I had an hour or two with the Motorola Droid / Milestone today and managed to take a few (just a few) pics with the cameras on each one. The images don’t tell the whole story of course (my thoughts on testing phone cameras here) but it might help you to at least see that there’s not much difference in the image quality between the three. I’ve included some thoughts too.
Above: N900. With flash on right.
Above: Omnia Pro. With flash on right.
Above: Motorola Milestone (EU version of Droid). With flash on right.
For daylight snapshopts, I have to say that I enjoy the Omnia Pro the most based on its speed, features and ease of setup. The flash on the Omnia Pro always seems to fire at full power though which sometimes results in strange results. I’m finding it very difficult to get good low-light results on the OP. Daylight, no-flash results are always good as long as you remember to clean the lens.
The N900 is so clunky to use (slow software) that I just can’t recommend it for snapshots, whatever the image quality, although this is a firmware issue that can be resolved by Nokia.
The Droid is reasonable all-round and seems to control the flash well. There’s far more grain on the photo’s though.
Exim data should be preserved on those files so download and have a look to find F-stop and shutter speed setting. Again, the Omnia Pro appears to have a slightly more sensitive camera which is always good.
Overall, the average user isn’t going to notice much of a difference in quality. If the N900 firmware can be fixed it will be the best. It has the best lens and the very important lens cover.
#1 by jacob on November 29th, 2009
The Nokia Schneider branded lenses are, in my opinion, some of the best on the market right now.
#2 by Chippy on November 29th, 2009
I cant argue with that. My N82 and the N900 produce consistenly sharp results. I’m so tempted by the N86. Just wish it had a bigger screen! (and Xenon flash)