So I Got An 8mp Olympus Digital Camera For Xmas & Also Have The Nokia E71...

I've gone without using a dedicated digital camera since I got my Nokia N82, which has been about a year. Needless to say my precious N82 has been a champ, making me forget the fact that I don't have a digital camera and on countless occasions astonishing people that I trust my phone to capture all those specials moments. On rare occasion I wished that I had optical zoom or better audio recording for videos. Other than that the N82 has held it's own. But this holiday season has been a threat to my Nokia camera powerhouse...




A new device has come into my life. Every year for Christmas my dad surprises me with one cool gift, usually a gadget. This year happened to be an Olympus FE-20 8 megapixel camera, with 3x optical zoom. Upon opening my gift I was a little speechless. Not because I was filled with joy, but instead a little sorrow and skepticism. First thing that came to mind was - "Crap, I already have my N82". Next thing was - "Shoot, am I going to be using my N82 less?". Keep in mind I've been having a mental "phone fight" in my head the past few months on a daily basis. I also have a Nokia E71 that I received when I started working for Nokia with the S60 Ambassador team. The E71 is a workhorse with it's huge 1500mah battery and North American 3g capabilities. However I still lean towards taking my N82 out for the day, especially when I know I'm going out later that night to hang out with friends or family. But when I wake up in the morning and know that I'm gonna be away from the computer for most of the day yet I need to have full access to the WWW, I grab the E71. The battery life is just killer.

So now I have a question. Will the E71 + Olympus digital camera fully replace my N82?



This is something that I've pondered the last few days, and I gotta admit have been somewhat scared of. My girlfriend's birthday was Friday, myself and friends took her out for sushi and drinks. I elected to leave the N82 and home and go with the E71 + Olympus combo. Needless to say I really enjoyed the camera experience, especially the optical zoom which was great for capturing friends across the bar or table. Not to mention the image quality, face recognition, and stabilization makes the experience better. But I ran into a few annoyances...

1. It really sucks carrying around two devices. I hate having a ton of stuff in my pockets. E71 in one, camera in the other. Really annoying.

2. I often forgot which pocket my camera was in when reaching to take a quick shot. By the time I got the camera out the moment was gone.

3. Holding the camera, the damn phone rings. Now I have to fumble with 2 devices in front of my plate of food. With my N82 as you know I can easily take or reject the call, then get back to my photos.

5. No immediate photo-sharing features. I love uploading the pics to Ovi immediately, and also sending to friends/family.

4. I'm still not sold on qwerty. I love T9.

So what is my conclusion? I really don't want to deal with these annoyances every time I go out with friends. This once a year occasion perhaps is worth bringing along the Olympus, but this won't be happening often. The N82 is just more convenient for a simple night out and for those "random" moments. I suppose the Olympus will only be making an appearance when I know for sure I'm going to be taking a lot of photos and will need the optical zoom.

What else has this experience brought to my mind? The big question of course. When will Nokia replace the N82 with a new imaging device? Image stabilization, facial recognition, optical zoom, etc? I'm not really desperate for more megapixels, just some of these extra features would be great. Ricky from Symbian-Guru.com recently wrote up a great article with his thoughts on this subject. I'd suggest you all check it out.

Stay tuned for some head to head photos and videos. If you have any questions let me know.

Do you own a digital camera and a Nokia N82? What are your thoughts? How often do you take the camera out with you?