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Hi,
I am considering buying HTC One but there is just one thing that makes me rethink my decision and that is the 4MP Camera. It's a stunning device but I am a bit skeptical considering the low megapixel count of 4 in HTC One. People who have already got the phone and also people who have researched on the imaging quality of "The One", please shed some light on the camera bit.
I know it is good for low light conditions but are the daylight photos good enough if not the best that GS4/ iPhone 5/ HTC One have to offer.
Thanks a lot!
Priyankac said:
Hi,
I am considering buying HTC One but there is just one thing that makes me rethink my decision and that is the 4MP Camera. It's a stunning device but I am a bit skeptical considering the low megapixel count of 4 in HTC One. People who have already got the phone and also people who have researched on the imaging quality of "The One", please shed some light on the camera bit.
I know it is good for low light conditions but are the daylight photos good enough if not the best that GS4/ iPhone 5/ HTC One have to offer.
Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Daylight images are good, but maybe not as "good" as the GS4 purely cos of less details from the lower MP sensor. HTC is probably one update away to perfecting their metering and auto-exposure, but it is still very good and don't forget really really fast
Megapixels are not a measure of image quality. Never has been, never will be. Higher MP just means bigger prints.
The size of the sensor determines image quality. The One camera takes better photos than my 8MP Nexus 4.
PcFish said:
Megapixels are not a measure of image quality. Never has been, never will be. Higher MP just means bigger prints.
The size of the sensor determines image quality. The One camera takes better photos than my 8MP Nexus 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's cos the Nexus 4 had a pretty meh sensor I'd say stock S4 camera app is about as good as modified HoX camera For low light, nothing really beats the One though
PcFish said:
Megapixels are not a measure of image quality. Never has been, never will be. Higher MP just means bigger prints.
The size of the sensor determines image quality. The One camera takes better photos than my 8MP Nexus 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, there's been an arms race, so to speak, with manufacturers trying to compete with one another over buzz words, "megapixels" being one of these. The Anandtech HTC One review by Brian Klug covers in excruciating detail the tradeoffs HTC made with the camera hardware vs. marketability
Priyankac said:
Hi,
I am considering buying HTC One but there is just one thing that makes me rethink my decision and that is the 4MP Camera. It's a stunning device but I am a bit skeptical considering the low megapixel count of 4 in HTC One. People who have already got the phone and also people who have researched on the imaging quality of "The One", please shed some light on the camera bit.
I know it is good for low light conditions but are the daylight photos good enough if not the best that GS4/ iPhone 5/ HTC One have to offer.
Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be fair and honest, I find the shutter speed to take long sometimes in natural and incandescent lighting indoors. I could be sitting at the dinner table and be underneath our ceiling fixture and the picture would be a little out of focus or take too long when the lighting is good. I'm assuming this can be fixed with software tweaks. It's almost as if the sensor takes in too much light sometimes, as I find myself having to turn on the flash manually in some indoor shots.
The positive side, the PHONE takes great pictures in outdoor lighting and even indoor with the right lighting or flash. The colors come out more natural and detailed than my wife's S3. Compared to my old Inspire, the One is 100x better.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
I've just been reading a thread on the S4 forum about the lag on the S4 camera. It can take superb landscape pictures in bright light but it struggles with moving images.
The One on the other hand is extremely fast which translates into, for the most part, images with no blurring. And of course low light pictures are far superior which is what everyone raves about.
It really depends what you want from a camera. I, like you, was worried that 4mp would be too much of a downgrade. I then started to think how I actually used my camera. I predominantly take pictures of my family and friends, kids playing in the park etc. I rarely ever view the pictures I've taken on a device that has a better resolution than 1080p and don't crop images often.
A 4mp camera is far higher resolution than 1080p.
As soon as I started snapping my kids, often indoors at dinner times with only fluorescent lighting, I was happy I plumped for the One. It really is astounding how fast it is, and the pictures look lovely on the phones 1080p display.
I would much rather have lower MP. pictures I can use than constantly having to delete blurry higher MP pictures.
Best thing to do? Check out both forums. They are a far more accurate representation of performance than reviews.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
Currykiev said:
I've just been reading a thread on the S4 forum about the lag on the S4 camera. It can take superb landscape pictures in bright light but it struggles with moving images.
The One on the other hand is extremely fast which translates into, for the most part, images with no blurring. And of course low light pictures are far superior which is what everyone raves about.
It really depends what you want from a camera. I, like you, was worried that 4mp would be too much of a downgrade. I then started to think how I actually used my camera. I predominantly take pictures of my family and friends, kids playing in the park etc. I rarely ever view the pictures I've taken on a device that has a better resolution than 1080p and don't crop images often.
A 4mp camera is far higher resolution than 1080p.
As soon as I started snapping my kids, often indoors at dinner times with only fluorescent lighting, I was happy I plumped for the One. It really is astounding how fast it is, and the pictures look lovely on the phones 1080p display.
I would much rather have lower MP. pictures I can use than constantly having to delete blurry higher MP pictures.
Best thing to do? Check out both forums. They are a far more accurate representation of performance than reviews.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply
Does cropping render the quality very low?
Something to add, is that if you take low light video (night clubs, bars, dimly lit rooms etc) the video framerate will fluctuate between 17 and 30fps, causing it to look choppy. That is the only thing I hate about the One at the moment. Choppy video in low light. The galaxy s4 (and my old s3) do not have this issue
Galactus said:
Something to add, is that if you take low light video (night clubs, bars, dimly lit rooms etc) the video framerate will fluctuate between 17 and 30fps, causing it to look choppy. That is the only thing I hate about the One at the moment. Choppy video in low light. The galaxy s4 (and my old s3) do not have this issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just different companies prioritizing different things. The One tries to get in enough light regardless of what it has to do, and that means fluctuating frame rates in low light video. The S3, S4 and Lumia do different things in where they force 30FPS, but in return you get much less light in, making the video darker. But the phone is still plenty new, and we can all hope that HTC would give us an option for what we want, shutter speed priority mode please
ArmedandDangerous said:
It's just different companies prioritizing different things. The One tries to get in enough light regardless of what it has to do, and that means fluctuating frame rates in low light video. The S3, S4 and Lumia do different things in where they force 30FPS, but in return you get much less light in, making the video darker. But the phone is still plenty new, and we can all hope that HTC would give us an option for what we want, shutter speed priority mode please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, my issue is that they prioritized something that I'm not used to lol but yeah, hopefully that issue can be fixed
Speaking of the software, if they're gonna include Zoe and all that, I wish they'd provide a Highlight studio of sorts where you can choose the transitions/music/frames etc on the phone.
Currykiev said:
I've just been reading a thread on the S4 forum about the lag on the S4 camera. It can take superb landscape pictures in bright light but it struggles with moving images.
The One on the other hand is extremely fast which translates into, for the most part, images with no blurring. And of course low light pictures are far superior which is what everyone raves about.
It really depends what you want from a camera. I, like you, was worried that 4mp would be too much of a downgrade. I then started to think how I actually used my camera. I predominantly take pictures of my family and friends, kids playing in the park etc. I rarely ever view the pictures I've taken on a device that has a better resolution than 1080p and don't crop images often.
A 4mp camera is far higher resolution than 1080p.
As soon as I started snapping my kids, often indoors at dinner times with only fluorescent lighting, I was happy I plumped for the One. It really is astounding how fast it is, and the pictures look lovely on the phones 1080p display.
I would much rather have lower MP. pictures I can use than constantly having to delete blurry higher MP pictures.
Best thing to do? Check out both forums. They are a far more accurate representation of performance than reviews.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for your reply.
Currently I have Galaxy S4 and I am thinking of returning it and going for HTC One. The camera is the only thing holding me back. I am super confused.
Could you please direct me to the two forums you have mentioned, being new I am unable to find them.
Thanks for the help.
Is it really 4 Mega pixels??
I thought it was 4 Ultra Pixels??
Surely that different?
"Ultra Pixel" is a marketing name for this sensor, it's still a 4MP device with bigger pixels to get more light and reach the f2.0 limit. Not more only bigger.
m.r.davies said:
Is it really 4 Mega pixels??
I thought it was 4 Ultra Pixels??
Surely that different?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's 4 Megapixel in resolution, but the sensor has more than 4Megapixels. They extra pixels are used solely to capture light, and that's why it has very good low light capabilities
Here's the technical explanation of this ST Microelectronics CMOS Sensor:
The Camera
The HTC One bucks the trend. Based on the 1/3″ form factor of a camera module and today’s state-of-the-art 1.1 µm pixels, all the latest competitive phones sport 13 Mp resolution. HTC has gone with a larger 2.0 µm pixel (confirmed) and a 4 MP sensor. They are pitching the low light sensitivity as a key feature. The device is a back-illuminated sensor fabricated by STMicroelectronics with die marks 58698A. This is the first BI sensor we have seen from ST.The camera uses the IDG-2021 gyroscope by Invensense for motion stabilization. It is a dual-axis gyro with high resolution ADCs designed specifically for optical image stabilization.The secondary sensor is a 2 Mp, 1.4 µm sensor by OmniVision with die marks OV2A9BA. It is a nice secondary sensor that we have seen before in other phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The moving video is fantastic with the optical gyro.always smooth videos.
And takes great night shots with longer exposure cause it's easy to get a steady photo.
Why does mine say pn071?
Sent from my HTC_PN071 using XDA Premium HD app
Personally I love the 4MP cam in the One. I came from a long line of iPhones and although they're not perfect, I realized that the most I was going to be doing was hold these images for viewing on my computer, sharing at times. Between the 13MP GS4 and the One I thought it was an easy decision to get the One. I just don't see a need for 13MP size picture files laying around in my computer taking up space.
Now I'm just a normal consumer from a photog perspective. I have a graphic arts background, but I rarely perform treatments or heavy manipulation on my own photos. Take some shots with the One demo at your local store. You'll be amazed at the clarity, especially when zoomed in.
So, i used this device for over a month and so far the camera works great to me, i compared it to other phones i got in touch like iPhone 4s, Note 2 and the S3, video recording is just great on HTC One, it just works better in my opinion, great clarity, good autofocus.
As for photos, it's great, all the photos on 100% zoom look bad, but the HTC One photos look modest at 100% zoom so i don't really think camera is a deal-breaker, it's a great camera the thing is HTC opted for a more revolutionary camera and so far i think they've done a pretty good job.
I just purchased the HTC one for sprint a few days ago.
I have been taking mostly indoor vidoes/pictures under normal lighting conditions.
And all the pics are awful. They are blurry , not focused properly and the photo just looks horrible - like one taken from a bad camera phone.
I have tried messing with the settings...tried HDR mode...zoe mode. Still...pictures come out very grainy or just plain out of focus.
Is this a defect or what? Im hearing all these great things about the camera , but the pics don't come close to what my 4 year old HTC Evo takes.
Should I try to exchange it out for another at sprint store ? anyone else having this issue?
Is the lens dirty or covered by anything? Try tapping the screen to focus. Do you have a sample to show us?
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
mrkool444 said:
I just purchased the HTC one for sprint a few days ago.
I have been taking mostly indoor vidoes/pictures under normal lighting conditions.
And all the pics are awful. They are blurry , not focused properly and the photo just looks horrible - like one taken from a bad camera phone.
I have tried messing with the settings...tried HDR mode...zoe mode. Still...pictures come out very grainy or just plain out of focus.
Is this a defect or what? Im hearing all these great things about the camera , but the pics don't come close to what my 4 year old HTC Evo takes.
Should I try to exchange it out for another at sprint store ? anyone else having this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The photos are grainy because of the ultra pixel system that they used in this camera. It is sort of a trade off really....in order to get those nice low light shots they had to devise a camera with larger light sensitive cells. It is like in the old film days when you used 1600 speed film for low light conditions but ended up with pictures that were super grainy. Same concept but now in digital form.
I know what the OP is talking about, this is a different issue than just having grainy pictures. Mine cannot seem to focus on anything more than 10 ft away. I'm attaching an example from a graduation last night. The focus was so bad that I will not using any of these pictures for anything.
And yes I tapped on the screen multiple times to get it to focus, this is what came out. I can replicate this basically anytime when taking pictures of anything kind of far away. It freaking sucks.
This is not due to not focusing or pics being slightly grainy
Im saying the pics are awful.. Way out of focus and look distorted, phone is only 3 days old so it's not a dirty lens
Taking this back to sprint today... Will update you guys on what they do for me..
I've had time where the front camera is blurry from smudges on the lens taking it out of my pocket. Wiping off the lens helps. It happens pretty frequently actually.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
Sounds like bad hardware to me, I would have taken it back to.
Sim-X said:
Sounds like bad hardware to me, I would have taken it back to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went to the sprint store yesterday and they exchanged it out for a new HTC one.
Same problem with the new one. Blurry images, out of focus objects, when you zoom in the images, they are too grainy/fuzzy.
I'm now beginning to understand that it's not a hardware problem, but just a bad camera on the HTC One.
I have been comparing pictures over the past 3 days from HTC One vs my 3 year old Galaxy S2 phone.
The galaxy s2 phone pictures are significantly more clear, crisp and more detailed.
The HTC One pictures are routinely blurry, noisy and just plain out of focus in certain areas.
The HTC one pictures look good when you look at them zoomed out...but when you pinch n zoom in, you begin to see fuzzy edges and blurred focus. This does not happen on my S2.
The S2 images are 3.5 MB with resolution of 3264x2448
The HTC one images are 2.17 MB with resolution of 2688x1520
So, clearly, the galaxy s2 pics are going to look better.
I love everything about the HTC one , but the camera is a total disappointment. I wish it was a hardware defect so I could swap it for a better unit, but I suppose that's just how it is
I am on badseed rom and I opened zip and replaced the camera.apk with the new one found in international roms and wiped and reflashed and my camera is 1000% better . The one I used is from cleanrom 2.0
Mine has been the same way and I use it a lot for work. I will try the different apk.
Is this an effect of running custom roms? Isn't all the after picture stuff done via image sense?
HTC ONE! Everything your phone isn't.
thronnos said:
Is this an effect of running custom roms? Isn't all the after picture stuff done via image sense?
HTC ONE! Everything your phone isn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure all I know is ever since I've had the phone (I've used stock, Viper, and badseed) it's been that way.
I replaced the camera apk and reflashed my rom and the issue is still there.
It's like it only focuses in the center of the picture... everything around the center is blurry even if i touch the screen outside the center.
Here are some examples:
I'm using the xda app which doesn't handle pics very well, so it's hard to tell for sure but it sounds like you're complain about the depth of field - area of importance in focus, background/foreground blurry.
Photography 101:
The HTC one uses a camera with a f/2.0 or so lens. This means it can allow lots of light in. The lower this number is, the more light passes through the lens. There's a catch, this extra light isn't as sharp. Parts of the image fall out of focus. This is called shallow depth of field. The lower the f-stop (f number), the shallower the depth of field. There's a distance from the lens that's the sweet spot in focus, adjusting focus repositions where the sweet spot is, but the sweet spot is smaller on lower f-stops
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
gk1984 said:
I'm using the xda app which doesn't handle pics very well, so it's hard to tell for sure but it sounds like you're complain about the depth of field - area of importance in focus, background/foreground blurry.
Photography 101:
The HTC one uses a camera with a f/2.0 or so lens. This means it can allow lots of light in. The lower this number is, the more light passes through the lens. There's a catch, this extra light isn't as sharp. Parts of the image fall out of focus. This is called shallow depth of field. The lower the f-stop (f number), the shallower the depth of field. There's a distance from the lens that's the sweet spot in focus, adjusting focus repositions where the sweet spot is, but the sweet spot is smaller on lower f-stops
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still don't really understand the issue... Never had these problems with my GS3. And it really has nothing to do with background/foreground... Everything that is the same distance form the lens that is outside the center is blurry as %^#@.
I took another look outside the app at the pics. I think it's a shallow depth of field. Our camera is capable of a much lower f-stop than most others. The average consumer camera it around 3.5 f-stop for example. Until the HTC amaze, android phones never had an f-stop this low. I'm not sure what the galaxy's used though.
The pic of the signs tells me a lot that this is the case. Most people like this effect as it's artsy. The sign on the left is in focus and closer to the camera, the sign to the right is further away and not in focus. This is what depth of field is. Shallow depth of field is a smaller area in focus.
Now, I don't want to make excuses for HTC. The f-stop isn't a fixed number. It's supposed to be adjustable in cameras, we just may not have the option to. Try using landscape mode. That should keep everything in focus. This depth of field shouldn't be for every pic
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
tkoreaper said:
I replaced the camera apk and reflashed my rom and the issue is still there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you reflashed the rom after installing the new camera apk then the old camera app will still be there since you relfashed the rom. If anything flash the newer camera apk after not before.
themuffinman said:
If you reflashed the rom after installing the new camera apk then the old camera app will still be there since you relfashed the rom. If anything flash the newer camera apk after not before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I replaced the APK inside the ROM then flashed it. Simply replacing the apk from within android didn't work and it wouldn't let me just install it either..
tkoreaper said:
I replaced the APK inside the ROM then flashed it. Simply replacing the apk from within android didn't work and it wouldn't let me just install it either..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh ok, well I used root explorer to replace the apk and it worked just fine. Anyway I do see a difference with the newer apk.
So I might be getting another replacement One, and I'm wondering if the new Omnivision modules that they've started using are any good.. I was reading the specs on the website (model: OV4688) and it seems that it doesn't offer OIS, it says Electronic Image Stabilization on their website. Also, I read somewhere that they're very poor in low light.. Anyone got proof to back these up? Any pictures to show the differences between these? Also, any difference in the mic audio quality between the old and new batches?
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
BumP!!
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
n1234d said:
BumP!!
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I wrote about this in one of the purple camera fix threads. First I'll see I haven't noticed any puple/pink hues in any pics in lowlight. It seems to be performing well in that area. I also don't have a pink spot in the middle.
Occasionally in the outer edges I might notice some green tint in low light - particularly in rooms that have a shade of green in them already. It doesn't however grow and get worse. Its just the outer fringes. When I switch the camera from wide to regular crop it pretty much goes away. If not, its easily fixed with a quick touchup by adjusting the saturation with a custom effect in the gallery or just using aviary and the one click color fix. Also you can avoid it all together by adjusting saturation down a notch in the camera settings before taking a pic.
However.....what I have noticed is that in indoor lighting, even good lighting, the video recording frames per second maxes out at like 19-20. This is kind of a bummer. I mean I've turned on a all the lights in a really well lit room and could not achieve what I could in fps compared to the old sensor. I've tried different camera apps and they all max out at 19-20 in these light conditions, which tells me that its most likely set in the kernel. I wonder if this sensor has not been optimized fully by HTC yet. I think they've worked with three different sensors so far: ST electronics, Sharp, and Omnivision. Perhaps its hard to accomidate them all in the kernel - but I'm just speculating. there.
My compromise is to shoot indoor video at the 60fps mode, because that caps out indoors at 40fps.
I've fully tested video outdoors and even this morning indoors when there was no artificial light source and it recorded at a full 30 fps.
If what I think is true - that its not fully optimized at the kernel level it could be something HTC can push out in an update. Perhaps its hard for them to try to support 3 different sensors and find a balance...But this is just speculation on my part. Now I've lived in the same house and conditions for the past year and the old sensor had an edge up on fps than the Omni. I looked at some old videos shot indoors last night and fps was hovering around 29-30. So far this is my only gripe.
A note about the Sensor:
Early on Brian at AnandTech when he reviewed the One talked a bit about the Sensor HTC used when building the first Ones, and he also compared the ST sensor to the Omnivision sensor, because that Omni made its debut at the 2013 CES. Here is his review:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6747/htc-one-review/5
I find it interesting that 2 companies made identical sensors, ST and Omnivision according to Brian.
Overall I'm happy I sent my device in and had the sensor replaced, because in the end, no amount of quick photo tools or photoshop would help the purple tint issue.
Hope this helps.
gustav30 said:
So I wrote about this in one of the purple camera fix threads. First I'll see I haven't noticed any puple/pink hues in any pics in lowlight. It seems to be performing well in that area. I also don't have a pink spot in the middle.
Occasionally in the outer edges I might notice some green tint in low light - particularly in rooms that have a shade of green in them already. It doesn't however grow and get worse. Its just the outer fringes. When I switch the camera from wide to regular crop it pretty much goes away. If not, its easily fixed with a quick touchup by adjusting the saturation with a custom effect in the gallery or just using aviary and the one click color fix. Also you can avoid it all together by adjusting saturation down a notch in the camera settings before taking a pic.
However.....what I have noticed is that in indoor lighting, even good lighting, the video recording frames per second maxes out at like 19-20. This is kind of a bummer. I mean I've turned on a all the lights in a really well lit room and could not achieve what I could in fps compared to the old sensor. I've tried different camera apps and they all max out at 19-20 in these light conditions, which tells me that its most likely set in the kernel. I wonder if this sensor has not been optimized fully by HTC yet. I think they've worked with three different sensors so far: ST electronics, Sharp, and Omnivision. Perhaps its hard to accomidate them all in the kernel - but I'm just speculating. there.
My compromise is to shoot indoor video at the 60fps mode, because that caps out indoors at 40fps.
I've fully tested video outdoors and even this morning indoors when there was no artificial light source and it recorded at a full 30 fps.
If what I think is true - that its not fully optimized at the kernel level it could be something HTC can push out in an update. Perhaps its hard for them to try to support 3 different sensors and find a balance...But this is just speculation on my part. Now I've lived in the same house and conditions for the past year and the old sensor had an edge up on fps than the Omni. I looked at some old videos shot indoors last night and fps was hovering around 29-30. So far this is my only gripe.
A note about the Sensor:
Early on Brian at AnandTech when he reviewed the One talked a bit about the Sensor HTC used when building the first Ones, and he also compared the ST sensor to the Omnivision sensor, because that Omni made its debut at the 2013 CES. Here is his review:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6747/htc-one-review/5
I find it interesting that 2 companies made identical sensors, ST and Omnivision according to Brian.
Overall I'm happy I sent my device in and had the sensor replaced, because in the end, no amount of quick photo tools or photoshop would help the purple tint issue.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info!
Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the LG V20 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!
With good lighting, the camera takes pictures comparable to the note 7. But the note 7 starts faster and focuses faster.
koppee1 said:
With good lighting, the camera takes pictures comparable to the note 7. But the note 7 starts faster and focuses faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah I had the note 7 myself and completely agree what you said, except for the pic quality, I still found that the pics were better on the S7 edge/note 7 compared to the V20 I had , I loved my blue coral Note 7, but traded it in and got the V20 and realized I was wanting the camera opening quickness, better pics, led,AOD, wireless charging, and waterproofing(I kayak a lot), so I just returned my V20 for the sliver S7 Edge, then the next day I got the 100.00 bill credit for going back to Samsung, since I had the Note 7:good:
Yeah, I miss the note 7 camera (and stylus). With the note 7, I could actually start the camera and take a very quick shot through heavily tinted windows and it comes focused and great. I can't seem to do that with the v20..
Over all the camera is good.. But it falls behind over the Samsung ones. I'll keep this though and wait for the note 8...
Wonder how the Mate 9 camera will compare.
My wife's relatives were in town. For the first time, my wife let me take pics with my device. She didn't really like the quality on the Note 4, but she did trust the LG V20. Pics came out great. YMMV of course... lighting, conditions, settings. But Auto Mode does a pretty good job.
What would everyone recommend for the HDR Settings? Auto, On, or Off?
I've tried a bit of testing... The only time manual was better for me was when I lowered the iso and took a longer shutter speed to lessen grain. But auto does a good job.
What I don't like is when you zoom in. Then everything seems like a water color painting. Although my wife's iPhone 6 does the same when you zoom in. I'm not sure.. But I don't think the note 7 did that....
Can you post sample photos?
Took this with the v20 wide angle camera and have to say I am quite impressed. Shot the phone with manual mode and HDR on.
Here are a few photos I've taken with the regular lens, HDR, and 4:3 16MP.
Both photos have a decent amount of light in them, but I thought they turned out pretty well.
P. S. Sorry for them being sideways
Thanks
Capable of taking some good photos, but this is the most inconsistent phone i've ever owned. Photos are grainy when they have no reason to be (more than sufficient lighting). Shutter speed drops to 1/9 most of the time, causing huge blurry messes.
They need to send an update out to fix this, zero reason this sensor/lense should have these issues. My g5 takes much better photos in nearly all situations
haruyukisama said:
Took this with the v20 wide angle camera and have to say I am quite impressed. Shot the phone with manual mode and HDR on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HDR mode is not available when using manual controls.
do all photos look like an oil painting when you even slightly zoom in or is it just me?? would this even be possible to fix with a software update in the future?
ronattack said:
do all photos look like an oil painting when you even slightly zoom in or is it just me?? would this even be possible to fix with a software update in the future?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I noticed this too..But then I went to a Samsung store and tested the s7..and it was similar. I don't remember that hastening to my note 7 though...unless I'm mistaken
I think the camera is terrible on the V20. Its okay in bright light, but even indoor lighting it struggles with. Everytime I try to grab a photo of my son I regret buying this phone.
Very disappointed in the camera
I took advantage of the T-Mobile S6 trade in while I really liked my camera on the S6 I was ready for an improvement and it was a toss up between the s7 or the v20 for a free trade in I couldn't pass it up. Problem is since I gave my S6 away I cant replace my V20 with the S7 or anything else Im stuck with it I can return it within the 15 days but that wouldn't help my situation I believe since I got the free bill credit trade in from the S6.
Apparently I made the wrong decision based upon the camera it's terrible! I've tried every setting manual or auto every lighting condition and I can confirm like the others here grainy or blurry photos. Only great lighting will yield decent photos but not one photo so far is even better than my S6 sadly. Is this maybe cause its the t mobile variant? Other reviews online and photos I've seen I Was impressed.
This camera went backwards for me. Everything else about the phone I really like however this camera which is my #1 priority is ****. If I zoom in I see the water painting look. If I use the front camera all pics look like a water painting without even zooming in. One thing I did notice is the wide angle lens the color accuracy looks better than the regular lens in auto and it's less grainy WTF! I've tried 4:3 and 16:9 does not make a difference. pissed about this. T-Mobile said there surprised by this but reading here obviously I'm not the only one seeing this. T mobile said they would look at it and if they see what I'm saying they could replace the phone with another V20 but what will that do? is this maybe a t mobile specific issue? will a software update fix this?
Yes low.light pictures suck
Has anyone tried turning off HDR? I've been reading the forums on reddit and by turning off HDR, the quality of the photos, according to the users, increased tenfold. So, that's definitely something to try.
Can someone comment on camera performance, specifically indoor shots with pets. How well does it pick up fur? I've just got the S21 and I'm sending it back because the camera software is pretty bad. Wondering if it's the same story with the Ultra or not?
I think it works really with, here`s my cat
It depends if they are moving or not plus what settings you have on. I'm happy coming from a S20+.
2003vstrom said:
I think it works really with, here`s my cat
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Thanks! This is the perfect example as to what I was looking for, even down to the colour of the cat! Unfortunately it confirms to me that while it is much better than the regular S21, its just not up to scratch.
Here's my cat (Pixel 4 vs S21). The Pixel does a much better job of not blurring the fur and retains a lot of the detail and more colour accuracy.
The main camera seems to be really good and sharp and has motion tracking to maintain focus on moving subjects. I dont have pets but don't think you should have a problem. However, I find the quality from the 10X zoom camera to be really bad. I dont know if it is just my unit or if others are experiencing these issues as well. The images are soft, lack detail and are over processed. See examples below. Not sure if this is due to low light or some other reason as its been quite cloudy in the UK these past few days. Let me know what you guys think. Can my unit be defective? Look at the processing on the robins tail in the 1st image its so grainy. Also the 3rd image lacks detail looks like the bird has been painted.
yeah I know my pics are lot better coming from the S20 ultra, with close up shots lol
eldrid said:
The main camera seems to be really good and sharp and has motion tracking to maintain focus on moving subjects. I dont have pets but don't think you should have a problem. However, I find the quality from the 10X zoom camera to be really bad. I dont know if it is just my unit or if others are experiencing these issues as well. The images are soft, lack detail and are over processed. See examples below. Not sure if this is due to low light or some other reason as its been quite cloudy in the UK these past few days. Let me know what you guys think. Can my unit be defective? Look at the processing on the robins tail in the 1st image its so grainy. Also the 3rd image lacks detail looks like the bird has been painted.
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yeah here is my moon pic at 30x zoomed that wasn't even on a tripod that was a steady hand, I know the pic looks way better on my phone then regular crappy computer screen. lol
2003vstrom said:
yeah here is my moon pic at 30x zoomed that wasn't even on a tripod that was a steady hand, I know the pic looks way better on my phone then regular crappy computer screen. lol
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Wow! that looks really good. Was that on your S20 Ultra? Or the s21 ultra.
eldrid said:
Wow! that looks really good. Was that on your S20 Ultra? Or the s21 ultra.
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on my s21 ultra, the s20 ultra I had the you could never get a nice image out of the zoom
I should get a new unit while I can then. I probably have a defective unit as my pictures from the 10x zoom camera are horrible.
Camera is no where near as good as touted. Which is a familiar story. Anything other than bright light the zooms are essentially pointless. Night mode helps, but unless your taking a pic of a still scene or a sleeping pet then it's going to look bad.
Funny thing is, you snap a pic and click the photo preview and it's snapped the shot instantly and is in focus, but then it's almost like the processor catches up and gives you the blurry pic. I don't get it.
3x zoom pic in good light attached. View attachment 5206487
Aneres11 said:
Camera is no where near as good as touted. Which is a familiar story. Anything other than bright light the zooms are essentially pointless. Night mode helps, but unless your taking a pic of a still scene or a sleeping pet then it's going to look bad.
Funny thing is, you snap a pic and click the photo preview and it's snapped the shot instantly and is in focus, but then it's almost like the processor catches up and gives you the blurry pic. I don't get it.
3x zoom pic in good light attached. View attachment 5206487
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This is what I feared and it's exactly the same as the regular S21. The hardware is capable enough, just the Samsung processing can be awful. You can see the difference when switching between gcam and the Samsung camera app. How have they managed to do such a bad job?
It's a shame because other than the camera I love everything else about the phone.
steslatt said:
This is what I feared and it's exactly the same as the regular S21. The hardware is capable enough, just the Samsung processing can be awful. You can see the difference when switching between gcam and the Samsung camera app. How have they managed to do such a bad job?
It's a shame because other than the camera I love everything else about the phone.
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Yeah. I have a 12 Pro currently and bought this thinking I could have similar still performance with the added benefits of the great zoom. But my P30 Pro from two years ago took better photos than this IMO.
Samsung do not know what to do with post processing. It's painful. And I'm sick of reviewers saying contrary. Every year it's the same thing. Cameras are bigged up, Samsung "finally get it right" and then normal users get them in hand and it's the same story.
I'll be returning to my 12 Pro.
Pets yes and no. I've only had the phone since Friday, so I have a lot more time shooting on my Pixel 4, but so far, I think the P4 was better for pets. Especially for those quick shots. Now I may get used to the ultra and learn to shoot with it better, because it does take some amazing shots, but for now, I'd give the Pixel the slight edge. It gave me more confidence anyways that I would get a good shot
So are the noisy over sharpened pics from the 10X zoom camera normal then? I am thinking of sending mine back. I got the phone only for the camera.
2003vstrom said:
yeah here is my moon pic at 30x zoomed that wasn't even on a tripod that was a steady hand, I know the pic looks way better on my phone then regular crappy computer screen. lol
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What camera settings are you using to achieve it. I've tried several times to take a moon shot and mine come out horrible... Maybe it's the bright lights of the city, don't really know.
mprunty said:
What camera settings are you using to achieve it. I've tried several times to take a moon shot and mine come out horrible... Maybe it's the bright lights of the city, don't really know.
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It was default mode and I just open the camera app and zoomed it to 30x and made sure I was very steady then took the pic, I didn`t mess with any settings and it could be the the city lights I was out were there is little light pollution.
Does anyone have any S21U portrait photos they can share with a comparison to either Pixel or iPhone 11/12 Pro Max?
I will be coming from a Pixel 5 and really hoping pet and portrait photos are of comparable quality.
Tmel14 said:
Does anyone have any S21U portrait photos they can share with a comparison to either Pixel or iPhone 11/12 Pro Max?
I will be coming from a Pixel 5 and really hoping pet and portrait photos are of comparable quality.
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Judging from what I've seen and the replies in here, pet pictures definitely won't be comparable. The processing is too soft and just makes the fur look too blurry.