Friday 25 October 2013

Swiss Indoors Basel: Video performance of the Lumia 1020

For the first time ever, I uploaded a video to Youtube :p
When it comes to the content, its probably not very interesting...

However, it shows lots of different aspects of the Nokia Lumia 1020's video performance, so it may be worth watching anyway ;)

The video took place at the Swiss Indoors in Basel (Denis Istomin vs Roger Federer).
It's at the very beginning of the match and shows the events from the players entering the court, up to the coin toss.

Video and Description

You can see how the Lumia 1020 handles:
  • changing lights (from low light to well lit)
  • focusing on far distance (in different light condition)
  • lossless zoom (up to max.)
  • optical image stabilisation (with and without zoom)
  • audio quality (100mhz bass filter, as recommended by default settings)

Conclusion

With the distance and low light, it was a difficult scenario for any mobile phone camera.
You can clearly see how the Lumia 1020 struggles with the focus and when zoomed in, there is a lot of noise.

Nevertheless, the result is pretty good, considering the circumstances.
I am especially impressed, that I was able to see the coin so clearly, as well as the fast moving Tennis balls at the end of the video.
The image is very steady even at full zoom and the audio quality is excellent!

It's mainly the zoom and the OIS, that give the 1020 an advantage over most of its competitors (Samsung, Apple, Sony, HTC), but the gap between them in video mode is certainly not as big as in photography.

In situations like this, it is obvious that even the mighty Lumia 1020 still is just a smart phone camera.
It is nowhere near the quality a good camcorder can provide.

What do you think about this video?
Are you satisfied by the results of the Lumia 1020 in those difficult conditions or are you disappointed?
Drop a comment below and let me know what you think ;)

4 comments:

  1. Hi,

    Well, being what it is, a phone camera, the recording is really a very good one, the low light noise was as expected, and the overall performance seemed really good.

    And a question, have you done a test like this with the 808?

    And another one related with Lumia, not with video recording. I 've tested a Lumia 820, and for my surprise, couldn't send a picture to the 820, because Lumia bluetooth just connects only with another Lumia!!!! Is it the same with the 1020? They do not seem to be the friendly Nokia phones they used to be.

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  2. Hi Enrique,


    Don't get me wrong, I am aware that for a phone the Lumia 1020 did an excellent job in those though conditions!
    But too many people are claiming/expecting the 808/1020 is on par with a real DSLR/Camcorder... my point is, even if its the best in its class, it is still "just" a phone camera ;)


    About Bluetooth, my sister has a 820 and I had the 920 before.
    SENDING photos from the Lumia's to other phones, is no problem at all.
    (But Bluetooth need to be activated first, or else you can not see the sharing option via Bluetooth in the Gallery)

    To RECEIVE photos, you need to pair the devices first. After pairing your devices, you won't have any issues at all.


    I have successfully transfered photos between Windows Phone/Symbian/PC (Win8/Win7).


    Don't know what device you tried to connect to, but remember Apple only allows iPhone-to-iPhone transfers (at least as far as I know, but I may not be up to date about the iPhone's).

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  3. Hi Daniel,



    I tried to transfer from the 808 to a Lumia 820, first paired them and then tried to trasfer ... and I was not allowed. Going to try again in a few days, the 820 is no yet mine. I was just "playing" with the divice, to test functions and to have an approach to windows phone.
    About 820/1020, they are excellent phone cameras, but obviously can not be compared with professional ones, not either in price.
    Night photos taken with Lumia 820 were clear, though colours were not so real.

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  4. Hi Enrique,

    I agree with what you say about the camera.
    Physics doesn't allow smartphone cameras to be as good as professional ones.
    But with the right (realistic) expectations, you won't be disappointed with the 1020.

    I am positive that bluetooth is working between my 808/1020.

    Not sure what the problem was and why it failed for you (try to re-pair them if it keeps failing), but I successfully transfered data between Symbian and WP.

    ReplyDelete