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My review and hands-on results with HTC EVO 4G’s 8MP Camera - Paris In Photos

After I got the EVO 4G at Google I/O, I went to France for my honeymoon, and have been using the EVO for taking pictures and videos all around Paris.
My review of the camera and the photos have just been posted at AndroidPolice.com: Review And Hands-On Results With HTC EVO 4G’s 8MP Camera – Paris In Photos
Videos coming later - I'm having trouble uploading them to Youtube from the crappy Internet connection.
Enjoy!

wow... great pictures!

JUST SAW THE MEMORY CARD ISSUE THERE.. ops.. had same problem.. got me a 16gb C4 and problem fixed.. i was worried at first

ajftl said:
JUST SAW THE MEMORY CARD ISSUE THERE.. ops.. had same problem.. got me a 16gb C4 and problem fixed.. i was worried at first
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Keep us posted if it happens again.
Sounds like the new SD card will fix the problem.
I've got my own SD card already loaded with music and pics.
When I get my Evo on Friday, I will just swap it out and be good to go.
Thanks for the post...

To be honest, I am disappointed with the picture quality. I am jealous you went to Paris, and your pictures looked fine, they were just not the quality I was expecting from an 8mp camera. They looked like a 3mp image over sharpened. FWIW, it won't stop me from test driving an Evo.

Everyone forgot to say Congratulations! on getting married. Welcome to eternal lockdown and possibly garnished paychecks. J/P in all seriousness congrats and the pics are beautiful.

any native resolution pics?? or uncompressed?? same thing, i know, not sure the technical term.

what settings are you using?

jeffla said:
To be honest, I am disappointed with the picture quality. I am jealous you went to Paris, and your pictures looked fine, they were just not the quality I was expecting from an 8mp camera. They looked like a 3mp image over sharpened. FWIW, it won't stop me from test driving an Evo.
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You're crazy...I'm a professional photographer and I've seen $700 Digital SLRs shoot worse photos

oh and also understand that he might have sharpening on....and the website obviously will alter the photos somewhat

showmrock said:
You're crazy...I'm a professional photographer and I've seen $700 Digital SLRs shoot worse photos
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Agreed. This camera is VERY good.. people are just expecting too much when they hear "8 megapixels". The sensor and optics in the camera on the back are great. Plain and simple. Don't drop your DSLR or point-and-shoot just yet, but definitely keep the EVO handy because with the processor, the pictures snap quickly and they geotag super fast and are easy to send to Flickr. I love it.

To answer some of the questions above, the settings are all auto - the only thing I changed was the resolution. No sharpening has been done, either when shooting or after. In fact, the camera doesn't have a sharpen option at all.
The website doesn't alter the photos either - what you are viewing in the lightbox is the full thing, granted it's scaled down by the browser to fit your screen. If you want to view the full size, just right click and copy link or Save As.
And thank you for the congratulations
I still think the camera on the EVO is really nice - yes, the optics could improve but I'm loving that I don't actually HAVE to have my point-and-shoot with me to produce some nice pics.

showmrock said:
You're crazy...I'm a professional photographer and I've seen $700 Digital SLRs shoot worse photos
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yeah im not a pro, but those pictures look GREAT!

fairly well written article, although it saddens me today's consumer needs the 'important parts' bolded so he doesn't have to read comprehensively.
oh wait, we're supposed to be talking about the phone?
yes, yes - nice pictures

Poor zoom on camera

i dont usually use my camera phone, but tried to use it yesterday and was extremely dissapointed in the zoom facility. didnt make much difference at all. my old omnia seemed to zoom in much further. am i stuck with this or has somone looked at a fix for this?
did a search but got loads of android stuff come up, which is useless to me.
Mike

Chastiser said:
i dont usually use my camera phone, but tried to use it yesterday and was extremely dissapointed in the zoom facility. didnt make much difference at all. my old omnia seemed to zoom in much further. am i stuck with this or has somone looked at a fix for this?
did a search but got loads of android stuff come up, which is useless to me.
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Digital zoom is always poor, it just takes a snapshot of part of the picture and increases it's size - lowering the quality of the resultant image.

For zoomed pictures I prefer to use Canon EOD 5d Mark II with 300mm lens
HTC HD2 is a really great phone. Let me repeat - phone.
The camera it has can be good for taking pictures of business cards or for some augumented reality things, but not for anything more advanced.

tomksoft said:
For zoomed pictures I prefer to use Canon EOD 5d Mark II with 300mm lens
HTC HD2 is a really great phone. Let me repeat - phone.
The camera it has can be good for taking pictures of business cards or for some augumented reality things, but not for anything more advanced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, i understand it is a phone! however, the camera on my ole omnia zoomed in far more than the camera i have on the HD2 and wondered if there was some sort of tweak so that the zoom could be improved. do i need to repeat that? blimy ask a question and get sarcasm.
Mike

Poor Camera zoom.
Mike,
I totally agree. The camera zoom only enables x1.6 on the zoom which in my opinion is pointless. Given as stated earlier its a phone and not a camera, i cant think of any phones out there with worse zoom capabilities!
If there any tweak headz out there that could maybe edit the phone for at least x3 zoom capability on the camera that would be blinding!
Someone Do it'...........Please!

Vignette Camera Conclusion

Hmmm...I purchased this app a little while ago and switched back to my default camera...today I decided to go back to Vignette and do some photo tests against the default camera.
Both apps are on the same settings, or as close as I could make them. Clearly to my surprise the Vignette app actually takes sharper pics than the X10 camera.
Attached is a photo sample to show the difference...im my eyes its actually a pretty big difference.

Mr Patchy Patch said:
Hmmm...I purchased this app a little while ago and switched back to my default camera...today I decided to go back to Vignette and do some photo tests against the default camera.
Both apps are on the same settings, or as close as I could make them. Clearly to my surprise the Vignette app actually takes sharper pics than the X10 camera.
Attached is a photo sample to show the difference...im my eyes its actually a pretty big difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i went in the same way i was using vignette but i guess it was some stupid version .. with no available options ... and returned to stock camera ... but now i`m using one of the latest versions and OMG the difference is so big ... i just deleted stock camera app from my screen never gonna use it again ! )

I'm usually a really cynical poster and I don't mean to be a ****, but that's been one of the most popular topics on the forum. It's definitely true though, I don't use the original camera app much.
The only thing I don't like about Vignette is that you can't adjust the contrast on the fly like in the native camera app. I don't like the interface as much either. The X10's interface is pretty good, it just lacks the ability to keep the light enabled by default, to view pictures fullscreen and without Mediascape and a few other very minor tweaks. For once SEMC actually did something correct with the minimalistic and straight forward camera interface.

Lakata said:
i went in the same way i was using vignette but i guess it was some stupid version .. with no available options ... and returned to stock camera ... but now i`m using one of the latest versions and OMG the difference is so big ... i just deleted stock camera app from my screen never gonna use it again ! )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you may have used the free version...which doesn't support the full resolution of your phone. But I took a few different pictures comparing, I only posted that one comparision, but yeah vignette came out better everytime alot more crisp anyways.

bongd said:
I'm usually a really cynical poster and I don't mean to be a ****, but that's been one of the most popular topics on the forum. It's definitely true though, I don't use the original camera app much.
The only thing I don't like about Vignette is that you can't adjust the contrast on the fly like in the native camera app. I don't like the interface as much either. The X10's interface is pretty good, it just lacks the ability to keep the light enabled by default, to view pictures fullscreen and without Mediascape and a few other very minor tweaks. For once SEMC actually did something correct with the minimalistic and straight forward camera interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe 2.1 will improve the default camera app, but from what Ive read its only giving us 720p and nothing else. I actually like the interface on vignette, I also like the interface on the default camera. But when it really comes down to it, its all about what app will take the clearer more crisp picture right? and that goes to Vignette hands down. There may be a bunch of posts about this already, but really Ill admit, im way to lazy to search today...sorry

Mr Patchy Patch said:
Maybe 2.1 will improve the default camera app, but from what Ive read its only giving us 720p and nothing else. I actually like the interface on vignette, I also like the interface on the default camera. But when it really comes down to it, its all about what app will take the clearer more crisp picture right? and that goes to Vignette hands down. There may be a bunch of posts about this already, but really Ill admit, im way to lazy to search today...sorry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm positive that even SEMC will update the interface to include some of the important features. It's sad that we have to pay for a third party app to do the most minimalistic tasks, and that's to just take a proper picture. Nothing advanced even!...

bongd said:
I'm positive that even SEMC will update the interface to include some of the important features. It's sad that we have to pay for a third party app to do the most minimalistic tasks, and that's to just take a proper picture. Nothing advanced even!...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was watching a video on youtube of the droid x camera and features....I wish SE would give us something like that. Pretty slick interface and options....really no need for 3rd party apps. However I do have PicSay Pro...so that gives me everything my heart desires lol.
Sent from my X10a using XDA App

I returned to the stock app because vignette is so damn slow and I could not find a way to just take a picture and have it save without having to push 50 buttons.
I won't deny the quality is far superior, but like I said its just stop slow.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App

Lakata said:
i just deleted stock camera app from my screen never gonna use it again ! )
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Click to collapse
That's the stupidest thing you could've done. You've probably broken every application on your phone that uses the camera to add a picture to a message/fb/twitter, ect.
Also, you've lost the ability to easily take video.
Does anyone think before they delete apps?

Well I've noticed that night(or atleast low light) shots are pretty much the same with either app... they both suck
I use Vignette for everything else though...wish it had a better UI

iead1 said:
That's the stupidest thing you could've done. You've probably broken every application on your phone that uses the camera to add a picture to a message/fb/twitter, ect.
Also, you've lost the ability to easily take video.
Does anyone think before they delete apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hopefully he just meant he removed the icon from his home screen.
Sent from my X10a using XDA App

pngface said:
Well I've noticed that night(or atleast low light) shots are pretty much the same with either app... they both suck
I use Vignette for everything else though...wish it had a better UI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've noticed low light shots are a week point to... that's when I break out my actual digital camera tho.... which also happens to be sony lol
Sent from my X10a using XDA App

iead1 said:
That's the stupidest thing you could've done. You've probably broken every application on your phone that uses the camera to add a picture to a message/fb/twitter, ect.
Also, you've lost the ability to easily take video.
Does anyone think before they delete apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i just removed the shortcut m8 from the screen and in vignette there is a shortcut when u use it to take video and when you press the button u go to video mode to your stock camera app

Mr Patchy Patch said:
Hopefully he just meant he removed the icon from his home screen.
Sent from my X10a using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exactly what i did

I tried using Vignette, but I found that it seemed to crop some of the picture automatically? Like, I know there's something like that in the settings, but besides that, what I see on the screen before I take the picture isn't the same as what's captured. Also, I found it really difficult with macro shots, especially with the autoflash. While focussing, the light comes on, but then the light goes off after focus, so then the camera refocuses, and when the picture is taken, the flash comes on but the camera focussed for without light, so you get over exposure or out of focus. Am I using the app wrong? I'm really finding it difficult to focus and get clear pictures, with vignette or stock app

synlar said:
I tried using Vignette, but I found that it seemed to crop some of the picture automatically? Like, I know there's something like that in the settings, but besides that, what I see on the screen before I take the picture isn't the same as what's captured. Also, I found it really difficult with macro shots, especially with the autoflash. While focussing, the light comes on, but then the light goes off after focus, so then the camera refocuses, and when the picture is taken, the flash comes on but the camera focussed for without light, so you get over exposure or out of focus. Am I using the app wrong? I'm really finding it difficult to focus and get clear pictures, with vignette or stock app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It almost sounds like your doing something wrong. Do you have the paid version?
Sent from my X10a using XDA App

Stock App - 8mp, Macro
Vignette - 8mp, superfine

bazzatron said:
Stock App - 8mp, Macro
Vignette - 8mp, superfine
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There pretty close, but it almost looks like the X10 default camera has the edge in that pic. Perhaps the X10 default camera is better in lower light photos? I haven't tested that yet.

iead1 said:
That's the stupidest thing you could've done. You've probably broken every application on your phone that uses the camera to add a picture to a message/fb/twitter, ect.
Also, you've lost the ability to easily take video.
Does anyone think before they delete apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey big brain, before call somebody stupid think a little bit. Probably he just delete it from main screen. I did the same too

rafaperez3d said:
Hey big brain, before call somebody stupid think a little bit. Probably he just delete it from main screen. I did the same too
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Click to collapse
y exactly ) i was thinking is easy to understand that i only deleted the app from my screen not uninstalling it
and about those 2 pictures with the sunglasses m8... there maybe is not difference in close up pictures coz macro is working fine but try to take pictures from distance and youll see the difference anyway i`m using steady shot for best preformance 8mpx superfine and 16:9 widescreen something u dont have at stock app 8pmx only 4:3 ... sooo there u go aaaa and another thing with vignette u can take picture with a real FLASH ... not with LED light

Flaw discovered with Xperia Play

Today I was required to take a photograph with my Xperia Play, which required me to zoom. Only to find out the the Xperia Play cannot zoom. I was quickly told by an iPhone user, "oh my phone zooms." I can't believe it.

This is a very well known flaw. Old news

I fall to see how it's a flaw. It's a useless feature that just ruins an image

lol, iphone zoom murders the already disappointing picture quality, even with their falsely important "high dynamic range" crap.
there's software out there that remedies this "flaw," but if you want real zooming, get a real camera.

3rd party soft like fx camera zoom fixes this flaw. Hope it helps
Sent from my Sony Tablet S using Tapatalk

All zooming does is the equivalent of a pinch to zoom. It crops the image something that if you want to do you can do after you snap the image.
Sent from my R800x using XDA App

basically all 99% of phone do when they zoom is actually crop and enlarge a group of pixels of the whole image this same process can be done on a computer with about 3x better results so this "flaw" is actually a useless feature only people with no knowledge of photography or photo editing use. if im taking a picture of something far away i would use a proper camera with a optical zoom.
basially digital zoom is useless and the iphone owner is obviously completely oblivious to the fact he actually ruined hes picture with zoom
havent you wondered why zooming in on a full picture looks better then a digital zoomed picture of the same object?
basically no flaw here and most companies dont see the point of digital zoom as it was a "feature" to attract people to the idea of cheap digital cameras when they first came out know even cheap ones have atleast a 2x optical zoom
incase you dont know:
digital zoom: lens doesnt move picture magically gets zoomed
optical zoom: lens moves and adjusts normally sticking further out of the camera to get a true zoom

You can always just crop it from the gallery if you want to "zoom"...

thanks guys I have learned slot from your replies.

Oh god...lets not start this again..last time someone stated this people started arguing about how useful/useless the feature was.

deja vu anyone?

Sue apple for false advertisement, there is no digital zoom, only crop in which all phones and pc, tablets, gaming console's do

I've found a way to zoom, get closer to the object ;-)
brought to you by the XDA app on my badass Android toy

Growling Clover said:
I've found a way to zoom, get closer to the object ;-)
brought to you by the XDA app on my badass Android toy
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LOL.
hes right tho. the zoom is only cropping a picture so it makes it less quality
I've owned alot of android devices over the past years and they all had zoom 'cept the Xperia but I quickly realized it's not a feature that is "good" it's one I never use because you are just making the camera worse

Growling Clover said:
I've found a way to zoom, get closer to the object ;-)
brought to you by the XDA app on my badass Android toy
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Click to collapse
LOL, thats classic!
the OP must be a new Xperia Play owner, cause that was the first thing i learned about our phones, followed by.... "CRAP, i cant unlock my Bootloader! WTF, i have to pay!?!....." lol

Its also true that teh zoom function is pretty useless.. ruins quality, actually, just ****s it up so you dont see anything.. Im glad it don't have zoom

All "zoom" is on any phone is digital zoom. Digital zoom is another word for "crop" take your already semi crappy pic with your play, put it in photo shop crop it, blow it up and volia you have an even ****tier image blown up with "zoom". I'm guessing you also think the more mega pixles a camera has is better image quality as well huh?
Sent from my R800i using Tapatalk

Clienterror said:
All "zoom" is on any phone is digital zoom. Digital zoom is another word for "crop" take your already semi crappy pic with your play, put it in photo shop crop it, blow it up and volia you have an even ****tier image blown up with "zoom". I'm guessing you also think the more mega pixles a camera has is better image quality as well huh?
Sent from my R800i using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most people are unaware of the differences between digital and optical zoom, or lens diameter vs megapixels. It is our job as the experienced ones to educate the newbies.
Sent from Silent Earth 3

Using the camera: best practices

Would be great if we had a thread with some tips how to get the best photos with the Z1.
Any tips? Please share. I for one would love to dive in the magical world of digital photography. Think the Z1 is a great starting point.
Maybe we could even use this knowledge to create an awesome camera app for our z1.

I dont have a Z1 yet (planning to get one soon as my contract expires) but from what I have reading, Manual mode + Iso 50-200 seems to get the best result.

appelflap said:
Would be great if we had a thread with some tips how to get the best photos with the Z1.
Any tips? Please share. I for one would love to dive in the magical world of digital photography. Think the Z1 is a great starting point.
Maybe we could even use this knowledge to create an awesome camera app for our z1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, here's a couple of tips to start you off:-
1. Noise is an issue with the current camera firmware.
The best way to address this is to shoot in Manual mode where you will have a greater control over the shot.
Look at the ISO value and where possible change it to ISO 50. This will give the clearest noise free image possible.
2. Don't use Digital Zoom. Frame correctly and crop your images.
Often I hear of owners looking to zoom in as much as possible before taking the shot.
Whilst that is fine and dandy on cameras which have lens that support optical zoom, never ever use digital zoom.
Instead, take the shot using the full coverage of the shot (no zoom). This will then allow you to 'crop' the image to whatever zoom you wish and you can perform as many crops as you wish from one shot (top, bottom, left, right, centre of a shot)
---------- Post added at 09:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:10 AM ----------
Morlock O said:
I dont have a Z1 yet (planning to get one soon as my contract expires) but from what I have reading, Manual mode + Iso 50-200 seems to get the best result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apologies..... You posted this whilst I was compiling my post above.

Morlock O said:
I dont have a Z1 yet (planning to get one soon as my contract expires) but from what I have reading, Manual mode + Iso 50-200 seems to get the best result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Beards said:
Well, here's a couple of tips to start you off:-
1. Noise is an issue with the current camera firmware.
The best way to address this is to shoot in Manual mode where you will have a greater control over the shot.
Look at the ISO value and where possible change it to ISO 50. This will give the clearest noise free image possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aha! And which resolution do you advice in this mode? The full 20 MP resolution?
Beards said:
2. Don't use Digital Zoom. Frame correctly and crop your images.
Often I hear of owners looking to zoom in as much as possible before taking the shot.
Whilst that is fine and dandy on cameras which have lens that support optical zoom, never ever use digital zoom.
Instead, take the shot using the full coverage of the shot (no zoom). This will then allow you to 'crop' the image to whatever zoom you wish and you can perform as many crops as you wish from one shot (top, bottom, left, right, centre of a shot)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw an ad off Sony in which they suggested that one could do a 3x digital zoom without a compromise in quality. But I agree, why not take a full frame shot and zoom afterwards.
Btw nice to see you here Beards. How is your HD2

appelflap said:
Aha! And which resolution do you advice in this mode? The full 20 MP resolution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on the shot...
If I still want to use Image Stabiizer or HDR I will change from 20MP to 8MP as 20MP does not support either of these features.
Further, for night shots the camera lens is not looking for stacks of detail. As such often for night shooting you can get away with a lower pixel shot.
I saw an ad off Sony in which they suggested that one could do a 3x digital zoom without a compromise in quality. But I agree, why not take a full frame shot and zoom afterwards.
Btw nice to see you here Beards. How is your HD2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can do the 3x digital but once you have done it this can lead to the next shot being over zoomed, that and it's always better to crop as you know.
P.S. Yes mate..... Nice to see you too.
And yes, I still have the HD2. Kept it for sentimental reasons

If Sony fixes the camera software, we'll all see a enormous difference in quality! Setting everything to manual will give you much better results. Now I tried the "Focal" camera app from the Playstore, and the low light shots are really, really awesome! The app itself is very minimalistic, but produces stunning results with the Z1! Give it a go, I'll try to upload some shots I took when I'm home!

Beards said:
And yes, I still have the HD2. Kept it for sentimental reasons
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kept and still using mine hehe, anyway shouldnt we zoom in 3x losless(?) first then crop the photo? any further zoom than 3x is going to substantially lose the quality then?
im hoping to get my Z1 tmorrow so i can try out my theory hehe

Anadinolin said:
kept and still using mine hehe, anyway shouldnt we zoom in 3x losless(?) first then crop the photo? any further zoom than 3x is going to substantially lose the quality then?
im hoping to get my Z1 tmorrow so i can try out my theory hehe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh a fellow HD2 user. We are but a dying breed...
Re the 3x lossless digital zoom.
There are two issues here:-
1. All the 3x lossless zoom does is do what cropping does . It just restricts it to 3x to avoid over zooming where the shot would then look too pixelated.
2. Once you apply 3x zoom on any image that is it, you can't go back and say "blast! I should have zoomed in a bit less".
At least with the full frame you can make as many different crops as you like and apply it to any part of the image.
In other words where digital shooting is concerned shoot full then crop. 9 times out of 10 the software PP will handle it better anyway.

I would advice to download a more capable camera app for the moment until Sony fixes the severa problems they are having.
Otherwise I would NOT recommend using the Auto mode because right now it's seriously underperforming choosing the Manual setting would allow you for more options of course.
Turn off stabilization when capturing videos if you value the field of view because it's not OIS, this is Digital meaning it is cropping the picture instead otherwise the Steayshot feature is pretty solid