Welcome back! to the 2nd part of my review of the Nokia flagship device, the N96.  Being the successor to the highly popular N95 many were expecting Nokia to raise the bar when it came to the camera specifications.  This is after all their current flagship device.  What could be in store, a 5MP with xenon flash/HD recording?  8MP?  NO!  The N96 has the same camera as the N95.  A 5MP Carl Zeiss lens with dual LED flash.  Why Nokia is using the same optics is clear thanks to the Symbian-Guru.  While Nokia did not improve on the camera for the N96, was there really a need to?  Lets find out.One of the  main features of any N-series device is the camera.  The N96 is no different.  The Carl Zeiss 5MP auto focus  still holds the same physical limitations of what was seen previous, but the software improves  and makes it a better experience.  The camera can be activated from stand by pressing the dedicated camera button.  The quick start up (which takes less than 3 seconds) clearly shows that Nokia’s beliefs of having speed is important.  Once the camera is loaded, it easy to view the subject in the viewfinder thanks to the software taking advantage of the 2.8″ screen.  The right side of the screen displays the options available for photos.  These options vary from changing shooting modes, flash, timers, color tone, white balance, etc.  The N96’s software is robust with many options that will keep even the most artistic person comfortable.  Once ready to take a photo you can depress the camera button half way to initialize auto focus.  Another half press further (full press) takes the photo.    Although this is a great still camera phone the user also has the option to shoot video.  The N96’s camera supports frames up to 30fps @ 640×480.  One new feature which was not present on the N95 natively is the support for geotagging.  This allows users to tag their photos with GPS coordinates by using the internal GPS.  Taking both video and photos is very quick with it only taking a second to register the information.  The major advantage of the N96 is that photos can be saved either on the large internal 16GB storage or the MicroSD.  Coming from the N95 I did notice that the N96’s camera does not have a cover that protects the lens.  Worry not folks as  S.Litchfield points out for average shooting scratches to the lens will not effect the quality of the image.  Well enough of the chatter Ill let you check out the photos yourself and you be the judge, Enjoy!

Nokia N96 Daylight:

Nokia N96 Macro:

Nokia Night:

Nokia Video: