Why can’t camera phones become better cameras?

Published on 2005-07-08 by Mark VandeWettering

I really like the convenience of having a camera phone for taking snapshots, but unfortunately, there is a vast gulf in capability between what a modest digital camera can do and what is standard on camera phones. My Motorola MPx220 (despite it’s quoted 1.3megapixel capability) is just pathetic. Witness the following two pictures, the first taken with my MPx220:

The second with my Nikon 4500, a 3.2 megapixel digital camera:

Click through to look at the originals. There is no comparison. Yes, the Nikon has a good quality, high resolution sensor and a reasonable lens, but can’t anyone make a decent camera phone that takes decent, honest 640×480 images. I’m not asking for megapixels here…