On the back of the BlackBerry Z10 is an 8-megapixel camera, capable
of taking 1080p stabilized video. We put it through its paces in a
variety of situations and found it to be a decent shooter, but not a
world-class one.
We struggled a bit with the interface. The
camera is reasonably quick to focus and even quicker to capture images,
not matching the rapid-fire shooting of the iPhone 5, but letting you
capture roughly one shot per second. (If you need more, switch over to
Burst mode, which takes two to three photos per second for as long as
you hold your finger down.) As mentioned above, you can use the volume
buttons if you're really craving something physical to press, but we
found it more comfortable to just tap on the screen -- though that
didn't react as we'd expect.
We've
become used to tapping on the portion of the image we'd like to be in
focus, something that doesn't work in BlackBerry 10.
We've become used to tapping on the portion of the image we'd like to be
in focus, something that doesn't work in BlackBerry 10. You have to
actually tap and drag the focusing reticle to where you want it before
tapping again to take the shot, a process that can take just long enough
for you to miss what you're trying to capture. And, should you need a
second shot, you'll need to drag that reticle around once more.
Helping to ensure you won't need a second shot -- at least when trying
to take pictures of smiling faces -- is the Time Shift feature. It's
very similar to the Smart Group Shot feature Nokia threw in its Lumia
line courtesy of Scalado,
capturing a blast of photos then letting you selectively cycle through
individual faces so that everyone is looking their best -- or their
worst, if you're a terrible friend. When it works, it works amazingly
well, but unfortunately it wasn't always successful in our testing. We
often had to take three or four shots before it would detect everyone's
faces. In particular it had a hard time picking up mugs of the hirsute
variety, which posed a bit of a problem for this particular reviewer.
Standard stills taken when plenty of lighting is available are bright
and clear, showing great contrast and color. However, focus was quite
often off, resulting in a number of very soft photos. Manually dragging
the reticle where we wanted it and waiting for the camera to refocus
usually worked, but in times when we simply wanted the camera to focus
on what's in the center of frame, it didn't always do that -- at least,
not quickly enough to capture a good photo.
BlackBerry Z10 sample shots
Lower-light stuff was, predictably, more of a mixed bag. The
Z10 does a good job of automatically dialing up the ISO dramatically
enough to ensure that you can see something, but photos even in
reasonably lit rooms frequently came out murky and noisy. They were, at
least, sharp, the camera still keeping a short enough exposure to
prevent motion blur. The flash, positioned immediately below the lens,
does result in a slight shadow cast above whatever object you're
capturing when you get in close, but it's bright and generally does a
good job of illuminating close-up shots. Its range is short, but it's
more effective than the token LED flashes we see on many other cameras.
Since this is a camera that we think will be used by many traveling
professionals, we decided to see how it handles capturing images of
receipts.
And, since this is a camera that we think will
be used by many traveling professionals, we decided to see how it
handles capturing images of receipts -- a common task for those filing
business expenses on the road. On a well-lit desk, the camera focused on
the slip from a distance of about six inches quickly and took a
perfectly clear shot. Recreating that in a poorer lighting condition
(something akin to a hotel room late at night) resulted in a far
murkier, but still legible scan. Finally, we flipped on the flash, which
sadly blasted the text into oblivion. So, stay away from the flash and
this will do a reasonable job of keeping your accountant happy.
