The Oppo N1 is all set to be globally available starting December 10th, which is just 5 days away but as you might have known by now, we have been playing around with the device for some time now. One of the highlights of this phone is its camera, which is a 13 MP unit sitting on a swiveling unit. The Sony EXMOR RS 13 MP sensor is a 1/3.06″ unit, atop which sits the six-element lens, one of the firsts on any Android device. The six element lens has a wide aperture of f2.0, combine that and the new custom algorithms Oppo has developed for the N1, the results aim to be delectable for the user. Well, is it? Lets find out how it does, in our camera samples below.
We had taken several photos in different lighting conditions and use cases. We have compiled them below in separate galleries. Do take a look at the full resolution samples for better judgement.
Click to view in full resolution
Daylight
As you can see from the samples above, the daylight performance, even though washed out and under exposed sometimes, is pretty great. In ideal conditions, the N1 takes highly detailed photos with less noise and balanced colours. We would have liked less over blown highlights though, which completely washes out the photo, or under exposes it some times. Some of the under exposed photos in the gallery above are deliberate, you’ll know why, in another gallery below.
HDR
As we had found with the Oppo Find 5, it takes great HDR photos, near instantaneously. It was a saturated tone mapped image, but still the result was spectacular. Hence, unsurprisingly, the N1 is even better, thanks to the new algorithms and lenses. It’s still near instantaneous, and produces detailed, post processed images that look like you have done it on custom desktop software. Here are some samples, don’t forget to compare them with the ones above –
Macro
Shallow depth of field? Check. Noise-free sharp details? Double check. The N1 excels at macro shots. Thanks to the f 2.0 aperture, the shallow depth of field creates a beautiful bokeh in all the photos that have a varied background. Take a look at the yellow flowers in full res and you will notice how awesome the bokeh effect is, which is startlingly close to some high end point and shoots. Focusing is a breeze and the N1 just takes great macro photos, period.
Low Light
Low light is a problem for any cameraphone, but the N1 handles it surprisingly well. It excels even in uneven lighting and provides a great picture, in HDR mode as well as normal. We agree that noise creeps in, in most pictures but lesser noise reduction in the algorithms bodes well for a sharper photo in low light and that’s good! Even the normal mode balances the scene nicely without over blowing highlights too much, as some scenes were way too noisy in HDR, which tries to overcompensate for the shadows. Even without OIS, this is pretty great we would say.
Long Exposure
Equipped with a slow shutter mode, the N1 joins the rank of the Lumias as the one of the only devices having this functionality out of the box. The slow shutter mode takes advantage of the custom hardware and software and lets you have it open for 8 seconds or set it on Auto. Without a tripod and the O-Click bluetooth control, this is useless as it will definitely induce shake into the picture, but we did try it out handheld, check the samples –
We would have liked better control in exposure compensation, as the fixed aperture of f2.0 obviously goes against the concept of taking light trail pics on the Oppo N1, but we figure it is possible to take even some star stacked images with this device, if one has the patience.
Video
Overall, the stills performance of the Oppo N1 seems to be so far so good, but when it comes to video, it is simply not that good. It takes 1080p 30fps videos with or without HDR, but both the modes don’t offer the quality that we had expected especially after taking a look at the stills. Anyways, let our video do the talking instead because there is a full tour of the interface too, take a look –
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C89Kxfaoh6w
So, there you go. That’s a comprehensive review of the Oppo N1’s camera, but then, we have a lot more to talk about, in terms of the camera and even more about the device. So hang tight, as we are working on our review of the Oppo N1. Anyways, let us know what you feel in the comments section below, do you think the samples are alright?