My photos taken with BlackBerry 8320 "Curve" two megapixel camera

For almost two weeks I’ve been playing around with the just-announced Research in Motion (RIM) BlackBerry 8320 “Curve” that has WiFi as well as all the other 83xx series capabilities, including a two megapixel camera.  T-Mobile today began selling the 8320 on its Web site for $249.99 with a two-year contract. 

[Update (9/25/09):  The press release was published today on the RIM Web site.]

I like the 8320 and have been taking dozens of photos in Toronto — where I attended a RIM analyst summit and received the new Curve — as well as photos around my home base of Washington, D.C. and Maryland.  I’m posting more than half a dozen photos here, such as a red plexiglas pillar (see below) that was in front of the Royal Ontario Museum in downtown Toronto, as well as posting more photos on my new 8320 moblog.

The 8320’s photo quality is good.  I think it’s better than the BlackBerry 8300, for which I have a moblog and have discussed several times in this camera phone weblog.

Nice sun photos

I’m pleasantly surprised by how nicely the 8320 handles photos of the sun, such as this photo on a Toronto harbor river boat taken before we left the dock (see below) as part of RIM’s conference.

In fact, the camera does a very good job when shooting directly into the sun, such as this photo of a church (see below) near the Royal Ontario Museum.

While I’m on the subject of the Royal Ontario Museum, I took a variety of interesting exterior shots, including one of the entrance to, I think, the museum shop (see below).

Yellow problems

The sidewalk in front of the museum seems a bit too yellow.  The 8300 has had serious problems with its white balance in bright sunlight that turns images “popcorn yellow,” as I’ve written.  I’ve updated the 8300’s software two or three times and the white balance is better.

I haven’t taken enough photos with the 8320 to discuss that same problem, but it seems that the 8320 produces photos that are at least as good as the 8300 and quite possibly better.

It’s too bad none of the BlackBerrys with cameras (83xx and the 8100) have an exposure control for increasing or decreasing the light.  I would have liked to increase the exposure by +0.5 or +1.0 with this photo I took of glass sculptures outside (see below) between the East Wing and West Wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Speaking of the sun, the 8320 does a surprisingly nice job of capturing the colors of a sunset, such as the photo I took during the Toronto harbor cruise (see below).  Sure you could take a better photo with a digital camera, but for a camera phone on a moving boat the 8320 isn’t bad.

Under excellent conditions

When conditions are better for taking photos (no sunsets, no shooting directly into the sun), the 8320 takes very good photos, such as the exterior of Sam The Record Man, a landmark in downtown Toronto (see below).

And just because I want to, here’s a photo of a Canadian art exhibition “poster” outside the new Canadian Embassy on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. (see below).

Comments

[electronic white board]

well i must say these pictures will look more better on the projectors .