Photos particularly, perhaps, because of the N95's five-megapixel camera. The N95 uses Carl Zeiss optics, as does my Sony Cyber-shot, so I took them both out one sunny morning for a head-to-head. I let both do all the work, leaving them on the default, automatic setting.
Cyber-shot on the left, N95 on the right
Not a lot to choose between the Cyber-shot (top) and the N95 (bottom)
The N95 holds up well. The colours it takes are warmer than the Sony's but that's just the way the on-board image processing is set, but the dedicated camera's detail is better - partly due to a lower level of picture compression.
Optical zooming (top, Cyber-shot) is always better than digital (bottom, N95)
The camera wins out, though, because of its near-instant shutter speed. The N95 took a couple of seconds from pressing the button to the shutter 'click', and then up to eight more seconds to display the finished image. Yes, it's only ten seconds, but it felt an age, particularly when I wanted to line up another shot quickly.
The Cyber-shot (top) produces better detail at 100% than the N95 (bottom)
The video quality wasn't bad, either, and the capture time quicker than taking stills. Recording at 640 x 480 and 30 frames a second with 16m colours not only gives you a decent look on the phone's screen but it's none too shabby when played back via the bundled composite-video cable and a standard-definition telly.
COMMENTS
VIDEO - Flash player
is it possible to give us the list of files that the N95 can read ? above .flv ?
an install of flashlite is possible ?
what are the real performance (size of video , quality , encoding etc.) of the video player ?
the streaming proposed by nokia is it sufficient could
we talk about dvd -like ?
thx great job
NoKia N95 and Vodafone
On the way to a friend yesterday (7.5.07) I popped into my usual Vodafone retailer. This follows a 90 minute helpdesk call during the week regarding settings issues. I
left 2 hours later. Again a most helpful techno went through all settings
contacted vodafone twice by phone. They sent settings by email for wap
and email which he printed out to manually re input. He changed the sim
card in case by chance it was corrupted with vodafone settings. He got
vodafone to send all settings for sim. Re installed them. Got my
vodafone email password changed to try vodafone email in case yahoo settings
were not correct. Guess what ? No email ! Web works ok and vodafone
setting is Vf wap. Agreed my use of broadband would have proved it was not
vodafone settings. Advice given bring back with
box etc and they will send it off to engineers to check the phone
completely. Agreed another replacement would not solve issue. What to do ?
The camera is wonderful. Downloaded Yahoo Go works like a dream (using it
now with broadband when at home in bed ! ) can I live without phone email and gps -
yahoo maps good!
Basically I think it has been Vodafone-ised and who knows what that has left from the original Nokia intentions. So I have to decide whether to live with applications that don't work, wonder whether Nokia software upgrades will be 'allowed' by Vodafone, enjoy the convenience of having a good camera or, take it back and go back to my old Sharp and wait for the N96.....or whatever. Also, maybe I should save up and get a 'free of Vodafone' version. Views would be welcome from those with more knowledge than I.
2Gb limit
I believe the 2Gb limit is a software issue as the larger cards are FAT32 and not FAT16.
I did read a review that said the larger cards would/are supported and in fact SanDisk show the N95 is being a compatible phone for their 4Gb cards.
Firmware update
For the record (and if el reg allow this post ;) to update the firmware whilst on Voda / Orange etc, you use a tool called 'NSS', which allows you to change the product code.
Nokia uses the product code set to your phone to identify the network operator. With Vodafone, for instance, when Nokia release a firmware update, they send it to Voda for altering to suit their customisations.
So by changing your product code from say Vodafone to Plum Euro1, the N95 will update.
1. Back up phone to mem card, etc
2. NSS your product code to euro1 (or w/e)
3. Update the firmware
4. Change back to manufacturer code.
5. Restore backup
6. Change back to euro1.
Firmware??
Where can i find the latest firmware? i went on to http://europe.nokia.com/softwareupdate and it didnt find any software for my phone?
