Nokia's 41MP Lumia 1020 looks impressive

We enjoyed used Nokia's new Lumia 1020 along with the camera grip accessory, which convincingly makes this smartphone feel like a compact camera.

The hype was high for Nokia's second attempt at a 41-megapixel camera phone when it released theLumia 1020 on July 11, the follow-up to last year's 808 PureView phone. 

The basic imaging principles that set the 808 apart are again at work in the Lumia 1020. The device uses a 41MP imaging sensor to output maximum file sizes of 34MP to 38MP (depending on aspect ratio). The real value of such high pixel density lies in oversampling for a higher quality image output at more manageable files sizes. The Lumia 1020 allows you to simultaneously shoot both a full-resolution capture and an oversampled, immediately shareable 5MP version of every image. (Nokia offers a white paper that further explains the science of oversampling if you want to know more.)

The Nokia Lumia 1020 is far larger than its predecessor, the 808, at left.

However, the new phone is also noticeably thinner.

The Lumia 1020 holds even further promise this time around with a more modern redesigned 41MP 1/1.5" back-side-illuminated sensor, a faster aperture at F2.2 versus the 808's F2.4, a six-element Zeiss lens with optical image stabilization and the new Nokia-developed Pro Cam app. And it's powered by the Windows Phone 8 operating system (the 808's Symbian system was already outdated when the device was released).

We look forward to putting the Lumia 1020 through our full  review process, but until then, we've had just enough time with our review sample today to offer up some first impressions after seeing how it performs in a range of standard shooting conditions. 

Image quality

For this first impressions piece, we deliberately left the Lumia 1020 operating in auto settings using the new Pro Cam app. We'll wait to delve into its advanced capabilities our full review. As a first look, we thought it best to see what the camera's auto controls can do under some very common lighting conditions: when using flash, in low light, in shade and in bright sunlight. Click to see the high-resolution version of the image.

In this dark setting, the Lumia 1020's powerful xenon flash has cast a shine onto our black studio walls, but otherwise lit our subject well. In this full-resolution example above, the camera has chosen a low 200 ISO setting, though the results still look grainy.	In the "shareable" 5MP output of the same image, Nokia's imaging technology has cleverly produced a result with better tonal quality. This example shows the benefits of oversampling: the smaller size, probably large enough for most general purposes, is a better quality image.
This portrait in shady conditions shows a possible tendency for the Lumia 1020 to overneutralize white balance for a cooler result than desired.	Again, the 5MP version of the full-resolution image at left, offers a better result.