Recently I got an Xperia 5 Mk. II because I wanted a cheap, well built cameraphone, and largely it delivered. The Photo Pro software is the best I've ever used on a phone, but the RAW output seems to be not really that raw. First off, I couldn't disable lens distortion correction on the wide angle lens, which should be disabled by default when shooting RAW. Moreover, JPEGs come out with the natural fisheye distortion, RAWs come out filtered.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
On the other hand, while shooting RAW with the third party Firstlight camera app, DNGs come out exactly how they should be. But it's a buggy third party app and the autofocus is borderline unusable, especially compared to the native app.
Much the same way, another issue i came across, which also plagues the 5 III, 1 II and 1 III (although NOT the IV gen, as I've seen so far) is the telephoto RAWs. They seem to be infested with this 1px wide grid across the whole image, especially on the highlights. At first I thought it was the bad ISOCELL sensor, but again, tried with Firstlight and photos came out flawless.
(5 III and 1 III RAW samples taken from www.photographyblog.com; all images are contrast enhanced)
Worst thing about this grid problem is that it seems to translate to JPEGs as well, but in RAW it is absolutely intolerable.
And not only that, both these issues seem to persist across multiple versions of the app. I did try from 1.1 to 1.3, which is the latest one supported by my unit.
My theory about this is that these filters could be pulled out of the APK, for which i just don't have the brains to get around. I did decompile the app and found some tiny bits of glsl and some vague "pre-output correction" calls in the DNG builder that do confirm my suspicions, but i really have no clue how to navigate around this stuff any further and, well, make RAW raw again. For a phone series that prides itself on having an accurate and natural looking camera, this certainly takes a lot away from it.
Related
I've had a problem over the past month or two of where the camera on my G1 simply doesn't focus when close up to an object, most notably bar codes.
I used to be able to use ShopSavvy and Barcode Scanner effortlessly, as well as take pictures of things relatively close up, and have it be in focus.
However, that's not the case anymore. The camera takes pictures of things just fine when they're more than a few feet away, but as soon as you try to get as close as you'd need to scan a barcode, it just gets blurry, and won't focus. I've tried taking off the back cover, and wiping the lens and lens cover, to no avail.
Anyone else have this problem, or know of any suggestions to fix it? FWIW, I had been on a rooted JF 1.51 build, but just over the weekend I switched to CyanogenMOD, and I still have the same issue. Also, I've seen both this thread and this other thread on a similar issue, but, the half-pressing of the shutter button does not work, and I have the same issue with ShopSavvy, SnapTell, Barcode Scanner, Snap Photo, and the native camera.
Here are some photos for evidence.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrhaydel/3855605759/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrhaydel/3855605671/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrhaydel/3856395446/
Suggestions? Someone else mentioned that I should unroot it and take it in to TMobile for them to swap it out. Has anyone done this?
agreed!...i cant seem to use any barcode scanners cause of the fact that the camera will not focus in properly...I hope there is a solution to this.
I'm actually having the opposite problem, mine won't focus on anything that is more than one to two feet away which is pretty inconvenient since that's the range where the majority of things in the universe can be found
The only thing I can think of as a solution is (because I've got some experience in optics from university) find the precise range of focus of the camera and find a small lens that can adjust the focus to what it should be and put it over the aperture.
*****On the plus side, my camera can focus on very close objects, ~1inch, which is better than my CAMERA camera.
I have found that in order to focus properly, you must hold your finger on the "capture" button on the touch screen. When I let go, it takes the picture. I can focus on items up to about two inches from the lens. If I do not hold my finger on it, I would get the same type results as the OP has described/posted.
I noticed this the first day I had my phone, but thought it was just a fluke or some new touchwiz feature akin to the "linens" that iOS 5,6 had. But my note 3, white now on full stock MJ4, never rooted or tampered with yet seems to have some banding and aberrations with displaying medium grays. I have attached a screenshot that you can download and try for yourself. I am positive this is a bug, and with my limited knowledge I feel it is a software issue more than a hardware one that will hopefully get fixed.
Steps to really see the problem:
Download my screen shot on to your Note 3 (or open chrome browser, remove all windows so it is the gray background with the product logo as attached, then screen shot it yourself)
Do the following in a dark environment to see it best. (please)
Open the screenshot in gallery.
Zoom into it and pan around.
Play with different brightness settings and see if the banding with grays is more evident.
Turn on screen rotation, rotate screen.
Zoom and pan on the same screenshot in landscape view to see that the banding is apparent still only on the Y-axis, proving it was not part of the image.
I attempted to capture this on video and even scan it in my scanner, but it wasn't obvious like it is to my eyes. I want to know, does this affect other people's note 3s? If so I won't care as it really isn't a problem. But if it's just my handset, then I want to get it swapped out instead of risking a bad screen or any other on board hardware. I am most worried because the problem is different day to day and the banding seems to be greater towards the bottom of the screen
If you did all this, thank you!
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Same issue here as well as my girlfriends N3. If you mess around with the different display settings (dynamic, professional photo, etc) it increases it or decreases it. I've only noticed this with Chrome however. I will boot up my Evo 3D to see if it does it on there as well as my 2k12 N7.
Sent from my MiniN3
Hey there geeks! Today I wanna share with you the results of my long so-called research in the field of camera applications for the galaxy. I have tested SO MUCH options besides the built-in app and after several months of comparisons, I can say with confidence that I found the best of them. Of course, this is not a GCam port that is not supported on our device. However, this is so far the only application with the correct HDR, which I use on an every day basis. So, let's start the comparison.
There is always a standard camera on the left, and SnapCamera on the right. In both cases, HDR is turned on. There is no post processing.
Photo 1. Backlight sunlight.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
It seems that the standard camera wins here, however, pay attention to the leaves of the tree. A standard camera tries to snatch parts from an underexposed area and gives a touch of artificial and a plane picture. SnapCamera maintains balance and space for further processing.
Photo 2. Crops, focus point on the carpet.
Pay attention to the light behind the tulle. Comments aren't needed I guess.
Photo 3. Exposition of reflections, focus point on the phone keys.
A good example when a standard application could not save the dynamic range and overexposed the sources of reflected light. However, SnapCamera did just fine with this.
Photo 4. Random object.
In general, there are almost no differences, but SnapCamera produces more balanced colors with larger dynamic range (look at the illuminated area of the carpet).
Photo 5. Shot on the front camera.
Here is totally up to your taste. The standard application uses built-in algorithms for selfies — it gives photos warm tones, smoothes the skin and tries to compensate for the lack of details by highlighting some areas. If you need a quick photo for instagram - use the standard application. But personally, I like the result with SnapCamera — the photo is clearer, has much more information and is closer to life.
My HDR settings:
And guys (!) I didn't try to take these pictures as pieces of art, it's just a matter of demonstration.
Verdict
Until Samsung improves algorithms for budget cameras, SnapCamera is the best alternative on a dayly basis.
(But we do not give up hope that someone will still port gcam)
Sorry I'm new here so I can't insert side links to download
Unfortunately in my experience snapcamera is not so good in lower light conditions, the shots are grainy. Be nice to get 64bit ROMs so we can use gcam, which wins hands down on my past devices.
I find the Google camera app on the Pixel to be absolutely atrocious. The amount of sharpening and post processing that is being done is out of control, particularly on human faces... even in portrait mode. From what I can tell the only way around that are third party camera apps. What is a good one that provides manual controls and DNG shooting without the AI crap?
Update: ended up buying ProCam. As a long time slr user I find it completely intuitive but can understand how it can be intimidating for a first time user.
Open camera and Hedge Cam - These two are top quality open source camera apps. But only if you are willing to spend bit of time on understanding and experimenting with all the customization. They are completely manual. You need to turn on Camera API 2 to enable all the features.
Use the stock camera app for the usual point & shoots and use those serious apps for some serious captures and videos where you are willing to spend time in editing them in the computer or even in the phone.
If I'm taking a photo with people's faces in it, I do it by shooting in video mode, then selecting the best shot in Adobe Premiere. Thus, the resulting image has less contrast and color saturation than an image taken in photo mode.
Well, if I record a video that I want to archive like a video, so I make some adjustments there too. This is because even video taken with the stock camera app has too high contrast and color saturation. So they I apply the following effects to all the videos, the first effect is an effect called luma corrector, in which in the tab tonal range - highlights, I set the level contrast to -8 and then in the tab tonal range - Shadows I also set the level contrast to -8. This will increase the dynamic range, because I will extract some more image information from the dark shadows and from too much bright highlights.
And then they I apply a second effect to soften the intensity of the colors, which I do in an effect called lumetri color
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Saturation, where I also set the level saturation value to 95.
What is the best way to take an action shot with the S23 Ultra? I am not an avid photographer but do want to take decent not-blurry pics from kids sports activities. Is it possible without going into RAW mode and changing exposure settings? Back in the day, my Note 8 had a "sports" mode that was easy to use though haven't seen it in a while. But I do see a "food" mode that I'll never use...
The "motion photo" setting is useful; it can only be viewed and edited with Samsung Gallery app though. The phone allows you to make gifs too.
This is on my N10+/Pie, presumably the S23U still has these options.
There's also burst mode.
Live tracking as well which may or may not be useful. Set up is rather convoluted as certain options are only available at certain resolutions, fps or with other options. Guides for other older models may be helpful if the S23U guides aren't providing enough information. Many of the features date back years.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
A combination of burst mode and live tracking is definitely your best option.
I would still recommend looking into gcam using this gcam and config :
Post in thread 'Working GCAM for S23 Ultra' https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/working-gcam-for-s23-ultra.4550019/post-88277895
That version will offer face focus tracking by default which is great for kids action shots. You can also enabling focus tracking if you often need to take pictures of your kids without seeing their faces but otherwise, you want to leave focus tracking disabled so it better tracks faces. Picture quality for the time being will be better than stock cam.
In the end though, even under good light conditions, smartphones won't do miracles for action shots as their focus system isn't that fast. But I'm sure with stock or gcam you can manage some decent shots