When I first heard about the Nokia N86’s powerful imaging capabilities, the first thing I wanted to compare it with was Nokia’s best imaging flagship, the Nokia N82. I had been a fan of the N82’s Xenon flash and great image output for around 2 years, and was ready to move to the next chapter in still image mobile photography, though I was still doubtful that the Nokia N86 8MP with its Dual-LED would provide that.
The first comparison I wanted to make was regarding the shutter speed. The N82 was great as a camera, but it was slow at taking pictures and processing them, so holding both devices next to each other and pressing the shutter button at the same time, I took a picture of a motorcycle driver speeding by. The picture on the left is taken with the N82, and on the right is taken with the N86. You can see that the N86 took the photo when the driver hadn’t yet reached the pedestrian line, whereas the N82 had to wait until he was all the way on them to snap it.
The second comparison was related to the benefit of the wide-angle lens on the N86 8MP. I didn’t know much about these photography jargon words, so I had to see for myself what a wide-angle lens accounted to. I used the same method as above, holding both devices next to each other, and ended up with this result. The N86’s image shows both of my friend’s feet as well as more of his eye, and more water below the duck. The end result is as if you took the image one or two steps back compared to the N82, and you end up with much more information captured.
The third comparison was a color comparison. One of my major gripes with the Nokia N82’s images is that they always ended up yellow’ish as if the yellow color was much more saturated than the blue or red ones. That especially annoyed me in landscape photos that had some sky portions in them because no matter how much I praised the N82 in front of my friends, comparing my photos in daylight with the ones they take with their Kodak and Sony cameras always resulted in the N82’s photos being crossed off as faded colors. In the first comparison, you can see how the castle looks way more yellow than it really is while the sky is seriously a very light blue on the N82, whereas the N86 makes the castle as well as the sky both look very natural and much more close to the true colors. In this particular example though, I might argue that the N82’s image feels more artsy than the N86, but it’s not always the case, and the bright yellow / faded blue effect is not always welcome in your photographs. This can be seen in the second picture comparison where the greenery in the background of the N82’s photo is way more yellow and bright than it is, in real life, as shown by the N86’s photo.
The last comparison I wanted to make was indoors in very dark conditions, to test the Xenon vs Dual LED effect. From left to right, you can see the images taken by the N82 (Xenon), N86 8MP (Dual-LED with improved aperture size) and N97 (Dual-LED). All three comparisons show the undeniable superiority of the Xenon flash indoors, but that the N86’s lens improvements give the N86 a great edge over the N97 and end up with an acceptable result. The third comparison especially demonstrates this, where you can see that the N97’s photo is way off the color chart compared to the N82 and N86’s that both capture the color more truthfully.
Note: I forgot that I had the image resolution in the N86’s photos here set to a very low value. The N82 and N97’s pics are in 5MP, whereas the N86’s aren’t in 8MP but in 1.2MP.
I want to add that the N86 trumps the N82 easily outdoors in very dark environments, because the Xenon doesn’t have any effect beyond a certain range, whereas the N86’s ability to capture more light without the need for a flash gives pictures a lot more detail that the N82 isn’t able to capture.
From the above comparison, you can see that the N86 is superior to the N82 in terms of shutter speed and wide-angle lens, whereas the N82 is slightly superior with its Xenon flash. A lot of improvements have been made to make the N86 a very capable handset in low-light conditions and it specifically shows when you put the N97’s photos next to both of the imaging flagships. As for the color rendition, I have to say that it probably is a personal preference: I like the N86’s saturated blues and greens and I hate the N82’s saturated yellow photos. Images taken with the N86 seem more vibrant to me, without being unrealistic or over saturated.
As for the question of whether or not the N86 8MP is the true still imaging flagship successor to the N82, we could argue about it for hours and still end up with the same conclusion: it’s a matter of whether or not you’re willing to compromise on the Xenon. The N86 8MP though, carries a great advantage over the N82 in terms of video capabilities with its true zoom effect, and that alone makes me personally prefer to carry the N86 over the N82, any day.
