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Maemo 5 brings a host of new features to Nokia’s Nseries Range of devices.
One of them is the new Camera UI on the Nokia N900.
We’ll start with the Video Mode first. The N900′s Maemo 5 camera app has (as is usual) a Video and a Picture mode.
The Video mode, as you can see above, looks just like the rest of the Maemo 5 UI, with a toolbar at the top which drops down with more options.
At the right side of the screen is your “Camera Mode” icon which allows you to switch to different modes.
As you can see from the screenshot above, you can switch from video mode, to Automatic Picture mode, Macro, Landscape, Portrait or Action mode for pictures.
Below the Camera mode Icon, is the Settings Icon.
This allows you to access different settings pertaining to what mode you’re in. Video mode allows you to change your White Balance, and Exposure.
At the right, bottom of the Camera Video UI, you’ll see the amount of recording time left.
The Camera UI for Picture mode looks exactly the same, The Camera Mode has the same options.
The settings menu though, allows you to tinker with more scene modes.
White Balance, Exposure, ISO sensitivity and Camera resolution.
You can also play around with the camera flash settings.
You can keep it at Automatic,switch it to Always On, or Always Off, or keep it on Red Eye Reduction mode.
One nice thing that I really really like about the Maemo 5 Camera UI, is that it Remembers Your Settings. This can be something you’d either hate, or love. But I honestly love it. Very freakkin useful if you’re capturing Images in a certain kind of environment, where you might not need Flash on, or need a certain exposure. You dont have to keep the camera app running in the background so that it doesnt forget your settings (ala Nseries Symbian devices).
If you tap on the Toolbar at the top of the Camera UI, you’ll see the following list dropdown :
Here you can head on over to your General Settings where you can tweak with a couple options.
Options like which Memory to use (on the N900 that’s set to Internal memory by default), creator name, or how long to show the captured Image.
You can also choose to allow the N900 to Geo-Tag your Images and Videos from here.
Geo-Tagging allows you to tag an Image or Video with the co-ordinates of where you took the Image/Video, so that you can view it on a Map later.
Ofcourse for this to work you need to make sure your A-GPS settings are working fine.
So that’s it for the Maemo 5 Camera UI.
Now for some Nokia N900 Camera Samples !
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Image Samples :-
The Nokia N900 has a 5 Megapixel Carl Zeiss Camera, with a Dual LED Flash. This, coupled with the great Image processing algorithms that Nokia’s used for the N900, means it can take some pretty snazzy images.
There’s also a lens protector that does it’s job pretty well, and really helps keep the Carl Zeiss Lens from getting scratched up.
Close ups :-
The N900 was set to “Macro” for these images.
Image 1 :
Image 2 :
Image 3 :
Image 4 :
Image 5 :
Image 6 :
Image 7 :
Image 8 :
Image 9 :
Image 10 :
Conclusion :
First of all, apologies for all the food pictures. There’s not much to take pictures of as a working fella in Delhi !
But apart from that, you’ll notice the N900 does a VERY respectable job at close-up pictures. You might also notice there’s some pretty cool bokeh effects happening in some of these images, which is thanks to the N900′s awesome processing algorithms, me thinks.
The N900 has no problem with focusing on close up objects, and does it pretty fast. Color’s seem to be mostly spot on, except for one or two instances where they might look a bit washed out. This doesnt happen very often though, so it’s all good ! Light management doesnt seem to be a problem either.
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Mid-Range shots :-
The N900 was set to “Automatic” mode for these Images.
Image 1 :
Image 2 :
Image 3 :
Image 4 :
Image 5 :
Image 6 :
Image 7 :
Image 8 :
Image 9 :
Image 10 :
Conclusion :
Again, colors seem correct and light management isnt a problem. One or two cases where this seems to be wrong (Eg: Image 9 looks a bit washed out), but it doesnt happen very often.
Focusing is fast and wasnt a problem either.
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Far-away shots :-
The N900 was set to “Automatic” for these Images.
Image 1 :
Image 2 :
Image 3 :
Image 4 :
Image 5 :
Image 6 :
Image 7 :
Image 8 :
Image 9 :
Image 10 :
Conclusion :
Again, as you can see, color reproduction seemed to be pretty good. And again, in one or two odd cases, the image looked washed out. Light management seems good, especially in the low-light Image 8.
Focssing, is not a problem at all.
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Images with Flash :
These Images were taken with the N900′s Dual LED Flash set to “On“.
Image 1 :
Image 2 :
Image 3 :
Image 4 :
Image 5 :
Conclusion :
As you can see, the Dual LED flash on the N900 does an “okay” job. There’s still a very visible blue-ish tint to most of the Images though.
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Video Samples :
The N900 records at 800 × 480 resolution video at roughly 25 frames per second (fps). Something I noticed, is that you cannot use the LED Flash as a light to help while recording video.
Video 1 :
Video 2 :
Conclusion :
The High resolution that the N900 records video at is a definite plus point. That being said, it records at just 25 fps, which means things arnt as fluid as it could be.
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So as you can see, the Maemo 5 Camera UI, and the great hardware on the N900 means it’s a pretty good Camera device.
Now if only it had a Xenon Flash. Ah let’s not go there again !
If you’d like, we’ve got a ton pictures and videos that you can check out over on our Nokia N900 Camera Samples album on Flickr.
Have any questions about the Camera UI on Maemo 5 ? Anything you’d like to know about the Camera on the N900 ? Do let us know in the comments section below y’all !
Clinton is currently based in New Delhi, India and is executive editor for UnleashThePhones. He is responsible for all editorial decisions, and covers all forms of Mobile and mobile-related accessories.
Cj is addicted to caffeine, social media, and technology. Always up for a good conversation, you can reach him through the contact form, his website, on Google Plus 
or on Facebook or Twitter: Follow @clintonjeff
hmm.when i saw n86 then it made me missing it. i just realized how n86 gives me joy everyday.=(
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