Help, why I can't get quality image files with S4. - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi.
My previous phone was a huawei p1. I bought the camera fv5 app and the images were great. The phone started to behave strange and I started to look for a better phone. Decided on the s4. I read that it's camera was great and I thought that the fv5 app will remove the plastic of the images as it did on my p1. But it didn't. I'm so disappointed.
Here are the examples:
huawei
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8kmedFmWBvwSHp6TTBpQjllcHMyejJ3eldYMm45X2VoSmpR/view?usp=sharing
samsung
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8kmedFmWBvwcUg5dXhTX0M2ZnppeEFCU2dMR1lNem5weFBn/view?usp=sharing
Why can't s4 shoot the same and how to fix it?
It looks like the p1 shoots raw which is impossible.
Thanks.

You might want to explain with some added information, because based upon what I've seen in the two pictures I'm having a difficult time understanding what the problem actually is. Claiming the P1 picture is better than the S4 is a major stretch. It doesn't help when your Huawei's image is blurry and indistinct, while the S4 image is razor sharp.
P. S. Unless you use Androslide's Camera Zoom FX Pro you're not shooting in RAW.

But the p1 is better, there s more detail if you pay attention (look at the tree needles), there s more highlight detail with better color and no overexposure, the shadows are smooth and there s no huge contrast, there s no oversharpning and overprocessing of the details (no plastic look), there s actually nice noise that makes for a real image, it looks as a raw image.
Both images were made with camera fv5 app on andr 6 and andr 4.4.1
It is strange why can't the s4 take the same quality picture, why is there that layer of postprocessing on s4 that an old phone like p1 misses?

Have you tried taking pictures with the s4 running stock 5.01 with the stock Samsung camera app?

No, i haven t. Have you? Is it any different?
Is it possible to see a 100% crop?

I don't have the phone at the moment but people I know that habe the phone the pictures are pretty good. These are people that run everything stock.

I have, and the picture quality is excellent. I didn't notice any sharpening issues using the S4 camera and stock firmware. In fact, the pictures it took are comparable to the ones coming from my Nexus 6, and this is despite not having OIS or exposure bracketing HDR; the stock Samsung firmware uses software filters to emulate HDR.
I can't test the stock firmware now because I'm running Android 7.0 on the device and have Camera Zoom FX Pro installed, but I'm still not seeing the OP's issues he claims are in the S4 image. I have a good eye for composition and a decent eye for picture quality, and to me that S4 image is perfectly fine. It could have been improved using HDR, but for a sample shot it's well framed and the colors accurate compared to the P1.

Related

S4 LTE camera issues: slow shutter

Hi. I have been very impressed by my former Note2 LTE. I can focus and snap any picture I want, especially of human faces and moving animals. However, my S4 LTE seems to take a second to focus and shutter to snap, resulting in missing the person's expression i want to take and results also in some blurry images. I tried other apps like Fx camera, but no improvement. Only Fast camera app can solve it except the maximum resolution is 2.1 mp. Even my lousy iphone 5 camera is faster and takes nicer pictures. On the whole, taking still shots of sceneries result in nice pictures but it is just too slow. Is it software issue? Flashed newer firmwares but still the same. I find it distressing as i take pictures of my kids alot. Thank you
sadly that's pretty common case for all S4 variants, including my i9500 and samsung really needs to do something about it. Custom roms or rooting your phone and removing some bloatware might help, but i haven't rooted my phone yet so i am not too sure.
Mine's rooted. On stock debloated slim rom xxuame2. No camera improvements at all

[Q] Camera issues?

Hi guys,
I have just got an GT-i9506 and I'm loving the size, speed and how smooth everything feels, compared to the S3 I had previously.
BUT I think I am having an issue with the camera.
I can take great photos, but the focus when close up or macro is horrible.
On my S3 if I got a little too close, I would hold the phone further back, focus on my subject, move a bit closer and focus again and so on until I was as close as I wanted to be and I was able to take the shot.
I can't seem to get this technique to work on this phone.
I find, even taking shots from a far (which the camera focuses fine with), when I zoom in after the photo is taken, the quality is horrible.
For once, heavily sharpening my images in post-production in apps like VSCO is actually helping!
Is anyone else seeing a drop in camera quality compared to older devices like the S3?
Any recommended settings in the stock camera, flashable fixes or apps people would recommend over the stock camera for this device?
Thanks

Alternative App that makes best quality photos

Hi there,
As everyone knows, default camera app of sony sucks. I have tried a lot of alternative applications. For me the best results is from Snap Camera with settings 20mpx, camera api2, jpeg quality Best, opengl2, auto scene auto whitebalance, auto flash. These settings allows me to take much sharper images tested on my small facial hair. BUT! Camera is very overheating, after few minutes (5-6 shots) i have started sony camera and it alerted that camera is too hot, so it shuts down.
Snap camera allows HDR in 20mpx also any scene, its not limited as sony-s camera
Also snap camera produced the best images on my old low quality mtk based phone. So i recommend it, its paid but as far i know it have trial version.
I will be happy if someone will tell how is satisfied with this app.
PS.: FV-5 is worse, for my eyes.
in the play store info, there is setting for ISO. but why is there non when i check in setting...?
ive taken some kick ass photos in good light/ low light / bad light with the stock app. IDK what everyone is on about. but to each their own =)
`Ghost` said:
ive taken some kick ass photos in good light/ low light / bad light with the stock app. IDK what everyone is on about. but to each their own =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In Auto mode or Manual?
Both.
Basically, when you unlock your boot loader, the great photo quality will be gone. If you have backed up your "TRIMM area" before unlocking it (where the DRM keys are stored), then you'll be able to get it back, by re-locking the BL, but this means you'll lose your ability to use costom ROMs, only modified stock ROMs are possible after that.
The reason for this is that Sony uses some pretty amazing software magic to get great pictures in low light (noise reduction algorithms) which aren't meant to be accessible for others to reverse engineer, so they lock them away with the DRM keys. So with a locked boot loader, the camera makes awesome pictures even in low light, with an unlocked BL, meh... (not so much any more)
Of course, these algorithms are only available to the Sony default camera app for the same reasons...
Have you tried this
It will let you have scene's and HDR in 20mp, also it has more ISO options.
I've used FV-5 from the start and imo it's a lot better for me then the stock app. I can't work with the stock app that has limited control
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Free mobile app
stock camera is the only one...'cause of manual iso... fv-5 has good auto but you can't force iso 100, 200 and so on
Recently I have the Z3 Compact therefore not yet tried everything, but the camera does not seem anywhere near what they sold me in reviews. The original camera seems poor choices, the automatic mode leaves much to be desired, especially in low light because when you have a lighthouse in front can not interpret well and properly handle white balance and contrast.
I was testing the Open Camera app and gives me better results than stock. The only thing I use it now for the stock camera is for timeshift and sometimes for panoramic shots.
I have almost forgot about this post, thanks for cleaning my bookmarks.
Thanks for everyone’s reply, I have figured out that another phones also uses that sensor and they make better pics, so probably problem is with sony's software developers who are doing a weak job. I am very addicted to zooming pictures and when I compare zoomed 5mpx downscale shot of lumia 1020 and 8 or 20mpx shot of Z3C, then shot of lumia is sharp and clear, full of details.... the shot of sony is like blurred and without details. So i think that they algorithm is wrong somewhere or they are compressing raw to too low quality and when jpeg is created then its final quality will be even worse regardless of 97% or 100% jpeg quality. Need to note that nokia's sensor is three times bigger in its physical size that captures the light.
But the video quality is epic i have never seen so good video quality from phone.
Currently i am waiting for availability of 5.1.1 in slovakia

Camera API 2 still broken (Even in android M)

Greetings guys, ive seen that the camera api 2 is still broken for galaxy s6 in the android m, this can be checked easelly by running any custom camera app like camera fv 5, a better camera or proshot camera.
All of them return blurry pictures with camera api 2, while works flawlessly with old camera api.
Even though im very very happy with the galaxy default camera app finally supporting shutter speed and raw, i was hoping the camera api 2 wouldve been properly implemented in this build which unfortunatelly it wasnt.
So im trying to do get as much data as possible by asking you guys to post your phone model, android version, sensor brand/model and experience with camera api 2:
Ill go first:
Phone: G920F
Android: Android 6.0.1
Camera Sensor: Sony_IMX240 (To check your sensor install this app from google play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.finalwire.aida64&hl=pt_PT)
Testing:
ProShot(Paid) Blurry pictures,
Camera FV5(Paid)=Blurry Camera API2 (Resolution maximum of 8mp) and up to 3200 iso, but normal image quality with old camera api (Resolution maximum of 16mp) but only 800iso,
A Better Camera (Paid) Blurry Camera Api2 but normal image quality with old camera api.
This problem is included in lollipop 5.1.1
I talk with proshot developers for this problem 5 months ago and he hasn t solution
supera3 said:
This problem is included in lollipop 5.1.1
I talk with proshot developers for this problem 5 months ago and he hasn t solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi! I'm the dev of ProShot. I'm really stumped on the soft images issue on Samsung phones. If you shoot RAW you will see that correct focus was achieved, but the JPEG doesn't look quite right. Running a simple sharpen filter produces results closer to the stock camera app, but it's not quite 100%.
No other device has this issue, so Samsung is definitely at fault here. And only offering 8MP resolutions in Android M is a pretty bad oversight, they clearly didn't test this update that well :/
Hi all , I have to say that with CameraFV all problems said up are same here - blury detail on jpg photo , 8mpx max resolution for jpgs in MM. But in RAW everything is just right - detail and resolution. Dont know where is problem but think on 90% is base on Samsung's camera driver. Dont know also situation in S7.
A made also comparisson between RAWs in CameraFV and Stock Camera app for Sammy and may say that cameraFV take better detail at all , stock camera app has more noise and detail is more aggressive.
If u want i can upload reaults here to discuss
Cheers !
edee1337 said:
Hi! I'm the dev of ProShot. I'm really stumped on the soft images issue on Samsung phones. If you shoot RAW you will see that correct focus was achieved, but the JPEG doesn't look quite right. Running a simple sharpen filter produces results closer to the stock camera app, but it's not quite 100%.
No other device has this issue, so Samsung is definitely at fault here. And only offering 8MP resolutions in Android M is a pretty bad oversight, they clearly didn't test this update that well :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your contribution people, both camera fv5 and proshot are excelent camera apps. I actually love the ability to disable ois in proshot and the very nice ui. It is indeed a shame that samsung didnt pay more attention to fix buggy camera api 2. I really like the stock app in MM it has pretty much everything and im very happy with it but the phone camera couldve been even more perfect than it already is with proper support for custom camera apps :/
edee1337 said:
Hi! I'm the dev of ProShot. I'm really stumped on the soft images issue on Samsung phones. If you shoot RAW you will see that correct focus was achieved, but the JPEG doesn't look quite right. Running a simple sharpen filter produces results closer to the stock camera app, but it's not quite 100%.
No other device has this issue, so Samsung is definitely at fault here. And only offering 8MP resolutions in Android M is a pretty bad oversight, they clearly didn't test this update that well :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this happen in S7 or S6E+ Marshmallow?
Yesterday I borrowed my friends LG G4 and found out they still have best implementaion of camera2 api.
Smasung photos will have always have grennish yellowish tint.
sarvesh563 said:
Does this happen in S7 or S6E+ Marshmallow?
Yesterday I borrowed my friends LG G4 and found out they still have best implementaion of camera2 api.
Smasung photos will have always have grennish yellowish tint.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still haven't been able to get the MM update on my S6, but from other reports I hear it still might be there.
I use ProShot and I get blurry shots on my S6 but to be honest some pictures come out awesome, as if shot using a DSLR, and some it's just too soft. It's not the dev's fault, it's Samsung's.
I use ProShot on my LG G4 also and it doesn't have an issue with that. Noise Reduction removal is better in the G4 as well. In the S6 you see some type of weird over sharpening effect.
What I love about ProShot (with low noise reduction) is that it removes Samsung's over sharpening effect and extreme contrast so pictures come out natural.
---------- Post added at 06:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:03 PM ----------
edee1337 said:
Hi! I'm the dev of ProShot. I'm really stumped on the soft images issue on Samsung phones. If you shoot RAW you will see that correct focus was achieved, but the JPEG doesn't look quite right. Running a simple sharpen filter produces results closer to the stock camera app, but it's not quite 100%.
No other device has this issue, so Samsung is definitely at fault here. And only offering 8MP resolutions in Android M is a pretty bad oversight, they clearly didn't test this update that well :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's the interesting thing, when you disable noise reduction on the S6, the pictures are sharp and not blurry.
TheWarKeeper said:
Greetings guys, ive seen that the camera api 2 is still broken for galaxy s6 in the android m, this can be checked easelly by running any custom camera app like camera fv 5, a better camera or proshot camera.
All of them return blurry pictures with camera api 2, while works flawlessly with old camera api.
Even though im very very happy with the galaxy default camera app finally supporting shutter speed and raw, i was hoping the camera api 2 wouldve been properly implemented in this build which unfortunatelly it wasnt.
So im trying to do get as much data as possible by asking you guys to post your phone model, android version, sensor brand/model and experience with camera api 2:
Ill go first:
Phone: G920F
Android: Android 6.0.1
Camera Sensor: Sony_IMX240 (To check your sensor install this app from google play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.finalwire.aida64&hl=pt_PT)
Testing:
ProShot(Paid) Blurry pictures,
Camera FV5(Paid)=Blurry Camera API2 (Resolution maximum of 8mp) and up to 3200 iso, but normal image quality with old camera api (Resolution maximum of 16mp) but only 800iso,
A Better Camera (Paid) Blurry Camera Api2 but normal image quality with old camera api.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a app called cinema 4k which also uses camera2 api. It didn't work on marshmallow so i had to downgrade to lollipop, after downgrading it worked without any problems
the tech blog on insta said:
There is a app called cinema 4k which also uses camera2 api. It didn't work on marshmallow so i had to downgrade to lollipop, after downgrading it worked without any problems
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats because when you downgraded the camera api 1 was used by the app bu default instead of camera api 2
TheWarKeeper said:
Thats because when you downgraded the camera api 1 was used by the app bu default instead of camera api 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whats the difference between camera1 api and camera2 api
Camera FV-5 fixed. (16Mpix available, etc...)
atherion said:
Camera FV-5 fixed. (16Mpix available, etc...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which version you use
don_gori said:
Which version you use
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Latest 3.15.1
I have some issues with RAW capturing on 3.15.1 , on 10 photos only 1 had DNG file ?
Hi!
I'm on stock marshmallow with the august security patch. According the the manual camera test app my phone does not have raw capabilities. What could be causing this? (I can capture raw with the default camera app just fine)
4k issue on galaxy s7 shots 3264x2448 instead of 3840x2160 using Proshot. Please fix this. No 60fps for FHD option as well.

Camera: DSLR Focus/ Depth of Field?

Hi
I'm not sure if the Galaxy S8 is able to do this but how can you get DSLR style focus where a subject/ person is in focus and background blurry? Can the rear camera do this as well as selfie cam? I haven't seen any options for it.
Seems only the Note 8 has this (or iPhone X, Google Pixel 2)?
Note 8 has second cam, which is x2 telephoto lens, so already has shallower focus depth and rest is done with software. S8 does not have second cam.
And here is the problem: blurred background, called bokeh, is mostly used in portrait photography. Wide angle cams so commonly used on phones should not be used for portrait photography, because due to wide field of view being projected on flat surface you get big distortions and wrong proportion, like big nose for example. Check fish eye lens pictures to see this distortion effect fully. So while you could distort background and make portrait photo with standard phone lens like s8 have, it would look silly. Outside of portrait photos I don't see much use for shallow depth of field, but if you're so inclined you could experiment with photo editing software like photoshop and create same effect. Expect S9 to have dual lens and portrait capability in about 6 months or get Note 8 now if you really want it.
MXS801 said:
Hi
I'm not sure if the Galaxy S8 is able to do this but how can you get DSLR style focus where a subject/ person is in focus and background blurry? Can the rear camera do this as well as selfie cam? I haven't seen any options for it.
Seems only the Note 8 has this (or iPhone X, Google Pixel 2)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there's an app that does this function very well. AfterFocus. the pro version lets you save in original quality. It only takes a few minutes to get the same result from dual camera devices.
Selective Focus is one of the camera modes out of the box. That is what you are looking for.
I have an S8 and have tried the selective focus mode, which works relatively well as long as the object stays still long enough, however I was reading an article about the Pixel 2 this morning and this extract made me hope that Samsung can also follow Google
"The single-lens portrait mode photos were made possible by its adoption of a dual-pixel sensor - meaning each pixel can be used to both record the image and determine focus rather than just one or the other.
Some of Samsung's handsets already feature the technology, but Google has built on it with proprietary software to make it possible to create a depth map for photos, which can be used to add special effects."
I hope that Samsung can improve the selective mode for the rear camera as the S8 also has a dual-pixel set up, unfortunately the front camera doesn't have dual-pixels
Another thing is I'm hoping that the Google Camera app, which I have running on my S8, should get an update to support this....fingers crossed.

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