This is the Sony Xperia Z2 user and reviewer camera thread
Xperia Z2 camera specifications
1/2,3"m 20.7MP Sony Exmor RS BSI sensor
5248x3936 pixel resolution at full size, 3840x2160 in Superior Auto Mode
F2.0 G-lens, 27mm wide angle
BiONZ image signal processor
HDR photo and video
4k video recording, [email protected]
My quick camera review
All my shots are available on my flickr page, full size with EXIF info here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/
Sony mobile sensors are a hit nowadays, from iPhones to LG, Oppo, OnePlus or last year's Samsung flagships, Sony's backside-illuminated (BSI) camera tech is wildly popular for it's excellent per pixel sharpness, good dynamic range and small physical size. Sony struggled however in the past to make it's Exmors work for their own Xperia smartphones, the Z had quite soft images and the Z1, while upped sensor size to 1/2.3" and megapixel count to 20, suffered from over-processing and minor lens inconsistencies. Have Sony got rid of these issues to give it's excellent sensor justice? The answer is a definitive yes, the Xperia Z2 offers fine amount of details with toned back software sharpening and snappier performance, I also didn't experience lens soft spots or distortions.
There's one interesting thing Sony introduced last year: while the large 1/2.3" sensor offers 20MPs, it's new automatic mode, Superior Auto only shoots in 8MP at 16:9 aspect ratio, and even in manual mode HDR or scenes can only be activated at 8MP (either at 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio). Why have a 20MP sensor then if 8 is where you get the most options, good question, but at least the 20 comes handy when zooming, otherwise 8 is good enough for print quality images and processing is faster at that resolution. Speaking of speed, Sony also uses two image signal processors (ISP), so camera speed definitely improved over it's predecessors.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
This is the viewfinder you see when opening an app, and by default the 3840x2160 resolution Superior Auto runs which will choose the preferred camera mode (incl. HDR or night mode), adding some saturation and sharpening after downsampling. Tap to focus, flash settings, timer, burst, and smile shutter are available here. The camera records 1080p videos in this mode.
Moving on to Manual mode, you may choose the maximum 20MPs here (5248x3936) and set up flash, ISO, WB, focus metering, timer and stabilizer, or shoot at 8MP and able to choose HDR, Soft skin, Soft snap, Landscape, Night portrait, High sensitivity, Anti-motion blur, Blacklight HDR, Hand-held twilight, Gourmet, Pet, Beach, Snow, Party, Sports, Document or Fireworks scene modes. You may choose 1080p at 60FPS or 720p at 120FPS in Manual Mode.
The other modes are 4k video recording at 3840x2160, play around slow motion in Timeshift video, blur defocused areas in Background defocus, add 3D objects to the picture like dinosaurs in AR effect, add artistic filters in Creative effect, shoot a 6-second stylish video for Vine, choose best photo out of a burst in Timeshift mode or shoot a 2D Panorama by sweeping the camera. A couple of mode examples:
Image quality in good lights is stellar, details are fine even at 20MPs but especially at 8 which I recommend to use in Manual mode to be able to use HDR and scenes. Focus, white balance and exposure are quite consistent, although under certain conditions like facing directly into lights these can be a little troubled. Overall, images are natural on the slightly cooler side, and Manual mode is less saturated than Superior Auto. Dynamic range is good, and HDR helps in high contrast situations. There are no HDR inconsistencies, though the effect could be stronger. Tap to focus is fast as well as tap-to-snap speeds, and if you need to capture really fast movement you can go for high ISO or choose Sports mode. Overall, you'll shoot many quality images in daylight.
Normal vs. HDR:
Macro and closeups are very good too, there's no need for special modes just move close to the target and either let the camera shoot or tap to focus - the latter does not always hold for the shot, sometimes the camera refocuses before shooting even though you set it up perfectly. Depth of field is good in these situations, and if you prefer softer backgrounds, you can always choose Background defocus.
Low light and night shooting, as always, is where things get tough for small mobile sensors, the Z2 is no exception. The strengths of the new Xperia is dealing with higher ISO with tolerable loss of details and having a strong LED flash to light up small dark areas, so you'll be able to shoot at least usable, but with some tweaks some pretty decent low light shots. What's lacking is of course optical image stabilization, which makes avoiding handshake blur harder, especially at 1/7s exposure, which is the slowest shutter speed I saw. White balance suffers more inconsistencies during the night, there's a slight yellowish tinting, but nothing too bad. High ISO (manually available to choose up to ISO3200, the phone can go up to ISO6400 automatically) can brighten up some really dark places, Night scene and Night portrait scene modes - which requires a longer hold to operate - can also bring out dark details at a heavy loss of details, but you really need to be really steady here. HDR works in low light too. Overall, the Z2 does a decent job in low light.
ISO100 vs. ISO 3200
ISO100 vs. ISO800 + HDR
Video quality is top notch with clean, artifact-free and highly detailed, especially at 4k, and audio is nice and crisp. Steady shot can compensate some of the handshake with surprisingly good results, though OIS would be even better. Tap-to-focus and shooting a photo while recording are both available, as well as using the LED flash as torch light. While moving or with movement in the background sometimes causes refocusing, more visibly during the night - night videos are cool BTW just not as fully detailed as day ones, with some yellowish tinting. 4k is so good that you can choose to print single frames, I uploaded some at full 8MP res., while 60FPS at 1080p gives smoother motion, also uploaded 2 samples. Just note that a single minute of 4k video will take up about 400MB at 56MBit/s + 158kb/s audio, and camera shuts down after a few minutes due to overheating. No such issues at any 1080p mode, and you can shoot in HDR at that resolution.
(any artifact you see on these videos are due to YouTube recompressing)
60FPS video sample #1 (download)
60FPS video sample #2 (download)
4k frame captures via VLC Media Player:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2915/14095570711_b063d9da46_o.png
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2931/14095565711_dd1e27d982_o.png
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7396/13912143277_ac4e88ddbf_o.png
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7405/14095685952_b126b09fb5_o.png
About that overheating issue... one of the negative surprises I had with the Z2 was the phone overheating and shutting down when I really stressed the camera under the sunlight. Many face the 4k overheating problem which is understandable, it needs exceptional resources and other rivals limit this capture to 5 minutes, but under the warm Spring sun I had camera crashes when taking photos too. We're not yet know how wide-spread this issue is, but I suspect that with ISP and SoC working hard and the sun's heat and 100% screen brightness giving extra heat, things get a bit too hot and the phone chooses safety shutdown. Since the Z2 never got too hot while shutdown, I suspect that Sony set the camera app heat policy a little too conservative, so SW update could get rid of this, or maybe you'll never face this at all.
Overall the Z2's camera is an important step forward for Sony. Faster operation with more details and less post-processing results in higher rate of quality images, and short 4k clips give stellar videos as well let is be 4k, 60FPS or HDR. Low light performance could be improved with white balance and OIS, and some autofocus inconsistencies is video need to be addressed too, but I didn't find any of this too distracting. I would prefer to use all 20MPs for all manual settings and scenes, and video zooming should use the megapixels too and not just zoom into the 1080p or 4k image. But let's be clear: the Z2 produces some of the finest images and videos on mobile and the modes and settings give a lot of options to play with. And if Sony isolates and gets rid of the heat problems, which only come out in special situations, the Z2 and it's camera definitely comes recommended for some serious mobile snapping.
I'd like to thank XXLGSM for the test device, hope you enjoyed my short bit, please look up all my photos here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/
Thankyou, excellent find :good:
The translated version of the page makes interesting reading , this bodes well for the Xperia Z2 especially as this is a test version and there is still room for improvement from Sony engineers to make even more improvements
Here's the translated version of the page:-
http://translate.google.com/transla...8&u=http://www.ringhk.com/report2.php?id=8273
Those night pictures look pretty bad :crying: my nexus with HDR+ on takes better night photos
Chad_Petree said:
Those night pictures look pretty bad :crying: my nexus with HDR+ on takes better night photos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They look pretty good to me - if your shots are this good, you can post them for comparison so we can look at the 100% crops.
Some indoors from the same Hong Kong article
http://www.ringhk.com/report2.php?id=8273
Xperia Z1 vs. Z2 at night from Eprice.com.hk
Source, full size: http://www.eprice.com.hk/mobile/talk/4551/170008/1/rv/sony-xperia-z2-review/
First shot Z1 manual mode, 2nd shot Z2 manual mode, 3rd shot Z2 Superior Auto Mode. The Z1 shot is slightly darker but more detailed with heavy sharpening artifacts (white dots). The Z2 while a bit softer on detail has no over-processing artifacts, though white balance is a bit on the red side. WB is fair on the 3rd shot, Z2 superior auto. Click on images for full resolution.
The 3rd shot is just amazing!
Some MWC shots from two Asian sites
Sources, full size: http://www.sogi.com.tw/mobile/articles/6225507-攝錄、功能再進化！索尼Xperia+Z2實測【MWC+2014】
http://www.ringhk.com/news2.php?id=8238
z1 vs z2 pics
other pics here :
z1 vs z2
http://www.ringhk.com/news2.php?id=8285
testnumero said:
other pics here :
z1 vs z2
http://www.ringhk.com/news2.php?id=8285
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
z1 pics are a lot sharper
more z2, and z1 vs z2 pics :
http://www.eprice.com.hk/mobile/talk/4551/170031/1/rv/sony-xperia-z2-review/
progosu said:
z1 pics are a lot sharper
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe the z2 has a stronger algorithm to smooth out/blur the noise, although noise shouldn't be a problem at low iso as seen in the first image.
still the photos are on the newer f200 fimware which has great noise performance at higher isos so that shouldn't be the issue.
just looked at the night shots and the z2 has a 1/13s exp at iso1250 vs 1/16s exp at iso1000, wonder if this slight difference would make such a big difference in 2 photos. Regardless it seems the white balance is better on the z2 at night vs the z1.
For the 3rd night photo, it seems superior auto has opted for the night scene, since it is 0.77s and iso200, the noise level is quite low vs what I am used to on my z1 using night scene.
progosu said:
z1 pics are a lot sharper
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the Z1 does have sharper pictures, but mostly due to the severe overprocessing leaving a lot of artifacts. In the end, neither system can have true 20 million pixels of detail, so it's a bit pointless to pack so many MPs in.
95% same pic z2 in macro semms more details
Hmm..
So What Sony did with the Bionz is, pull the image from sensor, send to Bionz for image processing with sharpening and noise reduction.
Seems quite evident that Sony over sharpen with the algorithm and hence the black crisscross artifact -|-|-| with the Z1 camera which mistaken as noise. The Z2 has less sharpening effect hence the blur at pixel peeping level. I might be wrong though.
We'll see good results in first few firmwares then after that it will be a disaster and a disappointment just like the Z1.
Both phones have the same camera module and I hope they fix this issue.
I just don't think 20MP is justified at such a sensor size, either the lens or the sensor pixel size is causing noise and softness that needs to be processed and it's just more work for the ISP. A 12MP sensor would be more adequate. Anyways, here's a Z1 vs. Z2 comparison, both a bit yellowish in WB, any my edit of what a Lumia would produce. I notice that some of the previous indoors shots are a bit tight on color depth too.
chesterr said:
We'll see good results in first few firmwares then after that it will be a disaster and a disappointment just like the Z1.
Both phones have the same camera module and I hope they fix this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bone I would like u to conclude what do u think of z2 camera when compared to other ANDROID cameras
Sent from my ST18i using xda app-developers app
faraaz3 said:
Bone I would like u to conclude what do u think of z2 camera when compared to other ANDROID cameras
Sent from my ST18i using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No conclusion until extensive reviews, or if and when I can test it myself.
Whoever gets the Z2 early, should kindly test speed and reliability of autofocus, white balance and exposure (like how many shots come out good out of 10 snaps). Posting superior auto, full 20MP manual and HDR samples should also give us a clue about overall picture quality, level of post-processing, lens issues if there's any, SW preference of shutter speed and ISO, picture-to-picture performance and so on. Right now we must wait patiently, and share whatever we find online.
A few more from Eprice
Source, full resolution: http://www.eprice.com.hk/mobile/talk/4551/170031/
Hi there,
As everyone knows, default camera app of sony sucks. I have tried a lot of alternative applications. For me the best results is from Snap Camera with settings 20mpx, camera api2, jpeg quality Best, opengl2, auto scene auto whitebalance, auto flash. These settings allows me to take much sharper images tested on my small facial hair. BUT! Camera is very overheating, after few minutes (5-6 shots) i have started sony camera and it alerted that camera is too hot, so it shuts down.
Snap camera allows HDR in 20mpx also any scene, its not limited as sony-s camera
Also snap camera produced the best images on my old low quality mtk based phone. So i recommend it, its paid but as far i know it have trial version.
I will be happy if someone will tell how is satisfied with this app.
PS.: FV-5 is worse, for my eyes.
in the play store info, there is setting for ISO. but why is there non when i check in setting...?
ive taken some kick ass photos in good light/ low light / bad light with the stock app. IDK what everyone is on about. but to each their own =)
`Ghost` said:
ive taken some kick ass photos in good light/ low light / bad light with the stock app. IDK what everyone is on about. but to each their own =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In Auto mode or Manual?
Both.
Basically, when you unlock your boot loader, the great photo quality will be gone. If you have backed up your "TRIMM area" before unlocking it (where the DRM keys are stored), then you'll be able to get it back, by re-locking the BL, but this means you'll lose your ability to use costom ROMs, only modified stock ROMs are possible after that.
The reason for this is that Sony uses some pretty amazing software magic to get great pictures in low light (noise reduction algorithms) which aren't meant to be accessible for others to reverse engineer, so they lock them away with the DRM keys. So with a locked boot loader, the camera makes awesome pictures even in low light, with an unlocked BL, meh... (not so much any more)
Of course, these algorithms are only available to the Sony default camera app for the same reasons...
Have you tried this
It will let you have scene's and HDR in 20mp, also it has more ISO options.
I've used FV-5 from the start and imo it's a lot better for me then the stock app. I can't work with the stock app that has limited control
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Free mobile app
stock camera is the only one...'cause of manual iso... fv-5 has good auto but you can't force iso 100, 200 and so on
Recently I have the Z3 Compact therefore not yet tried everything, but the camera does not seem anywhere near what they sold me in reviews. The original camera seems poor choices, the automatic mode leaves much to be desired, especially in low light because when you have a lighthouse in front can not interpret well and properly handle white balance and contrast.
I was testing the Open Camera app and gives me better results than stock. The only thing I use it now for the stock camera is for timeshift and sometimes for panoramic shots.
I have almost forgot about this post, thanks for cleaning my bookmarks.
Thanks for everyone’s reply, I have figured out that another phones also uses that sensor and they make better pics, so probably problem is with sony's software developers who are doing a weak job. I am very addicted to zooming pictures and when I compare zoomed 5mpx downscale shot of lumia 1020 and 8 or 20mpx shot of Z3C, then shot of lumia is sharp and clear, full of details.... the shot of sony is like blurred and without details. So i think that they algorithm is wrong somewhere or they are compressing raw to too low quality and when jpeg is created then its final quality will be even worse regardless of 97% or 100% jpeg quality. Need to note that nokia's sensor is three times bigger in its physical size that captures the light.
But the video quality is epic i have never seen so good video quality from phone.
Currently i am waiting for availability of 5.1.1 in slovakia
just as the title states,
what is the camera app that you found to take best quality wise photos with S5, I've noticed that stock lineageos app takes very unfocused photos and takes a lot to focus in video mode, also I tried SnapIt with works better but a lot of modes just crashes app and I also tried Oxygeon os v8 cam app and it just doesn't have many options, I can't even set photo resolution.
Please recommend me something better.
I have the same problem
I read/heard hat Open Camera is a very good one:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.sourceforge.opencamera&hl=en
and the camera from oneplus:
https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/onepl...e/oneplus-camera-2-5-21-android-apk-download/
regards
I now tested: LOS, CameraMX, Footej, OnePlus and Open Camera. Neither of these Apps could give me acceptable picture quality in low light scene. Is there any other recommendation? Maybe an App that is specialized in dark scenes? I don't care too much about features but about quality.
MysteryIII said:
I now tested: LOS, CameraMX, Footej, OnePlus and Open Camera. Neither of these Apps could give me acceptable picture quality in low light scene. Is there any other recommendation? Maybe an App that is specialized in dark scenes? I don't care too much about features but about quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try SnapCamera
Giowi said:
Try SnapCamera
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, in fact it's the best dark scene Camera of all. But still far away from Stock quality.
Made pictures of my room wallpaper with the monitor as the sole indirect light. Tested each Camera with and without HDR with automatic settings and no camera light.
On Stock Camera noise is extremely low and you can clearly recognize the muster. Taking pictures with this camera takes twice the time at least.
Snap Camera has a lot of noise but muster is still recognizable.
Open Camera has a little more noise but you can recognize the shadows/transitions a little better.
Footej and LOS Camera seem to be in about same league and far to dark.
OnePlus Camera is almost black even though I used the brightness adjuster (only in this App).
I know most of the Apps have a lot manual settings and a professional could most probably get more out of it, which might result in different ranking of the Apps. But I'm no pro like many/most phone camera users.
Clearly software algorithm of Stock Camera is on a totally different level for the S5.
While you can't see big differences in good light/scenes/situations, you can see it more as the light/scenes/situations get worse.
Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the Sony Xperia XZ1 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!
mobile01.com
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 | Sony Xperia XZ1 | Sony Xperia XZ Premium - https://www.mobile01.com/newsdetail/22317/camera-review-xperia-xz1-vs-galaxy-note-8
sogi.com.tw
Another one - https://www.sogi.com.tw/articles/sony_xperia_xz1/6249725
did anyone tried if the xz1 has the same camera problem of the xz premium?
I want to preorder this phone since it comes with a really good pair of headphones!
The camera distortion is confirmed in XZ1. Still there
https://sumahoinfo.com/xperia-xz1-x...camera-comparison-hikaku-distortion-confirmed
Ive compared the pictures. Honestly, i see the distorition on XZ1 but i also see in Samsung too.
The only pic that is ridiculous for the XZ1 is the one of the wall. But the other ones are pretty much the same distortion... there are pics that the angle are also pretty much different comparing to samsung.
https://www.mobile01.com/newsdetail/22317/camera-review-xperia-xz1-vs-galaxy-note-8
Wow, it looks pretty bad for XZ1. Even my Z1 and Z3 Compact have less distortion, especially on grass and trees.
Can anyone post some sample daylight shots at different ISO just to compare ISO performance.
I personally don't care about low light since low light is something you (at least pro users) never shoot in auto mode since you want to shoot in lower ISO to reduce noise. Which xperia camera fails to do with lack of OIS. Since it cannot lower shutter speed to compensate for low ISO.
I am impressed with the low-light performance of the camera in the XZ1. These shots was though snaped in Auto Mode.
What do you think?
xFirefly93 said:
I am impressed with the low-light performance of the camera in the XZ1. These shots was though snaped in Auto Mode.
What do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not auto mode. It's manual with cc 1 sec and the phone on a tripod
https://photos.app.goo.gl/kyq4DrNL2AUdPcpb8
No distortion and very good photo quality in any situations.
I don't know if people know how to take a photo?
I do not accept that xz1 gives bad photos from people who shoot photos and videos with their phone vertical!
Very nice pictures yours! I bought xz1 on Amazon and when it arrived to me I was so happy...but, after a week, I gave it back! Why? Camera quality. I didn't believe my eyes, in certain light conditions, no way to take a decent picture, nor in automatic neither in manual mode. Still now, it seems impossible to me, and I'm thinking that it was a faulty device... Should I buy another one, giving to xz1 a second chance?
P.S. it seemed that HDR wasn't working at all! For example, taking a picture of a white wall on a green grass, the wall was burned and the grass nearly black...with all my other smartphones, the picture taken was nice
Nice pictures from your shared album.
Are you willing to share camera settings? Thanks in advance.
Hello my friend,today I see your question.
I have disabled the object track to let me make photometry with tap.
Then I use the burst mode every time.
For example on low light I set 1/4 shutter I shoot many photos in burst mode so I can have one or two unshaked photos.
For hdr I use very often camera mx with hdr on .
I think that the key is the burst mode.
Day or night with people or not I shoot burst.
for amazing reasults on static themes try camera super pixel and offcourse a little edit after ,just for hight lights and shadows .
Camera super pixel is amazing!!!!
Georgerapp said:
Camera super pixel is amazing!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the recommendation and great find! I was skeptical this app wouldn't be great but the quality is better than the stock camera on my rooted device running AOSP.
xz1 gcam
If any one using lineage os please working GCam on my xz1.pls follow below thread & install latest apk .rear cam & front cam works. portriat not work.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/razer-phone/themes/apk-google-camera-6-1-021-modded-t3880003
After taking a few pictures with the tele camera I noticed some really weird artifacts. After testing a little bit more I noticed that the tele camera is not always used.
So today I did some controlled tests. Set up a close scene, took a picture with the wide camera (from approx 25 cm), switched to 2x, then switched back to 1x and zoomed in by getting the phone closed.
While I was taking the 2nd picture the phone was clearly switching between cropping the wide camera and using the tele camera (with a slight change in frame size and angle).
The result is that many times the phone uses only the wide camera or switches to the tele camera at will, without providing any information to the user. Accordingly, one's pictures might only be cropped versions of the data from the wide camera, with the inherited artifacts.
Am I the only one noticing this?
Here are the three pics:
http://www.imagebam.com/image/3e4169610070483
http://www.imagebam.com/image/b01c20610070533
http://www.imagebam.com/image/116deb610070573
PS: The phone is running Oxygen OS v4.5.10
redo the test.
A guy did a lot of test on a tri-pod and then compared the pictures very closely on a computer.
Both camera are always used, but most of the time one add a little bit of sharpness in the picture.
Not because you cover on lens, that it means it's not working. It only means that the pictures wont be as sharp, but the difference is very minimal.
Here how it works;
In good light conditions, the 20Mp sensor is used for the x2 zoom. It does not switch to 16Mp. On the other hand as soon as the light becomes insufficient it switches on the 16Mp to zoom at x2. And uses the 20Mp to improve the photo; giving it more details.
When the light condition is average and the 20Mp is hidden, at this time it switches to the 16Mp, but without hiding it, it stays on the 20Mp and uses the 16 for more detail and exposure.
This as been said, in some condition, such as very dark scene, the 20mp, could not be used at all, hard to see since the pictures are too dark.
Has anyone found out how to decouple the two back cameras on stock oos?
Sometimes I'd like to make that lens choice myself, but still be able to use the OOS Camera at other times.
On stock, the two back cameras behave as one with all the third party apps I've tried.
On custom ROMs, the phone shows three cameras.