Database Users

Camera seems too zoomed in?

No mods on my s4. Stock camera. All the way zoomed out, it feels like its too close.
So for example, if i wanted to take a picture of a 36x36 painting, i have to be farther away to fit it into frame than my s3.
Has anyone else noticed this?

mic_crispy said:
No mods on my s4. Stock camera. All the way zoomed out, it feels like its too close.
So for example, if i wanted to take a picture of a 36x36 painting, i have to be farther away to fit it into frame than my s3.
Has anyone else noticed this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is because the FoV is different on the lens. (field of view)

Thats the word i was looking for....
So im guessing this is not like quake 3, where i can adjust the FOV?

mic_crispy said:
Thats the word i was looking for....
So im guessing this is not like quake 3, where i can adjust the FOV?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at all, its mostly because the megapixel count. cameras in phones cant have such a high pixel capture and great field of view all at once... yet

jetlitheone said:
Yes, it is because the FoV is different on the lens. (field of view)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jetlitheone said:
Not at all, its mostly because the megapixel count. cameras in phones cant have such a high pixel capture and great field of view all at once... yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, thanks.
I just noticed it was very hard to take a full framed picture in a tight place.
Oh well.

On that note, could you just lower the RES to achieve the wider FOV?
Since the lense is better than the s3, the picture should still look better.

mic_crispy said:
On that note, could you just lower the RES to achieve the wider FOV?
Since the lense is better than the s3, the picture should still look better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sadly, it doesn't work like that :|

mic_crispy said:
On that note, could you just lower the RES to achieve the wider FOV?
Since the lense is better than the s3, the picture should still look better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure its the solution your looking for, but try using the panaroma mode... Its a pain, but theoretically should work as long as you dont need flash or anything.

Thanks for the explanation. I had forgotten the field of view is smaller on the s4. I was trying to tell my wife that the camera looks too zoomed in all the time. The Optimus G Pro has a better FOV than the GS4

ronj1986 said:
Thanks for the explanation. I had forgotten the field of view is smaller on the s4. I was trying to tell my wife that the camera looks too zoomed in all the time. The Optimus G Pro has a better FOV than the GS4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it's not quite like that. What you're seeing onscreen for the S4 is the aspect ratio of the pictures you're taking. So, you're getting an accurate representation before you take the photo. It's not anything but how it should be. The camera even thoughtfully has the aspect ratios of each megapixel setting in the settings menu. If you select a 16:9 setting, you get full screen because that's the aspect ratio of the S4's screen. 4:3 looks cropped because you don't want to distort your framing when you're lining up your shot. Just to clarify, this is a good feature, and not a bug.

burhanistan said:
Well, it's not quite like that. What you're seeing onscreen for the S4 is the aspect ratio of the pictures you're taking. So, you're getting an accurate representation before you take the photo..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. This issue being raised is field of view, not aspect ratio. The field of view on the GS4 is smaller than on some other camera phones because the equivalent focal length is longer. A smaller field of view is not better or worse, it is a matter of personal preference. With a smaller field of view, things will look somewhat closer and close up portraits will look less distorted. With a wider field of view, you can get more in the picture, but close up portraits will have distorted, somewhat cartoonish look. This is because there is more perspective distortion as result of squeezing more in the frame. For reference, the S4 has a equivalent focal length of 31mm, the iphone 5 33mm, and the HTC One 28mm. So just on the basis of field of view/focal length, the iphone would the best for close up face shots, the HTC One, the best for fitting in the most on the screen, and the S4 in between the two.

yeah i'm a little disappointed because i like wide angle. but as long as you can take a couple step back, its no problem.

Please read forum rules before posting
Questions and help issues go in Q&A
Thread moved
Thank you for your cooperation
Friendly Neighborhood Moderator

Camera Sensors Native Aspect Ratio?

Has anyone heard the native aspect ratio for the camera sensors? On the Nexus 6 it was 16:9 on the front but 4:3 on the back. I can handle the front being 16:9, but if the back isn't 4:3 I will be seriously annoyed. I was hoping for a jump to 16mp so this would further hurt my pictures because I would be forced to crop down to 4:3.
If you know, please link to a source.

I may have answered my own question doing a search for sample photos turns up this:
http://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_20150928_202643.jpg
It has a resolution of 4032x3024 which equates to 12,192,768 pixels. So that seems perfect for 4:3. Good job google.

Poke_N_PDA said:
I may have answered my own question doing a search for sample photos turns up this:
http://cdn02.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_20150928_202643.jpg
It has a resolution of 4032x3024 which equates to 12,192,768 pixels. So that seems perfect for 4:3. Good job google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in a world becoming far more dependent on pictures being viewed on 16:9 screens instead of being printed on paper, i find 4:3 to be highly annoying.

indianajonze said:
in a world becoming far more dependent on pictures being viewed on 16:9 screens instead of being printed on paper, i find 4:3 to be highly annoying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can change it to 16:9 but you lose a lot of pixels

yeah thats the problem. it's been a struggle since nexus 5 for me

16:9 is good for Video and smartphone screens. Nothing else. It is horrible for framing a single photo.
just my 2 cents.

4:3 or 16:9?

Hi guys
Noticed that on the 6p, the pixel were much lower if u choose 16:9
Which do u perfer to shoot with? 4:3 with more pixel, or 16:9 with less pixel?
and why you do it?
Thanks.

I prefer the 16:9 just because it fills the entire screen. It would be nice if we could have it both ways though.

murphyjasonc said:
I prefer the 16:9 just because it fills the entire screen. It would be nice if we could have it both ways though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but the 16:9 has a lesser pixel? do u notice the picture in 16:9 have a lesser quality compare to 4:3?
I also like that the 16:9 fill the entire screen, but the quality to me is important too

mousefai0922 said:
but the 16:9 has a lesser pixel? do u notice the picture in 16:9 have a lesser quality compare to 4:3?
I also like that the 16:9 fill the entire screen, but the quality to me is important too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using both off and on. To me the difference is minimal. The 4:3 seems to be a little better in low light but in bright light I can't tell the difference. I've been using open camera app to shoot 16:9 and google camera to shoot 4:3. I haven't settled on one or the other as my main shooter yet though. I'm debating on trying pro camera to see how it does. It won't be the first couple of dollars I've wasted if it isn't any better. I'm trying to find a good one that will shoot stills while taking video. I got used to that coming from my note 3 and then G4.

murphyjasonc said:
I've been using both off and on. To me the difference is minimal. The 4:3 seems to be a little better in low light but in bright light I can't tell the difference. I've been using open camera app to shoot 16:9 and google camera to shoot 4:3. I haven't settled on one or the other as my main shooter yet though. I'm debating on trying pro camera to see how it does. It won't be the first couple of dollars I've wasted if it isn't any better. I'm trying to find a good one that will shoot stills while taking video. I got used to that coming from my note 3 and then G4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the same boat. While I enjoy 16:9 mostly, I prefer to get as much quality to my pictures as possible with the 4:3 before any processing. That said - ProShot looks pretty nice, but unfortunately it's reported changing EV has been disabled? What a dumb move by Google...

murphyjasonc said:
I've been using both off and on. To me the difference is minimal. The 4:3 seems to be a little better in low light but in bright light I can't tell the difference. I've been using open camera app to shoot 16:9 and google camera to shoot 4:3. I haven't settled on one or the other as my main shooter yet though. I'm debating on trying pro camera to see how it does. It won't be the first couple of dollars I've wasted if it isn't any better. I'm trying to find a good one that will shoot stills while taking video. I got used to that coming from my note 3 and then G4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the full screen disply on 16:9 is one of the main reason i choose to use it. It just kinda weird to have black space on the side.....
i havent try any other camera software.. any recommendation u have?

mousefai0922 said:
the full screen disply on 16:9 is one of the main reason i choose to use it. It just kinda weird to have black space on the side.....
i havent try any other camera software.. any recommendation u have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried several that are in the play store. For me open camera works the best out of the free ones. Search for open camera in the play store and give it a try. It had way more options than the google camera app.

Camera sensors are generally 4:3, even professional ones most the time are.
16:9 crops the sensor, hence lower megapixelsis
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

ALWAYS use 4:3 because only this way you will get all the pixels. You can resize it later and cut it down to whatever ratio you want - but you can never do it the other way round (without losing quality).

Yeah, the 4:3 vs 16:9 thing has been on my mind lately too... I like 16:9 pictures better, but when I compare the pictures I take, the only difference I notice is the 16:9 is basically zoomed in. You get no "wider" view, it just basically crops the top and bottom of the image off. There is a camera app or two that I've used that does make it wider, but those don't seem quite as nice as an image.

tele_jas said:
Yeah, the 4:3 vs 16:9 thing has been on my mind lately too... I like 16:9 pictures better, but when I compare the pictures I take, the only difference I notice is the 16:9 is basically zoomed in. You get no "wider" view, it just basically crops the top and bottom of the image off. There is a camera app or two that I've used that does make it wider, but those don't seem quite as nice as an image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the aspect ratio of the sensor is 4:3, so it cuts of pixels until you get 16:9. Changing the aspect ratio without interpolation is only possible by cropping. Interpolation is what happens in the apps you mention which leads to decreased quality.

mousefai0922 said:
but the 16:9 has a lesser pixel? do u notice the picture in 16:9 have a lesser quality compare to 4:3?
I also like that the 16:9 fill the entire screen, but the quality to me is important too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't get lesser quality when shooting in 16:9, it's the exact same quality. The only difference is the image is cropped at the top and bottom to achieve the 16:9 aspect ratio.

What's weird is the S6, Note5, and G4 have the full resolution at 16:9, where the 4:3 was a cropped version of 16:9.
I shoot in 4:3 to have the full 12.2MP image. I can always crop it later.

italia0101 said:
Camera sensors are generally 4:3, even professional ones most the time are.
16:9 crops the sensor, hence lower megapixelsis
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what do u mean by crop the sensor?

Valynor said:
ALWAYS use 4:3 because only this way you will get all the pixels. You can resize it later and cut it down to whatever ratio you want - but you can never do it the other way round (without losing quality).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but let say i shoot in 4:3, how can i cut it down to 16:9?

tele_jas said:
Yeah, the 4:3 vs 16:9 thing has been on my mind lately too... I like 16:9 pictures better, but when I compare the pictures I take, the only difference I notice is the 16:9 is basically zoomed in. You get no "wider" view, it just basically crops the top and bottom of the image off. There is a camera app or two that I've used that does make it wider, but those don't seem quite as nice as an image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i do noticed that too
So to clarify, 4:3 has a wider angle and 16:9 is zoomed in right?
i just like the feeling that 16:9 takes up ur whole screen when viewing on photo app

Heisenberg said:
You don't get lesser quality when shooting in 16:9, it's the exact same quality. The only difference is the image is cropped at the top and bottom to achieve the 16:9 aspect ratio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so like other user are saying, is good to take it as 4:3 since u can edit later on but u cant edit when u shoot on 16:9 right?

mousefai0922 said:
but let say i shoot in 4:3, how can i cut it down to 16:9?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use any picture editor that features a "crop" function and remove part of the top and bottom of the original 4:3 picture until you get a 16:9 ratio or any other ratio you like (e.g. 3:2 is also common). Done.
It's the same as taking the shot in 16:9 but this way you can decide later which parts of the 4:3 you want to cut off (only top, only bottom or part of both).

mousefai0922 said:
so like other user are saying, is good to take it as 4:3 since u can edit later on but u cant edit when u shoot on 16:9 right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you technically could edit a 16:9 image down to a 4:3 ratio by cropping the sides off the image. Doing this will result in an image containing even less pixels though. If you're really worried about it just take photos in the 4:3 ratio and crop them to 16:9 if you need to. I just have mine set to 16:9 all the time, I don't like the look of images in the 4:3 ratio. Using 16:9 allows the images to fill the screen on my phone, my tv, and my laptop (mostly).

Heisenberg said:
Well you technically could edit a 16:9 image down to a 4:3 ratio by cropping the sides off the image. Doing this will result in an image containing even less pixels though. If you're really worried about it just take photos in the 4:3 ratio and crop them to 16:9 if you need to. I just have mine set to 16:9 all the time, I don't like the look of images in the 4:3 ratio. Using 16:9 allows the images to fill the screen on my phone, my tv, and my laptop (mostly).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea, the only reason i will consider taking in 16:9 is that it fills the entire 6p screen

Camera Aspect Ratios and MP

Why is 16:9 Ratio locked to 12MP? When the main camera is 16MP, 4:3 Aspect Ratio can go up to 16MP, so why can't 16:9? And could somebody possibly develop a mod to allow 16:9 to take full capability of the camera, I would try but I don't know how to, just a question I thought I'd ask, thanks in advance for replies

Joe199799 said:
Why is 16:9 Ratio locked to 12MP? When the main camera is 16MP, 4:3 Aspect Ratio can go up to 16MP, so why can't 16:9? And could somebody possibly develop a mod to allow 16:9 to take full capability of the camera, I would try but I don't know how to, just a question I thought I'd ask, thanks in advance for replies
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
16:9 just isn't a thing for 16MP. On any camera really. I'd try to explain it but I'm bad at explaining so I'll try to summarize (or at least how I like to think of it, someone can correct me). Think of megapixel as a large portion of a photo. When you have 12 it's basically 4 megapixels across and 3 megapixels tall, making 12. 16 just adds 4 more to the top or bottom row of the photo. So it's not a limitation of the phone, just of cameras in general.

Thisisabadname said:
16:9 just isn't a thing for 16MP. On any camera really. I'd try to explain it but I'm bad at explaining so I'll try to summarize (or at least how I like to think of it, someone can correct me). Think of megapixel as a large portion of a photo. When you have 12 it's basically 4 megapixels across and 3 megapixels tall, making 12. 16 just adds 4 more to the top or bottom row of the photo. So it's not a limitation of the phone, just of cameras in general.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 16:9 (12MP) Toggle comes enabled on the phone out of the box (at least I think it does) (and if not, the stock rom I'm using, the Creator might have switched it, but it's not mentioned anywhere else in his thread) and 4:3 (16MP) won't let a picture fill the screen completely, I know MP isn't everything when it comes to a camera, but it's just odd that it's a 16MP main sensor with it only using 12 of 16 out of the box, it's possible I'm not comprehending this and all the last phones I've had (GS6 and LG G5) Both have had camera mods that's gave them 60FPS recordings, improvements in general, and 100% JPG Quality, I appreciate your answer, and as I've said I might be just not grasping it or not understanding the reasoning behind it, just was digging around the stock camera app came upon the setting and thought I'd ask people that know more about this stuff then me. Thank you.

It's a hardware sensor limitation in the 16mp camera for the LG V20, and while you could get an app on the market that takes 16:9 pictures on the v20 by stretching the 4:3 picture to fit the ratio, I would just accept what we have ATM considering the alternative is kinda harmful to image fidelity
EDIT: Yes there is an option to switch to 16:9 with the drop to 12mp/6-mp depending on the options you choose obviously (just looked thanks to the post Joe199799 made just before mine)

This "degradation" in Megapixel count is actually fairly normal and happens in most cameras. My previous phone had a 13MP camera but recorded 9.7MP 16:9 shots. Here's a detailed explanation for why this happens:
If you think about how a camera works, light passes through the lens to hit the sensor. Making this lens round is the easiest option to make the image projected onto the sensor as close to reality without any distortion. Making the lens another shape would distort the image, ab bit like using the wide angle camera does, which is difficult to correct in post.
The lens projects a circular image, which you want to record as much of as possible. A circular sensor could capture everything, but circular content on rectangular screens doesn't make much sense.
The next shape that takes up the most area within a circle is a square. But at the time digital image sensors were developed, computer screens had adopted ratios of 4:3 or 3:2, slight deviations from the square.
As a result, image sensors were also built in 4:3 ratios, which sacrifice some, but not too much of the entire projected image. Now, with screen ratios favouring more width, we could adapt our sensors, however, to capture images of comparable quality, lenses would have to become larger or sensor electronics would need to shrink. Neither option is particularly preferable, which is why the 4:3 ratio has stuck around and most cameras recording 16:9 images simply crop out part of a 4:3 image. Because it arguably makes sense, megapixel count refers to the entire area of the image sensor. By cropping the image, the megapixel count will obviously decrease as a certain amount of pixels is deleted.

Alexsp32 said:
This "degradation" in Megapixel count is actually fairly normal and happens in most cameras. My previous phone had a 13MP camera but recorded 9.7MP 16:9 shots. Here's a detailed explanation for why this happens:
If you think about how a camera works, light passes through the lens to hit the sensor. Making this lens round is the easiest option to make the image projected onto the sensor as close to reality without any distortion. Making the lens another shape would distort the image, ab bit like using the wide angle camera does, which is difficult to correct in post.
The lens projects a circular image, which you want to record as much of as possible. A circular sensor could capture everything, but circular content on rectangular screens doesn't make much sense.
The next shape that takes up the most area within a circle is a square. But at the time digital image sensors were developed, computer screens had adopted ratios of 4:3 or 3:2, slight deviations from the square.
As a result, image sensors were also built in 4:3 ratios, which sacrifice some, but not too much of the entire projected image. Now, with screen ratios favouring more width, we could adapt our sensors, however, to capture images of comparable quality, lenses would have to become larger or sensor electronics would need to shrink. Neither option is particularly preferable, which is why the 4:3 ratio has stuck around and most cameras recording 16:9 images simply crop out part of a 4:3 image. Because it arguably makes sense, megapixel count refers to the entire area of the image sensor. By cropping the image, the megapixel count will obviously decrease as a certain amount of pixels is deleted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the explanation it's very through and fleshed out, I think I understand now

Why is my front camera zoomed in when recording a video?

Dear people from XDA,
My front facing camera records video's heavily zoomed in. Like my face fills the whole screen. This is while using the default camera app.
I do not have this problem when taking a picture with my front facing camera.
I have seen problems with snapchat and instagram, but I also have it with the default camera.
OnePlus support says i gotta clear cache, but that doesnt work. Now they tell me to do a factory reset.
I got the latest software update for the Oneplus 6T.
Any of you have this problem?
Edit: i cant post links so you can paste this screenshot in your browser with https:// in front of it. nl.tinypic.com/r/av0enk/9

Its probably to do with image stabilisation, it crops out the edges as that gives room to adjust for shaking. I could be wrong, but thats something I did for a dummy project before, I think its a pretty common practice thing

TheBishopOfSoho said:
Its probably to do with image stabilisation, it crops out the edges as that gives room to adjust for shaking. I could be wrong, but thats something I did for a dummy project before, I think its a pretty common practice thing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the case when taking a picture, but not when recording. It doesnt work.

tsinnic said:
This is the case when taking a picture, but not when recording. It doesnt work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like he said.. When it's in video mode, it appears to be zoomed in because it's cropping the edges as part of the electronic stabilization.*
I'm not a hundred percent certain on that being the explanation but I am pretty confident. That's just the way it works and I just open the app to be sure and there is no way to turn off this stabilization

I don't think it's as much about image stabilization as just aspect ratio. If you go into the selfie picture camera and change the aspect ratio from 4:3 to full screen, the image will be similarly zoomed in. As I understand it, the camera sensors are 4:3. To get 16:9 or 13:6 full screen images, it just basically crops the 4:3 image and stretches or zooms it to fit the desired size. Just like when you take an older 4:3 SD tv show and zoom to fill a widescreen tv.
I'm just speculating though, so I may be off base, but it makes sense. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

It is the electronic image stabilization. It crops the recorded area to leave room for the frame to move around, so that it can compensate for movement.

t2jbird said:
It is the electronic image stabilization. It crops the recorded area to leave room for the frame to move around, so that it can compensate for movement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Thanks for clarifying.