After about two weeks with the Sony Ericsson Cybershot c905, I have had a fair appreciation of the camera phone. Check out my full review below and the previous unboxing photos I took.
More of a Camera, Less of a Phone.
The construction of the phone itself gives you an impression that the device was built as a camera rather than a phone. That’s not saying that this phone is not well-equipped — WiFi, GPS, and 3G/HSDPA are all present so I give it high ranks on connectivity. There’s Bluetooth, FM tuner and DLNA support so you can send your photos wirelessly from your phone to the TV via Wi-Fi.
This is the first time I ever used a Sony-Ericsson phone but I’m impressed with the UI and the very responsive menu. There’s much eye candy actually but I’m surprised that didn’t slowed down the phone a bit.
Pushing the Megapixel Limit.
If my memory serves me right, it was Sony Ericsson that first announced a camera phone in the 8.1 megapixel range.
You can set the resolution between VGA, 3MP, 5MP and 8MP but at full picture size, a single photo can reach over 2MB (3264x2448pixels). The lens module size is 5.91mm and has a large fixed aperture of f/2.8. The ISO is rated between 80-320 but my Adobe Lightroom reads an ISO 64 on some of the pictures.
Dedicated Camera Functions.
A lot of the external buttons of the phone are dedicated to the camera function. On the right side of the device, you will find the zoom function, switch between video and photo, a dedicated play button and a large circular shoot button.
The buttons at the front side of the phone also doubles for camera function shortcuts — exposure, focus, timing and flash as well as the center shoot button. On the top corner, just beside the earpiece, two more buttons control the preset scenes and shoot modes.
Most of these buttons are back lit so you can easily find them even on low light or shooting at night.
Powerful Flash.
Haven’t seen any phone with as much flash output as the SE c905. The camera lens is encased in an aluminum housing along with two flash sources – a small circular one with 4 LED lights for taking videos and a bigger Xenon flash for taking photos.
I took several shots at daylight, at night as well a controlled environment using my DIY lightbox (more sample shots to follow).
No alterations were made on the pictures except for a resize and high JPEG compression. Without the flash, the picture quality becomes a little grainy on low light. You can zoom in up to 16x but resolution on that end isn’t pretty — that’s just cropping out the image but the 8.1MP helps even out the quality. There are many other bells and whistles that came with the camera functions but I might ran out of space if I list them all down.
The phone comes with a 2GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) and an external USB adapter so you can just plug it in and hook up to your PC for easy file and photo transfers.
All-in-all, I’d call this a solid camera phone and I’m sure Sony-Ericsson fans will love this model. I’m not sure though if the price tag of Php28,000 when it comes out later this month will appeal to many.
Hp high end Sony ericcson C905 yang katanya ok kamera dan kualitas canggih ternyata hanya “lagu bohong” dari soner saja..
Saya beli C905 ini baru 1 bulan lebih 5 hari, eh ternyata sdh ada masalah dengan speakernya..suara penelpon tdk terdengar kecuali dengan loud speaker..begitu dibawa k Sony ericcson center, ternyata sdh ada komplain serupa sebanyak 3 orang termasuk saya..
dan yang paling mengecewakan, hpku ini harus dibawa k jakarta dengan alasan hp ini masih produk terbaru dan tdk memiliki spare part (flexible) di kota tempat saya komplain tadi..
dan paling menyakitkan, masa perbaikannya harus memakan waktu 1 bulan (skrg sdh 1 bulan,tp blm ada kbr juga),
baru pake 1 bulan, eh dipegang orang 1 bulan..percuma deh beli hp 5,5 juta kalo bobrok kayak ini..buat yang belum beli..mendingan pikir2 deh beli hp produk soner yang mahal-mahal..mending tunggu waktu harganya turun saja, daripada beli mahal dan terus kecewa dan sakit hati
yes, it’s good but rather wait to go down the prize to P5000. hehehe
I was always a fan of SE, and just the other day bought a Samsung U900. Because of the low ring volume I went back to a SE. C905 is twice the price (almost) as a U900, and although the C905 is generally good, it has some big disappointments specially for the price. The first disappointment is that the camera for video calls is at the back of the phone which is totally useless. So, if you make a video call you will not be able to see each other at the same time. The other disappointment is the modem function. This can only be used in my case if you switch of the 3G phone function. U900 was much better here. The last disappointment was with obtaining the settings for the phone on the internet. SE tells you on their site that they will sms this to you. I tried this by using various (countries) sites, but untill now I did not receive any settings. Obviously this service doesnot work, I hope SE will improve on this
Just got a c905… nifty little camera phone! Perfect in times when I don’t have a camera with me… a photographer’s camera! I have 2 DSLR’s and a digicam, and yes they take great pics, but I don’t bring them with me all the time. My phone? It’s always with me, thereby assuring me I have a capable little imaging device anywhere I go!
question: where do I get an 8gb or 16gb M2?
Great review. I wish na sana mka2bili ako ng C905 this christmas kya lng hihintayin ko na lng ang C510 this coming january or february.
i heard that Ericsson comissioned jun de leon
to do an exhibit using the C905…
guys,he is the author of Tracing the Wind.
its the first ever book publ
ished using a cellphone camera.
when and where will this be available? , i can’t wait..
Any final word about the price of SE c902? When will it be released in the Philippines? I mean the exact date. I am considering this phone as an alternative to iPhone.
wow i love cybershot dati K seiries ang cbershot gagawin na nilang C series
http://www.topblogs.com.ph/out/6820
http://promditarlac.blogspot.com/
Fab pics! What about audio & video playback?
i’ve lost my Sony Ericsson Cybershot c905…
That tiny camera looks cute.
That is cool.
abe, pork vienna yun no? hehehe XD
I have to wait until it goes down to 10,000 hehehehe.. my k800i is still enough for me..
It nice but I think it is much better to have a separate unit for the camera and a phone, I will still consider the camera phone but for this this phone I rather buy a DSLR.
http://corel-lifestyle.blogspot.com/
That is indeed expensive. If I needed a camera, I’d get a DSLR. I consider the camera function in my K800i just a bonus feature useful when I just want to take quick shots.
And Samsung was the first one to release an 8MP cameraphone IIRC. ;)
Yup, the food pics are taken at Pancake House and Joey Pepperoni.
abe parang sa pancake house yung sa gitna ah? haha XD
sarap ng food abe. nagpa-cater ka sa bahay? :)
that’s an expensive camera.