Situated on the spine, the ZX10's camera lens rotates about a 180-degree
range. Pressing the dedicated Camera Key activates the 1.3-megapixel camera,
able to take photos high enough in resolution (1280 x 1024 px) to leave
the digital camera at home. However, to conserve memory, users have the
option to lower photo resolution to VGA (640 x 480 px), QVGA (320 x 240
px), or QCIF (176 x 144 px). All photos are stored in the JPG file format.
Compared to other camera phones on the market today, the ZX10 is in the
middle of the pack, leaning towards the high-end. Trailing Sony Ericsson's
2.0- and 3.0-megapixel camera phones which push mobile imaging to the brink
of being standalone digital cameras, the ZX10 is nonetheless significantly
improved over first generation VGA cameras that captured images too grainy
for anything more than phone wallpapers and contact photos.
Pushing the ZX10 up a notch are its bundled filters and effects. In addition
to standard settings found on most camera phones today such as Flash (Off,
Shoot Only, or Permanent), Zoom, Brightness, Effects (Sepia, Black and White,
Night, and Normal), White Balance, Multi-Shot (3, 6, 9, or 12 Shots at Low,
Normal, or High Speed), Self-Timer (Off, 3, 5, or 10 Seconds), and Frames,
the ZX10 also features options only normally found on standalone digital
cameras. Offering advanced features such as Metering Exposure (Matrix, Center-Weighted,
and Spot), ISO (Auto, 100, 200, 400, and 800), and Mosaic-Shot (to piece
together 4 or 9 photos for a panoramic view), the ZX10 gives users more
control over the shots they take.
Switching to Camcorder Mode, the ZX10 records up to an hour of video
at QCIF (176 x 144 px) resolution, with the option to adjust Effects, Flash,
and Quality Settings. Encoded in MPEG-4 and 3GP formats, video is recorded
at 15 fps (frames per second) and can be stored on the ZX10's internal memory
or removable TransFlash memory cards.
With current mobile video technology, recorded clips are mediocre at
best, with much of the use during still photo capture. Considering even
high-end camera phones offer similar graininess, the ZX10's video capabilities
are reasonable compared to the market. By contrast, still camera images
have decent clarity though color accuracy is a bit sporadic.
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