Database Users

[Q] Poor picture quality on X10a

Hello,
I've had my X10a for about 2 weeks now and noticed very poor picture quality while taking pictures. My old iPhone 3G takes much better pictures in comparison.
I've read forum posts and have googled for possible solutions, such as different settings (scene recognition and others) which have not helped.
All pictures I take look grainy and pixelated in well lit conditions and worse in not so bright environments. I can notice this while previewing the pictures on the phone however it's exponentially worse when I transfer them to my computer to see.
- Any ideas how to address this issue?
- Firmware issue?
- Faulty camera?
Model = x10a (rooted)
Firmware = 1.6
Kernel = 2.6.29 rel
Build Number = R2BA023
Thanks,
B.

I'm having a similar problem as well,
I've read about the causes being shaky hands, smudged lens, etc,
but I tried a lot of things and I'm having difficulty getting a decent picture. I hope it's not a 2mp sensor they put in there.

I don't think my camera issues are as bad as yours sound to be but my X10i takes worse pics than my pervious C905 did, blurry and bad focusing.
Posted from my X10i using XDA App

I don't have that issue at all. Compared to my iPhone my X10 takes superior pictures. The quality is sometimes grainy when the lit is dim, but in direct sunlight the pictures are phenomenal.

yeh when i used the touch screen to take pictures i always get blurry images. I guess sometimes its the settings you use.

Try out Vignette from the market...It works a lot better than the stock camera app. There's a discussion about it on here somewhere...

Thanks for the replies so far. I'll give Vignette a try.

Hi,
Did you try turning on the image stabilizer?
Sent from my X10a using XDA App

I'm using Camera 360 with a lot better results. The stock camera app compress too much, and using Camera 360, you can set the quality to 80 or even 100%, so now I getting a lot more detailed pictures.
Let me know if this software addresses your problem!

+1 for Vignette. Money well spent.

Yeh I tried the IS setting but that didnt make the image any sharper.

I moaned about pictures too but gave it to a bloke from work who's an amteur photograper (i.e. pervert) and he got some amazing pictures out of it. I guess you need a bit of skill, not that I've got any!!! my pics are all drunk at festivals

wbkang said:
Hi,
Did you try turning on the image stabilizer?
Sent from my X10a using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did I miss this?! I didn't even notice that before. My shots were perfect before but with this it may be a lot better.
I'd post some examples but it wont let me.

IS makes images too soft.
Vignette doesn't have EV control (or iso, aperture, etc)
Camera FX ... i can;t seem to find a way to set it to 8MP.
I will have to try Camera 360.

Sorry, but my X10 takes better pictures than any other smartphone that I've seen, besides the N900.
You're shooting it wrong

With image stabilization my camera has been pretty damn good.
Sent from my X10a using XDA App

Im using the x10a as well, definately something wrong with your camera. I'd try cleaning it like others have mentioned. Here are a couple i took with Vingette that you can compare to.

Here's a picture I took last Friday at night of a bright building using the stock camera app. If you think the image quality is poor, I can't help you.
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You know, you should post some of your images so we can give you advices

I gave Vignette and Camera360 a go, the pictures do look good.
Thanks for all your suggestions. btw those are very nice pics you've captured on your phone.

G2 camera application is terrible

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Blackberry Curve on the left
G2 on the right.
No flash in either case.
*edit*
It looks to be the camera application rather than the camera itself. Camera 360 (from market) gave me MUCH MUCH better images than the default Android camera.
*/edit*

My pictures usually come out sharp. That's weird..
Sent from my HTC Vision G2

This is zoomed in quite a bit.
It came out a lot better with flash, I'll put that one up next.

keenerb said:
Blackberry Curve on the left
G2 on the right.
No flash in either case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mine takes pictures just fine

well, I've taken probably 20 indoor photos and they all look like crap. None of them are focused well, and all over motion blur.
Possibly a bad camera?
Can I see a few examples of indoor photos?

keenerb said:
well, I've taken probably 20 indoor photos and they all look like crap. None of them are focused well, and all over motion blur.
Possibly a bad camera?
Can I see a few examples of indoor photos?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
perhaps you need to adjust lighting effects and try holding the camera for steady?

Short of mounting the camera on a tripod I can't get much steadier.
I've toyed with lots of options also. Give me some pointers on what to try.

keenerb said:
well, I've taken probably 20 indoor photos and they all look like crap. None of them are focused well, and all over motion blur.
Possibly a bad camera?
Can I see a few examples of indoor photos?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i will admit the g2 you have to hold really steady to take decent pics

Wow your pictures look kinda bad. Try to take some of other things and post back. Because my pictures look way better then those. Also are these zoomed pictures? there really is no need to zoom pictures because its digital zoom.

xile6 said:
Wow your pictures look kinda bad. Try to take some of other things and post back. Because my pictures look way better then those. Also are these zoomed pictures? there really is no need to zoom pictures because its digital zoom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are cropped portions of the full-sized images, zoomed in to be about 150% of the original size.
I'll put up some other photographs later this evening.

Odd, i've seen some 720p videos from a desire Z while someone is driving in a car and they look fine.

Well, I think I have gotten to the bottom of it.
I took two almost identical pictures, one with my phone and one with a Samsung Moment. Samsung Moment has significantly higher image quality, and the image size was about twice that of my G2.
My guess is that the G2 is applying a significantly higher level of image compression...

Took a few quick pics for comparison sake:
I could bust out the ol Incredible for comparison sake...

try pushing the cam button halfway to focus and set option to auto instead of infinity

I appreciate your response, but honestly, I DO know how the camera works.
I think mine might be defective. It's also extremely foggy in a lot of situations.

New Camera defect?

i was waiting at the vet and decided to snap a picture of my dog
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both the still and viewfinder display show these lines
(a reset to factory settings via the camera app restores it to normal)
is this something anyone else has experienced?

RavenWulf said:
it's just 1 of many screen names of someone who is upset about something the Mods have done.
does the camera only have the issue with stock app or does it do it with 3rd party apps like Camera 360?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea i'd have to agree download a second Camera Application to see if it happens on a secondary program. That will isolate the difference between a bad camera or bad programing.

you know i didnt look and see if camera360 was doing it
my suspicions lie in the camera app getting wonky (see: using multiple programs and getting a bad driver warning...please restart)
it happens
ill check another app besides stock when it happens again
thanks guys

This is a common issue when taking digital pictures under florescent lights. Its due to the frequency the lights flash at.
It is a very inconsistent problem in most cases. A better way to see if there is really a problem is by taking pics in different settings and lighting conditions.

tintingkc said:
This is a common issue when taking digital pictures under florescent lights. Its due to the frequency the lights flash at.
It is a very inconsistent problem in most cases. A better way to see if there is really a problem is by taking pics in different settings and lighting conditions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bingo, this is the answer.

tintingkc said:
This is a common issue when taking digital pictures under florescent lights. Its due to the frequency the lights flash at.
It is a very inconsistent problem in most cases. A better way to see if there is really a problem is by taking pics in different settings and lighting conditions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nailed it
the 2x it has happened has been in similar lighting situations

This happens to me with my Epic when I set it to lock at 800 ISO

Whosdaman said:
This happens to me with my Epic when I set it to lock at 800 ISO
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At that point your bringing a lot of noise(grain) in so the issue is amplified.
Many think mega pixels make a good camera. This can be no further from the truth. The sensor and processing is what really makes the difference provided there are good optics(lens). Something you will not see on a phone. Nokia is still the only one that has done well here.
You are going to get noise and banding with cell phone pics unless the lighting is optimal. Its a give and take that has to be dealt with. Phones have terrible lenses and cheap sensors. The two key functions to a quality photo. The only reason they look as good as they do is processing done in the built in software.
The cameras on the phones these days are doing well but will never replace your point and shoot or DSLR.

tintingkc said:
At that point your bringing a lot of noise(grain) in so the issue is amplified.
Many think mega pixels make a good camera. This can be no further from the truth. The sensor and processing is what really makes the difference provided there are good optics(lens). Something you will not see on a phone. Nokia is still the only one that has done well here.
You are going to get noise and banding with cell phone pics unless the lighting is optimal. Its a give and take that has to be dealt with. Phones have terrible lenses and cheap sensors. The two key functions to a quality photo. The only reason they look as good as they do is processing done in the built in software.
The cameras on the phones these days are doing well but will never replace your point and shoot or DSLR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah nokia has some amazing cameras on their phones think of if nokia made a android... that would be amazing xD i love their build quality and phones just.. symbian ew

tell me about it
http://thehandheldblog.com/2010/10/04/shootout-nokia-n8-v-canon-550d-dslr/

Sample Camera Image: Stock ROM vs. Custom ROM

My wife injured her thumb recently and I took two pictures of her hand. One with the Stock ROM and another using CM9 and UCAM, which gave me the best results overall on any custom ROM. I thought I'd share the two pics so you could see the difference that the Stock ROM and Camera combination actually makes.
Both shots have identical lighting and background, etc. You can clearly see the distinction in the two images in terms of quality.
https://picasaweb.google.com/110532...authkey=Gv1sRgCNvT65ykjcnmpwE&feat=directlink
Flash and exposure etc. set to AUTO on both cameras and neither image has been retouched.

i have no problem with cm9 stock cam
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Take the same photo in the same lighting, etc. using the stock camera. Otherwise, there's no way to judge it. I had good shots with the CM9 camera on occasion, but I found that, overall the stock camera beat it nearly every time, and this direct comparison was just an example, so I thought I'd share.
I'd be interested in a comparison shot in the same lighting, etc. using the stock camera on the same SII if you can do it. That's how I did mine. Same device. Different ROM/Camera. This isn't my way of slamming CM9 or custom ROMs, because I loved CM9 while I was running it, and I may go back to it again, but the camera issue is a big one for many, so I thought I'd share the pics to give people a good comparison.

donalgodon said:
Take the same photo in the same lighting, etc. using the stock camera. Otherwise, there's no way to judge it. I had good shots with the CM9 camera on occasion, but I found that, overall the stock camera beat it nearly every time, and this direct comparison was just an example, so I thought I'd share.
I'd be interested in a comparison shot in the same lighting, etc. using the stock camera on the same SII if you can do it. That's how I did mine. Same device. Different ROM/Camera. This isn't my way of slamming CM9 or custom ROMs, because I loved CM9 while I was running it, and I may go back to it again, but the camera issue is a big one for many, so I thought I'd share the pics to give people a good comparison.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok i will inastall wannam rom just for testing camera :fingers-crossed:

yahyoh said:
ok i will inastall wannam rom just for testing camera :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool. I look forward to seeing your results.

here we go stock cm camera app :
sammy rom UHLPS :
as i said before there is no deference or maybe i'm blind

I don't see much difference either. The only thing I wonder is if maybe we have different camera hardware modules, because mine does seem to make more of a difference than yours, as my pictures illustrate, particularly in situations where the flash must fill in for shadows, etc. The stock camera does a better job of not blowing them out, as you can see.

donalgodon said:
I don't see much difference either. The only thing I wonder is if maybe we have different camera hardware modules, because mine does seem to make more of a difference than yours, as my pictures illustrate, particularly in situations where the flash must fill in for shadows, etc. The stock camera does a better job of not blowing them out, as you can see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
aha i found it u have old camera firmware
latest one is SCEF02 for our camera module u have SCEE09

We can see differences, but with only one sample it’s hard to conclude. Me too i really want to see pictures samples between stock and custom rom.
Where we can see another samples of this comparison ?

Show off those pics!

I'll start posting more pictures after I get done work today, here's a teaser.
Stock Camera app, HDR on, manual focus, 16:9 widescreen 15.5 megapixel mode.
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When you say stock Google camera, do you mean the Motorola camera?

fury683 said:
When you say stock Google camera, do you mean the Motorola camera?
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I don't know why I put Google there, I just meant to say stock camera app lol, thanks for the heads up.
Maybe the Google keyboard did it on its own. ?

joshm.1219 said:
I'll start posting more pictures after I get done work today, here's a teaser.
Stock Camera app, HDR on, manual focus, 16:9 widescreen 15.5 megapixel mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very nice! Can post any just point and shoot? I am on the fence with this phone. The only thing holding me back in the camera. Cameras have not been that good in past Moto phones.....
Thanks!

jamezr said:
Very nice! Can post any just point and shoot? I am on the fence with this phone. The only thing holding me back in the camera. Cameras have not been that good in past Moto phones.....
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Real quick, point and shot in Auto Focus, Auto HDR mode. First one is widescreen, second is standard (4:3 full 21mp).

joshm.1219 said:
Real quick, point and shot in Auto Focus, Auto HDR mode. First one is widescreen, second is standard (4:3 full 21mp).
Those are great pics! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I definitely want ice cream now, good pics, thanks.

Looks pretty decent, although I'm more of a vanilla guy!

@ joshm.1219 What do you think of the camera compared to other phones you have owned? I recall you on the note II forums, does the camera perform much better all around?

everyone with a droid turbo, keep posting pictures, we want to see what you can do with those 20.7 megapixels!

Purchasing mine after work around 5pm est. My main focus right now is the camera since I'm pretty much impressed with everything about this phone when I messed around with store demo.
I'll post a whole bunch of shots and comparisons to my S5 around 8-9 est if all goes well. I did notice that reds were a bit over saturated in the samples I took at Verizon. Which was a big issue for me with my original Moto X.

This one is 21MP

mobilehavoc said:
This one is 21MP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks damn good, if people complain about that then they just need to use a DSLR.

Here is a couple from today....

Are these being alerted when uploaded? I assume they aren't 21MP files being uploaded to the forums

I think the problem is people have crazy expectations. Its a good camera but its never going to touch a dedicated camera with large sensors. I'm now switched to Google Camera because Moto one doesn't really seem to be much better.
These are using Moto camera still.

Low light shots I took while messing around with our prototype mini 3D printer this morning. Just quick snaps, no effort at all... Pretty impressive, although reds seem to be a little off -- oversaturated.
http://imgur.com/a/NMd58
However, I do have a post with some serious concerns about the camera (link below) that I need to further test this weekend.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/droid-turbo/general/major-camera-issues-t2923916
I'll try to post more pictures throughout the day.

It's definitely hit or miss.
Outdoor HDR shot:
Indoor shot:
Indoor low light shot:

Stock app, no HDR, 21MP, didn't adjust the focus/exposure.
Taken at Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis.
Sent from my XT1254 using XDA Free mobile app

I'd have to say with the physical limits of sensor and aperture size the output is pretty decent and not overly over processed. A raw output would still be nice though.