8 megapixel mega shootout: Picture this

Individual perfomance summary

iPhone 4S

The iPhone 4S leaves noticeable luminance noise in photos, but it also renders impressive amounts of fine detail - more than any other phone in the shootout. The camera consistently overexposes highlights though, which reduces the detail there but the shadows come out very good.

Images are tack sharp, with accurate colors and very little in the way of artifacts.

In the dark, the 4S photos turned out with some visible noise but a good amount of detail too. The color rendering was very good but the LED flash performance was unimpressive.

Here come the Apple iPhone 4S camera samples:

Apple iPhone 4S camera samples

Nokia N9

The Nokia N9 impresses with spot-on exposure and superior dynamic range – it’s the best of the bunch in this respect. Its images come out grainy but there’s no color noise. At 100% magnification though, it’s evident it doesn’t excel in resolved fine detail.

Daylight photos are free of artifacts and with accurate colors (barring a slight saturation boost).

Photos in poor lighting have fairly low amounts of noise and decent detail, but they have an omnipresent color tint. The LED flash on this one is also pretty weak comparing to the rest even though it's a Dual LED unit.

Here go the Nokia N9 camera samples:

Nokia N9 camera samples

Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II

The Samsung Galaxy S II is good at eliminating color noise from photos but leaves in a little grain and a lot of fine detail. Images look sharp and with modest amounts of clipping in the highlights and shadows. White balance aims for neutral, but ends up on the side of cooler hues. Other than that, colors are accurate. There's a trace of oversharpening but that's it for image artifacts.

In the dark, the S II kept noise in check but the amount of captured detail and contrast could have been better. Also, there's a slight tint in the shadows. The single-LED flash's performance was average but the camera produces almost noise-free shots.

Here come the Samsung Galaxy S II camera samples:

Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II camera samples