A large f/2.2 aperture allows the N9 to show off some pretty radical depth of field in its photos. Image sensors inside smartphones the stately N8 excepted are notoriously tiny, so the ability to blur out the background while focusing on an object in the foreground has generally not been available to phone users. Its arguable that it still isnt, however the N9 moves things forward in that respect. Its 8-megapixel camera is suspiciously similar in specification to the unit used by HTC recently, which shares the same maximum aperture and also opts for a wider-than-usual 28mm (35mm equivalent) focal length. Of course, the HTC Sensation XL, Titan, and myTouch 4G Slide that feature that hardware dont come with a Carl Zeiss sticker, and theres also a difference in the way Nokia and HTC process images. Still, the easy similarity between all those phones is that they take pictures quickly and are capable of capturing astounding amounts of detail.
More skill is required to get the best out of the N9′s camera than the typical smartphone. It has a few areas of distinct weakness, which youll want to be aware of and try to avoid, though theyre certainly offset by excellent results in the right circumstances. Closeup shots are an undoubted strength for the N9, with the leaf above being a particular highlight. You can distinguish all the little strands running through it and noise is barely detectable, even at full resolution. Thats a level of quality far superior from the average smartphone performance, however the N9 dips below the average on occasions.
Most often, its struggles relate to light, either the overabundance or deficit of it. On a sunny day outdoors, the N9′s automatic settings (theres no way to step down to a smaller aperture that I can see) cant handle all the light coming through the lens, resulting in massively, almost artistically, blown-out highlights and, more worryingly, consistently overexposed photos. Theres a certain haze thats apparent in quite a few of my sample photos and I did also notice the N9 getting its white balance wrong on occasion. The other side of the light coin is a lot more predictable: dim environments generate quite a bit of chromatic noise and Nokia, confident in the N9′s performance, opts not to blur it out with post-processing algorithms.
On the video front, the N9 outputs some very good 720p footage. As noted above, depth of field is a more relevant factor on the N9 than on most other phones, so its good to see that it features continuous autofocus and even better that it works with consistent reliability. It hunts around occasionally, but does so silently and only under low-light conditions or when tracking moving objects areas where AF difficulties will occur even with professional cameras. Sound recording is done in stereo and the results are of a very high quality.
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The body "looks pretty good" or it's "a weird docking station"; which is it? I personally agree with you on the looksI wouldn't go so far as to call it abominable but I will say it looks weird. It definitely is very different from the wrap-around band seen on the iPhone 4/S and BB 9900, both of which are more beautiful phones to my eyes. But aesthetics are only one factor in industrial design. I marvel at the beauty of the iPhone 4/S but I do not enjoy holding it. Ergonomics and usability are also important and the reviewer assures us that the N9's industrial design bests the competitors in those areas. 
