Nokia Lumia 1020 – Impressions and Usage

I was excited about the Nokia Lumia when I saw the announcement. A 41 megapixel camera phone aimed at getting great images without having to take your camera everywhere. As a Photographer the idea of not having to bother with a compact excited me. Now I was worried that 41megapixels would be too much. After all that is more than the top of the line Nikon D800 with 36 megapixels. As a professional photographer I also know that megapixels don’t tell the whole story. The resolution is only one small factor and there is a mere 25% resolution gain over a 20 megapixel camera (assuming perfect conditions). Though I have long since grown out of being a pixel peeper I was mode interested in knowing if this would be a device capable of replacing my compact camera and meaning i don’t need to worry about taking any other device with me on a walk or holiday where I’m not there to take photographs. So that out of the way I was excited when Nokia UK tweeted at me and shortly thereafter agreed to loan me a Nokia Lumia 1020 for an extended period of time (10 days).

First Thoughts on the Nokia 1020

My first thought after coming from an iphone as my everyday phone was that it was huge! But thats no big deal.. phones are getting bigger all the time and the extra screen size and resolution of the screen was pretty nice (4.5″ and 1280×768 if you were wondering). A great way to view the photos you’ve taken. I was lucky enough to have the camera grip case which adds a bit more juice and makes it more natural to take photos too. In use the phone feels nice and speedy and although I’d not used a windows phone for a while it was quite easy to get to grips with. Most of my favourite apps were there like facebook and twitter, with the promise of instagram coming shortly. There’s also promise of RAW DNG file support coming soon. Although I didn’t have chance to test this as it’s not out yet. I liked the integration with skydrive which I use in preference to dropbox so that was nice it being built-in. The Home screen looks nice and it’s got everything you’d expect, no issues at all.

But what about the camera….

One thing I can say though is that the camera is awesome! Best camera phone I’ve ever used bar none. There is a real advantage to having an image stablised high resolution camera, it’s so much more versatile than the ones I’ve used before (including Iphone 5).

Sample Images taken with Nokia Lumia 1020

I’ve used the camera a fair bit over the week – both at night and outside. I even used it in the Studio using a flash off camera to bounce light back in.

Here’s a selection of images from the camera including one at ISO4000! I remember when digital SLRs didn’t go that high let along a phone!

nokia lumia 1020 in the studio

nokia lumia 1020 ISO 4000

nokia lumia 1020 inside

nokia lumia 1020 lamdscape

nokia lumia 1020 portrait

nokia lumia 1020 indoors

nokia lumia 1020 indoors at tank museum

nokia lumia 1020 lamdscape

conclusion on the Nokia Lumia 1020

So What did I think? I was impressed if i’m honest. Nice slick interface that is easy to use. The phone is fast in operation and the camera portion is great. The grip also makes it possible to mount on a tripod for filming/photographing things that need a tripod. My only gripe with the camera portion is that the shot to shot time can be a little longer than i’d like, but, thats the price you pay for having such a high resolution sensor. It’s quite easy to work round it. Just don’t go expecting to blaze away like you can with a dSLR.

Overall when i’m next in the market for a phone I’d take a serious look at the Nokia Lumia 1020 it does everything you need in a phone and has a class leading camera to boot.

I’d love to hear your questions and thoughts below.

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Nokia Lumia 1020 – Impressions and Usage