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Will the Nexus 4 camera get better by software updates?

The Nexus 4 is awesome.... but the Camera is driving me nuts. It's the only reason why I haven't bought this phone yet and wonder wether the S3 or Nexus 4 is better for me.
When making pictures the difference isn't that big.. but ad video recordings the Nexus 4 is terribly bad.
So I wonder, since both have a 8MP camera, could get Nexus 4 camera become better by an optimized Android OS? E.g. in the next update?
I have seen a simliar happening with my HTC Desire HD.
Or is the camera simply not as good in the Nexus 4 compared to the S3 ?
Thanks

zakazak said:
The Nexus 4 is awesome.... but the Camera is driving me nuts. It's the only reason why I haven't bought this phone yet and wonder wether the S3 or Nexus 4 is better for me.
When making pictures the difference isn't that big.. but ad video recordings the Nexus 4 is terribly bad.
So I wonder, since both have a 8MP camera, could get Nexus 4 camera become better by an optimized Android OS? E.g. in the next update?
I have seen a simliar happening with my HTC Desire HD.
Or is the camera simply not as good in the Nexus 4 compared to the S3 ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe a bit , but not much. And yes the sensor in the s3 is much better.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

I personally think the camera is good for what it is. The photos I take are easy to edit if needed.
I think software updates could optimize the camera a little better but not by much, if you are looking to make an improvement to the camera, try out the mod in the link
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2039553

I guess I have to decide then:
Can I live with bad video recordings ?
Can I live with acceptable pictures ?
Generally my smartphone is the only camera, means even when selling stuff on ebay, making self portrait or pictures of ANYTHING -> I will use the smartphone
I honestly don't record videos that often tho.

Depends what you use your camera for. The pictures I take either go up on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. I'm just a casual picture taker. And no one has yet to complain on the quality of them, they are clear enough for the average joe. Besides, the difference between N4 and S3 pic quality isn't that huge.
Now if you're using it to actually print photos and such... Or if you're an amateur photographer, then I guess the best possible camera phone is best for you. Which in this case would be an S3 or HTC phone.
Like I said, it all depends what you're taking pics for.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

I'm generally pleased with the way they look, I'm no professional but if they look great to my eye, then I can only guess they'll look great to the average consumer as well. The only problems I have are my two shaky hands, oh how great the pictures would look if they implemented some sort of image stabilization feature

Well I am not a amteur/hobby photograph, but then again, I use it for all kind of pictures.
Surely the pictures won't look bad but still the S3 is better.
For video recordings: The Nexus 4 is for some weird reason really bad (check comparisons on youtube.. S3 vs Nexus 4 Camera) :/

The s3 is just a horrible looking/feeling phone though IMO live the nexus and think it does videos and pictures fine for stuff like eBay and just in general
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

I agree the Nexus 4 looks better.. and I would overall prefer the Nexus 4.. but the Camera so far is my only concern. I will look for more picture comparisons today.. when it comes to pictures I think I am fine with the Nexus 4.
But those video recording.. soo bad.. that's why I thought there could be a fix coming soon ? Since pictures look "okay" but videos are rather bad.

zakazak said:
Well I am not a amteur/hobby photograph, but then again, I use it for all kind of pictures.
Surely the pictures won't look bad but still the S3 is better.
For video recordings: The Nexus 4 is for some weird reason really bad (check comparisons on youtube.. S3 vs Nexus 4 Camera) :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use LG Camera app for video recording. Much better results. 1080p, 20mbit bit rate, 30fps.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

jmudrick said:
Use LG Camera app for video recording. Much better results. 1080p, 20mbit bit rate, 30fps.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx for the hint...you know where to get it? Googled a lil bit but didn't find the right one. Should be the newest version from Optimus G right?
greetz

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=rubberbigpepper.lgCamera
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

jmudrick said:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=rubberbigpepper.lgCamera
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
Oh now I got you^^
Thought u mean the original LG camera app and not a play store app^^
Thanks for ur help but I think I will pass with this app.
greetz

Do you maybe have a test video/picture from the lg app ?
the video comparisons I am refering to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSlCc8A3t7A
but especially when comparing these two videos (nexus 4 vs S3) the difference is very big:
Nexus 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3jtl5EOrqA
S3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcbsWeNqy8c

anyone?

Nexus cameras/sensors have always been weak, starting with the N1.
Marks toolkit for the SGN pimped the camera with some nice mods, maybe the same will be included in the N4 kit in the near future, too.
I´m looking forward to it...

Alright, Nexus 4 it is... let's see if the camera gets optimized somehow.

Time to pack for the snapdragon S800 I suppose, that can handle 55megapixel and 4k recording.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

To be honest, I like the N4 camera. The only gripe that I have is that it applies way too much sharpening on the photos it takes. If they were able to tone that down and add native Android volume/power shutter, I wouldn't complain that much (still image-wise at least)

+1 lgcamera is good ! camera ZOOM is good
---------- Post added at 10:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:13 PM ----------
test camera : http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/C...te-II-vs-Galaxy-S-III_id3208#2-Google-Nexus-4

Poor Camera performance

Is anyone else disappointed with the camera on the nexus 4? I find I'm getting poorly focused photos for objects at short range.
Is there a better camera app?

Yes search XDA for lgcamera. I like using better than the original camera app.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Worst feature of the phone. The autofocus makes me want to shoot myself in the face.
AOKP camera seems to be better tho.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Hi,
Poor performance, poor quality, poor focus, etc... Maybe a faulty Nexus 4 (I don't know / hardware maybe ).
Take a look here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2000602 ... Not all the pics are great but... Most are awesome (yeah, it depends mainly of your eyes ).
Seriously not the best cam (software / post-software traitement) but in any case not poor and poor in all circumstance...
Coming from a SGS III (not the best in quality picture but not the last in the course), the Nexus is great! (maybe not in dark place, I agree, besides that it's top!).
And picture quality depends of the photographer (and his eyes) and the subject, the camera settings, etc...
In fact you can try some third apps... I (personnaly) never seen an improvement, on HTC Desire HD, HTC Sensation, Galaxy Nexus, S III, etc... it's not an app which overlay all the post traitement... I mean hardware->software, just some sharpness, colours, effects, etc... it's just in post traitement (you can do the same thing on your computer).
I can understand you're disapointed, but you're coming from what? I mean what smartphone? Real camera? You compare about what?
Post some pics and we'll see if it's poor or not...
And it's a Nexus not an extreme camera-phone, if you just buy a Nexus for his quality pics... You purchased a Nexus for anything other than his camera (or for just that)
we can speak endlessly about the picture quality of the Nexus 4, it depends on too many factors...
Not to be rude but... with no more explanation...

viking37 said:
Coming from a SGS III (not the best in quality picture but not the last in the course), the Nexus is great! (maybe not in dark place, I agree, besides that it's top!).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find the camera on the SGSII to be much better than that on the Nexus 4.
Here is a picture that I took which I'm a bit disappointed with. It is predominantly the focus, though perhaps on this one there's a bit of camera shake.

[Q] [New Update] Improve Photo Quality

hi everyone,
is there a new update of tips or tricks in improving Nexus 4's default camera app photos ?
is there a way a paid camera app to way make the Nexus 4's photo quality much like the Htc one X or the iphone 5 ?
Note: I already know about the nexus 4 modified photo hack in increasing its photo file size.

souleater11 said:
hi everyone,
is there a new update of tips or tricks in improving Nexus 4's default camera app photos ?
is there a way a paid camera app to way make the Nexus 4's photo quality much like the Htc one X or the iphone 5 ?
Note: I already know about the nexus 4 modified photo hack in increasing its photo file size.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.

My wife has a HTC One X and I don't think the difference is that great. I think it is more how the N4 displays pics than how it takes pic. I can send a pic I took with my phone to my wife and it looks better on her phone. When she sends me a pic, it doesn't look the same as it does on her phone. Regardless of which camera was used, pics on her phone look more vibrant, while pics on my phone look a little more washed out.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

fernandezhjr said:
My wife has a HTC One X and I don't think the difference is that great. I think it is more how the N4 displays pics than how it takes pic. I can send a pic I took with my phone to my wife and it looks better on her phone. When she sends me a pic, it doesn't look the same as it does on her phone. Regardless of which camera was used, pics on her phone look more vibrant, while pics on my phone look a little more washed out.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That`s why God created devs who create custom kernels and color controll

The majority of camera quality depends on the hardware in each phone. Megapixel count is useless these days in phones and point and shoots. What matters is the sensor size/quality, ISO levels, shutter speed, etc. Software can only enhance so much of what the hardware will do the bulk of. Unfortunately, these specs typically aren't readily available on phones, normally only the megapixel count is listed.

fernandezhjr said:
My wife has a HTC One X and I don't think the difference is that great. I think it is more how the N4 displays pics than how it takes pic. I can send a pic I took with my phone to my wife and it looks better on her phone. When she sends me a pic, it doesn't look the same as it does on her phone. Regardless of which camera was used, pics on her phone look more vibrant, while pics on my phone look a little more washed out.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found that the way the Nexus displays the pic AS you're taking it is pretty poor quality. Like right after you snap a pic and it shoves that shot aside so you can take another, the quality of that pic seems really poor but when I actually go into Gallery and view the picture, it has crazy-good quality. That threw me off the first few times I took pics with my Nexus. I thought the picture quality was sub-par, because I had taken around a dozen pics at different times before actually viewing them and each time they looked bad. Once I went and viewed them, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality.
I feel like if you need more than 8 megapixels to capture whatever moment you're photographing, then you should be using something more than a cellphone. Most people expect their cellphone to produce profession-grade photographs and I think that's unrealistic. And correct me if I'm wrong, I'm no photographer, but isn't it impossible to even display all of the 8 million pixels taken by the Nexus 4 on the screen, or even a standard 1920x1080 pixel screen? Again, I'm not a professional so I could be wrong, I'm just breaking down the word 'megapixel' and doing the math based on that.

after updating to 4.4.1 the camera seems better.
i went further by installing nexus 5 camera apk. the nexus 5 camera apk in 4.4.1 is about 1mb larger in size than in nexus 4. i have no idea whats the difference, but i am quiet satisfied now. atleast in daytime.. low light is still a no no. i wished they had included IS in nexus 4

Nexus 4 Camera - Any Good?

Hi everyone, I am thinking about upgrading to the Nexus 4, but the only thing that is holding me back is that I have heard the camera isn't very good, especially in low light. Is that true? A good camera is a very important consideration for me when considering a phone. I currently have a Galaxy S2. Has anyone owned both phones and would be able to comment on how the pictures compare between phones? I find the camera on the S2 to be much worse than on my wife's iPhone, but I definitely don't want an iPhone. I have also considered the S3, S4 or HTC One, but they are a bit too expensive for me. I think I remember Google saying something about how they were not impressed with smartphone cameras and wanted to improve them, so the alternative is I might wait for the next Nexus phone or the rumored X Phone.
Thanks!

Based on my camera usage patterns, I find them pretty close. (I had a Galaxy S2 before switching), although I will rate the S2 marginally better, because, there are situations where I find the S2 camera resolving more detail which is indecipherable on the N4 camera; Although the HDR mode on the N4 is damn cool, which definitely helps in producing better low light images than the S2 for still objects.
If you are not in a hurry, you might want to wait for the next Nexus if the camera is important. As you said, Google is rumored to incorporate some camera-wizardy into their next phone along with Nikon. No one knows how true this is, but, safe to say that the camera on their next device should be way ahead than the one on the N4.

Thanks 3xeno!
Yeah, I'm not in a hurry so I might just stick with the S2 for now. I had been thinking about the Nexus 4 for a while, and my carrier just lowered the price (even lower than buying directly from Google! ) so I started seriously considering it, but there's no point in buying it if I'm going to be disappointed in the camera. The Nexus 4 does otherwise look like a very nice device, but then I do like the removable battery and microSD slot on my S2. I also like the UI on the stock Android camera app better than the Touchwiz camera, but I flashed the camera app on my S2 so now I have both

gc84245 said:
Thanks 3xeno!
Yeah, I'm not in a hurry so I might just stick with the S2 for now. I had been thinking about the Nexus 4 for a while, and my carrier just lowered the price (even lower than buying directly from Google! ) so I started seriously considering it, but there's no point in buying it if I'm going to be disappointed in the camera. The Nexus 4 does otherwise look like a very nice device, but then I do like the removable battery and microSD slot on my S2. I also like the UI on the stock Android camera app better than the Touchwiz camera, but I flashed the camera app on my S2 so now I have both
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The N4 is pretty cheap! You still have probably about 6-7 months assuming a N5 comes out considering Google's launch history.

gc84245 said:
Hi everyone, I am thinking about upgrading to the Nexus 4, but the only thing that is holding me back is that I have heard the camera isn't very good, especially in low light. Is that true? A good camera is a very important consideration for me when considering a phone. I currently have a Galaxy S2. Has anyone owned both phones and would be able to comment on how the pictures compare between phones? I find the camera on the S2 to be much worse than on my wife's iPhone, but I definitely don't want an iPhone. I have also considered the S3, S4 or HTC One, but they are a bit too expensive for me. I think I remember Google saying something about how they were not impressed with smartphone cameras and wanted to improve them, so the alternative is I might wait for the next Nexus phone or the rumored X Phone.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a galaxy nexus and an s3, i use the camera a lot on my phones, and the nexus 4 is the worst in that field among those 3. The s3 camera was just impressive. As for galaxy nexus, 1080p was way better than on nexus4, more details, better color saturation, better bitrate.. Photos were nearly the same.
My advice is, the s2 is still a great phone, keep it for a little while longer and then get whatever's coming next..
P.s. i find the aosp camera UI crappy, minimal options, and sometimes hard to switch stuff...
But, despite that, the nexus 4 is one hell of a phone, and it looks and feels really premium.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

thfreedumb said:
The N4 is pretty cheap! You still have probably about 6-7 months assuming a N5 comes out considering Google's launch history.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Next Nexus device should come out at the same time the N4 did, around the end of 2013.
The N4 indeed has a meh camera, even compared to my Ion. But 8mpix are enough imho

My previous phone had an 8.0 MP camera with poor optics and so the N4's camera feels like a massive upgrade. No complaints from me.
Note: Megapixels mean nothing if the optics suck. My 5.0 MP point and shoot from 2005 still blows away every smartphone camera I've seen. If you know in advance that you want to take photos to keep and remember, bring along a point-and-shoot! I generally only use the phone camera for quick shots that I'll likely delete a short time later (i.e. whatsapping a photo of an item to a family member to ask if I should buy it).

Its true that pictures in low lighting or inside look absolutely horrible on the nexus 4. However if you take a lot of pictures outside (like I do myself) the camera is really good compared to my galaxy s2. I am really impressed with the autofocus on the phone. If you want check the "photos taken by your nexus 4" thread in the general section, it should give you a pretty good idea of what the camera is like.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

rayiskon said:
P.s. i find the aosp camera UI crappy, minimal options, and sometimes hard to switch stuff...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I must be in the minority for preferring the aosp camera over the touchwiz camera. I find that the touchwiz camera takes forever to load, and if I want to review the pictures it takes forever for the gallery to load. I love that the aosp camera switches back and forth between the camera and the gallery seamlessly. I also find that it's very easy to change settings on the aosp camera, just hold your finger and drag. Turning the flash on and off is particularly fast and easy to do.

aanonymoushuman said:
Its true that pictures in low lighting or inside look absolutely horrible on the nexus 4. However if you take a lot of pictures outside (like I do myself) the camera is really good compared to my galaxy s2. I am really impressed with the autofocus on the phone. If you want check the "photos taken by your nexus 4" thread in the general section, it should give you a pretty good idea of what the camera is like.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I take a lot of pictures of my kid, so a lot of them are indoors and that's why the camera is so important to me. The camera on the S2 takes great pictures outside, but inside they can be grainy. I also have a point and shoot, but it's not always within arm's reach like a smartphone and I find that it is very slow taking pictures, so if I want to capture a smile it's gone by the time it takes the picture (I even tried the smile recognition feature, but it doesn't work so well).

the camera isn't too bad. probably better IQ than my old 5MP hd2, albeit alower and clunkier in use.
3rd-party camera apps make it a bit slicker and give better control over focus/ exposure/ flash etc.
one of the big drawbacks with camera phones is poor dynamic range which the HDR mode in the N4 stock camera app partially overcomes for static subjects. with fast-moving subjects unfortunately you get double-exposures.

My major gripe with the Nexus 4 camera is photos/video show in the wrong orientation. i.e. a video I filmed in portrait plays back on the PC rotated 90 degrees wrongly, so it shows as landscape. I have to put it into Windows Movie Maker, rotate to right, re-save then upload to facebook/youtube.

Thanks rayiskon, it is very helpful. I currently have a galaxy nexus, and I'm considering upgrading to nexus 4 through a boxing day deal. If the camera in nexus 4 is even worse than that in galaxy nexus. I would not choose nexus 4. Probably s3 or nexus 5 are much wiser choices.
rayiskon said:
I had a galaxy nexus and an s3, i use the camera a lot on my phones, and the nexus 4 is the worst in that field among those 3. The s3 camera was just impressive. As for galaxy nexus, 1080p was way better than on nexus4, more details, better color saturation, better bitrate.. Photos were nearly the same.
My advice is, the s2 is still a great phone, keep it for a little while longer and then get whatever's coming next..
P.s. i find the aosp camera UI crappy, minimal options, and sometimes hard to switch stuff...
But, despite that, the nexus 4 is one hell of a phone, and it looks and feels really premium.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

xdaSEx10 said:
Thanks rayiskon, it is very helpful. I currently have a galaxy nexus, and I'm considering upgrading to nexus 4 through a boxing day deal. If the camera in nexus 4 is even worse than that in galaxy nexus. I would not choose nexus 4. Probably s3 or nexus 5 are much wiser choices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go for Nexus 5. it will be a huge upgrade from your Gnex.

Camera performance.

What do you guys think of the camera on the DT2? Low light? Video? Attached are some photos I took in low light with flash .. It seems to perform really good.

I haven't gotten a real chance to test it, yet. That picture does look pretty good, though.

It is a HUGE improvement over my maxx. I haven't taken to many pics but what I noticed is if you zoom in it doesn't get grainy.
Sent from my XT1585 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Just picked it up last night but in comparison to my Edge it is not as quick to capture and low light didn't seem as good but hopefully as a few days go by I will see great pics

According to Dxomark it was rated as the third best camera. It got the same exact rating as the Nexus 6p.
http://www.dxomark.com/Mobiles/Moto...Motorola-Droid-Turbo-2-Ranking-Into-the-top-3
Only bested by the s6 and Z5.
This is seriously a killer phone when u put everything together....

I'm coming from the note 5 and the camera is just as good on the turbo 2. I took Halloween shots and they turned out great. Much improved from the original turbo.
Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Same here. Coming from a gs6 (same camera as note 5) and the results are negligible to my eyes.
I always wonder about reviewers noting this extreme differences between iPhones and Samsungs vs any other phone.

Camera is a DEFINITE improvement over the orignal Turbo. that my basis of comparison.
Crisper
MUCH FASTER
low light still not amazing, but its a phone camerea, cant expect DLSR performance.
Flash is maybe a bit worse, havent tested quite as much
havent done any video recording or used front camera yet.

I don't take that many pictures, but the camera is definitely better than the turbo 1 was.
I like the camera on my note 5 more, but this one seems fine too.
Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

gabo_e30 said:
Same here. Coming from a gs6 (same camera as note 5) and the results are negligible to my eyes.
I always wonder about reviewers noting this extreme differences between iPhones and Samsungs vs any other phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think the reason for this is that the Moto cam has been so sub par for so long (saying this as a Moto user) that the quality camera had been really between Sammy and iPhone when it came to large consumer purchase models so its where comparisons would start

I think the camera is good. I just don't care for the software. I'm coming from a note 5 from T-Mobile. I don't like I just can't touch to focus then hit the camera button to take a shot. I always have to drag that yellow circle around to focus my shot. Seems annoying to me. Also I really miss the 1080p 60fps video from the note 5. That made all your videos buttery smooth.

Try camera zoom fx, a better Camera, or camera fv-5. I know they have touch to focus.
Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

bigv5150 said:
It is a HUGE improvement over my maxx. I haven't taken to many pics but what I noticed is if you zoom in it doesn't get grainy.
Sent from my XT1585 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed the EXACT same thing. True 21 MP I believe...