THE phones were judged on the pictures they produced under four conditions - outdoor, close-up, indoor and motion.
No special adjustments were made to the settings to mimic real-life situations. The average user is highly unlikely to fuss over settings; he just wants to point and shoot.
White balance, scene modes and flash were set to auto. Also, the largest file size or resolution of 3,264 x 2,448 was chosen for all camera phones under all conditions.
For the motion shot, however, the 'sports' scene mode was the default setting as the Samsung Innov8 model does not have an 'auto' setting for scene mode.
Overall, our tests showed that while images are sharp and colours vibrant, there was a noticeable lag in between picture taking.
This could be due to the huge file sizes, which top 1.5MB. The lag, which also happens in point-and-shoot cameras, is a drag when you are shooting moving subjects.
It has been a tough test, but the winner is deserving of the DL accolade.
Drumroll please...
This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life on 17 December 2008.
