Palm Pre camera used, results shared at long last

Palm's official Twitter account just tweeted about testing out yfrog, the image / video sharing site -- and as you might expect from a manufacturer, it wants to share pictures snapped with its own equipment. Thanks to some helpful EXIF data parsed out by the site, we know the image you're looking at here was taken using a Pre, apparently smack in the middle of enjoying a few 5-cent horsey rides. As far as we can tell this is the first shot we've seen posted from the Pre's camera, and we're cautiously optimistic about what the 3 megapixel sensor has managed to do here. Sure, blowing the image up to full size reveals some nasty artifacting and muddy details, but when you get right down to it, that's what cameraphone shots are all about, right?

[SeanR Posted May 27th 2009 7:08PM]

not bad at websizes, and honestly if you need a "fullsize" picture, I doubt anyone is going to be using "any" camera phone, rather then a Dedicated camera...

[(Unverified) Posted May 27th 2009 7:35PM]

That Pre picture looks 1,000 times better (crisper, clearer) than an picture I've taken with my Instinct. I like it. I also like the fact that the Pre has an LED flash for night/dark shots.

[PHug Posted May 27th 2009 7:50PM]

That's better than ANY camera phone I've ever used.
No BS

[(Unverified) Posted May 27th 2009 7:50PM]

The sad thing is, that looks much better than 90% of the shots I take with my iPhone. I wonder if the Pre has the same annoyance of having to hold the thing perfectly still for about 3 seconds to take a photo that doesn't look terrible.

[EpsilonNot Posted May 27th 2009 8:55PM]

I know the Centro's camera has huge problems with moving objects.

[(Unverified) Posted May 27th 2009 9:17PM]

That is a pretty nice picture. Good enough quality to make me happy.

Sidenote: I wonder if this girl pictured on the ride had any idea that she would have her picture posted all over the internet.

[(Unverified) Posted May 27th 2009 9:26PM]

My roommate has and IPhone and hers takes beautiful photos. So, I'm not sure what problem people are having with an iPhone not taking "good enough" photos. Also, I agree with Seanross - you're expecting a PHONE to take REALLY hi res photos that you would take with a 35mm Digital SLR. You're never going to get that with a camera on a phone - no matter WHO makes it. If you want hi quality hi res photos for any kind of art work/web design/print design - you're typically not going to use what you took from a camera phone. Yes, it's nice to have all of these gadgets in one, but honestly - what are you expecting?

[Blad3 Posted May 28th 2009 1:23AM]

obviously your definition of "beautiful photos" differs from others... don't claim it as the end all be all.

[Richard Posted May 28th 2009 1:52AM]

@Karen: Like Blad3 said, it depends on your definition, but also bear in mind that the iPhone - like most other Apple hardware - may not source components from just one manufacturer. For example, the latest MacBook is known to have a mixture of LG-Philips LCDs and AUO LCDs, and likewise with the hard drive (I've spotted Fujitsu, Hitachi and Toshiba so far), regardless of the price tier. This means the iPhones may well be using lenses from a mixture of manufacturers too, thus giving noticeable performance difference from one device to another, i.e. your roommate might be lucky enough to get a nicer lens. In general though, Sony Ericsson phones definitely take better photos than the iPhone.

I think the reason people are disappointed by this photo is that we are expecting something better than the photo quality that we can already get from our current phones. The Pre must have a significant jump in order to save Palm one last time, hence the great expectation.

[stiltskin Posted May 28th 2009 1:21AM]

Not bragging or anything but that is a bout on par with my Sprint Mogul. That's pretty good for a camera phone

[BadWolfCubed Posted May 28th 2009 12:22PM]

I'd ride that!

[nothingnewunderthesun Posted May 28th 2009 11:22PM]

The file can produce an excellent 5x7 in. print and a pretty good 8x10. I won't retire my Canon 5D anytime soon but the Pre has a pretty good camera.