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Nokia Lumia 900 and HTC Titan II camera face-off (photos)

We set out to prove which smartphone, the HTC Titan II or Nokia Lumia 900, has the better camera.

Brian Bennett
Brian Bennett is a former senior writer for the home and outdoor section at CNET.
Brian Bennett
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1 of 16 Joshua Goldman/CNET

Nokia Lumia 900 test shot

In the indoor still-life scene lit with studio lights, the best white-balance setting for the Nokia Lumia 900 was florescent. This shot was taken at ISO 100.
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2 of 16 Joshua Goldman/CNET

Nokia Lumia 900 test shot

With the Nokia Lumia's white balance set to auto, the phone's camera produced images of an indoor still-life shot with an unnatural blueish tint. Details at ISO 100, however, are crisp.
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3 of 16 Joshua Goldman/CNET

Nokia Lumia 900 test shot

At ISO 400, you can begin to see noise and graininess in the Nokia Lumia 900's test shots of indoor still life.
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4 of 16 Joshua Goldman/CNET

Nokia Lumia 900 test shot

Pushing the Nokia Lumia 900's sensor to its highest ISO setting, ISO 800, color noise and image artifacts become more pronounced in the still-life scene.
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5 of 16 Joshua Goldman/CNET

Nokia Lumia 900 test shot

Though the Nokia Lumia 900's camera does have a macro mode, the phone didn't do as well as the HTC Titan II in extremely tight closeups. For example, the chip in the lower-right corner of the image isn't quite sharp enough.
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6 of 16 Brian Bennett/CNET

Nokia Lumia 900 test shot

Outside, the Nokia Lumia 900 fared better than it did with the indoor still-life shots. Even so, the frosty colors and bluish tint were an issue outdoors, too. Colors of flowers in this image snapped in warm sunlight have hues that look too cold to my eyes.
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7 of 16 Brian Bennett/CNET

Nokia Lumia 900 test shot

The Nokia Lumia 900's lack of HDR became apparent in shots like this of the iconic New York Flatiron building. Details such as windows and textures in stone are very dark, especially when compared with the HTC Titan II's images of the same location.
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8 of 16 Brian Bennett/CNET

Nokia Lumia 900 test shot

Despite its lower 8-megapixel sensor, the Nokia Lumia 900 was able to snap this pleasing landscape shot of the Empire State Building on a sunny day.
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9 of 16 Joshua Goldman/CNET

HTC Titan II test shot

The HTC Titan II's auto white balance was much better at detecting the correct selection and consistently produced images with warm colors in the still-life scene test.
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10 of 16 Joshua Goldman/CNET

HTC Titan II test shot

With the HTC Titan II's ISO settings manually set to ISO 100 for the still-life test shot, the result was very similar to the phone's automatic ISO selection. This indoor image has lifelike color and crisp details.
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11 of 16 Joshua Goldman/CNET

HTC Titan II test shot

Even with the HTC Titan II's image sensor set to ISO 800, which simulates shooting under low light, details remain very clear, and there's not much color noise.
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12 of 16 Joshua Goldman/CNET

HTC Titan II test shot

The HTC Titan II sports an image sensor capable of going up to ISO 1600, and images shot at this setting surprisingly have less color noise and artifacts than those taken with the Nokia Lumia 900 at a slower ISO 800.
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13 of 16 Joshua Goldman/CNET

HTC Titan II test shot

Macro shots are better from the HTC Titan II as well. The phone captured circuity chips on this graphics board with finer detail than the Nokia Lumia 900.
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14 of 16 Brian Bennett/CNET

HTC Titan II shots

Colors look natural outside, with the HTC Titan II snapping these flowers in vivid hues. The same flower bed photographed by the Nokia Lumia 900 had a sickly blue cast.
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15 of 16 Brian Bennett/CNET

HTC Titan II test shot

Though the sky was a little blown out, the HTC Titan II snapped an impressively detailed image of the Flatiron building. Here it's light enough to make out more of the bricks and even air-conditioning units along the building's walls.
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16 of 16 Brian Bennett/CNET

HTC Titan II test shot

The HTC Titan II's wide landscape shot is just as impressive as the Nokia Lumia 900's shot of the same location.

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