Nokia Lumia 900 camera shoot-out vs. iPhone 4 (photos)

CNET's Jessica Dolcourt puts two 8-megapixel cameras to the test in 11 shots to see which one comes out on top.

Jessica Dolcourt Senior Director, Commerce & Content Operations

Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).

Expertise Content strategy, team leadership, audience engagement, iPhone, Samsung, Android, iOS, tips and FAQs.

See full bio

Jessica Dolcourt

April 3, 2012 9:12 p.m. PT

2 min read

Nokia has hyped the Nokia Lumia 900's 8-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, and you know what that means: it's time for a camera shoot-out. I traipsed around San Francisco with four smartphones with 8-megapixel cameras: the Lumia 900 and the iPhone 4S to see just how well they captured the moment. I took close to 20 comparison shots, but to keep you from going blind, I narrowed it down to the two best phones and the 11 most representative pictures.

I'm no professional photographer, but I did keep a keen eye out for differences in focal range, overall detail, color tone, and contrast. I share my opinion below, but check out the photos for yourself to make up your own mind.

Unless otherwise stated, all photos were taken using automatic settings. I've resized the images, but left them otherwise untouched.

Mural: The Nokia phone's picture looks richer, but the iPhone 4S' looks brighter.

Zoomed in: I zoomed all the way in and focused on the building's dome. Point: iPhone 4S for overall image quality, but it does wash out the wall.

Sculpture: Both statues look good, but I do like the deeper contrast on the Lumia 900's.

Plant life: Apple's iPhone 4S brought out the purples, but the Lumia 900's contrast made the icy light green seem more detailed.

Bay Bridge: The Lumia 900 is far more yellow, but it also keeps more gulls in focus.

Bear: The iPhone captures much more detail in the plush bear's fur, its bow, and the writing on the box of tea, but the colors look a bit more washed out compared to the Lumia 900.

Macro: Macro mode on the Lumia 900 captured pollen detail (you could see this at more than 3,000 pixels); the iPhone 4S auto-focuses, but has no macro mode.

Flags: I prefer the cooler colors in the iPhone 4S, but in terms of focusing on distant objects, they're pretty close.

Snack shack: The iPhone 4S shot looks much more vibrant and sharp than the yellowed, lower-contrast Lumia 900 photo (especially when the photos are blown up on the big screen.)

Fountain: The iPhone 4S captured the water droplets more distinctly, but in this scene, I like the Lumia's contrast and warmer tones. The actual color was somewhere between them.

Low-light: I had to turn on night mode to extract Mike the CNET engineer from his dark, dark surroundings. The colors are richer, but he has red eye. The iPhone 4S just needed the flash to extract color, but it isn't as precise.