Try Sony Ericsson. They are sony cameras turned into phones.
I was told they work great as cameras but not so great as phones... :think:
Thanks.
Well, the Nokia phones have never had any good cams (ok for normal user). For better optics, Sony Ericsson is the brand you should look for.
Sorry to have to say this, it is one thing to see lots of people using it, quite another to hear from fellow photogs their opinion about the camera phones or phone cameras. If one were to walk by Orchard Road and see what cameras everyone is using then buy that it is not going to be of much use, is it?
And it wasn't hearing someone's perception, it was his phone and he condemned it as a phone, but love the camera.
Trying out doesn't quite work, where to get a camera phone to shot for an afternoon and decide?
I guess I should put in 2 criteria:
1. Sufficient resolution for 4R print and presentation slides like ppt for the occassional grab shots.
2. Sufficiently user friendly, both as a phone and as a camera.
I am willing to consider any brand, perhaps a SE would be it, or a Nokia, or LG. Feedback or research information would be most useful.
But I would shy away from 8 Megapixels for (a) such small pixel density on a camera phone is probably going to be noisy, but I am willing to see if there is review samples photos; (b) I will need a big MS for such a camera.
I think ideally between 4-5 Megapixel would be nice.
I had a N70 that was pretty good, but the phone got corroded easily and Nokia refused to repair it, even within warranty. My present 1.3 megapixel Nokia camera is, in one word, terrible. A bit weary about Nokia....
I would rather use a phone as a phone and get a proper camera to shoot pics. I have the Olympus SP-560 uz as my daily walkabout cam and my Pentax K10D and Super A as my hobby cams.
Well, the purpose is to get a phone that can double up as a camera for that grab shot at any time. I am using D300 as hobby cam and D60 as the small-slip-in-the-suitcase cam for the short work trips and casual family outing.
This phone camera is to go everywhere I go for the grab shot when the I-would-not-have-a-camera situations.
Looks like all voting for SE so far. What about the LG that's heavily advertised on TV?
Well, if you see a lot of people using it, it can't be too far off. Trying it would mean like making a trip to the phone service providers or even Sony itself to try out the phone's capabilities and interface.
If your friend's complaining, maybe you can tell us what is the complain about cos so far I think most users are pretty happy with SE phones. Not sure if your friend's set has manufacture defacts.
You mentioned about corrosion on your phone. I have got pretty bad sweaty palms and the buttons on my SE phone will corrode as well, but the phone still functions perfectly. Maybe you would want to note that too. (Anyway, I change my phone almost every year, so it doesn't bother me).
Go for SE or the Nokia N82
I think SonyEricsson makes better camera phones (or is it phone cameras)...supposedly from their Cybershot technology. My wife uses it to shoot baby pics and they turn out good enough for 4R prints.