Two phones receiving a huge amount of attention at the moment are the recently launched Apple iPhone 5 and the Nokia Lumia 920. Okay, the iPhone is gathering by far the most publicity at present but the Lumia 920 has also had some favorable press and is due to release in Q4. The Lumia 920 may well appeal to consumers who want to try out an iOS or Android alternative as it runs on the upcoming Windows Phone 8 operating system and today we want to take a look at the Nokia Lumia 920 vs. iPhone 5 regarding camera stability.
It has to be said that where Nokia Lumia phones sometimes lack on cutting-edge specs the flagship devices always receive praise for the camera setups and the iPhone 5 camera has also garnered widespread praise. We’ve already written many posts on the iPhone 5 and Lumia 920 so hit the links for details of specs, features, insight and much more. Two days ago for example we compared the Lumia 920 to another upcoming Windows Phone 8 phone, the HTC 8X and we also took a look at the camera capabilities of the iPhone 5 when compared to the iPhone 4S. Now an image stabilization test has taken place using the Lumia 920 and the iPhone 5 and we want to give you some of the details as well as a video that you can view below this story.
As a quick reminder we can tell you that the Lumia 920 has an 8-megapixel rear camera with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, dual-LED flash, optical image stabilization and 1080p video capture capability. It also uses the impressive Nokia PureView technology, geo-tagging and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. The iPhone 5 also has an 8-megapixel rear camera with autofocus, LED flash, 1080p video recording capability and video stabilization and geo-tagging. It also offers the much-admired new Panorama mode.
The team at Engadget have now taken a close look at the image stabilization offerings of both phones and whereas the iPhone 5 offers a very decent performance the Nokia Lumia 920 wins out purely on this factor. Engadget tells us that this is not surprising considering the camera module of the Lumia 920 “pairs both sensor and lens-based optical IS,” although a significant improvement for the iPhone 5 over the iPhone 4S was also noted. The head-to-head test took place at a Nokia facility in Finland, the first such comparison so far, with both phones held in foam holsters to secure them. The video capture was notably smoother using the Lumia 920 and this was clearly the winner even though the model used was a prototype.
The video below shows the Lumia 920 to the left with the iPhone 5 on the right of the screen. Engadget also later tested the image stabilization of the Lumia 920 with the Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X but as both of these smartphones lack optical image stabilization it was always going to be the Lumia 920 that once again came out top.
Are you in the market for a new smartphone? If you frequently use your smartphone for photography then it would be a good idea to pay close attention to the camera capabilities before making your decision on which is the best choice for you. If it were a choice between the Nokia Lumia 920 and the iPhone 5, which would you opt for? Let us know with your comments.