Database Users

Q: Anything I can do to maximize picture quality?

One of the main gripes I had with my Note 2 was the poor pictures it took. I looked at a lot of the reviews of the S4 and looked at all of the sample pictures on the web that the S4 took. I was thoroughly impressed by how good of quality pics it took and that is want got me hooked on getting it. After getting it I see it does take better pics but at the same time I don't get the quality I saw in the pics on the web.
I was wondering is there anything I can do to maximize the quality of my pictures so I get comparable quality that I saw in the review pictures?

Yeah I'm not sure. I always feel like this as well. Just make sure that you set Anti-Shake to on. That helps me, otherwise all my pics are blurry.

Check your camera and check to see if there's the clear plastic protective shipping film over. I was thinking the same thing about picture quality and found that. It almost looks like it should be there and is a little hard getting off.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

goobieracing said:
Check your camera and check to see if there's the clear plastic protective shipping film over. I was thinking the same thing about picture quality and found that. It almost looks like it should be there and is a little hard getting off.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
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I have this on mine...but its cut out in the middle for the camera lens. So I don't think its making a difference?

burningembers said:
I have this on mine...but its cut out in the middle for the camera lens. So I don't think its making a difference?
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Some people say the film makes their camera not focus. I took mine off for good measure
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

I took the film off the first second I got the phone so it's not that.

Try shooting pictures in Rich Tone (HDR). I've noticed consistently better quality pictures.

Ya I kind of noticed that as well but the only problem is whatever you're shooting has to be completely still in order for it to not turn out blurry.

Antishake on or hold your breath when taking pictures

The camera is only as good as the person's skills using it. Don't rely fully on the camera/software itself to do all the hard work for you.
The people who post reviews of these devices generally have decent photography skills and thus their "sample" pics turn out much better than the average user's.
Like stated, try to use HDR. Keep a steady hand by resting it on something or squating down low to the ground with a good steady poise. Play with the focus on different subjects to get the desired focal length as well.

SEscobedo said:
Ya I kind of noticed that as well but the only problem is whatever you're shooting has to be completely still in order for it to not turn out blurry.
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Try Sport mode. But I agree, the S4 sucks big time. My girls iPhone 4 takes better pictures.
Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 2

People forget the fact that youre not supposed to buy a phone for the pictures it can take...you want a good picture you firstly get the skills needed and get a better camera...tge s4 is probabky the closest youll come but dont expect the same results aa a dslr
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

S5 users - quick couple questions.

Hi all,
Just a couple of q's for the S5 crew.
I've bought a brand new LG G2 and the camera is gash. My trusty S3 wee-wee's all over it from a great height. Aside from that, the phone is an utter champion which makes it a tough choice..
Can anyone tell me the S5 camera sits up there with the best, and if I'd be happy with it's performance coming from the G2?
Help me XDA - you're my only hope.

To be honest I like every thing in the s5 except one thing .. the camera ... specially the front camera is **** and even **** is little word for the front camera it's a disaster the back one ether the s3 camera is better for me because my old phone was s3
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

I love my s5's camera, I think it's great.
Take a look in the pictures taken with s5 thread for some guidance
Sent from my SM-G900F using XDA Free mobile app

It depends on what you want out of a smartphone camera. The S5 takes incredible shots outside in good light. It's noticeably better than the G2 in those situations. But inside or outside in poor light, the shots are pretty lacking, and I prefer what the G2 provides overall. If you're only shooting still shots in low light and can hold the camera still for an extended period of time, the shots from the S5 can turn out decent sometimes, but all too often they look like oil paintings.
So, in my opinion, he S5 wipes the floor with the G2 in outdoor shots with good light. But in low light, the G2 provides better shots more often.

kryogenik said:
Just a couple of q's for the S5 crew.
I've bought a brand new LG G2 and the camera is gash
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You have to decide what you want out of a camera. All smartphone cameras have weaknesses. The S5 camera has been widely praised as being superior. And it is in most circumstances. But it is weak in low light. While another phone may work very well in dim light but not be nearly as good as the S5 in daylight.
The S5 camera is very good unless low light shots are an important priority for you. And I have no idea what you meant by gash in this context. I looked in three dictionaries and none of them listed a meaning that would fit here. So it must be regional slang?
.

fffft said:
And I have no idea what you meant by gash in this context. I looked in three dictionaries and none of them listed a meaning that would fit here. So it must be regional slang?
.
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Gash = Crap :highfive:

IPhone5s vs Droid Turbo Camera: Just the facts.

Besides my Turbo I also have a company provided IPhone5s so I decided to do a real world side by side comparison. Here is the setting: my truck is parked about 250' away from stop sign, I held each phone with both hands resting on the steering wheel. Both phones have all settings on AUTO the crossroad has a speed limit of 50 mph and no stoplights nearby so I am fairly certain the vehicles crossing in front of me are doing no less than 50 mph. My purpose is to catch the vehicles as close to the center of intersection as I possibly can, I took the Turbo pictures first and made every possible effort to capture the best picture possible with both phones. Observation: the shutter SOUND on the Iphone was instant, shutter SOUND on Turbo had an estimated full second delay. Look at the pictures and draw your own conclusions.

smokie11 said:
Besides my Turbo I also have a company provided IPhone5s so I decided to do a real world side by side comparison. Here is the setting: my truck is parked about 250' away from stop sign, I held each phone with both hands resting on the steering wheel. Both phones have all settings on AUTO the crossroad has a speed limit of 50 mph and no stoplights nearby so I am fairly certain the vehicles crossing in front of me are doing no less than 50 mph. My purpose is to catch the vehicles as close to the center of intersection as I possibly can, I took the Turbo pictures first and made every possible effort to capture the best picture possible with both phones. Observation: the shutter SOUND on the Iphone was instant, shutter SOUND on Turbo had an estimated full second delay. Look at the pictures and draw your own conclusions.
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So while the shutter sound was delayed, it did not matter?
The Droid got the job done while the iPhone did not.

Which pics are which?

aviwdoowks said:
So while the shutter sound was delayed, it did not matter?
The Droid got the job done while the iPhone did not.
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The Turbo has what looks like a simulated gray shutter closing when you take picture, when that happened the picture was captured, the sound followed the visual cue.

wadamean said:
Which pics are which?
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The first 3 are the Turbo, the last 3 Iphone, if you hold the mouse over the pictures it identifies them, they can also be enlarged.

Ummm... Congrats?

It seems like you had HDR on with the Turbo

zed011 said:
It seems like you had HDR on with the Turbo
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He used default settings.
HDR on auto is one of them.

I have read here and other places what a dreadful camera the Turbo has, specially the inability to focus on moving objects and how slow it was to capture an image. I didn't want to dismiss the many stated comments about how awful the camera is. I also did not want to just simply say how I feel about the camera, to me it's a great camera for a phone. I did a heads up comparison between a camera praised often for being superior to the Turbo's and the Turbo camera consistently focused clearly on a fast moving object, the IPhone failed to catch a single vehicle in the focal area. I don't expect to sway the one's that hate the camera one bit, I simply presented evidence, proof of what the Turbo camera CAN do; not an opinion. WE all like here to look at pictures to prove a point... I gave you pictures.

iPhone is sharper

theineffablebob said:
iPhone is sharper
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Yeah that missing detail is really crisp.
Its so sharp I cannot see the cars!

I like the camera on the turbo, can't understand how anyone could argue the results of your test

Steve One said:
I like the camera on the turbo, can't understand how anyone could argue the results of your test
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Steve I did my best to present visual evidence and leave my own personal opinion out as best I could, I didn't know what the outcome would be and I would have presented results even if the Turbo had crapped out. I wanted to address focus and shutter speed on moving objects. The following IS an opinion: the camera is only as good as the hands holding it, even the world's best camera can take a bad picture in the wrong hands. The pictures the IPhone took were considerably darker than actual surroundings, the sky was NOT the darker blue in the picture and of course the obvious: no vehicles are present in the IPhone pictures, if you look hard enough to the right in one picture you will see the car I was trying to capture.

If you have a ceiling fan in your house or office, do the same test on the fan, well lit, low speed.
I've been doing that with the DT and whatever other phones I can lay hands on, none of them that
are built into a phone do very well. My observations that given some light and distance, the DT can
do OK with movement, but lack of light and/or up close action it's lacking. It isn't an accident that they
are putting dual flashes and ring flashes and such on cameras, the $2 sensor and lack of lens is really hurting.

wolf_walker69 said:
If you have a ceiling fan in your house or office, do the same test on the fan, well lit, low speed.
I've been doing that with the DT and whatever other phones I can lay hands on, none of them that
are built into a phone do very well. My observations that given some light and distance, the DT can
do OK with movement, but lack of light and/or up close action it's lacking. It isn't an accident that they
are putting dual flashes and ring flashes and such on cameras, the $2 sensor and lack of lens is really hurting.
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You realize its the same camera that the Z3 has, right?
For a phone camera, it is pretty good. As for the ceiling fan, that is a rather silly test considering typical shots a phone will take arent that fast. Everyone can agree that there are a few aoftware quips that need to be fixed, but lets stop moving goal posts when someone defies a complaint, yeah? It's never going to be as fast as a DSLR or even a point and shoot.

I don't care if it's Genghis Khan's own Point-N-Shoot, it's deficient in a number of areas.
Like anything moving that isn't 20 yards away or in direct sunlight, or a christmas tree.
Nor am I alone. And that fake DSLR soft focus BS isn't fooling me either.
When conditions are favorable to the DT's camera strengths, it takes very nice photos, better
than my S4 for example, the rub is the S4 took better photos most of the time because it's
range of acceptable conditions was wider. There are a hoard of people with kids and dogs
which are frequently in motion that are not pleased with the basically useless camera in those
situations.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/mo...droid-turbo-photos-auto-focus-blurry-why.html

wolf_walker69 said:
I don't care if it's Genghis Khan's own Point-N-Shoot, it's deficient in a number of areas.
Like anything moving that isn't 20 yards away or in direct sunlight, or a christmas tree.
Nor am I alone. And that fake DSLR soft focus BS isn't fooling me either.
When conditions are favorable to the DT's camera strengths, it takes very nice photos, better
than my S4 for example, the rub is the S4 took better photos most of the time because it's
range of acceptable conditions was wider. There are a hoard of people with kids and dogs
which are frequently in motion that are not pleased with the basically useless camera in those
situations.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/mo...droid-turbo-photos-auto-focus-blurry-why.html
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Here are some pictures of my baby girl, she posed in one; all the others she was moving and yes I can take a bad picture I'm man enough to admit it. I just think "basically useless" is a bit harsh. Merry Christmas.

Great looking dog! Your pics perfectly illustrate the performance I've observed, well lit, white background to reflect available light, mostly static subject, GREAT pics.
That last one with the blurry head, typical for less than great light or up close movement.

wolf_walker69 said:
I don't care if it's Genghis Khan's own Point-N-Shoot, it's deficient in a number of areas.
Like anything moving that isn't 20 yards away or in direct sunlight, or a christmas tree.
Nor am I alone. And that fake DSLR soft focus BS isn't fooling me either.
When conditions are favorable to the DT's camera strengths, it takes very nice photos, better
than my S4 for example, the rub is the S4 took better photos most of the time because it's
range of acceptable conditions was wider. There are a hoard of people with kids and dogs
which are frequently in motion that are not pleased with the basically useless camera in those
situations.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/mo...droid-turbo-photos-auto-focus-blurry-why.html
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the grass is always greener.. if you read through some of those post you will come to the one where the guy with the Note 4 says he has similar results with what everyone praises as the one of the best cameras.. My DT could take some crappy shots as well as some amazing ones, and so can my wife's iPhone 5s.. I agree with an earlier comment.. I would say the overwhelming factor in getting good pics from any phone... is the user..
I now have the N6 and the story is the same.. some pics are trash some are great.., i take pics with that knowledge therefore I don't get as disappointed as I used to.

lazarus2297 said:
the grass is always greener.. if you read through some of those post you will come to the one where the guy with the Note 4 says he has similar results with what everyone praises as the one of the best cameras.. My DT could take some crappy shots as well as some amazing ones, and so can my wife's iPhone 5s.. I agree with an earlier comment.. I would say the overwhelming factor in getting good pics from any phone... is the user..
I now have the N6 and the story is the same.. some pics are trash some are great.., i take pics with that knowledge therefore I don't get as disappointed as I used to.
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I think that the camera operator has much to do with the quality of pictures that come of the camera phone itself. This applies to non-phone cameras too.

Front facing camera, distortion / long face

I know the S7 has a wide angle camera, and this is the result of long / narrow faces.
Or this is how it appears on mine.
Wondering if anyone has stumbled across any mods or anything?
I don't normally do selfies, but I just tried and wow!
Someone suggested taking the picture at arm length and cropping the picture, while this works, its not a solution for native apps that use the camera.
I.e. Snap chat etc.
Had anyone has the same experience and had any solutions or luck?
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

I asked myself the same question. Its cool to get more of the background on the picture, but for little bit closer takes it looks just stretched and unreal.

haha, well i have a rather round face.
But when i take a selfie using this camers, It looks like i have to eat for a few months. LOL!
Might work well for woman Samsung, But am not keen on looking as skinny as possible

Are you guys also expierencing with the front camera makes your face out of focus. Example if i take pictures with front camera my eyebrows, nose and beard is all blury and out of focus?
This kind of problem need more attention because ive heard that a lot of s7 and s7 edge users with this problem. Yet there is no update to fix this.

Elhombree said:
Are you guys also expierencing with the front camera makes your face out of focus. Example if i take pictures with front camera my eyebrows, nose and beard is all blury and out of focus?
This kind of problem need more attention because ive heard that a lot of s7 and s7 edge users with this problem. Yet there is no update to fix this.
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Have you guys tried turning off the beauty face features.

Elhombree said:
Are you guys also expierencing with the front camera makes your face out of focus. Example if i take pictures with front camera my eyebrows, nose and beard is all blury and out of focus?
This kind of problem need more attention because ive heard that a lot of s7 and s7 edge users with this problem. Yet there is no update to fix this.
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As another user suggested, Sounds like filters.
Samsung added a few, If enabled can remove wrinkles and marks from your face.
At the cost of looking plastic........ lol

Yes it may be a software fault, eventhough beauty mode is off it's still on somehow.
I know someone who complained it and they changed the camera, the fault was still present.
And my brother got fed up that this issue wouldn't get fixed so he ended up selling his s7 edge.
Could you guys try a selfie and look in the details of your eyebrows look how out of focus and blury it is, and details around hair, beard is oversaturated making the picture look distorted and poor.

Elhombree said:
Yes it may be a software fault, eventhough beauty mode is off it's still on somehow.
I know someone who complained it and they changed the camera, the fault was still present.
And my brother got fed up that this issue wouldn't get fixed so he ended up selling his s7 edge.
Could you guys try a selfie and look in the details of your eyebrows look how out of focus and blury it is, and details around hair, beard is oversaturated making the picture look distorted and poor.
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Ill try some later and see the results.
I have only ever taken a couple of selfies.
TBH i hate looking at my own pics especially on the S7 edge lol!!!

Photo quality

Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the Google Pixel 4a 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!

Tom's Guide camera review(vs iPhone SE)
https://www.tomsguide.com/news/google-pixel-4a-vs-iphone-se-camera-face-off

Very impressed
I owned an iPhone 11 pro max before giving it away to a family member, and recently just returned a brand new Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. This pixel 4a slam dunks on the iPhone 11 pro and Note 20, all day. Aside from the dismal Selfie cam, the main camera produces incredible photos. IMO, much better than the iphone. And the samsung, may as well toss that junk in the trash. Well done Google!

You will never ever touch the pics this phone can produce for the price. There is nothing out there that comes even close.

Katsusreturns said:
I owned an iPhone 11 pro max before giving it away to a family member, and recently just returned a brand new Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. This pixel 4a slam dunks on the iPhone 11 pro and Note 20, all day. Aside from the dismal Selfie cam, the main camera produces incredible photos. IMO, much better than the iphone. And the samsung, may as well toss that junk in the trash. Well done Google!
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Fully agree with you ,the front cam is a disaster on this phone but back cam is probably what I have seen on reviews even is better than ip12pro for the main lens pics

Mehtasameer2087 said:
Fully agree with you, the front cam is a disaster on this phone but the back cam is probably what I have seen on reviews even is better than ip12pro for the main lens pics
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Agreed, the front camera is not good. What I have noticed though is if you switch quickly from rear to front, for a split second the front camera actually looks good, then completely gets demolished from processing. Not sure what Google has going on with that, it's not any settings I can find that are doing it, no face smoothing or anything turned on.

Katsusreturns said:
Agreed, the front camera is not good. What I have noticed though is if you switch quickly from rear to front, for a split second the front camera actually looks good, then completely gets demolished from processing. Not sure what Google has going on with that, it's not any settings I can find that are doing it, no face smoothing or anything turned on.
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Have you already applied the november patch? Do you notice that since you have the phone? Because I have the feeling that since this update, front camera quality got a bit worse. Did anybody else observe this?

alguien24 said:
Have you already applied the november patch? Do you notice that since you have the phone? Because I have the feeling that since this update, front camera quality got a bit worse. Did anybody else observe this?
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Absolutely agree on that. I was searching for other users that noticed this and I ran on your comment. Photos got bit noisier, and with less detail, not like we know with google camera's quality. Also video quality has gotten worse.. Now the result looks like came out of a cheap phone. Im a bit calm though, because it looks like a software issue, and I hope it will get noticed by Google.

Katsusreturns said:
Agreed, the front camera is not good. What I have noticed though is if you switch quickly from rear to front, for a split second the front camera actually looks good, then completely gets demolished from processing. Not sure what Google has going on with that, it's not any settings I can find that are doing it, no face smoothing or anything turned on.
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Haven't noticed that split second thing but yes I also don't have any options enabled

Katsusreturns said:
Agreed, the front camera is not good. What I have noticed though is if you switch quickly from rear to front, for a split second the front camera actually looks good, then completely gets demolished from processing. Not sure what Google has going on with that, it's not any settings I can find that are doing it, no face smoothing or anything turned on.
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Not noticing a difference on front/rear toggle with Nov update. Agree front is over processed and mushy; seems to be a software issue as I find it hard to believe Google would toss a dime store sensor into this pup.

DB126 said:
Not noticing a difference on front/rear toggle with Nov update. Agree front is over-processed and mushy; seems to be a software issue as I find it hard to believe Google would toss a dime-store sensor into this pup.
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Weird, mine still shows a difference when swapping. I am wondering if the split second I see that appears halfway decent is what you see normally, and is yet still no good lol. Somewhere on the forums here I saw a guy with a US version of the phone and another outside the country and there was a very substantial difference in the selfie cam quality. US version being the lesser of the two.

Katsusreturns said:
Weird, mine still shows a difference when swapping. I am wondering if the split second I see that appears halfway decent is what you see normally, and is yet still no good lol. Somewhere on the forums here I saw a guy with a US version of the phone and another outside the country and there was a very substantial difference in the selfie cam quality. US version being the lesser of the two.
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Front is not great but no hesitation using for video chats and static captures. Those who relish ITM snaps are not going to be happy - especially if coming off a Galaxy, iPhone or similar. Even my modest Moto g7 leaves a better first impression.

Back camera is really fun to use for stills, like the reviews claim, very decent point-and-shoot camera for us casuals. I'm using cstark's PXMod and I'm really liking it so far.
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I find the images are all too warm in colour temp, especially compared to the P3 & P3a, in fact every other phone & camera I've tried. Anyon emanaged to get a good neutral white balance? I've tried camera mods but none are quite there

None of smartphones today make good natural picture. They are mostly oversharpen to look good on the small screen. And the other thing is they have wide angle camera which are not good for photographing people. The people faces have distortion. Most of people don't care but I do. They should make the software for camera that would correct this distortion automatically. Some of Olympus SLR camera had these feature.