Review: LG Optimus T
Photos
Photos I shot with the 3.2-megapixel camera on the LG Optimus T were a mess. Under the best outdoor lighting conditions, with little color variation in my scene, I managed a couple good images. But when things started to get complicated, the camera couldn't handle the challenge. The lens was unable to focus well on close up subjects, even in macro mode. Details were mostly lost, leaving much of the picture fuzzy, especially on subjects that were a deep red. This is a common problem on camera phones. The camera had real problems with mixed lighting, rendering much of the shadows completely dark and mysterious. Bright lighting also blew out the sensor, resulting in shocking white spots or a blue rim around the edges of objects.
Indoors, the situation only got worse. There is no flash on the LG Optimus T, so you'll need to provide your own light, and plenty of it. On a sunny day, with only the outside light coming in through the open windows, the camera still rendered scenes so dark they looked like night shots. With all of my interior lights turned on, my images still looked faded, with a general haze in spots and a lack of detail throughout.
With such a good camera app on board, it's disappointing to find that the camera hardware is incapable of taking consistently good shots.
Video
Video quality was even worse than the still images. The phone shoots at VGA resolution, which is respectable for an inexpensive device like this. But videos looked terrible. They did not have the wavy motion problems that plague most cheap camcorder phones, but even on a bright, sunny day, there was plenty of noise and blocky digital artifacts crowding the frame. The camcorder adapted to changes in light slowly. The microphone also did a poor job recording my narration and the ambient sounds. All sound was muffled when recorded through the camcorder.
(video no longer available)
CTIA Fall 2010
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LG Optimus T
