Nokia Lumia 920 photo and video samples proven fake ?

The Nokia Lumia 920 was announced yesterday and became the first in the Lumia series to feature Nokia’s PureView technology. However unlike the Nokia 808 PureView which made use of a 41 MP camera to over-sample its images, the Lumia 920 relies on an 8 MP camera and uses Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) to achieve PureView quality photos.

Some sharp observers have caught Nokia’s bluff and claim that the photo and video samples which were demonstrated were not captured by the Lumia 920 and were in fact images captured by professional (DSLR) cameras.

Check out the evidence which follows and let us know what you think.

To demonstrate the advantages of OIS Nokia released a video comparing the the technology against a device without optical image stabilization. The implication was that the video was captured using a Lumia 920.

This didn't turn out to be quite true, several reports found a reflection of a camera crew van using what clearly was a a larger device, presumably a professional camera to capture and not the Lumia 920.

The camera is clearly visible in the reflection on the glass. While we do expect a certain level of deception in advertising, we don’t expect the video samples to be doctored or misinterpreted as it defeats the purpose of the samples.

Nokia was quick  to respond with an apology, claiming that the video was not captured on the Limia 920 but was a simulation demonstrating what OIS would look like on the Lumia 920. They also released a second video which is actually features the Lumia 920, check it out below.

The result is quite impressive, and makes us wonder why Nokia didn’t bother using the Lumia 920 for the previous video.

Unfortunately the story doesn't end here. Following the controversy with the video, image experts began to closely examine the photo samples as well.

A blogger and resident of Helsinki pointed out that he didn’t know of any place where street lights were so powerful. He also noted that the diffraction pattern of street lamps could only be achieved by a device with a low aperture of around f/22, which is not possible with the wide f/2.0 on the Lumia 920.

All these were confirmed when a photo of the Nokia photoshoot surfaced. Which shows the model from the picture above. You will probably notice the extensive lighting, and if you look carefully you can even see the DSLR lens sticking out on the left.

The following comparison explicitly states that one was captured with the Lumia 920

The lighting source doesn’t emit a star pattern like the first photo, confirming the theory of the low aperture.

The competitor image is something I am personally quite familiar with, and if Nokia can achieve the level of lighting pictured above without the need of additional light sources, I will be very impressed.

The next image is reportedly captured using the Lumia 920, and is available on Nokia’s website

If you notice carefully, there is a strong light source which causes the tree to cast a heavy shadow. Nokia claims this photo is captured without the use of a flash, compared to the next image from a competing high end smartphone.

It’s unfortunate the competitor didn’t have the help of the same lighting source.

The whole thing is quite disappointing. I greatly respect Nokia for their hardware and technology, and I have enjoyed reviewing devices like the Nokia N8 which was a great camera phone.

Now is the demand of making ultra slim portable smartphones too much for the Finns, or is this just a case of a marketing campaign gone bad. I personally cant wait to get my hands on the Nokia Lumia 920 and see how well it really performs.

Share you own thoughts below.

 
source – PocketNow | The Verge | Nokia | sefsa.com