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Hi everyone! Just wanted to share what I found out recently.
"Low light" shooting mode rocks!
It just makes so much difference when shooting in bad lighting situations. I hate shooting with the flash, but I also hate the noise that goes with shooting without flash.
Enter "low light" shooting mode.
I'm not the one to exaggerate, but the noise that was usually present in shots just disappeared when shooting in this mode (vs. shooting in normal mode). My only wish is that if there was a way for the camera to recognize a scene wherein "low light" shooting mode would be suitable and actually switch to that mode automatically. Perhaps this is a feature I miss because my previous Android phone was the Xperia arc, which had terrific automatic scene recognition.
I was wondering if someone has done a closer study of what "low light" shooting mode actually does differently from normal mode. For one, it takes a bit of loading time before the shot is captured, but the shutter speed doesn't really dramatically decrease. Also, I noticed that photos shot using the "low light" shooting mode have an "_LLS" appended in the file name. So what else is different?
I'll post comparison shots when I can.
Thoughts? Comments? Post away.
AFAIK the low light mode does some noise reduction post processing directly after the shot is taken, that's why it takes a bit longer for the picture to get saved to your library. Since the picture is taken then the noise filter is applied, the picture loses some finer details and quality.
I personally love the camera under decent light conditions, not a fan of the noise it produces in low light.
I believe low light mode takes two photos and then removes the noise between them.
Hold your phone still when using that mode and you'll get some great shots.
Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk 2
I'm a fan of low light mode on this phone. Usually the shutter speed has been too slow on previous phones, but is fast enough for casual use on the n2.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
I think it obvious that the low light mode is based around simply longer shutter time and some post processing, hence the message about holding the phone still while taking a pic.
The amount of light we get in the picture with this mode is simply not possible with software processing alone.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
Definitely low light rocks on our Note Beast
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
Here is a shot I took with low light setting in my room under dim lighting condition.
Low shutter speed, high iso, and clean up with noise reduction. Im impressed they put a setting that does these things for ya.
Very cool.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
I just tested this a while ago and i must say low light shooting mode rocks!
On top is single shot mode and bottom is low light mode.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
Photo taken close to midnight using the low light camera feature :good:
This is actually one of my frustrations with this phone.
I thought that the low light mode is similar to the night mode I had in CM9 back in my old phone.
Under dim lighting conditions, photo taken via normal and low light mode are the same.
After reading some posts here, I just tried taking two pictures but on a good lighting condition.
I noticed that indeed, the quality of the photo taken in low light mode is better.
rom3l said:
I just tested this a while ago and i must say low light shooting mode rocks!
On top is single shot mode and bottom is low light mode.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
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Is that Slash?
Sorry for Off Topic.
BTW can anyone tell me what the ISO setting is during Low light mode?
jon1011 said:
This is actually one of my frustrations with this phone.
I thought that the low light mode is similar to the night mode I had in CM9 back in my old phone.
Under dim lighting conditions, photo taken via normal and low light mode are the same.
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I actually like the low light mode better than "night mode" which i rarely used (in my other camera phones). Night mode would result in blurry pics all the time and it used to be slow. In addition, the low light mode results in pics with better noise reduction than conventional night mode imo .
Dpk1 said:
I actually like the low light mode better than "night mode" which i rarely used (in my other camera phones). Night mode would result in blurry pics all the time and it used to be slow. In addition, the low light mode results in pics with better noise reduction than conventional night mode imo .
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What do you mean by "noise reduction"? I've read that a lot in this thread but I do not understand what it means.
Sorry, I'm not too deep when it comes to photography.
In night mode, it may make the picture a bit blurry but the lighting of the photo will be good.
It's like taken with a controlled flash.
jon1011 said:
What do you mean by "noise reduction"? I've read that a lot in this thread but I do not understand what it means.
Sorry, I'm not too deep when it comes to photography.
In night mode, it may make the picture a bit blurry but the lighting of the photo will be good.
It's like taken with a controlled flash.
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When you zoom in a photo on a screen to 100%, then you start to notice unwanted "tiny dots" or "grain" which (kind of) distort the whole picture. This is called the photographic/ image noise. Better the image sensor, lesser is the noise. Noise reduction is/maybe a part of image "post processing", which obviously reduces the noise output (usually at the cost of some image detail).
The night mode (in general) uses higher "ISO settings" for brighter images in dark. Higher ISO levels increase the sensitivity of sensor to light, but also increases the image noise. Hence, brighter but noisy images. Whereas, low light mode provides bright enough images with least noise (wrt note 2 camera), perhaps either by prolonging the exposure/ better noise reduction. Hope it clears up your doubts. For more info, google your query, i'm sure there is a lot of info there .
Wow didn't really have faith in this feature, thought it was same thing as setting high iso. I usually prefer high iso, +1-2 stop brightness, +flash. I'll surely try this feature after this post.
Dpk1 said:
When you zoom in a photo on a screen to 100%, then you start to notice unwanted "tiny dots" or "grain" which (kind of) distort the whole picture. This is called the photographic/ image noise. Better the image sensor, lesser is the noise. Noise reduction is/maybe a part of image "post processing", which obviously reduces the noise output (usually at the cost of some image detail).
The night mode (in general) uses higher "ISO settings" for brighter images in dark. Higher ISO levels increase the sensitivity of sensor to light, but also increases the image noise. Hence, brighter but noisy images. Whereas, low light mode provides bright enough images with least noise (wrt note 2 camera), perhaps either by prolonging the exposure/ better noise reduction. Hope it clears up your doubts. For more info, google your query, i'm sure there is a lot of info there .
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Thank you for the explanation. I seem to get it now.
But still, when I take pictures in 'Low light' mode in a dim light setting, it doesn't make the photo "bright enough" as you have said.
jon1011 said:
Thank you for the explanation. I seem to get it now.
But still, when I take pictures in 'Low light' mode in a dim light setting, it doesn't make the photo "bright enough" as you have said.
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Well of course there are limitations as to how dark a setting the camera will still pick up light, but in general the low light mode should produce better pictures where the standard mode is too dark.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
D3_ said:
Well of course there are limitations as to how dark a setting the camera will still pick up light, but in general the low light mode should produce better pictures where the standard mode is too dark.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
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Can't see much of it.
Anyway, happy new year to all!
Hello everyone!
As promised, here are the comparison shots for normal "single shot" mode and "low light" mode. I have uploaded these original picture files as attachments. I think it will be easy to distinguish which one is the normal shot and which one is shot using low light. (These are Dropbox Camera Upload sync files, so the "LLS" moniker disappears. Sorry for that.)
Cheers!
So i took a vid with my Z in an indoor enviroment and whilst it does have detail, smoothness it comes at the price of huge noise.
now i know this is a smartphone, but my previous phone, an HTC One S, did excellent shots even in indoor and poor light conditions.
i believe one answer to this might be the fact that HDR is hardcoded in staying on at all times. i believe this messes up with the exposure values and eases noise to make way in the vid.
i tried tinkering with the settings, best i found was to put exposure at -2 and iso at 100/200 but still the noise persisted.
do you have any tips/tricks to improve low light video?
Warmo said:
So i took a vid with my Z in an indoor enviroment and whilst it does have detail, smoothness it comes at the price of huge noise.
now i know this is a smartphone, but my previous phone, an HTC One S, did excellent shots even in indoor and poor light conditions.
i believe one answer to this might be the fact that HDR is hardcoded in staying on at all times. i believe this messes up with the exposure values and eases noise to make way in the vid.
i tried tinkering with the settings, best i found was to put exposure at -2 and iso at 100/200 but still the noise persisted.
do you have any tips/tricks to improve low light video?
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Click to collapse
Do you have any proof to show HDR is enabled at all times? I'm finding it a bit hard to believe that HDR which is supposed to get more accurate colour intensities can let noise enter the video. I would say that compression is a more likely culprit than that, given that you tweaked the settings and still got noise. What say you?
Warmo said:
So i took a vid with my Z in an indoor enviroment and whilst it does have detail, smoothness it comes at the price of huge noise.
now i know this is a smartphone, but my previous phone, an HTC One S, did excellent shots even in indoor and poor light conditions.
i believe one answer to this might be the fact that HDR is hardcoded in staying on at all times. i believe this messes up with the exposure values and eases noise to make way in the vid.
i tried tinkering with the settings, best i found was to put exposure at -2 and iso at 100/200 but still the noise persisted.
do you have any tips/tricks to improve low light video?
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Click to collapse
I disagree with HDR being always on. I tested it with similar condition HDR off and on. HDR which looks like more exposure and is tweaked for low light videos. However the Noise is due to HDR failing to focus faster. In simple words HDR takes time to focus but give better results if your hand is firm and the video is slow mo. however you can uncheck HDR and change other settings like ISO and exposure you can get better results. (Video)
coolrevi said:
I disagree with HDR being always on. I tested it with similar condition HDR off and on. HDR which looks like more exposure and is tweaked for low light videos. However the Noise is due to HDR failing to focus faster. In simple words HDR takes time to focus but give better results if your hand is firm and the video is slow mo. however you can uncheck HDR and change other settings like ISO and exposure you can get better results. (Video)
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"The new Sony Xperia Z flagship boasts a feature no other phone can brag with, and it is High Dynamic Range capture, but not only for still photography, but in videos as well.
The option is hardwired with the new Exmor RS sensor of Sony."
that last phrase is not exactly absolutely clear, but i assume that if it says "hardwired" it means "hardcoded" so to speak, and usually hardcoded means that it cannot be modified in anyway.
also, everytime i shoot a video i get the HDR tag right next to the timer on bottom-left side of the screen. and that little HDR tag remains even if i turn off the HDR function when in Photo mode.
i might be wrong of course and HDR can be disabled.
If HDR can be disabled please tell me how! I would really appreciate it!
coolrevi said:
I disagree with HDR being always on. I tested it with similar condition HDR off and on. HDR which looks like more exposure and is tweaked for low light videos. However the Noise is due to HDR failing to focus faster. In simple words HDR takes time to focus but give better results if your hand is firm and the video is slow mo. however you can uncheck HDR and change other settings like ISO and exposure you can get better results. (Video)
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It's simple. Open camera, video camera, hdr off, you can clearly make out that hdr is off as it reduces the color boost and exposure.
Sent from my C6502 using xda app-developers app
Had a little bit of free-time so decided to do a simple test. What differences does the different camera modes provide in Low-Light?
Here is the album for the pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/iFc9Keoh9um1beks5
All shots were handheld, 8MP 16:9, landscape orientation. Unfortunately, I don't really have a DSLR sample for comparison but you can take my word that there wasn't much light (among the shots, SA and Handheld Twilight are closest to how dark the scene actually was but in reality, it was still a bit darker). On to the analysis:
Superior Auto - Night-Scene detected, NO tripod icon Even though it selected Night-Scene, it still seemed to select a rather high-ISO in this case, making it quite useless. How do you get the Tripod icon to appear when handheld? Do you have any tips for that or how long I have to wait for it to appear?
Manual Mode (ISO Auto, Metering Multi, Single Auto-Focus) - based on many observations, ISO in Manual mode generally is 1/2 of the ISO that is selected for Superior Auto. Most of the time I shoot stuff in this setting. Curiously, did anybody notice that the "Image Stabilizer" option disappeared?
Night Portrait - based on observations, seems to select a balance of the lowest ISO it could get with the slowest shutter-speed it can have to have a balanced exposure of the scene WITHOUT motion blur. This in contrast to the Night Scene mode.
Night Scene - based on observations, seems to prioritize getting the lowest ISO it can and slowest shutter-speed to get the best exposure BUT the main difference with Night Portrait is it does not care about motion blur! And yes, the shutter speed it selected was almost 1 sec but I have to be honest, it really took me quite a few tries to get that clear a shot without motion blur. You might also notice some wonky focus on the right-side.
Handheld Twilight - not really sure what this does but to me seems to perform like HDR? Takes a couple of pics then stitches them together to preserve detail? If you compare to the Superior Auto shot, it seems to have more detail in comparison (e.g. the frame with etched words).
Is there a best scene for shooting? I think it would depend on what you want to prioritize. For me, I would probably leave it in Manual / Night Portrait for general shooting and put it in Night-Scene mode for landscape shots. Lack of OIS is sad but not a deal-breaker for me, just have to be more patient and practice having steady hands to get that good shot.
Hope this have helped you and please feel free to add any information as needed!
Generally in most indoor scenarios, putting the camera manually into Night Portrait produces the best results - especially with flash. If you can get Superior Auto to bring up Tripod mode in Night scene, this is better but without tripod you're better off with Night Portrait, by en large (though Superior Auto has surprised me, on occasion - I'd love to recommend it but it's so dang hit-and-miss: sometimes it'll do better, sometimes worse. It's very inconsistent indoors).
Outdoors, if you can get Superior Auto showing Night Scene, snap away. If it spot meters to the brightest point, all the better. If you can get that tripod symbol up, you're really in business and this'll really do the job well.
Oddly, outdoors in low light, I've found Night Scene on manual to be just too damn tricky to get a shot without motion blur. On SA, it uses some form of stabilisation to help. IF you can get Manual Night Scene to work, it's marginally better than the Superior Auto equivalent but, in a complete reverse of the indoor results I get, you're best using Superior Auto's night modes outside. Weird.
BUT Don't use Superior Auto at night without a mode selected! It's screws everything up. The Low Light mode can be good in extreme darkness but if the lighting is moderate, sometimes Manual on automatic settings produces the cleaner image. If you've time to do it, drop the ISO on Manual to the lowest it can be while still exposing the scene correctly, if you're in a reasonably lit but imperfect area, like a streetlit housing estate, etc.
One of these days Sony will produce a camera that you can just point and shoot. One day.
PS: I've always found Handheld Twilight to be generally useless.
Timaustin2000 said:
Generally in most indoor scenarios, putting the camera manually into Night Portrait produces the best results - especially with flash. If you can get Superior Auto to bring up Tripod mode in Night scene, this is better but without tripod you're better off with Night Portrait, by en large (though Superior Auto has surprised me, on occasion - I'd love to recommend it but it's so dang hit-and-miss: sometimes it'll do better, sometimes worse. It's very inconsistent indoors).
Outdoors, if you can get Superior Auto showing Night Scene, snap away. If it spot meters to the brightest point, all the better. If you can get that tripod symbol up, you're really in business and this'll really do the job well.
Oddly, outdoors in low light, I've found Night Scene on manual to be just too damn tricky to get a shot without motion blur. On SA, it uses some form of stabilisation to help. IF you can get Manual Night Scene to work, it's marginally better than the Superior Auto equivalent but, in a complete reverse of the indoor results I get, you're best using Superior Auto's night modes outside. Weird.
BUT Don't use Superior Auto at night without a mode selected! It's screws everything up. The Low Light mode can be good in extreme darkness but if the lighting is moderate, sometimes Manual on automatic settings produces the cleaner image. If you've time to do it, drop the ISO on Manual to the lowest it can be while still exposing the scene correctly, if you're in a reasonably lit but imperfect area, like a streetlit housing estate, etc.
One of these days Sony will produce a camera that you can just point and shoot. One day.
PS: I've always found Handheld Twilight to be generally useless.
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Thanks for the tips I haven't yet encountered the tripod icon in Superior Auto mode except when I placed my Z5 on the table.. But handheld seems to be just impossible. Any tips to do it in handheld, aside from keeping my arms steady? I can keep my arms steady in manual Night Scene. How long do I have to wait to make it appear / what triggers does it look for based on your experience?
bloodfire1004 said:
Thanks for the tips I haven't yet encountered the tripod icon in Superior Auto mode except when I placed my Z5 on the table.. But handheld seems to be just impossible. Any tips to do it in handheld, aside from keeping my arms steady? I can keep my arms steady in manual Night Scene. How long do I have to wait to make it appear / what triggers does it look for based on your experience?
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I wish I could tell you, lol. Tuck your elbows in against your ribs - that helps. If you can, lean your elbows on a arm rest or lean against a wall. You just need to be as steady as possible but it's tricky to do.
One tip; half pressing the camera key re-sets Superior Auto when released. If you do this a few times, it means that the mode is more active in looking for changes in exposure and behaviour and may help it come up quicker.
Once it does come up, half press and hold it and it should lock the mode so that you can find your focal point and take the shot.
Hope this helps.
I would add from myself the best results especially in detail are available throght Maual Mode 8mpx.
The autofocus is fast, low manual ISO and the usage of white balance gives really detailed pics even in low light.
It's also good to use tap-to-focus and consciously use light metering.
---------- Post added at 04:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:26 PM ----------
bloodfire1004 said:
Thanks for the tips I haven't yet encountered the tripod icon in Superior Auto mode except when I placed my Z5 on the table.. But handheld seems to be just impossible. Any tips to do it in handheld, aside from keeping my arms steady? I can keep my arms steady in manual Night Scene. How long do I have to wait to make it appear / what triggers does it look for based on your experience?
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Tripod appears actually only when the phone is set on a completely stable surface/stand.
Otherwise the phone detects any movement. Which is logical.
Thanks both for the helpful tips! Can't wait to try out and do my best to practice my 'tripod mode' Btw, what metering do you leave your phone at?
I've found to get tripod to appear reliably, shoot either while sitting or leaning/braced on something. I found it was the body swaying, and not the hands, that was causing most of the movement for me. If the tripod icon does not at first appear, take an initial shot in SA (without tripod icon), and it should then appear for the next shot.
Twilight mode means taking around 6 photos and interpolate the data between them all to create one final image. Samples are taken at high ISO and relatively fast shutter speed which it tries to keep fixed while changing ISO between samples. This results in a photo that has less noise, less chroma and preserves color and detail. Anti motionblur mode works similarly except parts of the samples with no blur are kept of each sample and then stitched together for final output.
EQ2000 said:
Twilight mode means taking around 6 photos and interpolate the data between them all to create one final image. Samples are taken at high ISO and relatively fast shutter speed which it tries to keep fixed while changing ISO between samples. This results in a photo that has less noise, less chroma and preserves color and detail. Anti motionblur mode works similarly except parts of the samples with no blur are kept of each sample and then stitched together for final output.
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Wow didn't know that before. Might be interesting to have a play around with those settings when I get the chance!
EQ2000 said:
Twilight mode means taking around 6 photos and interpolate the data between them all to create one final image. Samples are taken at high ISO and relatively fast shutter speed which it tries to keep fixed while changing ISO between samples. This results in a photo that has less noise, less chroma and preserves color and detail. Anti motionblur mode works similarly except parts of the samples with no blur are kept of each sample and then stitched together for final output.
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Interesting,.. but I've never once managed to get it to produce usable results.
i keep testing different settings in low light conditions (manual 8 mp and 20 mp and s. auto 8 mp and 20 mp) and manual 20 mp keeps winning for me. color reproduction is just the best.
i don't see why everybody seems so happy with s. auto 8 mp
Barthlon said:
i keep testing different settings in low light conditions (manual 8 mp and 20 mp and s. auto 8 mp and 20 mp) and manual 20 mp keeps winning for me. color reproduction is just the best.
i don't see why everybody seems so happy with s. auto 8 mp
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I am totally for Manual 8mpx.
Just because in real low light it's more crisp than 23mpx.
Other than that Manual 23mpx is great.
I can bring up the tripod quite consistently after the first shot (it keeps showing all those running, walking icons first time due to almost unavoidable initial motions).. Thanks to some helpful tips here, I'll have to try to get it up before the first shot.
One off-topic tip that could be pretty convenient. I'm pretty sure most of the Xperia shooters already know this. I leave the camera in my fav. manual mode (basically favorite ISO/res. & everything else set to auto or you could just pick a scene mode). I launch the camera using the awesome shutter button to get to auto mode directly. I tap the icon to launch the camera only when I need to get directly to my favorite manual 'preset'.
If we lock the iso as 200 in manual mode, I guess it is like a tripod mode, because the camera will adjust the shutter speed to match the iso , and it takes good pics in most circumstances.
HDR+ Auto seems like a "lite" version of HDR+ from the Nexus 6P. There is a reason Google got the processing time down beyond just performance/software enhancements. HDR+ Auto is either taking shorter exposures, or less exposures than HDR+ On. Test it for yourself. HDR+ Auto is instant, HDR+ On has the same delay in shutter speed that the 6P had (but perhaps a bit quicker).
This isn't a bad thing. HDR+ Auto is producing incredible images, but it seems that HDR+ On is actually producing better dynamic range, and POSSIBLY better photos in well-lit conditions. In low light as shown below, it is giving that better dynamic range BUT at the cost of increased noise which makes ZERO sense... I have posted this on the Google product forums for attention and answers from the camera team. For the time being, just be aware that this difference exists, and many of the reviews/photos being posted may NOT be the best that this camera is capable of unless people are explicity choosing HDR+ On each time you launch the camera - it will reset to HDR+ Auto! Anyway, here are some pairs of photos with differences... I will test this more and update if I hear back from the camera team.
Note: these images are compressed and resized, but still show the differences.
Photo 1: Notice the dynamic range difference in the TV picture, but also notice the difference in noise levels on the paint of the wall.
Photo 2: The brightness of the LED bulb is slightly tamer on the siding with HDR+ On, but look at the darker areas of the photo. There is a lot more noise with the HDR+ On photo over HDR+ Auto.
Photo 3: There is too much brightness here for any noticeable noise, but look at the how well HDR+ On handled exposing the entire sky. HDR+ Auto looks good too, but has far less dynamic range.
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It may help more if you labeled the photos as HDR on and HDR auto or similar. Looking at them on my phone, especially the first outdoor shot, it's hard to pick out some of the differences and determine which is which.
Sent from my Pixel XL
@nitemare3219 .....similar to the previous poster I initially thought that it would have been necessary to label which photo is for what but your descriptions led me to the right photos....and you are right....two different qualities in the 2 modes....more dynamic range in hdr+ on and less noise in certain areas of the hdr+ auto shots.
Btw.....the well lit outdoor shot....there is more noise in the grass in the hdr+ on photo. Good you brought that to the attention of the Google camera team. Good catch!!
If they could get the auto shots to have the dynamic range of the hdr+ on shots...that would be awesome!!
Be aware also though that Google acknowledged the lens flare issue that occurs in some strong light source scenarios and are tweaking the hdr processing to address it and the fix will be coming soon. Therefore the 2 modes will likely change in quality because of this...hopefully for the better.
I'm kinda confused by the pictures to be honest, there's no labels as to what's what, and it's hard to tell with them being so large and no words. From your descriptions, it sounds like intended behavior. Could be mistaken, but it sounds like you're saying that HDR On produces more dynamic range than HDR Auto at the cost of some noise? Well, yes, that's what HDR does. "Auto" doesn't mean "on", it means "as necessary".
Honestly though, these pictures are meaningless without comparisons between all three modes, with HDR set to off, auto, and on. I'm wondering if the results above would be closer to off than on, or if they're somewhere in the middle. Maybe host on Imgur too so we can see the uncompressed full size (I do that unlisted).
How'd you get the shot so stable, if I may ask? I tried to find perspective changes and not a one. Tripod or something? Would like to try something similar with my Pixel for comparison's sake.
I thought I mentioned in the OP that the 1st shot is HDR+ Auto, and the 2nd shot is HDR+ On for each pair of photos, but that must have been in the Google product forum.
My issue here is that I don't believe HDR+ On should be giving more noise levels than HDR+ Auto. HDR+ On has a dramatic effect in dynamic range shots in terms of better quality. I just wish this was mentioned obviously somewhere by Google or in the camera app, because every camera review/comparison I've seen has left the Pixel in HDR+ Auto which isn't necessarily the best option all the time. I'd like to see a proper comparison between the two.
For steadiness, these were all handheld shots. But I do have a tripod setup, so maybe I'll try that this weekend.
I'd suspect it plays around with the ISO, which would cause more noise. It's likely an app issue rather than a phone issue. HDR can be done in hardware (better quality overall), in software, or a combination of both. The app is definitely doing some software HDR, so there is some compromise to be expected.
Either way, at the end of the day, it's still a phone with a camera, not a camera that makes calls. For the form factor, there really isn't anything that much better. Dedicated hardware will outperform a jack-of-all-trades any day. The pictures still look stunning in either setting. Is "HDR On" the optimal setting? No, that's probably why it defaults to "HDR Auto" in the first place. I'd suspect "HDR On" pulls some other hacks to rely more on software than hardware, which for the Pixel, isn't the best approach.
I'd be inclined to interpret the settings as "Off", "On", and "Forced in Software" instead of "Off", "Auto", and "On", but that's just me.
On the Nexus HDR+ On is the best setting. Better than HDR+ auto because HDR+ auto does not use HDR+ all the time. I don't have the Pixel, but HDR+ auto seems to be worse on the Pixel than on the Nexus. So HDR+ auto is likely a HDR+ lite mode instead of a HDR+on/off auto mode.
The Nexus blows the Pixel away in HDR+ auto: http://youtu.be/THwm57tjZQg
So Google did something wrong. HDR+ auto seems to be like HDR+ off on the Pixel.
With HDR+ Auto the software decides when to use the HDR process and how much. I think that would be obvious. I think the OP does not agree what the software has decided on how to process the photo. If he likes the full on HDR+ then he should use it that way.
I prefer HDR+ Auto as it seems to work better for myself.
No, it seems that HDR+ auto does not mean HDR+ on or HDR+ off. It apparently means HDR+ lite always on. I also heard that HDR+ on is more aggressive on the Pixel than on the Nexus. As HDR+ auto delivers worse results than Nexus' HDR+ auto, it clearly shows that Google did something wrong.
quark-lepton said:
No, it seems that HDR+ auto does not mean HDR+ on or HDR+ off. It apparently means HDR+ lite always on. I also heard that HDR+ on is more aggressive on the Pixel than on the Nexus. As HDR+ auto delivers worse results than Nexus' HDR+ auto, it clearly shows that Google did something wrong.
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You don't even own the Pixel, how can you say Google is doing something wrong and jump to conclusions on what it's doing? That's like saying Tesla is doing the electric vehicle all wrong and owning a Civic...
quark-lepton said:
On the Nexus HDR+ On is the best setting. Better than HDR+ auto because HDR+ auto does not use HDR+ all the time. I don't have the Pixel, but HDR+ auto seems to be worse on the Pixel than on the Nexus. So HDR+ auto is likely a HDR+ lite mode instead of a HDR+on/off auto mode.
The Nexus blows the Pixel away in HDR+ auto: http://youtu.be/THwm57tjZQg
So Google did something wrong. HDR+ auto seems to be like HDR+ off on the Pixel.
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On the 6P, HDR+ Auto means HDR+ on/off (automatically chosen by software). It is an on/off switch. Either 0% HDR processing or 100% HDR processing. The 6P/5X HDR+ Auto is not the same as the Pixel HDR+ Auto. See below.
quark-lepton said:
No, it seems that HDR+ auto does not mean HDR+ on or HDR+ off. It apparently means HDR+ lite always on. I also heard that HDR+ on is more aggressive on the Pixel than on the Nexus. As HDR+ auto delivers worse results than Nexus' HDR+ auto, it clearly shows that Google did something wrong.
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Correct. Pixel HDR+ Auto is a less intensive HDR+ algorithm. The Pixels accomplish instant HDR results because as soon as you open the camera app, it is IMMEDIATELY capturing RAW images and waiting for you to hit the shutter button. Once you hit the shutter button, it tells the phone when to grab the last 9 frames or so it has ALREADY captured, and create a processed JPEG.
HDR+ ON works differently. I don't know if it is capturing RAWs the entire time the camera app is open, but my guess is that it works more like the 6P does where it begins capturing all, or at least MOST, of these RAW images once you actually press the shutter key - hence the spinning loading circle aka shutter/processing lag. It is a higher quality HDR in terms of dynamic range, but it causes more noise than HDR+ Auto. I wish I still had my 6P so I could compare and see if the Pixel's HDR+ On is generating more noise than a 6P's HDR+...
Google's camera team has recommended, and stated that they too, use HDR+ Auto for an overwhelming majority of shots. I don't think this is a smart idea, because it seems like HDR+ On can create a better shot, ESPECIALLY in good lighting where noise is not an issue. The expense here is shutter lag, but for someone who wants the best photo possible and has time to take it, this is irrelevant. I am still waiting on them to give me a proper answer on the differences between HDR+ Auto and HDR+ On, but who knows if that will happen.
Just tried taking a bunch of comparison pictures between HDR Off, Auto, and On. Most of them came out with oddball exposures, so I narrowed them down to three good test cases. I can confirm the results in the first post on my Pixel (non-XL), however wanted to note that Auto gives better results than Off in most scenarios I tried. HDR On suffers from noise in dark areas. Auto does not, however it doesn't offer the same color depth as HDR On does.
Imgur album of my results:
http://imgur.com/a/mZ97L
(And yes, I paid my Cat Tax)
DMCShep said:
Just tried taking a bunch of comparison pictures between HDR Off, Auto, and On. Most of them came out with oddball exposures, so I narrowed them down to three good test cases. I can confirm the results in the first post on my Pixel (non-XL), however wanted to note that Auto gives better results than Off in most scenarios I tried. HDR On suffers from noise in dark areas. Auto does not, however it doesn't offer the same color depth as HDR On does.
Imgur album of my results:
http://imgur.com/a/mZ97L
(And yes, I paid my Cat Tax)
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Wow... that difference on the couch is startling... it's almost like HDR+ Auto didn't do anything! I think the reason HDR+ On leads to more noise, is because HDR+ Auto actually aligns somewhere around 9 images together to reduce noise by a factor of 3. My guess is that HDR+ On is using less images, but is analyzing exposure as each shot is taken to re-adjust for the next shot in the series (which is the reason for shutter lag), leading to better dynamic range, at the cost of added noise (due to less shots overall).
Thanks for helping confirm.
You're welcome! Honestly, I'm glad to know of how this camera behaves this soon after I got it, rather than random guesswork and likely false assumptions like every other phone I've ever owned.
I'm now curious how HDR handles motion, but don't have a solid test case as of yet. My only thought is stopping at a long red light, pulling out my phone to snap some pics of the cross traffic, but it'll be a while before that becomes an opportunity -- I don't have many long lights on my commute! Not to mention I can't drive and mess with my phone at the same time -- can't multitask for anything!!!
DMCShep said:
You're welcome! Honestly, I'm glad to know of how this camera behaves this soon after I got it, rather than random guesswork and likely false assumptions like every other phone I've ever owned.
I'm now curious how HDR handles motion, but don't have a solid test case as of yet. My only thought is stopping at a long red light, pulling out my phone to snap some pics of the cross traffic, but it'll be a while before that becomes an opportunity -- I don't have many long lights on my commute! Not to mention I can't drive and mess with my phone at the same time -- can't multitask for anything!!!
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HDR+ Auto should handle motion perfectly fine in decent lighting as evidenced by Google's perfect sample photo of catching a skateboarder mid-air. In low light, there is likely to be some blur. HDR+ On will certainly cause more blur in lower light.
@Nitemare3219 did you tap on the same area to focus/meter before taking each photo?
Edit: You can compare 6P HDR+ with Pixel Auto HDR+ at GSM Arena. The Pixel looks barely any cleaner.
Nice comparison.
I'm using the ported camera with my LG V20 and the results are similar.
Do you guys with the Pixels have HDR+ with the front facing camera?
For better results expose in the shadows, so you get full dynamic range. To me looking at the OP there is little to no difference than not even using HDR of any sort
HDR Image
The attached image shows extreme difference in dynamic range, the exposure point was in the shadow under the trees and around the waterfall, the rock in the foreground had bright sunshine on it. I am still amazed to this day how this phone could even capture this
Not sure if this is old news, but it seems that the difference with HDR+Auto is that it uses special hardware on the Snapdragon SOC to process the HDR and thus reduce processing lag.
That is discovered (?) by someone who ported the Pixel camera to use on the Nexus:
https://chromloop.com/2016/11/camera-nx-v4-bring-zsl-photo-shooting-hdr-nexus-pixel-phones-way/
HDR Auto or ON? Which is better?
I was wondering the same but after some testing I think Auto is better, otherwise some scenes which don't need hdr look a little too unnatural.
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Exactly. This is maybe an oversimplification, but you only really need HDR in situations where there is a big difference in the lighting of the background and foreground (eg the subject is in the shadows with a bright sky behind). Personally, I've started going with HDR completely off. To me, this makes for more natural looking photos. My suggestion is to just tinker around with it till you find a style you like.
I choose to turn mine off as well. I can resort to a post production app if needed to draw out colors in a picture. I want to avoid as many artifacts as possible in my pics (if HDR causes them, I have no clue?)
It shouldn't create any artifacts(shouldn't, hehe). What it does is just take two separate pictures with different exposure values, then merges the areas from the two into one image. The quality of the image should be as good as a non-HDR picture.
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I took 3 test shots of a flower in bright light in auto, on and off. I couldn't see any difference in them at all. I just leave it on auto.
Off. I turn it on when I need it.
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