Hi, Guys I don't own a SG2 but I am thinking of getting one. I searched the forum and wasn't able to find any info or samples.
I am thinking of SG2 or a Xperia Arc. I know Arc is **** but I really want a good quality camera for night photos. As long as the SG2 camera is better than iphone 4 and comparable to arc I think i'll jump the gun. Right now i am using Desire Z and the photos are crap compared to my nexus S.
oya I searched online reviews and sample but they only do daytime photo samples which I find almost useless.
I think the camera is pretty decent.
Better than that of the Iphone 4.
You can not expect it to be anywhere near as good as a real (dslr) camera, but for a phone camera its among the best. I doubt the camera of the Xperia Arc is better.
Also, please note that the front-facing camera is really good too. Its very sensitive - noticably more sensitive than that of the iPhone - so you can use it in moderate to dark conditions and see something where others will just give you a black picture.
Why don't you order it at Amazon? - there you can try it out for a almost month before deciding if it is good enough for you and sending it back or not.
I've never had an iPhone so can't be truly impartial but my SGS2 seems like one of the better mobiles to handle darker lit areas. Yeah, it has a little of the usual traits for this sort of kit - understandable given that it is a phone after all - but it's certainly no slouch when the lights go down.
My personal experience seems to be backed up by a lot of the reviews online though, as you say, not many of them actually print sample night/dark photos to prove it!
If you search on Eurodroid for "Samsung Galaxy S II review: Camera and video samples" you'll find an example shot and comment. That's just one so hardly fully representative but it's something to start with!.
edit: I knew I'd seen it somewhere - there's a gallery of 14 pictures taken in varying light conditions comparing the SGS2 and the Arc over on the android50 site. Search for "Camera showdown: Samsung Galaxy S II versus Xperia arc". Looks like the exact thing you need to help make your choice!
(I'd link you directly but I'm still under my "no links initially for noobs" ruling )
CarpathianUK said:
I've never had an iPhone so can't be truly impartial but my SGS2 seems like one of the better mobiles to handle darker lit areas. Yeah, it has a little of the usual traits for this sort of kit - understandable given that it is a phone after all - but it's certainly no slouch when the lights go down.
My personal experience seems to be backed up by a lot of the reviews online though, as you say, not many of them actually print sample night/dark photos to prove it!
If you search on Eurodroid for "Samsung Galaxy S II review: Camera and video samples" you'll find an example shot and comment. That's just one so hardly fully representative but it's something to start with!.
edit: I knew I'd seen it somewhere - there's a gallery of 14 pictures taken in varying light conditions comparing the SGS2 and the Arc over on the android50 site. Search for "Camera showdown: Samsung Galaxy S II versus Xperia arc". Looks like the exact thing you need to help make your choice!
(I'd link you directly but I'm still under my "no links initially for noobs" ruling )
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Found the article article over at android50( http://www.android50.com/Topic/view/id-3208),....just be aware of the pink haze in this camera. Can really spoil photo's in certain lights. My first SGS2 did not have this fault so assume its a hardware manufacturing issue. Would have taken phone back but it such a good phone so far that i can live with the odd shot looking pinkish in middle....
I was hoping to have a better camera overall, but according to this
http://www.galaxys2x.com/samsung-galaxy-s3-camera-samples-revealed-compared-to-galaxy-s2-photos/
the aperture of the S3 is only 2.6 while HOX has the best aperture of 2.0.
The only improved ofer the S2 (2.65) but such a tiny amount... I wonder why.
Thats disappointing. Hopefully there are great optics.
I understand that aperture involves the amount of light only but I am not seeing much info to determine that the camera is much better.
Wond3r said:
I was hoping to have a better or on par camera s the HTC One, which takes great photos, but according to this
http://www.galaxys2x.com/samsung-galaxy-s3-camera-samples-revealed-compared-to-galaxy-s2-photos/
the aperture of the S3 is only 2.6 while HOX has the best aperture of 2.0.
The only improved ofer the S2 (2.65) but such a tiny amount... I wonder why.
Thats disappointing. Hopefully there are great optics.
I understand that aperture involves the amount of light only but I am not seeing much info to determine that the camera is much better.
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Well over the SGS2 there is hardly any shutter lag. It takes it almost instantly so less blurry pictures.
Honestly, my HOX doesn't take that great of pictures anyways. The One S barely does better. These phones aren't SLR replacers.
SlimJ87D said:
Well over the SGS2 there is hardly any shutter lag. It takes it almost instantly so less blurry pictures.
Honestly, my HOX doesn't take that great of pictures anyways. The One S barely does better. These phones aren't SLR replacers.
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The speed of the photos doesnt mean quality and we arent talking about SLR replacers but good camera phones. The 4s takes great photos, and from what I have seen the HTC One phones do as well, and I assume its because of the camera hardware.
You would think Samsung, going for the BEST phone on the market, would also consider the camera too.
I will be getting the s3 when it comes out but this just makes me consider more things too.
(If the Xperia GX is released around the same time, I would trade the s3 for it)
OMG these numbers and decimals mean nothing. There are actual photos and comparisons between the One X and S III. They said my clunker of a car was rated 40mph too, but the real world doesn't move at the speed of spec sheets.
GSMarena did a test that shows the S3 is better than the HTC. The sensor in the S3 is better than the One X or S2, as is the software.
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_iii_vs_htc_one_x-review-759p5.php
Wond3r said:
The speed of the photos doesnt mean quality and we arent talking about SLR replacers but good camera phones. The 4s takes great photos, and from what I have seen the HTC One phones do as well, and I assume its because of the camera hardware.
You would think Samsung, going for the BEST phone on the market, would also consider the camera too.
I will be getting the s3 when it comes out but this just makes me consider more things too.
(If the Xperia GX is released around the same time, I would trade the s3 for it)
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I've seen comparison shots, and honestly the SGS3 outperformed the SGS2 in a lot of instances. They maybe subjective. Who knows. All I know is that it does a good job and it gets the job done well.
Here's the comparisons to the 4S as well. The 4S is a tiny bit better, and SGS3's video recording beats the SGS2, 4S and HOX.
http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Samsung-Galaxy-S-III-vs-Apple-iPhone-4S_id3038/page/3
There are perks, there is no phone camera on android or apple that has all the perks and benefits.
Also feel free to compare all phone cameras to each other using this tool:
http://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=1&idPhone1=4238&idPhone2=3621&idPhone3=4212
I already have the 4S, SGS2 and SGS3 set up for you on there. If the SGS3 takes either pictures as good or better than a SGS2 with a butter shutter then that is improvement in my book.
SlimJ87D said:
I've seen comparison shots, and honestly the SGS3 outperformed the SGS2 in a lot of instances. They maybe subjective. Who knows. All I know is that it does a good job and it gets the job done well.
Here's the comparisons to the 4S as well. The 4S is a tiny bit better, and SGS3's video recording beats the SGS2, 4S and HOX.
http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Samsung-Galaxy-S-III-vs-Apple-iPhone-4S_id3038/page/3
There are perks, there is no phone camera on android or apple that has all the perks and benefits.
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Click to collapse
I dont see why the S3 wouldnt outperform the S2. Im not saying its not a better camera than the s2, but not by much. And I dont see why the s3 wouldnt blow the 4s, a dated phone, out of the water as well. But thats not the case
as far as the GSMarena comparison shots - not too applicable since the lighting was different in them. Obviously the shot by the s3 of the building in a sunny environment looks better than the HTC in a seemingly overcast environment
The windmill and low light tests favour the HTC as well
People really do get hung-up on the stupidest things. NO phone is that great for pictures, the S3 is one of the best, thats quite enough. Who cares about the iPhone? Most isheep take pictures and ruin them with instagram anyway so what does it matter? If you want the 5% better pictures the iPhone might take in some situations go buy one.
What matters is that the S3 takes sharp images and uses low amounts of post processing. Any further shortcomings can be fixed easily with a photo editor. the HOX takes somewhat blurry images that have way to much post processing, this is much harder to correct, if it can be at all.
I have seen plenty of bad pictures taken with the iP4s.
Wond3r said:
I dont see why the S3 wouldnt outperform the S2. Im not saying its not a better camera than the s2, but not by much. And I dont see why the s3 wouldnt blow the 4s, a dated phone, out of the water as well. But thats not the case
as far as the GSMarena comparison shots - not too applicable since the lighting was different in them. Obviously the shot by the s3 of the building in a sunny environment looks better than the HTC in a seemingly overcast environment
The windmill and low light tests favour the HTC as well
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Click to collapse
I did not post the GSMarena screen shots to you, I posted the 4S and SGS3 taking photos the same day and same time.
The GSMArena once I posted to you were them taking pictures of charts in a controlled environment so all the phones had the same exposure. The contrast in the pictures of the charts has the 4S producing blacks like dark black-reds while the SGS3 is pretty dark.
It seems you're set on your opinion on the matter though so cheers to you.
In some of the S3 pictures on the GSMarena S3 v iP4s test its clear the lens is dirty. Inconsistent focus within the same picture indicated a dirty lens.
rovex said:
People really do get hung-up on the stupidest things. NO phone is that great for pictures, the S3 is one of the best, thats quite enough. Who cares about the iPhone? Most isheep take pictures and ruin them with instagram anyway so what does it matter? If you want the 5% better pictures the iPhone might take in some situations go buy one.
What matters is that the S3 takes sharp images and uses low amounts of post processing. Any further shortcomings can be fixed easily with a photo editor. the HOX takes somewhat blurry images that have way to much post processing, this is much harder to correct, if it can be at all.
I have seen plenty of bad pictures taken with the iP4s.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On top of that the HOX has a lot of noise in its photos. I've taken photos of my dogs with it and it had some noise noticeable on their brown fur.
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Notice the noise. The SGS3 is on the top and the HOX is on the bottom.
Like I said before, there is no phone that has ALL the perks, they all have their problems. I showed the 4S not having the best contrast with blacks, the HOX has noise issues and the SGS3 others have pointed out the cons for it.
rovex said:
People really do get hung-up on the stupidest things. NO phone is that great for pictures, the S3 is one of the best, thats quite enough. Who cares about the iPhone? Most isheep take pictures and ruin them with instagram anyway so what does it matter? If you want the 5% better pictures the iPhone might take in some situations go buy one.
What matters is that the S3 takes sharp images and uses low amounts of post processing. Any further shortcomings can be fixed easily with a photo editor. the HOX takes somewhat blurry images that have way to much post processing, this is much harder to correct, if it can be at all.
I have seen plenty of bad pictures taken with the iP4s.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont see how I am getting hung up on anything stupid, I am having a discussion about a feature of the phone...
No phone is great for pictures? I have taken some great photos with my 5mp Atrix. Phones can take some great photos, thats a fact. Thats not the discussion though.
You shouldnt have to use a photo editor to fix the photos.
I have seen plenty of bad pictures taken on Canon 60d's as well, thats not the point.
SlimJ87D said:
I did not post the GSMarena screen shots to you, I posted the 4S and SGS3 taking photos the same day and same time.
The GSMArena once I posted to you were them taking pictures of charts in a controlled environment so all the phones had the same exposure. The contrast in the pictures of the charts has the 4S producing blacks like dark black-reds while the SGS3 is pretty dark.
It seems you're set on your opinion on the matter though so cheers to you.
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Click to collapse
for the GSM arena comments, I was referring to the other post, not yours. The comparisons you posted were very good. My issue is that, I see an almost equal amount of instances where the 4s is better in some and the s3 is better in others... which should not be the case. The s3 should be much better.
I wonder if this just speaks about how much better the i5 photos will be too.
The purpose of a lot of the camera phones now, and the reason they are trying to make the better and better, is to replace the entry level point and shoot cameras on the market. The phone companies are doing a great job of this attempt so far. So I highly disagree with people saying phones take bad photos.
SlimJ87D said:
On top of that the HOX has a lot of noise in its photos. I've taken photos of my dogs with it and it had some noise noticeable on their brown fur.
Notice the noise. The SGS3 is on the top and the HOX is on the bottom.
Like I said before, there is no phone that has ALL the perks, they all have their problems. I showed the 4S not having the best contrast with blacks, the HOX has noise issues and the SGS3 others have pointed out the cons for it.
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I notice the noise. Thats also zoomed into the photo. Why would we be zooming into photos like that anyway? Also those crops are not even in the exact same conditions (judging by the original thumbnails in the top left, pretty different lighting and angle)
Can I see the photos you took on the HTC?
Wond3r said:
I dont see how I am getting hung up on anything stupid, I am having a discussion about a feature of the phone...
No phone is great for pictures? I have taken some great photos with my 5mp Atrix. Phones can take some great photos, thats a fact. Thats not the discussion though.
You shouldnt have to use a photo editor to fix the photos.
I have seen plenty of bad pictures taken on Canon 60d's as well, thats not the point.
for the GSM arena comments, I was referring to the other post, not yours. The comparisons you posted were very good. My issue is that, I see an almost equal amount of instances where the 4s is better in some and the s3 is better in others... which should not be the case. The s3 should be much better.
I wonder if this just speaks about how much better the i5 photos will be too.
The purpose of a lot of the camera phones now, and the reason they are trying to make the better and better, is to replace the entry level point and shoot cameras on the market. The phone companies are doing a great job of this attempt so far. So I highly disagree with people saying phones take bad photos.
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Click to collapse
Can you actually show us what you see and what you're talking about? The link you posted doesn't have any kind of working images. I haven't seen any real evidence or examples from you. Do you have comparison shots and a source that you can share with us to prove your point? Because everything otherwise is just a opinion or is subjective till proven.
---------- Post added at 11:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:31 AM ----------
Wond3r said:
I notice the noise. Thats also zoomed into the photo. Why would we be zooming into photos like that anyway?
Can I see the photos you took on the HTC?
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I have pictures of my dogs with noticeable noise from my HOX. I don't want to share them due to them being my private photos and my GF is in them.
Again, I have set this up for you to compare the HOX and SGS3. It's already scaled out for you to take a look at the picture not so zoomed in. look over teh lady's face and notice the noise coming from the HOX. This is a controlled environment with controlled lighting.
http://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=2&idPhone1=4238&idPhone2=4320&idPhone3=3621
Again there is no jack of all trades master of all.
SlimJ87D said:
Can you actually show us what you see and what you're talking about? The link you posted doesn't have any kind of working images. I haven't seen any real evidence or examples from you. Do you have comparison shots and a source that you can share with us to prove your point? Because everything otherwise is just a opinion or is subjective till proven.
What do you mean what I see and what I'm talking about?
Look at anything that you or other people have posted to SEE.
And what I am talking about is SIMPLE ... This phone is supposed to be the BEST OF THE BEST as far as I take it.. and its NOT. Now I am very impressed by its other hardware and specs but how can anyone HONESTLY argue with me and say that they are very pleased with the advancements they have made in the camera. Its simply NOT TRUE that there are major advancements in photo quality.
edit: I looked at your edit and the womans face and you are right. (once again, its ZOOMED IN though) BUT.... look at the s2. Perfect example youve shown. Is there a huge improvement? No
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So, you want the S3 to be the best at everything all the time? Not going to happen. No device is ever the best at everything. The S3 has the best video, that's proven, the stills are very good to excellent for a phone and the software allows for the most features of any phone. Is that not good enough?
Ive seen pictures from a Nokia N95 8GB that beats all of the pictures from any phone out right now. Half of it is luck, phones have strengths and weaknesses, lets also not forget that software updates can improve image quality. More mature devices have an advantage in that regard.
Wond3r said:
SlimJ87D said:
Can you actually show us what you see and what you're talking about? The link you posted doesn't have any kind of working images. I haven't seen any real evidence or examples from you. Do you have comparison shots and a source that you can share with us to prove your point? Because everything otherwise is just a opinion or is subjective till proven.
What do you mean what I see and what I'm talking about?
Look at anything that you or other people have posted to SEE.
And what I am talking about is SIMPLE ... This phone is supposed to be the BEST OF THE BEST as far as I take it.. and its NOT. Now I am very impressed by its other hardware and specs but how can anyone HONESTLY argue with me and say that they are very pleased with the advancements they have made in the camera. Its simply NOT TRUE that there are major advancements in photo quality.
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Click to collapse
That was not your initial point...
"I was hoping to have a better or on par camera s the HTC One, which takes great photos, but according to this"
That was your initial point from the OP and this thread and I've proved that it is at least on par with the One and even the 4S where both went back and forth and have advantages and disadvantages over one another.
My only suggestions is if a camera is really important for you then get the next Sony Android phones with the S4 CPU and 12MP cameras that are going to come out in a few months. That's the only solution I think that will make you happy and satisfied.
---------- Post added at 11:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:42 AM ----------
Wond3r said:
SlimJ87D said:
edit: I looked at your edit and the womans face and you are right. (once again, its ZOOMED IN though) BUT.... look at the s2. Perfect example youve shown. Is there a huge improvement? No
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Click to collapse
It's not quite zoomed in if you scale it to 2MP. That would be the actual size if the image was taking up your full monitor.
Personally for me, if I don't have to hold absolutely still for 3 seconds to take a good picture as compared to my SGS2 Skyrocket then I think that is a good improvement for me. I've tried to take many pictures that turned out a little blurry. To me the shutter matters just as much as the image quality as it makes taking photos better.
Here is something else I will share with you:
http://mobile-review.com/review/samsung-galaxy-s3-fl-en.shtml
They have tons of comparison shots with the SGS2 and SGS3.
And this is what I was talking about where I saw the SGS3 outperform the SGS2 in certain scenarios.
SGS2:
http://mobile-review.com/review/image/samsung/galaxy-s3-fl/photo/s2-vs-s3/s2-02.jpg
SGS3:
http://mobile-review.com/review/image/samsung/galaxy-s3-fl/photo/s2-vs-s3/s3-02.jpg
From all the other shots, if I can describe it, the SGS2 kind of has a matte thin film look over its photos while the SGS3 does not. The SGS3 also IMO has better coloring and managed to grab sharper images possibly due to the shutter being better. All in all I am impressed with the SGS3's camera but I didn't have such high expectations for it in the first place.
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SlimJ87D said:
On top of that the HOX has a lot of noise in its photos. I've taken photos of my dogs with it and it had some noise noticeable on their brown fur.
Notice the noise. The SGS3 is on the top and the HOX is on the bottom.
Like I said before, there is no phone that has ALL the perks, they all have their problems. I showed the 4S not having the best contrast with blacks, the HOX has noise issues and the SGS3 others have pointed out the cons for it.
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Click to collapse
Why don't you provide full size samples, so people could judge for themselves?
Your attempts to catch some "noise" in HTC image is redicolous, because Samsung here has much worse problems.
Here is Galaxy S3
http://www.gsmarena.com/showpic.php...camera/gsmarena_020.jpg&idReview=759&idPage=5
HTC
http://www.gsmarena.com/showpic.php...camera/gsmarena_023.jpg&idReview=759&idPage=5
Wond3r said:
The purpose of a lot of the camera phones now, and the reason they are trying to make the better and better, is to replace the entry level point and shoot cameras on the market. The phone companies are doing a great job of this attempt so far. So I highly disagree with people saying phones take bad photos.
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Click to collapse
I agree with you 100% on this. Anyone who says "who cares about the camera on a phone? if you want real pictures, buy a real camera" is stuck in 2005 and needs a punch to the face.
Camera phone technology has progressed to the point that they are can and SHOULD replace standalone point and shoot cameras. That makes camera quality one of the most important features of a phone for many people.
They ARE as good as many point and shoot cams, i had a cheap Fujifilm 12MP unit that took worse pics than my S2 for the most part, but if you spend a bit more then a phone cant compete. However good the sensor and software is they wont have as good lenses, even the ones with premium lenses. The phones are just too thin, they also wont have optical zooms or strong flashes.
The early S3 images we have seen are better than the One X, its not really that close. They largely match the iP4s and the S3 has better video than anyone. Remember this is early software as well, things will get better.
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1orka said:
Why don't you provide full size samples, so people could judge for themselves?
Your attempts to catch some "noise" in HTC image is redicolous, because Samsung here has much worse problems.
Here is Galaxy S3
http://www.gsmarena.com/showpic.php...camera/gsmarena_020.jpg&idReview=759&idPage=5
HTC
http://www.gsmarena.com/showpic.php...camera/gsmarena_023.jpg&idReview=759&idPage=5
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Click to collapse
The S3 is better there, although i dont expect you to see it. Firstly the pictures arent taken at the same angle, and the S3 has more distances to focus on from its angle. The HTC has far more post processing errors in its picture, far more noise, less real detail. I notice the lighting is different as well, due to the angle. Whatever point you were trying to prove, you failed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30COabYrr64
The colours are too saturated, the camera wobbles and skips just as much and the mic sounds poor compared.
Surely a software issue?
Have no clue what cnet is trying to do there but the actual quality is much better.
Sound recording is really impressive and the OIS is working well too as one can see in the following videos from xsever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loxDegj3fFE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ7pAF1JsWA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7AvFi08yNk
I want to see a video of him walking around, I'm seeing that weird jelly effect still in those though and he is only sitting or standing still and moving the camera side to side. The colours still look so fake........
Not the smooth video they showed in the press confs.
I will be shooting another video today with White Balance set to Daylight and as I walk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GBupRpL_3Io
Even they say the iPhone 5 cam is better.
Maybe some software related issues? Like allways when new phone comes out...
http://reviews.cnet.com/nokia-lumia-920/
Yeh cnet confirm the camera being overhyped in the review.
Good in low light, not as good in day time.
I really don't trust cnet. I seen the video and it looks like they were favoring the iphone 5. They went to 4 solo shots of the iphone 5 while they only had 2 for the lumia. I'll just have to wait on xserver to test it because his trying his best to provide everyone with a fair review.
Conspiracy: apple paying cnet
Sent from my LG-P930 using xda app-developers app
Here are direct photo comparisons between different phones and the Lumia 920. The is part of a CNET review for the US version in their US office, which is more favorable of the camera.
http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-57...0-camera-vs-htc-windows-phone-8x-vs-iphone-5/
And more direct comparison picks from Slashgear
http://www.slashgear.com/nokia-lumia-920-pureview-camera-hands-on-vs-samsung-galaxy-s-iii-01255193/
Frankly I can't decide whether this camera is good or bad based on these pictures. It wins some, but not by much. It can lose pretty bad though, especially with how unsharp and vague a lot of images look. It's not the winner Nokia was touting. Indoor shots are better in some instances, worse in others. Night shots are "brighter" but not necessarily better. I can edit the photos of a competing phone by turning up the gamma and get close to the same thing that Nokia produces. The smooth video also isn't as great as I once thought. It makes me nauseous, and details are still very lacking even if there isn't any major instances of blur.
The reviews on the phone are contradicting. The verge review shows great pictures, much better than cnet's or slashgears and their unit is not even on final software. The camera performance just doesn't seem consistant.
Well I'll judge myself when I get mine next week.
It seems to me Nokia focused too much on low light photos because the day time photos lack detail.
I added many more videos with different settings here: http://forums.wpcentral.com/showthread.php?t=200158
A Nokia French community member has confirmed on Twitter that there will be an camera update soon.
Actually, I'm very happy with my phone anyway
So I've been using my HTC One for a little over a month now. Tried many different ROMs, currently running the leaked 4.2.2 stock ROM.
I've noticed since day one the camera takes really fantastic close-up (3 feet or closer) and macro shots (few inches from subject). It also takes really great low light shots, again close up and macro. These shots in these situations rival my point and shoot Canon.
Once you go outside and take a "normal" shot in great daylight of a group of friends/family, scenery or a building ect. all hell breaks loose. We're talking like one of the worst camera images from a smartphone I've seen recently. Heck my Galaxy S2 and iPhone 3GS took much better looking "normal" shots from a distance.
Images become instantly washed out, details are completely lost, the picture is injected with a super dose of noise everywhere. What is up with this? Is there anyway software will be able to fix the camera in the future? Is it a hardware limitation?
I owned a Galaxy S4 for a few weeks and that phone took brilliant "normal and close up shots" but was severely lacking in low light where images would just be too dark or too blurry.
I'm really quite bummed because the HTC ONE with the new 4.2.2 update is nearly perfect, amazing battery life and performance, much smoother and faster than the POS Galaxy S4. I'm just really pissed that the Camera can't perform in normal situation with great lighting, I would think any Camera would excel in those condition over any other scenario. That and that stupid 5 minute time-out of the LED notification really holds back the HTC One from becoming the perfect smartphone for me.
I wouldn't go as far as saying the camera is atrocious in normal situations, however, the details might not be as good/clear as some other phones. I know the international version got a software update where it addressed many problems such as noise and exposure (issue with pics being washed out ect)... As for the noise issue i think if you go into the camera setting and make sharpness -1 or -2 it will help, at least it did for me. A big issue sometimes for me is that the auto focus is off so it makes the whole picture become what you described, but i guess its probably because i dont have the most steady hands when taking pics lol. I know tmobile pushed a software update a week and a half ago, but i dont think that it did anything to the camera. Apparently, some people say that when you first buy the phone it already comes with that update installed for the camera... but who the hell knows! Tmobile's, AT&T, and Sprints software versions are all different so its hard to tell
darkstarlotus said:
I wouldn't go as far as saying the camera is atrocious in normal situations, however, the details might not be as good/clear as some other phones. I know the international version got a software update where it addressed many problems such as noise and exposure (issue with pics being washed out ect)... As for the noise issue i think if you go into the camera setting and make sharpness -1 or -2 it will help, at least it did for me. A big issue sometimes for me is that the auto focus is off so it makes the whole picture become what you described, but i guess its probably because i dont have the most steady hands when taking pics lol. I know tmobile pushed a software update a week and a half ago, but i dont think that it did anything to the camera. Apparently, some people say that when you first buy the phone it already comes with that update installed for the camera... but who the hell knows! Tmobile's, AT&T, and Sprints software versions are all different so its hard to tell
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regarding "steady hands", i thought this phone has optical image stabilization? i've only taken a few pictures so far and agree that i'm not liking what i see. my previous htc one s takes much better looking picts on well-lit areas. then again my tmous one is still stuck on 1.27 software
I've found over the past several years starting back w/my OG Droid that one of my most important uses of my phone is the camera...I have gotten very dependent on it and find I rarely carry a real point-and-shoot camera any more. Even if I do, I find I take out my phone first because it's just easier to use and share the photos from the phone, and my pics on my camera tend to get land-locked on it's SD card. I have bought a SD-Wi-Fi card recently to help w/that, but know that I'll likely continue to take the vast majority of my pics w/my phone.
I'm making the S4 vs. Note II vs. HTC One decision some time this summer (Verizon customer.) I originally was thinking the S4 would be it, but my wife has a Note II and I've been impressed by it, and found it more "pocketable" than I expected. HTC One is also a nice phone (had one all weekend to play with one this weekend) but don't like the lack of storage expansion and non-replaceable battery. But the HTC camera is quite nice.
So I'm wondering if others like me who rely heavily on their phone's camera are finding the S4 camera to be fair/good/great for use as your primary point-and-shoot for family pictures in a variety of conditions.
I've tried an S4 I borrowed from work, and found a couple of issues:
- Intermittent soft focus on pictures, didn't find a real pattern, but happened frequently enough on shots that it was troubling
- Slow start-up of the camera (by slow I mean a couple of seconds, not forever, but annoying) - however I tried a second phone and didn't see this lag and wasn't sure which was more "normal" experience w/the camera.
- Not so great in low light (but not most camera phones aren't, aside from the HTC One, which is one of my options) - are you getting decent focus and results in interior or evening shots where light is a little scarce, and is the flash effective at reasonable distances (<6-8 feet).
Would appreciate any feedback from those of you who have been living w/the S4 camera for a while, and hear what you think about it after your experiences.
Thanks!
44 views, no reply. Anyone here use the camera at all?!
It's 13MP (or 9MP depending on desired aspect ratio, 13 is only 4:3). You really can't go wrong as long as there's enough light. I find that it takes pictures even faster than an iPhone. As far as the flash goes, it's decent enough for what it is: only one LED. I can get a clear shot across my bedroom at night. There are probably some mods that will increase the brightness as well.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda premium
My camera opens instantly and the picture quality is amazing. Much better than the note 2 or s3. Trust me, I have all 3.
Sent from my Galaxy S4
Picture quality is one of the best I have seen on a mobile phone. I switched from an Iphone5 and Galaxy Note2 to the S4.
Its like going from a 386 Windows 3.1 system to Win 7 64 bit.
Bad comparison but you get the picture right?
Only thing that has pissed me off is after dozens of beautiful photos I took I realized that the factory default is set to only 9 megapixels. So very pissed that some excellent photos I took could have been even better. Needless to say, ive changed camera to 13 megas
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda premium
I am very happy with the phone and the camera. It takes great pictures and videos.
I had 3 motorola droids before with crappy cameras.
cubarican84 said:
Only thing that has pissed me off is after dozens of beautiful photos I took I realized that the factory default is set to only 9 megapixels. So very pissed that some excellent photos I took could have been even better. Needless to say, ive changed camera to 13 megas
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I just realized this the other day too lol
Sent from my Galaxy S4
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. I'll have to go into the store and play w/the camera some more. It's interesting/encouraging that none of you have had the issue w/the focus being soft that I saw on the phone I tried.
It was good for me. I used the widescreen one with these pictures.