The Hanft family finally joined the rest of the world and got cell phones. I guess I should say I joined the rest of the world since Betsy has had a cell phone for years now. I did my research before making my purchase and wanted to get a good camera phone. I decided on the Sony Ericsson w810i. In addition to one of the best mp3 players on the market, this phone has (by cell phone standards) a terrific camera built in.
At two megapixels, the Sony Ericsson w810i may be at the low end of the camera market, but it is at the high end of the phone market. Two megapixels translates to about a 5×7 print at 300dpi, and you could probably stretch it to 8×10 if you really needed a big print. As you can imagine, you have to accept some limitations with a camera in a phone, but I have to say that I was impressed beyond my low expectations. In low light it was somewhat grainy, but still acceptable. In macro situations in performs wonderfully. The lens is a bit too wide so you have to get in close if you want your subject to fill the frame.
The camera is actully pretty full of features. It has auto focus, a self-portrait mirror, a light, self-timer, macro mode, effects (black and white, sepia, negative, solarize), white balance, different shutter sounds, and white balance. It has video mode for small video. It uses a removable memory card. I use a 4gb card (mainly for music storage) so there is plenty of room for photos. You can even change the shutter sound if you want a different click.
One fun feature of this camera is panoramic mode. Unlike the crappy cropping panoramic cameras of the past, this feature actually requires you to take three photos and the camera will stitch them together for you. Here is a quick example:
This is my basement, and the camera is hand held in this low light situation. You can see the slight double image at the one third mark next to the camera case due to me not lining up the second shot with the camera’s preview of the first image. You can click on the image above for a full resolution version. I didn’t correct anything, so this gives you an idea of what you will get straight out of the phone.
The biggest benefit of having this camera phone is that you always have a camera with you. The picture quality of most phone cameras is almost worthless, so if you plan on using the photos taken on your camera, get something decent. Right now the Sony Ericsson w810i is one of the best on the market.
Here are some of the auctions on Ebay for Sony Ericsson s810i that you might be interested in:
One of the most rewarding things about my Lego camera project is seeing people taking my ideas and making them their own. George B, Bristol is the most recent person to share their Lego camera with me. George was kind enough to provide his Ldraw files that he made in LeoCad if you would like to see how his camera differs from my design.
