Database Users

Photographer's perspective on the LG G3

These topics have been widely discussed, I just find this funny. I do professional photography, and I thought this phone would be great for me. Not only could I show off my photos on a glorious 2k screen, but it was supposed to have a great off-duty camera as well. Ironically, it's instead hitting some photographer pet peeves real bad.
1) The screen sharpening is bad. I see amateur photographers get over enthusiastic on sharpening, cause the sharper the better, right? No, you make ugly artifacts like halos. Now my entire phone does it nonstop. It hurts! This goes beyond the font issue that's widely been talked about. I love viewing photos through my Nexus 7 or HTC M7 because it's like looking through a window. Photos on the G3 just look artifical.
2) Another is the camera noise reduction. Noise is bad, so let's crank the noise reduction. No, some grain and more detail is much preferable to pics that look like watercolors.
3) I knew this one going in, but as the Andantech review pointed out, the color accuracy is bad. I can spend time editing a photo on my phone and paste it to Facebook, just to realize once I'm viewing on a pc that the pic looks nothing like my meticulous edit. Great.
I know I'm hypersensitive to these issues because of my profession. My wife didn't notice the sharpening. But it's funny that what I thought would be my ideal phone is such the opposite.

supposedmonster said:
3) I knew this one going in, but as the Andantech review pointed out, the color accuracy is bad. I can spend time editing a photo on my phone and paste it to Facebook, just to realize once I'm viewing on a pc that the pic looks nothing like my meticulously edit. Great.
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How long ago was last time you calibrated your PC monitor? Does your monitor have sRGB mode? And, BTW, maybe you even use some notebook with cheap junky TN panel in the first place? :laugh:

I use an ASUS PA246 wide gamut monitor regularly calibrated with a Colormunki Display, so yes, I have a good benchmark.
Sent from my LG-D851 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

supposedmonster said:
so yes, I have a good benchmark.
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Glad for you, well then did you try to compare pix from the net to view both on monitor and on G3 and compare colors? Like I did
Check that topic also, maybe you bought G3 with blueish panel

Man this was not an easy shot to pull off. It's hard to tell from the pic, but LG is on the left and Nexus 7 is on the bottom. The LG would equate to quite a few notches of saturation boost in Lightroom.
This photo doesn't quite show it well, but the Nexus is actually slightly less saturated than the calibrated monitor.
The colors aren't that bad in either devices (I mean you can only expect so much, I get these aren't meant to be crazy calibrated panels), but I'd rather edit on the Nexus and find them slightly more vibrant on other devices than on the LG and find it decidedly dull.
Sent from my LG-D851 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

supposedmonster said:
These topics have been widely discussed, I just find this funny. I do professional photography, and I thought this phone would be great for me. Not only could I show off my photos on a glorious 2k screen, but it was supposed to have a great off-duty camera as well. Ironically, it's instead hitting some photographer pet peeves real bad.
1) The screen sharpening is bad. I see amateur photographers get over enthusiastic on sharpening, cause the sharper the better, right? No, you make ugly artifacts like halos. Now my entire phone does it nonstop. It hurts! This goes beyond the font issue that's widely been talked about. I love viewing photos through my Nexus 7 or HTC M7 because it's like looking through a window. Photos on the G3 just look artifical.
2) Another is the camera noise reduction. Noise is bad, so let's crank the noise reduction. No, some grain and more detail is much preferable to pics that look like watercolors.
3) I knew this one going in, but as the Andantech review pointed out, the color accuracy is bad. I can spend time editing a photo on my phone and paste it to Facebook, just to realize once I'm viewing on a pc that the pic looks nothing like my meticulous edit. Great.
I know I'm hypersensitive to these issues because of my profession. My wife didn't notice the sharpening. But it's funny that what I thought would be my ideal phone is such the opposite.
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I'm just curious about number 3 up there, and I'm not trying to be an ass, but why would any professional photographer spend time editing a photo on a phone meticulously, instead of putting the photo on the PC and editing it with PS? I mean, if you edit it with the PC, its a lot easier, and you also get a WYSIWYG.

Haha, well my camera has WiFi. When in on vacation it's fun being able to post professional quality pics to social media from my phone.
Sent from my LG-D851 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

The G3 display can be somewhat manually adjusted in color contrast, did you tweak it a bit? Maybe it'll improve.

Thanks, I have read about that. Without being able to use a preview image to calibrate I think it'd drive me crazy. Plus I doubt it'll help because it seems to only adjust color and contrast, not saturation, which is the bigger issue.
What bugs me more though is the sharpening, but I have faith that'll be fixed either by LG or the community since enough people have raised a hallaboo.
Sent from my LG-D851 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I can live with the screen sharpening (since it's all software and don't affect the photos themselves). I can also live with so-so color reproduction. But gawd, that NR pisses me off. What's the point of having a good sensor when you're gonna mess up the photos with mediocre processing. That being said... photos still look pretty decent in good lighting ;P

supposedmonster said:
These topics have been widely discussed, I just find this funny. I do professional photography, and I thought this phone would be great for me. Not only could I show off my photos on a glorious 2k screen, but it was supposed to have a great off-duty camera as well. Ironically, it's instead hitting some photographer pet peeves real bad.
1) The screen sharpening is bad. I see amateur photographers get over enthusiastic on sharpening, cause the sharper the better, right? No, you make ugly artifacts like halos. Now my entire phone does it nonstop. It hurts! This goes beyond the font issue that's widely been talked about. I love viewing photos through my Nexus 7 or HTC M7 because it's like looking through a window. Photos on the G3 just look artifical.
2) Another is the camera noise reduction. Noise is bad, so let's crank the noise reduction. No, some grain and more detail is much preferable to pics that look like watercolors.
3) I knew this one going in, but as the Andantech review pointed out, the color accuracy is bad. I can spend time editing a photo on my phone and paste it to Facebook, just to realize once I'm viewing on a pc that the pic looks nothing like my meticulous edit. Great.
I know I'm hypersensitive to these issues because of my profession. My wife didn't notice the sharpening. But it's funny that what I thought would be my ideal phone is such the opposite.
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I am sorry but you have me totally confused.......
I agree the G3 does have over sharpening which depending on how and what you shoot can have detrimental effects on the scene shot.
However, why on earth are you getting so annoyed with what is in effect simply a smartphone camera sensor?
Although I do not take photos as a profession I have however owned a camera since... Hang on a second......1963. Throughout time I learned many various methods and art in photography, travelling the world shooting all manner of photos with compacts and SLR's to the more recent DSLR and smartphone.
Yet, there is no way on earth would I take a professional shot with a smartphone nor would I expect it to achieve something which could be of use in a professional manner.
I do apologies but it does annoy me when I hear from someone first stating they are a 'professional' and use this word as their basis for a debate.
If you have an issue with the G3, fine I can live with that as you are very much correct, certain aspects of the software could be improved but let us not forget.
1. It is a smartphone.
2. It is software which means if you do not like the camera app that controls the shooting then use a different camera app.
I personally use the app 'A Better Camera' which is excellent.
I am sure as a professional photographer you must have heard of this app and learned the author is not just another coder but does have an understanding of photography.
With 'A Better Camera' as your tool you will find first it gives you back the manual controls and second it then allows you to be as creative as a smartphone will allow you.
Having said all this I have never ever ever been happy letting the camera dictate the shot but the G3 is the first type of camera that I am happy shooting 'casual photography' in auto mode.

Beards said:
I am sorry but you have me totally confused.......
I agree the G3 does have over sharpening which depending on how and what you shoot can have detrimental effects on the scene shot.
However, why on earth are you getting so annoyed with what is in effect simply a smartphone camera sensor?
Although I do not take photos as a profession I have however owned a camera since... Hang on a second......1963. Throughout time I learned many various methods and art in photography, travelling the world shooting all manner of photos with compacts and SLR's to the more recent DSLR and smartphone.
Yet, there is no way on earth would I take a professional shot with a smartphone nor would I expect it to achieve something which could be of use in a professional manner.
I do apologies but it does annoy me when I hear from someone first stating they are a 'professional' and use this word as their basis for a debate.
If you have an issue with the G3, fine I can live with that as you are very much correct, certain aspects of the software could be improved but let us not forget.
1. It is a smartphone.
2. It is software which means if you do not like the camera app that controls the shooting then use a different camera app.
I personally use the app 'A Better Camera' which is excellent.
I am sure as a professional photographer you must have heard of this app and learned the author is not just another coder but does have an understanding of photography.
With 'A Better Camera' as your tool you will find first it gives you back the manual controls and second it then allows you to be as creative as a smartphone will allow you.
Having said all this I have never ever ever been happy letting the camera dictate the shot but the G3 is the first type of camera that I am happy shooting 'casual photography' in auto mode.
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Speaking of which, is it possible to set long exposure (for night shots with a tripod, for example) with A Better Camera? Other than the automatic "Night Shot"...

fabripav said:
Speaking of which, is it possible to set long exposure (for night shots with a tripod, for example) with A Better Camera? Other than the automatic "Night Shot"...
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Not presently...... But note, this is not the problem with the G3 or A Better Camera.
It is Android or should I say Google who limited the speed to just under 1sec.
However, under Android L all will change as among the 400+ camera api's introduced camera speed is one of them. So 'hopefully' developers will raise to the challenge and add this vital missing setting.

Beards said:
Not presently...... But note, this is not the problem with the G3 or A Better Camera.
It is Android or should I say Google who limited the speed to just under 1sec.
However, under Android L all will change as among the 400+ camera api's introduced camera speed is one of them. So 'hopefully' developers will raise to the challenge and add this vital missing setting.
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Yeah, can't wait for that update for many reasons, camera included.
It's weird though that the Oppo Find 7 camera (for example) has a shutter speed that goes up to 32 seconds. How did they manage to make it avalaible? The sensor is a simple Sony IMX214.
I wonder if all the features of Camera FV-5 work on the G3, anyone tried it yet? (my G3 has yet to arrive)

fabripav said:
Yeah, can't wait for that update for many reasons, camera included.
It's weird though that the Oppo Find 7 camera (for example) has a shutter speed that goes up to 32 seconds. How did they manage to make it avalaible? The sensor is a simple Sony IMX214.
I wonder if all the features of Camera FV-5 work on the G3, anyone tried it yet? (my G3 has yet to arrive)
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The Oppo Find 7's camera doesn't actually keep the lens open for 32 seconds, it does a trick similar to what Camera FV-5 does in that it takes a series of shots from a thumbnail (hence why it's small and lacks any detail).
Re your query on Camera FV-5 ~ everything with the exception of ISO works. With ISO the dials say it has altered ISO but when you take the shot you find it has altered nothing.
A Better Camera on the other hand does alter the settings and does apply them to the shot.
It's the only app out there which utilises all the manual controls that are open to write permission, this also includes AE and WB Lock which again no other camera app uses.

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fabripav said:
Yeah, can't wait for that update for many reasons, camera included.
It's weird though that the Oppo Find 7 camera (for example) has a shutter speed that goes up to 32 seconds. How did they manage to make it avalaible? The sensor is a simple Sony IMX214.
I wonder if all the features of Camera FV-5 work on the G3, anyone tried it yet? (my G3 has yet to arrive)
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Yes it does. I haven't tried the long exposure in FV-5 though.
Beards said:
Re your query on Camera FV-5 ~ everything with the exception of ISO works. With ISO the dials say it has altered ISO but when you take the shot you find it has altered nothing.
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Camera FV-5's ISO setting works fine for me.
ISO 100 1/60 F/2.4
http://i1.minus.com/iMbhMmPuhI3Es.JPG
ISO 1600 1/680 F/2.4
http://i7.minus.com/iNJO0u9CN5xvf.JPG
I'm a photographer (;P). I know what I'm talking about.

You have the D851 which is Tmob.. which doesnt have the sharpening effect.. at least anecdotally. same model i have and theres zero sharpening going on. the colors mind you are off, but its no galaxy S4 or G2.. but as was stated dont plan to edit on your phone and you wont be frustrated by using the wrong tool for the job.
dont bring a 400mm telephoto zoom to a job that requires a 35mm prime or vice versa.

Itaintrite said:
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Yes it does. I haven't tried the long exposure in FV-5 though.
Camera FV-5's ISO setting works fine for me.
ISO 100 1/60 F/2.4
http://i1.minus.com/iMbhMmPuhI3Es.JPG
ISO 1600 1/680 F/2.4
http://i7.minus.com/iNJO0u9CN5xvf.JPG
I'm a photographer (;P). I know what I'm talking about.
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Really...... Thank you.
When was the App last updated?

Beards said:
Really...... Thank you.
When was the App last updated?
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I'm using v1.7.3. Updated June 27th.

Itaintrite said:
I'm using v1.7.3. Updated June 27th.
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Great... I'll give it another go against A Better Camera; although ABC does have many more controls.

I give up on this camera...

No matter what I do I can't seem to get a clear picture. Everything is blurry. I can't figure out if my expectations are just too high.....I came from an LG G4 but still. How are you guys getting good pictures? I'm talking 5% of the pictures I take are passable. Maybe I have a faulty camera? Anyone else find the camera to be garbage? I've looked through the camera threads and people seem happy overall. It can't just be me.
Sent from my XT1575 using XDA Free mobile app

Moto camera app sucks...did you try a different app?
Sent from my XT1572 using XDA Free mobile app

I tried Open Camera and am using Google camera currently. And I'm no Ansel Adams but I takes lot of pictures and have always been able to figure out how to take a decent shot on every device I've owned until this one.
Sent from my XT1575 using XDA Free mobile app

Are the pictures blurry or noisy?

They're blurry. That the thing, that's new to me. Good lighting with as steady a hand as I can muster still results in a blurry shot. I'll take one now and post if I can.
Sent from my XT1575 using XDA Free mobile app

This is probably a stupid suggestion, but have you tried just wiping the lens and making sure it's clean and clear? Honestly I've had that problem before where it's been smudged without my noticing and it obviously makes every picture screwed up. I know it's not likely, but something that's worth a shot I've found! Other than that I know nothing about cameras and coming from an HTC One I know nothing of a quality photo...

No, I agree with @jiggyb21, I just bought the Moxo X and came from the Galaxy S6. The camera on the Moto seems like pure garbage to me, and I think it's because we are coming from phones with superior cameras. People who came from phones with worse cameras will obviously think the Moto X camera is great right?

I don't have the steadiest of hands, but I haven't run into a problem like what you are describing. Have you given some thought that you might have a faulty device? It uses phase detection for focus, so if every picture is blurry you may have an issue with the actual camera module.

I've tried a few camera apps, and though pics come out good, man do I really have to keep a steady hand. Move it a hair and any text blurs. Why not lean it up against something to take your handling out of equation and voice command take pic and see what comes up.
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk 2

It would be nice if you could post some samples. I'm not in love with the camera but I have consistently been able to snap photos that are good enough quickly

I don't even know if I uploaded the pics correctly and if not I'll fix it later while I'm watching the Giants beat on the Eagles. Something interesting happened while taking these pictures. I am in 100% optimal lighting conditions and these are basically the best 4 shots I could possibly get out of this camera. I asked around to the people here on the jobsite with me and everyone thought the pictures were just fine. Yes, they aren't blurry to the point of being unreadable by any means but they are quite blurry. I guess it could just be me but I would still argue it's not. Before anyone says anything about how this is just a smartphone and it's only a $400 smartphone at that and it's good enough, I know that and maybe people who haven't used a good smartphone camera don't know what they're missing. If that's the case, fine, and that's why I started this thread was to find out. My last 4 phones were Xperia ZL, Z2, Z3 and LG G4. We all know the G4 and S6, to name two, have incredible cameras and have OIS. The first 3 I named weren't and don't. They were all rated as average cameras and they don't have OIS. I have hundreds of pictures taken in similar conditions with the Sonys and they didn't suffer from blur. Like I said these 4 pictures were surprisingly good IMO. Most I take are MUCH more blurred and most of the pictures I take aren't in this perfect a light. So I'll have to post more pictures from my collection at home to really show off the bad ones.
If you zoom in a little on the pics its almost a 3D art poster kind of eye strain. Again, I'm not talking about level of detail, just the blurriness.

I think part of the pictures of blurry because of shallow depth of field due to lower aperture setting in the software algorithm. It seems the software is trying to compress too much noise. Although I have not personally used it, try the following link for the alternative camera and report back the results. Hope this works out for you:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g/themes-apps/app-camera-galery-t3216944

trace1er said:
No, I agree with @jiggyb21, I just bought the Moxo X and came from the Galaxy S6. The camera on the Moto seems like pure garbage to me, and I think it's because we are coming from phones with superior cameras. People who came from phones with worse cameras will obviously think the Moto X camera is great right?
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Not really. I have a DSLR so that's my standard on PQ. In daylight, nothing should be blurry at 100% zoom on even a $200 phone. You don't need flagship to take a good photo at 1/125 second shutter speed. It's either defective camera unit or something is wrong with the setting. Just look at all the photos people have posted on this forum.
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jiggyb21 said:
I don't even know if I uploaded the pics correctly and if not I'll fix it later while I'm watching the Giants beat on the Eagles. Something interesting happened while taking these pictures. I am in 100% optimal lighting conditions and these are basically the best 4 shots I could possibly get out of this camera. I asked around to the people here on the jobsite with me and everyone thought the pictures were just fine. Yes, they aren't blurry to the point of being unreadable by any means but they are quite blurry. I guess it could just be me but I would still argue it's not. Before anyone says anything about how this is just a smartphone and it's only a $400 smartphone at that and it's good enough, I know that and maybe people who haven't used a good smartphone camera don't know what they're missing. If that's the case, fine, and that's why I started this thread was to find out. My last 4 phones were Xperia ZL, Z2, Z3 and LG G4. We all know the G4 and S6, to name two, have incredible cameras and have OIS. The first 3 I named weren't and don't. They were all rated as average cameras and they don't have OIS. I have hundreds of pictures taken in similar conditions with the Sonys and they didn't suffer from blur. Like I said these 4 pictures were surprisingly good IMO. Most I take are MUCH more blurred and most of the pictures I take aren't in this perfect a light. So I'll have to post more pictures from my collection at home to really show off the bad ones.
If you zoom in a little on the pics its almost a 3D art poster kind of eye strain. Again, I'm not talking about level of detail, just the blurriness.
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It's a f 2.0 lens. You gonna have blurriness around the edge of photo if you are taking it that close. It has nothing to do with OIS.
In any case, you can read the professional review of the XPE here.
http://www.dxomark.com/Mobiles/Moto-X-Style-Mobile-review-Style-and-Substance

If you're in good light, this is arguably one of the best phone cameras out there. Your pictures should be nice and crisp. Try this: take your camera outside during the day and take a few shots of the horizon or something. Then post the pictures here and we'll tell you (hopefully) if you've got a faulty unit. It sounds like your phone is not performing as mine is. I'm even satisfied with some indoor shots with this camera. I have done professional photography, so I am well-versed in cameras (color, WB, ISO, exposure, f-stop, etc.).
Even from reading reviews and comparisons from the web and tech reviewers, this camera performs with, and sometimes beats the other current flagship models out there. I happen to agree with them. From reading this thread though, maybe your camera isn't the only one with this problem.
Anyway, try to post a couple of pictures up. A link to an external host like photobucket or something like that would probably be better than uploading straight to XDA, due to compression and size limits.
---------- Post added at 04:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:42 PM ----------
Edit: looks like I missed a page
Those photos don't look that bad. What sort of blurriness are you talking about? The bokeh from taking close up pictures? Bokeh is a natural blurring effect you get from a larger aperature lens not being able to capture the entire depth of field. That's normal. The focused part of those pictures don't look blurry to me.
As an aside, any indoor shot will not be optimal lighting, unless you have a lighting kit or something to really brighten up the scene. Optimal lighting would be outside, and when the sun is not directly overhead. This is a very quick summation of optimal light, but you get the point.

Gr8man001 said:
I think part of the pictures of blurry because of shallow depth of field due to lower aperture setting in the software algorithm. It seems the software is trying to compress too much noise. Although I have not personally used it, try the following link for the alternative camera and report back the results. Hope this works out for you:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g/themes-apps/app-camera-galery-t3216944
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Wow, thanks, that camera works great, I always enjoy having the face detection feature it makes focusing on faces much faster.

Gr8man001 said:
I think part of the pictures of blurry because of shallow depth of field due to lower aperture setting in the software algorithm. It seems the software is trying to compress too much noise. Although I have not personally used it, try the following link for the alternative camera and report back the results. Hope this works out for you:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g/themes-apps/app-camera-galery-t3216944
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your tip. After turning off NR in advanced setting, I tried a couple of indoor shots of some writings on my note book. Please excuse the terrible lighting and my bad handwriting, but it's very easy to tell which shot had the NR off. Yes the one with NR off has a dirtier background, but the pen strokes has much better contrast from the paper. That's probably one of the reasons why the default setting produces blurry photos.

Yea when taking photos of dogs in low light I only managed to have 1 or 2 come out bad and that was from me moving the phone. But then again I am used to shooting 50asa film freehand.

lack of optical image stabilization rearing it's ugly head.. who knows why the hell they couldn't use a sensor with it, but it's quite disappointing. but turning off nr helps a lot.. we need a dev to come in and work on a true camera mod for this phone only. I tried to get my bud xdabbeb to make a mod (as anyone who had the g2 knows his xcam mod was killer!) but he isn't planning on buying this phone. ugh.
Sent from my Moto X Pure Edition

jonathanbailie said:
If you're in good light, this is arguably one of the best phone cameras out there. Your pictures should be nice and crisp. Try this: take your camera outside during the day and take a few shots of the horizon or something. Then post the pictures here and we'll tell you (hopefully) if you've got a faulty unit. It sounds like your phone is not performing as mine is. I'm even satisfied with some indoor shots with this camera. I have done professional photography, so I am well-versed in cameras (color, WB, ISO, exposure, f-stop, etc.).
Even from reading reviews and comparisons from the web and tech reviewers, this camera performs with, and sometimes beats the other current flagship models out there. I happen to agree with them. From reading this thread though, maybe your camera isn't the only one with this problem.
Anyway, try to post a couple of pictures up. A link to an external host like photobucket or something like that would probably be better than uploading straight to XDA, due to compression and size limits.
---------- Post added at 04:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:42 PM ----------
Edit: looks like I missed a page
Those photos don't look that bad. What sort of blurriness are you talking about? The bokeh from taking close up pictures? Bokeh is a natural blurring effect you get from a larger aperature lens not being able to capture the entire depth of field. That's normal. The focused part of those pictures don't look blurry to me.
As an aside, any indoor shot will not be optimal lighting, unless you have a lighting kit or something to really brighten up the scene. Optimal lighting would be outside, and when the sun is not directly overhead. This is a very quick summation of optimal light, but you get the point.
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Thank you and this is why I wanted feedback. I posted the pictures I did (close-up), because, to me, they were the most objectifiable shots I could take while at work. The text just isn't as clear as other shots I've taken with other phones. I called it optimal lighting because I was in a 6x6 room with three windows and a skylight on a sunny day with no direct sunlight. The lighting felt like the kind any decent camera would take advantage of. To me, that's optimal..but I understand that's a strong word and not scientific. The fact that it scores so highly in professional reviews is what has me frustrated. The only thing I can deduce is that a professional, lab environment is more controlled and repeatable than my layman's point and shoot approach. They must be using a tripod, right? This phone has everything else I want and I just want to like the camera. So believe me, I want to figure out how to enjoy the camera. I will take more shots tomorrow and post them and I hope you and others with knowledge will chime in. I just know that with the other smartphone cameras I mentioned earlier, 8 out of 10 shots were keepers and with this one it's more like 1 out of 10 and that's not jiving with everyone else. Thanks again.
Sent from my XT1575 using XDA Free mobile app

looking at the pictures, they seem just fine to me. the blurred part (glue) at the bottom of the bottle is just from it using a wide aperture. the images are not tack sharp but this is a cellphone camera and small dof. I dont see motion blur.
problem with auto cameras is that you dont know what priority it has. to use a wide aperture to get a decent shutter speed and not have to use high iso or the opposite.
for proper exposure you have to adjust and juggle the 3 parameters (iso/aperture/shutter) to get a proper image.
wish the phone had controls like the LG G4 which has aperture iso shutter WB and EC.

Camera in low light sucks

This camera is just so bad in low light. Any fixes? I upgraded from a M8 but damn the camera is so far behind.

Bad how? I think it's good, if you hold it steady. It doesn't have OIS which is a shame, but the sensor seems particularly good and it has a wide aperture lens.

OpTune said:
This camera is just so bad in low light. Any fixes? I upgraded from a M8 but damn the camera is so far behind.
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Every review mentioned low light performance as one of the only 'Cons.'

OpTune said:
This camera is just so bad in low light. Any fixes? I upgraded from a M8 but damn the camera is so far behind.
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Yes, there is a fix.
Turn lights on, or pick a well lit scenario.
Jokes aside, it's just how this camera is. The sensor is bad in low light situations, as I guess it enjoys turning the ISO way high, and while a lower ISO would probably give you better pics, it would turn out blurred because the sensor is not mechanically stabilized.

It's not too bad, but shooting in auto mode tends to bump up the iso, which results in a noisy photo. I usually switch to manual mode, keep the iso around 400 and adjust shutter time according to the situation. It's maximum 1/3 of a second, so you shouldn't have too much trouble holding it still for that long.
Photos come out more detailed and sharper that way. Much better than in auto mode.

Also coming from the m8.. camera quality and detail really suck in comparison. Especially detail.
Considering this is the same camera as the Galaxy s7... Motorola could have done a lot more with the firmware.
Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

Ok, now I agree...
I'm actually very upset at how bad the camera sucks, it's quite upsetting. After reading about what sensor it has, it's actually quite shocking how really bad this phone's camera is.
I was getting better pictures on my Oneplus One that was over three years old when the Moto G5 Plus came out, there simply is no reasonable excuse for performance this poor.
I think I'll want to never buy another Moto/Lenovo product again, unless they do something to remedy this situation.

critofur said:
I'm actually very upset at how bad the camera sucks, it's quite upsetting. After reading about what sensor it has, it's actually quite shocking how really bad this phone's camera is.
I was getting better pictures on my Oneplus One that was over three years old when the Moto G5 Plus came out, there simply is no reasonable excuse for performance this poor.
I think I'll want to never buy another Moto/Lenovo product again, unless they do something to remedy this situation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you root your phone and enable camera 2 api you will see drastic improvement.. But currently if you root you will loose access of Stock OTA..
Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

critofur said:
I think I'll want to never buy another Moto/Lenovo product again, unless they do something to remedy this situation.
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Click to collapse
They wont, you have a mid range phone that is only going to get one major update, lets be honest if you wanted better you should have bought another flagship.
---------- Post added at 10:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:13 AM ----------
OpTune said:
This camera is just so bad in low light. Any fixes? I upgraded from a M8 but damn the camera is so far behind.
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Click to collapse
The M8 had a sensor with large pixels and a low pixel count specifically to perform better in low light.

It's a shame that no one buys products and reviews them for the community, so they can make an informed decision on the pros and cons of a particular product before spending a bunch of money on them...

Well, my experience has been totally opposite, this thing has probably the best low light camera along with top dogs like s7/8 u11, pixel.
although it requires moded libs for it.

My experience is that the low light on mine is comparable to my m8 the color is poor but after color correction they come out decent.

kraatus90 said:
Well, my experience has been totally opposite, this thing has probably the best low light camera along with top dogs like s7/8 u11, pixel.
although it requires moded libs for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're joking, right? Swapping in hacked libs that make your phone take crappy 2MP photos in exchange for "software enhanced" photos is not putting it on par with the S6/7 lol

mikeyinid said:
You're joking, right? Swapping in hacked libs that make your phone take crappy 2MP photos in exchange for "software enhanced" photos is not putting it on par with the S6/7 lol
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Click to collapse
No i'm not talking about 2mp photos but full 12mp.
Ofc it's not going to give you 100% same results cuz there are still some hardware is lacking like OIS. but you haven't paid 100% same price either.
so you gotta consider that too .

I think it's something to do with the image processing. The Snapdragon 625 has pretty decent low light image processing but I don't think it's as good compared to something like the sd 820, 821 or even 835.

Is anyone have a FIX for camera quality, and Snapchat quality ?

Hey all,
I received my LG G6 today, and I loved it. Until I turn on the camera. OMG. Before I had a Nexus 6P, I do not know if it is the Nexus that was exceptionally good or the LG G6 which is exceptionally bad, but I am overly disappointed.
What the hell is this camera quality on the G6? The only interesting thing is the wide angle. But it looks like all the pictures are smoothed out. And I'm not talking about the front-facing camera ... The 2013 flagship were doing better ...
On snapchat it's even worse. The app uses the ratio 18: 9, is made of 2.1 MPX photos with the front camera. And we can not fix it.
Is anyone now if it's the sensors who are completely ****ting where if it's optimizing and working the photo by software that destroys everything?
What is the best way to fix the snapchat quality?
THX

Not sure what the problem is for you guys. I'm very satisfied with the camera quality on my G6. Coming from the G5, I was a bit hesitant after reading reviews, but I have no complaints.

talk to snapchat. their POS software developers are to blame, not the phone. Android snapchat takes a screenshot of your phone as a "picture"

chrisokaly said:
talk to snapchat. their POS software developers are to blame, not the phone. Android snapchat takes a screenshot of your phone as a "picture"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. Snapchat is a useless pile of do do software which unless you are under 16 you shouldn't even be using lol.
As for normal rear facing photos the quality trumps my S8+ as I now have both phones and the G6 photos are absolutely top drawer.

chrisokaly said:
talk to snapchat. their POS software developers are to blame, not the phone. Android snapchat takes a screenshot of your phone as a "picture"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow I never knew that, that's just terrible. I know the quality isn't great, but I had no idea that was the process the app takes.
Sent from my LG-H870 using Tapatalk

I went into a store today to play a bit with the LG G6's camera and was also very very disappointed. The light wasn't too good, and only artificial light was available, I took a few shots of the label describing the phone from a distance of about 30cm with both the G6's f/1.8 OIS lens and my 4-year-old Xperia ZR. I set both of the phones' cameras to the highest resolution setting available, took a few shots making sure that the focus worked well, and then zoomed in on both to compare the photos side-by-side. The quality of the G6 photos was horrible, when I zoomed in it looked like really bad compression artefacts. I couldn't find any settings for picture quality, and the guy working there was trying to convince me that switching to 16:9 mode would improve quality, because "it's better". Right! (He also tried to convince me that the quality wasn't good, because it was only 13MP instead of 20MP (or more) like in other phones. I thanked him for his advice and left )
Based on the low-light photo comparison available on gsmarena I was very positively surprised by the picture quality of the G6 and was actually going to get it, yet it seems I've drastically changed my mind after this single experience.
Was I doing something wrong? Are there actually some hidden settings where you can adjust the compression quality like in other phones? I'd love to give it yet another try, if it makes any sense at all that is.

Other phones with compression quality settings ?
Which for example ?
---------- Post added at 03:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:43 AM ----------
The G6 tends to focus relatively slowly in low light. Also the low light photos tend to be a little noisy and have a white balance shifted a little to the red.

G6 IQ is really nice actually, Sony processing is easily the worst but see here, I think its pretty decent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-PtwtQFBWg
I made a video on how to increase your snap score. Hope you enjoy it!

Try cleaning the lens first

The biggest issue in my mind is the inconsistency in performance. Under the same conditions of good light, in auto mode, I'll get either a soft dull photo or a sharp and bright one. Manual mode gives a little more consistent results-- my best outdoor shots are taken with -1-1.5 EV, then brightened post processing. Low light photos are pretty crappy overall-- pretty much like snapshots taken on flipphones from 10 years ago.
Its disappointing that I can't dependably get a great photo right "out of the box" (like you can with Samsung's S series) and that I have to fiddle with settings or mess around with modded Gcam software.
I agree that LG could have chosen a better sensor for their flagship phone, or fixed their processing algorithm.
Maybe this is one reason that Samsung has beat LG so badly in sales.

I think we keep coming back for this, but as far as i can say:
LG G6`s camera is pretty good, but tends to have problems with oversharpening, in the dark the pictures tend to looks too noisy, but using google camera app with G6 for low light conditions really does wonders.
About snapchat, as somebody mentioned, snapchat really takes a screen from camera preview, for most the part, the snaps were a so so ok, but after recent updates i also noticed, that front camera in snap has become significantly worse, and also the back cam seems a bit choppy too, so it sure has something to do on their side.

I know I'm late but I also have a G6 and found out how to fix the problem with the camera quality. Snapchat, however will still be as terrible as it is due to the developers trying to make snapchat compatible with all androids using a single app on the Google Play store (smarter if they broke the apps into different phone types likes Samsung and LG). Open up your camera app, click on the cog/settings icon. Change the photo size to 4:3 (13MP) or (5MP) for both front and back facing camera views. For video resolution, change it to FHD 16:9 (60fps) for the back facing and FHD 16:9 for front facing. Hopefully I wasn't too late.
DiversityHD said:
Hey all,
I received my LG G6 today, and I loved it. Until I turn on the camera. OMG. Before I had a Nexus 6P, I do not know if it is the Nexus that was exceptionally good or the LG G6 which is exceptionally bad, but I am overly disappointed.
What the hell is this camera quality on the G6? The only interesting thing is the wide angle. But it looks like all the pictures are smoothed out. And I'm not talking about the front-facing camera ... The 2013 flagship were doing better ...
On snapchat it's even worse. The app uses the ratio 18: 9, is made of 2.1 MPX photos with the front camera. And we can not fix it.
Is anyone now if it's the sensors who are completely ****ting where if it's optimizing and working the photo by software that destroys everything?
What is the best way to fix the snapchat quality?
THX
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

me the quality on snapchat do not bother me especially against I really would like to have a way to select which camera sensor apps should use, I would like to make a snap wide angle
Sent from my LG G6 using XDA Labs

@SilentDeathKami
Unfortunately, I have resell my G6 for that bug. I bought the S8+, it was better but not good. It's due to 18:9 ratio, who seems uncompatible with snapchat. There is the same problem on One Plus 5T, and on all phone who have a 18:9 ratio.
For this reason, I have resell my S8+ and then buy the Pixel XL.
I didn't find any solution for any concerned device. I think we have to wait Snapchat fix.
Snapchat will normally be full rebuild for android on january. I hope it will fix it.

DiversityHD said:
Hey all,
I received my LG G6 today, and I loved it. Until I turn on the camera. OMG. Before I had a Nexus 6P, I do not know if it is the Nexus that was exceptionally good or the LG G6 which is exceptionally bad, but I am overly disappointed.
What the hell is this camera quality on the G6? The only interesting thing is the wide angle. But it looks like all the pictures are smoothed out. And I'm not talking about the front-facing camera ... The 2013 flagship were doing better ...
On snapchat it's even worse. The app uses the ratio 18: 9, is made of 2.1 MPX photos with the front camera. And we can not fix it.
Is anyone now if it's the sensors who are completely ****ting where if it's optimizing and working the photo by software that destroys everything?
What is the best way to fix the snapchat quality?
THX
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use a ported version of Google camera even tho in my opinion the stock is still very good, and nothing will fix the Snapchat camera til they update it optimised for lg g6

DiversityHD said:
@SilentDeathKami
Unfortunately, I have resell my G6 for that bug. I bought the S8+, it was better but not good. It's due to 18:9 ratio, who seems uncompatible with snapchat. There is the same problem on One Plus 5T, and on all phone who have a 18:9 ratio.
For this reason, I have resell my S8+ and then buy the Pixel XL.
I didn't find any solution for any concerned device. I think we have to wait Snapchat fix.
Snapchat will normally be full rebuild for android on january. I hope it will fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you kidding me? You bought and sold 2 phones just to find a 3rd phone that worked better with SNAPCHAT?? SMH.

xphyle1971 said:
Are you kidding me? You bought and sold 2 phones just to find a 3rd phone that worked better with SNAPCHAT?? SMH.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I did. I'm coming from Nexus 6P, and the LG G6 caméra, except Wide angle, was bad. S8+ camera was good, except the 18:9 ratio who's doing **** on snapchat and all photo apps ( instagram, messenger,etc..).
But I've broken the screen, so I've looked fort the best camera on 16:9 ratio : The Pixel XL. As good as the S8+ for rear, and not ****in zoomed and blurred front facing camera.

Photo quality

Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the Moto Z2 Force come out. A higher rating indicates that photos offer rich color (without over-saturating), sharp detail (with all subjects in-focus), and appropriate exposure (with even lighting).
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

So far I'm pretty pissed off with the camera. I recently tested the LG G6, Huawei Mate 9, OnePlus 5, and now the Moto Z2 Force which I was hoping would be my dream phone. I owned the Z Force and so far and a bit disappointed. The Camera seems to have potential but the software is terrible, at least on my specific device. The camera is plagued with shutter lag which really seems to take a toll on picture quality. Pro mode is what really upset me with only having the option of 1/4 for shutter speed as the longest time for exposure. I have taken a great deal of pictures to compare with the phones listed above, so far the Huawei Mate 9 has had the best camera in my opinion. Obviously, this is totally objective as views will change per individual. I am by no means a photography expert, but I am always in search of a great camera in a smartphone. The biggest reason for my angry toward the quality of the Z2F camera is the retail cost of the phone, I really thought this would be a camera I would have loved. It seems like I may wait to see how the Essentials Phone turns out and am very curious about the Nokia 8, both in terms of camera. To date I think the use of a dual camera, one being monochrome and the other RGB, is the best implementation. Please let me know if the inconsistent shutter I'm facing is just a problem with my unit or if other's share it as well. I really had my heart/mind set on this phone being able to go toe to toe with others in its price range. Side note, the LG G6 wide angle lens was great for taking pictures, I was surprised that I liked the secondary camera being a wide angle lens as it allowed for unique perspective. I let go of the LG G6 because my father broke his phone and really thought the Z2F would be the phone of my dreams.
Update: Twist for camera sometimes hangs and after some time force closes. This has also happened on 2 occasions when opening camera app, viewfinder is black followed by hang and crash.

Ksehwail said:
So far I'm pretty pissed off with the camera. I recently tested the LG G6, Huawei Mate 9, OnePlus 5, and now the Moto Z2 Force which I was hoping would be my dream phone. I owned the Z Force and so far and a bit disappointed. The Camera seems to have potential but the software is terrible, at least on my specific device. The camera is plagued with shutter lag which really seems to take a toll on picture quality. Pro mode is what really upset me with only having the option of 1/4 for shutter speed as the longest time for exposure. I have taken a great deal of pictures to compare with the phones listed above, so far the Huawei Mate 9 has had the best camera in my opinion. Obviously, this is totally objective as views will change per individual. I am by no means a photography expert, but I am always in search of a great camera in a smartphone. The biggest reason for my angry toward the quality of the Z2F camera is the retail cost of the phone, I really thought this would be a camera I would have loved. It seems like I may wait to see how the Essentials Phone turns out and am very curious about the Nokia 8, both in terms of camera. To date I think the use of a dual camera, one being monochrome and the other RGB, is the best implementation. Please let me know if the inconsistent shutter I'm facing is just a problem with my unit or if other's share it as well. I really had my heart/mind set on this phone being able to go toe to toe with others in its price range. Side note, the LG G6 wide angle lens was great for taking pictures, I was surprised that I liked the secondary camera being a wide angle lens as it allowed for unique perspective. I let go of the LG G6 because my father broke his phone and really thought the Z2F would be the phone of my dreams.
Update: Twist for camera sometimes hangs and after some time force closes. This has also happened on 2 occasions when opening camera app, viewfinder is black followed by hang and crash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Camera shutter speed seems to be a stock app issue mostly. I have CameraZoom FX and that works better at taking the picture quickly. I do expect this to improve as the device matures and some updates get pushed out to it.
That being said, the overall photo quality seems to be pretty good overall. The S8 I am leaving does a better job of handling multiple light levels (like say bright window light in an otherwise dimly lit room), but I do think the Z2F has some promise for sure.
I do agree that I think the shutter lag is very 2015.....so hoping Moto does fix that

disappointing camera
Ksehwail said:
The Camera seems to have potential but the software is terrible, at least on my specific device. The camera is plagued with shutter lag which really seems to take a toll on picture quality. Pro mode is what really upset me with only having the option of 1/4 for shutter speed as the longest time for exposure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with this. The camera app is terrible. I came from the HTC 10 into this phone and the HTC blows it out of the water as far as camera quality goes, and I doubt there's any reason for that as far as the sensor/hardware goes There are also other apps that don't seem to access the front flash on this phone, I.E. Instagram, snapchat, etc. could be a driver issue or something, but motorola needs to get it together with the Android O update.

Has any compared picture quality with Open Camera and the google camera app?

Camera App Update
I just noticed that they added two features to the camera app. Object recognition and landmark recognition.They said that they included some bug fixes but did not elaborate. Hopefully they will continue to work on the app and image quality will improve as the phone matures. I think there is potential to improve low light photo's seeing that the black and white sensor should aid low light photography.
So far I am very happy with my photo's. I am a casual user and happy with the images. Realistically I do not think one can expect DSLR quality on a mobile phone. Maybe one day....

I've used several third party apps, and this camera is total trash compared to even my nearly three year old Galaxy S6.. I have to place dramatic Instagram-style filters on everything to hide how crappy this camera is.

I took this picture with full manual mode and it's quite good for me

why not use Hasellblad?

RE910177 said:
why not use Hasellblad?
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Click to collapse
It's only useful for its optical zoom.

Does anyone have problem with autofocus....? The autofocus on this device is absolutely terrible.

Google Camera port is your friend when it comes to the Z2 Force. Also, Snapseed is a great editor.
Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

xRogerxC said:
Google Camera port is your friend when it comes to the Z2 Force. Also, Snapseed is a great editor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, I'm reading through this thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/z2-force/themes/app-modded-gcam-hdr-t3735494 ; there seems to be no gcam available for Z2, which would be fully functional. Are you saying you solved this issue and have one that works? Perhaps you can post to the thread with your findings if you did?