My camera showdown! OPO vs Nexus5 vs i6+ - ONE General

Welcome to my camera comparison!
2/15/2015 - Updated to include the iPhone 4s, for people who were offended by comparing the flagship killer to a flagship which is newer and twice as expensive (this, despite all flagships being more expensive than the OPO, and the Nexus 6 for example—which uses the same sensor as the OPO—being both newer and more expensive).
Landscape
Great Lighting
Indoors Person
Indoors Fine Detail
All pictures were taken at highest quality with autofocus. For each scenario I provided a gallery of 8 shots:
- OPO AUTO = OnePlus One, stock camera, Auto mode
- OPO HDR = OnePlus One, stock camera, HDR mode
- OPO GOOGLE AUTO = OnePlus One, Google Camera, HDR disabled
- OPO GOOGLE HDR = OnePlus One, Google Camera, HDR enabled
- 6PLUS AUTO = iPhone 6 Plus, stock camera, HDR disabled
- 6PLUS HDR = iPhone 6 Plus, stock camera, HDR enabled
- NEXUS5 AUTO = Nexus 5, stock camera, HDR disabled
- NEXUS5 HDR = Nexus 5, stock camera, HDR enabled
My thoughts:
If I had to choose one, it would be the iPhone 6 Plus without a second thought. It opens in one second, has OIS and catpures an HDR shot in a split second, captures more low light detail in either mode regardless of overall lighting, and in general it captures fine detail better than the OPO (check the keyboard in the Indoor Fine Detail gallery) or, at worst, the same albiet with better color reproduction. Between the OPO with either camera app, and the Nexus 5, I find the Nexus 5 to be preferable because it has OIS which means I'm able to get more fine detail than the OPO despite the OPO's higher resolution, and further the Nexus 5 is able to pull more detail out of the highlights and shadows of shots that have extremes of both (like a foreground subject backlit by a bright sky). Overall the OPO camera is incredibly disappointing; It takes forever to take HDR shots or Clear Image shots, and I can't get consistently good shots in any mode with any camera app. What's more, the only time OPO doesn't seem like it has an 8MP shooter is in Clear Image mode, which is unfortunately plagued by being as inconsistent as any other shot by the OPO in any other mode with any other camera app. In dim-ish to low light, you'd be better off drawing a picture by hand than trying to capture anything useful with the OPO.

I've taken some really fantastic shots with the stock camera on my OPO, I honestly believe it's just a matter of knowing how to use it and playing to its strengths.
Transmitted via Bacon

timmaaa said:
I've taken some really fantastic shots with the stock camera on my OPO, I honestly believe it's just a matter of knowing how to use it and playing to its strengths.
Transmitted via Bacon
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These camera shootouts and other comparisons have always been useless IMO. The OPO has consistently taken great photos for me; knowing the angles the camera needs to capture more light and using some common sense about where to take photos goes a long way. If being able to snap a photo anywhere is a must for you buy a DSLR
Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

Renosh said:
These camera shootouts and other comparisons have always been useless IMO.
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It's just an objective demonstration and comparison. If it's of no use to you then who am I to complain. It is what it is.

timmaaa said:
some really fantastic shots...it's just a matter of knowing how.
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I'm not here to talk **** about the OPO camera, even if I do think it's terrible. I did the comparison for myself (and decided to publish it after the fact) precisely because I think it's terrible. So to me it's curious how people are happy to defend it. For example, your statement is the opposite of what a marketing team would want to say, and I'm sure it's the opposite of what smartphone camera software engineers aim for. These are intended to be point and shoot, not for people who "just know how." Per OPO's own ad, it's supposed to take "astounding shots, any time, day or night, without suffering the problems of other cameras." Without a doubt the nighttime performance of this camera is horrendous, but even it's automatic performance falls short. The fact that you have to wrestle it into submission even during reasonable conditions is a testament to how far they missed the mark with this.

.psd said:
I'm not here to talk **** about the OPO camera, even if I do think it's terrible. I did the comparison for myself (and decided to publish it after the fact) precisely because I think it's terrible. So to me it's curious how people are happy to defend it. For example, your statement is the opposite of what a marketing team would want to say, and I'm sure it's the opposite of what smartphone camera software engineers aim for. These are intended to be point and shoot, not for people who "just know how." Per OPO's own ad, it's supposed to take "astounding shots, any time, day or night, without suffering the problems of other cameras." Without a doubt the nighttime performance of this camera is horrendous, but even it's automatic performance falls short. The fact that you have to wrestle it into submission even during reasonable conditions is a testament to how far they missed the mark with this.
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You were claiming you're making an objective comparison yet you were biased from the beginning. Nice try though. You probably half assed your way to get the results you expected.
Using marketing ads to form an opinion is dumb, they'll all exaggerate. Use the camera figure out it's strengths and enjoy it. I don't have the luxury of a secondary phone. Came from a G2 though and it took similarly good photos. Still had to figure out angles and right conditions to take shots, as well as a steady hand helps. Only camera that I've had that was downright abysmal was the Nexus 4.
Next time you wanna compare phones do it for yourself to make a choice on which phone to keep or whatever reason you did it. There are tons of sites like gsmarena that do these comparisons. Once you start comparing anything between phones instead of liking something for what it can offer, it never ends
Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

.psd said:
I'm not here to talk **** about the OPO camera, even if I do think it's terrible. I did the comparison for myself (and decided to publish it after the fact) precisely because I think it's terrible. So to me it's curious how people are happy to defend it. For example, your statement is the opposite of what a marketing team would want to say, and I'm sure it's the opposite of what smartphone camera software engineers aim for. These are intended to be point and shoot, not for people who "just know how." Per OPO's own ad, it's supposed to take "astounding shots, any time, day or night, without suffering the problems of other cameras." Without a doubt the nighttime performance of this camera is horrendous, but even it's automatic performance falls short. The fact that you have to wrestle it into submission even during reasonable conditions is a testament to how far they missed the mark with this.
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I'm not trying to defend it, it has flaws, like any smartphone camera does. For example, Samsung shots are over-saturated and look awful. Nexus 5 HDR shots are too aggressive and look ridiculous (but then again, 99% of smartphone users have no idea what HDR is, how it works, how to use it, or even when you should be using it, they just use it because they think the result "looks cool"). Like the other fella said, forget whatever the marketing guys say because they're paid uber dollars to make you want something. They exaggerate, they lie.
Transmitted via Bacon

its amazing what coloros has on camera quality. It blows cm or cm s out of the water
Sent from my A0001 using XDA Free mobile app

bachera said:
its amazing what coloros has on camera quality. It blows cm or cm s out of the water
Sent from my A0001 using XDA Free mobile app
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And now you can use it on CM.
Transmitted via Bacon

timmaaa said:
And now you can use it on CM.
Transmitted via Bacon
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am testing it haha
Sent from my A0001 using XDA Free mobile app

Thanks for your comparison. To really compare the picures, I think you guys should download them and watch them on your PC.
I will do so later, so I won't comment on them now.
Speedwise I can say, the opo camera from latest OTA opens in one second too.
I made a small collection of pictures where I think they are caught really good. These are by far not the best motives, just some examples to show what
can be achieved with a smartphone camera. All taken with the standard camera app, some are auto, some hdr, I think it is visible which are which...
Would you call them incredibly disappointing?
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/72qofxzgo2d9tjg/AAARPpNIsAQFkFPFAK3k87joa?dl=0
and no, these were not the best shots taken out of 20 made, but basically the only ones I took in these situations, especially at the Harry Potter expo which was really crowded!
Download them, as they are badly compressed when opened through dropbox online.

I can't believe people are so down on this comparison just because of its conclusions. Especially because I agree 100%. Nexus 5 camera was better than the OPO's, which is a huge disappointment to me.
All this nonsense about finding the right angle, etc, is just that - nonsense. Yes, it is good to know the limitations of the hardware and do your best to overcome them, but that doesn't mean the limitations are OK and you shouldn't acknowledge them/"stop complaining".
Both on XDA and the OPO forums there is always a huge amount of backlash against any criticism of this phone and the company, and I think that's really terrible. The OPO is a good phone but it isn't perfect and it and the company are certainly not above reproach.
The OPO camera subsystem in particular was poorly designed. 13mp with 6 lenses sounds great, but without OIS it falls down against camera's whose spec sheets don't read as nice.

The iPhone 6+ should be expected to take better pictures, being a generation newer and 2.5x the cost. This isn't exactly a level playing field.

Renosh said:
You were claiming you're making an objective comparison yet you were biased from the beginning. I don't have the luxury of a secondary phone.
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The comparison is objective. My opinion doesn't bear on the actual content of any given picture, and the fact that reviewers tend to agree with my assessment is just coincidence. I went in open minded because, unlike you, I do have the luxury of having other devices. Here's the thing: almost any camera can take a good shot "sometimes" or "if you use it right", but the reason marketers don't say "this is an incredible smartphone camera sometimes, if you use it right" is because that's basically the same as saying, "as a flagship killer smartphone camera, this misses the mark."
CafeKampuchia said:
The iPhone 6+ should be expected to take better pictures, being a generation newer and 2.5x the cost. This isn't exactly a level playing field.
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What if the iPhone 4s on iOS 6—cheaper and older by far—performs better, or at least favorably? What would you say then? And what about the Nexus 5—older and the same price (cheaper used)?
Anyways, I should have clarified in the OP that I did this comparison for myself because I own the phones and it seemed the OPO camera was terrible compared to my memory of the Nexus 5, so I wanted to test my memory against reality. I only published it after the fact in case others might find value in it.

AcmE85 said:
I made a small collection of pictures where I think they are caught really good.
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Appreciated, but of course we don't know how other cameras would have performed...

I originally came from a Nexus 5, and I agree that for general day to day use I would rather have the Nexus 5 camera. OIS makes a huge difference, and the google camera software works well, however it is quite limited when it comes to features (like setting exposure times and what not, this is where the OPO camera is better). Really not surprised that the iPhone 6+ delivers the best results all around, as this was the consensus among internet reviews.
I honestly think that the OPO's camera performance is moreso a result of poor software optimization more than anything (other than the lack of OIS). I have used CM for previous phones (samsungs, HTC) and I always found picture quality to be worse on CM than on stock software. And for those bashing the comparison, if you are gonna call yourself a "flagship killer", be prepared to be compared to said flagships.

A bunch of crap.
Had a N5 before and the picture quality can't compare. Learn to take pics and don't blame the lack of OIS.
The OPO camera is one of the best ones on Android's out there. Everyone say's that, but there is always some lame cheap ass with a lame crappy test trying to prove everybody is wrong.
And yes my opinion is not gonna change based on biased tests. I had two of the devices compared up there and clearly the N5 camera is a piece of crap on quality.
IPhone > Top tier Samsungs > OPO > lots of devices > Nexus

lordneopt said:
A bunch of crap.
Had a N5 before and the picture quality can't compare. Learn to take pics and don't blame the lack of OIS.
The OPO camera is one of the best ones on Android's out there. Everyone say's that, but there is always some lame cheap ass with a lame crappy test trying to prove everybody is wrong.
And yes my opinion is not gonna change based on biased tests. I had two of the devices compared up there and clearly the N5 camera is a piece of crap on quality.
IPhone > Top tier Samsungs > OPO > lots of devices > Nexus
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I feel like saying "learn to take pics" doesn't make sense - if the OP doesn't know how to take pics, their incompetence is constant over all devices ... in which case the comparison is still valid :highfive:

I didn't come here to defend the OPO camera, I've made a bunch of ****ty pictures with it myself, but in this test I actually like the OPO pictures the most. I downloaded them to check if maybe it's only because I'm looking at a downsized version, but even so they really seem the best.
I actually think this is one of the most OPO favoring comparisons I have seen.
You did name them correct, right?

MarkusLi said:
I didn't come here to defend the OPO camera, I've made a bunch of ****ty pictures with it myself, but in this test I actually like the OPO pictures the most. I downloaded them to check if maybe it's only because I'm looking at a downsized version, but even so they really seem the best.
I actually think this is one of the most OPO favoring comparisons I have seen.
You did name them correct, right?
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Ya they're named properly, I was very careful about that (I'm sure the metadata will confirm as well). Anyway you seem reasonable, you even gave the pictures a close inspection; and I'm not here to fight either, so I'm curious whether you feel the OPO outperformed objectively (and if so, where), or if you just like its pictures best subjectively?
Off topic: I've done the iPhone 4s pictures too now, I'll upload them tomorrow. Spoiler alert: 4s does a damn fine job for a 3.5 year old phone without HDR on a 2.5 year old OS (I keep it on iOS 6 because **** an iPhone 4s on iOS 7 or higher). Figured I'd do it for the haters saying its unfair to compare the OPO to newer, more expensive devices.

Related

HTC risked itself unnecessarily with the 4 ultrapixels camera

I think HTC could have been a big contender to the galaxy S IV but will be dismissed by the average consumer because of the "poor" 4 ultrapixel camera, i dont get how a company struggling to sell would do such a thing , i love that they took a risk but maybe they should have waited until they had profits again, what do you think people is going to do when they go to buy a phone and see that the camera on the one is "just" 4 megapixels vs 13 megapixels on the galaxy S IV?
8 ultrapixels would have been great, also the daylight pictures are less than spectacular, the one x/xl takes better pictures at daylight ,lets see how turns out for HTC, i fear it wont be the best outcome :crying: , such a shame that "the best" will lose
So far seeing pictures taken against the iPhone 5, Galaxy S4, etc... I think they made the right choice. It takes some really nice pictures.
You are ignorant, HTC One along with Lumia taking the best photos in market at the moment. before coming up with a topic like that learn to check to results please.
But yeah, one thing is clear, people like you will think "hmm, 4 mp is bad i should get S4 because of that" and get S4. That is the only downside of the idea. Which I'm hoping wouldn't be a problem because noone is telling that it is 4 mp, they are marketting it as Ultrapixel Camera as a whole phrase, which is working relatively well.
You are right. While the tests seem to show, that the camera is really awesome and isn't worser than the 13 MP one the majority of people are still getting their phones direct from the store and deciding basically from the specs and the general appearance. I hope HTC will profit at least from their design and aluminium body this year.
Only ignorant consumers purchase items based on just numbers...
Education is key.
Many reviews show that its the second best on the market, after 808 and just beating the N95. Lesser pixels are also needed to process in the Zoe mode. So my conclusion will be it isn't a "poor" or "unnecessary" change. In fact, it's proving to be one of the best cameras (obviously if you don't print your photographs in full size)
Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2
Dharkan said:
You are ignorant, HTC One along with Lumia taking the best photos in market at the moment. before coming up with a topic like that learn to check to results please.
But yeah, one thing is clear, people like you will think "hmm, 4 mp is bad i should get S4 because of that" and get S4. That is the only downside of the idea. Which I'm hoping wouldn't be a problem because noone is telling that it is 4 mp, they are marketting it as Ultrapixel Camera as a whole phrase, which is working relatively well.
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That true no one has told me its a 4mp camera in shops, they say 4 ultra pixel.
Also when I played with the phone and compared pics to the xz and and s3 etc it blew them away which is one of the reasons there is a lovely silver HTC One sitting on my desk charging right now.
Also regarding charging, battery life for me so far is great: seeing as I had to send stuff to the phone yesterday it got charged to 61% before I took if off the usb at aprrox 1.30pm yesterday and started using it: screen 30% bright, power saver on, all connections off unless I need them, playing some music, generally looking at the phone, a bit of internet browsing, mostly phone calls and texts and the battery was on 6% at about 10 am this morning and I went to bed at 2am.
Btw the this is the same pattern i do for all phones I have 30% brightness and power saver. I will be able to properly judge when its actually charged to 100% though and compare it to my others phones bar the note 2 where it will clearly lose.
Actually there is still noise in the images on the 4MP sensor, but less than a 13MP for sure in low light.
HTC made a deliberate decision that a phone camera is more utilized to pictures of family, friends when you go out somewhere like a restaurant, bar etc. In those circumstances good low light performance is essential and you don't need (in fact you don't want) to see the highest resolution possible on people's faces etc
You only really need 13MP when you are shooting landscape. In the case of Sony, they try and incorporate a camera that is more aimed towards tourist pictures. During the daylight, the resolution advantage will be clear to see on detailed scenes.
Personally, I do not use my phone as a replacement for a good camera. I use it exactly as HTC considered, incidental photos when out with friends and to keep memories of those occasions.
Having said that, it is not the best 4MP sensor...it should really have been even better (less noise). So while I think HTC did play a gamble here, and to some extent, there is a good amount of logic behind their decision...the implementation is still not as good as I would have hoped. It is just possible that software updates will improve its performance further.
R89SONY said:
which is one of the reasons there is a lovely silver HTC One sitting on my desk charging right now.
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Amen!
jonstatt said:
Actually there is still noise in the images on the 4MP sensor, but less than a 13MP for sure in low light.
HTC made a deliberate decision that a phone camera is more utilized to pictures of family, friends when you go out somewhere like a restaurant, bar etc. In those circumstances good low light performance is essential and you don't need (in fact you don't want) to see the highest resolution possible on people's faces etc
You only really need 13MP when you are shooting landscape. In the case of Sony, they try and incorporate a camera that is more aimed towards tourist pictures. During the daylight, the resolution advantage will be clear to see on detailed scenes.
Personally, I do not use my phone as a replacement for a good camera. I use it exactly as HTC considered, incidental photos when out with friends and to keep memories of those occasions.
Having said that, it is not the best 4MP sensor...it should really have been even better (less noise). So while I think HTC did play a gamble here, and to some extent, there is a good amount of logic behind their decision...the implementation is still not as good as I would have hoped. It is just possible that software updates will improve its performance further.
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The noise problem was with prerelease software, if you see the photos now, there's way much less noise
From USA Gizmodo:
Another pleasant surprise: the camera's UltraPixels actually live up to the hype. In our testing the One performed as well as if not better than the top smartphone shooters out there (check out our comparison). It also took better low-light (read: in bars) photos than any phone I've used, and I was extremely impressed by how accurate the color rendering was. Now, if you're planning on printing your photos on 8x10s, maybe you'll miss the extra megapixels, but who really does that with their phone cam? For the web, you won't be able to tell the difference in resolution, and you will be able to tell the difference in low-light.
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Check out the photo thread
NiCk.JaY said:
The noise problem was with prerelease software, if you see the photos now, there's way much less noise
Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2
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I have one...I still see some noise. I am not saying it is bad. Just I guess I had such high expectations that it would take super clean images.
jonstatt said:
I have one...I still see some noise. I am not saying it is bad. Just I guess I had such high expectations that it would take super clean images.
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Have you updated it to the latest version? Because the pics from Gizmodo, Engadget, Verge are superb
SteelH said:
Only ignorant consumers purchase items based on just numbers...
Education is key.
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This. Also quality beats quantity!
Sent from my HTC One V using Tapatalk 2
NiCk.JaY said:
Have you updated it to the latest version? Because the pics from Gizmodo, Engadget, Verge are superb
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There is no update. I definitely have the most current release on the phone. I think it was just my expectations were too high. Don't get me wrong, it takes great pics.
I think that it will be very important for in-store signage of the HTC One show the comparison of the HTCs photo quality against "the others". They can't leave it to the uninformed general public or the uninformed sales staff to simply look at point form notes on the phone spec
AW: HTC risked itself unnecessarily with the 4 ultrapixels camera
And... Megapixels are nothing. It is all about the sensor and the lense. It is time to stop that Megapixel hype... Just look at the S4... 13mp on a damn small sensor, I guess you will not see a difference between my 1S and the S4...
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app
4mp should of NEVER been banded about because in work people were going 'Omg the HTC ONE only has a 4mp camera.... who would want that' and then you have to explain it to them etc....
It was a risk but it should of just been left at 'Ultrapixel' and not compared to a megapixel count.
x3
I personally as a Photographer like their decission.
Remember the Foveon X3 Chip. If HTC manages to get something more out of that technique, they will get much better results.
At first saw no difference with the quality from the x. Now after a few dozen photos. There is a difference.close up shots capture loads of detail
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
First of all, I think that HTC from the quality point of view made the right decision. The camera appears better than sufficient - for the ordinary smartphone user that is. HTC's approach is different, I think: Remember "Friend Stream" in Sense? Now it is "Blinkfeed". My impression is that HTC bets on that users will shoot more photos if the photos can be uploaded to FB and other social networks quicker and thus in bigger numbers thanks to their smaller size. Photos go up easier to the Dropbox storage, too. The camera with 4 megapixels only is really more usable.
In the end the photo quality debate is a "luxury issue", the "ordinary" customer will not see a quality issue in the images. But the fact that he/she can really easily share their photos shot with the One - which they in real life can't with photos from their Samsung and other phones due to the sheer size of the images - this must be communicated to the customer. In addition, 32 GB built in storage on the One due to the difference in size of the camera's images in real life equal 50 GB storage on the Samsung.
To my opinion, therefore the success of the HTC One is not so dependent on the question whether 13 megapixels are better than 4 (or vice versa), but on the question whether they succeed in explaining the potential of smaller image files to the masses. My serious concern is, that even HTC and their marketing people are not aware really, what HTC's development department had in mind.

[Discussion] Camera firmware

I've came across Note2, S4, G2 and now I'm on Z1. And I've expected for camera to be top out of those, but left disappointed. I feel like hardware could do so much more, but that camera firmware is so.. so... Nah, don't even have word for it. It's like Krait 400 clocked at 0.5 GHz.
What was Sony thinking?
Colors are off, there's too much noise, no option for wide 16MP, or something like that, white balance is off... It's mess!
If Samsung had this sensor, I feel like it would rock 1020 with it's firmware.. Do you feel same?
Yes,I guess so.
Did you try the manual mode and playing with the ISO?
Sent from my C6603 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
The Developers will improve the software soon. Anyway I still one from many disappointed. The hardware is ok, software from Sony sucks.
Eclyptos : The camera software from Sony DOESN'T SUCK! It just needs improvement. If it would suck, you wouldn't be able to take such good pictures in manual mode (check the forum in the Z1 camera tests).
But that requires some knoledge ...
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
bogdan wst said:
Eclyptos : The camera software from Sony DOESN'T SUCK! It just needs improvement. If it would suck, you wouldn't be able to take such good pictures in manual mode (check the forum in the Z1 camera tests).
But that requires some knoledge ...
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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HElp me with this what settings do you use in manual to get good pics??
very disappointed
im very disappointed with cam of my Z1, very very noise specialy in colors more dark, im waiting a lot of updates for cam.... noise, wide 16 for example.. and others
,,,,,,
cooldude9119 said:
HElp me with this what settings do you use in manual to get good pics??
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Lol, go read photographing forums, same rules apply for all cameras, here is not the place to learn how to shoot.
Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk
It really.isn't.that bad. Sure, the 1020 is better but it's probably the best Android camera (Sony was with the Xperia S too).
It.does have issues.in auto mode.when.in iffy conditions but you.can get amazing results with this phone!
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app
highly disappointed, the camera is designed by the cybershot team man, how can it be so crappy. imagine processing is one thing, the functionality is a complete joke, 20 MP only then 8MP? Not even a 16MP 16:9 or 16MP 4:3. The sensor size would probably be great for 16MP photos, but 20MP is probably a bit too much. The auto mode is complete trash too, only time I ever get good shot is only under perfect light condition. Unless they are still trying to iron out a few things, or the cybershot team lacks experience writing software for ARM processor or something. There is no excuse of it being as what it is now. And it was out for a while and we still don't see any major improvement what so ever, they should be ashame of themselves.
Looks like not everyone disagrees with me like they did on my post here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2562211
Oh well, maybe the will improve it on the upcoming 14.2.A.1.114 firmware update.
Man I don't know why people complain so much about the camera! Maybe I'm just lucky but my phone takes absolutely brilliant pics! I threw a few pics onto a massive Samsung smart TV not so long ago and I was blown away by the quality! Sure it struggles a bit in low ligting conditions but honestly it's still good for a phone, I think people were expecting DSLR quality pics when they bought this phone or expecting it to be the same as a Sony Cybershot point and shoot camera? By comparison to the two cameras I mentioned, it will never be on par with those because it has a much smaller sensor. For what it is (a phone camera) it is brilliant.
I'm not denying that there is definite room for improvement on the software side but honestly currently it's still a killer camera (if you know how to use it properly)
I don't understand why people are so nit picky about this phone, people have ripped it to shreds over small details but at the end of the day it's a killer android phone worthy to be a flagship device. I know other's have had issues with displays... blah blah blah. Infact I did too, I had a tiny dead pixel on mine the first time I turned it on, sent it back and they gave me a replacement no questions asked! My point is, if you're so unhappy about the device then just sell it and buy another phone or if there's a fault with it then get it fixed or replaced under warranty instead of ripping the phone to shreds
NanoSurfer said:
Man I don't know why people complain so much about the camera! Maybe I'm just lucky but my phone takes absolutely brilliant pics! I threw a few pics onto a massive Samsung smart TV not so long ago and I was blown away by the quality! Sure it struggles a bit in low ligting conditions but honestly it's still good for a phone, I think people were expecting DSLR quality pics when they bought this phone or expecting it to be the same as a Sony Cybershot point and shoot camera? By comparison to the two cameras I mentioned, it will never be on par with those because it has a much smaller sensor. For what it is (a phone camera) it is brilliant.
I'm not denying that there is definite room for improvement on the software side but honestly currently it's still a killer camera (if you know how to use it properly)
I don't understand why people are so nit picky about this phone, people have ripped it to shreds over small details but at the end of the day it's a killer android phone worthy to be a flagship device. I know other's have had issues with displays... blah blah blah. Infact I did too, I had a tiny dead pixel on mine the first time I turned it on, sent it back and they gave me a replacement no questions asked! My point is, if you're so unhappy about the device then just sell it and buy another phone or if there's a fault with it then get it fixed or replaced under warranty instead of ripping the phone to shreds
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It's not the camera that itself that people are complaining about. It's the auto mode. I think some of us know that it takes great photos with the right manual settings but what is the point of having the Auto mode if it doesn't work properly?
I really want to love this phone as it is probably the most elegant device out there, has excellent battery life, and the performance is one of the best but it's the unpredictable auto mode on the camera that bugs the crap out of me and most of the people who are not happy about the camera.
soulreaver99 said:
It's not the camera that itself that people are complaining about. It's the auto mode. I think some of us know that it takes great photos with the right manual settings but what is the point of having the Auto mode if it doesn't work properly?
I really want to love this phone as it is probably the most elegant device out there, has excellent battery life, and the performance is one of the best but it's the unpredictable auto mode on the camera that bugs the crap out of me and most of the people who are not happy about the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok yes, on that point I agree with you. Auto mode could be better. Im 100% sure that Sony keeps an eye on this forum as we are the most critical users out there, the average Joe probably doesn't care much about the camera and uses the phone for texting and calls so my point is they are aware of it and they will address it, give them time. They heard our screams with the bootloader fiasco! Btw Samsung wouldn't have even cared less about the issue but Sony does, so just wait for them to sort the software issues out.
First of all, Merry Christmas everyone
I've been shooting some photos yesterday and conclusion is this. Night or low light photos (indoors) looks awful, but daylight photos looks fantastic even on front facing camera. But, it's not proportional how awesome day photos looks like. I mean, there's so much detail, colors are good, and wb is just fine, but at night, there is so much noise, artifacts on front camera.. It's impossible that hardware is one to blame..
I sure hope Sony will fix it in new firmware update..
cooldude9119 said:
HElp me with this what settings do you use in manual to get good pics??
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Click to collapse
It's not the camera, it's the photographer.... Seriously, how do you expect us to give you the right settings we don't even know what the subject is, the lighting you have, etc... Before complaining, learn about photography and what each setting does and maybe you will take better pictures.
Sent from my C6903 using xda premium
I agree with u all… its just the SA that needs tunning. The manual mode is great for people who knows how to treat it
Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk
Noise, noise, noise.....
My xperia T takes way far better pictures....
When they ask your money for "the best camera phone" (lol) they should give you at least something a little better than the previous flagship, not worse....
I agree that the camera takes some good pictures here and there but when you zoom in the quality goes to.....
NanoSurfer said:
Man I don't know why people complain so much about the camera!
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Click to collapse
They don't want to take the effort to get better shots. One decent shot in the photo thread is all it takes to debunk them. Hardest thing to figure out is lighting. Get that right and the shots are fantastic. Same applies to any camera.
NanoSurfer said:
I think people were expecting DSLR quality pics when they bought this phone or expecting it to be the same as a Sony Cybershot point and shoot camera? By comparison to the two cameras I mentioned, it will never be on par with those because it has a much smaller sensor. For what it is (a phone camera) it is brilliant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was looking at the cybershot line and the bulk of them come with 1/2.3" sensors only the RX100 uses a 1 inch sensor. Meaning its around 4x bigger with carl zeiss glass.
The advantage these PS have is the optical zoom. But do they work well in auto in the hands of some one that cannot take a photo. No. Was just looking at vacation pics a friend took and so many of them were out of focus. Her compact has the same sensor size but only the outdoors photos come out ok. There is quite some noise in a double tap on the tab. Again using auto, indoors it uses a lower shutter speed and i was apalled to see 5/10 shots coming out blurred. The flash blows everybody away. When it does not you get a decent shot.
Indoors in artificial lighting in sub par lighting any compact size sensor is going to struggle. The hardest are indoors subpar lighting where you're forced to use the flash to avoid blur. Have to use higher ISOs in this case, no you won't be able to avoid noise but you will get better shots ie more natural than with a flash.
NanoSurfer said:
I don't understand why people are so nit picky about this phone, people have ripped it to shreds over small details but at the end of the day it's a killer android phone worthy to be a flagship device. I know other's have had issues with displays... blah blah blah. Infact I did too, I had a tiny dead pixel on mine the first time I turned it on, sent it back and they gave me a replacement no questions asked! My point is, if you're so unhappy about the device then just sell it and buy another phone or if there's a fault with it then get it fixed or replaced under warranty instead of ripping the phone to shreds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah and then when they get the next device, they'll go spam the respective forum with more *****ing & whining. Take a look around the board and every camera gets bashed. This is normal. Expect it and ignore it.
Bandwidth bandits the lot of 'em
The reason we all expected this to be a great camera, is because Sony told us it was with all their marketing. I was so excited by the phone. But the camera was the reason I returned it. Otherwise, it is a splendid piece of kit.

Nexus 6 Camera Samples

https://plus.google.com/photos/+DuanDao/albums/6070583356055960369
raazman said:
https://plus.google.com/photos/+DuanDao/albums/6070583356055960369
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They don't look very impressive to say the least... Pictures were taken in Irvine CA. I wonder who has access to a Nexus 6 this early down there?
How do we know these pictures were taken with a Nexus 6?
As far as the pictures go, they are very hit or miss. There are a few decent ones, but the majority of them don't look very good.
msal said:
How do we know these pictures were taken with a Nexus 6?
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Click to collapse
I guess it could be faked but:
Camera shamu
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In photo details.
This is quite disappointing, Nexus cameras aren't known to be amazing but for $649 I'd surely expect more than this.
Click on the posters image. He had the nexus 5 test device.
The colors look oversaturated, which I guess is typical for cell phones (except a handful of the older flagship Nokia phone cameras).
Anyway, preproduction devices often do not have fully calibrated cameras, so I wouldn't put too much stock in how these images look. This person is also clearly not a professional photographer. I don't think any meaningful judgments can be made until reviews come out from some of the better sites for photography in phones.
msal said:
How do we know these pictures were taken with a Nexus 6?
As far as the pictures go, they are very hit or miss. There are a few decent ones, but the majority of them don't look very good.
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The good ones were sadly made w/ an iPhone.
Underwhelmed to say the least.
650+ Should buy a high end everything, especially camera. They could of at least out sourced the camera for that price.
ericerk said:
The good ones were sadly made w/ an iPhone.
Underwhelmed to say the least.
650+ Should buy a high end everything, especially camera. They could of at least out sourced the camera for that price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can you tell it's from an iPhone?
msal said:
How can you tell it's from an iPhone?
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Click to collapse
The Photo details button. It's on the right of the picture.
ericerk said:
The good ones were sadly made w/ an iPhone.
Underwhelmed to say the least.
650+ Should buy a high end everything, especially camera. They could of at least out sourced the camera for that price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand what you're talking about. Motorola doesn't make camera sensors. Neither does Google. Just about every phone manufacturer outsources the camera and there are only a handful of companies that actually make camera sensors for phones. The Nexus 6 has a Sony IMX214 Exmor RS sensor. The Sony sensors are in a lot of phones these days. The Sony sensors aren't bad. And it is absolutely absurd to make any conclusions about the Nexus 6 camera based on a couple random photos, from a bad photographer, on a pre-production device.
That aside, what do people expect anyway? The Nexus 6 has a 1/3 sensor like basically every other phone out there these days (including the iPhone) and that just makes for a mediocre camera. They are all more or less equally mediocre and there's no reason to expect anything different from the Nexus 6. It's not about megapixels, its about the actual physical size of the sensor. Phones have not changed from 1/3 sensors for a long time (because they can't do it and remain thin). Only the OIS is an interesting feature on the Nexus 6.
If you want a good camera, get a Nokia 1020 or Nokia 808 and just deal with the operating systems on those phones. They have huge sensors that are far superior to anything and everything else. Even five year old Nokia cameras, like in the N86, have much larger sensors than every phone out there. The only single exception is the Galaxy S5, which has a 1/2.5 sensor like the five year old N86, but the S5 is still nowhere remotely close to the 1020 or 808.
Those are your real choices. Everyone else has just thrown their hands in the air and excepted "good enough" cameras, because they'd rather make the phones super thin, than put good sensors in them. Superficial numbers and specs change, but phone cameras really are not progressing anymore. (Even Nokia has dropped the ball, now that Damian Dinning, the person behind the great cameras at Nokia like the 808, has left the company and the cell phone business.)
cb474 said:
I don't understand what you're talking about. Motorola doesn't make camera sensors. Neither does Google. Just about every phone manufacturer outsources the camera and there are only a handful of companies that actually make camera sensors for phones. The Nexus 6 has a Sony IMX214 Exmor RS sensor. The Sony sensors are in a lot of phones these days. The Sony sensors aren't bad. And it is absolutely absurd to make any conclusions about the Nexus 6 camera based on a couple random photos, from a bad photographer, on a pre-production device.
That aside, what do people expect anyway? The Nexus 6 has a 1/3 sensor like basically every other phone out there these days (including the iPhone) and that just makes for a mediocre camera. They are all more or less equally mediocre and there's no reason to expect anything different from the Nexus 6. It's not about megapixels, its about the actual physical size of the sensor. Phones have not changed from 1/3 sensors for a long time (because they can't do it and remain thin). Only the OIS is an interesting feature on the Nexus 6.
If you want a good camera, get a Nokia 1020 or Nokia 808 and just deal with the operating systems on those phones. They have huge sensors that are far superior to anything and everything else. Even five year old Nokia cameras, like in the N86, have much larger sensors than every phone out there. The only single exception is the Galaxy S5, which has a 1/2.5 sensor like the five year old N86, but the S5 is still nowhere remotely close to the 1020 or 808.
Those are your real choices. Everyone else has just thrown their hands in the air and excepted "good enough" cameras, because they'd rather make the phones super thin, than put good sensors in them. Superficial numbers and specs change, but phone cameras really are not progressing anymore. (Even Nokia has dropped the ball, now that Damian Dinning, the person behind the great cameras at Nokia like the 808, has left the company and the cell phone business.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you're saying is fair, but It's not just random bias. I haven't seen a wonderful camera on a Moto phone since.... EVER.
I'm not getting it for the camera, I had the M8... I just want something that has a good camera. Something that doesn't shoot duds. I don't want a potato cam.
ericerk said:
What you're saying is fair, but It's not just random bias. I haven't seen a wonderful camera on a Moto phone since.... EVER.
I'm not getting it for the camera, I had the M8... I just want something that has a good camera. Something that doesn't shoot duds. I don't want a potato cam.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know a lot of people think the Moto cameras recently have been mediocre, but I really think, for the reasons I said, it's making a big deal out of relatively small differences. All of these phones have mediocre cameras with various limitations. The difference between good mediocre and medium mediocre is not that meaningful to me.
Like I said, if you want the best of the middle of the road cameras, get a Galaxy S5. If you want a truly great camera in a phone, get a Nokia 1020 or Nokia 808. Everything else is splitting hairs.
That said, I think the Nexus 6 (and Moto X) will be fine. As noted, it has a 1/3 Sony Exmor sensor, the likes of which can be found in perfectly respectable phones like the iPhone 4 and 5 and the Galaxy S4. It's not one of the newer generation Exmor RS sensors, but the advantages of those sensors has been overplayed. They're mostly still 1/3 sensors and so, whatever. A 1/3 sensor is never going to make for a great camera. But it is the status quo these days so it's not going to be subpar either (like for example the Nexus 4 that has a tiny 1/4 sensor).
cb474 said:
I know a lot of people think the Moto cameras recently have been mediocre, but I really think, for the reasons I said, it's making a big deal out of relatively small differences. All of these phones have mediocre cameras with various limitations. The difference between good mediocre and medium mediocre is not that meaningful to me.
Like I said, if you want the best of the middle of the road cameras, get a Galaxy S5. If you want a truly great camera in a phone, get a Nokia 1020 or Nokia 808. Everything else is splitting hairs.
That said, I think the Nexus 6 (and Moto X) will be fine. As noted, it has a 1/3 Sony Exmor sensor, the likes of which can be found in perfectly respectable phones like the iPhone 4 and 5 and the Galaxy S4. It's not one of the newer generation Exmor RS sensors, but the advantages of those sensors has been overplayed. They're mostly still 1/3 sensors and so, whatever. A 1/3 sensor is never going to make for a great camera. But it is the status quo these days so it's not going to be subpar either (like for example the Nexus 4 that has a tiny 1/4 sensor).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you'd like to chip in on the 700+ I have to put into this phone, I feel the right to have my own opinion on it.
I like a decent cam in the device.
I want to to be up to my standards, now yours. We don't know if this is the final hw version of the camera. We'll see that in a few weeks.
I want a nexus, w/ a non moto esque camera. The N5 was good enough. Except able.
For example the moto X took decent pictures... but they were really bad, and grainy and had weird artifacts. There was grain, and distortion in high light.
The moto x 2014 is crap in low light, the light ring isn't really conducive to light up anything.
The nexus 6 has the same set up, which makes me nervous. The camera is in theory the same as well.
All I'm saying is their track record is bad. Googles been talking about making better cameras on their flag ship devices for ages. So we're hoping w/ this one it's a home run
They weren't restricted in price in this variation. They put in very high end spec, and components. If the camera isn't just as good as the Galaxy S4 I will be upset. Very upset.
The S4 had a wonderful camera.
That's my bench mark.
ericerk said:
If you'd like to chip in on the 700+ I have to put into this phone, I feel the right to have my own opinion on it.
I like a decent cam in the device.
I want to to be up to my standards, now yours. We don't know if this is the final hw version of the camera. We'll see that in a few weeks.
I want a nexus, w/ a non moto esque camera. The N5 was good enough. Except able.
For example the moto X took decent pictures... but they were really bad, and grainy and had weird artifacts. There was grain, and distortion in high light.
The moto x 2014 is crap in low light, the light ring isn't really conducive to light up anything.
The nexus 6 has the same set up, which makes me nervous. The camera is in theory the same as well.
All I'm saying is their track record is bad. Googles been talking about making better cameras on their flag ship devices for ages. So we're hoping w/ this one it's a home run
They weren't restricted in price in this variation. They put in very high end spec, and components. If the camera isn't just as good as the Galaxy S4 I will be upset. Very upset.
The S4 had a wonderful camera.
That's my bench mark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have the right to have your opinion but that doesn't make it a thoughtful opinion.
If you think the Nexus 5 was good enough, with a Sony Exmor IMX179 1/3.2 sensor, than it makes zero sense to think that the Nexus 6 with a newer technically better Sony Exmor IMX214 and slightly larger 1/3.06 sensor is worse, and it makes even less sense to think that the 2nd Gen Moto X with a newer generation Sony Exmor RS IMX135 and also slightly larger 1/3.06 sensor is worse.
People make all these subjective judgements about the cameras in the phones and don't realize that they all have more or less the same sensor in them from Sony.
What's more you based your initial judgement about the Nexus 6 camera on a couple random poorly taken snapshots linked to in the OP, from a pre-prodcution Nexus 6 that may not have even had the same sensor in it as the final production unit.
So yes you have a right to your opinion. But it is a very poorly reasoned, jumping to unfounded conclusions opinion, based on a misunderstanding of the actual sensors in these phones. Wait for a good site, like Dpreview to test the camera in the Nexus 6 or Moto X and then maybe you will have a basis for coming to some sort of conclusion.
But in the end, with the 1/3 sensors, these phones are still going to all be in the same ballpark. People can make a big deal out of minor distinctions, if they want to, but it's silly and not meaningful in real world situations. The reason to spend a lot of money on a phone like this is not for the camera.
cb474 said:
You have the right to have your opinion but that doesn't make it a thoughtful opinion.
If you think the Nexus 5 was good enough, with a Sony Exmor IMX179 1/3.2 sensor, than it makes zero sense to think that the Nexus 6 with a newer technically better Sony Exmor IMX214 and slightly larger 1/3.06 sensor is worse, and it makes even less sense to think that the 2nd Gen Moto X with a newer generation Sony Exmor RS IMX135 and also slightly larger 1/3.06 sensor is worse.
People make all these subjective judgements about the cameras in the phones and don't realize that they all have more or less the same sensor in them from Sony.
What's more you based your initial judgement about the Nexus 6 camera on a couple random poorly taken snapshots linked to in the OP, from a pre-prodcution Nexus 6 that may not have even had the same sensor in it as the final production unit.
So yes you have a right to your opinion. But it is a very poorly reasoned, jumping to unfounded conclusions opinion, based on a misunderstanding of the actual sensors in these phones. Wait for a good site, like Dpreview to test the camera in the Nexus 6 or Moto X and then maybe you will have a basis for coming to some sort of conclusion.
But in the end, with the 1/3 sensors, these phones are still going to all be in the same ballpark. People can make a big deal out of minor distinctions, if they want to, but it's silly and not meaningful in real world situations. The reason to spend a lot of money on a phone like this is not for the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My opinion is based off of the moto x 2014. Nothing concrete has been released about the camera internals that I've seen.
I'm buying this phone even if it doesn't have a camera (That's a lie)
As I note above more than once, the Nexus 6 has the Sony Exmor IMX214 sensor. That information is readily available online. See: http://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/617b3011. This is the same sensor as in the OnePlus One, a phone for which the camera has been praised a lot and the OnePlus One doesn't even have OIS.
That being said, the 2nd Gen Moto X, as I said, has a Sony Exmor RS IMX135. This is the same sensor as in the Galaxy S4, making it completely silly that you're so down on the 2nd Gen Moto X, but hold up the Galaxy S4 as your minimun standard that a phone camera has to meet. The IMX135 can also be found in the LG G3, the LG G2, the Note 3, amongst many other phones, further putting the lie to the idea that there are big differences between the cameras in these phones.
Doesn't camera software also play a role in how well a photo is taken?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
DirgeExtinction said:
Doesn't camera software also play a role in how well a photo is taken?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To some degree yes. But it's relevance is pretty minor. Sometimes there are problems when a phone first comes out that are later corrected in software updates(colors being off one way or another). A lot of phones favor oversaturated colors, instead of more realistic colors, which is something determined by how the image is processed by the phone after it is captured. Some phones apply more sharpening effects, which at first glance make an image look, well, sharper, but actually eliminate some detail in the image (though you will only notice if you zoom all the way in to the pixel level--which is not what most people are doing, most people are downsizing images to send to people and therefore eliminating most of quality of the image to begin with). But again, this is all fiddling around the edges to compensate for what are essentially very small sensors that are simply physically limited in what they can do.
Also, these software effects are pretty much all things that can be changed in post-processing on a computer, so they are not ultimate limitations to the images that can be produced with a particular phone. But the sensor is such a limitation, there is no getting beyond what it is or is not possible with a paritcular sensor.
Looks like we're gonna get another mediocre camera in a Nexus device, nothing abnormal here. I don't mind too much, I rarely, if ever, use my phone as a camera. If I anticipate taking photos, I'll bring a real, decent camera with me. Otherwise the mediocre shots from the Nexus'll be just fine.
Was kind of hoping that they'd get the camera right this time, though. I would have been nice, especially for others who rely on it more, but it seems they put their money elsewhere.
PewPewK said:
Looks like we're gonna get another mediocre camera in a Nexus device, nothing abnormal here. I don't mind too much, I rarely, if ever, use my phone as a camera. If I anticipate taking photos, I'll bring a real, decent camera with me. Otherwise the mediocre shots from the Nexus'll be just fine.
Was kind of hoping that they'd get the camera right this time, though. I would have been nice, especially for others who rely on it more, but it seems they put their money elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you look at my posts above? The Nexus 6 has the same Sony camera sensor as the OnePlus One, which a lot of people have praised for it's photos. Plus it has OIS. Yes the Nexus 5 and especially the Nexus 4 had subpar cameras, by today's standards. But the Nexus 6 is pretty much on a par with all other flagships out there. It should be a step up (on a par with the LG G3, iPhone, Galaxy S4, etc.).
That being said, as I've argued above, all of the latest flagship phones these days have mediocre cameras, because of their 1/3 sensors, so in that sense the Nexus 6 will be no different. The only truly good flagship phone camera is the Galaxy S5, which has a larger 1/2.5 sensor. And the only phones with what could be called next generation, big step forward cameras, are the Nokia 1020 and the Nokia 808, with huge 1/1.5 and 1/1.2 sensors (respectively), mechanicals shutters, and other advances way beyond anything else.
But I think there's no reason to be down on the Nexus 6 for it's camera. It's keeping up with the pack.

HTC One M9 Camera discussion (not for photo samples)

Albert Poon said:
May I ask you guys with M9 to take pics using manual mode? A tripod, phone holder, low ISO, long explosure to take some night views?
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This was missing in the flickr album. Long exposure 1/4, 1/2 or 1s shots. And please use flickr so we can see exifs easily. board attachments and imgur strip exifs out. I notice the phonearena samples have no exifs in them at all.
Though i have to say i like this one. Just enough silhouette to set the mood.
ISO 80 and 1/40 WHAT!!! for late afternoon Seattle in winter. I can't tell if its HDR or not.
---------- Post added at 09:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:43 PM ----------
xxquicksh0txx said:
https://plus.google.com/10388377056...6126393456474303042&oid=103883770561517758752 Link to the beetle picture on his Google+ with a resolution of 1108 x 625. Definitely cropped/compressed
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Click to collapse
Taken with VSCO cam, ISO 50, 1/268. So ample light.
Also used flash. Sharpness is set to soft.
A nice photo.
---------- Post added at 09:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:17 PM ----------
vegetaleb said:
Here a comparison of crop between M9 and Note 4 in not very low light conditions taken by the Tweakers review, you can clearly see the superiority of the Note 4 in the details like the logos of Goodyear and the wheel:
I know it's not final software but this M9 camera is giving the same results the SE C905 could give 6 years ago
M9
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"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Note 4
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Note 4 is ISO 400, 1/10
M9 is ISO 640, 1/14
About half a f-stop difference.
What if the M9 tried to get that with ISO 300 ie ISO 200 +0.3 at 1/7 ? or go slower still ISO100+0.3 at 1/3 ? can't do these tricks with the note, slowest it will get is 1/8 and then its auto night mode kicks in which did not happen in this picture. S5 & note 4 have improved their low light capability over their predecessors in auto but i bet you can come close to matching it if not exceeding it with manual on m9.
Light in this shot is quite low btw.
th3 said:
This obsession is what makes every product better in every field, than its predecessor.
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Click to collapse
That pair is not as important as you think it is and that applies for all with good light.
Where this 'trounces' occurs is in low light. I've already said what needs to be done.
Without this obsession, there can be no better or worse product, and you'll still be saying "good enough" to the HTC Desire camera
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Click to collapse
with macros yeah i would because there is no difference there. I've seen three year old devices do excellent macros. Hint: macros are not a good demonstration of what the latest camera can do.
The only real innovation we've had in sensors is BSI over the last two years. More sensitive in low light. You couldn't do that with 2013 devices, m7 was the sole exception. The rest is processing, how much of it or lack thereof.
On a more general level the trick with these devices is to know when to compromise and when to be maximalist. There is no perfect device so what you end up with is what you can tolerate over what you cannot do without. Every device has this trade off. Unfortunately you are alone with making this decision. Unless you are lucky to find others whose requirements match yours closely. Now do you see why i said minor. its minor in a larger context.
What you're saying... 'Moving the goalpost' it's called. Common trick.
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Click to collapse
no tricks. calling it straight.
i don't trust auto.That on some devices its always flawless is a myth. auto goes wrong even on dslrs. what will you do then ? blame the device or your own ignorance. better to understand why and what went wrong and then fix it. and you can.
What i'm sensing here is an unwillingness to do so. That is something else.
Your opinion is not supported by the data we all have.
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Click to collapse
That does not make what i said wrong. Its up to people here to provide that data. particularly low light with manual.
Its right because i've seen the same done with numerous devices already. This is how cameras work. They need light.
Give them that and you get a good shot. simple.
---------- Post added at 10:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 AM ----------
tryfound said:
No, your whole post is invalid. I'm testing AUTO, feel free to grace us all with your superior photography skills when you get your M9.
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Click to collapse
actually i should have said your tests were pointless and it was a waste of my time to go through them. test the note 4 in low light with manual in m9 that's what you should have done.
I wanted to see manual being used in the low light. You've got no excuses when the camera provides it. If you can't do that then its your problem not the m9.
bad auto does not mean bad camera. bad auto will be fixed. The Z1 took 3 months to get it right. What did people do, the lamers whined whereas the rest got busy with manual and got good shots from day 1.
make up your mind or sell.
---------- Post added at 10:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:19 AM ----------
vegetaleb said:
At last a camera comparison between M9 and Note4 http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/HTC-One-M9-vs-Samsung-Galaxy-Note-4_id3963/page/3
In daylight the Note 4 is significantly better, the M9 will smudge
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Show me smudge in daylight, i want to see how much. actually link the shots.
In low light even resized to 640x480 the M9 is very blurry and smudgy, the Note 4 is millions years ahead.
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Click to collapse
All the low light shots have the m9 using high iso in guess what auto. The reviewer did not even try manual and blurred one of the shots because he could not hold a 1/7.
Conclusion: unless you want to use your photos only from daylight situations and only resized to Facebook and other social medias (of course no crop at all) . you should consider the Note 4 as a very good choice of camera phone in every situations.
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Do you realise that to display on a HD device you only need 1MP or on a full HD it only takes 2MP. Anything more than that gets resampled.
You don't let facebook or anybody else resize it you do it yourself then upload wherever.
tryfound said:
You're so full of yourself. How dare I waste your precious time.
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Look, you're not helping me, i'm helping you to help yourself as well as others in this thread.
Make up my mind or sell? Sell what? Some people here asked to see comparisons with the Note 4 and I gave them.
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Click to collapse
And i'm pointing out why there were inadequate. They do not add anything above what reviews are saying.
I did not bother going through the imgur stuff since there are no exifs to see there. Assessing image quality let alone commenting without exifs is pointless.
To suggest that I should be tweaking manual settings on an M9 to achieve the quality of the Note 4's auto shots is beyond comprehension.
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Click to collapse
auto shots are average x average, is this what people base their opinions on ?
manual means you take a test auto shot then see whether you can improve it in manual. That is how you will exceed what the reviews have shown and we get to see the best this camera can do. This is what any owner that wants to improve and exploit manual is going to do over time.
Why someone would not want to improve his shots is beyond my comprehension.
tryfound said:
Some more shots with the M9, large res then small res second. Had to use imgur because of filesize so these are compressed images, don't bother zooming for details, some of the higher res images I took have been reduced to a size smaller than the 'small' res images due to their original filesize, I guess that's imgur's way of compressing.
http://imgur.com/PeWfBMx
http://imgur.com/CNrpmW7
http://imgur.com/fOi00v3
http://imgur.com/dMQ1yXV
http://imgur.com/JmvdebB
http://imgur.com/MnF3Fue
http://imgur.com/2AtDjvr (HDR)
http://imgur.com/mP0g0aP (HDR)
http://imgur.com/NApwPvt
http://imgur.com/U8yHyuV
http://imgur.com/i04j8vr
http://imgur.com/1FPUAw7
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I just looked at images and they look really good. I am surprised M9 managed to capture that pristine detail I never seen before. White balance too looks so great not like previously green tint that was all over images.
One thing I am not able to find is camera data in adobe bridge and also colour space is untagged. That usually happens when photo being stripped of exif data. Have you by any chance gave some editing to them?
Thanks
I agree with a pack that camera should perform to the best on auto. If it doesn't , software has to be optimised if it's not then it's engineers faults Or hardware limitations.
it applies to the majority of the smartphone photographers . People want point and shoot.Even being enthusiast photographer and love digging my camera and phone camera I hate when auto underperforms when I simply want to take my phone out of the pocket and shoot.Every enthusiast can tweak but that defeats AUTO purpose .
There are average performers good and very good. Unfortunately M9 is not very good.Good ? Maybe....if light is favourable...at the moment it is consistently weak in certain situations. The usual wash out reminded me of the spill that when lets say camera lens gets in the studio shot or outside and for this purpose hood is used . This is one of the speculations I come up with. Somehow HTC phones consistently suffer from that. Could be they have same team of engineers that can't find the key to successful Software optimization or not so decent hardware just guessing here. Being visualphile that particular trade off with HTC devices just kills me.
nebulaoperator said:
I agree with a pack that camera should perform to the best on auto. If it doesn't , software has to be optimised if it's not then it's engineers faults Or hardware limitations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.
I've seen this issue with other devices. xperias camera software was never quite ready at launch. Lots of bashing. Took them a few months to get it right. Mostly auto. Then shots come out with lower ISO which you could have got yourself if you tried. Image quality is better now. why ? iso is lower. So if auto is taking high iso then low iso will get you a better shot.
So when people say camera is not working its auto. No other issues i can see so far. They will fix it but in the mean time if manual settings are tweaked you will get the results you want today. Most do not know how to do that or worse do not want to.
it applies to the majority of the smartphone photographers . People want point and shoot.Even being enthusiast photographer and love digging my camera and phone camera I hate when auto underperforms when I simply want to take my phone out of the pocket and shoot.Every enthusiast can tweak but that defeats AUTO purpose .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
General advice i give to people who cant take photos is go with the koreans or apple. if you want more then look at others.
First time i came across an iphone camera after seeing the usual controls in nokias and android was wtf do i do with this. Some shots can't be got with auto. when there is no access to manual then you are stuck. take it or leave it. its only a phone camera, you're not supposed to do anything more. Who said so ?
Many people take shots and figuring out who is at fault is a tricky business. Of course the tendency is to blame the device but the person taking the shot is the most responsible, always.
There are average performers good and very good. Unfortunately M9 is not very good.Good ? Maybe....if light is favourable...at the moment it is consistently weak in certain situations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Low light with auto. From what i've seen consistently boosts auto up. There are even night modes which to date i've not seen anybody even try. HELLO!
So auto is not picking these modes for some reason. Its a bug. But if you set it yourself then what is the result. Much better i bet.
The usual wash out reminded me of the spill that when lets say camera lens gets in the studio shot or outside and for this purpose hood is used .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lens hood decreases lens flare and saturates colours. Take a shot in shade of a sunny area. If you're getting lens flare then its clearly user error. Not just with this device but with any. I would just use my hand out of camera to block some of the light or avoid unwanted reflections. Here is a good example
https://www.flickr.com/photos/palmsolo/sets/72157651089646798/with/16274675233/
cloudy day, massive light box in the sky. Colours are all rich. Which is best. i cannot tell
interestingly enough the low end devices suffer less from this problem because the sensors are not as sensitive. They can take good shots in awful bright light which would be washed out with more capable sensors. Not much use indoors though.
This is one of the speculations I come up with. Somehow HTC phones consistently suffer from that. Could be they have same team of engineers that can't find the key to successful Software optimization or not so decent hardware just guessing here. Being visualphile that particular trade off with HTC devices just kills me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ones typically from what i've seen blow out the sky. They are a little more quirky in getting those blue skies. Overexposed. HDR is one way to do it but it can be tricked also. i remember this work around from the m8 forum where this guy pointed close to the sun to lock exposure and then recomposed back on the scene. The picture was remarkably better. You don't have to do this all the time only in certain situations.
Review on bunch of cameras.
Gizmodo: The Best Smartphone Camera: Samsung Galaxy S6 Edition. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIw4ZO08yA
tryfound said:
Some more shots with the M9, large res then small res second. Had to use imgur because of filesize so these are compressed images, don't bother zooming for details, some of the higher res images I took have been reduced to a size smaller than the 'small' res images due to their original filesize, I guess that's imgur's way of compressing.
http://imgur.com/PeWfBMx
http://imgur.com/CNrpmW7
http://imgur.com/fOi00v3
http://imgur.com/dMQ1yXV
http://imgur.com/JmvdebB
http://imgur.com/MnF3Fue
http://imgur.com/2AtDjvr (HDR)
http://imgur.com/mP0g0aP (HDR)
http://imgur.com/NApwPvt
http://imgur.com/U8yHyuV
http://imgur.com/i04j8vr
http://imgur.com/1FPUAw7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jauhien said:
Some yesterday snaps here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/we88grvt72bldy8/4PDA_REQUEST.zip?dl=0
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Click to collapse
One Twelve said:
.
Disclaimer: I should learn how to use quotes.
I've seen this issue with other devices. xperias camera software was never quite ready at launch. Lots of bashing. Took them a few months to get it right. Mostly auto. Then shots come out with lower ISO which you could have got yourself if you tried. Image quality is better now. why ? iso is lower. So if auto is taking high iso then low iso will get you a better shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whether it's ISO OIS or else it does not stop camera to perform well. Take A look at Iphone 6 it works wonders. Low light is not on the par with M7 m8. The thing you have to understand , strongly camera orientated phone should not come with a sticker on the box " want a better image use manual"
[/QUOTE]So when people say camera is not working its auto. No other issues i can see so far. They will fix it but in the mean time if manual settings are tweaked you will get the results you want today. Most do not know how to do that or worse do not want to.[/QUOTE]
A lot people say because AUTO doesn't work. Why would I have buy "they will fix it" if I pay 500-600 GBP for a phone. It doesn't work like that. And in most cases software improved performance but only to a point .I own M7 and know it's weaknesses.And I don't want to use manual though I know my phone from inside to outside.
[/QUOTE]General advice i give to people who cant take photos is go with the koreans or apple. if you want more then look at others.
First time i came across an iphone camera after seeing the usual controls in nokias and android was wtf do i do with this. Some shots can't be got with auto. when there is no access to manual then you are stuck. take it or leave it. its only a phone camera, you're not supposed to do anything more. Who said so ?
Many people take shots and figuring out who is at fault is a tricky business. Of course the tendency is to blame the device but the person taking the shot is the most responsible, always.[/QUOTE]
I saw ifone users don't even know AE/AF lock exist till I showed. Iphone 6 has the simplest UI that can be invented I also call it Dummy proof. I think you can get an app to have access to tweaks option otherwise it's a bit limited to my taste. I can blame phone camera without long hesitation for two reasons: if hardware sucks or software or both. Then no amount of tweaks can help you. M7 is notorious for washouts, poor dynamic range. I found HDR was never a strong suite of M7 neither M8 or M9. However if you can tweak settings you might get away bringing images to photoshop. That's what I do. On the other hand only minority people are enthusiast like we are and the majority should be at least faulted for what smartphone manufacturer didn't do in the first place. If iphone , nokia, samsung(from 2014) proved there is a lot more that can be done with camera.
[/QUOTE]Low light with auto. From what i've seen consistently boosts auto up. There are even night modes which to date i've not seen anybody even try. HELLO!
So auto is not picking these modes for some reason. Its a bug. But if you set it yourself then what is the result. Much better i bet.[/QUOTE]
Low light was nevera weak spot for HTC One line(until now M9) it was cloudy weather condition with little contrast, also situation when I have half frame window in and the other half room. It would go into extremes overexpose the light in the window or underexposedarks barely visible. Sensor and software is not coping with dynamic range. I kind of like night mode but found it to slow in some situation due to the shutter speed so I just used normal mode it did great though. I wish I could try RAW mode but unfortunately I am selling my phone today ( Not sure if RAW will be brought to lollipop for M7)
[/QUOTE]A lens hood decreases lens flare and saturates colours. Take a shot in shade of a sunny area. If you're getting lens flare then its clearly user error. Not just with this device but with any. I would just use my hand out of camera to block some of the light or avoid unwanted reflections. Here is a good example
https://www.flickr.com/photos/palmsolo/sets/72157651089646798/with/16274675233/
cloudy day, massive light box in the sky. Colours are all rich. Which is best. i cannot tell
interestingly enough the low end devices suffer less from this problem because the sensors are not as sensitive. They can take good shots in awful bright light which would be washed out with more capable sensors. Not much use indoors though.[/QUOTE]
I worked with photographer who used hood for the headshots and it was game changer.
For instance Iphone6 is least prone to that error but most Android camera phones I came across are. I was surprised by Note 4 results and S6 I would never think they can do so well. So it must be bug or hardware or both as I mentioned earlier. Nice photos from M9 but WB is somehow a bit off sometimes on the blue side( couple of weeks before it was to yellow green Funny enough you are the first I came across that used hand to block the light I do that too. I guess we both come from the same/similar trade.
[/QUOTE]
The ones typically from what i've seen blow out the sky. They are a little more quirky in getting those blue skies. Overexposed. HDR is one way to do it but it can be tricked also. i remember this work around from the m8 forum where this guy pointed close to the sun to lock exposure and then recomposed back on the scene. The picture was remarkably better. You don't have to do this all the time only in certain situations.[/QUOTE]
AE/AF is a very handy tool. I am glad smartphones have this simple yet very effective feature.
Quadrider10 said:
Review on bunch of cameras.
Gizmodo: The Best Smartphone Camera: Samsung Galaxy S6 Edition. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIw4ZO08yA
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I didn't think the M9 looked bad. Need to use a computer instead of my note 4
Sent from a mobile gadget...
---------- Post added at 05:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:52 PM ----------
And guys, chill out. I don't think M9 will have the best camera, but it will hopefully be enough. What I'm worried about is the speed of the camera and SOT. I will probably buy it anyway because I love HTCs mix.
Sent from a mobile gadget...
You're not helping anyone mate. Pig with lipstick is still a pig. No matter how much spin you are putting on it.
Everything you are saying is your subjective opinion not backed by any reviewer or already debunked. No data at all.
I don't see any fruit in continuing this back and forth "I think" or "you can do this in software" discussion with you. I, and 99% of users, only care about how the product performs out of the box. A few may go further, with manual. That's it.
Lame apologist excuses don't hide that. If you can do x with M9, you can also do better with S6/iP6/N4 etc starting from a better base.
I'll have the M9 31st March. Then, we'll see.
One Twelve said:
Look, you're not helping me, i'm helping you to help yourself as well as others in this thread.
And i'm pointing out why there were inadequate. They do not add anything above what reviews are saying.
I did not bother going through the imgur stuff since there are no exifs to see there. Assessing image quality let alone commenting without exifs is pointless.
auto shots are average x average, is this what people base their opinions on ?
manual means you take a test auto shot then see whether you can improve it in manual. That is how you will exceed what the reviews have shown and we get to see the best this camera can do. This is what any owner that wants to improve and exploit manual is going to do over time.
Why someone would not want to improve his shots is beyond my comprehension.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One Twelve said:
That pair is not as important as you think it is and that applies for all with good light.
Where this 'trounces' occurs is in low light. I've already said what needs to be done.
with macros yeah i would because there is no difference there. I've seen three year old devices do excellent macros. Hint: macros are not a good demonstration of what the latest camera can do.
The only real innovation we've had in sensors is BSI over the last two years. More sensitive in low light. You couldn't do that with 2013 devices, m7 was the sole exception. The rest is processing, how much of it or lack thereof.
On a more general level the trick with these devices is to know when to compromise and when to be maximalist. There is no perfect device so what you end up with is what you can tolerate over what you cannot do without. Every device has this trade off. Unfortunately you are alone with making this decision. Unless you are lucky to find others whose requirements match yours closely. Now do you see why i said minor. its minor in a larger context.
no tricks. calling it straight.
i don't trust auto.That on some devices its always flawless is a myth. auto goes wrong even on dslrs. what will you do then ? blame the device or your own ignorance. better to understand why and what went wrong and then fix it. and you can.
What i'm sensing here is an unwillingness to do so. That is something else.
That does not make what i said wrong. Its up to people here to provide that data. particularly low light with manual.
Its right because i've seen the same done with numerous devices already. This is how cameras work. They need light.
Give them that and you get a good shot. simple.
---------- Post added at 10:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 AM ----------
actually i should have said your tests were pointless and it was a waste of my time to go through them. test the note 4 in low light with manual in m9 that's what you should have done.
I wanted to see manual being used in the low light. You've got no excuses when the camera provides it. If you can't do that then its your problem not the m9.
bad auto does not mean bad camera. bad auto will be fixed. The Z1 took 3 months to get it right. What did people do, the lamers whined whereas the rest got busy with manual and got good shots from day 1.
make up your mind or sell.
---------- Post added at 10:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:19 AM ----------
Show me smudge in daylight, i want to see how much. actually link the shots.
All the low light shots have the m9 using high iso in guess what auto. The reviewer did not even try manual and blurred one of the shots because he could not hold a 1/7.
Do you realise that to display on a HD device you only need 1MP or on a full HD it only takes 2MP. Anything more than that gets resampled.
You don't let facebook or anybody else resize it you do it yourself then upload wherever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent using Tapatalk
th3 said:
You're not helping anyone mate. Pig with lipstick is still a pig. No matter how much spin you are putting on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Went right to the end for the punchline
I'll have the M9 31st March. Then, we'll see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hah so despite the s6 camera 'trouncing' the m9, you actually went in for what ? .....<drum roll>....the M9 <applause>
Confirms what i said earlier, the image quality differences weren't enough to deter you.
Lame apologist excuses don't hide that. If you can do x with M9, you can also do better with S6/iP6/N4 etc starting from a better base.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah so why didn't you get one of them then ? riiiiightt. Why the narrow obsessions with image quality somehow don't pan out in the end. Bigger forces at play.
With ip6+ and 3rd party camera with manual controls. you can improve over stock auto. With the same on the iP6 or even iP5x and a steady hand you can come close if not match the plus.
S6 & N4 or even the G3 don't offer shutter speed control so there is no way to tell how effective their OIS is, its just stated and i believe its there but no way to tell like say with the iP6+ that can do a 1/4 handheld. Night mode on the recent samsungs is good. Much improved over earlier versions. They boosting sensor gain and fiddling around. To get a similar shot would require an exposure two times longer with other devices including the m9. So you will have to work at it.
No idea when raw support will come for the above. But i bet you get it on the m9 before them. Your details issues will disappear at that point but you have to process each image yourself.
Everything you are saying is your subjective opinion not backed by any reviewer or already debunked. No data at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you do not understand that delaying shutter and lowering iso will improve image quality in low light ? This applies only with stationary subjects btw, forget doing it with people or anything that won't sit still.
Sop with any camera that allows manual control, i can show you manual lumia 930 vs note 4 where it gets pretty close and auto did not. When more people post later you'll see what i mean.
I'm most interested in the low light shots and rarely bother with daylight comparisons because they are pretty similar. In fact my problem with smartphone cameras is too much detail strange as that may sound. because it makes isolating subjects harder. Everything is so damn clear. Because its the equivalent of an f11 lens in 35mm speak. Depth of field is deeper. Great for macros but not others.
I don't see any fruit in continuing this back and forth "I think" or "you can do this in software" discussion with you. I, and 99% of users, only care about how the product performs out of the box. A few may go further, with manual. That's it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want better photos what i said works. 99% or not is meaningless. This is xda, do 99 % care about rooting, custom firmwares, or any number of hacks people share here ? So what 99% are you referring to and why do they matter. If anything i'm more interested in the 1%.
what i've said wrt to manual is no different. In fact its common knowledge to anyone who has a clue.
---------- Post added at 04:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:01 AM ----------
*Emix* said:
https://curved.de/news/galaxy-s6-one-m9-iphone-6-im-grossen-kameravergleich-236192
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Why they didn't use iP6+ ?
1. night shots all soft because iso got boosted on m9. 2nd shot wrong wb for m9. 4th shot all have blown lights, cannot do this without blending.
2. again iso got boosted on m9. second selfie, because background is brighter so iso drops and looks normal.
3. is about where you set exposure.
4. macros are similar. contrast can be improved in post.
5. panoramas, heh all not to my liking because of cylindrical projection. no straight horizontals with such a wide fov.
6. food, can be improved in post or use manual. That ISO is maybe close to 600 try to get it at half.
curiousgeorge1893 said:
Not quite on topic but I've got an M8 coming, I'm ditching my Xperia Z2 for it, is that a good idea do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is it about the Z2 that you don't like ? You'd be trading fantastic video stabilisation for none.
The scene modes should help in low light if you use them right. However the lack of shutter control can be frustrating. A quick tweak can't be done. More trial & error.
I was put off by the 4MP camera as i admit I like to zoom and crop, however I like a phone that is good in lowlight.
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Click to collapse
What does 4MP do ? sharpens the mind. You have to think more carefully about what you want to get it right. If you want to zoom & crop then you need to be closer to your subject. if you can't do that then 4MP is out.
Also, I like a phone that offers manual controls and shutter speed, HTC phones are the only ones that do this plus a like a phone that has a good flash and takes photos quickly.
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m8 is a fast shooter in auto. But this gap has been closed with the S6 and the S5 is fast too. Have you considered them ? No shutter control though. Given what they've done may or may not be that critical. These samsungs are primarily auto shooters. If they get what you want great, if not don't complain because you can't do much.
As for similar manual controls the hybrid zooms had them first and optical zoom is a plus. crop in camera not afterwards. K zoom or wait for the successor. Slower though. And apertures are smaller. 3.1 all the way to 6.3. Working OIS.
I was planning on getting a secondhand M9 later in the year but to be honest I am disappointed as I feel that HTC have go fowards then 2 steps backwards with the M9 camera. Whilst it's great it has a higher resolution, the f/2.0 aperature in the M7 and M8 is now f/2.2 on the M9, in my opinion it should have been f/2.0 or f/1.9, also lack of OIS is disappointing and it seems lowlight on the M9 isn't as good as the M8? Very disappointing if so.
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Click to collapse
The difference between f2.0 and 2.2 is a quarter a f-stop. That's like getting a shot at ISO 200 instead of 250. Or 1/50 instead of 1/40. Its insignficant as one or the other parameter will compensate anyway so not really as notable as reviewers make out.
However the m9 isn't as fast a camera as its predecessors.See the camera speed benchmark. Almost twice as slow as the m8. And the Z2 is faster than the m9. Does this matter ? only if you're rushed. And if you are you're not going to get very good shots to begin with. Is the choice no shot or passable. In that case look at an advanced compact with a 1 inch sensor. Much more light, faster lens and better quality. For the same money.
BoneXDA said:
I do notice the white balance shifting sometimes on the goldish side around sunlit areas, and the M9 tends to underexpose in such conditions.
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Click to collapse
I've noticed twice that it gets confused with halogen and neon lights, turning cream and red into green. With a yellow i can see how green can happen by wb adding blue, so just need to use a fluorescent wb or more. But cream into green is inexplicable for me. If its a bug then only a firmware update can fix it.
---------- Post added at 08:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:25 PM ----------
curiousgeorge1893 said:
I like the Z2 but not the post processing, it smudges details, I read on here that the Z3 does the same?
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Click to collapse
Whenever camera has to produce a jpg and do it fast it has to make a call between preserving detail (ie more noise) or smoothness (less noise). I've seen smudging happen with vegetation, it happens with all jpg outputting devices to varying degrees. To make larger features look good means smaller are going to appear less sharp. Must have the lowest ISO with a longer shutter that means anything that moves is out unless light is good or smudging gets worse.
Only way is raw but you have to process every image yourself, and its a much bigger file so it will be slower than 4mp jpg.
Compare these two from nexus 5. Jpg vs processed RAW. Pull the full resolution and pixel peep all you want.
The originals come from fv5 site.
You control what should be more in detail or not instead of some average one size fits all algorithm with an impossible task that is optimised for speed by trading off image quality. Image quality here isn't file size but a function of how much luminance and chroma noise is preserved or not.
That algorithm and its implementation is the source of lots of heated argument over which is the better camera. Silly really.
SPreston2001 said:
The whole camera comparison may be silly, but 90% of users just want to pick up the phone and snap good pics. Most users don't fiddle around with the camera settings or even know what they do for that matter lol. All they see are which photos look the best when they pick up their phone and take a pic. The M9 camera seems to be alot better than the M8s camera but it still tends to fall behind Apples and Samsungs imaging abilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then those people should stick with the brands mentioned. Those brands are for people with no interest in photography. WHAT took the shot is more important than WHO took it. That is the mindset auto everything encourages, what did the owner do, just press a button. Still I would not be surprised to find people even on those boards complaining about something or the other.
Where i'm coming from is what if you don't want those brands for whatever reasons. What then ?
You wait for firmware upgrades and you learn how to get better shots. What went wrong and how to get around it.
My attitude is you are stuck with this thing and you are going to have to make the best of it. Few months later you will find people here doing just that. A review can never match it.
One Twelve said:
Then those people should stick with the brands mentioned. Those brands are for people with no interest in photography. WHAT took the shot is more important than WHO took it. That is the mindset auto everything encourages, what did the owner do, just press a button. Still I would not be surprised to find people even on those boards complaining about something or the other.
Where i'm coming from is what if you don't want those brands for whatever reasons. What then ?
You wait for firmware upgrades and you learn how to get better shots. What went wrong and how to get around it.
My attitude is you are stuck with this thing and you are going to have to make the best of it. Few months later you will find people here doing just that. A review can never match it.
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Click to collapse
So HTC phones are for people who have interest in photography?? Lol they usually have the worst cameras amongst flagship devices yet theyre for photography minded people?? You act as of HTC is the only manufacturer that has the ability to tweak the camera settings. Most "serious" photographers won't use a cellphone to take a pic. The whole idea of cell cams is to capture quick and beautiful everyday life pictures. The ability to tweak the settings is just a added bonus for those who want to get a little more serious with it.
But to each his own I guess. When it comes to cell cams I just wanna pull it, out take a pic, and expect it to look good. If tweaking the settings to get the perfect shot is for you then that's fine. But all I'm saying is those same things can be done with other manufacturers cams too.
gavinfabl said:
This is a photos thread. We need photos! The weather for another day is gales and heavy rain here, so ruined my planned day of shooting again. Using manual settings I have captured some good shots (but private photos of family). Lowering resolution down a fraction helps in lower light. Auto is OK but when I take control even with a single tweak the difference is noticeable. I've used the S6 and S6 Edge and compared it with my Note 4. The S6 has a good auto mode.
This is my S6 and S6 Edge camera shots , and vs Note 4 camera. http://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/03/19...sung-galaxy-s6-and-s6-edge-plus-camera-shots/
I will have more in depth analysis when it's stops raining .....
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Click to collapse
Can't say my experience with the s6 / edge was similar. On the camera front yes the camera is fast. But I found a huge issue with white balance and somewhat heavier than normal post processing (pretty evident when you look at the photos on a camera). The problem is even in pro mode, the camera still struggles with white balance. I am a white balance whore to be honest and when I see a camera struggle, I shudder.
Touchwiz lagged for me. Immensely. I kept flicking through the homescreen, not many widgets above the stock ones, and there were multiple times the device just locked up. Even after rebooting the device quite a few times, there was lag. Off topic, I watched the verge podcast recently and they also affirmed a lot of the lag I experienced with my model.
So far, I'm semi disappointed. The devices are light (like physically, I expected something much heavier). The GS6 felt boxy and somewhat sharper for my tastes while the Edge just "fit" in my hand like a really nice glove. I was stunned that the edge was the more interesting feeling device. Both devices are fingerprint magnets though almost to the point of being disgusting. After 10 minutes of handling, I was in awe with the amount of smudges and oil the back of the device accrued from general handling.
Handling is something that the Edge excels in for the most part. It feels "natural" to swipe at an edge point and get a hamburg menu from Google. And you do in GMAIL, Google Play, and a myriad of other areas. It just feels like touchwiz didn't necessarily provide too many gesture driven tasks that would really take benefit of the edge display. II mean sure you get the call context menus and the light up gimmick, but that's about it sadly. The shame of it all is that above that, the GS6 is a beautiful iphone 5-5s ripoff and the Edge is something of a quagmire begging for a developer to put it to good use. It can be obtrusive but not so much to the point it ruins the user experience.
Overall, I'm left somewhat underwhelmed with the devices. Sure, the screen is gorgeous with marvelous viewing angle fitting for a flagship. But it feels like the GS6 / edge is a iterative step in a unique and bold direction that didn't fully deliver.
Shame actually. Most people will love the GS6 / Edge. Me, I'll be forever disappoint
SPreston2001 said:
So HTC phones are for people who have interest in photography??
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What purpose is there to provide manual controls then ? nokia started this btw.
Lol they usually have the worst cameras amongst flagship devices yet theyre for photography minded people??
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its a mindset that comes naturally to those that are into photography. They are going to try a great deal more before throwing in the towel.
Very obvious when i see Jesse's photos. You make the shot not the camera. newbies whenever they see a nice photo always want to know what camera took the shot. The person, well he just clicked. How hard could it be. They like to hide behind their cameras. Often i see shots that are horribly taken and well it was the camera's fault.
HTC is a bad camera with people who cannot take a photo. I've never bought into the 4MP was bad. A full HD screen can only display 2MP anyway. if you're not zooming or need to then you're focus is on how nice the shot looks rather than whether you can count hairs on somebody's head. I've seen people post nice photos here. if you need to crop your photos then you ain't thinking about your shots or your use case exceeds what 4MP can provide.
You act as of HTC is the only manufacturer that has the ability to tweak the camera settings.
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lets be clear on what manual settings i'm referring to here. Who else offers shutter speed control ?
apple only woke up to the fact in their latest OS. prior to which you could do squat cos um turtle neck deemed it unecessary. Nokia had them early and the cheapest lumias 635 ? do too. samsungs don't not even in their latest. neither does moto, or LG which went backwards with the G3 or Sony. The Chinese provide some more. So yeah HTC since the m8 was the only android offering on a fixed focal lens that offered shutter control. Makes it easy to fix things if you were so inclined. Samsung's galaxy camera is the only other that can claim to have had it first on android earlier and its a compact.
Most "serious" photographers won't use a cellphone to take a pic. The whole idea of cell cams is to capture quick and beautiful everyday life pictures. The ability to tweak the settings is just a added bonus for those who want to get a little more serious with it.
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A cam is a cam and you can learn photography with any cam and play more with one that allows manual settings. I don't have a DSLR because i've not got to the point where i need one. I take shots every day and i like to tweak them because auto cant get it right. Its very normal to have access if not always necessary. But i'd rather have them and not need them than the other way around.
If you drive a stick shift you won't enjoy driving a cruiser.
But to each his own I guess. When it comes to cell cams I just wanna pull it, out take a pic, and expect it to look good. If tweaking the settings to get the perfect shot is for you then that's fine. But all I'm saying is those same things can be done with other manufacturers cams too.
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I never expect it to look good, if it does then conditions were perfect and i was lucky, i will usually take a auto shot and if it fine leave it at that or try to tweak things about and take a couple more. I always try to take more than one. A phone is going to get thrown into so many varied situations that would challenge a pro. To expect to get it right in one take with a phone camera when pointing at anything you can think of isn't realistic.
nebulaoperator said:
Whether it's ISO OIS or else it does not stop camera to perform well. Take A look at Iphone 6 it works wonders. Low light is not on the par with M7 m8. The thing you have to understand , strongly camera orientated phone should not come with a sticker on the box " want a better image use manual"
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A tweak here or there will always improve a shot. How many people know that. Then there is the question of will. if its there and you don't use it then its not the camera's fault. It is there for flexibility.
iphone 6 no, but 6+ will get shots at 1/4. Apple thinks slower than 1/12 is not feasible for iP6. To go slower than 1/4 have to use 3rd party soft to tweak things. iphone camera has always been capable but until ios8 there was no way to access camera parameters so low light was never good.
I saw ifone users don't even know AE/AF lock exist till I showed. Iphone 6 has the simplest UI that can be invented I also call it Dummy proof. I think you can get an app to have access to tweaks option otherwise it's a bit limited to my taste.
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yes its useful there is also a way to do some exposure comp but it changes metering to spot from average or whatever apple equivalent is. A review was comparing 6 & 6+ and saying photos looked better with 6+ until i saw the exifs and pointed out both were using different metering. So of course shots will look different.
With the latest ios you have much more options than before. Curious apple did a u turn there. But not stock just with 3rd party software.
A lot people say because AUTO doesn't work. Why would I have buy "they will fix it" if I pay 500-600 GBP for a phone. It doesn't work like that. And in most cases software improved performance but only to a point .
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So wait for a few months then decide. As for firmware improvements. If you take a shot with firmware a at ISO 200 and compare with firmware b at ISO 200, there will be little difference.
What i mean is they can lower ISO for lower light shots so it does not boost it so high. This will improve auto some. But to go further it requires manual. Possible now, if somebody would try.
They can improve white balance with auto but it will get tricked some times so only up to a point.
I can blame phone camera without long hesitation for two reasons: if hardware sucks or software or both. Then no amount of tweaks can help you. M7 is notorious for washouts, poor dynamic range. I found HDR was never a strong suite of M7 neither M8 or M9. However if you can tweak settings you might get away bringing images to photoshop. That's what I do. On the other hand only minority people are enthusiast like we are and the majority should be at least faulted for what smartphone manufacturer didn't do in the first place. If iphone , nokia, samsung(from 2014) proved there is a lot more that can be done with camera.
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They are trying to make it easy for the average person in the hope of selling more products. The traditional way is to learn how to use the product. I know the washouts you mean, blown skies etc. But once a person is aware of that you can improve it.
Low light was nevera weak spot for HTC One line(until now M9) it was cloudy weather condition with little contrast, also situation when I have half frame window in and the other half room. It would go into extremes overexpose the light in the window or underexposedarks barely visible. Sensor and software is not coping with dynamic range. I kind of like night mode but found it to slow in some situation due to the shutter speed so I just used normal mode it did great though. I wish I could try RAW mode but unfortunately I am selling my phone today ( Not sure if RAW will be brought to lollipop for M7)
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So what are you getting ?
freedcam can already output raw on m7 & m8 and by the looks of it m9 too. htc made this easy.
I worked with photographer who used hood for the headshots and it was game changer.
For instance Iphone6 is least prone to that error but most Android camera phones I came across are. I was surprised by Note 4 results and S6 I would never think they can do so well. So it must be bug or hardware or both as I mentioned earlier. Nice photos from M9 but WB is somehow a bit off sometimes on the blue side( couple of weeks before it was to yellow green Funny enough you are the first I came across that used hand to block the light I do that too. I guess we both come from the same/similar trade.
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It was an accidental discovery. I was taking shot of somebody outside the house from inside with a tab (!) and wondered why the clothes were so saturated.
There is something up with the m9's WB i can see from numerous photos. But nobody is trying manual to fix it.
Was looking at latest world press photo contest. Many with pro dslrs and i saw one person entered an iphone photo and its in the list of winners. Out of 95k entries !!! smartphone photo..Can you believe it
Lol this thread is very entertaining to say the least
twoeleven99 said:
Lol this thread is very entertaining to say the least
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So what's your take on the M9 pictures, if I may ask?
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Photo quality

Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the Sony Xperia 5 come out. A higher rating indicates that photos offer rich color (without over-saturating), sharp detail (with all subjects in-focus), and appropriate exposure (with even lighting).
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Having this phone along with Pixel 4, I can say that X5 photo quality is mixed bag. The most frustrating thing is "ghost imaging" of moving objects, not even a fast ones. Color accuracy is pretty good. Camera app itself still needs some work. It's not convenient to use and it's considerably slower that Pixel 4 one. Focusing system could be better too.
WarVic said:
Having this phone along with Pixel 4, I can say that X5 photo quality is mixed bag. The most frustrating thing is "ghost imaging" of moving objects, not even a fast ones. Color accuracy is pretty good. Camera app itself still needs some work. It's not convenient to use and it's considerably slower that Pixel 4 one. Focusing system could be better too.
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On Manual Mode the phone is unbeatable.
doministry said:
On Manual Mode the phone is unbeatable.
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Unfortunately it's not true. I wish it was true but it's definitely not. I played a lot with manual mode on Xperia 5. I does produce very good, with plenty of details, true to life colours, "Pixel grade" photos in good light condition. Any other conditions different from ideal and Xperia photos start to fall apart. Making pictures of the moving objects in light conditions just a bit different from ideal is a failure as well. I'm getting "ghost", "double" images of my kids nearly all the time. That's not acceptable for flagship camera-phone. The same thing happen when you make photos in the late evening or night. It's pretty much impossible to use Xperia 5 in this conditions without tripod. Sony just unable to compensate even a very minimal hand shake where as it's not a problem for Pixel or flagship Huawei devices. So I took a lot of photos from Pixel 4 and Xperia 5 in the same conditions for comparison to choose the best one to keep. I took a month for me to make the final decision. So I decided to keep Pixel 4 just for much better camera system. I'll give a chance to Xperia 5 Plus this year though.
WarVic said:
Unfortunately it's not true. I wish it was true but it's definitely not. I played a lot with manual mode on Xperia 5. I does produce very good, with plenty of details, true to life colours, "Pixel grade" photos in good light condition. Any other conditions different from ideal and Xperia photos start to fall apart. Making pictures of the moving objects in light conditions just a bit different from ideal is a failure as well. I'm getting "ghost", "double" images of my kids nearly all the time. That's not acceptable for flagship camera-phone. The same thing happen when you make photos in the late evening or night. It's pretty much impossible to use Xperia 5 in this conditions without tripod. Sony just unable to compensate even a very minimal hand shake where as it's not a problem for Pixel or flagship Huawei devices. So I took a lot of photos from Pixel 4 and Xperia 5 in the same conditions for comparison to choose the best one to keep. I took a month for me to make the final decision. So I decided to keep Pixel 4 just for much better camera system. I'll give a chance to Xperia 5 Plus this year though.
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That means you have no clue about manual mode. I get all I want. You just have to use ISO and shutter speed and all that stuff correctly. That's it. It's obvious for any person knowing anything about photogtaphy....
I don't have any ghosting. Any. Sorry. And the Android 10 update makes things even better. Just yesterday had a chance to make some pics in difficult conditions and it worked great.
https://flic.kr/p/2io5e3E
https://flic.kr/p/2io2KfM
I don't need to have a clue about manual mode. Xperia 5 is not DSLR camera, you know. The main purpose of any flagship smartphone, camera-phone in particular, is ability to make perfect shots at any time as fast as possible without playing with manual mode. Manual mode is just a good addition (for geeks), nothing more. Mediocre auto mode isn't forgivable thing for such expensive device. Kids don't allow to tinker with manual mode - they simply won't wait. And I don't like to miss a moment. I can give you samples with "ghost" images if you like. Certainly Xperia 5 isn't up for competition right now and I have doubts that Sony Alpha team took any part in Xperia 1 / 5 development. They have a beer together, I guess . That's a main contribution.
---------- Post added at 12:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:54 PM ----------
In addition, Xperia 5 app launch speed is ridiculously slow compared to all phones I had for the last 2 years. Focusing system is disappointing as well. Quite often it just misses and too many times I came across the problem of inability to focus on places / objects which was not a problem Pixel 4. That's not good either.
WarVic said:
I don't need to have a clue about manual mode. Xperia 5 is not DSLR camera, you know. The main purpose of any flagship smartphone, camera-phone in particular, is ability to make perfect shots at any time as fast as possible without playing with manual mode. Manual mode is just a good addition (for geeks), nothing more. Mediocre auto mode isn't forgivable thing for such expensive device. Kids don't allow to tinker with manual mode - they simply won't wait. And I don't like to miss a moment. I can give you samples with "ghost" images if you like. Certainly Xperia 5 isn't up for competition right now and I have doubts that Sony Alpha team took any part in Xperia 1 / 5 development. They have a beer together, I guess . That's a main contribution.
---------- Post added at 12:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:54 PM ----------
In addition, Xperia 5 app launch speed is ridiculously slow compared to all phones I had for the last 2 years. Focusing system is disappointing as well. Quite often it just misses and too many times I came across the problem of inability to focus on places / objects which was not a problem Pixel 4. That's not good either.
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Wrong. Manual mode is exactly to be used consciously. If you want effect you think before you do it. That's why it's MANUAL. And than why do you want to make photos if you don't care about basics? I think it's just plain ingnorace. Than why do you even bother writing on forums. Learn something, and than discuss - don't expect your ignorance will be seen as a good thing.
Another silly thing - yes, phone cameras are semi pro, for some years. And if they're not, again - why do you expect any good results from it?
Let's face it, you need an idiot camera, than buy Pixel. Leave the best for those who can actually use it.
doministry said:
Wrong. Manual mode is exactly to be used consciously. If you want effect you think before you do it. That's why it's MANUAL. And than why do you want to make photos if you don't care about basics? I think it's just plain ingnorace. Than why do you even bother writing on forums. Learn something, and than discuss - don't expect your ignorance will be seen as a good thing.
Another silly thing - yes, phone cameras are semi pro, for some years. And if they're not, again - why do you expect any good results from it?
Let's face it, you need an idiot camera, than buy Pixel. Leave the best for those who can actually use it.
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Click to collapse
I think you completely forgot what are you talking about - what really is a tiny camera on a dinky phone (whatever good and powerful it is) and what's the primary purpose of it. And you're calling the best smartphone camera on the market for quite a while by now (not just my personal opinion by the way) - Google Pixel camera - an idiotic one?! That is complete ignorance and nonsense! You certainly never had a Pixel phone. That's explains everything.
Please find attached one of my Xperia 5 photo. It's an epic failure indeed, man. An it's not just a one-off shot. Can't remember that I saw anything like that coming from flagship smartphone camera.
Good luck with your "advanced, for professionals only" Xperia ). Cheers!
WarVic said:
I think you completely forgot what are you talking about - what really is a tiny camera on a dinky phone (whatever good and powerful it is) and what's the primary purpose of it. And you're calling the best smartphone camera on the market for quite a while by now (not just my personal opinion by the way) - Google Pixel camera - an idiotic one?! That is complete ignorance and nonsense! You certainly never had a Pixel phone. That's explains everything.
Please find attached one of my Xperia 5 photo. It's an epic failure indeed, man. An it's not just a one-off shot. Can't remember that I saw anything like that coming from flagship smartphone camera.
Good luck with your "advanced, for professionals only" Xperia ). Cheers!
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Oh, I forgot to mention Xperia 5 complete inability to handle lens flares which was the issue for me not just once, very limited HDR mode and ... inability to shoot in RAW ("Idiotic" Pixel does have RAW!). Last one Sony's omission is laughable for "professional grade, Sony Alpha team tuned" flagship smartphone camera to say at least! And once again, Xperia focusing system is just horrible (maybe perfect for you though if you're not familiar with others). This is my final 2 cents. Cheers
WarVic said:
I think you completely forgot what are you talking about - what really is a tiny camera on a dinky phone (whatever good and powerful it is) and what's the primary purpose of it. And you're calling the best smartphone camera on the market for quite a while by now (not just my personal opinion by the way) - Google Pixel camera - an idiotic one?! That is complete ignorance and nonsense! You certainly never had a Pixel phone. That's explains everything.
Please find attached one of my Xperia 5 photo. It's an epic failure indeed, man. An it's not just a one-off shot. Can't remember that I saw anything like that coming from flagship smartphone camera.
Good luck with your "advanced, for professionals only" Xperia ). Cheers!
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Well, it's good to be able to understand things you comment. I didn't say Google is an idiotic camera, I just said you need an idiots camera - camera which does anything for you, you just press the shutter.
Google is known for its Auto Mode. But as compared with any phone with manual controls, it fails. There are tons of real life comparisons on YouTube to prove that. But to know that you have to understand anything about photography, which you don't. Which you prove again with your arguments - first about the tiny camera and than about RAW. It's obvious none of these opinions are yours actually.
Now, about the photo you enclosed - maybe your phone is broken, I don't know. Never seen anything like that, and I was never able to fail like this although I've made thousands of photos.
doministry said:
Well, it's good to be able to understand things you comment. I didn't say Google is an idiotic camera, I just said you need an idiots camera - camera which does anything for you, you just press the shutter.
Google is known for its Auto Mode. But as compared with any phone with manual controls, it fails. There are tons of real life comparisons on YouTube to prove that. But to know that you have to understand anything about photography, which you don't. Which you prove again with your arguments - first about the tiny camera and than about RAW. It's obvious none of these opinions are yours actually.
Now, about the photo you enclosed - maybe your phone is broken, I don't know. Never seen anything like that, and I was never able to fail like this although I've made thousands of photos.
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It's clear that you're just a blind Sony fan pretending to be a really cool professional photographer using highly sophisticated, for clever people only, MANUAL mode and .... "professionally" taking photos by smartphone camera . That pretty muck explains everything. You made me laugh, man. I like you for that . I just say it again, Xperia 5 has subbar camera system suitable for Sony fanboys only. An not only Pixel 1 or 2 but also most modern Chinese phones like Huawei, Xiaomi and Realme do much better job with their camera than glorious Sony Xperia. Unfortunately that's the brutal truth. And you have to suck it up and go on with Xperia 5 - the choice of professional photographers .
WarVic said:
It's clear that you're just a blind Sony fan pretending to be a really cool professional photographer using highly sophisticated, for clever people only, MANUAL mode and .... "professionally" taking photos by smartphone camera . That pretty muck explains everything. You made me laugh, man. I like you for that . I just say it again, Xperia 5 has subbar camera system suitable for Sony fanboys only. An not only Pixel 1 or 2 but also most modern Chinese phones like Huawei, Xiaomi and Realme do much better job with their camera than glorious Sony Xperia. Unfortunately that's the brutal truth. And you have to suck it up and go on with Xperia 5 - the choice of professional photographers .
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A classic - personal insults instead of any real argument. Typical forum dumb..ss. But the fact you can't even make a proper photo because you're drunk, doesn't mean the discussion with you is in any way better
No insults or rants against the brand. I gave you real arguments of subbar Xperia 5 cameras compared to Google Pixel 2 / 3 / 4, Huawei Mate 10 Pro / 20 Pro / P30. I used all these camera-phones for more than enough time to compare with Xperia 5.
So personally for you I repeat my arguments against "master of mobile photography" Sony Xperia 5:
- inferior focusing system - slower than others, unable to focus properly to damn often on places where rivals smartphones can do easily,
- painfully slow Camera app start up, Camera app itself is not really good & polished as others,
- no dedicated night mode. Automatic one isn't good enough compare to rivals,
- inability to make night shots in Manual mode without tripod (blurry mess is guaranteed),
- struggle to make any decent photos in extreme or not perfect light conditions,
- camera lenses / glass cover flares,
- not good enough dynamic range,
- inferior HDR mode (little to none difference when it's on), inability to use it in Auto mode,
- "ghost" imaging of moving objects.
I saw all above mentioned issues by my own eyes and this is not something I was expected to come across on Alpha team tweaked Sony Xperia flagship smartphone camera!
WarVic said:
...
Please find attached one of my Xperia 5 photo. It's an epic failure indeed, man. An it's not just a one-off shot. Can't remember that I saw anything like that coming from flagship smartphone camera
....
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Hi there,
Not to argue for or against Xperia 5 camera(s), but I just want to point out that your phone was perhaps defective.
In all the pictures I've done with Xperia 5, I've never seen any ghost image such as in your example, not even at night.
I can however get blurred moving subjects (but no double image) if taken at too slow shutter speed, as is the case with any small sensor camera.
This happens for example at night in auto-mode on Xperia 5 (ex: 1/16): too slow to shoot people, in which case we must set the speed in manual mode to avoid blur (ex: 1/64).
Cheers too!
chgr said:
Hi there,
Not to argue for or against Xperia 5 camera(s), but I just want to point out that your phone was perhaps defective.
In all the pictures I've done with Xperia 5, I've never seen any ghost image such as in your example, not even at night.
I can however get blurred moving subjects (but no double image) if taken at too slow shutter speed, as is the case with any small sensor camera.
This happens for example at night in auto-mode on Xperia 5 (ex: 1/16): too slow to shoot people, in which case we must set the speed in manual mode to avoid blur (ex: 1/64).
Cheers too!
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Click to collapse
You could be right but I'm not sure. Can't remember that any of my smartphones had faulty camera in the past. I took photos both in Auto and Manual mode (HDR was enabled, nothing more changed) and that "double images" of moving objects persisted in light conditions a bit different from ideal. Just slight movement of my kids was enough to get unusable photo. Very disappointing. Luckily I sold that phone already and ordered another one. I'll check your suggestion once I get it.
Thanks
WarVic said:
You could be right but I'm not sure. Can't remember that any of my smartphones had faulty camera in the past. I took photos both in Auto and Manual mode (HDR was enabled, nothing more changed) and that "double images" of moving objects persisted in light conditions a bit different from ideal. Just slight movement of my kids was enough to get unusable photo. Very disappointing. Luckily I sold that phone already and ordered another one. I'll check your suggestion once I get it.
Thanks
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Click to collapse
Ok. I tried lots of pictures exactly as you explain: HDR ON (both with auto and manual), lots of light in background and a moving subject not well lit. Basically I did a moving person against a bright window.
I did get about 1 in 20 of these back-lit photos displaying a ghost image at the limit between dark and light areas. So I agree the phone still exhibits a little bit of the same issues as was the case in older models.
The algorithm to blend the multiple images in HDR is not yet perfect.
Not sure about the Pixel 4. It's probably better at this. I personally had the pixel 2 and sold it exactly because I was getting consistently blurred pictures of people and animals in HDR mode, much worse than with Xperia XZ2 which I had at the same time. Problem is Pixel 2 could only take nice pictures with HDR enabled, otherwise was terrible quality.
So in my day to day usage, I normally don't get this issue with the X5 which I use mostly in auto mode. Tip: if you absolutely need to avoid HDR in auto mode (besides the obvious advice not to shoot people in backlit conditions), uncheck "Object tracking" in settings, and use your finger to set focus + exposure on your subject before taking the pic. This in effect prevents HDR (Backlit) mode.
So now the only time I use manual mode is for night time shots to avoid blurred faces with 1/32 or 1/64 speed. I just wish Sony would add an option in settings so the user could set a lower speed limit that would apply to Eye/ face detected subjects only.
Thanks for good advises. I'll certainly use them once I get the phone. Regarding Pixel 2, I can't remember getting any blurred / out of focus photos from it. Quite surprised to hear it. Anyway, Pixel 3 seems ironed all the issues of previous models. I still consider it one of the best camera-phones right now. Also it's very cheap now too. Overall it is one of the best phones I've ever had and that's why I decided to keep it as a backup phone. Pixel 4 appeared to be roughly the same thing with worse battery. That was the reason for getting rid of it.
I did enjoy Xperia 5 too though. Hence I gave it one more chance and re-order it. I wish that Sony fix current issues with it or will do it in future. One of them, a very noticeable one, the camera app launch speed and its overall performance. I want it to be on pair with older Pixel 3 one, not any slower. Cheers
WarVic said:
Thanks for good advises. I'll certainly use them once I get the phone. Regarding Pixel 2, I can't remember getting any blurred / out of focus photos from it. Quite surprised to hear it. Anyway, Pixel 3 seems ironed all the issues of previous models. I still consider it one of the best camera-phones right now. Also it's very cheap now too. Overall it is one of the best phones I've ever had and that's why I decided to keep it as a backup phone. Pixel 4 appeared to be roughly the same thing with worse battery. That was the reason for getting rid of it.
I did enjoy Xperia 5 too though. Hence I gave it one more chance and re-order it. I wish that Sony fix current issues with it or will do it in future. One of them, a very noticeable one, the camera app launch speed and its overall performance. I want it to be on pair with older Pixel 3 one, not any slower. Cheers
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Click to collapse
I guess now that X5 is getting much cheaper it's still interesting, but I wouldn't expect big software improvements to come except for maybe Photo Pro app if Sony is nice to us.
Personally I think the next version X5 II should bring major improvements in photo and we will soon know if that's true with the X1 II:
Photo Pro app vs current camera app (should bring better speed, stability and features if it lives up to current Cinema Pro app)
Bigger sensors = better low light shots
Faster and better focus (with TOF and dual pixel)
Eye tracking on pets (I have a cat and a dog)
... That's of course if it does indeed come out.
It's good enough.
Overall it's an acceptable camera system. I agree it has some flaws, but I knew that going in. I purchased used on eBay (MUCH more affordable), and of course read and viewed many reviews that outline these flaws. It's good enough for snapshots or Instagram or times when you need a pic of something when your out and about. I take a digital camera with me when I know I am going somewhere that I am going to photograph stuff. One reviewer summed up nicely what the big issue is here; Sony makes camera sensors for a lot of other phone companies and makes some of the absolute best digital cameras in the world, so how did they let this slide?
WarVic said:
I think you completely forgot what are you talking about - what really is a tiny camera on a dinky phone (whatever good and powerful it is) and what's the primary purpose of it. And you're calling the best smartphone camera on the market for quite a while by now (not just my personal opinion by the way) - Google Pixel camera - an idiotic one?! That is complete ignorance and nonsense! You certainly never had a Pixel phone. That's explains everything.
Please find attached one of my Xperia 5 photo. It's an epic failure indeed, man. An it's not just a one-off shot. Can't remember that I saw anything like that coming from flagship smartphone camera.
Good luck with your "advanced, for professionals only" Xperia ). Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking at your pictures, i assume you received a faulty phone

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