Photo quality - jpg compression - pixels, pixels everywhere - Galaxy Note 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Today on my walk with the dog I was lucky enough to take a photo of him "Uwe" during run, I really like it but after back home and uploaded photo to the computer I've quickly notice there is a very bad pixelation all over the photo visible at 100% size with my 32'' 2560x1440 monitor
there is lots of hair / grass details destroyed by the huge pixels! so I am asking is this normal ??? photo was taken in HDR mode 5312x2988
there is the photo:
http://f.cl.ly/items/0P2w1W2D461i3L2E1V28/20141103_151549.jpg
and this is zip file with the original jpg taken from phone, this is probably the same as above quality but just in cast server side compression
http://cl.ly/2Q0A2M2v2C2l

This picture has to be considered excellent!
The N4 camera managed to capture the action and the focus is perfect on the dog.
Regarding your concerns, you can NEVER, and I say again, NEVER judge a smartphone (or even point&shoot) camera by looking at it on 100%.
This is because very heavy noise-reduction algorithms are applied to the picture, and this results in smearing of details when looked at 100%.
But I can assure you that if you print it as big as poster size (A3), the result will still be great!
Only cameras with big sensors can produce excellent quality at pixel level (when viewed at 100%).
So, rest assured that you own a phone with a very capable camera.
As a rule of thumb, always try to have as much light as possible in the frame, this will reduce this "smearing" effect.

I have to agree with the original poster. There's something odd going on with this camera. It's either over-compressed at higher resolutions or they're playing some kind of game to simulate a higher resolution than the camera can achieve clearly. Or maybe they have a really bad high-pass filter on these.
Also, I doubt that these will look good when printed at A3 but since I don't want to use the ink to find out, I won't argue that point.
One thing I've found is that the images are sharper and less mottled looking when I use a lower resolution. 5 or 8MP. It's also very sensitive to light levels. In typical Samsung fashion not all Note 4's are created equal. I've got the US T-Mobile SM-N910T. Other versions may behave better (or worse).
I'm putting together some comparison shots and will post when I'm finished. I've taken shots with the original Galaxy S, original HTC One and my Note 4.

A lot of my pictures look way over-sharpened.
Maybe another camera software could fix this, but I haven't played around with it yet.

Obecny said:
Today on my walk with the dog I was lucky enough to take a photo of him "Uwe" during run, I really like it but after back home and uploaded photo to the computer I've quickly notice there is a very bad pixelation all over the photo visible at 100% size with my 32'' 2560x1440 monitor
there is lots of hair / grass details destroyed by the huge pixels! so I am asking is this normal ??? photo was taken in HDR mode 5312x2988
there is the photo:
http://f.cl.ly/items/0P2w1W2D461i3L2E1V28/20141103_151549.jpg
and this is zip file with the original jpg taken from phone, this is probably the same as above quality but just in cast server side compression
http://cl.ly/2Q0A2M2v2C2l
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Next time try to turn off hdr so moving objects dont look blurry on the picture. I believe hdr takes multiple pictures to create final picture
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app

darekz said:
Next time try to turn off hdr so moving objects dont look blurry on the picture. I believe hdr takes multiple pictures to create final picture
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, HDR is known to degrade the image quality if there's a lot of movement. I only use HDR for still scenes.
Sent from my SM-N910U

Related

htc hd2 camera samples (purely amazing + tips to better pics)

hi all i have taken about 4hours today testing the camera to the end of my will, now i hope this thread will help other and i intend to include pics of every content and do a full review of the htc hd2 camera but here's a few samples while i get the review on the way
TIPS FOR BETTER PICTURES
- turn off wide-screen in the settings for true 5mp, if u have it on u get lower res Normal screen = 2592 x 1944 / Wide-screen = 2592 x 1552
- set white balance to the sunny settings in all condition not auto or u will get weird colors with most of ur pics (see samples below)
SAMPLE PICTURES UNEDITED - 5mp + very fine mode + touch focus + sunny (not auto whitebalance)
click for full res, untouched quality
the above pics where static objects great focus
now to compare auto whitebalance to sunny none auto setting all pics still full res, untouched quality
auto settings -------/------- sunny setting
the above pics where static objects great focus
auto settings -------/------- sunny setting
the above pics where static objects great focus
auto settings -------/------- sunny setting
the above pics where is moving objects focus had issues here
auto settings -------/------- sunny setting
the above pics where static objects great focus also high light levels
SAMPLE VIDEOS UNEDITED - 640x480 + MPEG4 + sunny setting + touch focus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtJ5d6BPhwA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxdNl0r54Jg
my kid kindly became the model for these lol
EDIT: for people are unsure about the realness of these pics please download the originals here, just look at the image properties for proof
heres originals for extra proof
http://rapidshare.com/files/307497596/DCIM.zip.html
Thanks for your samples....
...the pictures seem to show a great deal of sharpening on them. Did you apply that in post-prod, or is it done automatically in-camera?
Also, as soon as I get my HD2 (which has been stuck in a post office all week-end... grrrr!!!!!), I will try to take a reference picture of a netural gray card, and then subtract it from real-life photos using photoshop. This should really get rid of the magenta color cast in the middle of each photo, though it would be a pain to have to do this extra step for each picture one wishes to keep...
Purely amazing? For me these look barely usable, but then I'm coming from an i8910, so I guess it depends on what you're used to...
If those are unusable then I'd like to see the pics the i8910 can produce, as to me the top pictures in macro mode look pretty good for a HTC camera
EDIT: Ok so for fun I decided to look up what the i8910 can do and ....wow!
Oh well, I rarely take pics with a phone so the HTC camera will have to make do
Those who come from WM phones the HD2 produces some of the best images and videos. At least there is a substantial improvement from the predecessor Touch HD.
Coming from the best camera phones from Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson etc. the quality is just passable.
...the pictures seem to show a great deal of sharpening on them. Did you apply that in post-prod, or is it done automatically in-camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no i assure u their all unedited pics, heres proof look at info at bottem of pic at picture info,
heres originals for extra proof
http://rapidshare.com/files/307497596/DCIM.zip.html
If those are unusable then I'd like to see the pics the i8910 can produce, as to me the top pictures in macro mode look pretty good for a HTC camera
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the htc hd2 has not got a micro mode touch focus is what i used for all pics
You can compare some macro shots to this example:
Samsung i8910 OmniaHD
http://symbianworld.org/1541-macro-pictures-taken-with-the-samsung-i8910-omnia-hd/
ez2remember said:
You can compare some macro shots to this example:
Samsung i8910 OmniaHD
http://symbianworld.org/1541-macro-pictures-taken-with-the-samsung-i8910-omnia-hd/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi mate some pointers,
1) Samsung i8910 OmniaHD = 8mp camera and omnia camera are good
2) we need to see full unedited pics to compare noise
good pics though
For me it looks like the HD2 Camera-App uses very agressive noise-reducing. Thats why Pictures look more fuzzy with lack of fine details.
Some users tell that this can be avoided by increasing the sharpnes in the camera-settings.
Please, some HD2 retail user can do this and post some more pictures here?
Yes that is true but megapixels only tells half the story, it's mostly down to the quality of the lens. I could find you similar examples taken with a 5MPx camera from Nokia...
Anyway here are much larger images. They're not full size but I doubt you'll find much noise in these images.
http://forum2.mobile-review.com/showthread.php?t=81427&page=31
Scroll to about mid point.
They might be a big improvement for a HTC device, but they are very much inferior to the photos from my old N95, or even my original Fuji 3MP digital camera.
Photos from an i8910 or a Satio are in a completely different league.
Still, I guess I should be grateful that HTC have made some improvement in this area, and I'm not actually buying the phone for it's photo taking ability.
Bagpuss.
For me it looks like the HD2 Camera-App uses very agressive noise-reducing. Thats why Pictures look more fuzzy with lack of fine details.
Some users tell that this can be avoided by increasing the sharpnes in the camera-settings.
Please, some HD2 retail user can do this and post some more pictures here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have a retail version what would u like images of
Yes that is true but megapixels only tells half the story, it's mostly down to the quality of the lens. I could find you similar examples taken with a 5MPx camera from Nokia...
Anyway here are much larger images. They're not full size but I doubt you'll find much noise in these images.
http://forum2.mobile-review.com/show...=81427&page=31
Scroll to about mid point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very nice indead
Red tint in center
I notice a red tint in every sample pictures or videos taken with HD2 (I don't have one, seeing samples). Is this true or I need an eye check?
Amazing?
This pics looks like ****. At 100% have a lot of noise, bad colors and a constant pink tint in the center of the screen.
The camera of the HD2 is a really disaster like all the others of HTC.
Still though, they show improvement from previous HTC outings, for which I'm grateful.
geo tagging
Hi guys, I can't find the settings to turn geo tagging on when taking pictures, is it not possible with this phone?
Im talking about embeding location data on the image exif, I use to have nokia phones in the past, n96, n82, n95..
footprints is neat but I don't see it adding gps information on to the photo,
example of this use is when you upload images to flickr the gps location shows up on flickr.
any info on this appriciated
I think if you check the tweaks thread there is a post about turning on Geotagging.
If its not there try searching, I know I've seen at post on this in the last couple of days.
EDIT: Its in the tips thread (now stickied).
hi their focus is weird as touch focus is on which activates (spot focus) so u will notice because that the middle of the pics are focused and the rest isnt as the pics where at such close distance to the object, i will try and show the other focus modes soon
ez2remember said:
Those who come from WM phones the HD2 produces some of the best images and videos. At least there is a substantial improvement from the predecessor Touch HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely FALSE. Pictures taken with TouchHD are by far sharper and with much better definition for details. Just take a look at those shots:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonhsutuna/3073258639/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonhsutuna/3074092562/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonhsutuna/3073257803/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aldovanzeeland/3334947533/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aldovanzeeland/3579556212/sizes/l/
And then.. take a look at this picture taken by the HD2.. utterly blurred, just look at the trees..
http://img252.imageshack.us/i/imag0021l.jpg/
I suppose, however, that part of the problem can be overcome by just removing the plastic protection from the front of the camera.. like we did with HTC Kaiser...
DAMIEN123_666 said:
i have a retail version what would u like images of
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello DAMIEN123_666,
Please increasing the sharpness in your camera-settings (or set it to maximun sharpness)
And then take some pictures in good light condition with a lot of detail (maybe like the picture with the trees)
I would apreciate a lot if you would do that for us.
Eraser85 said:
Absolutely FALSE. Pictures taken with TouchHD are by far sharper and with much better definition for details.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, thats true for the moment and the given sample pics - i cannot belive that the TouchHD cam is bether.
I hope it is only a question of the sharpness setting!

Camera tips!

Hey everyone!
So i've used the Desire HD's camera for a bit, and I find it's got potential. I used to have a HD2...and remember there was a registry edit fix and also settings in the camera app that were published here on XDA to improve picture quality...well i've found out that pictures are a lot clearer and sharper when these settings are applied on the Desire HD:
Go into the Camera app...
Press the menu button on your desire hd...
Turn OFF auto-focus
in the Image adjustments sub-menu, turn sharpness all the way to 2...
Take pictures, and as a good example of comparison take a before and after picture.
In the after pic, tap on what you want in focus. The overall quality of the picture will be a lot clearer! There is also less noise and the object will be in focus, and pepper and grain effect is largely eliminated! Try it out and report back
Elemental_Fire
Update 1 (00:09-10/12/2010):
Thanks to the knowledge and sharing of fellow XDA members, I have determined that what seems to impact/affect images the most is the sharpness settings. Contrary to my settings, you can also go into Image adjustments in the camera app and turn off the sharpness setting fully. This is done by turning the sharpness circle dial all the way to -2. It seems that when set on default, the sharpness algorithm is ineffective at determining the level of sharpness that should be used. As a result, images are reproduced with unwanted image effects such as distinct grainyness, noise and also seemingly out-of-focus/blury pictures! So you can use either -2 for smooth pictures that are good quality, or +2 for sharper pictures that are good quality! At the end of the day, it depends on what you as the photographer prefer Haha i'm making this sound like the Desire HD is a professional camera...it's certainly more than suitable for quick snaps that won't comprise on good memorable photos in 8MP
Update 2 (00:51- 10/12/2010)
Uploaded sample pictures!
will give this a try in the morning!
Is that +2 I take it not -2? I'll check this out in morning
Sent from my Desire HD
Yep, plus 2
yup the pictures are much better!!
i just hated all tht noise and grainyness!
Thanks a lot!!!
I didnt really notice the difference, I think im just horrid at taking photos haha
they do look slightly better i think!
I haven't tried this yet myself but its nice that the hd remembers these settings after a power cycle - I expected all settings to revert to default.
That does not help any here.
I think the compression is just screwed up very badly, or we don't have anything like a 8MP sensor in our phones.
You can see that very easily if you photograph or film some intricate pattern like in snow, frost, test patterns (printed on paper) or such. It just smears and blurs the hell out of these photographs and no settings in the user interface will help against that.
Now, a sensor actually resolving 8 Megapixels, on the other hand, should be capable of resolving to about four 1920x1080 computer screens worth of distinct pixels. Unfortunately when I view the photographs on the screen, in actuality I still those see smears and other artifacts even when I zoom the image to about ~25% of the screen's. So... ~0.5 MP or less resolution in reality? Beh, fail.
Meh, it is an 8mp sensor...I just assume HTC don't implement and make use of the best available lens, sensor size and compression rate....but the camera isn't bad at all..i'll upload some pictures i've taken recently, they're quite defined! Certainly more clearer, sharper and yet containing less noise than my old HD2 gosh colours on that were washed out
sharpness plus 2 will increase the digital treatment which seems to remove more noise and add more sharpness, maybe a little better than the default semi sharpness which a mess
however the camera is indeed 8MP it is ridiculous to state otherwise!! turn off sharpness all the way to -2 and all this digital artifacts will be gone as well as fake sharpness, you will be able to get full 8MP camera quality without HTC mending with them, you can improve photos further by using the auto fix or high contrast from within the gallery
of course noise will be introduced depending on the available light and of course with sharpness -2 it will be a little soft since it receiving zero digital treatment, take it to any photo editing application and you can boost the sharpness properly
really i don't get all the random posts camera quality, i'm getting amazing results even managed to amaze my iphone 4 colleagues, the only part where HTC really failed is the default noise reduction/sharpness algorithm (Sharpness 0) its a real mess thankfully it can be turned off
i should make a detailed thread about the camera and be done with it
after using it a few times, im still sticking to my D700
I`m quite happy with the point and click results but for serious pics i use my ancient Canon EOS 500.
ofcourse it will never beat a DSLR! only the satio and the nokia n8 come close but those sucks in their own ways
its not a perfect camera, but damn better than everyone make it sound, and pretty amazing for a phone, everyone complaining including some reviewers didn't even bother to experiment with the basic settings
the best words i found for this camera are in the Engadget review particluary this line ( Noise-masking blur is distributed very well, in our opinion, works especially well if can content yourself with downsizing the images from the max 8 megapixel size), gsmarena kept complaining about the sharpness and never mentioned it can be turned off
oh and it wipes the floor with the iphone 4 camera
the only two issues in this phone are the lack of ips in the screen and the size for those who can't handle it and no the battery is fine
hamdir said:
ofcourse it will never beat a DSLR! only the satio and the nokia n8 come close but those sucks in their own ways
its not a perfect camera, but damn better than everyone make it sound, and pretty amazing for a phone, everyone complaining including some reviewers didn't even bother to experiment with the basic settings
the best words i found for this camera are in the Engadget review particluary this line ( Noise-masking blur is distributed very well, in our opinion, works especially well if can content yourself with downsizing the images from the max 8 megapixel size), gsmarena kept complaining about the sharpness and never mentioned it can be turned off
oh and it wipes the floor with the iphone 4 camera
the only two issues in this phone are the lack of ips in the screen and the size for those who can't handle it and no the battery is fine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed 100% with your post. Although the lack of ips is no issue imo.
thank you, ips is only an issue when use the phone flat on your desk or sharing with others, its a slight issue when old desire slcd/amoled, iphone 3Gs and ipads have much better view angles
but yea its no biggie, its my first HTC device where i found no need to flash custom stuff
Makes very little difference for me. I have to wonder about anyone that says this is a great camera - what are you comparing it against and have you ever used a Nokia for instance with Carl Zeiss optics?
xspyda said:
Makes very little difference for me. I have to wonder about anyone that says this is a great camera - what are you comparing it against and have you ever used a Nokia for instance with Carl Zeiss optics?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes nokia n900 and the DHD is better
i will post my results soon in full resolution
Here is a pic i took of my cat earlier today. Open in new tab to see the full resolution.
hamdir said:
i should make a detailed thread about the camera and be done with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please do!
I for one am interested to finetune my camera app!

HTC One - Some Impressive Photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lng0004/sets/72157633487686583/
Very good looking photos, taken with the HTC One. Impressive what can be done with a little knowledge of lighting, and a bit of post editing.
Apparently all the editing was done with stock features or Avairy.
Great shot!:good:
Those are some awesome shots indeed. But I think there are a couple of these threads already that this could be merged with.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta
sly101s said:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lng0004/sets/72157633487686583/
Very good looking photos, taken with the HTC One. Impressive what can be done with a little knowledge of lighting, and a bit of post editing.
Apparently all the editing was done with stock features or Avairy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stunning!
Downloading Aviary now
The content and artistic value is impressive. The quality of the images are not really that mpressive though. You can tell its been taken on a mobile phone.
Rubbish
mwatson said:
The content and artistic value is impressive. The quality of the images are not really that mpressive though. You can tell its been taken on a mobile phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only way to tell that these are taken on a mobile is if you knew before hand!
Great shots, that could have been taken with the majority of compact cameras
No shame in any of them!
Great shooting
Dal1970 said:
The only way to tell that these are taken on a mobile is if you knew before hand!
Great shots, that could have been taken with the majority of compact cameras
No shame in any of them!
Great shooting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They way to tell is view them at their full size (in other words at 100%), its then VERY clear they were taken with a low MP phone cam. They aren't very sharp. Remember your monitor is lower resolution than the images, if you view them even full screen the reduction gives a sharpening effect, hides aliasing on lines, masks artefacts. The 'effects' applied also hide the Ones poor dynamic range.
They are very very well composed shots, and are great looking scenes, which is something the One does very well because it has a fast shutter and therefore little blur, but no they arent quality images from a technical standpoint. The problems with the One camera are still quite clear.
If you zoom in close on any shot you see the pixels - it is digital
I use a D7000 as my main camera and if you zoom in close enough is is pixelated
When you view these shots at a sensible size, there is nothing wrong with them. They will never blow up as large as my dSLR, but that is a different animal entirely.
the low light shots and indoor shot I took on my iPhone 4 are attrocious in comparison - took me ages to correct the colour casts and reduce the HUGE amount of noise
100% is not zoomed, its native. Its shortcomings are very evident at native resolution. I suspect those that don't notice are viewing on the phone or on a fairly small monitor. If thats the case, and you're happy, then fine.
Yes its great in low light, although some other phones manage quite well with HDR mode in low light, however in daylight the One is just a poor quality 4MP camera. Those images have done their best to hide it with great composition and effects, but its still evident.
One way to hide it a bit is to enlarge the picture in Photoshop, maybe to 16MP or more, then apply a smart sharpen of maybe 2.5 pixels and 75%, then drop back to 8MP. It cleans up a lot of the aliasing, artefacting and in effect interpolates a higher resolution.
Awesome shots welldone!
It always amazes me that some people expect a phone camera to match a DSLR.. i have both and yes the One isnt as good as my DSLR but it takes brilliant shots and is a whole lot easier to carry around in my pocket
sharpey said:
Awesome shots welldone!
It always amazes me that some people expect a phone camera to match a DSLR.. i have both and yes the One isnt as good as my DSLR but it takes brilliant shots and is a whole lot easier to carry around in my pocket
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No one expects it to match a DSLR, but to approach a 5 year old 5MP phone in daylight would be nice, and it just doesnt. This is why people are upset by the Ones camera. Its low light abilities are great, but its daylight abilities, especially moderate to long distance shots are very poor, even for 4 MP.
mwatson said:
The content and artistic value is impressive. The quality of the images are not really that mpressive though. You can tell its been taken on a mobile phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This.
The same photographer could have made equally amazing photos with any other smartphone or crappy point and shoot.
The value of those photos come from their composition and lighting, not the image quality. Its the old argument of photographer vs camera.
But yes, very nice photos
Those are some great photos, is that Chinatown in Manhattan?
rovex said:
No one expects it to match a DSLR, but to approach a 5 year old 5MP phone in daylight would be nice, and it just doesnt. This is why people are upset by the Ones camera. Its low light abilities are great, but its daylight abilities, especially moderate to long distance shots are very poor, even for 4 MP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, see... this is where I have a problem: I think the daylight abilities are quite good, but that it really sucks in low light.... For me, all the photos I take in low light (ex. a street corner at night, with lamp posts around) it turns the black into blue noise and it takes some time and a few shots to get a focused photot, even with all the blue in the picture...
Impressive pics imo
Sent from my HTC One using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2
We have a photo sharing thread already. The OP in this thread put up some specific shots and claimed they were "impressive". There's plenty to discuss there without opening it up to random new shots with generic captions
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
NxNW said:
We have a photo sharing thread already. The OP in this thread put up some specific shots and claimed they were "impressive". There's plenty to discuss there without opening it up to random new shots with generic captions
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry wrong thread... Will delete.
Sent from my HTC One using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2
Yeah if you just want to share you can always go to
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2169626
Plenty of good shots in there..
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Incredible quality. One of the main reason why I choose One. I can probably say goodbye to my digital camera now.
Flattered you think my shots are impressive. Sure, I agree that the photographer makes the difference (;p) but the HTC one camera tech really helps. I've yet to take a photo in low light only to find it shaky later. Never. Of course, sometimes sharpness comes with higher noise level but better than a shaky image.
I feel like I'm using an old camera with fixed wide angle lens when shooting with the HTC One. HDR what? ;p

[PHOTOS] Trip to Japan with the HTC One Camera - Pushing the Limits of the Camera

Hi all,
TL;DR - Pretty pictures taken with the HTC One here: Click
I've been very interested in the HTC One's camera ever since it was announced, as I believe that the philosophy behind the trade-offs made in its design are a step forward for the mobile phone camera industry.
I've recently returned from a trip to Japan and as an experiment, used the HTC One as my only camera (clearly not because my P&S was stolen two years ago!). I have taken nearly 8,000 shots over the 14 days I was in Japan and after nearly a hundred (if not more) hours spent in post-processing, I think I have a decent set of pictures.
I have annotated some of the pictures in a travel-journalistic manner. If you are a experienced traveller, I am probably not saying anything you do not already know. If you have never been to Japan, I hope they provide you with some insights.
A few observations I've made in the process of shooting said pictures:
The wide angle lens on the HTC One is wonderfully versatile, especially for landscape and architecture shots. Framing the shot is effortless and as it turns out, of utmost importance.
The most controversial aspect of the One's camera, the 4MP resolution does come with a very real drawback. You have little room in post-production to recover a badly framed shot. Cropping in post-production is often an unhappy compromise as you are left with less room to compensate for noise and blur. I would hazard to say that shooting with only the One for an extended period of time may be a great way to improve your composition skills.
The HTC One's camera software and auto-focus is fast and responsive, you can compose, re-focus/expose and shoot in a blink of an eye, which is something I took advantage of to take the multiple exposures required for the HDR pictures.
While no aspect of the HTC One's camera is exceptional, the package of a very fast f2.0 lens, optical image stabilization and above average sensor sensitivity means that vis-a-vis other mobile phone cameras, you will nail shot after shot in daylight and have a decent chance of grabbing something usable in low-light.
Will I do something like this again? Unlikely. The next time I can afford to travel, I will almost certainly be packing a decent camera. Do I regret the experience? Definitely not. Shooting with a camera like the One forces you to learn to frame your shots well. I like to think that technically, I am a decent photographer, but as far as composing a picture well, I have a long way to go.
Links to the various albums below. Sorry if you dislike Google+, but its easy to upload and annotate and it has a really clean interface. The albums are all public, so there is technically no need to sign in, but Google+ prompts you to login if you happen to be signed into another Google service. If you really want to avoid signing in, simply open the links in a incognito window.
If you are impatient, Kyoto and the Highlight albums are probably the best.
Comments, feedback and questions welcome. Wasn't sure if I should have created a new thread, if not, please merge into the photograph thread, thanks moderators.
Highlights
Tokyo (東京)
Odaiba (お台場)
Sensoji Shrine (浅草寺)
Meiji Shrine (明治神宮)
Tsukiji Fish Market (築地市場)
Hama-Rikyu Gardens (浜離宮恩賜庭園)
Osaka (大阪)
Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan (海遊館)
Nara (奈良市)
Himeji (姫路市)
Kyoto (京都)
Kanazawa (金沢)
Shibuya Scramble Crossing (Youtube Video)
---
Photomatix Presets
edit: converted text to links
edit2: added link to timelapse of Shibuya scramble crossing
edit3: link to the photomatix presets I've used
Wow! Those are some very nice photos! Just goes to show how much power is behind our phone. It makes me want to go out and use my camera now.
Excellent shots! You clearly have a lot of talent! And that is some good post-processing too.
It would be great to know if you touched up the HDRs in post-production in anyway or are they mostly untouched?
ankanb said:
Excellent shots! You clearly have a lot of talent! And that is some good post-processing too.
It would be great to know if you touched up the HDRs in post-production in anyway or are they mostly untouched?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the HDR shots are not in-camera HDR shots, they are multiple pictures of the same shot combined in post.
Every picture has been touched up in post. The natural looking ones are probably just simple lighting/contrast adjustments, the surreal looking ones took more effort.
Love Japan. Absolutely love Kyoto. You took some really good shots
One thing I am a bit disappointed with is the amount of noise the camera has. (still love it hough)
Some of your shots (especially the HDR) are way too noisy for my liking, but that's a matter of taste or sometimes plain nitpicking.
Which settings did you mainly use?
Did you leave the phone in charge of most of the settings or did you do it manually?
I agree, you took some beautiful shots!
Makes me want to travel. Lol.
MartinS13X said:
Love Japan. Absolutely love Kyoto. You took some really good shots
One thing I am a bit disappointed with is the amount of noise the camera has. (still love it hough)
Some of your shots (especially the HDR) are way too noisy for my liking, but that's a matter of taste or sometimes plain nitpicking.
Which settings did you mainly use?
Did you leave the phone in charge of most of the settings or did you do it manually?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With respect to the noise, agreed. In most cases, with some work, as its only really bad for the uniform areas of the picture, the noise is entirely cleanable in post. But in most cases, I've chosen not to for effect. And the HDR process does tend to accentuate the noise and would typically not be visible if I had processed it for a natural look.
Still, it doesn't surprise me that much. I picked up a Fujifilm f100fd, a P&S as my last camera. It was supposed to be really good with low-light photography due to its excellent noise control. While clearly better then the HTC One, I found myself running into the same problems when post-processing the f100fd's shots vis the HTC One's shots. I think if you really want clean, low light shot, a DSLR/interchangeable lens camera with a fast prime lens is the only way to go, that or a tripod, depending on the picture you want.
Sharpness at -2 for virtually all the shots. Occasionally exposure at -1 is very useful, when you are sure that you can capture enough detail in a darker picture. You're essentially telling the camera, hey, I'm OK with a dark picture, take the next shot as fast as a shutter speed as you can. For that reason, almost all the aquarium shots are with exposure -1, as you don't really care about the walls of aquarium being properly exposed, you just want the fish exposed.
For the multiple shots needed for the HDR pictures, tapping at a bright spot, taking a picture, then quickly tapping at a dark spot, then taking another picture... The problem is that sometimes having the camera focus at a bright/dark spot means you screw up focus entirely.
The HTC One's backlight mode is incredibly useful when you want to take portrait shots with something bright in the background. I've used the landscape and HDR modes a few times, but I'm still not entirely sure what landscape mode gets me.
So... Long story short, normal mode, with sharpness at -2, with lots of tapping on the screen.
edit: oh, also, I manually flashed to 4.2.2, which meant that I had access to AF/AE lock. That came useful for the epic panorama of Himeji castle's surroundings.
Exposure -1 is indeed good in some cases. I've used that too.
I also want to try setting the ISO manually in dark photos as I believe there is room for lower ISO in some cases and the camera just increases it a lot.
I'm also not a fan of noisy, instagram-y photos like some of yours but you have some very nice shots.
I saw a link with a timelapse video. What's the deal with that? Is it yours?
Ooops, error.
Corduroy-21 said:
Exposure -1 is indeed good in some cases. I've used that too.
I also want to try setting the ISO manually in dark photos as I believe there is room for lower ISO in some cases and the camera just increases it a lot.
I'm also not a fan of noisy, instagram-y photos like some of yours but you have some very nice shots.
I saw a link with a timelapse video. What's the deal with that? Is it yours?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The timelapse video is mine yes. If it helps, the noise is inherent in the picture, and not added for "authenticity"
edit: I think the One generally makes good decisions when it comes to ISO, it priorities shutter speed over anything else, which I think, given the fact that in any low-light shot, you are going to get unhappy amounts of noise, is a good choice. A blurred shot is usually totally unusable.
shasderias said:
The timelapse video is mine yes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you do it?
Did you use the One?
Corduroy-21 said:
How did you do it?
Did you use the One?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. Sideloaded the stock android camera, used the timelapse function. Waited...
The pictures you have posted are just amazing.
Although I have a HTC One but I don't take much pictures. You have motivated me to take more pictures from this phone now.
The filters you have used in this are given ones or some other application for that?
Wow. I just went through every album. Those all turned out amazing.
Great pics! :good:
rahulwadhwani said:
The pictures you have posted are just amazing.
Although I have a HTC One but I don't take much pictures. You have motivated me to take more pictures from this phone now.
The filters you have used in this are given ones or some other application for that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No filters used, photos are all taken normally and edited in post. Photoshop for all editing, Photomatix for most of the HDR pictures.
shasderias said:
Yup. Sideloaded the stock android camera, used the timelapse function. Waited...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which timelapse function did you use? How come my phone doesnt have it?
aceonetwothree said:
which timelapse function did you use? How come my phone doesnt have it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't use the HTC One's camera app, I sideloaded the camera app from stock android (the one with photosphere) to do the timelapse.
Incidentally, the photospheres for some reason, turned out super low-res.
How do you manage to take photos with the phone using 3 exposure values, going into the menu and changing the value after each photo while keeping the phone perfectly still?
Love these! The Shibuya Scramble pictures gave me to flashbacks to The World Ends With You.

[Q] Camera problem..picture quality terrible

I have a note 3 sm n900.
But in my camera if the turn image smart stabilisation off the photos sre taken are very fast but they start cracking if i zoom in.. if i take a pic of a book or something the words arent very clear,i even tried keeping my hands very steady while taking the photos.
On the other hand enbablimg smart stabilisation, camera takes around one second to take a photo and the photos arr very clear.
This shouldnt be happening, right?
Whats the point of having smart stabilisation off if the photos look like taken from a 2MP shooter.
Please help.
Please reply.
I have been hurt by the community as my last problems didnt even get a reply.
Sent from my SM-N900 using XDA Free mobile app
begimaad said:
I have a note 3 sm n900.
But in my camera if the turn image smart stabilisation off the photos sre taken are very fast but they start cracking if i zoom in.. if i take a pic of a book or something the words arent very clear,i even tried keeping my hands very steady while taking the photos.
On the other hand enbablimg smart stabilisation, camera takes around one second to take a photo and the photos arr very clear.
This shouldnt be happening, right?
Whats the point of having smart stabilisation off if the photos look like taken from a 2MP shooter.
Please help.
Please reply.
I have been hurt by the community as my last problems didnt even get a reply.
Sent from my SM-N900 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you aware of how camera sensors work?
Smart stabilization is meant to offset the use of higher ISOs/lower shutter speeds so that your pictures turn out less noisy. Given that the Note 3's max aperture is f/2.2, let's make an example.
In the daylight, your ISO can drop and thus picture quality can improve (this is very barebones, but it's for conceptual purpose). In essence, higher ISO = more noise, especially the smaller the sensor size. You can visibly see that the Note 3 has a very small sensor. In fact, even on APS-C cameras, noise performances starts to suck around ISO 3200~6400. ISO is meant to make each pixel brighter (or something to that effect), and the smaller those pixels are, the more noise you'll generate (again, not exactly, but that's the gist of what you're experiencing). So, with 13 megapixels fit onto the small sensor, you're likely going to start seeing noise at like, ISO800 (this is a random guess, but it's probably true).
Anyways, so during the daytime, there is a lot of available light, so the ISO can be reduced and exposure can be adjusted using shutter speed (assuming aperture stays the same). This improves picture quality as lower ISOs generally equate to less noise. However, as you get later into the night, less available light means that one of two things has to happen. Either your shutter speed gets slower to let in more light, or your ISO cranks up to become more sensitive to the available light (and thus more noise). Usually a combination of the two occur to get a trade off between quality and shutter speed.
A quick browse on google gave me, 1/15, f2.2, ISO 1000, as EXIF data from an iPhone 5s taking a picture at night. As you can see, the ISO is pretty high for the small sensor, and the shutter speed is quite low. As a rule of thumb, you generally want at least an equivalent shutter speed to the focal length, but given the crop factor of this lens, I have no idea what that'd actually be. But 1/15th is very, very hard to hold without some form of IS/OS, even on full-frame cameras. What you're experiencing is this effect. The low shutter speed to let in more light means that even if you breath and shift the camera 1cm, you'll get blur. It's not out of focus, but the subjects weren't in the same place because you moved, causing them to be rendered in shift. The noise is the result of the ISO being too high; the pixel sensitivity isn't that great, and so you're getting all kinds of weird colours that the phone is trying to represent without definitive data. Again, we're assuming that the aperture stays wide open under these conditions to let in the most light.
I hope you got the answer you were looking for. Basically, what you want is pretty hard to do, even with a full-framed DSLR (although it's becoming less true with recent image processing). You can't really turn of IS/OS and expect the pictures to be great. There's a lot of other things that are taken into account behind the scenes that are usually beyond your control on your phone. Smart stabilization using image processing algorithms to help mitigate the impact of higher ISOs and lower shutter speeds by post-processing the images you take on the fly. Such is the cause of the delay.
What version you're running , do you try to use any third-party camera app results may vary , did you increase exposure value, try to reser all camera setting to default
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
msasm09 said:
What version you're running , do you try to use any third-party camera app results may vary , did you increase exposure value, try to reser all camera setting to default
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got it sorted out. In not so bright conditions the pictures start breaking and by turning on smart stabilisation it gets fixed. Credit goes to the last persom who explained. Best explanation ever. Hats off to u
Sent from my SM-N900 using XDA Free mobile app

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