Asus Transformer Pad TF701T Review - Camera Review

Asus Transformer Pad TF701 – Cameras

The Transformer Pad TF701 has two cameras, a 5-megapixel
sensor on the back and a 1.2-megapixel one on the front. We’re not convinced
using a tablet as a camera is a particularly sound idea, but they seem to be
gaining popularity given how many people we see using them around London.

Neither camera of the Transformer Pad TF701 sets a new bar
for tablet cameras. The main one produces pretty soft images and
unsophisticated one-note colours. And there’s no flash.

Still, in good lighting the main camera can produce some
reasonable shots and it’s easy to get on with. Focusing may not be particularly
reliable, but it is reasonably quick and there’s very little shutter lag. It’s
a snappy camera.

More important, though, it’s designed much more for fun than
for any sort of serious photography. The Transformer Pad isn’t trying to be a
Lumia 1020.
Images are a little soft

Detail is pretty uninspiring and colour reproduction is a little unrefined. But at least it’s not dull.

The HDR mode is reasonable, but not super-effective

This is a social camera. Not in the sense that it’s forever
trying to share your photos on Facebook, but that most of its modes are geared
around taking photos of people. Other than the Night mode, Panorama and HDR
staples, you get an injection of fun in the shape of the Portrait and GIF
animation modes.

Rather than just smoothing out the skin of your subject,
Portrait lets you mess with their cheekbones, the size of their eyes and the
colour of their cheeks. It’s deeply silly stuff, but fun for five minutes. And
while the GIF maker is a bit basic, with no real editing, making animated GIFs
of people pulling faces is always going to be a laugh.

Other modes include a smile detector, a burst mode that lets
you remove moving object from a photo and a quick 100-photo burst ‘turbo’ mode.
It sounds good, but the quality of the photos is reduced significantly. Again,
it’s only useful as a ‘fun’ mode.

The main camera can also record video at up to 1080p
resolution. The front camera misses out on this – its 1.2-megapixel sensor tops
out at 720p video. However, you can still use a few extra modes with it, including
the GIF creator and portrait mangler.

Both cameras are inherently a bit rubbish. But neither is a
pain to use, and there’s some fun to be had here, especially as something for
kids to play around with.