Test Driving the Nokia 808 PureView

As I said a couple of days ago in my New Toy post, the Nokia 808 PureView “deserves a proper test drive” before an actual review. So, I hit the streets with my 808 and gave it a thorough vrooming all over town to see what the “next breakthrough in photography” had to offer.

So far, so wow. I like this gadget. A lot. For street photography, the 808 handles like a dream. It’s lightweight (what you’d imagine any phone to weigh) and discreet – total advantages if you’re trying to blend with your surrounding and not come across as a mega-tourist or paparazzi.

I’m not really a “specs” sort of guy or at least not much of a “specs” writer, but here are some 808 features worth mentioning:

41MP sensor, Carl Zeiss lens, PureView imaging technology and Full HD video;
Preloaded Nokia Maps, turn-by-turn satnav for over 100 countries;
Four inch display screen;
Still image editor (which has some limitations but is still way awesome).

Intrigued? Plenty more techie detailed specifications here.

In all honesty, it took me a little while to adjust to the 808 (much more powerful and with many more functions than other camera phones I’ve used and just a completely different experience to my DSLR and compacts). But not an insane amount of time; I got the hang of it soon enough and have found that the more I use it the more intuitive the 808 experience seems and the better I’m able to get the shots I’m after. I have one complaint: it takes an excruciatingly long time to load when I turn it on. However, I must say that, once the phone is on, the battery seems to keep going for eternity. The camera function is pretty quick and responsive too. Since figuring out the basics, I’ve yet to miss a shot.

I don’t think I’m going handover my DSLR anytime soon. But, if you told me I had to take the 808 as my only camera on my next holiday, I’d be okay with that. In fact, I’d have probably have a blast. The 808 is handy and compact and yields crisp, high rez images that I’m able to immediately share via email and most of my social channels (remember it’s a smartphone too).

Anyway, as you may have heard, there’s this big global sports thingy about the happen here in London. I reckon having my PureView at hand while roaming around town to check out the good, bad and ugly of London 2012 will offer an excellent opportunity to soak up the “once in a lifetime” atmo.

Yep, I’m gonna zoom zoom zoom in on these games!