Database Users

Is THIS really all the camera is capable of?!?

Or is mine bad?!? Seriously, is no one else getting this problem with blown highlights and over-exposure, or are y'all accepting it? I bought this phone for its "superior camera" and while yes it can take pictures in low light I was not willing to give up taking good pictures in good lighting >8(
I installed Android Revolution 8, then 9, to get the "updated" camera- stock kernel, Dev. Ed.
Attached photo taken with stock camera with auto settings, no custom settings, no hdr (though that has been disappointing as well). Oh and white balance was about 5-800 Kelvin too yellow as well... (sigh)
So do I send it back to get cameras as good as everyone else's or start watching the Sony rumors again? Because my 18 month old Galaxy Note could get this picture right...
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

The camera is awesome, its just you have to play around with the settings. Cange the sharpness to -1 and contrast to +1 for day light pictures. Also focus manually before taking pics.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using XDA Premium HD app

What were u expecting from a phone camera?
If you want realy good pictures you need to buy a good standalone camera..
The time isnt still there (and will be for along time) before phone cameras can compete with good standalone cameras...

I also find the camera disappointing. I love the software features like Zoe, but I personally can't rely on this camera to quickly capture a good picture. And I don't think the low light performance is very good either.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Those pictures do not look nearly as good as pictures I have taken with mine,using stock settings. Here's a couple for example. The pictures look a lot better in original format as well in full resolution.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

I love this camera, it lacks the raw specs but it manages to capture those special moments very well, better than even a camera.

The camera has impressed me so far, especially the speed and the amazing colours.
Completely stock trickdroid settings for camera here
@jeeptrash love your cat
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

My camera is working fine too
it's not perfect but it works

john291 said:
What were u expecting from a phone camera?
If you want realy good pictures you need to buy a good standalone camera..
The time isnt still there (and will be for along time) before phone cameras can compete with good standalone cameras...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
John, my expectations are to not move BACKWARD in quality. Trust me I carry my X100 half the time, but the other half this phone was supposed to fill in and it doesn't cut it.
It's your phone also blowing highlights and having white balance problems? I'm trying to understand if this behavior is typical or not.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

The overexposure thing is a little annoying it's true. HDR mode seems to recover lost shadow detail but doesn't seem to help with blown-out highlights.
Setting contrast to +1 is definitely *not* going to help it.
When you know there will be difficult highlights, setting exposure to -1 in normal non-HDR mode seems like the only response. Not ideal I know. Especially when making such a simple, temporary adjustment requires a lot of fiddling around with menus.

Yep, been playin with my camera all day, had no work in. Found the adjustment settings werent fine enough - swung too much one way or the other on +/- 1.
And indoor pictures where theres any daylight showing (doors/windows etc) caused the images to be washed out, even when focused on the lightest part first.
I think the hardware is fine, just some software improvements are needed. So its not all bad.

davedigerati said:
John, my expectations are to not move BACKWARD in quality. Trust me I carry my X100 half the time, but the other half this phone was supposed to fill in and it doesn't cut it.
It's your phone also blowing highlights and having white balance problems? I'm trying to understand if this behavior is typical or not.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello yes it have the white balance problems sometimes..
I think they need to finetune the software better..
But it can also make some nice pictures too...
But a fine tuned software would be great..
---------- Post added at 10:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 PM ----------
davedigerati said:
John, my expectations are to not move BACKWARD in quality. Trust me I carry my X100 half the time, but the other half this phone was supposed to fill in and it doesn't cut it.
It's your phone also blowing highlights and having white balance problems? I'm trying to understand if this behavior is typical or not.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the way this was a simple picture i took out of my window..
Here i like the shadow detail and the natural look of it..

The camera does over expose yes. If you want an easy to use camera. Get the S4/iPhone 5.

Can you control, ISO, shutter speed, Exposure compensation?
Turn ISO off automatic and set it to like 50

Terrorantula said:
Can you control, ISO, shutter speed, Exposure compensation?
Turn ISO off automatic and set it to like 50
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can control iso but you cant get below 100..
The shutter speed cant be controlled manual..
The exposure can be set.

Terrorantula said:
Can you control, ISO, shutter speed, Exposure compensation?
Turn ISO off automatic and set it to like 50
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ISO & exposure yes, you can, and even better if you want to monkey with settings for every shot I recommend FV-5 which I use frequently
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...NvbS5mbGF2aW9uZXQuYW5kcm9pZC5jYW1lcmEucHJvIl0.
The point of my post though is not to find workarounds but to see if this is COMMON, or my camera chip has issues.
I'm puzzled by the lack of complaints out there and feel like the photo I posted was a good example of average sunny day conditions, done badly. Indoors, low light, we're fine, it's the sunny days that are the issue.
Everyone quiet means either
a) everyone is accepting poor quality sunny day photos
b) my camera has issues and everyone else's is fine
c) everyone is feeling a little bit bad that the camera they were promised would offer 'a great leap in the quality of point-and-shoot photos and video' (http://www.htc.com/www/zoe/) frankly isn't, and reluctant to say so, or
d) other?
So everyone shooting sunny day pics please chime, in I appreciate your input- if your pics are coming out great without clipping I'll start the RMA process, or if yours are getting blown I'll fire up the angry fan-boi machine and pester every HTC channel I can hit with requests for a camera update.
Cheers,
Dave

The latter option.

I second, go for the latter
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

davedigerati said:
ISO & exposure yes, you can, and even better if you want to monkey with settings for every shot I recommend FV-5 which I use frequently
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...NvbS5mbGF2aW9uZXQuYW5kcm9pZC5jYW1lcmEucHJvIl0.
The point of my post though is not to find workarounds but to see if this is COMMON, or my camera chip has issues.
I'm puzzled by the lack of complaints out there and feel like the photo I posted was a good example of average sunny day conditions, done badly. Indoors, low light, we're fine, it's the sunny days that are the issue.
Everyone quiet means either
a) everyone is accepting poor quality sunny day photos
b) my camera has issues and everyone else's is fine
c) everyone is feeling a little bit bad that the camera they were promised would offer 'a great leap in the quality of point-and-shoot photos and video' (http://www.htc.com/www/zoe/) frankly isn't, and reluctant to say so, or
d) other?
So everyone shooting sunny day pics please chime, in I appreciate your input- if your pics are coming out great without clipping I'll start the RMA process, or if yours are getting blown I'll fire up the angry fan-boi machine and pester every HTC channel I can hit with requests for a camera update.
Cheers,
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have posted few times in this forum about disappointing camera or my expectation is too high. Maybe the next HTC software update would fix them. I like the speakers though which is undeniable to be the best.

Camera is superb.
But it's not all things to all men. If you prepared to fanny around with lighting, settings, angles etc for a photo, and expect a high res masterpiece, this isn't your bag. If you want a point and shoot camera which takes nr unbeatable pictures quickly, then this is it.
Mega bright lights will screw any photo up. Your picture is remarkable given the phone was able to cope at all.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

Use this setting for Noise-free images!

I've come across a lot of people complaining about the camera not giving out noise-free images like it's supposed to. The trick is to use manual mode. I agree, if you use Superior Auto mode, it's a miss most of the times, and when it does work, it gives a purple-ish tint at the corners.
However, If you use manual mode and select the SCENE to NIGHT, the images come out amazing and noise-free!
[DO NOT JUDGE THE IMAGE BY WHAT THE VIEWFINDER SHOWS YOU. A lot of things happen when you press the shutter button. The viewfinder simply goes red for making it easy to focus. The final image in the gallery is a hundred times better]
The Scene modes are one of the most commonly ignored settings.
I hope this helps!

Thanks for this but i just tried it and even though it pretty light where i am taking the picture, the picture turns us a little blurry.
Possibly because night mode uses a longer shutter time which makes it more sensitive to motion blur?

Schadowx277 said:
I've come across a lot of people complaining about the camera not giving out noise-free images like it's supposed to. The trick is to use manual mode. I agree, if you use Superior Auto mode, it's a miss most of the times, and when it does work, it gives a purple-ish tint at the corners.
However, If you use manual mode and select the SCENE to NIGHT, the images come out amazing and noise-free!
[DO NOT JUDGE THE IMAGE BY WHAT THE VIEWFINDER SHOWS YOU. A lot of things happen when you press the shutter button. The viewfinder simply goes red for making it easy to focus. The final image in the gallery is a hundred times better]
The Scene modes are one of the most commonly ignored settings.
I hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
USe night SCENE even if we are with light ? i mean DAY light

DjTony90 said:
USe night SCENE even if we are with light ? i mean DAY light
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you select a SCENE mode? I don't have any such option.
Never mind, I had it at 20MP.

Havent got around to really check out every setting in manual mode, bu I will for certain try this on oute tomorrow.

don't know why but right now scene mode shows up only on 8 megapixel and lower shots , so change your camera settings to access it.

I Use Manual mode, 20 Mp, ISO 50!!! Very important for controlling noise - still at pixel level picture is a mess but that is true for Every camera with such pixel density! And overall picture quality as seen on my sample is OK!

Isn't ISO50 only workable with very good lighting? I mean, indoors it's very tricky already...

dagrim1 said:
Isn't ISO50 only workable with very good lighting? I mean, indoors it's very tricky already...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Photography is painting with Light, when light is not available there no much "painting" - Agree indoors when it's dark You should up ISO otherwise camera will go to very long exposures and You'll get blurry pictures.
What i was giving was setting for lower possible noise in pictures, settings will vary according to current lighting condition

pesho00 said:
Photography is painting with Light, when light is not available there no much "painting" - Agree indoors when it's dark You should up ISO otherwise camera will go to very long exposures and You'll get blurry pictures.
What i was giving was setting for lower possible noise in pictures, settings will vary according to current lighting condition
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, but it's logical that a lower ISO will generate less noise, unfortunately then shutter times increase quickly resulting in moved shots. But it does seem an issue with auto mode that it increases the ISO values very quickly...
Ah well, hoping future firmware updates will improve things (if only had sony included OIS in this thing).

when i select Iso50 the whole of the viewfinder becomes VERY laggy. doesnt anyone else find this? (happens with both mine and my old z1 which was replaced)
very disappointed with the camera on this phone given that the camera is supposed to be the main selling point of the phone.

thefunkygibbon said:
when i select Iso50 the whole of the viewfinder becomes VERY laggy. doesnt anyone else find this? (happens with both mine and my old z1 which was replaced)
very disappointed with the camera on this phone given that the camera is supposed to be the main selling point of the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have No such problem.

thefunkygibbon said:
when i select Iso50 the whole of the viewfinder becomes VERY laggy. doesnt anyone else find this? (happens with both mine and my old z1 which was replaced)
very disappointed with the camera on this phone given that the camera is supposed to be the main selling point of the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same lagginess here, but only when the lighting is low/lower... Not as much as an issue for me.
Camera doesn't live up to it's expectations unfortunately, especially in lower light. (No, I don't expect awesome pics in lower light but coming from a Lumia920, which performed a whole lot better, yay for OIS, in that area it is kinda disappointing)

dagrim1 said:
Same lagginess here, but only when the lighting is low/lower... Not as much as an issue for me.
Camera doesn't live up to it's expectations unfortunately, especially in lower light. (No, I don't expect awesome pics in lower light but coming from a Lumia920, which performed a whole lot better, yay for OIS, in that area it is kinda disappointing)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not tested it in "good light" to be honest since the whole point in changing the ISO is to compensate for the low light conditions you are trying to take the photo in.
its a little confusing since "Auto" iso setting is the only one which is not laggy. you can select iso50 or the top iso level (Can't remember what number it is) and its all just as laggy. you would have thought that Auto would imply that you would be using an automatically determined iso level, which would be more intensive on the phone than selecting an iso level manually (especially iso 50 which should be really less processing than"auto" would be.
---------- Post added at 09:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:50 AM ----------
ilovemyZ1 said:
After doing some more research I found the answer to our low-light camera problems! This trick works with all Sony phones and is easy to do.
What we need is this and this and image quality improves SIGNIFICANTLY!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, i have one of those and i can tell you that low light pictures on that are just as bad. a) it doesnt use the nice sony camera app. it uses the frankly rubbish Sony memories camera app which has next to nothing in terms of manual setting and b) you can't use a flash.
so no. it isnt the answer. at all.

ilovemyZ1 said:
haha maybe you should have got the QX100 instead
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe, but it was a freebie with my phone. i've used it a handful of times and its frankly crap.
might stick it on ebay later actually. i doubt the qx100 would be much better tbh as it'd still be using the same app. it'll still take about 30 seconds to connect the device to the phone and it'll still have the same crap wifi distance (about an arms length) before the phones viewfinder lags out badly.

thefunkygibbon said:
maybe, but it was a freebie with my phone. i've used it a handful of times and its frankly crap.
might stick it on ebay later actually. i doubt the qx100 would be much better tbh as it'd still be using the same app. it'll still take about 30 seconds to connect the device to the phone and it'll still have the same crap wifi distance (about an arms length) before the phones viewfinder lags out badly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The QX10 is pretty good in low light, the QX100 will be better with the large sensor and 1.8 aperture at the wide end.
Nothing can help the lack of flash for certain situations, but a lot of it comes from learning the camera.
Wifi isn't amazing, but it works further than that for me, and through walls. I'm trying to think of new ways to use that style of camera and have been experimenting.
Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk now Free

Best setting for indoor lowlight moving dog!

Okay to elaborate, with my Note2 I can take indoor lowlight pics pretty well of my dog wagging his tail.
If I try and take pics of him same setting in low light with my Note3, usually there is blur and the shots are useless.
I'm just a point and click guy, usually on auto my Note2 gives ok to great shots. Is there a secret to getting them with the Note 3 in low light? Ois would help as well Samsung.

Have you tried with a cat?
Or turkeys. I've had amazing luck with turkeys.
All joking aside... I am not impressed with the Note 3 camera at all! I NEVER thought I would use Camera Zoom FX on a Touchwiz ROM, but that's where I'm at right now. The camera on the Note 2 is MUCH better to me. Maybe I just need to practice more and play with settings.
You have the auto stabilization enabled, right? Because the "night" mode is kind of baked into that now.

Kiahnlliya said:
Have you tried with a cat?
Or turkeys. I've had amazing luck with turkeys.
All joking aside... I am not impressed with the Note 3 camera at all! I NEVER thought I would use Camera Zoom FX on a Touchwiz ROM, but that's where I'm at right now. The camera on the Note 2 is MUCH better to me. Maybe I just need to practice more and play with settings.
You have the auto stabilization enabled, right? Because the "night" mode is kind of baked into that now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear you. Your reply made me laugh! Thing is, it's even worse with the auto stabilisation enabled , especially on animated objects such as kids playing or the dog lol. There's a shutter lag and the pic becomes a blurred waste of time.
The camera on my Note 3 is next to useless in artifical or low light. My Note 2 blows it away camera and audio wise. Samsung drop the hype sort your sh*t out. Or Note 3 is my last decide.

Mine comes fine with low light n flash.
Sent from Note 3 (The beauty & beast)

sohebq said:
Mine comes fine with low light n flash.
Sent from Note 3 (The beauty & beast)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, with flash and inanimate objects I have no issues with my camera. But for anything moving in low light forget it . At least that's my experience.

I just hope the camera will get better with firmware updates. It's really pretty bad right now. Winter is coming, the days are getting shorter and darker and all my low light photos are going to look terrible.

Kiahnlliya said:
I just hope the camera will get better with firmware updates. It's really pretty bad right now. Winter is coming, the days are getting shorter and darker and all my low light photos are going to look terrible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah . I really like my N3 screen and the brightness , but I think I'm going back to my Note 2 as a daily driver for now. Shall await further knox developments and also see what firmware updates yield. Cos as you say winter is around the corner, many users will be cussing low light performance then and Samsung may listen and update.

I'm curious, but did you try the Sports mode?

KanjiMan's SM-N900W8 Indoor w Low Light Settings:
I find these settings work well when the situation is indoors with low light: (haven't tested on moving objects)
Auto Mode (I find any other mode flash is forced off, you need flash for low light)
Photo size @ 4128x2322 16:9
Face Detection - Off
Metering - Center Weight
ISO - change your Iso to personal taste, 800 or 400 works well, but it depends how dark it is in the shooting area. (The lower the ISO the darker the final photo)
Smart Stabilization OFF (yes OFF)
White Balance - Auto
Exposure Value - 0
Flash - ON

I get blurring on any thing/one that moves slightly. I've tried all settings and get crap pictures with all of them. Appart from the shutter lag on s4 I've never had a galaxy phone with such poor camera. photos of anything but inanimate objects ALWAYS blur in medium/low light, unless up very close.
I'm calling samsung today to file warranty claim for this and the lines/interference when shooting videos.
IncidendIy do you get them too?
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

[HTC One vs Z1] Camera comparison test the shoutout

Z1 vs HTC one camera test / comparison - Vote please.​
@ Mods please move this thread in general if it doesn't belong here , ty !
ok so my cousins came at my place with 2 Z1's , we've taken them to test them out , it was cloudy day , as for flash light photos / indoor no flash photos z1 trully sux big time and they didn't want to let me have those photos , so all i have is daylight photos and 1 flash light and 1 indoor , don't ask how i got those 2 lol it was PAIN.
While taking pics z1 really has major issues with superior auto / white balance , while with manual it's slightly better but still not good enough imo due timing , they've took both pics with me average 3/4 pics each and average 2-3 mins took them for each pic with various settings at the end choosing the best outta 7/8 they took while i was snapping either 1 normal or some HDR pics that's about it. They've also deleted so many daylight photos where they were worse then me ... so not really an *FAIR* comparison due them being big time Sony fanboys and they're very stubborn and not accepting their camera isn't the best in the world lol.
Keep in mind i have no skills with camera tho my cousins know how camera works so they're more experienced then i am.
Anyway i'll let you judge the photos and i'll open a vote poll so vote for which you think it won overall.
Xperia Z1
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HTC One
Xperia Z1
HTC One
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Xperia Z1 - indoor no flash.
HTC One - indoor no flash.
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HTC One

great
except for the cloud one Which z1 has more natural
i cant believe htc beats z1 camera lol
thats epic hahaha
btw some of the colors are saturated for z1
for me htc one picture are pretty awesome
bith cameras are like same 4mp vs 21 lol

@Khixar27
I'm still uploading Photos i got 50 more to go please wait before i finish
Here some more photos that couldn't fit in the 1st post.
Xperia Z1
HTC One
Xperia Z1
HTC One
Xperia Z1
HTC One
Xperia Z1
HTC One
Xperia Z1
HTC One
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HTC One

Koje selo i država brate? ?
Htc One the One ?

Slovakia?
But sticking to topic, Z1 doesn't looks to good with 21mpx sensor. I would say that One has slight edge here

adam_pl said:
Slovakia?
But sticking to topic, Z1 doesn't looks to good with 21mpx sensor. I would say that One has slight edge here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its Serbia actually
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I like the saturation in the Z1, but the HTC definitely capture more detail in low light with less noise. My conclusion is to use the HTC with a +.5 step in saturation.

In my opinin, and yes, I am a Z1 owner... seeing as you were using the Z1 in manual mode, you either had the ISO too low (50??) or you didn't adjust the EV accordingly as the Z1 pictures just look too dark really?
When in manual mode, you really need to take advantage of the settings

raysurrx7 said:
I like the saturation in the Z1, but the HTC definitely capture more detail in low light with less noise. My conclusion is to use the HTC with a +.5 step in saturation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We've took photos @ around 10/11am lol , the saturation you like on z1 is cuz they had to use cloudy / daylight white balance due impossibility to come close to my pics , here few examples for you just so you see what I mean , anyway it wouldn't look realistic since there were no sun at all pretty much whole time. Only 2 pics had sun and that's it.
1st pic normal 2nd with daylight effect same as they used the whole time
I assume this is what you wanted ?
Keep in mind it was cloudy no sun at all , that why pics are less saturated on my phone but as you can see in the examples I could've done that but wouldn't represent realistic colors
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

I guess there is something to that mega pixel after all. Both cameras took good pictures and mostly comes down to settings. At least the Xperia don't suffer from the purple haze that many of us one owners has.
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

Dark Jedi said:
I guess there is something to that mega pixel after all. Both cameras took good pictures and mostly comes down to settings. At least the Xperia don't suffer from the purple haze that many of us one owners has.
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It actually has indoor some yellow / blue tint , you can see on the indoor pic , btw I don't have that sensor issue that many HTC one owners do.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

wezzel98765 said:
In my opinin, and yes, I am a Z1 owner... seeing as you were using the Z1 in manual mode, you either had the ISO too low (50??) or you didn't adjust the EV accordingly as the Z1 pictures just look too dark really?
When in manual mode, you really need to take advantage of the settings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exifs are there for all the pics
The Z1 user set white balance appropriately and actually used -EV compensation for a number of shots, might have over done it in some places. it's a difficult call. Auto isn't mature yet on the Z1, whereas the HTC one has been out for ages and from what i could tell the HTC camera took all the shots in auto. No tweaks.
The close up on the tree bark actually has the Z1 produce a blurred shot, dunno how that happened. Shutter was fast enough so no chance of camera shake.
Shan89 said:
ok so my cousins came at my place with 2 Z1's , we've taken them to test them out , it was cloudy day , as for flash light photos / indoor no flash photos z1 trully sux big time and they didn't want to let me have those photos , so all i have is daylight photos and 1 flash light and 1 indoor , don't ask how i got those 2 lol it was PAIN.
While taking pics z1 really has major issues with superior auto / white balance , while with manual it's slightly better but still not good enough imo due timing , they've took both pics with me average 3/4 pics each and average 2-3 mins took them for each pic with various settings at the end choosing the best outta 7/8 they took while i was snapping either 1 normal or some HDR pics that's about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What i'd like to understand better is this brightness value i see in the HTC exifs, it seems to change for each shot and wondered if any of the htc guys can tell me more about it. First thing you see is the HTC shots are all brighter, and in some cases more than necessary.
Questions to the OP
- how long have the Z1 owners had their phone and how long have you had yours.
- indicate which photo pairs are HDR (if any) ?
- Can you clarify whether the Z1 took the shots in 20MP or 8MP.
- Which program did you use to resize down to 1.4MP ?
- i don't understand what happened with the indoor shots. Saying they were really bad does not make sense to me. Without seeing the shots there is no way to comment.
- How about a low light shoot-out. I want to see shutter speeds of 0.3s on your htc and we'll see how that compares with the 0.8s on the Z1. Take care to stabilise the cameras so as not to have blur. If your cousins know what they're doing this should not be a problem for them
Shan89 said:
They've also deleted so many daylight photos where they were worse then me ... so not really an *FAIR* comparison due them being big time Sony fanboys and they're very stubborn and not accepting their camera isn't the best in the world lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually this is fair, you should have done the same as this way it really is best that the cameras can do. These are pre-planned shots, you can take as much time as you want. There is no time deadline or any other constraints. When people put up their pics many times they put up the best of many. So this is normal.
Auto isn't mature on the Z1, it will take time. This means the skill of the Z1 owner needs to be better. The difference with ISO for instance can be signficant and not slight as you put it, auto can bump ISO up very high resulting in a noisy shot whereas you can get pretty good results if you set it manually. Your cousins did this already. Most reviewers do not.
This should not come as a surprise to an HTC owner, you have plenty of tweaks you can use as well. However, things like contrast, sharpness, saturation etc would not be fair as they're not present on the Z1 and can be done in post with better software. i note you did not use any of these 3 in any photos

great comparsion
for me htc one looks better , btw the photos is great
does your htc one camera sometimes show in screen regular noise while capturing photos? i want to know if this is a regular thing or only my unit does this .. another question , does your phone suffer from blue/red noise in dark or no ? i hope no:good:

wezzel98765 said:
In my opinin, and yes, I am a Z1 owner... seeing as you were using the Z1 in manual mode, you either had the ISO too low (50??) or you didn't adjust the EV accordingly as the Z1 pictures just look too dark really?
When in manual mode, you really need to take advantage of the settings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello there , I didn't even use z1 , I've wrote in OP that I was using my one and my 2 cousins were using 2 z1's taking each 3/4 pics each in total of 7/8 and later picking the best pic outta 7/8.
They look dark because HTC really has outstanding HDR while z1 really is no match with hdr.
From my observation with those difficult scenes z1 was useless , you could make pic but you would have to chose either sky/ clouds or ground , there's no option to take both like with HTC's hdr.
oh and believe my cousins were only using manual since superior auto was completely useless.
One Twelve confirmed this by checking Exifs.
One Twelve said:
Exifs are there for all the pics
The Z1 user set white balance appropriately and actually used -EV compensation for a number of shots, might have over done it in some places. it's a difficult call. Auto isn't mature yet on the Z1, whereas the HTC one has been out for ages and from what i could tell the HTC camera took all the shots in auto. No tweaks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah you're right. Like I said all I was using was auto or hdr , nothing else.
One Twelve said:
The close up on the tree bark actually has the Z1 produce a blurred shot, dunno how that happened. Shutter was fast enough so no chance of camera shake.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess the cousin moved lol.
One Twelve said:
What i'd like to understand better is this brightness value i see in the HTC exifs, it seems to change for each shot and wondered if any of the htc guys can tell me more about it. First thing you see is the HTC shots are all brighter, and in some cases more than necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The shots are brighter cuz of hdr , with z1 if you point at the sky for example bottom gets dark and it's clearly impossible for z1 to balance that due to poor hdr capabilities where's the htc one handles this easily.
My guess about brightness change is probably meetering and our auto / hdr can use higher values then what we can in manual.
One Twelve said:
Questions to the OP
- how long have the Z1 owners had their phone and how long have you had yours.
- indicate which photo pairs are HDR (if any) ?
- Can you clarify whether the Z1 took the shots in 20MP or 8MP.
- Which program did you use to resize down to 1.4MP ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- I've had HTC one since June , my cousins have their Z1's since it came out ( as addition they've been with Sony since SE K300I , so trust me they know what they're doing lol )
- All photos that have sky / clouds +ground = hdr , the rest were normal.
One Twelve said:
- i don't understand what happened with the indoor shots. Saying they were really bad does not make sense to me. Without seeing the shots there is no way to comment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- trust me it was embarrassing shots which is why they didn't let me have them , I managed to get only 1 flash photo and only 1 indoor no flash photo , I was looking forward to upload those but unluckily they didn't let me have them.
- Dunno which mp they used all I know is they used manual settings.
- I didn't use any program to resize photos , all I did is upload the photos from pc to tinypic site and post them here.
One Twelve said:
- How about a low light shoot-out. I want to see shutter speeds of 0.3s on your htc and we'll see how that compares with the 0.8s on the Z1. Take care to stabilise the cameras so as not to have blur. If your cousins know what they're doing this should not be a problem for them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like I said there's no low light shots Thx to them , tho in almost pitch black no flash z1 was better , everywhere else worse. Even video recording low light due fact I can record video at same brightness as the shots you saw lol. ( hdr recording ) also in pitch black z1 can't come close since my flash is about 2x more powerful.
One Twelve said:
Actually this is fair, you should have done the same as this way it really is best that the cameras can do. These are pre-planned shots, you can take as much time as you want. There is no time deadline or any other constraints. When people put up their pics many times they put up the best of many. So this is normal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have the nerves for that I just want point and shoot not wasting time to set all the settings , the moment will pass by the time settings are set.
One Twelve said:
Auto isn't mature on the Z1, it will take time. This means the skill of the Z1 owner needs to be better. The difference with ISO for instance can be signficant and not slight as you put it, auto can bump ISO up very high resulting in a noisy shot whereas you can get pretty good results if you set it manually. Your cousins did this already. Most reviewers do not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I've noticed that superior auto is utter **** lol.
One Twelve said:
This should not come as a surprise to an HTC owner, you have plenty of tweaks you can use as well. However, things like contrast, sharpness, saturation etc would not be fair as they're not present on the Z1 and can be done in post with better software. i note you did not use any of these 3 in any photos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I'm just one of those point and shot , sometime switch to hdr and that's about it. Tho I gotta say I play with settings when I'm bored but when taking pics pretty much point and shoot.
Nightf0x_007 said:
great comparsion
for me htc one looks better , btw the photos is great
does your htc one camera sometimes show in screen regular noise while capturing photos? i want to know if this is a regular thing or only my unit does this .. another question , does your phone suffer from blue/red noise in dark or no ? i hope no:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I get sometimes with flash noise untill it focuses after that all normal , no tints here pretty much perfect unit.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

Great post. It is nice to see almost a year in and our camera is still up there with its so called Ultra-pixels which is just a fancy word for mega-pixel. I never doubted this phones camera always served me well and even made a 2 hour long home movie to send back home.. Great phone but i think if sony put time and effort into their software they can get the camera up and running in brilliant quality too..

Shan89 said:
They look dark because HTC really has outstanding HDR while z1 really is no match with hdr.
From my observation with those difficult scenes z1 was useless , you could make pic but you would have to chose either sky/ clouds or ground , there's no option to take both like with HTC's hdr.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HDR takes multiple exposures and combines them. You have no control over this process. Given that auto isn't mature with Z1, it follows that neither will HDR be mature on Z1.
If you want good quality photos, then try not to use HDR. why ? jpg is lossy. jpg + jpg + jpg = even more lossy. Also takes longer as you have to wait for 'processing images' before taking next shot.
About sky/ground, what you do is use spot metering. If you spot on the clouds, the ground becomes dark, on the ground you blow out the sky, you have to spot somewhere in the middle. Now if the subjects are in the same focal plane then you can get away with this otherwise HDR is the only option as focus will not be at infinity. HDR is a compromise in this particular case to get you better exposed shot.
Its not required for every shot, only where there is big difference in lighting between foreground and background and subjects are in many planes that you want to keep more or less in focus. Personally, unless its landscape type photo this can be distracting, better to keep the subject in sharp focus and forget if the rest is blurred, it will make for a better shot.
In camera HDR is a recent 'innovation'. If you want the best HDR, then take 5 exposures from -2 to +2 with camera on a tripod, use a HDR speicialised program to combine them on a PC and then see the results compared to the 'poor man's HDR' the camera provides.
Shan89 said:
Yeah you're right. Like I said all I was using was auto or hdr , nothing else.
The shots are brighter cuz of hdr , with z1 if you point at the sky for example bottom gets dark and it's clearly impossible for z1 to balance that due to poor hdr capabilities where's the htc one handles this easily.
My guess about brightness change is probably meetering and our auto / hdr can use higher values then what we can in manual.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then i would look only at the pics where HDR was not used in this comparison. HTC one has had many months to improve HDR, it did not come perfect out of the box. Same with Z1.
Shan89 said:
- I've had HTC one since June , my cousins have their Z1's since it came out ( as addition they've been with Sony since SE K300I , so trust me they know what they're doing lol )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Z1 has been out now just under two months, takes time to get to know its quirks. Each phone camera is different. Since they set WB & EV i can tell they are not complete n00bs. But more hands on time is always better than less. Photographer is more important than camera.
Shan89 said:
- Dunno which mp they used all I know is they used manual settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have the originals, then look at the resolution. the 20MP will be (5248 x 3936) and the 8MP will be (3840 x 2160) or (3,264 x 2,448) . File sizes will also be bigger. I think they have used 20MP for all, can you confirm ?
This matters because currently you will get better shots with Z1 in 8MP 4:3 than with 20MP. Noise control is much better due to oversampling. Also 8MP means you can use different SCN modes which is not possible with 20MP. For low light shots or indoors this will make a difference.
For now we can say 20MP means 2x zoom is better than lower resolution sensors. Photos at 20MP are not necessarily better than 8MP. I wish these cameras put out RAW because then we will really see what the camera can do instead of what the compression program is doing to create those jpgs
When people make comments about camera they are primarily commenting about
1) auto and how well it works
2) image compression algorithm. good compression + good quality means more time + more CPU, a phone is not the best place to do this. So you can take the next shot quick, compromises are made here which affect image quality.
3) stock camera app. 3rd party apps in playstore may do a better job in certain situations.
So we still do not get to see what the camera can do without these other factors interfering in the process with ANY phone camera.
Shan89 said:
- I didn't use any program to resize photos , all I did is upload the photos from pc to tinypic site and post them here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was a good choice for image host because inspite of resizing it still preserved the exif data. Many others strip it out. I was surprised to see them. So you passed the minimum test here
Better still would be to resize them yourself with a good quality program and then upload. How well these image sites do resize is not transparent. They have to handle lots of load.
Shan89 said:
- trust me it was embarrassing shots which is why they didn't let me have them , I managed to get only 1 flash photo and only 1 indoor no flash photo , I was looking forward to upload those but unluckily they didn't let me have them.
Like I said there's no low light shots Thx to them , tho in almost pitch black no flash z1 was better , everywhere else worse. Even video recording low light due fact I can record video at same brightness as the shots you saw lol. ( hdr recording ) also in pitch black z1 can't come close since my flash is about 2x more powerful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm trying to figure what you mean here. The only clue is flash is 2x more powerful. So in cases where a more powerful flash helps the Z1 could not compete but there are cases where your flash will be over powering and the Z1 will be just right. This isn't a problem because you can always diffuse the light by putting some paper on the flash. Where the more powerful flash has an edge is in freezing motion if subject is moving with low light, so long as it happens less than 6 feet away. But then flash makes for lousy photos since its direct at the subject and not reflected. Big problem with phone cameras currently. They always locate the flash below the lens instead of above it. I don't why this is. There is no off camera flash option available as yet. eg. you cannot bounce the flash of the ceiling and get better photos.
But why to use the flash in the first place, when both cameras can do good low light photos. None of the subjects in the photos were moving so there should not be a problem here.
We don't know what your cousins were thinking. Embarrassing does not say much, why was it embarrassing and what could be done to make it better. There are many indoors shots with Z1 in the photo thread, nothing embarrassing there.
Shan89 said:
I don't have the nerves for that I just want point and shoot not wasting time to set all the settings , the moment will pass by the time settings are set.
Yeah I'm just one of those point and shot , sometime switch to hdr and that's about it. Tho I gotta say I play with settings when I'm bored but when taking pics pretty much point and shoot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This applies for impromptu shots. How often does this happen for you ? Not a single one of your sample shots comes in this category. My feeling is these impromptu shots are maybe 5% of the time. These are the hardest to get, subject may be moving and you will not get a good shot, you will get an ok to bad shot.
The rest of the time you can plan, take many shots, play with angles for better composition etc. But the thing about camera in your pocket is at least you have a camera in the first place and if the time is there you will get the shot whereas before you had nothing.
People say you are not supposed to get good photos because this is only a phone camera. But with more capable cameras they take lots of effort to get a good photo because its a good camera. Makes no sense. To get a good shot with phone camera you have to work harder because there are more limitations. This means more possibilities as well.
Shan89 said:
Yeah I've noticed that superior auto is utter **** lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And what about 3 months from now ? will your statement still be valid.
if you follow the evolution of the Z, it took anywhere from 3-5 months after launch to get it right. So there is no reason it will change with Z1, maybe it might come sooner. This unfortunately is a sony thing. others will put out cameras that are mature but have bugs elsewhere. Nobody puts out a perfect phone at launch. Look hard enough and you will see the bugs, what matters is whether the vendor is prepared to fix them or not. How good is their past record in doing this.
But the reviewers always get the latest & greatest and then move on, they do not bother to review after 3 months. People also want latest & greatest and then find its not mature and think its bad. But after 3 months they change their mind. Just see the photo threads for any flagship here and you see the same comments. My <old phone> takes better photos than this <new phone>. very predictable :laugh:
if you look at HTC photo thread, around march-may, reviewers were complaining that htc is oversharpening images because they can see halos around the edges. What is the solution ? set sharpness to -2 or -1 gives a softer image and no halos. So htc got bashed quite a bit too. In fact i think htc is most bashed camera out there because everybody thinks 4MP is not enough. But what can they use to display 4MP ? there are no 4k displays out there or they are very expensive. Full HD is only 2MP. you can still print 10x14 inch prints with 4MP. But no... 4MP on HTC is not enough or bad. pfft.
Shan89 said:
I guess I get sometimes with flash noise untill it focuses after that all normal , no tints here pretty much perfect unit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is one thing that still i'm not able to understand. 300 pg thread on this omg!. There are theories around but nothing conclusive as yet. Some people are saying the heat does it over time. With Z1 if it gets too hot you will not be able to use the camera. So too much heating over a long time is supposed to cause this problem with tinting. Its such a pity to replace the phone after only 6 months :crying:
This tinting is the problem as i see it with htc one. Not 4MP.

Too many peoples and companies think megapixels means quality, while using very poor sensors. They keep trying to push this rumor/agenda
A better sensor>>>>>megapixel count

crixley said:
Too many peoples and companies think megapixels means quality, while using very poor sensors. They keep trying to push this rumor/agenda
A better sensor>>>>>megapixel count
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly +1
@One Twelve
I'm sorry I can't bother answering to all questions etc , simply just take a look at photos and you got answer.
As for hdr stuff you wrote HTC one takes less then 0.5 Sec to make hdr photo and ready for next , I'm sure it takes over 20 sec to set z1 to make similar photo which is still no match.
As for fllash HTC one has smart flash = we.have 5 modes = it can fire up very low light or super strong light , this is why z1 will never match htc one in flash light photos , especially if photos are 1/2+ meters away , z1 is useless in this distance.
As for ceiling HTC one gets better flash photos when there are walls then when there aren't.
I can take photo outdoor pitch black about 5/7 meters away , indoor I can go up to 10 , if I increase exposure and lower contrast I can go even further.
HTC one also in long distance low light photos can take hdr + flash light = it gathers light from flash as well and makes overall picture more light.
With 4:3 HTC one also makes better photos then in 16:9 also sharper.
By the time z1 gets / if it gets fixed we will have updates as well + one 2 will be out by that time and more fair comparison would be one 2 due being newer 4/5 month's instead comparison vs HTC one which is 7 months older
As for Xperia Z I've took test with my cousins as well since they had XZ before z1 , I've literally raped Xz , I'll ask them to send me that test and upload it as well.
As for movement + picturing z1 will never match HTC ZOE.
here few samples for you so you see why :sly:
Btw all this pics were quiet tricky movement and impossible with burst shot or regular , but ZOE handles movement quiet easy.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

If I am to judge, I'd say for the most part, the z1 does seem more pleasing. You seem to be abusing the hdr alot on the Htc one. The colors are washed out as hell. I can tell because I use the htc one as well.
I'll say this, neither the z1 nor the HTC One's hdr are good. Only the HTC One has a minor advantage.
If you are going to use HDR, set your ISO to 100, AF/AE lock on a bright light source AND THEN switch to HDR. This way your HDR will look much better than just using HDR right off the bat.
The first pic, I used HDR right off the bat. Looks washed out, basically it looks terrible
The second pic, I set ISO100, AE/AF lock on my ceiling light, switched to HDR. Much better colors.

Shan89 said:
I'm sorry I can't bother answering to all questions etc , simply just take a look at photos and you got answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Too bad, i guess it will fall upon somebody else to challenge otherwise my points stand.
Z1 isn't ready for a HDR shootout. It is ready for non-hdr manual shootout. When i have time i will select the non-hdr shots in your group and we will see the differences.
Shan89 said:
As for fllash HTC one has smart flash = we.have 5 modes = it can fire up very low light or super strong light , this is why z1 will never match htc one in flash light photos , especially if photos are 1/2+ meters away , z1 is useless in this distance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This bit is interesting. i don't think any other android camera can vary the intensity of flash light based upon what the camera sees. This is an advantage with indoor shots. Does not mean you cannot get acceptable ones in Z1 or any other that does not have this ability, its just harder. And once you know what to do its no longer harder.
So I'm not going with ease of use, i'm interested in whether its possible to take the shot or not. This is a better indication of limitations.
Shan89 said:
HTC one also in long distance low light photos can take hdr + flash light = it gathers light from flash as well and makes overall picture more light.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok
Shan89 said:
I can take photo outdoor pitch black about 5/7 meters away , indoor I can go up to 10 , if I increase exposure and lower contrast I can go even further.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Useful but difficult to get right. People look more cold than warm. This is why the push to improve low light handling so there is little need to use flash in the first place. Flash photography on a mobile phone is difficult.
Shan89 said:
With 4:3 HTC one also makes better photos then in 16:9 also sharper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Surprising as i thought htc one has a native 16:9 sensor. Everybody else uses 4:3. So smaller pics come out better with 4:3 than 16:9.
So i'd have thought 16:9 is best aspect ratio for htc one.
Shan89 said:
By the time z1 gets / if it gets fixed we will have updates as well + one 2 will be out by that time and more fair comparison would be one 2 due being newer 4/5 month's instead comparison vs HTC one which is 7 months older
As for Xperia Z I've took test with my cousins as well since they had XZ before z1 , I've literally raped Xz , I'll ask them to send me that test and upload it as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, do that lets see the difference. Ensure the exifs are visible. After looking at the photo thread for Z, i changed my mind about what most people think about the Z. I would like to understand in which way the htc one 'rapes' the Z
I note that htc one does not indicate which firmware number is being used. So can you mention which one was used to take your photos.
Shan89 said:
As for movement + picturing z1 will never match HTC ZOE.
here few samples for you so you see why :sly:
Btw all this pics were quiet tricky movement and impossible with burst shot or regular , but ZOE handles movement quiet easy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't follow, with enough light you have a fast shutter speed so why is it hard to get those shots ?
What does ZOE do here that you cannot do without it.

Dealbreaker?

Hey guys, I've had my Moto X for a week now and I might return to my Note 3. I really like this phone overall, but man the camera really is that bad. I read all the stories but hoped the update would be good enough for me. Unfortunately it hasn't been.
I can't even imagine how bad the camera must have been before the update. The camera is simply dreadful. Do I have a defective Moto X or is it really this bad?
If I'm not outside on a sunny day or in a really well lit room, it's the worst camera I've ever had on any smartphone that I've ever owned. And that includes phones from over 4 years ago. Is it really this bad?
Here are some sample shots. I took these same shots with my Note 3, and those shots blew these away. I will try to post those later.
Sent from my XT1058 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Yes, It is that bad. Coming from a S4 and I know what you mean. But I still love being free with a unlocked bootlaoder and would not go back.

Ughh, I was afraid of that. I really like the phone, but not sure I can deal with this. Thanks bro.
Sent from my XT1058 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I don't think the camera is bad at all. I didn't get to experience how it was before any of the updates though.
So far color representation looks to be spot on. I was even impressed by the low light quality. I took a picture last night in a dimly lit room and was astounded at how good the picture came out. It's way better than my last phone (EVO 3D).

ahhh ya i came from an iPhone 4 which is 3.5 yrs old and the camera on that was better in every category except low light performance.

Are you using HDR?
I also see that your flash seems to be firing. I have Auto Flash OFF because the pictures to look very washed out with the bright white flash. I find that the camera works much better and has much better saturation in lower light with the flash off.
If I'm just taking a picture of a list or piece of paper and I only need to be able to see/read it, I use the flash, otherwise I keep the flash off for "nice" photos.

Have you tried using any camera apps. I would recommend the following two apps :"a Better Camera "almost fully functional in the free version and FV-5, a paid app and I don't believe there is a trial version. I have been experimenting with both apps and have been quiet successful getting some really decent low light shots. Both apps allow you to set the ISO level and "a Better Camera" allows you to set the amount of noise reduction for low light shots (the options are None, Minor & Hard). Worth trying out either app in my opinion.
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I've got pics of the kids inside at night, with flash on... And the pics are easy better than my s2 was. I find background light can make the pic taking tricky tho. I have to move slightly one easy or the other and when I get it right the pics are just fine. Maybe other phones handle background light easier.... But with a little practise, I find this camera pretty good.
That's just me.
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 12:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:08 PM ----------
And yes... Sometimes you think you need a flash inside... When you don't. And the pics are easy better with no flash. Again... I had to play around and get to know how and where the best pics turn out.
But again.... I'm one of those, it's just a phone camera guys... I'm maybe not as picky. I'm not trying to sell my pics, so I'm happy. If I know I want to take very good pics somewhere... In advance... I bring my camera.
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

Right about now it would be nice to see 4.4.2 with camera update. Noise/quality are un-exeptable for a $500+ phone. Yes S4 is night and day difference with Moto X in camera.
S4 was the FIRST camera in phone that I used and I took many pictures, most came out usable and some pretty impressive. With MX, most pictures indoors I cant even look at.....I delete all of them right away.

The only place I find camera quality to be bad is in low light, but it's not the hardware, it's the software. The camera software just sets the ISO higher than it should and overexposes everything in low light. I use FV-5 to manually set a lower ISO and manually set the metering point so that it doesn't overexpose the shot, and then I can get great shots in low light. If you don't know a little about cameras or aren't willing to take the time to manually adjust low light shots though, you'll be disappointed. In decent lighting I can get some great shots even with the stock camera app though, especially with HDR.

gtg465x said:
The only place I find camera quality to be bad is in low light, but it's not the hardware, it's the software. The camera software just sets the ISO higher than it should and overexposes everything in low light. I use FV-5 to manually set a lower ISO and manually set the metering point so that it doesn't overexpose the shot, and then I can get great shots in low light. If you don't know a little about cameras or aren't willing to take the time to manually adjust low light shots though, you'll be disappointed. In decent lighting I can get some great shots even with the stock camera app though, especially with HDR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you are right. But how hard is it for a TEAM of developers at Motorola/Google to figure this out ? We are on 2nd camera update here its still ****
PS. on S4 I used only 2 modes and didnt even touch settings, Auto and Night Mode......thats all I needed to take excellent photos.
few night/low light shots from S4, last one was taken in almost complete darkness, camera just picked up light from night club flashing lights

I agree. I love this phone but the camera sucks. Snoop Dogg came to my Christmas party and I was so excited to get some shots.
They all came out blurry all my buddies with S4s got killer shots. I don't know, maybe I'll blame it on the alcohol....
That ticked me off a bit.
Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

gtg465x said:
The only place I find camera quality to be bad is in low light, but it's not the hardware, it's the software. The camera software just sets the ISO higher than it should and overexposes everything in low light. I use FV-5 to manually set a lower ISO and manually set the metering point so that it doesn't overexpose the shot, and then I can get great shots in low light. If you don't know a little about cameras or aren't willing to take the time to manually adjust low light shots though, you'll be disappointed. In decent lighting I can get some great shots even with the stock camera app though, especially with HDR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. For low light shots, I either use fv5 or take the photos with the stock camera and run them through Perfectly clear. I've gotten a lot of fantastic shots with my X. Low-light is the only setting in which I need to kind of finagle anything.

WizeGuyDezignz said:
Hey guys, I've had my Moto X for a week now and I might return to my Note 3. I really like this phone overall, but man the camera really is that bad. I read all the stories but hoped the update would be good enough for me. Unfortunately it hasn't been.
I can't even imagine how bad the camera must have been before the update. The camera is simply dreadful. Do I have a defective Moto X or is it really this bad?
If I'm not outside on a sunny day or in a really well lit room, it's the worst camera I've ever had on any smartphone that I've ever owned. And that includes phones from over 4 years ago. Is it really this bad?
Here are some sample shots. I took these same shots with my Note 3, and those shots blew these away. I will try to post those later.
Sent from my XT1058 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you take a pic of your tree with an SLR with the same exposure settings and you'll get an equally awful pic.
honestly i think the camera on the X is fine. i think it could be better but i think overall its a pretty good camera, on par with some point and shoots i've used. it all comes down to lighting, plus the HDR mode really helps.

Been using Camera FV-5 for whenever I need low light shots. First one is the stock camera app and the second shot is via Camera FV-5. These were shot in very low light conditions.

il buono said:
Been using Camera FV-5 for whenever I need low light shots. First one is the stock camera app and the second shot is via Camera FV-5. These were shot in very low light conditions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gonna give it a try. Big difference there

kolyan said:
Gonna give it a try. Big difference there
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CameraZoomFX lets you pick the ISO setting too, which could increase the exposure.

640k said:
if you take a pic of your tree with an SLR with the same exposure settings and you'll get an equally awful pic.
honestly i think the camera on the X is fine. i think it could be better but i think overall its a pretty good camera, on par with some point and shoots i've used. it all comes down to lighting, plus the HDR mode really helps.
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I am curious if these photos were taken with the stock camera app or a 3rd party app?
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

telefoner said:
I am curious if these photos were taken with the stock camera app or a 3rd party app?
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Stock. You can tell from the image properties.
EDIT: I take it back. There's no specific information that says what app took the pic, only what device. Technically we're talking about the inability of the Moto X's sensor to perform adequately. Different apps can force different settings/processing techniques, but you're still limited to the sensor/lens capability of the device.
Here's a CameraZoomFX photo taken with a DROID4:
It's all about lighting.

I'm with you on this one WizeGuy. At first I didn't think the camera was as bad as people said it was. But after using it in the wild and over the course of a week, it really is disappointing. The biggest issue for me is consistency. I CAN get a decent shot if I try to. Low light performance is terrible however and it's really tough to get a good shot most of the time. I was also coming from an S4 and didn't expect it to be on the same level obviously, but now that I've played with it enough, I'm positive even my S3 was better overall. In fact, I've been comparing it with an old iPhone 4S and I couldn't say it's better than that camera (except when there is ample lighting). I take a lot of pictures and it is important to me. Yes it is a camera phone, but downgrading is harder to accept than I thought it would be. I guess I value something that is consistent and easy in auto mode when it comes to my phone. Much sadder is the fact that I really like everything else about this phone, much more than the s4. I prefer the size the moto x by far to anything out there, but the nexus 5 is tempting me right now.