[Q] [New Update] Improve Photo Quality - Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

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

Related

S3 Camera Quality

Hi everyone. I had the one X but returned it in anticipation for the galaxy s3. I was wondering if anyone that had both phones can comment on the camera quality of both. I've read reviews and it seems like the one X has a better camera with a better aperture of f/2.0, so it has better low light photos.
I wanted to test it out in stores but they are not there yet, so i was wondering if anyone can give impressions of the quality of the s3 camera (and can compare it to the one x shots). I'm still deciding between the 2 phones...
thanks!
I too had the one X but returned and pre-ordered the S3 and got it yesterday.
The two things that I liked better on One X are the camera and the display. IMO camera is noticeably better on One X, especially in low light. Also the camera app on One X is a little bit faster which might be due to the imagesense chip that One X has.
But overall Im happier with S3. Couldnt bare with One X's retarded multi tasking.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
S3 vs iPhone
here are 5 comparison shots of the iPhone 4 vs the Galaxy S3. To my eye the samsung lets in more light and it actually sometimes makes the photos contrast too white. But the color reproduction on the samsung is closer to what I see with my eye
Now keep in mind, Samsung/android gives you much greater control over ISO/exposure/etc. These pictures are taken on the default "auto" settings. I think people could make them look a lot better by actually adjusting the iso/exposure/contrast. I'll probably come back on later and compare the iPhone 4, iPhone 4s and the Samsung with adjusted settings later.
robamacaf said:
here are 5 comparison shots of the iPhone 4 vs the Galaxy S3. To my eye the samsung lets in more light and it actually sometimes makes the photos contrast too white. But the color reproduction on the samsung is closer to what I see with my eye
Now keep in mind, Samsung/android gives you much greater control over ISO/exposure/etc. These pictures are taken on the default "auto" settings. I think people could make them look a lot better by actually adjusting the iso/exposure/contrast. I'll probably come back on later and compare the iPhone 4, iPhone 4s and the Samsung with adjusted settings later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It almost looks like the all the iPhone photos were artificially saturated, because it's supposedly better to err on the side of too saturated than "washed out reality", for the average joe.
robamacaf said:
here are 5 comparison shots of the iPhone 4 vs the Galaxy S3. To my eye the samsung lets in more light and it actually sometimes makes the photos contrast too white. But the color reproduction on the samsung is closer to what I see with my eye
Now keep in mind, Samsung/android gives you much greater control over ISO/exposure/etc. These pictures are taken on the default "auto" settings. I think people could make them look a lot better by actually adjusting the iso/exposure/contrast. I'll probably come back on later and compare the iPhone 4, iPhone 4s and the Samsung with adjusted settings later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm really interested in your results after the settings. Currently the only thing holding me back from jumping on the galaxy s3 is the camera. But if adjusting the settings can make the camera photos appear better, then i think i'm sold. Please do post them when you do get a chance!
thanks!
Those shots are very helpful... iPhone pics definitely look better on first glance, but the colors are artificial/over-saturated and I think the S3 provides more detail in the shadow. I had a One X, and thought that camera was terrible; everything was overexposed and washed out and if I dropped exposure by one tick it went to far. Definitely more optimistic about trying the camera on my S3 when it comes tomorrow.
Here are some updated shots. I played with the S3 and got the settings I liked. One thing I didn't point out in the first set of pictures is if you zoom in on the pictures you'll notice more detail in the S3 shots, mainly because of the higher pixel count.
I think personally, the s3 camera is quite better. It has more tweaking you can do to get the shots you want. I really love the "Smile Shot" that takes a photo when it detects a smile or the fact you can say "Cheese" and it have take photos.
those are really nice pics
S3 is same sensor as S2 from what I have read. One X is brand new backlit sensor, which is why it does so well in low light conditions. One X camera is best out there right now. And yes the f2.0 wider angle lens is pretty sweet also.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Kind of weird, samsung has a photo relationship with pentax for their SLR's and these comparison pics look a lot like those between pentax and canikon SLR's. On auto settings the pentax/samsung favor darker and less saturated compared to brighter/punchier exposures on auto settings with canon or nikon. All a matter of preference just weird to see the same sort of thing happening here.
Will be fun to play with when I finally upgrade from this cracked captivate
c5satellite2 said:
S3 is same sensor as S2 from what I have read. One X is brand new backlit sensor, which is why it does so well in low light conditions. One X camera is best out there right now. And yes the f2.0 wider angle lens is pretty sweet also.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The sensor is an upgraded iphone 4s sensor
Are you sure about the camera sensor. I read a review last week that it was same sensor design as s2 but upgraded software. Not saying you aren't correct, just want to figure out which one it has.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
c5satellite2 said:
Are you sure about the camera sensor. I read a review last week that it was same sensor design as s2 but upgraded software. Not saying you aren't correct, just want to figure out which one it has.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From the tear down videos/sites that I have seen they have said improved iphone 4s, try to Google it and see what they say, I might be wrong too but I'm going off the info I've seen on my rss feeds and Google searches
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_...era-versus-htc-one-x-iphone-4s/?tag=cnetRiver
read this camera comparison article for s3 and others.
Sent from my BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps using Tapatalk 2
Voelker45 said:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_...era-versus-htc-one-x-iphone-4s/?tag=cnetRiver
read this camera comparison article for s3 and others.
Sent from my BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that comparison is pretty spot on. You can tell from the comparisons that no phone holds the win every time. They are all great phones with great cameras.
zmore said:
It almost looks like the all the iPhone photos were artificially saturated, because it's supposedly better to err on the side of too saturated than "washed out reality", for the average joe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a review of the phone that mentioned that the HDR mode was the only good shots and those are really nice.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747
robamacaf said:
Here are some updated shots. I played with the S3 and got the settings I liked. One thing I didn't point out in the first set of pictures is if you zoom in on the pictures you'll notice more detail in the S3 shots, mainly because of the higher pixel count.
I think personally, the s3 camera is quite better. It has more tweaking you can do to get the shots you want. I really love the "Smile Shot" that takes a photo when it detects a smile or the fact you can say "Cheese" and it have take photos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow i love your shots. THanks so much for doing this. I think in normal conditions from all the reviews and shots i've seen, the galaxy s3's photos look washed out, but it seems like with some settings it can be adjusted for. Does this affect the low light shots? (make them worse?)
I was pretty happy with this one.
Pics from my One X
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

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.

[Review] One vs. One X vs. Auto Enhanced photos (camera review)

Hey guys,
Today I took both, my one year old HTC One X and my new HTC One for a walk through town and I wanted to show you my photos.
The first picture is always from the One, the second one is from the One with the Auto Enhance feature and the third one is from the One X.
Taking a photo of the TV makes the picture flickering. I am not sure what's the reason for this, as it doesn't happen with the One X's camera. It also doesnt happen with my computer screen, just with the plasma TV.
The following pictures are taken pretty much in the same light conditions, however I wanted to show them all to you
In low light conditions the One seems to be ahead of the One X, at least if it's not completely dark ...
The following two pictures are taken at night time and to be honest I am very disappointed in the One:
I think even with my DSLR it would be hard to get a good photo in this light, but in my opinion the One X's photo is better than the One's photo.
All settings are standard with both phones. Maybe there are some settings to improve the camera, but it won't make a huge difference.
Looking forward to your feedback!
Thanks! finally versus the One X
yes as expected the One X had a great camera (2x the detail) its only in low light that the One beats it
as for the settings its discussed greatly in the photo thread
The One images can be washed out due to the high brightness levels in them and they seem to improve greatly once auto enhanced
check the auto enhance post here
as well as tweaking the camera settings ofcourse (exposure, contrast, sharpness etc)
I also suggest reducing the sharpness to -1, as its too aggressive by default
by the way when zoomed out, i'm finding your HTC One pictures better
Great comparison! Thanks!
In your opinion, which of the phones took "truer to life" pictures? We can tell that the colors between the One and the One X are different - it seems like the One X is adding a blue-ish hue to everything - but without seeing the original scene, it's hard for anyone but you to say which are better.
Also, it would be cool if, as the poster above me said, you could run HTC's enhance function on the One pictures and add those to the comparison
I find the htc one camera better. More details and less noise. Look at the walls, trees, and streets.
HTC One X has better color production. This might be fixed soon with the One. I remmember One X had a camera fix also.
muayyadf1 said:
I find the htc one camera better. More details and less noise. Look at the walls, trees, and streets.
HTC One X has better color production. This might be fixed soon with the One. I remmember One X had a camera fix also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I agree about the detail to noise ratio. I prefer that over more megapixels.
Stupid phone just needs to get a US release date...
The pictures of the HTC One are "truer to life", but I don't really like the night photos of the One, as they are more noisy than the One X photos, aren't they?
As requested, I have added pictures of the auto enhance feature to the first post
PCServe said:
The pictures of the HTC One are "truer to life", but I don't really like the night photos of the One, as they are more noisy than the One X photos, aren't they?
As requested, I have added pictures of the auto enhance feature to the first post
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, thanks! "Auto enhance" seems to add to some pictures, and detract from others.
I think the One is less noisy than the One X during night shots taken with auto enhance, at least...but I'm not really an expert
The One X has an auto enhance feature as well, didn't try that though, and I think adding these pictures would make this thread a bit too confusing.
PCServe said:
The One X has an auto enhance feature as well, didn't try that though, and I think adding these pictures would make this thread a bit too confusing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was under the impression that the One X was already auto-enhancing pictures by default, but maybe I'm mistaken. I'm running CM10 on my One X at the moment so I can't check.
Gosh terrible quality from one.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Silellak said:
I was under the impression that the One X was already auto-enhancing pictures by default, but maybe I'm mistaken. I'm running CM10 on my One X at the moment so I can't check.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No auto enhance is in gallery as well on the one x, but some customs mods added it to the camera
I didn't even like the camera on the One X when I owned it. This is making it even easier. The HTC One is even more like an oil painiting than the One X. None of the pictures look natural looking. The HTC One has an even more processed look than the One X, with higher contrast and sharpening and noise reduction. What is an oil painting? Look at the examples here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_painting
Looks like an HTC image doesn't it? I want natural and realistic pictures, not instagram oil painting filter. HTC can't seem to figure that out, nor even allow a RAW image for those who hate the oil painting look. Even third party cameras only get piped the imagechip processed image.
The HTc One camera is even worse than the One X camera and even more unnatural looking. The only improvement is in pitch black lighting, which look like crap regardless and people seldom take pictures in pitch black. The overcast and indoor shots which the HTC One is suppose to be better at are actually worse than the One X. So it is all around even worse than last year's camera.
shame on new child of High Tech Computers!!!
Thank you. Finally the review I was waiting for.
I really love my one x camera and I wasn't sure about the one's performance outdoors with good light, after reading almost every review of the one's camera.
The main concern was the new 4 mp (ultrapixels) sensor that should capture less detail than 8 mp on the one x.
After reading this review I am convinced that the larger pixels (ultrapixels) compensate the move from 8mp on the one x/DNA to 4 ultrapixels on the htc one and the htc one captures the same details as the htc one x. For example when zooming at the 7th row pictures the lincese plates of the 4 first cars, both on the htc one and one x are readable.I don't think any other 4mp sensor would capture this detail.
My conclusion for this test:
Outdoors good light: Tie
Outdoors low light: htc one wins, although the htc one x's picture on the last row was better.
Indoors low light: htc one wins.
Video (not on this test): The video on the htc one is two steps forward from the htc one x and the best on every smartphone. period. The OIS stabilizes the video at low light and the dual membrane microphones make every concert a joy to the ears, not like the crappy microphones on the one x or every other smartphone.
Example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6UIf3qqF4s
Now that I am convinced that the htc one is better than my one x in every aspect I am really waiting to have it in my hands.
The 4 MP camera was my main concern before buying the phone and I didn't like the idea of taking a step back compared to the 8 MP camera of my One X (and even 5 MP on the HTC Desire I've had before that).
After testing the ultra pixel camera for a few days now, I have to admit, that I am quite impressed with the 4 MP ultra pixel cam and I won't miss the One X's camera at all.
If I want to take some serious pictures, I will always use my DSLR, however for snapshots and the everyday use for Facebook and Instagram, the One will be perfect and better than any phone I have ever had.
Also at least one of your picture has the right side blur, guess OIS sometimes get it wrong...
You can definitely tell the daytime pics look better on the One, least the colors are more natural to me.
But, for whatever reason all the pics look bad to me. They are all blurry for some reason. Anyone else having that issue or is it just me, lol!
Sent from a galaxy far away!
I too have both one x and one, the one takes much much better photos overall, after trying it in every light and with the sun directly shining on the lense etc the one camera is impressive, and I do not miss my one x camera at all
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
hamdir said:
Also at least one of your picture has the right side blur, guess OIS sometimes get it wrong...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's an issue with OIS not resetting. Not sure if this is a hardware or software issue.
JesseMT4G said:
You can definitely tell the daytime pics look better on the One, least the colors are more natural to me.
But, for whatever reason all the pics look bad to me. They are all blurry for some reason. Anyone else having that issue or is it just me, lol!
Sent from a galaxy far away!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if u have it blurry all the time it might be a defect

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
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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.
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go for Nexus 5. it will be a huge upgrade from your Gnex.

Bad Camera?

I just got a new S5 2 days ago, and the main reason was to upgrade the camera from my old Nexus 4. However, to me it seems like the pictures are fairly poor quality compared to my wife's Nexus 5. The Nexus 5 is supposed to have a fairly bad camera, so I was expecting a big upgrade when going to the S5. The colors look washed out and not as vivid as the N5 when shooting in default mode. The focusing also seems to be pretty bad even outside in bright sunlight. Attached is a picture taken with the Nexus 5 (173402), then two taken with the S5. Do these look normal to owners of the S5?
shaklee3 said:
I just got a new S5 2 days ago, and the main reason was to upgrade the camera from my old Nexus 4. However, to me it seems like the pictures are fairly poor quality compared to my wife's Nexus 5. The Nexus 5 is supposed to have a fairly bad camera, so I was expecting a big upgrade when going to the S5. The colors look washed out and not as vivid as the N5 when shooting in default mode. The focusing also seems to be pretty bad even outside in bright sunlight. Attached is a picture taken with the Nexus 5 (173402), then two taken with the S5. Do these look normal to owners of the S5?
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Hello,
I'm not sure I see a strong difference between the photos you provided, I say focusing is bad but on the uploaded photo (maybe uploading downsizes them) I do not see any thing out of focus.
Maybe you can upload 1X crop part of the images for better comparison?
I have an S5 and I do not see something wrong from what you uploaded.
You can find a ranking of all camera phones here: http://www.dxomark.com/Mobiles
What is important I guess is to understand if your phone is defective but from uploaded photos it is difficult to conclude anything.
shaklee3 said:
I just got a new S5 2 days ago, and the main reason was to upgrade the camera from my old Nexus 4. However, to me it seems like the pictures are fairly poor quality compared to my wife's Nexus 5. The Nexus 5 is supposed to have a fairly bad camera, so I was expecting a big upgrade when going to the S5. The colors look washed out and not as vivid as the N5 when shooting in default mode. The focusing also seems to be pretty bad even outside in bright sunlight. Attached is a picture taken with the Nexus 5 (173402), then two taken with the S5. Do these look normal to owners of the S5?
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They do look washed out and strange colours compared to mine
Which version Android you running on it?
Have you got it cranked up to full resolution in the camera settings? looks like you're using 4:3 there, max rez is 16:9 (5312x2988)
It's not normal but i don't think it's a hardware issue it might be a software issue or bad settings are you sure you're using 16megapixels ?
I'll turn up the resolution since it's probably not set to that. It's running 4.4.4, which is the latest OTA at the moment I believe. I'll upload the same scene with the 16MP setting, but I don't know if that will help the colors. Your picture definitely looks better and crisper.
shaklee3 said:
I'll turn up the resolution since it's probably not set to that. It's running 4.4.4, which is the latest OTA at the moment I believe. I'll upload the same scene with the 16MP setting, but I don't know if that will help the colors. Your picture definitely looks better and crisper.
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Hello,
Is it possible the photos you took where taken when more or less facing the sun. I had some similar color "issues" in that case. On my photos it looks more like a lens flare issues but it make photos color look washed away.
So after taking more pictures today the quality is vastly better. I don't know what changed since 16MP was already on. I did notice that in low light the camera is very poor at focusing and is prone to heavy blurring. I can can deal with that now. Thanks for all the suggestions.

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