Camera Showdown: Nokia Lumia 920 vs the Galaxy Camera and the Lumix TZ30

After having tested the Lumia 920 thoroughly, it goes without saying that the 8.7 megapixel Pureview camera armed with Carl Zeiss optics is one of the best cellphone cameras. In the past, we have pitted the Lumia 920 against the iPhone 5 and HTX 8X, and the Lumia 920 took the cake effortlessly. You can see the results of the 920 vs the 8X here and 920 vs the iPhone 5 here.  By now we know the camera in the Lumia 920 is a stellar low-light performer, shoots great macros and aces in reproduction of colours and details. This time, we wondered if its camera could give the big daddies of cameras a tough fight. So, we decided to pit it against the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Camera (Rs. 29,900) and a premium travel-zoom digital camera, the Panasonic Lumix TZ30 (Rs. 19,900).

So, which one do you think will win the battle this time? The tiny little camera in Lumia 920 or one of the other two equipped with big fat lenses?

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Over to the results! Click on the photos for an enlarged view.

Indoor scene 

Samsung Galaxy Camera

Panasonic Lumix TZ30

Nokia Lumia 920

We set up a test scene that included a lot of colours and fine details and used bright lighting so that the cameras could perform effortlessly. The lights had a slightly warm tone, so it was challenging for the cameras to optimise the white balance. Here, the Panasonic Lumix TZ30 had a tough time adjusting the white balance, which is evident with the yellowish tone in the image. As far as the details are concerned, the Samsung Galaxy Camera wins. It’s not impressive, as you can see the fine details (such as text around the Intel chip) appear a bit fuzzy. For a cellphone camera, the Lumia 920 has done an excellent job, albeit a bit noisy. However, notice that the fine text is visible. The Lumix TZ30 performed almost similar, but it loses out to the Lumia 920 due to the faulty white balance.

Verdict - The Lumia 920 comes out on top in this round.

Indoor low light 

Samsung Galaxy Camera

Panasonic Lumix TZ30

Nokia Lumia 920

Here, we used the same subjects as in the previous tests, but we turned off all lights leaving just one of them on to lower the ambient lighting. It can clearly be seen that both the Galaxy Camera and Lumix TZ30 struggled to adjust the white balance, whereas Lumia 920 got the colours almost precise. The reproduction of details was the best with Galaxy Camera. The Lumia 920 struggled to maintain focus despite activating the focus assist LED. However, the slightly blurry details can be corrected by simply applying a bit of sharpening in an image viewing application (such as IrfanView). The Lumix TZ30 again goes to the third spot, and the winner in this scene is the Lumia 920.

Verdict - And the Lumia 920 wins again.

Indoor macro 

Samsung Galaxy Camera

Panasonic Lumix TZ30

Nokia Lumia 920

The white balance in the shot taken by the Lumia 920 is skewed slightly towards the cooler side, which can be noticed by the slight blue tinge in white areas. However, the reproduction of details and metering of light across the scene is pristine. The bright highlights in the shots taken by TZ30 and Galaxy Camera have a sort of a bloom effect.

Verdict - This round goes to the 920 as well.

Outdoor scene 

Samsung Galaxy Camera

Panasonic Lumix TZ30

Nokia Lumia 920

The challenge for the cameras here was to reproduce accurate colours and details—the strong backlight to the left and sun shining through the leaves at the top centre made it even more difficult. It seems Lumia 920 couldn’t get the white balance correct due to the backlight, however, it metered light the best—notice the area to the lop left; the building behind the trees is visible. Although it seems a little over-sharpened, the photo shot by the Galaxy Camera looks most vibrant, and has the least amount of noise. Lumix TZ30 performed average in this test.

Verdict - This round goes to the Galaxy Camera.

Low light 

Samsung Galaxy Camera

Panasonic Lumix TZ30

Nokia Lumia 920

This test brings the best of the cameras to their knees! A single candle was used to illuminate this small setup in pitch darkness. The challenge here is to achieve optimal exposure and white balance, and as less noise as possible for crisp details. The white balance went for a toss with the Galaxy Camera. The Lumix TZ30 was slightly better off, but the Lumia 920 shone with almost perfect whites and other colours. The Galaxy Camera captured the best details with lowest amount of noise, but the camera had to be rested on the table and self-timer had to be used—shooting handheld wasn’t possible due to the low shutter speed. The Lumia 920 and Lumix TZ30 were used handheld, and the winner is clearly the Lumia 920 with better exposed and less grainy result. It’s the large f/2.0 aperture in conjunction with optical image stabilisation (floating lens technology) that makes the Lumia 920 a stellar low-light performer.

Verdict - The Lumia 920 once again comes out on top.

The Bottom line

Nokia Lumia 920 wins, handsdown! Agreed, it lacks optical zoom, manual controls and shooting modes unlike the Galaxy Camera and Panasonic Lumix TZ30, but with all the settings set to Auto and the lens at the widest end, it clearly shows that the Lumia 920 can give a tough fight, which is incredible for a tiny cellphone camera.