Camera: Pets/Children & Low-Light? - G2 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I'm debating between the G2 and the Note 3 and while I like both, I prefer the G2 overall, but the camera has me worried.
Note 3 so far seems to handle video fine and takes quick enough shots to capture pets/children scampering around. Low-Light isn't so good and might actually be worse then GS4 and N2 due to software changes which is annoying but hopefully fixable down the road. Overall, seems Note 3 doing well, but I'm not sure if it is worth forking over another $100 and dealing with the larger size when I prefer the smaller G2 just for the "chance" it has a better camera.
From the various reviews I've read and user reports on here, the G2 does very well in well lit situations, but may or may not be having issues in low-light and video.
I'm not big on video, but the audio and focusing problems do concern me a bit. I've read little to no feedback on taking quick photos capturing children/pets running around and am having my doubts with how the focus works (or doesn't).
While obviously low-light isn't a real strength for any phone, it's hard to get a real grasp on the G2 when review sites say it is great and does better then the rest (maybe due to office/studio perfect set ups?) and then users say it is down-right terrible without proper lighting (real world use).
Just looking for any feedback or samples of G2 users taking photos in low-light and of quick moving subjects. Search isn't working for me atm, but haven't seen any threads going into these too much. I really want the G2, but the Note 3's positive feedback is pulling me away.

Allein8 said:
While obviously low-light isn't a real strength for any phone, it's hard to get a real grasp on the G2 when review sites say it is great and does better then the rest (maybe due to office/studio perfect set ups?) and then users say it is down-right terrible without proper lighting (real world use).
Just looking for any feedback or samples of G2 users taking photos in low-light and of quick moving subjects. Search isn't working for me atm, but haven't seen any threads going into these too much. I really want the G2, but the Note 3's positive feedback is pulling me away.
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So what I'm experiencing is that the stock camera app wants to lock focus before it takes a picture. If you're ever used a DSLR that spends awhile hunting before shooting in low light, that's what it feels like. Some other non-stock apps are a little more free with the shutter and take a picture without confirming focus (like a lot of P&S camera where you get blurry out of focus shots). So you can trade a quick shutter for worse focus depending on the app you use. The flash does a weird step down thing if you're really close to a subject (focal and stock) Super Camera does a more standard flash, but its still substantial shutter delay when using flash. You might be able to find other apps that have different flash behavior. So if you're shooting things that aren't going to run off in low light you might be fine. If they're moving you might try turning off the flash. The shutter is much quicker that way and maybe OIS can help make them sharp enough for you.

While this camera is really good in lit situations low light it's just plain bad and no other apps can fully comensate.
I bought ProCapture, already had FV-5 and numerous others from back in the day, (camera zoom, camera 360), tried focal. on and on.
Photos of children and pets even in "normal" lite rooms at night come out looking like watercolor abstracts and it has to be at a ROM or firmware level since all the apps do it to some degree.
If photos are you thing then the Droid DNA with a Sense5 ROM will produce fantastic results easily.

Related

Is the cam so bad?

Im dont know, every where I read, thay say that the cam is s..., and it takes 5 secs. from when I press till it takes the picture.
Is that right?
Stick with the Diamond, much better IMO. Only advantages of a HD is the bigger screen and more RAM, but I think the Diamond is much more useable.
To answer your question, that appears to be the case for me, yes.
"Only" the screen is a pretty major advantage, it's almost double the size. The Diamond isn't seriously usable for web browsing - the HD is. Ditto for video.
ChrisB said:
Im dont know, every where I read, thay say that the cam is s..., and it takes 5 secs. from when I press till it takes the picture.
Is that right?
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Click to collapse
That's rubbish and completely untrue. I find the camera to be quite excellent and picture quality very good in fact.
I don't blame you though for getting that impression. Before I got my own unit, I also had that false impression from reading all the complaints on this forum. But after getting my own HD, I'm really happy with it. This is despite not having flash.
eaglesteve said:
That's rubbish and completely untrue. I find the camera to be quite excellent and picture quality very good in fact.
I don't blame you though for getting that impression. Before I got my own unit, I also had that false impression from reading all the complaints on this forum. But after getting my own HD, I'm really happy with it. This is despite not having flash.
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Click to collapse
Exactly the HTC Touch HD is a great phone. Some people reading forum like this think they get a good sampling of what people using the phone think about it. That is not true since it is mostly the maybe 1% that have troubles of some kind with their phone that write here. The rest of the people that are happy with their phone do not write about.
The only thing I can recommend for people considering buying the phone is to get the phone and try it out. You will most likely like it a lot.
Camera is not bad, but also not good. Don't buy it as a camphone.
I've got a nokia n82 and a touch hd.
If the cam is ****? Yeah, it is. Don't let people let you think different. I guess it's not worse than other htc-phones though, I haven't had one since the original touch (elf).
If it was daylight out here now (denmark, actually) I should have taken comparision shots for you, but it's not, and with the xenon flash on the n82 it is even more superior in this light.
That said, the touch hd is a fantastic device in every other aspect! I didn't buy it for the cam, and don't care about it's picture quality, since I've got my n82.
The camera is only suitable for taking pictures in well-lit area.
Forget about dark areas.
All in all I'm sufficiently pleased with it, as I did not expect anything great.
Hello
Yes the Cam is ****
very slow slow slow and it only does pictures in very light areas.
In the drak they are very dark - the missing flash is a desaster.
Do not buy the hd for taking pictures or videos
But also safe you monry on fu.. nokia modells
IMHO...
The quality of the photos that the Touch HD can take is far better than the three HTC devices I've used before. It's actually pretty good in my limited experience with it. However, the camera remains virtually unusable because of two things:
1 - the delay between tapping the screen and the photo taking the image while the camera fusses over the focussing and then thinks for a couple of seconds
2 - the lack of hardware button makes camera shake very hard to avoid
These two factors make it almost impossible to take a photo of a moving scene because of the unpredictability of the timing of the shot and the likelihood of camera shake.
Attached is a photo I've just taken in the low evening light that illustrates what should be a perfectly easy photo. I couldn't avoid camera shake even standing still and being ultra-careful. The exposure isn't bad though.
the cam is bad... only usable by normal daylight also video recording is very bad
well in normal daylight the cam is better than my n73. video is realy better...
Are there some tweaks or settings to speed up taking images? It's really slooooow...
TIP: Disable the "Auto Whiteness" in the camera.
I have spent the last 2 weeks playing with the camera and was very disappointed with low level lighting pictures at first, BUT! now I have ressolved this problem.
There is an option in the camera "Auto Whiteness", the sensor or software in the camera seems to be useless at judging lighting, so if you set this to manual and select the indoor lighting icon (looks like a light bulb) then the camera gives quite impressive low level lighting pictures.
Speed of the camera between pressing and taking a picture is about 3 seconds, not the worst shutter delay I have seen on a camera phone, but not the best. Hopefully HTC can address this with future software updates??
For me the main issue is the blurryness of virtually all pictures,
if its a picture of a person I have to ask them to be still, then I take a pic and then I have to ask them once more to be DEAD STILL.
Most people take stay still to mean don't walk off any where but with the Touch HD stay still means don't let one muscle move.
If you want a phone that takes decent picture then its not or you.
Its a multimedia phone (pics not included)
I have been playing with the HD for two days now, which meant finding all of the tweaks and then removing them until it works for me. The excellent tweak app (search for it here) recommends enabling the sport and burst modes of photo (works great) and then changing the maximum res to 3M (makes my phone crash!)
Anyway if you want to take really good SHAKE FREE pics the ONLY way is through the burst/sport options. The auto focus for the 'normal' cam is so crap that the shutter stays open forever. In sport or burst mode the camera has to ditch the refocus and just shoot - out of the 5 in sport or 30 in burst you will have two or 10 decent pictures. This was exactly the same on my old HTC P3900.
The video is still completely crap - although much improved if you shoot as for MMS.
If we're talking about very low light, even my Canon camera does not give good result. So I don't expect miracle from HD. Having said that, I have taken quite a lot of indoor shots with lights on and the result is not noticeably worst than what my Canon camera can deliver.
As for motion, I actually don't find any problem there. I have taken quite many shots with car moving towards and away from me and the sharpness is still there. No blurring at all.
I find vido recording to be really good.
The lack of hardware button is a non-issue for me. I find it very easy to just touch the screen, the try to hold it still for the process to be completed.
This is the best camera I've ever had in a phone, and I find myself using it quite a lot since getting my HD.
This is seriously the worst camera I've ever had in a phone. And the sad part is the auto focus which is way too slow and cannot be disabled. No other tweak will help really unless somebody will figure out how to set focus to infinity permanently.
Attached are photos taken with the HTC Touch HD at night in New York City last week:
YESSSSSS IT SUCKSSSSSSS!
Auto light balance is useless, shutter speed is miserably slow (not even for a still photo) , no flash , video is worthless. 5 MP not in full screen (in full screen it is 4MP) .
If you have kids and want to take a photo for them then please wait till thy sleep and start shooting , other wise you will be wasting only your time and battery .
It is even too bad in watching movies without setting hours and hours converting them!
I hope it is not a hardware issue and only software that can be updated later .
No cam-mobile , yes surf-mobile and nav-mobile.

Camera Question

Ive read in the research that the S4 takes beautiful pictures, but that a challenge for more casual "snapshot" usage is that it blurs pretty easily if not held very steady.
I use my phone camera mostly for things like whipping out my phone and snapping a quick pic of the kids running around, or a friend skiing by over a jump, etc.
So while I know the PQ is awesome on the S4, Im worried that maybe for my needs the camera wont be great as it may not be well suited to snapping those pictures in situations where you dont have time to really position yourself, be still, frame the pic, etc.
Can anyone share with me whether this has been your experience?
lirong said:
Ive read in the research that the S4 takes beautiful pictures, but that a challenge for more casual "snapshot" usage is that it blurs pretty easily if not held very steady.
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I also own a high-end full frame camera, but have been amazed by the S4 camera. I certainly would not say that it "blurs pretty easily if not held very steady." S4 pictures are sharper than the iphone 5 or galaxy s3, both of which I used at lot.
That said, if your primary concern is minimizing blur from fast moving objects, you might be better off with the HTC One, especially if pics are taken in low light. I say that not having tried the HTC, but just based on its specs.
If you are you are taking pictures of the kids running around or someone skiing, whether or not you are holding the camera steady doesn't matter that much. The motion of the subject will outweigh camera shake (unless you have very shaky hands). For minimizing the blur from moving objects you want a fast lens and sensor with low noise at high ISO. The specs of the HTC One camera are better in both those respects.
If your concern is motion blur from the camera itself shaking (but again, this is typically not a consideration when taking pictures of fast moving objects), the HTC One has optical image stabilization which reduces motion blur from camera shake. The S4 does not have this.
One camera is better in low light (bigger pixels, OIS) than GS4, but 4MP is usually a dealbreaker for the average joe. Overall i think the One has a better camera than the S4 (which is WAY oversharpened and oversaturated). I actually like the flatter images out of the iPhone 5, but i dont use my phone as a camera unless its a random shot and i dont have a real camera with me.
Typically i shoot Nikon D4 and GF shoots Canon 5D Mk III, but for parties or random stuff, cell pic is ok.
What I found is that you either need to switch to sports mode or lower the exposure to -1.5. This essentially raised the shutter to 1/30 instead of 1/15 which is way too slow.
The annoying part is that the camera doesn't retain the settings...
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The one is oversharpened. Its 4 megapixels the s4 tends to look sharp until you zoom it in on the phone because of so many pixels crammed in. Please know what you're saying before you go out and say it. I also do photography but that isn't relevant to this
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I don't understand your post. Please improve the grammar in what you're saying before you go out and say it.
GeorgeP said:
I don't understand your post. Please improve the grammar in what you're saying before you go out and say it.
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Let me reiterate, One, I wasn't talking to you I was talking to the poster below you. And also what I stated was that the HTC One has 4 ultrapixels and such so it tends to let in more light because less pixels mean bigger pixels in the same size sensor, so more light can be let in. As well as a wider aperture that the One has over the S4.
The pictures are good in low light but in normal lighting conditions the HTC one is extremely oversharpened to compensate for the low quality the images it produces. The images aren't bad because it's 4 megapixels it's just bad because the software and optics are subpar in anything but low light.
The S4 uses a sensor even superior to the iPhone 5. Look at gsmareana for comparisons.
The HTC one got a 6 overall, the iPhone 5 an 8 and the Galaxy S4 a 9.

Camera: Low Light & Moving Subjects?

Anyone have any good/bad results taking photos in low-light (regular in-door to darker evening environments) or with pets/children and other quick moving subjects?
Debating between the N3 and the LG G2 and overall they are about equal to me, camera is the only area I'm still debating on.
G2 has been reported to have some funky auto focus and watery audio during video, not so hot low-light photos, and terrible for moving subjects (which I like to take photos of).
N3 seems to also to suffer in the low-light department not unlike most phones, but maybe it could be improved down the line with an update as previous Samsung devices had a Night Mode which is missing and doesn't seem to be "replaced" by the new camera features.
I haven't owned any of the Galaxy devices and have only messed around with ones friends/family have. I'm assuming with things like Drama mode, that it should do decently with pets/children running around.
So overall, just looking for any user samples or reviews that may have hit on this area. So far most of the reviews I've seen point at the GS4 for comparison, but if the N3 is using updated software and missing Night Mode, it makes it sort of hard to compare.

How good is the camera when someone is moving, specially kids?

So I myself own a Z3 compact that has been amazing, I love everything about it, now, I have an aunt that wants a good phone to take pictures of her kids, but the issue is that kids are always moving, so with the ads that say this has the fastest auto focus, and specifically the video ad shows a parent taking pictures of his daughter jumping around and while for me, I enjoy the Z3c, the camera it's not that good when someone is moving. Can anyone with little kids confirm this, all she wants is non blurry subjects on the photo.
I was considering the gs6 but I would rather go with Sony to support them.
Thanks everyone.
In my experience with a 4 year old, pictures turn out blurry if she is moving. I've only used automatic mode as most of my shots don't allow me the time and luxury of setting up an ideal manual mode. Perhaps manual mode can handle action better, but auto mode is not good for action.
The camera is extremely blurry and the horrible shuttertime makes this otherwise fantastic phone useless for taking pictures of kids. The moment will pass and a blurry useless picture will be the result. I have these 3 phones which all take fantastic pictures of my kid.
iPhone 6s
Samsung s6 Edge
Lumia 950(possibly the best i have)
Dont buy the z5 compact if you want great photos.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
I've got both S6 and Z5c. You have to turn Sports mode on to capture movement, otherwise both phones will result blur. Focusing indeed S6 faster and more accurate because of existing Z5c software not yet a mature version, I think it will get improvement when Android 6.0 to arrive later.
The best thing on Z5c is the stock camera remember your last setting, so you can always set Sports as default(I think I'll more recommend Z5c for this reason). On S6 every time you have to click on Mode and pick Sport, pretty time consuming.
Camera is useless with kids, takes great pictures if you can make your kids sit still. But that's not the shots you want, you want to capture moments and thats not possible.
you can try motion shot
I can also confirm that the camera is absolutely useless in whichever option you pick! Really disappointed in Sony (again). Bragging: yes, delivering: no.
I will pitch in, Yeah the camera is cack. Any less than full daylight and they just come out blurry or noisy. Can't say I am surprised. At least I won't rue loosing the DRM keys when I unlock the bootloader, as I don't see how the camera could be much worse.
Recording video is better than my g4. However, photos are better in g4
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Coming from a LG G2, I am pretty happy with the Z5C. But if you have a Z3C, I think you'd be getting pretty much the same experience. It is unfortunate that the shutter speed can't be set manually in the standard camera app. I haven't tried 3rd party apps, as I mostly get the photos I need of my kids (also indoors) with Sonys app. Of course, blur depends on shutter speed which depends on the amount of lighting that you have - possibly I have more lighting where I live compared to the posters above.
On my G2 the problem was that it had OIS - knowing this, the phone defaulted to a slow shutter speed to take advantage of the OIS. Which obviously doesn't work when it is the subject and not the photographer's hand that is moving...
Will try Sports mode more myself after reading the suggestion above.
Luckily Sony's open source camera driver will allow to fix all the... strange decisions they've made in the default camera app.
The focus problem on Z1~Z3 finally get fixed and with camera 2.0 image quality is reasonable now, just the video quality still not clear enough which clearly a software issue. Sony tends to has realistic WB and exposure which I much prefer over Samsung/LG/Apple, others phone always with over saturated color(though some actually like it).
It's already the best camera phone without OIS I've ever used, overall it's still worth to upgrade. Sure it won't beat S6/G4 with OIS at low light. I understand at this price a new phone now have no OIS is very suck, this is my last Sony too if no OIS.
karimero said:
I can also confirm that the camera is absolutely useless in whichever option you pick! Really disappointed in Sony (again). Bragging: yes, delivering: no.
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zakiwashi said:
I will pitch in, Yeah the camera is cack. Any less than full daylight and they just come out blurry or noisy. Can't say I am surprised. At least I won't rue loosing the DRM keys when I unlock the bootloader, as I don't see how the camera could be much worse.
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Agree. By far an away my biggest disappointment with this phone. I have now resorted to the machine gun principle - if I have to use this camera. Take loads of shots in the hope one will be OK. However my preference is to avoid using it altogether.
To my mind a decent phone camera has to be point and shoot, with a high rate of keepers in the shots. Unfortunately I find most of the pics from my Z5C are plain average. I have nothing good to say about it.

Buying G4 Plus for Camera

Hello,
I have read mixed reviews of the G4 Plus camera, while DxoMark gives it a score of 84. Many others consider it average in day light and worst in low light,
can anyone can post unedited/un-cropped images for sample. Is the G4 Plus a good buy as camera phone ?
Thank you.
In my experience it's a very good camera for a phone. Pictures here won't mean probably too much, since you have no reference point and the low resolution imposed by XDA.
Okay, let me tell you my experience. It's a good camera overall. Takes very vivid and sharp images in daylight ie in good conditions. But It has an average to above-average performance in low light conditions but..but..but.. certainly better than many phones that are in its price range. Another thing I wanna mention is that it struggles to snap moving objects. It's 'cause the g4 plus lacks optical image stabilization. I think for many of us It'd be a big deal. For me it's NOT.
I would certainly recommend this phone for phone photography.
Hit like if this post helped you
tobey_onk said:
Okay, let me tell you my experience. It's a good camera overall. Takes very vivid and sharp images in daylight ie in good conditions. But It has an average to above-average performance in low light conditions but..but..but.. certainly better than many phones that are in its price range. Another thing I wanna mention is that it struggles to snap moving objects. It's 'cause the g4 plus lacks optical image stabilization. I think for many of us It'd be a big deal. For me it's NOT.
I would certainly recommend this phone for phone photography.
Hit like if this post helped you
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Does this moving objects lag happens in manual mode as well ? when shutter is set to higher speed or only in auto mode ?
i think the fastest shutter speed is 1/5 in pro mode can you confirm this ?
Thanks
For camera, this phone is goooood.....?
But you should also pay attention to other issues like heating while camera is in use for more time and screen burn and ghosts touch..
( while screen burn and ghost touch is not common in all device, but if your luck is working wrong then you will have to face them )
tobey_onk said:
but..but..but.. certainly better than many phones that are in its price range.
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I seriously doubt that is another phone with a better camera at this price point ($300). In low level light or in daylight. You need to move up to $700 to get a better camera (like added optical zoom and stabilization).
Now, I always say that phones cannot compete with dedicated cameras, therefore they should not be used for planned photo sessions (like when you expect to have great subjects).
Well HTC desire 628 ( my last phone ) gave shutter speed of 1/8000. so i don't want to get anything lower than that. Other option i got is ZTE Nubia Z11 which has an Sony Exmor 298 but not sure if its good enough
https://youtu.be/U8PITTNu7fI?t=179
Thanks
dranzer006 said:
Does this moving objects lag happens in manual mode as well ? when shutter is set to higher speed or only in auto mode ?
i think the fastest shutter speed is 1/5 in pro mode can you confirm this ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will try it.
The camera is good for the phone price but it has some quirks which make me irritated.
1. Slow focus, 1 in 3 shots would not have got focused, I notice this issue in pics with people, workaround is to wait additional second after it shows as focused, not always practical. This is probably biggest flaw of this phone. DxO remarks this in their review as well.
2. My earlier phone was nexus 5, OIS made the photos 99% of the time sharp and blur free. With G4 I have to keep my hands extremely steady in poor lighting.
3. I also find the images to be bit over sharpened, not a big deal though. Dynamic range is not that great either, has tendency to blow out sky and highlights.
4. Wide angle lens, didn't like this as objects seem to get curved across the edges of pic, this can and should have been fixed via post processing but moto decided to ignore it.
5. Finally the video recording with EIS is great but heats up the phone like crazy if shooting for long time.
For the price of phone I can forgive issue 2 and 3 but 1st one makes me hate the phone camera as I need to always check if it came out alright. Had I known it before I bought I would have skipped it.
Compared to phones in this price range though it's still decent and great when it works well. Most of the phone seems to have similar issues in this price range.

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