Camphones have been one of the big tech stories of 2009, with the Sony Ericsson Satio and Samsung Pixon 12 both hitting the 12MP mark.

But as any discerning Stuff reader knows, camera performance isn't all about megapixels – a sentiment Nokia seems to share, as it's only just released its first 8MP camphone, the N86 8MP (above).

With this in mind we thought it'd be interesting to have a chat with Damian Dinning, who is Concepting Manager for Nokia's N82 and N86 8MP, about where he thinks camphones are headed. Here's what he had to say:

What advantages do you think the Nokia N86 8MP has over other camphones?
The thing we really focused on with the N86 8MP is low light performance, particularly without the flash. Mobile flashes only work up to 3 metres, and there are plenty of situations where it's just not appropriate to use them.

It took us two years to develop. There are two big improvements on the N86 8MP – we used the biggest pixels available, and the aperture is much larger than on other camphones.

We also put in a true 28mm wide-angle lens, and improved the latencies – which means taking a photo now takes half the time as there's very little shutter lag. The N86 8MP is definitely Nokia's best camphone yet.

What's your opinion on the camphone megapixel arms race? Will Nokia be joining Sony Ericsson and Samsung with a 12MP camphone?
There are still a lot of people who believe that megapixels are everything, but there's also now a growing number of people who think the opposite. Some people may argue that Nokia is late with the N86 8MP, but we wanted to wait until the right technology was available.

Nokia has had a lot of firsts in the camphone market – the first globally available camphone with the 7650, the first 1MP and 2MP camphones – but it was never our intention to lead the megapixel race. We're not planning to be first for the sake of it.

Do you think camphones will ever be true compact camera replacements or will they always be compromised by size constraints?
There's actually a big argument that compact cameras are the ones that are compromised now. They generally take a picture and don't do much else.

Other than the select few who enjoy the capturing process, most people want to take a photo and share a story – and camphones are taking this to a new level with features like Twitter and Facebook integration.

But size constraints are certainly a big challenge for camphones to overcome. Every component in a phone – the GPS, Wireless LAN, 3.5mm jack – is fighting for space, and we've been working closely with Carl Zeiss to make sure the space that the N86's camera takes up is 10% smaller than on other camphones.

What do you think will be the next big breakthrough in camphone technology?
I think augmented reality is very interesting, but on a personal level I was interested to see that Canon's new prosumer cam (the G11) has a lower number of megapixels than its predecessor. It's a very brave move, and I think that's great.

I think we'll start to see the industry upset the megapixel race – for too long cameras have been based on legacy, and I think we'll start to see camphones get moved into all sorts of new directions from companies with little or no imaging background.

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Read our Nokia N86 8MP review, and check out our Top 10 camphones.