The BBC’s Darren Waters has written about the pros and cons of using a mobile phone as a reporting tool on the dot.life blog.

He has been using a Nokia N95 during a reporting trip to California to test the limits of what is possible with these kind of devices.

Overall, as I too have found, the video quality of the N95 is impressive, especially in a well-lit environment. The main letdown is the audio as the N95 relies on the inbuilt mic.

Nokia has created a custom-built external mic, but has not been able to make enough of them to satisfy interest from journalists.

What is also interesting is the reaction from people to notion of cellphone reporting, as Darren found out:

I’ve been very impressed with people’s attitudes to pulling out a mobile phone and suggesting we shoot some video. I had expected people to be horrified but in fact most people were extremely receptive and many were impressed by the novelty.

I had a similar reaction when I used a N95 during a conference at MIT and during a visit to WGBH in Boston.

Darren is now planning to take things a step further, by trying to stream a live interview from his mobile, using Qik.com.

The beauty of being able to use a mobile phone as a reporting tool is that this is the one bit of gear that every journalist carries. Anything that reduces the amount of reporting kit needed is most welcomed.

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