Database Users

Grainy Camera Images

Hey guys, I was out last night in London with the gf and was taking photos with the HD2 Camera
I've applied quite alot of tweaks such as the superfine and additional video modes
After looking through the photos, all of them have come out very grainy, I've tried playing around with the contrast, saturation and sharpness but doesn't really make a difference
Also tried changing the image quality and no change
Anything that I can do to fix it?
Here are some images

It's a normal effect. The HD2 isn't a reflex camera. At night or in a low luminosity environment the ISO (sensibility of the lens) will be higher, creating this grainy effect. You can try with a low end / medium end "true" camera, you will see the same effect, more or less visible depending of the quality of the device. You can try to set the ISO by yourself to limit the effect.

ye, because your shooting in low light, your HD2 (whcih I assume is on Auto ISO) will ramp up to a higher ISO to increase the photosensitivity, allowing you to maintain as fast a shutter speed as possible. if it didnt, you would have been slower shutter speed and you wouldhave had camear shake too!

Ty for the quick replies guys, so basically I should lower the ISO settings which will mean longer shutter time but less grain, yes they were on auto, silly me =[

no im not saying that, exactly. if you were to lower the ISO, yes that would prduce less grain, but you would find you would no longer be able to take a sharp pic in hand, because the camera would compensate by having a longer the shutter speed to allow more light to aborb on the sensor. if it didnt take this action your pic would be underexposed, i.e. black!
your grain is unavoidable at night im affraid unless you can use a tripod, or strong flash to light your scene, whcih will be difficuilt if its a landscape!
hope that helps

Its nearly impossible to shoot good pictures by night with a small or mobilephone camera. Like the others said, if you lower the iso the grain will go away, but the picture will also be much darker, you can compensate this if you longer the shutter times, but then the camera have to be on a stand or something like that. So just accept that this pictures are kind of the best you can make at night.

Okey dokes, thanks for clearing this up lads =]

If it makes you feel any better my Nikon D3 has the same problem
All be it not as bad.

12:46 pm and it's that dark in London
Or is there another London

erosennin said:
12:46 pm and it's that dark in London
Or is there another London
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
huh? i took those at around 10 pm last night

rayad said:
huh? i took those at around 10 pm last night
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah lol, look at the time stamp

Desire HD blurred pictures.

I don't know if its just me but I find the cam on the HD to be worse then the desire. I guesting with a better cam the HD must need some settings changed or an update. If I am taking any pictures of a person that moves in the slightest it will always blur. Also when taking video an times when I look back at it the video stops then caches up again. Any tips or advice welcome.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

the laggy video has been dealt with my formatting the SD card to a 32k cluster size. see the main problems thread.
and i agree this camera is poor. my n96, n95, and even my 3.2mpx k800 take better pictures. not a lot you can do other than only take pictures in optimal lighting.

If you adjust sharpness to -2 or so, brightness +2, don't use "Auto" white balance & correctly set ISO depending on you situation, you can take excellent pictures.
Using "Auto" for all the setting or the "Defaults" will result in a sub-standard picture. Test & Adjust.

andyharney said:
If you adjust sharpness to -2 or so, brightness +2, don't use "Auto" white balance & correctly set ISO depending on you situation, you can take excellent pictures.
Using "Auto" for all the setting or the "Defaults" will result in a sub-standard picture. Test & Adjust.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm..
looks like turning off he auto white balance made a huge change.
much sharper pics.
thanks for the tip!

anheuer said:
Hmm..
looks like turning off he auto white balance made a huge change.
much sharper pics.
thanks for the tip!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what did you change it to? and what conditions were you in? I find all the options apart from auto give weird coloration when in semi good lighting conditions.

SupremeBeaver said:
what did you change it to? and what conditions were you in? I find all the options apart from auto give weird coloration when in semi good lighting conditions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well i tried sharpness -2 and +2 because in a differed thread they say use +2
Not sure yet which one is better
and i set the white balance to incandescent, which looks nice to me.
and set satuarion to +1
ISO to 800 or auto
Auto focus off (use tap to focus)
I'm in the office btw.

Could you please give me a link to the main problems thread in regards to blured video and formatting the SD card. I can't find it. Thanks.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

Display Brightness Auto Levels - What do you use?

I always thought the auto levels on my phone (galaxy nexus) were too low at night or in the dark in general.
I changed mine to the following...Anyone have any tips on better levels? I find this leaves the screen brighter at night, and increments more evenly vs stock and hopefully saves some battery being its not at full brightness until its in super bright sunlight.
0=60
6=60
9=60
14=60
20=60
30=60
46=100
68=100
103=100
154=100
231=130
346=130
519=130
778=130
1168=175
1752=175
2627=210
3941=210
5912=225
8867+=225

ryancell said:
I always thought the auto levels on my phone (galaxy nexus) were too low at night or in the dark in general.
I changed mine to the following...Anyone have any tips on better levels? I find this leaves the screen brighter at night, and increments more evenly vs stock and hopefully saves some battery being its not at full brightness until its in super bright sunlight.
0=60
6=60
9=60
14=60
20=60
30=60
46=100
68=100
103=100
154=100
231=130
346=130
519=130
778=130
1168=175
1752=175
2627=210
3941=210
5912=225
8867+=225
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how do you get to change these settings? any file that needs to be edited?

ryancell said:
I always thought the auto levels on my phone (galaxy nexus) were too low at night or in the dark in general.
I changed mine to the following...Anyone have any tips on better levels? I find this leaves the screen brighter at night, and increments more evenly vs stock and hopefully saves some battery being its not at full brightness until its in super bright sunlight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have definitely had to adjust them on all my devices. On my N4(mako)* I turned them way down at low levels and way up at high levels. On my N7(flo) I had to lower them across the board.
There are so many variables: personal preference, the environment in which you use your device, the hardware of your screen, the age of your device (some screens get dimmer as they get older), and the response curve of the lux sensor in your device. Thank science we can customise it.
* if you are curious: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]+

Xperia Z3 Camera Test (Answering pink issues)

Hello Everyone!
I just want to share my thoughts on the issues that are experienced by the users here.
So here's my story, I bought a new Z3 (D6653) and I have tested it for a few days now. I was impressed by its performance and battery life! I already read many articles regarding waterproof, audio, camera, battery. Now let's focus on the camera issue (pink issues) which others reported based on their captured photos.
I made this thread in order for us to answer a mystery that has been long haunting the Z3 users.
================================================
Problem: The photos taken from the camera of Xperia Z3 has pink spots issues. This can be seen even on white surfaces. This can be hardware related issue.
================================================
Initial Theory: Software issue, settings, tweaks can resolve this
================================================
Researches
"Tint – Basically how much green or pink is in the image."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source: http://digital-photography-school.com/practical-white-balance-and-why-you-should-learn-it/
---
"Regarding the green/pink tint. I do WB Shift occasionally in camera to offset pink or green tints, however it only happens rarely."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source: https://fstoppers.com/post-production/learn-shoot-proper-white-balance-using-kelvin-temps-3328
---
Nikon D50 related issue/s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source: http://photo.net/portraits-and-fashion-photography-forum/00OW0q
---
Samsung S5 related issue/s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source: http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s5/382397-pink-spot-photos.html
---
HTC related issue/s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_release_software_fix_for_the_hd2_camera_pink_spot_issues-news-1317.php
---
Additional Resources:
http://www.imagemaven.com/get-better-color/
http://www.athentech.com/thescience/chapter-4-tint-correction-and-white-balance/
================================================
Testing
Device: Xperia Z3, Samsung Galaxy Wonder
Object: White wall surface
Camera Settings: White Balance, Exposure Value (EV)
Sample Shots:
Xperia Z3: Album (http://imgur.com/a/NbSUE)
ISO - Auto, 15.5MP (16:9)
Image 1: Intelligent Auto
Image 2: Manual, WBAUTO, Exposure 0 (neutral)
Image 3: Manual, WB Flourescent, Exposure 0 (neutral)
Image 4: Manual, WBAUTO, Exposure +2 (highest)
Image 5: Manual, WB Flourescent, Exposure +2 (highest)
Samsung Galaxy Wonder: Album (http://imgur.com/a/uZ2I0)
ISO - Auto, 8MP (4:3)
Image 1: Manual, WB Flourescent, Exposure 0 (neutral)
Image 2: Manual, WB Flourescent, Exposure +2 (highest)
Image 3: Manual, WBAUTO, Exposure +0 (neutral)
Image 4: Manual, WBAUTO, Exposure +2 (highest)
Note: The higher the exposure, the brighter the image
Observation Summary: As seen on the photos captured on the devices, there are difference on the color output depending on the white balance used as well as the exposure value. I haven't tested the ISO settings yet.
================================================
Initial Conclusion
The pink spots that we are seeing are RGB tints that can be caused by the white balance. It is not just only pink, it can be green, or blue which represents RGB. Thus, proper white balance and exposure should be able to lessen the tints or fix the color of the photo. In photography, white balance settings depends on the lighting of the environment which affects the proper color of the photo. White Balance Auto (WBAuto) adapts the lighting of the environment which produces the color based on the pattern of light.
This is a software issue on the white balance settings of the Xperia Z3's camera and a software update could potentially solve the issue. Proper camera settings, especially white balance, is recommended to produce the desired and correct color output.
================================================
If you have any thoughts on this topic, let's collaborate in order to partially fix (if not fully) these concerns. Speak your mind, share your knowledge
I also want to reach out to any professional photographers out there if they may share some knowledge or some points on these topic. I study basic photography but I'm not Pro enough.

In my experience, the pink spot has only been an issue in high ISO situations.

Camera: tips for manual settings or auto to use in certain circumstances

Would people care to post tips about what are best settings to use in:
low light photos
fast subjects
etc,

Don't have this phone, but I can share some common knowledge.
There's a term often called "exposure triangle". Proper exposure is achieved by combining three variables - ISO, aperture, shutter speed. High ISO, wide aperture (low f-number) and low shutter speed give you more light. Depending on what you're shooting, you'd want to sacrifice one or the other. High ISO gives you more light at the expense of image quality. Wide aperture gives you more light at the expense of lower depth of field (which is not necessarily bad - e.g. may be intentionally desired). Low shutter speed gives you more light at the expense of not being able to give you a sharp image of something that's moving. Generally you can vary one to compensate for the other two. With most phones, the aperture is fixed, so you're left with only shutter speed and ISO.
For low light, you'd want to drop the shutter speed to something like 1/10 or 1/5 - if the subject is still and your hands are steady, you can have a sharp photo this way. The lower you drop the shutter speed, the lower ISO you will need to ensure proper exposure - and the lower the ISO, the cleaner the image given the exposure is proper - but don't try to keep the ISO low if it would result in an underexposed shot. Experiment with what is the lowest speed at which you can manage a sharp shot.
For fast subjects, it depends - sometimes 1/100 is enough, sometimes 1/500 is not enough - very much depends on what you're shooting (primarily how fast it is moving). Again, try it yourself.

killchain said:
Don't have this phone, but I can share some common knowledge.
There's a term often called "exposure triangle". Proper exposure is achieved by combining three variables - ISO, aperture, shutter speed. High ISO, wide aperture (low f-number) and low shutter speed give you more light. Depending on what you're shooting, you'd want to sacrifice one or the other. High ISO gives you more light at the expense of image quality. Wide aperture gives you more light at the expense of lower depth of field (which is not necessarily bad - e.g. may be intentionally desired). Low shutter speed gives you more light at the expense of not being able to give you a sharp image of something that's moving. Generally you can vary one to compensate for the other two. With most phones, the aperture is fixed, so you're left with only shutter speed and ISO.
For low light, you'd want to drop the shutter speed to something like 1/10 or 1/5 - if the subject is still and your hands are steady, you can have a sharp photo this way. The lower you drop the shutter speed, the lower ISO you will need to ensure proper exposure - and the lower the ISO, the cleaner the image given the exposure is proper - but don't try to keep the ISO low if it would result in an underexposed shot. Experiment with what is the lowest speed at which you can manage a sharp shot.
For fast subjects, it depends - sometimes 1/100 is enough, sometimes 1/500 is not enough - very much depends on what you're shooting (primarily how fast it is moving). Again, try it yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly as mentioned above pretty much, I will add a little more.
Normal cameras you can change the aperture which in turn will also affect the required shutter speed for the correct exposure in the given shot. Your phone does not have this, only a fixed aperture, how you phone regulates this is through shutter speed and adjusting your ISO. Manual with all cameras is recommend for best results, as your camera can make bad decisions for these exposures.
Perfect example I can give you is the other night I was trying to photograph christmas lights, the camera was trying to illuminate the entire scene over exposing all the lights, I had to compensate this by underexposing by one stop what the camera was trying to expose.
If you have ever photographed scenes with lots of black and or lots of white, with black your phone overexposes and you black becomes greyish the rest of the shot is bright white. With white your phone underexposes, the white has lots of details but the background is very dark of completely black. it each of these situations if you don't take control you will not get the best out of the scene.

Thank you contributors. I found out that by changing the exposure my screen darkens quite a lot but when I take the photo comes out a lot lighter. What is that about? Is it not wysiwig?

mihaid said:
Thank you contributors. I found out that by changing the exposure my screen darkens quite a lot but when I take the photo comes out a lot lighter. What is that about? Is it not wysiwig?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera is trying to show you a real time image, so in low light it has to keep the shutter faster to keep up with you moving the camera, if they didn't do this and it was showing you real time in low light you would have to wait the exposure time, this would get really annoying as you have to wait for each frame to refresh
So in summary they have a minimum shutter they show in the screen preview (not sure what this is) maybe 1/15 sec so it can keep up with you panning/moving the camera
The Sony display tries to improve the look of photos, you have noticed when you view a photo that it changes while you are looking at it.

If you want a less post-processing you can use "Landscape" mode. You will get visible color noise in low light situations but also more detail in dark areas. A bit like what G4/V10 does and depeding on scene it can be passable. In good lighting it brings out the details better than other modes. It does though like to up the ISO but it can be countered with the EV.

Does people even have the phone to make comments, the only settings in manual mode is change iso value that's it, there is no shutter speed at least not in Sony stock camera app
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

You can change most of the settings mentioned above using the Fv-5 app, try it

babarmaqbool said:
good
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stop with the good spam in each thread please.
Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk

Vcaddy said:
You can change most of the settings mentioned above using the Fv-5 app, try it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not free (lite version is horrible) and can only shoot long exposure in 2.1 MP.
I bet it doesn't even shoot a real long exposure, I think it just shoots a video into a picture.
BTW, normal photos can only be taken in 8mp max.

This phone needs a real manual mode like the G4 because the phone really does not deal with low light well due to lack of control in the app. FV-5 is useless really as it's only 8mp and doesn't really do any better than stock on this phone or the G4

Jonathan-H said:
This phone needs a real manual mode like the G4 because the phone really does not deal with low light well due to lack of control in the app. FV-5 is useless really as it's only 8mp and doesn't really do any better than stock on this phone or the G4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed.
Long exposure in vf-5 app is only 2.1mp btw.