Nokia Lumia 1020 (top) vs. Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom
Both the Nokia and Samsung capture a similar level of detail in these cloudscapes, with slightly smoother gradients but blown-out highlights from the Lumia 1020, and a sightly under-exposed image from the Galaxy S4 Zoom, protecting the highlights. Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
Sony Xperia Z1 (top) vs. Apple iPhone in HDR mode
The Xperia Z1's white balance is on the yellow side here, though the slight underexposure protects the highlights from being blown out. The iPhone's HDR mode adds some noise in the sky, but captures more accurate colour. Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
Nokia Lumia 1020
The Nokia's "zoom" is really a crop of the ultra-high-resolution original image. The result: a much sharper image than any standard digital zoom (an undersold feature of the Lumia 1020). Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
iPhone 5s
The iPhone's digital zoom is sharper than the Sony, but still shows signs of digital artifacts. Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
Sony Xperia Z1
The Xperia Z1's digital zoom is the worst of the four devices in this review — in most situations a better choice would be to shoot a full-resolution image and crop into it rather than use the digital zoom. Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom
The Galaxy S4 Zoom, true to its name, maintains outstanding image quality even at 10x zoom, due to its optical zoom lens design. Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom (top), Nokia Lumia 1020 (centre), Sony Xperia Z1 (bottom)
All three devices handle the low light of sunrise fairly well, with varying degrees of white balance accuracy. The Samsung's colour is the most accurate, with the Nokia and Sony both showing a green tint, and the Nokia's additional contrast and saturation resulting in a loss of shadow detail. Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
iPhone 5s (top) vs. Sony Xperia Z1
In this mixed-lighting scene, the iPhone's colour reproduction is more accurate than the Xperia Z1, but the Sony gives a little more detail in the shadows. Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom (top) vs. Nokia Lumia 1020
The Samsung's slightly-green-tinted capture takes its exposure reading from the shadows in this mixed-light scene, blowing out some of the highlights but retaining a lot of detail in the darker areas, while the Nokia exposes more evenly across the dynamic range, with a more accurate white balance. Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
Nokia Lumia 1020 (left), Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom (centre), Sony Xperia Z1 (right)
The Nokia captures the most accurate colour in this scene, with the Samsung seemingly set to a much colder white balance, and the Sony somewhere between the two. Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
iPhone 5s in HDR mode (left) vs. iPhone 5s in default mode
HDR isn't needed as often with the iPhone 5s for even exposures than previous models, though it still tends to provide a sharper image and slightly more definition, especially around hard edges. Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
Sony Xperia Z1 (top) vs. iPhone 5s
In this image of the Sansad Bhavan in New Delhi (the house of the Parliament of India), the Sony's exposure is even, and perhaps slightly underexposed due to the haze. The iPhone image is also evenly exposed, though slightly brighter and loses a bit of detail in the fine highlights. Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom (top) vs. Nokia Lumia 1020
In this hazy outdoor scene in New Delhi, the Samsung is slightly underexposed but clear, while the Nokia capture is a bit brighter and more saturated, consistent with other captures from the Lumia 1020. Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
Sony Xperia Z1 (left) vs. iPhone 5s
In this image of a rug shot through a glass table, the Sony exhibits a washed-out exposure, possibly due to the glass, while the iPhone exposes evenly, with an accurate amount of contrast, with both devices choosing the correct white balance for the scene. Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
Nokia Lumia 1020 (left) vs. Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom
This image of a rug — shot through a glass table — highlights the more saturated, contrasty Nokia image, but also a light leak from the Samsung due to the construction of its lens. Photograph: Dan Rubin for the Observer/guardian.co.uk
