Camera

A 1.3-megapixel camera is considered low-grade, a 2.0-megapixel camera will do the job and a 3.2-megapixel camera is top-notch. So having a 3.2-megapixel camera is a definite asset for the BlackBerry Tour.

The camera takes crisp, colorful pictures that pick up detail, shadow and contrast well. A person can't exactly read fine print in pictures taken by the Tour, images are close-to-life and have the benefit of the Tour's flash.

Pre-picture adjustment tools are plentiful on the Tour. Before the picture is taken, flash can be set to automatic, on, or off; white balance can be adjusted for sunny, cloudy, night, or normal conditions or incandescent or fluorescent lights; and image stabilization can be turned on or off.

Picture size options include 2048 x 1536 px, 1024 x 768 px or 640 x 480 px and image quality can be set to fine, superfine or normal. Color effects include normal, sepia, whiteboard or black and white and geo-tagging can be turned on or off.

Users can choose to store a picture to the phone's memory or a media card before the picture is taken.

Still, the phone can't take a great picture every time. Sharpness can vary depending on how steady the phone and the picture subject are, and dark conditions aren't the best places to use the camera.

The shutter takes awhile to activate, especially when the flash is on, which means fatigued hands may slip and take an image out of focus or miss a moving image altogether. Editing tools can help cut out some issues those, with tools including zoom and rotation, but unfortunately not cropping or adjusting colors or sharpness.

The camcorder has the option of a video light, color effects or format options 480 x 352 px or 176 x 144 px. The lower pixel option is the only one that can be used to send video by multimedia messaging.

Audio on the videos sounds a bit like it's spoken through a tube and each shot is only as good as the shaky or steady hand recording images.

Images come through with decent quality, but not as nicely as one would hope with a 3.2-megapixel camera. Shots are slightly dark without the video light and images appear a bit pixilated. Still, don't rule out the Tour as a video player.

The phone's built-in video demo is detailed and the audio is crisp enough to convince any user watching videos made by other people on this phone is a wise choice.

Overall, the Tour has a high-quality camera that takes great pictures and has plenty of adjustment options. But a few more editing options, especially for the camcorder, would be appreciated. Video quality is not as good as the camera's photo quality and the audio isn't very clear, but the camcorder will do for quick recordings made in well-lit areas.

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