With its 8-megapixel sensor, motion blur reduction and large, variable aperture, the Nokia N86 8MP is Nokia's most photography-oriented phone yet - and yet it doesn't have the powerful Xenon flash toted by, say, the N82. Instead, it relies on an LED lamp, which is less bright, to aid low light shooting. Read on to find out why - and why Nokia says a Xenon flash is not a necessity for great low light camera performance.

Over at Nokia Conversations, there are a couple of N86 8MP articles focussed (sorry) on camera performance, and flash performance in particular: check them out here and here. They've even caught up with Nokia's Damian Dinning, leader of the team responsible for the conception of the N86 8MP, to ask why Nokia chose to go with LED rather than Xenon (interestingly, Damian has left some comments at the end of the second article).

The short answer is that the team felt that the N86 8MP simply didn't need a Xenon flash: its low light performance outstrips the N82, so the flash only becomes a necessity in very dark situations. Here's a slideshow comparison of the N86 8MP versus the N82 to illustrate that:

Now, that's not to say that a Xenon flash wouldn't have come in useful. Apparently the team did want to include one, but ultimately the added bulk would have made the N86 8MP far larger than they wanted it to be - so in the end they decided the LED was sufficient.

So what do you think? Has Nokia managed to balance design and performance with the N86 8MP, or would you have preferred a chunkier handset with a brighter flash? Let us know in the Comments box below.