Nokia is pretty widely held as the king of mobile imaging. Not only did it help pioneer the introduction of camera tech to mobile phones at the turn of the millenium, it then proceeded to produce some of the best examples over the next decade or so. We follow the timeline from Nokia 7650 to Nokia Lumia 800, with a certain Nokia N8 somewhere in between.
Official: Nokia N8 is still world’s best camera-phone
Nokia first got into the camera phone business with the Nokia 7650 in 2002. A truly momentous slider, it wasn't just the first Nokia phone to feature a camera (in this case a 0.3-megapixel example), it was also the first Nokia phone to run on the Symbian OS. If Minority Report was shot today, it would probably feature the futuristic Nokia Lumia 800, but back in 2002 is was the Nokia 7650 that had everyone wishing they could be Tom Cruise - just so they could handle the Nokia 7650. Possibly.
Who can forget 2003's quirky, chunky (for its time) Nokia 3650? It was the one with that circular keypad that either confused or delighted you - and maybe even managed to do both. While it too had a 0.3-megapixel camera, it was notable for introducing video recording to the mix.
The next few years saw a massive leap up in image sharpness, first with the Nokia 7610 - Nokia's first camera phone to break through the 1-megapixel barrier - in 2004. Then in 2005 the company launched the legendary N-series with the Nokia N70. Among its many advances, the phone featured a 2-megapixel camera. Remember the Nokia N90? That launched at the same time, and was notable for its swivel-screen and side-mounted camera in the style of a camcorder.
The Nokia N90's successor, 2006's Nokia N93, added something that's still a rarity among today's phenomenal smartphone cameras: an optical zoom. But the real advance that year came in the form of the Nokia N95, which was arguably the first smartphone superstar. The best-selling Nokia N95 featured many of the elements that we now accept as standard in smartphones, including GPS navigation, a powerful processor, a multimedia focus and - most importantly to this feature - a whopping 5-megapixel camera.
The next few years saw subtle refinements to camera tech, as Nokia focussed on advancing other elements such as screen tech and memory capacity. The next notable Nokia camera phone was arguably the Nokia N86 in 2009. This slider featured Nokia's first 8-megapixel camera unit, as well as multiple aperture settings and - unusually - a mechanical shutter.
If it felt at the time like Nokia was building up to something with this sudden lurch forward in camera tech, that proved to be correct with the launch of the Nokia N8 in 2010. This now-legendary smartphone came with a whopping 12-megapixel camera that's still considered to be the best camera phone in the world some 16 months after release.
Nokia N8: Top 5 reasons it is STILL the world’s best camera-phone
That brings us to today and Nokia's most recent camera phone. The Nokia Lumia 800's all-round brilliance is complemented by an 8-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, 720p video recording and a stunning f/2.2 aperture that lets significantly more light in than most of the competition.
It's been an eventful 10 years for Nokia and its camera phones, from the 0.3-megapixel Nokia 7650 to the sophisticated optics of the Nokia Lumia 800. If you want to read more about this decade in portable imaging, may we draw your attention to this excellent post from the Only Fools and Mobiles blog, which inspired this piece.
What was your most memorable Nokia camera phone? Are there any notable handsets that we (or the source post) have missed? Do share your experiences in the Comments section below.