Nokia has announced the Nokia N86 with a 8 megapixel camera, autofocus and Carl Zeiss lens. N86 will also have the new release of Nokia Ovi Maps application installed
18 February 2009

According to Nokia, N86 8MP is the first camera phone with variable aperture. The optics are made by a company famous for its lenses. It is a Tessar lens from Carl Zeiss. The variable aperture has the f-stop of F2.4, F3.2 or F4.8. The aperture is set automatically by the phone and it is not possible to do this manually. A larger aperture (smaller F-number) separates the object in focus from the rest of the image. The focal length is 28mm (equivalent to 35mm) which is quite wide for a mobile phone camera.

The fastest shutter speed is according to the official specifications limited to 1/1000 second. According to Nokia, this is a conservative number and N86 can have a faster speed in the final product.

Nokia N86 also have excellent video camera. It will record video clips in VGA resolution (640x480) at 30 frames per second. The front camera is of CIF type and records video up to 15 fps in 352x288 pixel resolution.

Nokia N86 does not have the more powerful Xenon flash but instead it has a dual LED, 3rd generation. The advantage with the dual LED is that it makes it usable for both lightening up your video recording as well as still photography.

 

Another new feature introduced in the N86 is how panorama photos are taken. The first photo is captured as normal, and the N86 is moved slightly to the left or right for framing of the second shot. This is where the new feature comes to play. You are guided with this second framing. The first picture is displayed on the screen and you are told to move more to the right or left for the second shot. A visual indication will tell you when you can capture the next photo.

The N86 Photos taken with the N86 can be geotagged and uploaded to Nokias Ovi Share or Flickr. Captured photos with geotaggs are visually marked in the Map application. Via Nokias Ovi service, it is possible to upload and share a walked route and include the photos you have captured on the way. The Nokia N86 8MP comes with a built-in compass, along with and integrated 3-months license for full voice and pedestrian navigation.

N86 has 8 GB memory built in and this can be expanded with a 16 GB microSD card. The built in 8 GB memory should have room for up to 4.000 photos.

Both the display itself and the rest of the N86 front is protected entirely by a scratch resistant hardened glass. The front glass is fastened by a metal frame and which is a good c****ination for protecting the front part of the camera.

I have seen several A3 prints of photos taken with the N86 and I think they was of good quality. They could not compete with DSLR quality of course, and it was possible to see the artifacts caused by the JPEG compression. On the other hand. A3 prints are often meant to be looked at from a distance.

Nokia N86 comes in two colour variants. Indigo Black (greyish) and white and should be available in stores second quarter of 2009.

Nokia N86 Specifications

System:

• WCDMA 900/1900/2100 (HSDPA) and EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WLAN
• WCDMA 850/1900/2100 (HSDPA) and GSM 850/900/1800/1900, WLAN
• WCDMA 900/1900/2100 (HSDPA) and EGSM 850/900/1800/1900
• User interface: S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2
• Dimensions: 103.4 x 51.4 x 16.5 mm (L x W x H)
• Weight: 149 g
• Display: AM OLED 2.6 inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) with up to 16 million colors
• Battery: Nokia battery BL-5K, 1200 mAh

Media

• Memory: 8 GB internal flash memory
• Supports up to 16 GB microSD card
• Up to 74 MB internal dynamic memory
• Video playback: MPEG-4, AVC (H.264), WMV, Flash Video,
• 3GPP (H.263), RealVideo
• Up to VGA resolution
• Music playback: MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, eAAC, eAAC+

Main Camera

• Lens: Carl Zeiss Tessar
• Image capture: Up to 8 megapixels (3280 x 2464) JPEG/EXIF (16.7 million/24-bit color)
• Image sensor: 8 megapixels, 1.75 micron pixels
• Video capture: MPEG-4 VGA (640 x 280) at up to 30 fps
• Aperture: F2.4, F3.2 F4.8 (automatic aperture control)
• Shutter: Mechanical shutter, speeds up to 1/1,000 sec
• Focal length: 4.61 mm (28 mm, equivalent to 35 mm)
• Flash: 3rd generation dual LED camera flash (up to 3.5 m) and video light

Operating Times

• Talk time: Up to 3.9 h (3G), 6.3 h (GSM)
• Standby time: Up to 11.5 h (3G), 13 h (GSM)
• Video call: Up to 2.5 hours
• Video playback: Up to 7 hours (QVGA, 30 fps)
• Music playback: Up to 5 hours (offline mode)