Macro photography - Manual vs Auto focus - Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers

I have the Exynos S9+ and take a lot of pictures with it, especially insect macro shots in pro mode.
I noticed that there is a big difference in the closest focus distance between manual and auto focus modes.
When using the manual focus slider and dragging it all the way to the bottom, it focuses about 5cm farther than with the auto focus.
I have tried this on an S8 camera and with it the manual and auto focus closest distance is the same and working as expected.
This is pretty annoying and makes the manual focus unusable for me because I cant get close enough to the object.
In the screenshots I took shots of a ruler. you can see that in auto focus the focusing is on 1cm and in manual its on 5cm.
I wonder if anyone else noticed this on their S9+?

yes i saw this a couple months ago, i hope if this fix with updates but no, problem is still here

batmanvip123 said:
yes i saw this a couple months ago, i hope if this fix with updates but no, problem is still here
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Yep, I was hoping it would get fixed since May when I got the phone but I guess samsung was too busy with the S9's camera commercials then the actual camera.
Check here if you want to follow a more "alive" discussion.
https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyS9/comments/9ex5m3/macro_photography_manual_vs_auto_focus/

Related

[Q] Why HDR apps don't work on our phone

So why don't HDR apps work properly on our phones?
One manufacturer I contacted insisted that it was because the EVO 3D doesn't utilize the android api properly to adjust the exposure setting. I even confirmed this with HTC. You can try it out as follows: If you open the camera app and play with the exposure slider in the options, you'll see that instead of changing exposure, what it does is just bumps up the brightness of the image.
HOWEVER, yesterday I noticed that the exposure does change properly but not when you use the slider. Best way to try this is sitting next to a window on a sunny day. If you point the camera towards the window, the exposure auto adjusts you can see the details outside but anything inside the room still in the frame just looks dark. However, if you point the camera so it's mostly pointing inside the room, you'll notice that the exposure auto-adjusts again so you can now see details of objects inside the room but any part of the window still in the frame is now completely washed out. So..auto-adjustment of exposure works.
Now in most of the these HDR apps work by taking a picture on high, medium, and low exposure and then stitches them all together. However, the app isn't able to adjust the exposure settings properly and this is probably because it's tapping into the "exposure setting" in the camera's api...the same thing we are able to change when using the exposure slider on the camera app. As I said before though, the exposure slider is actually controlling the brightness. But I'm now certain that the camera is actually able to adjust the exposure but only does so through auto-adjustment. What's broken is the ability to set the exposure manually. How would one fix this?
where should i post this to get the attention of the devs who might know how to fix this?
The issue is it is a hard question. lol I don't have any idea. haha. I think the issue is we have two front cameras.
runcool said:
The issue is it is a hard question. lol I don't have any idea. haha. I think the issue is we have two front cameras.
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Click to collapse
two rear cameras my man. There's only one in the front
Interesting... I've used a couple of hdr apps on gingerbread and they appeared to work. Although I didn't do rigorous testing. All I did was compare normal pic against hdr app and I noticed a difference. However this was last summer. Maybe something changed since then.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA
Oh and the stock camera app in ICS, or at least in the couple of roms I've tried, has hdr as a feature. Except it isn't true hdr I don't think. It snaps 1 pic then processes it. I didn't think there was any difference at first, but I did notice a slight improvement.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA
There will always be slight differences between stock vs HDR pics because the HDR app usually does some post-processing however, if it's not taking 2 or more pictures that have the exposure adjusting drastically, you're not really getting the HDR effect.
Yes, I know about hdr... The processing and everything. I just hadn't tested these things like you have and sharing my experience.
Anyhow... I had also read others claim htc didn't use the app right months ago. Not sure why they messed that up. I'm going away for the weekend and might mess with this myself. If I see anything worth adding I will.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA
Just wanted to share hdr works as it should on the latest ics leak. I just tried it on mean rom ics 1.6. Exposure adjustments in their stock app also works as it should.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA
That's excellent news! Are you sure the exposure setting works properly and doesn't just change brightness? I know you probably tested it before posting but if you could do this for me and write back, i'd really appreciate it.
From inside a room from a distance, point camera towards a window. Are you able to see detail inside and outside the room by changing the exposure slider to either extreme?
abdeviation said:
That's excellent news! Are you sure the exposure setting works properly and doesn't just change brightness? I know you probably tested it before posting but if you could do this for me and write back, i'd really appreciate it.
From inside a room from a distance, point camera towards a window. Are you able to see detail inside and outside the room by changing the exposure slider to either extreme?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had a lot of time to play but it did work. I'm a photographer and video producer so I know what to look for. My quick test however was as a passenger in a car. I pointed it to the seat where part was in bright sun and then other was in shade, plus some of the frame of the car in shade. Stepping down showed the detail in the seat in sun, increasing it showed it in the shadows.
I also tried hdr + (I think that's the right one) and each of the 3 photos was at a different exposure, granted not by much.
There is still a bug where the front camera flips the photo left/right after it's taken, however, you only seems this after reviewing the pic.
Edit: the app was hdr camera
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA
Oh also fyi... The first leak did not work in relation to this.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA
awesome, perhaps HTC got around to fixing it in ICS. Several months ago, I actually contacted them describing to them what was wrong with the camera. After a lot of back and forth and escalating the issue internally, I was finally able to reach the team that actually works on the stuff and they confirmed the issue and said they will include a fix "in a future release" but did not make any promises. Maybe they got around to it
I'm going to have to flash a ICS rom to test this myself once I find some spare time

Sense Camera Bug (ICS OTA)

Not sure if this applies to other ROMs wtih sense, but on the verizon-deployed ICS OTA the Sense Camera seems to be brain dead if you try to take a normal aspect ratio picture (Read: not widescreen). Verified on another rezound with the same OTA.
Noticed this as the Sense camera defaults to widescreen "8mp" - when you actually get pictures cropped to 6mp. Not caring much for the widescreen anyways, I turned it off. Over the next few weeks, I discovered the previously stellar photo quality start to tend towards overly dark and ill focused - auto focus in particular was brain dead, especially at macro resolutions, where I had previously tested the camera being able to focus perfectly at about 2-3 cm. It'd take me messing with lighting, varying distance, angle, etc, to maybe get it to focus - most of the time it would either stop focusing before or after the ideal focus.
On top of the focus issue, sometimes the exposure calculations would be completely off, usually when there was some light shining at the camera - for instance, from a display. Amazingly terrible, overall. I'm pissed it took me so long to notice and figure out the cause. I was worried it was the camera hardware itself wigging out.
Downloaded another camera app - ICS Camera - and it took pictures just fine at the full 8mp resolution (non-widescreen). Focus and exposure calculations working fine. Oh, and it supports using the volume keys as shutter buttons, which has been something I'd been looking for for some time. Only noted problem is that it does not work as a camera data provider (ie. attaching to a message) - fails for some reason. Otherwise, it's replaced the Sense camera entirely for me.
Attached are pictures of one specific instance. Sun did decide to poke out at the end, but it didn't cause a major difference in the pictures as I was in a shaded area the whole time.
Notes:
HTC-initial is spectacularly bad, even for the addled state the camera was in.
HTC-best is the best i could get the camera to do, mashing autofocus a few times and messing with manual exposure.
HTC-widescreen is the first picture I took with me setting widescreen and everything else default. AF was done once, automatically.
ICSCam is the first picture I took w/ ICS Camera, no settings changed. AF once, automatically.
TLR; Sense 3.6 Camera does not handle 4:3 aspect ratio correctly; AF tends to be poor and exposure off.
Zig zag... That's a very fine analysis of the camera focusing problems I've been having. I've been quite upset with the camera behavior since the ICS update. On GB, the camera functioned remarkably. I'm an avid photographer and even have a Canon DSLR. I was loving the camera on this phone. Never used widescreen. Just stuck with mid-high resolutions but never full 8mp. Sensor has it's limits. Touch focus, just once regardless where I touched...it was clear. Ever since ICS....the camera app lags and the most important thing (Focusing), has gone to s**t. I have to keep touching all over the damn screen just trying to get it to focus on an area I want it And yes, very close shots are hell now. Just last night, I was about to throw the damn phone because it refused to focus on something I used to normally have no problem with. I have no idea what the issue is but it keeps adjusting the exposure level way too bright, sometimes too dark. I'll touch a bright cloud in the background and suddenly the exposure jumps 5 points and burns out the sky. The complete oppositte of what it's supposed to do. Hell frustrating. Has the same focus/exposure problems in Camera360. Yeah, being as bright as it is outside...I was pissed when I got home and found a pic of a cloudy horizon and a canal in front. The entire pic was completely out of focus. The camera AI is so dumb that it habitually withdrawls the focal point to the macro view...even when trying to focus at infinite.
Hmmm.. does one need ROOT for ICS Camera?
I don't think you need root. Here's the link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.moblynx.cameraics&hl=en
Honestly, I'm surprised that HTC managed to break autofocus and auto exposure - when I was looking through android APIs it seemed like those functions were all done below the level at which apps can adjust them. At any rate, using the ICS Camera, autofocus and exposure function just as well as they did on GB, once more. I'm assuming other apps would work fine as well - just something affecting the Sense camera only.
Hmm..it works well. Thanks for the link. Only thing I don't like is it's missing Saturation, Sharpness and Contrasts controls..also missing ISO setting. Tells you image size in megapixels instead of resolution. I haven't actually snapped a pic with it yet so I'll give that a try in a bit. I'm going to give the video recordibg portion a shot and see how the quality fairs out as for sound.

Soft snap won't turn off?

Hi,
Quite a simple question, why can I not turn soft snap off on the stock camera app?
When taking a selfie, regardless of camera settings, the app keeps trying to apply "soft snap" to the pictures? Is this a bug? Why won't it turn off with the toggle in the settings (soft skin effect)?, Or is that another "filter" again? Why can't things be left as they are :laugh:
Also I'm incredibly surprised at how laggy and slow the shutter is to take pictures from the pressing of the button; I've a first gen Pixel XL which is still in use and it's MUCH faster for a nearly 4 year old phone.
Hello!
Deactivating soft skin in parameter do work for me. I just checked since I never use front cam to make portrait since you'll always be distorted by a wide angle camera from 50cm away.
Anyway, here is a crop I just did, you can easily see small hairs and skin detail : http://imgur.com/a/nrsSLUr
The crop is like +200% on a ok quality selfy, so yeah, quality is not best. But then again, that's just a selfy cam.
No lag for me from the dedicated photo button. Just the normal double step button to first focus then take the photo. Be sure to press all the way down. Sorry that you encounter so many issue with your device :/ xperia 1 has some flaws, but that's more like no possibility to go manual mode with x2 or ultra wide angle, fingerprint working only 75 to 90% of the time and white bala'ce can be off in colored low light.
Hildr said:
Hello!
Deactivating soft skin in parameter do work for me. I just checked since I never use front cam to make portrait since you'll always be distorted by a wide angle camera from 50cm away.
Anyway, here is a crop I just did, you can easily see small hairs and skin detail : http://imgur.com/a/nrsSLUr
The crop is like +200% on a ok quality selfy, so yeah, quality is not best. But then again, that's just a selfy cam.
No lag for me from the dedicated photo button. Just the normal double step button to first focus then take the photo. Be sure to press all the way down. Sorry that you encounter so many issue with your device :/ xperia 1 has some flaws, but that's more like no possibility to go manual mode with x2 or ultra wide angle, fingerprint working only 75 to 90% of the time and white bala'ce can be off in colored low light.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've uploaded screenshots of the softsnap https://photos.app.goo.gl/5aanRvhRoC8tAA646
I'm not too worried about the quality, but wish it wouldn't keep trying to soften my pictures with a silly filter!
Yeah, understand the two stages of the button press, but do you get lag with the software button though, I know i do? It's such a shame, for years of "improvements" on a phone, it's hasn't advanced much from my first gen pixel
Ho! You are right, sorry, I'm so not used to selfie cam I didn't even checked this.
Yeah, the AI enhancement can't be deactivated in auto mode, and that's somewhat silly (the same kind of silly than not having manual mode onx2 and wide lens).
The workaround is to switch to manual mode (once selected, the manual mode stay as a quick one press button, so it's not that boring) and let all the parameter on auto. You'll have an auto mode with no AI enhancement. Then again, for quality selfie, I would recommend using the x2 lens (but you will get the AI enhancement) or the x1 (in manual but need a crop) with eye autofocus and smile detection to take a self portrait, it will be less distorted since taken for an arm length, but that's just my 2 cents . The eye autofocus while ensure a good focus and the smile detection while take the photo for you. But you will not see yourself during the process so it takes multiple attempt. But result is far better. That goes for every phone in fact, but eye focus is a wonder here!
I don't think the AI enhancement work with tiers party app so video call should be ok.
I thought you were talking about the physical button. I don't really know, for me it's like 0.2sec or something like that, I can't even think of a quicker camera, especially with the focus being done at the moment of the press. It gives me the same speed feel as a dedicated camera with a shutter. Are other phone quicker? It didn't shocked me when I tried P30Pro or Oppo Reno 10X, they felt all the same for me.

Question Major update released for Galaxy S23 series, improves camera

Major Update Released for Galaxy S23, Improves Camera - TizenHelp
As promised earlier this month, Samsung is now releasing a major software update for the Galaxy S23 series. The major focus of the software is to improve the camera performance & Gallery of Galaxy S23, S23+ & S23 Ultra. In the past, many users complained about the camera and other features, so...
www.tizenhelp.com
1. A function has been added to the gallery so that you can immediately delete photos that are being processed immediately after taking them with the camera.
2. For faster photo taking, the AF concept has been changed so that when the user presses the shooting button, the user can take a photo even when the focus is not completely set.
However, if you want to shoot after completing Focus as before, please change the settings in the latest Camera Assistant.
3. Improved sharpness/flicker and added notice when shooting Ultrawide in low light indoors after setting Camera Video Mode > Super Steady On.
4. Fixed a phenomenon where a green line was displayed on the left side intermittently when shooting in the rear photo mode.
5. Improved image stabilization when shooting with FHD60 after setting Auto FPS Off in the rear video.
6. Improved line-shaped banding noise in the sky in mid-low light when shooting high-pixel in low-mid light.
Overall sharpness was optimized during high-pixel shooting, and intermittent blurring was improved through OIS stabilization.
7. Fixed a malfunction when shooting after Night Off in low light after selecting Shooting Speed > High Resolution > Speed Priority in Camera Assistant.
8. Fixed an issue where face recognition could not be recognized intermittently after ending a 3rd party video call.
9. Stability has been improved for camera movements introduced through other routes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice and specially the faster photo taking, but I don't see anything about post-processing...
I can see some post-processing things. Point 3 - more sharpening, <sarcasm on> because out of the box Samsung is applying to less <sarcasm off>.
As predicted, no serious change. stock camera picture will continue to suck.
Luckily we have gcam on this device (the reason I went back to Samsung after 10 years)
Fl1nt91 said:
As predicted, no serious change. stock camera picture will continue to suck.
Luckily we have gcam on this device (the reason I went back to Samsung after 10 years)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I'm using GCAM as well and I'm quite happy with the picture quality, but it is frustrating that you need to use 3rd party app to make a camera for a such expensive device (which is by the way advertised as a camera-oriented one with exceptional quality) usable. And would be nice to make better use of that high-resolution sensor that we have. I know, that it is not possible to heave real 200Mpix or even 50Mpix pictures, but with good algorithms that would be more than 12Mpix that we have in the GCAM.
ajarosz said:
Yes, I'm using GCAM as well and I'm quite happy with the picture quality, but it is frustrating that you need to use 3rd party app to make a camera for a such expensive device (which is by the way advertised as a camera-oriented one with exceptional quality) usable. And would be nice to make better use of that high-resolution sensor that we have. I know, that it is not possible to heave real 200Mpix or even 50Mpix pictures, but with good algorithms that would be more than 12Mpix that we have in the GCAM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree, is so annoying
I hope this update will fix the photos and especially - the video stabilization bug that is unacceptable in a phone of such class.
In march I once had a pretty important event of which I took a couple of videos. All of them are shaky as hell - there is literally zero video stabilization on them. Pretty annoying given that the stabilization on S23 series is great and WAS great with january security patch, but they destroyed it in February or March patch.
Photos are also an oversharpened disaster. Can't wait for the update.
chetszot said:
I hope this update will fix the photos and especially - the video stabilization bug that is unacceptable in a phone of such class.
In march I once had a pretty important event of which I took a couple of videos. All of them are shaky as hell - there is literally zero video stabilization on them. Pretty annoying given that the stabilization on S23 series is great and WAS great with january security patch, but they destroyed it in February or March patch.
Photos are also an oversharpened disaster. Can't wait for the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you were shooting fhd 60 fps then yes, that issue has been addressed. As for the rest, nope. Check first post for release notes.
chetszot said:
I hope this update will fix the photos and especially - the video stabilization bug that is unacceptable in a phone of such class.
In march I once had a pretty important event of which I took a couple of videos. All of them are shaky as hell - there is literally zero video stabilization on them. Pretty annoying given that the stabilization on S23 series is great and WAS great with january security patch, but they destroyed it in February or March patch.
Photos are also an oversharpened disaster. Can't wait for the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Enable auto FPS until this update is released. This fixes stabilization issue on [email protected]
Probably in preparation of camera update, received an update of Camera Assistant (CA) app. New feature is reported:
"-Prioritize focus over speed
Wait for the camera to finish focusing before triggering the shutter. This may delay the shutter slightly."
The feature is actually not (yet) visible in the CA-app...
What's a gcam profile for the 23u?
I'm hoping it will stop the over saturation and balance photos better. Sometimes the colors it shows defy reality!
ekerbuddyeker said:
I'm hoping it will stop the over saturation and balance photos better. Sometimes the colors it shows defy reality!
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Click to collapse
You have high hopes. There is nothing about that is the changelog.
I'll wait for the update to be released before offering an opinion on how good or bad it is.
Seems like minor update that's tweaking AF on stills and bunch of video mode fixes. Unless they don't list other tweaks
In The Netherlands the update is not there yet.
hill67 said:
In The Netherlands the update is not there yet.
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Don't worry, it's released only in S. Korea so far and nowhere else in this milky way galaxy. All are waiting.
Installing firm from 918N into 918B is an option ?
I mean ... is it just a CSC question or the phones are different in terms of hardware ?
enebro77 said:
Installing firm from 918N into 918B is an option ?
I mean ... is it just a CSC question or the phones are different in terms of hardware ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Different hardware unfortunately
Fl1nt91 said:
As predicted, no serious change. stock camera picture will continue to suck.
Luckily we have gcam on this device (the reason I went back to Samsung after 10 years)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Suck? Do you have parkinson's?
The camera while not perfect performs brilliantly .
Return yours
Mine is the best S Series Camera to date.
Must be a batch difference.
I took over 300 pics and vids comparing s22U to S23U and my results coincided with most every experienced YouTube reviewer.....overall: damned good with improvements expected

Question xperia 1 iv camera screen flicker

I have an Xperia 1 iv but whenever I use the camera on something that is quite close, the screen starts flickering and flashing a blueish colour.
Is this a fault?
dbman2023 said:
I have an Xperia 1 iv but whenever I use the camera on something that is quite close, the screen starts flickering and flashing a blueish colour.
Is this a fault?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, that's rgb sensor measuring the distance or something.
Point another camera at your Xperia 's and you will see this thing glowing.
Doom Slayer said:
Nah, that's rgb sensor measuring the distance or something.
Point another camera at your Xperia 's and you will see this thing glowing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's so irritating. Is there anyway to stop it? I find the flickering very uncomfortable to view.
I'm used to Samsung smartphones. Never come across this before.
It seems to take ages to take a photo compared to the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus I was used to. Why does it take so long?
dbman2023 said:
It's so irritating. Is there anyway to stop it? I find the flickering very uncomfortable to view.
I'm used to Samsung smartphones. Never come across this before.
It seems to take ages to take a photo compared to the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus I was used to. Why does it take so long?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure how to disable this, as stock camera's autofocus is depending on this sensor. Google camera is not using this, but it's half broken, so I suggest to wait for devs to make a proper config, but I advice you not to bother, as this flickering is rgb sensor highlighting the environment while measuring the depth and it's only for half a second
to establish a proper focus.
As for long time to take a photo, I assume you are using basic mode and device may decide to either use a slow shutter speed or/and hdr based on the light conditions, hence the long time to make a shot.
Experiment with manual modes, phone is capable to take 20 photos per second.
Switch to S mode for example and put a high shutter speed, it will adjust the iso for you automatically if full manual mode is too much for you. This phone is like driving a manual car, no fancy AI to do the job for you like they have on Samsung. Might be challenging at first, but once you figure it out , you gonna make amazing photos.
If this is not related to settings, clear photo app's data and reboot the phone. I had this issue after experimenting with google camera, stock app was not saving photo at all.

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