Top 4 Camera-Phones in India

I am a shutter-bug and I love taking my DSLR camera with me whenever Iam on the move and of course whenever it's possible. But there are times when I feel too lazy to adjust my shutter speeds and apertures, so I just whip out my smartphone, tap here and there and voila!

Smartphones of today are equipped with some of the most amazing camera sensors, lenses and softwares to capture some breath-taking shots. I believe this is one of the reasons why so many people have started getting into photography (ok, I won't judge, but that's what they believe). I always and always used to prefer a separate camera, if not my DSLR to click pictures. But now, my smartphone is my secondary camera to click some quick shots and to record videos at 1080p.

So what's your take on camera phones? Love them? Or hate them? Well, here's my quick list of the top 4 camera phones out there. (Not in any particular order)

Nokia N8
Everybody knows that Nokia had some of the most amazing camera phones in the past. The N93, the N95 and the most amazing camera phone and flagship phone the N8. The small F/2.8 aperture and a huge 12MP 1/1.83 sensor on a smartphone was hard to believe. The Carl-Zeiss optics and the xenon flash just completed the whole picture. Even though Nokia could've improved the software, the camera on the N8 has one of the best hardware used on any smartphone.

Apple iPhone 4S

Claimed as the best camera phone by a number of tech blogs, the iPhone 4S has an amazing camera. The hardware and the software work in perfect harmony to produce some sharp images with vivid colours. The phone also offers an HDR mode which is pretty decent if not perfect. Backed up by a single LED, the camera hardware is top notch with a large aperture and quick shutter speeds for great looking pictures. The camera also supports full HD 1080p video recording, which is a delight.

Like the iPhone 4, the 4S is a hit at Flickr being the second most popular camera phone on the website.

Samsung Galaxy SII

There are loads of camera phones out there with an 8MP snapper. The reason why I am mentioning the SII is because it has one of the best displays (4.3 inch Super AMOLED), a huge number of settings to fiddle with and nice 8MP sensor backed up with a bright LED flash.

The camera on the SII is a delight and touch-focus system works perfectly well. The software for the camera has tons of settings including shooting modes, scene modes, focus modes, effects, metering, white balance, ISO, etc. With a large 4.3 inch display offering some nice contrast and brightness, going through images captured by the camera is a pleasure.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc

Sony Ericsson has a history of producing some of the most amazing camera phones with its Cyber-Shot series of smartphones. The C902, C903 and C905 were some of the most amazing handsets introduced by the company for people who loved clicking pictures form their handsets.

Though the company has left behind feature phones and moved onto smartphones, their pedigree for producing camera phones has not ended. The Xperia Arc brings back Sony Ericsson's good old days by proving to be one of the best camera smartphones out there. The 8MP camera has the patented Exmor R C-MOS sensor which produces some awesome looking sharp images. The focusing is quick and there is almost no-shutter lag, images are clicked in an instance.

The display on the smartphone also backs up the camera here as the 4.2 inch display has Sony's patented Bravia Engine embedded which means brilliant colours, detailing and brightness.