Nokia 8 Sirocco and Nokia 7 Plus, the two recent additions to Nokia Android smartphone range come with powerful cameras. Though pricing wise both devices are much different, the camera module is the same on both of them, making it a big USP of Nokia 7 Plus.
In this article, we will review Nokia 8 Sirocco and Nokia 7 Plus cameras and will also compare the rear camera against the Nokia 8 camera to assess what improvements the Nokia 8 Sirocco/7 Plus camera has over the Nokia 8 camera. If you want to check, here are the quick camera specs/features for Nokia 8 Sirocco/7 Plus Cameras.
Camera with ZEISS optics:
- Primary cameras 12 MP Wide (2L7, 1.4um, 2PD, f/1.7, FOV 78.2″) + 13 MP Tele (3M3, 1.0um, f/2.6, FOV47.3″), dual-tone flash, 2x optical Zoom
Rear camera has a Telephoto lens for 2X optical zoom. It also features Dual-Tone flash for natural images in low-light.
Nokia 8 Sirocco vs 7 Plus vs Nokia 8 Daylight Imaging comparison:
In crop comparison sets below Nokia 8 Sirocco crop is on the top followed by Nokia 8 crop in the middle followed by Nokia 7 Plus crop. Click here for the full-size images if you want to compare yourself.
Set 1:
Set 2:
Nokia 8 vs Nokia 8 Sirocco low-light without Flash:
Nokia 8 image is on the left, Nokia 8 Sirocco image on the right.
Nokia 8 vs Nokia 7 Plus low-light without Flash:
Nokia 8 image is on the left, Nokia 7 Plus image on the right.
Nokia 8 Sirocco vs 7 Plus vs Nokia 8 low-light with flash:
In crop comparison sets below Nokia 8 Sirocco crop is on the top followed by Nokia 8 crop in the middle followed by Nokia 7 Plus crop. Click here for the full-size images if you want to compare yourself.
Nokia 7 Plus & 8 Sirocco vs Nokia 8 video recording & stabilisation test:
Comparison Conclusion:
Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus rear cameras capture more resolved details than Nokia 8 in both low-light and daylight conditions. The two 100% crop comparison tells us how Nokia 8 Sirocco/7 Plus capture images with more detail than Nokia 8 camera in daylight. In low-light without flash there is huge difference between amount of light gathered by 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus as compared to Nokia 8.
In low-light with flash however Nokia 8 does good work. But Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus still better it with help of latest imaging algorithms. As we noted in Nokia 8 camera review, the imaging algorithms are pulling it down especially in case of low-light capture.
But here surprisingly Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus cameras are better than Nokia 8 camera even in day-light conditions. So, we will revisit this comparison once Nokia 8 gets “Pro Camera” update to see whether it is a hardware or software thing. For now, however, Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus cameras trump Nokia 8 camera in all lighting conditions.
Coming to video capture comparison, Nokia 8 has OIS while Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus lack it. But the EIS works appreciably well on both Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus and videos from both look even more stable than the Nokia 8 video. But one thing you will notice is that the videos from both 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus look slightly zoomed in or in other words cropped as compared to the video from Nokia 8. This is how EIS works but still Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus capture better details than Nokia 8.
Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus cameras manage to capture much more light than Nokia 8 Camera while recording videos in low-light conditions without flash. So, in most of the cases you can see objects clearly with Nokia 8 Sirocco camera that just don’t get captured with Nokia 8 camera.
Nokia 8 Sirocco & 7 Plus camera review:
Time to now review the Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus cameras and talk about features that make the camera shine.
Nokia 8 Sirocco Samples:
Here are some Nokia 8 Sirocco daylight and low-light camera samples.
Nokia 7 Plus samples:
Here are some Nokia 7 Plus daylight and low-light camera samples.
Pro Camera:
With Pro Camera one can capture images of moving objects by controlling the shutter speed. Shutter speed control also helps in gathering more light in low-lighting conditions. Here is one example of using the higher Shutter speed to capture pigeons.
2X Optical Zoom:
2X optical zoom works well for both image and video capturing. Here is a sample captured using the 2X optical zoom.
Macro & Live Bokeh capture:
Now coming to what else Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus camera can do impressively, the Live Bokeh feature is a great feature but you can capture great Bokeh images without using the Live Bokeh mode too. Provided below are examples of Bokeh captures without using the Live Bokeh mode.
Nokia 8 Sirocco Bokeh:
Nokia 7 Plus Bokeh:
Video recording & OZO Audio capture:
Coming to video capture, you can capture up to 4K video with Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus rear cameras. In absence of OIS, EIS works impressively smoothing out jerks and motion. Color accuracy and captured details remain top-notch. OZO Audio surround sound capturing is another great feature of both the cameras and we have some samples below.
Live streaming on YouTube/Facebook:
This is yet another neat feature of Nokia 8 and 7 Plus Camera that you would love to use if you are in covering events or want to share a nice looking scene in high quality with your friends and family quickly back home.
Final Words:
Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus rear cameras capture lots of resolved details, keep colors natural with very less additional saturation. Both easily have one of the best smartphone cameras out there when it comes to details and color accuracy. Even in low-light conditions the cameras shine in both with or without flash conditions.
With Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus cameras with the Pro Camera mode, HMD has given fans the first powerful Nokia smartphone camera that will work in every lighting condition. These cameras can give any competitor smartphone camera a run for their money. We will soon compare Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus to Lumia 1020 to assess them further.
What also works in Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus camera’s favor is that it is really fast in capturing and is very consistent in quality of capture. Images and videos come detailed and accurate in colors keeping the white balance appropriate most of the times.
But there are places where HMD can certainly improve the camera.
- Omission of OIS is a surprising decision more so in the case of Nokia 8 Sirocco. Though EIS works well, it works by cropping the captured video to minimize effect of motion. So, you mayn’t realize while you check the captured video on an individual basis, you feel it when you compare it to a camera with OIS. While Nokia 7 Plus is a mid-ranger, Nokia 8 Sirocco camera being the flagship camera should have come with OIS.
- The Pro Camera UI is not available in video mode and that is a mistake, because Pro Camera UI is equally beneficial while setting the device for video capture.
