BlackBerry Storm camera
Yes it’s true. As I’ve already mentioned, the BlackBerry 9530 (Storm) camera is nice!
In fact, this is the best 3 megapixel camera I’ve used on a phone recently – It’s that good…
The T-Mobile G1 comes close, but the Storm easily beats the Nokia 5800, especially when shooting in low-light.
Pros:
– Auto-focus
– Great macro (requiring no user intervention)
– Excellent low-light performance
– Flash, zoom. and video recordng
– Dedicated 2-stage shutter button
– Geo-tagging
– Image stabilization
Cons:
– User interface makes framing shots difficult
– Few manual settings (exposure, ISO, etc…)
– Outer plastic lens prone to scratching
Light metering and color balance are very decent, but it’s low-light performance that really puts the Storm camera ahead of the competition.
Here’s a shot made first with the Storm, second with the 5800, and third with the G1 (click to enlarge):
Note that in the Storm picture (top) the sand is less noisy than the 5800 (middle), the color balance is more accurate than the G1 (bottom), and there’s generally more detail…
Here’s another picture taken first with the Storm, second with the 5800, and third with the G1 (click to enlarge):
Note how the Storm picture (top) is more defined and pleasing overall!
Video recording with the Storm is limited to QVGA vs. VGA/widescreen on the 5800 and no support (yet) on the G1. I’m happy to trade higher resolution for better low-light performance, but that’s just me :)
Ultimately, the Storm camera is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise disappointing device… Stay tuned for a full review soon!
tnkgrl Mobile: Tech that Matters 
are the 5800 pics are taken with the latest firmware? have you noticed any differences in (colour) quality after the last update?
@lauri
The latest 5800 firmware made very little difference…
As I mentioned before, color balance is generally acceptable – it’s the noisy sensor that’s the problem with the 5800 camera!
i agree the sensor is pretty bad but i still think there’s some room for improvement with the software. from those night shots the 5800 one wouldn’t be nearly as bad if the ground was as dark as it is in the others. and from the day time shot you can see how all darker areas turn to an ugly shade of green which personally i find rather annoying and think it could be fixed in the firmware. (I have a 5800 but haven’t done so much testing after the update)… I’m still hoping they’re working on fixing these issues.
Mmmmm. HMB Brewing Co. I need to go back there some time…
So are photos the best thing about the Storm? I guess it’s an iPhone for me and then waiting around for cut-and-paste… :(
My photos with the original firmware that came on my Storm are dreadful! They looked like they were pastel paintings. Here is an example:
The softness is evident with an almost complete lack of detail.
I recently upgraded to the latest firmware and the camera behaves so much better now. Photos look more like your examples (pretty good for a cam phone) and I could swear the shutter lag is shorter.
Anyone else had similar issues with old vs new firmware?
i think about the price since it uses 3 MP camera, it should be expensive : )