Database Users

Small review on the camera on the Note 2 vs iPhone 4

I have decided to do a little comparison test with the Galaxy note 2 and my old iPhone 4. I have only recently come aboard the good ship Android, so I am still finding my way around. Although I fully understand that the camera does not make or break the phone, for me it is one of the features that I rely on now and again.
I love taking a picture with my SLR but there are times when you cannot use the SLR, or times when you do not want to take it out so for me the camera is something I use. If it had been my sole requirement i would have probably chosen the Nokia 808 Pureview, but Nokia decided to cripple their phones using their chosen software - but that's is another debate.
I didn’t want to do a tremendous amount of testing so I decided to use the stock apps on both phones. I have paid a little more detail to the Note 2 with looking at the normal picture setting and the low light function. I may use another application on the note as the standard camera app is not the best.
I placed a book, a battery and a sound card in my photo booth. The reason for these items was to get something with a plain colour (the book) something that is small but has a little bit of detail (battery) and something that has a lot of detail (sound card). All tests were conducted indoors, nothing outdoors as of yet.
iPhone image:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Note 2 Image:
From both images you can see there is a definite difference. The iPhones image has a little more ‘viberance’ to it. Overall the colour on the iPhone looks better overall whereas the note 2 image looks a little washed out, however this is purely subjective and I like my photos to have a little more saturation. When viewing photos on the AMOLED screen they do look incredibly vibrant, however, on a normal monitor they do not. What is quite interesting is that the file size of the iPhone 4 image is actually larger than that of the 8 mega pixel file form the Note 2. This could be for a number of reasons; one could be the amount of sharpening applied in the processing, another could be the amount of saturation the software adds to give it a little more ‘zing’.
When testing the sharpness and detail of a camera most magazines tend to do 100% crops showing how much detail can be resolved. The comparisons have been done below.
iPhone first, then Note 2.
Crop with low light mode enabled
From this quick demo you can see that there is a slight difference between the iPhone and the Samsung photos. Personally I don’t think its hardware related, I’m pretty sure that it is software related. I am going on the browse for some add free, free camera software and take a few photos with that.
Once again I would like to stress that this is just an indoor shot, and I have simply not had time to do any outdoor shots. Maybe I will try some on the weekend and report back then.
What do you lot think?

Like yourself it seems, photography is a big hobby of mine and whilst I use a DSLR normally too, I'm more than happy to have my Note 2 with me for quick snaps.
Looking at your test shots, I'd say overall there's not much between them.
iPhone is definitely more vibrant, but the Note 2 shots look more natural. Looking at the uncropped shots, the Note 2 seems to give a clearer image but when viewed at 100% the iPhone seems to have captured slightly more detail. I'd say the Note 2 controls noise better, especially with low light mode. Even without low light mode the Note 2 seems to use more noise control than the iPhone. The downside to this is that more noise control can lead to softer shots, which is why the iPhone shots looks a touch sharper, if a little grainy.
Could all just be my eyes though
Random fact... the Note 2 was originally meant to ship with a 13MP Sony sensor, but Sony couldn't produce enough in time to meet Samsung's deadline so instead it shipped with an 8MP sensor. As you probably know, more MP doesn't always mean a better image as cramming more pixels on a small sensor means each pixel can capture less light, but it would have been interesting to see what the images would have been like had it got the 13MP sensor.

I really wish nokia would have licensed their Pureview tech to Samsung. Would make it a little better.

Though the GS2 and the GN2 both have an 8MP camera, I find the GN2's camera far superior. I suspect this may have something to do with the faster CPU, but not sure. I have used both extensively.

Dylanlewis2000 said:
I really wish nokia would have licensed their Pureview tech to Samsung. Would make it a little better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really wish Nokia would produce android devices as well...
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

The iPhone clearly takes sharper images in this comparison, at the expense of noise. Contrast appears to be much better with the iPhone as well, the GN2 photos look a little 'washed out'. Colours are more vibrant with the iPhone as well but perhaps too much?

A semi pro photographer here, hobby too. I never liked any cell phone's camera to be honest. But when I had my C905, things were little better. It had an impressive camera, almost replaced my Ixus for now and then, here and there shots. Then I got the Satio. Another good one. Then don't know what happened, I stepped into Samsung! My first Sammy was a i8910, it had a good camera. So I thought let's continue with Samsung. Next was Wave S8500, I didn't buy it for camera anyway. Then I got the infamous SII. Well after using it for more than year, I can say I was 'fairly' happy with it. Now, Note 2, I don't know, right from the first shot, till now, I DO NOT like this camera, how the photos are appearing, are below average in my eyes.
It's always about 'post software processing' in a mobile camera. A tiny sensor can never produce great photos. So it all matters how the photo is being processed after taking it via the camera firmware provided. That's where a brand plays it tricks. Most of them have Sony's sensor, so talking about hardware is meaningless. Now, here in Note 2, the post processing seems either to be not full or poorly done. Optimizing a photo is bad! An average user, who really would care about the 'background' processes, all they will see the ultimate photo, and there Note 2 fails. Photos turn out grainy, with noise. The biggest letdown is the led flash. At night, in parties, when it's dark, and you don't have your SLR or it's not the place for it, of course you'll need flash. The flash is terribly weak, and badly spread.
Anyway, writing too much, I'm short, after owning 7 or 8 high end cell phones, with their average camera, this Note 2 camera is the most disappointing in my eyes.
However, I don't give a damn, I always (you know what I mean) carry my 350 or D90 (yeah, I know, they are average DSLR), so I'd not bother much about this, BUT not everyone is like me or like OP, for them a 700$ mobile phone should provide 'fairly good' output, where this device, F A I L S.
Now, one thing you see, I really won't bother by some fanboys quoting my comment and say otherwise, knowing I've spent my hard time and money, for more than a decade behind photography. So thanks to them in advance anyway
Sent from my GT-N7100

The main issue comes down to the camera using iso 800 on auto mode in many scenes, i.e indoors, which is just bizarre. Set it to a lower value manually and the graininess gets a lot better.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

If you want more vibrant colours in the settings select SCN/Panorama.

Absolutely disappointed with the camera

is anyone else? i came from a G2 hoping for a much better camera, as I preferred the GS4 camera to my G2...yeah, well I get my GS5, and i'm sitting here looking at the pics i've taken, and good god they're awful. they just look horrible compared to what the G2 shoots.
and low light? FORGET IT. if you can even get it to focus without the flash on (which it won't, at all, after numerous attempts of me trying with even lights on behind me) it's going to look like garbage anyway.
now i'm sitting here wondering if I should return it or not. I spent full price on the damn thing (after selling a GS4 and a Gnex) and i'm really wondering if it's even worth it to keep because i was honestly expecting a good camera, especially from all of the raving about it i've seen.

Camera looks great here
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

terrible. it can't even focus on something with lighting in the room...and the outdoors pic? is this phone for real?

There were some reviews about the galaxy s 5 camera, the reviewers seemed to not like the camera.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

Maybe stating the obvious, but did you remove the plastic film over the lens?
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

JBeXX said:
Maybe stating the obvious, but did you remove the plastic film over the lens?
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep, first thing i did. if ya notice, the plastic doesn't cover the sensor itself..only the outer portion.
oh well, i gave up on the S5. on top of build quality issues (the creaking/shifting body that Samsung is known for..) and that crappy camera, I just went and returned it tonight. had to pay a $35 restocking fee, but whatever. got my $600 back.
wish you guys the best!

jayochs said:
yep, first thing i did. if ya notice, the plastic doesn't cover the sensor itself..only the outer portion.
oh well, i gave up on the S5. on top of build quality issues (the creaking/shifting body that Samsung is known for..) and that crappy camera, I just went and returned it tonight. had to pay a $35 restocking fee, but whatever. got my $600 back.
wish you guys the best!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You got a dud. That's too bad. it happens. My pictures are nothing like yours.
Untitled by Mechatricity, on Flickr
Untitled by Mechatricity, on Flickr
Untitled by Mechatricity, on Flickr

S5 has abandoned Sony sensors right? That would explain OP. Maybe new Samsung sensors are just not as good as Sony's. We all know megapixel is secondary anyway....

My cam is fine...I posted a pic in other thread. You got a bad phone. Exchange it. Those pics you posted aren't good.

I'm happy with the cam as well. Haven't tried any outdoor shots yet but it looks at least as good as my s4 so far. I like the new options and cleaner access. Just snapped this on a whim...
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I'll second this. Not near as bad as Jayochs, but not any better than the S4, and worse, IMHO, in bright outdoor shots where the S4 was incredible. Medium to low-light is improved only because you can see the images more - but if you don't use stabilization mode, they're horribly noisy. If you do use stabilization mode, they look better, but then a LOT of your indoor shots, even if they're not low light, will end up asking you to hold still for 3-4 seconds.
And I don't know about y'all, but my camera is relatively slow to load. Keeping in mind I'm comparing to a 5S and M8. So far the laggier camera experience and not-as-great-as-they-said-it-would-be images have me liking the M8's camera more... it's just so darn fast, and consistent and focusable and can take medium-lit shots quickly.
Edit: full disclaimer... I'm a nitpicky phone camera snob!

Put me down as another who is disappointed in the camera. Outdoor shots are great for me, but indoor shots are extremely lackluster. Even with stability on, they're disappointing. The indoor capabilities of the iPhone 5S blow this one out of the water. Given the pixel size, I didn't expect it to be better at indoor shots than the 5S or the M8, but I was definitely hoping that it would be better than it is.
I'm going to give it a few more days, but this is potentially a deal breaker for me. That's very disappointing, especially since there's very little else that I dislike about the phone.

bsweetness said:
Put me down as another who is disappointed in the camera. Outdoor shots are great for me, but indoor shots are extremely lackluster. Even with stability on, they're disappointing. The indoor capabilities of the iPhone 5S blow this one out of the water. Given the pixel size, I didn't expect it to be better at indoor shots than the 5S or the M8, but I was definitely hoping that it would be better than it is.
I'm going to give it a few more days, but this is potentially a deal breaker for me. That's very disappointing, especially since there's very little else that I dislike about the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, same here. Though others have said their camera loads up quite fast - my experience is it's pretty laggy moving in and out of it. But I also love just about everything else about it, so if I can get used to the camera, or maybe figure out what I'm missing (if anything??), it'll be good. If not, it'll be the M8 for me likely... though I don't like how slippery / heavy it is.
I hate to say it (ok I don't really hate it), but after all of the devices I've used, I still feel like the 5S is still the best all around mobile camera experience when you combine the usability with image quality. The M8 is on par when it comes to speed and usability - heck it might even be faster. But image quality is still better on the 5S.
And good to see you b! I've been pretty forum-inactive for awhile...

jntdroid said:
Yep, same here. Though others have said their camera loads up quite fast - my experience is it's pretty laggy moving in and out of it. But I also love just about everything else about it, so if I can get used to the camera, or maybe figure out what I'm missing (if anything??), it'll be good. If not, it'll be the M8 for me likely... though I don't like how slippery / heavy it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt you're missing anything. I've gone through every setting and tried a host of things to get better pictures out of it to no avail. I spent quite a bit of time yesterday taking the exact same shots with the S5, Note 3, and iPhone 5S. Outdoors during the day, the S5 reigned supreme, with both the Note 3 and 5S close behind. Outdoors at night, the 5S was the clear winner with the S5 and the Note 3 providing similar results (with the S5 coming out slightly ahead between the two). Indoors, the 5S came out on top again in every lighting situation, both without a flash and with a flash. The S5 was slightly better than the Note 3 indoors, but really not by much.
Given that the overall image quality between the S5 and the Note 3 isn't a huge difference, I'm leaning towards returning the S5 and just keeping the Note 3 for now.
jntdroid said:
I hate to say it (ok I don't really hate it), but after all of the devices I've used, I still feel like the 5S is still the best all around mobile camera experience when you combine the usability with image quality. The M8 is on par when it comes to speed and usability - heck it might even be faster. But image quality is still better on the 5S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. The 5S that I use for work is just solid all around when it comes to the camera, providing really great shots in almost all lighting conditions. The only phone I've used that's better is the Lumia 1040, but it doesn't have the speed that the 5S does. Apple really nailed the camera for the 5S.
The S5 has officially been approved as a device we can use for work, so I was hoping to replace both my Note 3 and my 5S with it and only have to carry one device for personal and business use. But so far, the camera on the S5 makes that impossible.
jntdroid said:
And good to see you b! I've been pretty forum-inactive for awhile...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. I've been out of the country for work for an extended period, often in places with little to no internet service. I'm back in the States for a little bit, so I'll be popping up a little more often.

Anyone know why it's so bad? I don't understand how some are getting great pics and others are getting not so good. I'm in the not so good group. Some pics I feel like my rezound takes just as good. Lol
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

jagrave said:
Anyone know why it's so bad? I don't understand how some are getting great pics and others are getting not so good. I'm in the not so good group. Some pics I feel like my rezound takes just as good. Lol
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can take great pics, don't get me wrong - though even when it's great, I'm not convinced it's better than the S4.
I think it's a combination of a new sensor, a new "style" of auto-focus, and post-processing issues.

jntdroid said:
It can take great pics, don't get me wrong - though even when it's great, I'm not convinced it's better than the S4.
I think it's a combination of a new sensor, a new "style" of auto-focus, and post-processing issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that's one of the biggest problems. Even in well-lit situations, sometimes things - like people and animals - can come out looking like an oil painting. That's one of the biggest problems with indoor shots as well. Turning off the stabilization helps a little with that, but not as much as one would think. I've tried all of the major third-party camera apps, and none of them give much better results. For indoor shots, the sensor just isn't big enough to let in the amount of light that's needed to take an above average picture.
I think some of the discrepancies in what various people are reporting with the quality comes down to photo quality preferences, what different people are used to with the phones in their cameras, and at times a more discerning eye for quality. The S5 camera is certainly no slouch, and I'd place it above pretty much all other Android phones right now as far as being an all around shooter (there are others that do certain things better, but not everything), but it's not the big step forward that I really wanted it to be.
I'm going to be returning it and going back to my Note 3 for the time being.

bsweetness said:
I think that's one of the biggest problems. Even in well-lit situations, sometimes things - like people and animals - can come out looking like an oil painting. That's one of the biggest problems with indoor shots as well. Turning off the stabilization helps a little with that, but not as much as one would think. I've tried all of the major third-party camera apps, and none of them give much better results. For indoor shots, the sensor just isn't big enough to let in the amount of light that's needed to take an above average picture.
I think some of the discrepancies in what various people are reporting with the quality comes down to photo quality preferences, what different people are used to with the phones in their cameras, and at times a more discerning eye for quality. The S5 camera is certainly no slouch, and I'd place it above pretty much all other Android phones right now as far as being an all around shooter (there are others that do certain things better, but not everything), but it's not the big step forward that I really wanted it to be.
I'm going to be returning it and going back to my Note 3 for the time being.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about the note 3 do you like better? And how does the note 3 camera compare?
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

jagrave said:
What about the note 3 do you like better? And how does the note 3 camera compare?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I typed up a little summary of the comparison I did between the cameras a few posts up.
bsweetness said:
I doubt you're missing anything. I've gone through every setting and tried a host of things to get better pictures out of it to no avail. I spent quite a bit of time yesterday taking the exact same shots with the S5, Note 3, and iPhone 5S. Outdoors during the day, the S5 reigned supreme, with both the Note 3 and 5S close behind. Outdoors at night, the 5S was the clear winner with the S5 and the Note 3 providing similar results (with the S5 coming out slightly ahead between the two). Indoors, the 5S came out on top again in every lighting situation, both without a flash and with a flash. The S5 was slightly better than the Note 3 indoors, but really not by much.
Given that the overall image quality between the S5 and the Note 3 isn't a huge difference, I'm leaning towards returning the S5 and just keeping the Note 3 for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In short, the S5 is an improvement, but not a big one. The differences were pretty marginal in most cases.
As for what I like better about the Note 3 it really comes down to two things - the size of the screen and the S-Pen.

jayochs said:
if ya notice, the plastic doesn't cover the sensor itself..only the outer portion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahem.....it most certainly DOES cover the entire lense.
Best find a girl with a sharp fingernail and pay her to scrape it off for you.
!edit!
BTW, mine is fast, and sharp, and works nearly as well as my Canon camera.

Sony's Camera isn't great, but it could be worse...

We all give Sony a hard time for releasing flagship devices with mediocre camera performance. I personally can verify that my previous HTC phones (One mini, One S, and even the Ville aka MyTouch 4G) dating back nearly 4 years all had better color reproduction, white balance, indoor performance, and faster focus and shutter response. None of those were even considered flagship devices at the time of release. We assumed Sony's problem was the software, so many of us searched for 3rd party camera apps such as Google Camera, A Better Camera, Camera FV-5, etc... and some even claimed to get better results using these apps. I've tried just about all of them (free versions only) and never saw any dramatic improvement to make me replace the default camera app. I finally decided to compare shots side by side on a couple of my personal favorite camera apps and here's what I noticed:
The 3rd party apps over-exposed the scene with far too much flash, giving it that cold LED light look, and washing out some of the natural colors. But worst of all, they weren't as clear when zooming in as the default app was. Pay close attention to the can of WD40 in the back. Only the stock app makes the word "Directions" visibly clear. All photos were taken using Auto Mode at 8MP - the setting the average person will use daily.
Sample Photos In Order (from left to right):
- Sony Stock Camera App
- Google Camera App
- OpenCamera App
https://goo.gl/photos/ihkstAg95Ag8rybX7
I took a few comparison shots in scenes that I thought would cause the stock app to falter, but it kept coming through and beating the competition. For example, when taking a picture of a poster that was covered by a slight shadow, the stock app was the only app smart enough to use flash; thereby making the words of the poster much clearer. In another indoor scenario, the competition once again over exposed the scene with too much flash, washing out the colors again. I may post these photos later if you request them.
Moral of the story:
Compared to other smartphones (especially flagships), Sony's camera is simply one of the worst performers. <-----(This is a click-able link to the results of a test article) There is no argument here and someone from Sony needs to do something about it. But as for the stock Sony camera app, it appears to utilize the camera better than 3rd party apps can. So if you want to make the best of out our bad situation, stick with the stock camera app.

I agree that the camera on the Z3C is somewhat lacking.
Outdoors in good light it can produce some really nice photos (some of the time) although even in good conditions it still seems to make a mess of things on occasions. Indoors and low light it's just plain terrible. I've done a back to back comparison with my rather elderly SGS3 and in most circumstances the SGS3 knocks the spots off the Z3C.
The problem is marketing.
In order to produce compelling marketing material, Sony developed the 20MP sensor and put this in all their flagship phones. This is way too many MP for such a small sensor and as such the quality suffers badly in anything other than bright sunlight. Even when interpolating the image down to 8MP you still see way more noise than the equivalent true 8MP sensor and the details are mushed to buggery. I'd be happy for the resolution on smartphones to top out at 10MP, which should be enough for 4K video and multiple aspect ratios (not that I think 4K video from a smartphone has much use).

sensor not bad, driver sometimes is...
Exmor IMX220 Shoot Out – Meizu MX4 Pro vs Sony Xperia Z3
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}

Wajk said:
sensor not bad, driver sometimes is...
Exmor IMX220 Shoot Out – Meizu MX4 Pro vs Sony Xperia Z3
indeed sony's pic are washed out but the looking at the "lay's" and "muji" comparision, meizu's pics are blurred.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

We all know auto mode sucks isn't that right? Well Sony hasn't designed this phone for you, i have taken some absolutely stunning photos that my friends think were taken with a proper camera. The truth is that I'm a photographer that tries to push the hardware and software to the limit and if your having a good day you can produce stunning works of art. Sure there's a bit of noise but you can't expect fullframe image quality on this sensor. Taking a backwards step from my Nex7 to the Z3 compact was a great learning experience. If you're a photographer that likes to push the limits of a camera this one is for you, if your the average joe your wasting your time. Think about it, when you buy a camera what is the point of using auto mode when it limits the amount of control you have over a photo. Its like driving an automatic transmission car at a drag race.

As a photographer, you of all people should understand that a camera phone is not likely to be used when taking serious photos. This is designed to be a point and shoot replacement for selfies, pictures of food, group photos of friends in a restaurant, etc... This phone's camera isn't a complete failure by any means, but it simply doesn't perform as well as phones from 2-3 years ago under the most basic condition (indoors). I'm just finding it difficult to explain why my $500 flagship phone takes overexposed, blurry photos when my old phones (none of which were even flagship models) did not.

Starlith said:
We all know auto mode sucks isn't that right? Well Sony hasn't designed this phone for you, i have taken some absolutely stunning photos that my friends think were taken with a proper camera. The truth is that I'm a photographer that tries to push the hardware and software to the limit and if your having a good day you can produce stunning works of art. Sure there's a bit of noise but you can't expect fullframe image quality on this sensor. Taking a backwards step from my Nex7 to the Z3 compact was a great learning experience. If you're a photographer that likes to push the limits of a camera this one is for you, if your the average joe your wasting your time. Think about it, when you buy a camera what is the point of using auto mode when it limits the amount of control you have over a photo. Its like driving an automatic transmission car at a drag race.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am also a photographer (enthusiastic amateur and no expert for sure) who has worked for a software company in the digital imaging industry for 7 years. I get to sample a lot of cameras; including pre-production test mules, some of which never make it due to unrecoverable issues. I have tried the Z3C in every conceivable mode and it's still a disappointment in low light and unpredictable when it's good light. A brief summary of the biggest issues I've seen would include:
1) Poor light performance - It's not even low light, the performance is poor in moderate lighting conditions (20MP is too much for such a small sensor and lens)
2) Unpredictable auto focus - It misses what should be an easy AF fix more often than it should do
3) Too much NR - TBH this is a personal criticism of almost every camera currently made, but the NR on the Z3C is a bit nasty
4) Even the best shots seem to lack "definition"
I'm not saying that the camera is a complete dead-loss, but for a flagship smartphone it's not as good as I would expect. I don't think that I've taken a single picture with it where I've got home, uploaded it to my PC and thought it was really good. I've checked back through my SGS3 pictures and at a glance the best images look like they've come from a "proper" camera, I can't say that for many of the Z3C images. I'd really like to be able to get RAW images out of the camera to see what is possible with decent post processing, but it doesn't seem like that is going to happen any time soon.
If you could give some hints about how to get the most out of the camera, then I for one would very much appreciate it.

mad-marco said:
I am also a photographer (enthusiastic amateur and no expert for sure) who has worked for a software company in the digital imaging industry for 7 years. I get to sample a lot of cameras; including pre-production test mules, some of which never make it due to unrecoverable issues. I have tried the Z3C in every conceivable mode and it's still a disappointment in low light and unpredictable when it's good light. A brief summary of the biggest issues I've seen would include:
1) Poor light performance - It's not even low light, the performance is poor in moderate lighting conditions (20MP is too much for such a small sensor and lens)
2) Unpredictable auto focus - It misses what should be an easy AF fix more often than it should do
3) Too much NR - TBH this is a personal criticism of almost every camera currently made, but the NR on the Z3C is a bit nasty
4) Even the best shots seem to lack "definition"
I'm not saying that the camera is a complete dead-loss, but for a flagship smartphone it's not as good as I would expect. I don't think that I've taken a single picture with it where I've got home, uploaded it to my PC and thought it was really good. I've checked back through my SGS3 pictures and at a glance the best images look like they've come from a "proper" camera, I can't say that for many of the Z3C images. I'd really like to be able to get RAW images out of the camera to see what is possible with decent post processing, but it doesn't seem like that is going to happen any time soon.
If you could give some hints about how to get the most out of the camera, then I for one would very much appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you, it does have its limits and they are really weird limits. For example when in manual mode anything that is set to auto including white balance and focus is either hit or miss, there is no touch metering, i have taken some stunners but they required me to work hard for it such as adjusting wb, iso, focus mode. Even the background defocus app which produced amazing photos btw i had to work really hard for. All that work on a phone is exhausting. Too many apps complicate the camera app and the post processing algorithm is inconsistent. Im interested what the results would be with a lens similar to the iPhone 6. The best thing about the camera is the wide angle lens but no one really cares for that.

Starlith said:
I agree with you, it does have its limits and they are really weird limits. For example when in manual mode anything that is set to auto including white balance and focus is either hit or miss, there is no touch metering, i have taken some stunners but they required me to work hard for it such as adjusting wb, iso, focus mode. Even the background defocus app which produced amazing photos btw i had to work really hard for. All that work on a phone is exhausting. Too many apps complicate the camera app and the post processing algorithm is inconsistent. Im interested what the results would be with a lens similar to the iPhone 6. The best thing about the camera is the wide angle lens but no one really cares for that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally don't even like the wide angle lens. It just forces me to stand that much closer to my subject to properly frame the shot. Then, if using flash, you blind them because you're standing 1 foot in front of their face. Anyway, I thought a sony branded lens/sensor was being used on most high end phones these days... even the iPhone? We just got stuck with poor image processing.

PuffDaddy_d said:
I personally don't even like the wide angle lens. It just forces me to stand that much closer to my subject to properly frame the shot. Then, if using flash, you blind them because you're standing 1 foot in front of their face. Anyway, I thought a sony branded lens/sensor was being used on most high end phones these days... even the iPhone? We just got stuck with poor image processing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you buy a phone you don't expect it to take pictures like an SLR Camera would, that being said though I still think 20 mp is more than enough for taking snapshots. If you complain about the camera quality then you shouldn't have bought a phone in the first place and buy a DSLR instead.

and if you came from a Nokia flagship this difference is even bigger ....

Revontheus said:
When you buy a phone you don't expect it to take pictures like an SLR Camera would, that being said though I still think 20 mp is more than enough for taking snapshots. If you complain about the camera quality then you shouldn't have bought a phone in the first place and buy a DSLR instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've already got several DSLR's thanks very much. I don't think that anyone is expecting DSLR like quality, in fact you seem to be the only person who has brought this up.
I think that what people would like is the the camera on Sony's flagship smartphones to be comparable with other smartphones, especially the ones that have the same sensor hardware!!! It's a disappointment that the 2/3 year old SGS3 produces superior photos than the current Sony flagships, the current Samsung 16MP cameras are vastly superior.

Revontheus said:
When you buy a phone you don't expect it to take pictures like an SLR Camera would, that being said though I still think 20 mp is more than enough for taking snapshots. If you complain about the camera quality then you shouldn't have bought a phone in the first place and buy a DSLR instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have completely missed the point of this thread. It has nothing to do with expecting DSLR quality from a camera phone. We just don't want pictures to look like they were taken from a flip phone from 2006 - which is what this camera looks like when taking photos indoors. A flagship phone needs a flagship camera, and Sony's image processing has left us without, while all other major manufacturers are using some form of Sony image sensor and getting much better results.
But as my original post indicates, the best photos I've been able to get from this camera are with the stock camera app. All others seem to fall short when viewed on a larger screen.

ray_J13 said:
Wajk said:
sensor not bad, driver sometimes is...
Exmor IMX220 Shoot Out – Meizu MX4 Pro vs Sony Xperia Z3
indeed sony's pic are washed out but the looking at the "lay's" and "muji" comparision, meizu's pics are blurred.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems to me the camera glass on her Z3C was a bit smudged... That would explain the haze.
And the small details on the Z3C look much better and cleaner at 100% zoom than on the Meizu, even if the Z3C was a bit out of focus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I'm so disappointed in this camera. I took my Z3C and my old HTC Droid Incredible 2 to a concert last night. Inc2's pics were much crisper and cleaner. The videos were better as well (at 720p), though the sound on the Z3C's vids were better. Inc2 is what, 4 years old?
Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

Crewville96 said:
I'm so disappointed in this camera. I took my Z3C and my old HTC Droid Incredible 2 to a concert last night. Inc2's pics were much crisper and cleaner. The videos were better as well (at 720p), though the sound on the Z3C's vids were better. Inc2 is what, 4 years old?
Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this is our point exactly! The Z3C camera has far more advanced technology in it, yet the results are sub par to midrange and outdated phones. Care to share any of your pics for reference?
Sent from my Xperia Z3 Compact

PuffDaddy_d said:
Yes, this is our point exactly! The Z3C camera has far more advanced technology in it, yet the results are sub par to midrange and outdated phones. Care to share any of your pics for reference?
Sent from my Xperia Z3 Compact
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can upload the vids and couple pics. None of the pics are really the same for comparison since i was in the crowd at the concert though. But you can get a general idea.

PuffDaddy_d said:
Yes, this is our point exactly! The Z3C camera has far more advanced technology in it, yet the results are sub par to midrange and outdated phones. Care to share any of your pics for reference?
Sent from my Xperia Z3 Compact
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's my vids. One is from my old Droid Incredible 2 (2011, running GB) the other is from my Z3C (2014, running LP). I'll let you guys judge which vid is better.

That concert looks like it was a lot of fun! I watched both videos on full screen and i personally think the top video looks better - less grainy and handled the bright lighting much better.

PuffDaddy_d said:
That concert looks like it was a lot of fun! I watched both videos on full screen and i personally think the top video looks better - less grainy and handled the bright lighting much better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, just cleaner and sharper overall. Thats the Droid Incredible 2 video (720 only as well, Z3C is at 1080 lol).

Rear Camera Auto Smoothing Faces?

The camera is great overall, much like the S7 was and still is, however, I get a feeling Samsung's software is applying some sort of auto smoothing technique while shooting in Auto. I've noticed lately when I take a photo of someone in an environment, everything in the image is crisp with great detail accept for the person or people looking at the camera. Their skin appears a tad smooth, with no pores and less wrinkles, but the accessories they're wearing, and their clothes, are crisp with fantastic detail.
I've downloaded the stock Google camera app to test it, and in the same environment, the person's skin is how it was on the S7 camera, much more detailed and realistic. I can see pores and imperfections. What's stranger is, if the person is not looking at the camera, it's like the software doesn't recognize a face, and that person's side features like the skin has far more realistic detail as apposed to when they're looking at the camera and it becomes more smooth. I can see their freckles and pores more.
I thought for awhile my camera was back focusing and I just wasn't focused on the faces of people, thus resulting in a tad blurry face. But I kept noticing their hats and shirts, which are at the same focal distance, had fantastic detail. Taking a landscape or cityscape photo results in crisp and detailed images, but put someone at full length in the shot for a portrait, and their face is smooth as apposed to everything around them.
I have a hunch Samsung is applying auto smoothing of people's skin while shooting in auto. The Google camera app isn't doing that. If it's because they think most consumer's would appreciate smoother looking skin, well maybe ok, but that's what the selfie feature of beauty mode is for, not the rear camera.
Anyone else notice this?

I have the same problem. How can it be fixed?
JDM9499 said:
The camera is great overall, much like the S7 was and still is, however, I get a feeling Samsung's software is applying some sort of auto smoothing technique while shooting in Auto. I've noticed lately when I take a photo of someone in an environment, everything in the image is crisp with great detail accept for the person or people looking at the camera. Their skin appears a tad smooth, with no pores and less wrinkles, but the accessories they're wearing, and their clothes, are crisp with fantastic detail.
I've downloaded the stock Google camera app to test it, and in the same environment, the person's skin is how it was on the S7 camera, much more detailed and realistic. I can see pores and imperfections. What's stranger is, if the person is not looking at the camera, it's like the software doesn't recognize a face, and that person's side features like the skin has far more realistic detail as apposed to when they're looking at the camera and it becomes more smooth. I can see their freckles and pores more.
I thought for awhile my camera was back focusing and I just wasn't focused on the faces of people, thus resulting in a tad blurry face. But I kept noticing their hats and shirts, which are at the same focal distance, had fantastic detail. Taking a landscape or cityscape photo results in crisp and detailed images, but put someone at full length in the shot for a portrait, and their face is smooth as apposed to everything around them.
I have a hunch Samsung is applying auto smoothing of people's skin while shooting in auto. The Google camera app isn't doing that. If it's because they think most consumer's would appreciate smoother looking skin, well maybe ok, but that's what the selfie feature of beauty mode is for, not the rear camera.
Anyone else notice this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

renegadem4ster said:
I have the same problem. How can it be fixed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's definitely bizarre. Probably most consumers won't notice and if they do, don't care and maybe even some appreciate it. Again, I have no idea if this is indeed a little trick Samsung baked into the camera software, but I've stopped shooting with AUTO unless it's a landscape scene or I need the HDR mode (Samsung does a fantastic job with HDR without making it look cheesy fake).
My workflow is now I shoot in the PRO mode if my main subject is a person, and process with Snapseed or Adobe Photoshop Express. The details are crisp and awesome. AUTO mode makes the people's faces look like an oil painting while the rest of the scene is crisp with great detail. Totally bizarre!
I'd use another camera app, but the speed of shooting in RAW mode is so fast with the stock app, and if I need HDR, it's right there in the options menu rather than opening another camera app. So I'm still using the stock app, just changed my workflow.

That's very helpful, thanks. I will try that and let you know how the results are. I am coming from an S6 which does not exhibit this problem. It's a bit sad to me to see faces looking heavily over-processed. Interestingly this is something I found LG did in the past and the main reason I didn't get a G4 back in the day. Like you say it also seems quite specific to faces so I presume it's algorithmic and an attempt to prettify faces or something like you can do with selfies. It's just a pity it's not an option/flag because otherwise the camera is extremely capable, especially (I find) in dealing with difficult lighting.
JDM9499 said:
It's definitely bizarre. Probably most consumers won't notice and if they do, don't care and maybe even some appreciate it. Again, I have no idea if this is indeed a little trick Samsung baked into the camera software, but I've stopped shooting with AUTO unless it's a landscape scene or I need the HDR mode (Samsung does a fantastic job with HDR without making it look cheesy fake).
My workflow is now I shoot in the PRO mode if my main subject is a person, and process with Snapseed or Adobe Photoshop Express. The details are crisp and awesome. AUTO mode makes the people's faces look like an oil painting while the rest of the scene is crisp with great detail. Totally bizarre!
I'd use another camera app, but the speed of shooting in RAW mode is so fast with the stock app, and if I need HDR, it's right there in the options menu rather than opening another camera app. So I'm still using the stock app, just changed my workflow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
---------- Post added at 02:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:12 PM ----------
Sorry if I can ask just two questions:
(1) Do you have a Sony or Samsung sensor? I am wondering if it's a problem specific to ISOCELL since I don't see evidence of it in many reviews
(2) What specifically do you do with Snapseed?
Thanks
JDM9499 said:
It's definitely bizarre. Probably most consumers won't notice and if they do, don't care and maybe even some appreciate it. Again, I have no idea if this is indeed a little trick Samsung baked into the camera software, but I've stopped shooting with AUTO unless it's a landscape scene or I need the HDR mode (Samsung does a fantastic job with HDR without making it look cheesy fake).
My workflow is now I shoot in the PRO mode if my main subject is a person, and process with Snapseed or Adobe Photoshop Express. The details are crisp and awesome. AUTO mode makes the people's faces look like an oil painting while the rest of the scene is crisp with great detail. Totally bizarre!
I'd use another camera app, but the speed of shooting in RAW mode is so fast with the stock app, and if I need HDR, it's right there in the options menu rather than opening another camera app. So I'm still using the stock app, just changed my workflow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

renegadem4ster said:
That's very helpful, thanks. I will try that and let you know how the results are. I am coming from an S6 which does not exhibit this problem. It's a bit sad to me to see faces looking heavily over-processed. Interestingly this is something I found LG did in the past and the main reason I didn't get a G4 back in the day. Like you say it also seems quite specific to faces so I presume it's algorithmic and an attempt to prettify faces or something like you can do with selfies. It's just a pity it's not an option/flag because otherwise the camera is extremely capable, especially (I find) in dealing with difficult lighting.
---------- Post added at 02:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:12 PM ----------
Sorry if I can ask just two questions:
(1) Do you have a Sony or Samsung sensor? I am wondering if it's a problem specific to ISOCELL since I don't see evidence of it in many reviews
(2) What specifically do you do with Snapseed?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can I find it which sensor I have?

Install Aida64 from play store (sorry I cannot link to it)
In the "Devices" section, if you have a Sony sensor it will say Sony something for Camera ID. If it's ISOCELL it will say SLSI_somethingsomething
JDM9499 said:
How can I find it which sensor I have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

renegadem4ster said:
Install Aida64 from play store (sorry I cannot link to it)
In the "Devices" section, if you have a Sony sensor it will say Sony something for Camera ID. If it's ISOCELL it will say SLSI_somethingsomething
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Sony sensor. And like you mentioned, there's prettyfying going on with aggressive image over-processing. I don't think it's hardware related because the RAW files are awesome. But AUTO mode definitely did not do this with my past Galaxy's (S6 & S7). In fact, the jpegs were so good I almost never shot in RAW!
I hope Samsung can scale this back on a future update. Realistic looking people is not always a bad thing.

Well it's good to know it's not the sensor type because they don't sell Sony varieties where I live. But yeah I mean in some other situations I take staggeringly good photos so I wish Samsung would just tone it down in an update or something. Otherwise I might just swap it for a Pixel/Pixel 2. It irritates me a bit but there's no real noise about it on the web.
JDM9499 said:
I have the Sony sensor. And like you mentioned, there's prettyfying going on with aggressive image over-processing. I don't think it's hardware related because the RAW files are awesome. But AUTO mode definitely did not do this with my past Galaxy's (S6 & S7). In fact, the jpegs were so good I almost never shot in RAW!
I hope Samsung can scale this back on a future update. Realistic looking people is not always a bad thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

renegadem4ster said:
Well it's good to know it's not the sensor type because they don't sell Sony varieties where I live. But yeah I mean in some other situations I take staggeringly good photos so I wish Samsung would just tone it down in an update or something. Otherwise I might just swap it for a Pixel/Pixel 2. It irritates me a bit but there's no real noise about it on the web.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"...but there's no real noise about it on the web."
I think because a majority of consumers honestly don't care if people's facial details are 'prettified', and honestly may actually appreciate it. I and other folks that love photography prefer the realistic detail though!

Guys what does that yellow auto button do in Pro mode?
I've seen it pop up now and then on screen in Pro.

choccy31 said:
Guys what does that yellow auto button do in Pro mode?
I've seen it pop up now and then on screen in Pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you take a screen grab next time you see it? I'm not certain what it is you see because I don't see a yellow auto button unless I open up one of the manual control options like shutter speed etc., which is just an indication that it's in auto (even though it's the pro mode) and you're not manually adjusting yourself. If that makes sense...

I have seen this since the Galaxy S7 Edge. Samsung automatically sets up their beauty function on the camera that way when a selfie is being taken. Very simple to remove. All you have to do is click the icon of a woman's head on the bottom right and set everything to 0.

j0kerb0mb said:
I have seen this since the Galaxy S7 Edge. Samsung automatically sets up their beauty function on the camera that way when a selfie is being taken. Very simple to remove. All you have to do is click the icon of a woman's head on the bottom right and set everything to 0.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That too, but we're talking about the rear camera. Not the selfie camera. The rear camera appears to also be applying a smoothing or "prettify" effect to people's faces when recognized. It's subtle, but enough to notice people's skins are smooth and less detailed then the clothes or their surrounding environment are.

JDM9499 said:
Can you take a screen grab next time you see it? I'm not certain what it is you see because I don't see a yellow auto button unless I open up one of the manual control options like shutter speed etc., which is just an indication that it's in auto (even though it's the pro mode) and you're not manually adjusting yourself. If that makes sense...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah that makes sense. So even in Pro it can sit select settings itself.
Does that mean will still take in RAW also?

choccy31 said:
Ah that makes sense. So even in Pro it can sit select settings itself.
Does that mean will still take in RAW also?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even in Pro mode, you can still let the shutter speed, ISO etc., stay AUTO. And yup, you can still save in RAW. :good:

So, in the end this irked me so much I sold the phone. I read a lot of reviews and chatted to some guys and the general consensus is if you want to see detail on faces, get a Pixel. I noticed also in testing (I tested against a few phones) that the iPhone 7 does the same thing but in a less exaggerated way. Lastly, I don't have enough cred to post links but check out Phandroid comparison of S5, S6, S7 and S8. This was exactly my experience coming from an S6 to an S8.
I did also do an experiment taking selfies with the rear camera. Previously I had mostly been taking pics of my kids. Now I'm a grizzled-ish dude. Lots of lines on my face and wrinkles. Too much sun, no cream, getting old. I won't lie the camera kind of made me look good. The combination of sharpening and smoothing made it a good pic. Maybe that is why nobody moans? With my kid, I miss the reality of it. Where are the freckles and fine hairs or tiny pimples on their faces? But with me it's like smoothing out flaws. Maybe that's why generally people like it. It creates pleasing pictures that may not be too true to reality. In particular the photos look best zoomed out so good for Facebook/Instagram.

Good luck with the Pixel guys. I bought one before my S8 and loved it until I started taking photos. Before I had taken my 5th photo I started noticing awful flare and halos whenever there was a light source anywhere in front of the phone - not even necessarily in the frame. My best photos are taken contre-jour and the delicate lighting effects you can get shooting towards the sun in particular can result in some lovely shots. Knowing I would have to stop taking these sort of photos was a real deal-breaker and I returned the Pixel and ordered an S8. I took a photo last weekend with the sun actually in the frame and got very minimal flare. It would have destroyed the Pixel photo.

The S8 is truly brilliant at handling difficult light sources, especially rear-lit. The only problem I had with it is the way it totally killed facial textures.
scgf said:
Good luck with the Pixel guys. I bought one before my S8 and loved it until I started taking photos. Before I had taken my 5th photo I started noticing awful flare and halos whenever there was a light source anywhere in front of the phone - not even necessarily in the frame. My best photos are taken contre-jour and the delicate lighting effects you can get shooting towards the sun in particular can result in some lovely shots. Knowing I would have to stop taking these sort of photos was a real deal-breaker and I returned the Pixel and ordered an S8. I took a photo last weekend with the sun actually in the frame and got very minimal flare. It would have destroyed the Pixel photo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

renegadem4ster said:
The S8 is truly brilliant at handling difficult light sources, especially rear-lit. The only problem I had with it is the way it totally killed facial textures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A photo of my granddaughter. One of the first I took on my new S8. Can you see the issue here?
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}

Looks pretty good. Not being familiar with your granddaughter it's difficult for me to comment how true to life it is. But when taking pictures of my own children on my S8, it had a super strong tendency to just wash away all the facial texture making it unnaturally smooth-looking. I don't think it would help for me to post the image because again you don't know what it should look like. On my S6, there is subtlety in the texture.. dapples of colour, fine marks etc. On the S8 it's just like smooth white. I'm not sure if that's making sense
scgf said:
A photo of my granddaughter. One of the first I took on my new S8. Can you see the issue here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

It might be impossible to fix this one Galaxy S20 Ultra autofocus issue

The Galaxy S20 Ultra’s ambitious camera system has been marred by autofocus issues ever since it was released, and while the company has largely addressed this with early firmware updates, one particular issue might not be as easy to fix.
Taking photos of close objects with the Galaxy S20 Ultra can lead to mixed results, and in the worst case scenarios, the camera fails to autofocus, leading to blurry shots. A Samsung moderator on Samsung members recently talked about this problem in a post on the Korean forums and revealed that it might not be possible to fix it with a firmware update.
The focal length is determined by the lens specifications
According to the Samsung moderator, the increased size of the S20 Ultra’s sensor results in a shallow depth of field and longer focal length of 10cm or more, therefore, it may fail to focus when photographing objects up-close. More importantly, because the focal length is determined by the lens specifications, this shortcoming is difficult to correct with software.
In other words, autofocus should no longer be an issue for the Galaxy S20 Ultra in general applications, but loss of focus can still occur at close range due to the focal length being longer than usual (the Galaxy S20 and S20+ have a slightly shorter focal length as they use a different main camera sensor). Basically, it’s a physical characteristic of the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s 108MP camera that owners of the device will have to live with.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you think about this ? :crying:
Bad lens ?? why xiaomi not have this issue ?
Does Samsung call back S20 ultra ?
https://www.sammobile.com/news/impossible-fix-one-galaxy-s20-ultra-autofocus-issue/

Yeah I read it. I'm really disappointed with Samsung now, spent tons of money and we get this "engineering problem".
Will Note 20 have the same issue?!

stygi4n said:
Yeah I read it. I'm really disappointed with Samsung now, spent tons of money and we get this "engineering problem".
Will Note 20 have the same issue?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't be disappoiinted, samsung don't talk about autofocus there, but about shooting close object like macro shot.
why don't people realized that the S20 ultra is not nuild to macro shot?
all devices with special lens for macro have macro mod in the photo software.
the main sensor is bigger than usual on phone device and like DSLR it's hard to make macro shot

Such a misleading title , surprised to see that from sammobile !! the moderator on the sourced forum is clearly talking about macro focus or narrow field of view on closer subjects , and sammobile stupidly understood it for autofocus.

Don’t worry. Samsung will be on fire with massive updates.
And no one is stupid here.
Plz correct if aim wrong. Term Autofocus is it not applicable for macro mode?
On S20/s20+, why Samsung use 12mp as primary camera?
Even on S20 if we use 64mp we have auto focus issue.
Do u see users blaming S20 for auto focus problem?
Defending is not correct. If there is a mistake, let that be pointed out. So at least mistake will not be repeated.
This is flagship device & the most expensive phone as of. Such mistakes are not acceptable.
More over if it could have been fix by software. Why it has not been addressed yet.
bala_gamer said:
Such a misleading title , surprised to see that from sammobile !! the moderator on the sourced forum is clearly talking about macro focus or narrow field of view on closer subjects , and sammobile stupidly understood it for autofocus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

It's misleading. Yes there is focal length for lens but not sensor.
Mayb there is a translation error there, focal length has nothing to do with sensor.
Sent from my SM-G985F using Tapatalk

Whats misleading?
As an user i dont need to understand the physics. no one is interested. we need end result.
Auto focus can it be fixed or not?

VRaju said:
Whats misleading?
As an user i dont need to understand the physics. no one is interested. we need end result.
Auto focus can it be fixed or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Auto focus is not the issue when it comes to macro shooting. Try opening your eyes wide open and place an object up close to them. It will be blurry. That is how the main sensor is set up. There isn't an issue with it. There was a reason the camera on the Ultra is different from the s20 and the plus. Those are geared more toward the average consumer. There are lenses the cost thousands of dollars that do exactly what the Ultra's does. It is the user's job to do some research before purchasing a product. If you like taking macro shots, the Ultra may not be the phone for you.

For a phone that was sold like a camera revolution and situated as the most expensive phone in the market and you can't compare it not even with a phone that cost have of his money ( Google Pixel 4XL is £750) is such dissapointing. I payed so much money ob this phone and I'm forced to take my old Pixel 3XL with me whenever I'm going out .. After the Note7 Saga I'm again dissapointed by Samsung for delivering such a poor professionalism regarding the release of their products.

VRaju said:
Whats misleading?
As an user i dont need to understand the physics. no one is interested. we need end result.
Auto focus can it be fixed or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S20U takes very pleasant pictures, as mentioned the lens is supposed to work like that, since it has a fixed aperture. AF was indeed bad at the beginning but it has improved a lot. I am no Sammy fan, just my honest opinion, people should understand how physics of aperture and minimum focus distance
works.
I am very pleased with my phone and the pictures it takes. I am coming from an Xperia 1 and S8, for me the quality is absolutely amazing with recent updates.

VRaju said:
Whats misleading?
As an user i dont need to understand the physics. no one is interested. we need end result.
Auto focus can it be fixed or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no it cant be fixed just with software its a hardware issue 108 mp lense

Is taking a picture of a Check considered a Macro shot? Because if so I don't have any problems direct depositing checks to my bank with the phone camera. If your hands are not steady it will take an out of focus picture. But if you hold the camera still until after the picture is taken it comes out fine for me. But I am on the U.S. Snap Dragon version.

So u mean to say people must study and understand physics before they buy s20u. I dint know there was such criteria to buy phones these days...
All ur saying is don’t judge by the spec given by manufacturers. Users must be educated to buy phone. Haha
Even i like Samsung devices.given choice bw op8 pro and s20p..ill still go for s20p. But I don’t expect Samsung to deceive users with such crabs.
cletusindia said:
The S20U takes very pleasant pictures, as mentioned the lens is supposed to work like that, since it has a fixed aperture. AF was indeed bad at the beginning but it has improved a lot. I am no Sammy fan, just my honest opinion, people should understand how physics of aperture and minimum focus distance
works.
I am very pleased with my phone and the pictures it takes. I am coming from an Xperia 1 and S8, for me the quality is absolutely amazing with recent updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Here is my take on this situation assuming it really can't be fixed.
I have been a loyal Samsung fan since the very first Galaxy S phone. I remember they had a promotion where i ended up getting the Avatar movie on an SD Card and i have been upgrading every year since then. The way i see it based on personal usuage, the problem is really with Close up pic or Macro shot. Besides that i really dont have an autofocus issue when it comes to taking regular pictures. It did had a focus hunting issue in video at launch but that has been fixed. Having said that this phone is everything i would want with a $1,400 price tag, great battery life, massive screen, crazy good display, smoothness etc. It still has an overall very good camera.
Yes, of course I would be happy if it had no issue whatsoever but i wont be like those we keep complaining about a very situational issue. Unless you have a hobby of taking macro shots like all the time, i really dont see the point of all of the complaints. As for me who dont take macro, i am still happily enjoying my device everyday.

Djapatos said:
Here is my take on this situation assuming it really can't be fixed.
I have been a loyal Samsung fan since the very first Galaxy S phone. I remember they had a promotion where i ended up getting the Avatar movie on an SD Card and i have been upgrading every year since then. The way i see it based on personal usuage, the problem is really with Close up pic or Macro shot. Besides that i really dont have an autofocus issue when it comes to taking regular pictures. It did had a focus hunting issue in video at launch but that has been fixed. Having said that this phone is everything i would want with a $1,400 price tag, great battery life, massive screen, crazy good display, smoothness etc. It still has an overall very good camera.
Yes, of course I would be happy if it had no issue whatsoever but i wont be like those we keep complaining about a very situational issue. Unless you have a hobby of taking macro shots like all the time, i really dont see the point of all of the complaints. As for me who dont take macro, i am still happily enjoying my device everyday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said, I find using pro mode, setting manual focus all the way down (flower icon) and then moving phone back and forth from subject until it's sharp works best for me. The peaking highlights (green) aren't always spot on so need to do some trial and error to get it where it works best for your case.

First Sorry for my bad English
1 , shoot a near subject (distance 3-10cm) is not marco shot.
Ss need to notify to customer about this feature ( or engineering problems ) before i bought this phone.
Loock at iphone 11 pro,huawei p40 pro, oppo find x2 pro,... it shoot well every distance even day light or low light picture are same quality with s20u.
2. Some people say buy gaming phone for play game .
Look at iphone and other phones again. Many phones do well everthing not like s20u
When i play pubg after 4- 5 round my phone is too hot, the phone very lagging than first round . why 1400$ phone can like that ?
Iphone 11 pro have 4000mah and it has battery onscreen longer than s20u 5000 mah
Samsung has problems and we need to tell samsung fix it and don't do that again. No one have many free time to tell "i have problems" when they don't have problems.
Sorry for my bad English.

Well said.
buy a ferrair car and get it pulled by manual car.
Couz many believe it was meant to be used like that.
Very strange comments & really hard to digest.
cpufrost said:
Well said, I find using pro mode, setting manual focus all the way down (flower icon) and then moving phone back and forth from subject until it's sharp works best for me. The peaking highlights (green) aren't always spot on so need to do some trial and error to get it where it works best for your case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

truonglam said:
First Sorry for my bad English
1 , shoot a near subject (distance 3-10cm) is not marco shot.
Ss need to notify to customer about this feature ( or engineering problems ) before i bought this phone.
Loock at iphone 11 pro,huawei p40 pro, oppo find x2 pro,... it shoot well every distance even day light or low light picture are same quality with s20u.
2. Some people say buy gaming phone for play game .
Look at iphone and other phones again. Many phones do well everthing not like s20u
When i play pubg after 4- 5 round my phone is too hot, the phone very lagging than first round . why 1400$ phone can like that ?
Iphone 11 pro have 4000mah and it has battery onscreen longer than s20u 5000 mah
Samsung has problems and we need to tell samsung fix it and don't do that again. No one have many free time to tell "i have problems" when they don't have problems.
Sorry for my bad English.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please define the distance of a macro shot.
Show us pictures made from 50 mm distance made by iPhone 11 pro,then magnify this picture 10x
I will be very surprised if the results are good.
Attached pics are made from 100,50 and 40 mm.
The only good result is the 100 mm picture,since even after 10x magnification the result is good .
All pics were made under identical conditions,
Phone on small wooden blocks of 40,50 and 100 mm thickness.
I think 100mm distance is the nearest distance you can make high quality photo's with any smartphone.

I don't even see this as an ultra issue. I have the S20 (non ultra, non +) and I swear none of my pictures are ever in focus. They all seem *just* out of focus and makes them all look terrible. It is really disappointing me.

jdubya42 said:
I don't even see this as an ultra issue. I have the S20 (non ultra, non +) and I swear none of my pictures are ever in focus. They all seem *just* out of focus and makes them all look terrible. It is really disappointing me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you try to clean your phone app data and wype cache?