes a photo-flagship of the company in the medium price range. The marketing perspectives of the new phone look very promising.
Therefore it is rather interesting to dwell on the camera potential of this product, to compare it to the competing offers of the same price range as well as to understand how much the advantage of employing quality optics by the prominent manufacturer is and whether the model of this class has it at all. The matter is that the final quality of photo-materials depends not only on the optics employed, but first of all on the image processing algorithms.
Assembly, interface
So, the Nokia 6500s camera lens is located on the back panel and there is no cover to protect it. Accordingly the lens is subjected to the risk to be soiled or scratched. The camera launch button is a two-position one and is put on the right edge. It’s easy-to-use, neither tight nor loose; the only sad thing is that it's positioned a bit too low which may result in the phone falling out of the hand when trying to shoot single-handedly. The right edge hosts the sound volume buttons as well utilized for digital zooming when using the camera (it’s a 20x one with Nokia 6500s). The LED flashlight is found near the objective. It’s effective within a meter and a half.
The camera interface utilizes the landscape orientation, however this setting can be customized; an option like that is available. In the viewfinder mode all the necessary indicators are displayed on the screen: the the picture/clip resolution, data storage path, zooming, the timer status, the remaining number of shots, the flashlight icon and so on. On the whole, everything is rather informative.
By pressing the left soft key we get into the camera menu consisting of following items:
Switching between shooting modes (photo or video)
Switching to portrait orientation
Brightness adjustment (10 positions)
Nighttime mode
Flashlight (ON, OFF or auto mode)
Autotimer (to 3, 5 or 10 seconds)
Serial shooting
Effects (Sepia, Greyscale, Negative)
White balance (Auto, Daylight, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Horizon))
The previous photo
Gallery
Rather few options are available; the quantity of effects is minimal. As for the number of settings Nokia 6500s doubtlessly yields to competing offers.
Miscellaneous settings include:
Image quality (Fine, Normal, Basic)
The time of viewing a photo after taking (no viewing, 3, 5, 10 seconds)
Camera sounds
Default file names
Customizing folder for video and photo storage
The following photo resolutions are available:
1536х2048
1600x1200(UXGA)
1280x960(SXGA)
640x480(VGA)
320x240(QVGA)
320x240(QVGA)
It is pleasant that besides the phone memory or the expansion card customizing a folder for video and photo storage is available.
The photo just taken from the camera can be sent via MMS, via Bluetooth; you can also send it for printing. It can be set as a background, wallpaper, associated with a contact or a group of contacts. The image transformation options are Resize and Rotate; Contrast settings are available as well (10 positions).
You can instantly open a photo in the image editor offering few features:
Text insert
Frame (one of the 7 available)
Graphical clip (7 variants as well)
Icon insert
Crop (a portrait or a customizable size)
It’s evident that Nokia 6500s options concerning camera settings and image editing are moderate. The model offers just the necessary minimum, no more than that.
As for video shooting, things are still simpler here. No editing features are available (except for ripping sound from clips). The maximum clip length is limited to the amount of free user memory, the shooting quality is adjustable (Fine, Normal, Basic) as well as the resolution (640x480, 352x288, 176x144 and 128x96). The quality of captured video is one of the best in its class; it’s the framerate that lets down (15 frames per second). On the whole videoclips are similar to those with Nokia 6233, 5610; no changes are brought about.
Gallery
The gallery is much similar to most of Series 40 phones, it’s no more than a file manager allowing for browsing and viewing the contents of user memory. Three options for folder content viewing are available to the user (list, list with info, icons), so you can customize it to you liking. The pictures can be viewed in a slide show listing all of the pictures found in a particular folder, which often proves useful when it comes to making a presentation involving a lot of pictures. However the slide show isn’t customizable at all. It's impossible to customize even the time interval. The contents of the galley can be sorted by date, type, name and size.
The pictures and videos can be viewed in full-screen mode (in landscape orientation). The following video formats are supported: H.263, H.264, MPEG-4 and 3GPP. Progressive rewinding is available, in full-screen mode the playbar is located at the bottom of the screen; interactive icons are also displayed.
A memory state check option is available, showing the overall size of each content category - from pictures in the gallery to application data. The Series 40 gallery displays a moderate functionality, especially as compared to their S60 smart cousins or analogous devices by competitor brands. Matters stand much better with them.
The phone supports TV-Out functionality (a unique feature found among Series 40 devices), used to establish a phone-to-TV connection in order to play video clips and view photos taken with the camera on the large screen. The settings are minimal, you are allowed for just selecting one of the standards (PAL or NTSC).
Shooting
Now let’s get down to the shooting. First we’ll give some examples of photos taken under various conditions so that you could evaluate Nokia 6500s camera capabilities on your own. It must be said that the focusing interval of the device is short, about 2 seconds; in this regard it leaves behind the flagships of the company N73 and N95. But it makes almost 3 seconds between pressing the button and getting the picture – not the most optimal parameter.
So, the examples of images taken at maximal quality settings in the Auto mode:
Comparison
Let's get down to comparison itself, as competing offers by other manufacturers we’ll pick out SonyEricsson K810i and Samsung E590. K810i belongs to the same class as Nokia 6500s; their prices are comparable, while E590 is much cheaper. However, it is positioned approximately as a mid-end photo-solution.
Nokia 6500s / SE K810i
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590
The first shot is a daytime one, taken outdoors, a large bright object being in the center of the scene. The most natural color rendering is with Nokia 6500s, the other two devices softened the colors, making them less bright. Besides, 6500s keeps the details sharper. The background is perfectly worked through – all details are clear-cut, while E590 and K810i were not the best to cope with the task.
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590 / SE K810i
The following two shots completely repeat the situation - disregard of Samsung and SE to fine details smear the pictures, while 6500s is the most optimal one.
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590 / SE K810i
The picture gives a demonstration of Samsung E590 doubtless superiority - color rendering is the most natural one, the background is highly detailed.
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590 / SE K810i
Let’s go further. Shooting indoors with a bright light source in the center. The image sharpness is higher with 6500s, but color rendering lets down a little, the device tints the picture with lilac.
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590 / SE K810i
As for the next shot 6500s and E590 are in the lead, providing a clear-cut image and rendering the colors in a more realistic manner.
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590 / SE K810i
As for the picture with the propeller, E590 is doubtlessly in the lead, color rendering is highly correct, all details are clear-cut. K810i and 6500s don’t render colors naturally enough.
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590 / SE K810i
As for the picture with the propeller, E590 is doubtlessly in the lead, color rendering is highly correct, all details are clear-cut. K810i and 6500s don’t render colors naturally enough.
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590 / SE K810i
The shot taken with E590 turned out the best again, but it shows a minor difference compared to the competitors.
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590 / SE K810i
With artificial illumination K810i doubtlessly takes the lead, the sharpness in the macro mode being ideal as well as color rendering. The absence of noise (the picture taken with 6500s) and white fog (E590) is pleasant.
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590 / SE K810i
Nokia 6500s doubtlessly does better at close-ups, while the focusing point of K810i is somewhere behind the frame.
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590 / SE K810i
A bright-colored object. 6500s gave a too sharp picture, but in the most natural colors, while K810i gave a softer one. E590 added white fog once again.
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590 / SE K810i
A picture taken using the photo stand with bright fluorescent illumination. Nokia and SE are doubtlessly the best ones while E590 failed to auto-adjust the white balance.
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590 / SE K810i
A false triggering of the flashlight by Nokia 6500s; the illumination was sufficient to take an excellent picture, which was proved by Samsung E590:
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590
Taking snaps of documents. 6500s and K810i are comparable here, once again E590 did not cope with the task properly.
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590 / SE K810i
Taking some pictures indoors to compare Nokia 6500s and Samsung E590, no comments:
Nokia 6500s / Samsung E590
Impressions
The result of Nokia 6500s camera testing is quite evident. It provides for a shot quality quite good in the product's native segment, in many cases (especially when it comes to daytime shooting) surpassing the cameraphones by other brands. It’s natural that there are some shots where 6500s doesn’t look its best, but on the whole the device is a good photo-oriented offer available on the market. The quality of pictures is on a level with Nokia N73, but for adding a purple tint, 6500s renders the colors in a more realistic manner. The relatively modest features for shooting, editing and viewing should be considered as a disadvantage, as for the positive points let’s note short focusing and display refreshing intervals in a viewfinder mode, good sharpness and contrast of the picture, clear-cut details (due to a high-quality glass lens). However Nokia 6500s cannot be considered a categorical photo-oriented solution, not that it laid claim to this role. The camera flagships in the company’s portfolio are the Nseries multimedia PDA-phones, while the mission of 6500s is to become a mass, affordable offer, the capabilities of which will satisfy the majority of the potential audience.
Author: Ilya Solovyov, editor@smape.com SMAPE.com
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