The Nokia N97 comes with a 5-Megapixel camera built-in that supports dual-LED flash with high quality Carl Zeiss optics. It’s not just a stills camera, as you’ll find a front facing video camera for use in video conferencing and the main camera supports 16:9 and DVD quality video capture. We’ve been playing with the Nokia N97 camera for a few days, so check out our Nokia N97 camera review…

The Nokia N97 camera is a 5-Megapixel snapper that is more than capable of taking images at 2584 x 1938 pixels. The 3.5-inch touchscreen is used as the viewfinder and you’ll find a dedicated capture button, along with zoom controls on the right-hand side of the Nokia N97.

Check out the full review of the Nokia N97

You’ll need to manually open the lens cover, otherwise when you open the camera app it will default to the secondary camera and you’ll find yourself staring back at you!

By default you can load the camera up either by pressing the capture button or using the widget button on the Homescreen of the Nokia N97. Once loaded, you’ll find the interface is the same as the one used on the Nokia 5800, which we were more than satisfied with. However, it does come with the option to switch to the Nokia N97 secondary camera – something earlier versions of  Nokia 5800 lacked – it has since been included with update V20.

The interface is easy to get to grips with and is made even easier by being touch-enabled. Mode selection is also the same as with the Nokia 5800, so you can choose from the standard Scene and Video modes, as well as Colour Tone, White Balance and Exposure.

One new feature is the ability to switch between Single Shot and Sequence mode, with the latter allowing you to capture up to 18 snaps one after the other. This feature is great if you want to pan around an object or take a number of similar shots and choose the best one.

Getting the most from the UI means playing with it, as some of the features you’ll use often, such as macro (known as Close-up) take two clicks to activate instead. It pays to spend a little time checking out the various functions, as the Nokia N97 camera is more than just a basic point-n-click affair.

Check out our Nokia N97 keyboard review

Video mode is also scalable as you can choose between 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratio. We’ll cover video in depth later but for now, you’ll find that videos at 640 x 480 are the default setting.

So, were we impressed with the image quality on show? You can find out for yourself as we’ve posted a number of examples below. The camera is easy to use and the screen works great as a viewfinder and for looking back through your image album on the way home. People may bemoan the fact it’s not 8-Megapixel but we were more than impressed with the image quality on offer, marking the Nokia N97 out as a true flagship device.

Check out the Nokia N97 camera review image gallery (Open up to full size):