Camera-phones are on the verge of delivering the snapshot capabilities that people currently expect from single-use film cameras and entry-level digital cameras. The recent release of two-megapixel camera-phones by all three Japanese wireless carriers raises the question: Why buy a digital camera?

The purpose of this 36-page study, including 119 figures, charts, and tables, was to determine if currently available camera-phones are capable of delivering acceptable consumer prints and to assess how the images produced measure up to those produced by the most popular standalone consumer cameras. Prints from images obtained by camera-phones with resolutions of 640 x 480 (two models), one megapixel, and two megapixels were compared to those from a single use (OTUC) film camera, a single use (OTUC) digital camera, and digital point-and-shoot cameras of one-, two- and three-megapixel resolution.

Six test subjects, representative of standard consumer photo activities, were photographed: a house in full sunlight, an interior shop display, an outdoor portrait in bright open shade, an indoor portrait, a close-up of small objects, and an antique spice rack in dim interior lighting. Standard consumer 4 x 6-inch borderless glossy prints of all 54 test shots were made using three different methods — a home inkjet printer, thermo-autochrome equipment at a corner drug store kiosk, and an online service that uses a silver halide-based process. We used the prints from these various sources as the basis for our evaluation of the results. Prints were scored in four performance categories — sharpness/level of detail, color accuracy and saturation, compression/interpolation artifacts, and dynamic range, yielding overall quantitative scores for each device for each subject and for each performance dimension.

Copyright Notice
Table of Cotent

Table of Figures

1. Introduction: Conventional Wisdom
2. Definitions & Methodoloy
2.1 The Cameras
2.1.1 Camera-Phones
2.1.2 One-Time Use Cameras
2.1.3 Digital Cameras
2.2 The Subjects
2.3 Shooting the Pictures
2.4 Transferring the Pictures
2.5 Printing the Pictures
2.6 Evaluating the Prints
3. The Shooting Experience
3.1 Toshiba VM4050 from Sprint PCS (VGA)
3.2 Sony Ericsson K700 (VGA)
3.3 Motorola V710 (1.2-Megapixel)
3.4 Sharp SH505iS from NTT DoCoMo (2.0-Megapixel)
3.5. Dakota Digital Single-Use Camera (Ritz Camera, made by
Pure Digital; 1.3-Megapixel) ......................................13
3.6. Fujifilm QuickSnap Flash Single-Use Camera (2.06-Megapixel Scans)
3.7. Olympus D-600L (1.3-Megapixel)

3.8. Konica Digital Revio KD-200Z (2.1-Megapixel)

3.9. Olympus C-3040 Zoom (3.3-Megapixel)
4. Evaluation
4.1. VGA Camera-Phones.
4.2. One- and Two-Megapixel Camera-Phones
4.3 Summary
5. Conclusions and Outlook
5.1 The Accepted Wisdom is Wrong
5.2 Consumers Need Help
5.3 Camera-Phones Are Getting Better
5.4 Working Together
Appendix A: File Size Table
About the Author / Future Image

Table of Figures

Fig. 1 – Toshiba VM4050
Fig. 2 – Sony Ericsson K700
Fig. 3 – Motorola V710
Fig. 4 – Sharp SH505iS
Fig. 5 – Dakota Digital One-Time Use Camera
Fig. 6 – Fujifilm QuickSnap Flash
Fig. 7 – Olympus D-600L
Fig. 8 – Konica Digital Revio
Fig. 9 – Olympus C-3040 Zoom.
Fig. 10 – House
Fig. 11 – Shop
Fig. 12 – Still Life
Fig. 13 – Spice Rack
Fig. 14 – Outdoor Portrait
Fig. 15 – Indoor Portrait
Fig. 16 – Camera-Phone Tripod Clamp
Fig. 17 – Cloud Dome
Fig. 18 – Sharpness
Fig. 19 – Color Accuracy
Fig. 20 – Artifacts
Fig. 21 – Dynamic Range .
Fig. 22 – House, Toshiba VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 23 – House, SEMC VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 24 – House, VGA Camera-Phone Ratings
Fig. 25 – Shop, Toshiba VGA
Fig. 26 – Shop, SEMC VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 27 – Shop, VGA Camera-Phone Ratings
Fig. 28 – Still Life, Toshiba VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 29 – Still Life, SEMC VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 30 – Still Life, VGA Camera-Phone Ratings
Fig. 31 – Spice Rack, Toshiba VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 32 – Spice Rack, SEMC VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 33 – Spice Rack, VGA Camera-Phone Ratings
Fig. 34 – Outdoor Portrait, Toshiba VGA
Fig. 35 – Outdoor Portrait, SEMC VGA
Fig. 36 – Outdoor Portrait, VGA Ratings
Fig. 37 – Indoor Portrait, Toshiba VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 38 – Indoor Portrait, SEMC VGA
Fig. 39 – Indoor Portrait, VGA Ratings
Fig. 40 – House, Motorola 1.2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 41 – House, Sharp 2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 42 – House, 1- & 2MP Ratings
Fig. 43 – Shop, Motorola 1.2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 44 – Shop, 1- & 2MP Ratings
Fig. 45 – Shop, Sharp 2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 46 – Still Life, Motorola 1.2MP
Fig. 47 – Still Life, Sharp 2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 48 – Still Life, 1- & 2MP Ratings
Fig. 49 – Spice Rack, Motorola 1.2MP
Fig. 50 – Spice Rack, Sharp 2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 51 – Spice Rack, 1- & 2MP Ratings
Fig. 52 – Outdoor Portrait, Motorola 1.2MP
Fig. 53 – Outdoor Portrait, Sharp 2MP
Fig. 54 – Outdoor Portrait, 1- & 2MP Ratings
Fig. 55 – Indoor Portrait, Motorola 1.2MP
Fig. 56 – Indoor Portrait, Sharp 2MP
Fig. 57 – Indoor Portrait, 1- & 2MP Ratings
Fig. 58 – House, VM4050 VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 59 – House, K700 VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 60 – House, V710 1.2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 61 – House, SH505iS 2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 62 – House, Dakota Digital OTUC
Fig. 63 – House, Fujifilm QuickSnap OTUC
Fig. 64 – House, Olympus 1.3MP Digicam.
Fig. 65 – House, Konica 2.1MP Digicam
Fig. 66 – House, Olympus 3.3MP Digicam
Fig. 67 – House, All Devices Ratings
Fig. 68 – Shop, VM4050 VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 69 – Shop, K700 VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 70 – Shop, V710 1.2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 71 – Shop, SH505iS 2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 72 – Shop, Dakota Digital OTUC
Fig. 73 – Shop, Fujifilm QuickSnap OTUC
Fig. 74 – Shop, Olympus 1.3MP Digicam
Fig. 75 – Shop, Konica 2.1MP Digicam
Fig. 76 – Shop, Olympus 3.3MP Digicam
Fig. 77 – Shop, All Devices Ratings
Fig. 78 – Still Life, VM4050 VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 79 – Still Life, K700 VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 80 – Still Life, V710 1.2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 81 – Still Life, SH505iS 2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 82 – Still Life, Dakota Digital OTUC
Fig. 83 – Still Life, Fujifilm QuickSnap OTUC
Fig. 84 – Still Life, Olympus 1.3MP Digicam
Fig. 85 – Still Life, Konica 2.1MP Digicam
Fig. 86 – Still Life, Olympus 3.3MP Digicam
Fig. 87 – Still Life, All Devices Ratings
Fig. 88 – Spice Rack, VM4050 VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 89 – Spice Rack, K700 VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 90 – Spice Rack, V710 1.2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 91 – Spice Rack, SH505iS 2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 92 – Spice Rack, Dakota Digital OTUC
Fig. 93 – Spice Rack, Fujifilm QuickSnap OTUC
Fig. 94 – Spice Rack, Olympus 1.3MP Digicam
Fig. 95 – Spice Rack, Konica 2.1MP Digicam
Fig. 96 – Spice Rack, Olympus 3.3MP Digicam
Fig. 97 – Spice Rack, All Devices Ratings
Fig. 98 – Outdoor Portrait, VM4050 VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 99 – Outdoor Portrait, K700 VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 100 – Outdoor Portrait, V710 1.2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 101 – Outdoor Portrait, SH505iS 2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 102 – Outdoor Portrait, Dakota Digital OTUC
Fig. 103 – Outdoor Portrait, Fujifilm QuickSnap OTUC
Fig. 104 – Outdoor Portrait, Olympus 1.3MP Digicam
Fig. 105 – Outdoor Portrait, Konica 2.1MP Digicam
Fig. 106 – Outdoor Portrait, Olympus 3.3MP Digicam
Fig. 107 – Outdoor Portrait, All Devices Ratings
Fig. 108 – Indoor Portrait, VM4050 VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 109 – Indoor Portrait, K700 VGA Camera-Phone
Fig. 110 – Indoor Portrait, V710 1.2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 111 – Indoor Portrait, SH505iS 2MP Camera-Phone
Fig. 112 – Indoor Portrait, Dakota Digital OTUC
Fig. 113 – Indoor Portrait, Fujifilm QuickSnap OTUC
Fig. 114 – Indoor Portrait, Olympus 1.3MP Digicam
Fig. 115 – Indoor Portrait, Konica 2.1MP Digicam
Fig. 116 – Indoor Portrait, Olympus 3.3MP Digicam
Fig. 117 – Indoor Portrait, All Devices Ratings

Fig. 118 – Table of Results

Fig. 119 – File Size Table