Database Develop

So camera noise is normal. Can it be fixed or is it a hardware problem?

Isn't this the big Question?
Never have I been so fuzzy about choosing a phone. I have got hold of LG G2 (which got warm, produces antutu scores of louzy 20 000, has aggressive noise reduction on photos and a screen that did not survive a 20 cm droptest after 24 hours - now in repair) and currently a 48 hour old Z1 that produces a little less noise and does not get overly hot dueing captures after the last update, but eats away battery when capturing photos. These new devices. I was actually seriously considering requesting my old xperia S back!
After googling for 12 hours I could not find answers to the following question, so I sent the questions to Sony and are waiting for an answer:
1. Is it a sensor\hardware or a software issue that produces this amount of grain and noize, particulary in the 50% peripheral part of the picture?
I used the perfectly evely lit computer screen matrix to test before and after the update. There is an actual improvement. A macro shot before the update showed marked noize in the periphery. It still does after the latest update, but it is far from as bad! It is still worse than note 3 i suspect.
This makes me inclined to say that the lenses (under macro shots at least) has peripheral distortion. The best optics one always gets when having as few lenses as possible in the objective. I guess there are quite a few in z1 compared to the competition?
2. Some rumour say that different batches of phones are of different quality. Needless to say: this has been the case on some previous massproduced gadgeds, and different fabrics might have different production quality. I have read that low quality items often are sold slightly cheaper on Ebay. So; anyone got some more "evidence" to prove such a suspicion for Z1? If so: what batches should we try to avoid?

krimskram said:
I think this is the big question. Never have I been so fuzzy about choosing a phone. I have got hold of LG G2 (which got warm, produces antutu scores of louzy 20 000, has aggressive noise reduction on photos and a screen that did not survive a 20 cm droptest after 24 hours - now in repair) and currently a 48 hour old Z1 that produces a little less noize after the last update, but eats away battery when capturing photos and occasionally gets so warm that it shuts down the camera app. Crikey! These new devices. I was actually seriously considering requesting my old xperia S back!
After googling for 12 hours I could not find answers to the following, so I sent the questions to Sony and are waiting for an answer:
1. Is it a sensor\hardware or a software issue that produces this amount of grain and noize, particulary in the 50% peripheral part of the picture?
Without uploading any picture: the computer screen matrix is evenly lit and "perfect". A macro shot before the update showed marked noize in the periphery. It still does after the latest update, but it is far from as good. This makes me inclined to say that the lenses (under macro shots at least) has peripheral distortion.
2. Some rumour say that different batches of phones are of different quality. Needless to say: this has been the case on some previous massproduced gadgeds, and different fabrics might have different production quality. I have read that low quality items often are sold slightly cheaper on Ebay. So; anyone got some more "evidence" to prove such a suspicion for Z1? If so: what batches should we try to avoid?
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Click to collapse
So I have used a g2 and the z1 quite a bit. The Z1 seems to have better software. I don't care about benchmarks as they all cheat anyway. But the better software definitely makes the z1 feel snappier. I haven't noticed any major difference in apps though. The lg launcher is slow.
The camera on the g2 is OK. It is decent all round and in good light can be stunning. It takes consistently decent shots. The camera on the z1 feels totally broken even with the latest software update. I suspect there must be a hardware fault. I have yet to take a single picture I am happy with in any light conditions and it is useless in low light.
Does anyone else think we have a hardware issue here with the Z1?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

The Jones said:
So I have used a g2 and the z1 quite a bit. The Z1 seems to have better software. I don't care about benchmarks as they all cheat anyway. But the better software definitely makes the z1 feel snappier. I haven't noticed any major difference in apps though. The lg launcher is slow.
The camera on the g2 is OK. It is decent all round and in good light can be stunning. It takes consistently decent shots. The camera on the z1 feels totally broken even with the latest software update. I suspect there must be a hardware fault. I have yet to take a single picture I am happy with in any light conditions and it is useless in low light.
Does anyone else think we have a hardware issue here with the Z1?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
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Click to collapse
Well not mine, I also used G2 and now z1. My z1 takes better photo in low light.
Maybe its your z1 only...
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app

marc_ecko28 said:
Well not mine, I also used G2 and now z1. My z1 takes better photo in low light.
Maybe its your z1 only...
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Maybe. I do wonder if I have a faulty unit. It is so poor and shots have no detail, a ton of noise, poor focus.
Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

That's a real issue of viewpoint. In and by itself the Z1 camera isn't "bad" and the 245 firmware update fixed many issues, such as the purple fringing and the oversharpening. It doesn't however, bring the camera into "amazing" land.
Sony's much-touted DxOMark scores aren't all that cut out. While video pulls the device in second place, after the Nokia 808 and before the iPhone 5s, if you look at images alone it's 6th place, after Nokia, iPhone, and the Samsung Galaxy S4. In terms of clarity, if you neglect autofocus, the iPhone 5, non-S, beats it as well.
That's still great for a phone camera, it's just sad that the much hyped November model, running on excellent hardware, gets beat by the June model from Samsung. If you do a lot of video in good light and shoot only manual then you have a decent camera phone. If you want to go out and replace your point and shoot with this thing on a field trip or vacation, there are six or seven older phones that beat the Z1 in picture quality.
Now, I believe that 99% of those issues are software issues. Technically Sony's approach is sound. The BIONZ processor is one of the best IP on the market in this bracket, the Exmor RS backlit sensor used in the Z1 is also used in the iPhone 5s and RX100, and a powerhouse. So that stuff is there. The mini G-lens has great spatial properties and is one of the best when it comes to luminance. What doesn't seem to work so well is all in the software portion of the equation.
I am not giving up on Sony. I have great hardware, I hope firm- and software will catch up.

Software is something they will change, even though Sony have a bad track record in Software you should have seen the Xperia S, I had it for a few days before I had a refund, software was unbearable with the random reboots. There getting better every time.

I was not very happy with camera until last week but I received latest update and I can't be happier
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I'm still amazed that these threads are popping up. It's like I'm using a completely different product from the rest of you, I swear.
Sure, low-light images can be a little noisy and grainy but guess what; so are ones from my point-and-shoot - there are very few stand-alone cameras in this bracket (around the £150 mark) that are entirely noise free in low light. The noise is far from "terrible" especially with the most recent firmware, and the up-side to it all is that I'm able to take picture in far lower lighting than I've even been able to on a phone before.
Here's the thing: Superior Auto, though now very much improved, still uses an ISO that borders on the insane. In low light, just put the phone on manual (I'd recommend 4:3) and snap away. Less noise and very detailed results. Indeed, the latest firmware means that both 20mp and 8mp manual shots are very respectable in low light.
I was walking around the National Railway Museum in York yesterday, taking pictures with both the QX10 and the Z1 - in many instances, the Z1 was sharper or, at least, just as sharp. And the lighting was poor.
I also did a side-by-side with my old C905 the other day. Until this point, I would've (still) put it up against any smartphone camera on the market (to me, it was Sony's last "great" camera phone). The Z1's 8mp shots were consistently better, with the exception of the Zenon Flash shot.
In response to the OP, however; the G-lens is highly convex. This results in some barreling in the corners of the image and means that the centre will always be ever-so-slightly sharper than the rest of the image (the effect is small, however). Nothing can be done about this - many point and shoot cameras and DSLR's are the same. I've had quite outstanding results from mine.

Sounds like your camera might be better than mine. Maybe what we should to is to compare shots where everyone takes a photo of the same item? I cannot think of anything easier an more available perfectly lit surface than a computer or notepad screen completley white on max luminance.
Anyway, even though my camera has some obvious distortion, it is nothing more or less than what is revealed in the numerous reviews. However - some morons have posted, what seems to be, og DSLR photos on the xperia blog an some other places claiming it to be produced with a Z1. I guess some people live to annoy other people.
Regarding the last awesome cameraphone from Sony I will give xperia S my vote. It did get a lot of pepper but it shined after several updates, and after I realized there was a prefabric screenprotector that were scratched, not my screen. Not using 2 screen protectors did help. The camera on X S excelled i macro shots and were great allround. For most users sony HOWEVER decided to kill the phone with the last update making it slow and less responsive. It lost the premium feel. An obvious sales trix. Sony replied to my question about the slow XS that "It is to be expected as your phone is too slow to effextuvley handle our new update". Well well.
Xperia S had a troublesome birth and death. For most of the time it shined. I hope this is what we are experiencing with the Z1.

krimskram said:
Sounds like your camera might be better than mine. Maybe what we should to is to compare shots where everyone takes a photo of the same item? I cannot think of anything easier an more available perfectly lit surface than a computer or notepad screen completley white on max luminance.
Anyway, even though my camera has some obvious distortion, it is nothing more or less than what is revealed in the numerous reviews. However - some morons have posted, what seems to be, og DSLR photos on the xperia blog an some other places claiming it to be produced with a Z1. I guess some people live to annoy other people.
Regarding the last awesome cameraphone from Sony I will give xperia S my vote. It did get a lot of pepper but it shined after several updates, and after I realized there was a prefabric screenprotector that were scratched, not my screen. Not using 2 screen protectors did help. The camera on X S excelled i macro shots and were great allround. For most users sony HOWEVER decided to kill the phone with the last update making it slow and less responsive. It lost the premium feel. An obvious sales trix. Sony replied to my question about the slow XS that "It is to be expected as your phone is too slow to effextuvley handle our new update". Well well.
Xperia S had a troublesome birth and death. For most of the time it shined. I hope this is what we are experiencing with the Z1.
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Click to collapse
I had an Xperia S and, yes, it did take very detailed shots. It's white balance wasn't always the best, however, and it was fairly terrible in poor lighting. I high contrast shots, though, the C905 would give better results - I did quite a bit of testing between the two
For examples of my work with the Z1, please look here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157635983420745/

jluster said:
That's a real issue of viewpoint. In and by itself the Z1 camera isn't "bad" and the 245 firmware update fixed many issues, such as the purple fringing and the oversharpening. It doesn't however, bring the camera into "amazing" land.
Sony's much-touted DxOMark scores aren't all that cut out. While video pulls the device in second place, after the Nokia 808 and before the iPhone 5s, if you look at images alone it's 6th place, after Nokia, iPhone, and the Samsung Galaxy S4. In terms of clarity, if you neglect autofocus, the iPhone 5, non-S, beats it as well.
That's still great for a phone camera, it's just sad that the much hyped November model, running on excellent hardware, gets beat by the June model from Samsung. If you do a lot of video in good light and shoot only manual then you have a decent camera phone. If you want to go out and replace your point and shoot with this thing on a field trip or vacation, there are six or seven older phones that beat the Z1 in picture quality.
Now, I believe that 99% of those issues are software issues. Technically Sony's approach is sound. The BIONZ processor is one of the best IP on the market in this bracket, the Exmor RS backlit sensor used in the Z1 is also used in the iPhone 5s and RX100, and a powerhouse. So that stuff is there. The mini G-lens has great spatial properties and is one of the best when it comes to luminance. What doesn't seem to work so well is all in the software portion of the equation.
I am not giving up on Sony. I have great hardware, I hope firm- and software will catch up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that is really annoying thing with Sony, they obviously haven't learnt anything from Xperia Z launch, release substandard firmware in the final release to public that everyone uses to review, therefore gets reviews that are not as good as they could have been, which will loose them sales. If they want to reach their goal of Number 2 Android selling phone. They have to wake up, trawl through the main forums, and review sites and make sure the phone they release is top notch, and make tiny tweaks later on.
Really why can't Sony get their sensor to work as well as Apple? Surely they should be able to get the most out of their sensors than anyone else?
The only substandard part of the hardware that I have noticed moving to Sony is the accelerometer and GPS accuracy, the rest has been robust and fixed with firmware updates.
If you want to get the best from the camera, you must run in manual mode. Because the software makes some pretty bad decisions a lot of the time.

Timaustin2000 said:
I had an Xperia S and, yes, it did take very detailed shots. It's white balance wasn't always the best, however, and it was fairly terrible in poor lighting. I high contrast shots, though, the C905 would give better results - I did quite a bit of testing between the two
For examples of my work with the Z1, please look here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157635983420745/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice shots! I've been scratching my head though with one of the shots you had, the one of the food / burger stall.
It seemed REALLY sharp and detailed so I looked in the exif data and saw it was ISO 64 / 100! Shutter speed was just a mere 1/8s so I'm wondering how did that happen with that particular low-light scenario?
The other pictures I can relate to
Here are a couple shots I took (though not as good as yours I am thinking)
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B6YHwWcrqzNhbEtLUGFKNmk1SVU&usp=sharing
All taken in Manual Mode too (plant / garden shots are taken in 153 firmware)

bloodfire1004 said:
Nice shots! I've been scratching my head though with one of the shots you had, the one of the food / burger stall.
It seemed REALLY sharp and detailed so I looked in the exif data and saw it was ISO 64 / 100! Shutter speed was just a mere 1/8s so I'm wondering how did that happen with that particular low-light scenario?
The other pictures I can relate to
Here are a couple shots I took (though not as good as yours I am thinking)
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B6YHwWcrqzNhbEtLUGFKNmk1SVU&usp=sharing
All taken in Manual Mode too (plant / garden shots are taken in 153 firmware)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The burger stall image was actually taken with Superior Auto (I know!). It decided to throw the phone into "Spotlight" shooting mode and that was the result. A very good result.
By the way, I really like your Garden party image. Well exposed, nicely detailed.
I completely agree with the comments, above, about Sony missing a trick by releasing hardware with incomplete software. There was a very distinct feeling of the camera firmware being unfinished on release. It is now firing on all cylinders but the review damage has been done.
You can see the difference when you look at GSM Arena's initial review of the phone and their following camera comparisons, post update. One is "disappointed", the others are full of praise.
And Sony have no-one to blame but themselves, for that.

Timaustin2000 said:
The burger stall image was actually taken with Superior Auto (I know!). It decided to throw the phone into "Spotlight" shooting mode and that was the result. A very good result.
By the way, I really like your Garden party image. Well exposed, nicely detailed.
I completely agree with the comments, above, about Sony missing a trick by releasing hardware with incomplete software. There was a very distinct feeling of the camera firmware being unfinished on release. It is now firing on all cylinders but the review damage has been done.
You can see the difference when you look at GSM Arena's initial review of the phone and their following camera comparisons, post update. One is "disappointed", the others are full of praise.
And Sony have no-one to blame but themselves, for that.
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Click to collapse
So, basically everyone so far think it is a software issue.
I took some afternoon shots driving in 80 . The camera performs - now- without noise and got a crisp picture at what must be a really low shutterspeed. WTF?!
A situation Im never likøey to ever use the camera in again. Sigh, at drive by shooting it excels.
At indoor shots, it is agamble. Even with thenew firmware. It i proves markedly by manual exposure.
A total conclusion: it would be interrestimg having raw file possibilties. The camera is markedly better after the firmware update, and having the features in the camera button I am very pleased, however, where Im likley to use the camera most , indoors, it really needs an overhaul. I dont aleays have the time to enter manual mode! It is annoying that it defaults to full auto. Let me diecide!

Any other opinions
krimskram said:
So, basically everyone so far think it is a software issue.
I took some afternoon shots driving in 80 . The camera performs - now- without noise and got a crisp picture at what must be a really low shutterspeed. WTF?!
A situation Im never likøey to ever use the camera in again. Sigh, at drive by shooting it excels.
At indoor shots, it is agamble. Even with thenew firmware. It i proves markedly by manual exposure.
A total conclusion: it would be interrestimg having raw file possibilties. The camera is markedly better after the firmware update, and having the features in the camera button I am very pleased, however, where Im likley to use the camera most , indoors, it really needs an overhaul. I dont aleays have the time to enter manual mode! It is annoying that it defaults to full auto. Let me diecide!
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Click to collapse
So, any other opinions?

krimskram said:
So, any other opinions?
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Click to collapse
One: you can set your camera to launch in Manual from the launcher dock without having to re-set it. Just add a "shortcut" to your homescreen, select camera and select manual. Pop that in the docked section at the bottom of the screen and you'll always have quick access to it.
Just a shame they don't give you the option to launch camera in manual by long-pressing the camera button.
Oh, and to the fella above who says that there are "6 other models" from earlier in the year that will beat the XZ1 in good light? With respect, I'm going to disagree: There's no way that an S4, One or G2 can beat the Z1 in good light - and I'm not sure I could point to any other Android that does. (note: the iPhone 5 isn't as good but the 5s comes darned close,... in good light. Thought it over-saturates light a *****).
The S4 over-saturates, the G2 has even worse post-processing than Sony (it's artifact central on a G2 - FAR too much artificial sharpening) and the One? Well, it's the One, isn't it? Yuck. And the Z1 has better detail and dynamic range than all of the above in good light - it has been remarked on numerous times in a good many reviews.
The only place it really falls down is exposure - sometimes it blows out light objects if left to it's own devices. But you have an exposure toggle to fix that so problem solved.
In all honesty, I don't think I've ever been as happy with a phone camera. In any light.

[Q] MotoX Camera Focus Issues

Anyone else have issues with the camera's ability to focus? I'm not talking about some of the other issues regarding low light performance, or color casts, just straight up is the picture in focus. Since getting the phone a couple months ago I hadn't taken many pics at all and they were always under low light and of stuff I just wanted to remember vs taking a picture to look at so I didn't pay any attention to the quality as most were deleted soon after.
This past weekend I was outside and noticed I could not get an in focus picture no matter what. Daytime outdoor lighting was plenty good to get a high enough shutter speed to avoid blur and I don't have shaky hands. I took a few pics to compare it with a Samsung Galaxy S2 (wife's phone). All pics were taken around the same time, the lens was definately clean and I used the same app on both phones for two of the pics. I took an extra with the stock camera app on the moto x as well. If you check out the set you can easily see the blurring on the windows on the houses across the street. And the close garden fence you can't even see the chicken wire which is totally sharp in the GS2 pic.
Pics are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157641535964283
It looks like I may have a hardware issue. Before I try to send it back anything else to try? Its running 4.4.2 now after starting with 4.2.2, OTA almost right out of the box to 4.4 and recently to 4.4.2. Its the XT1053, GSM Dev Edition. I'm definitely out of the return period since it was bought end of November (at full price too) so it would have to be a warranty repair I'm guessing. Is it possible to get a replacement sent in advance or is the only option to send it in, wait, and be without my phone for probably 2+ weeks?

glimmer00 said:
Anyone else have issues with the camera's ability to focus?......
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Click to collapse
I can confirm that the focus on the camera is not up to par. Did you use the manual focus setting? Also how steady are your hands?
I get blurry pictures too, I suspect that there was a trade off in the camera. really good resolution/sensor but no digital or optical stabilization feature what so ever. My prediction is based on the fact that those blurry pictures you posted look like the ones on my galaxy S 2 when the stabilization feature is off.
Also any little shakes give my moto x camera some blur which is why I suspect the stabilization is not present or is poorly functioning.
Please if anyone else is having this issue, you don't have to explain but post that you have the issue, android version, model number and if your camera software is up to date! Maybe Motorola will take notice of this thread and offer a really good camera fix in the next update!
p.s. the shutter speed is pretty slow too... comparable to my old galaxy s2 skyrocket
OS: 4.4.2
Model: XT 1053 (T-mobile - Unlocked version) same as developer edition so give us the same warranty Motorola!!

My camera sucks too, I hate the autofocus of the moto x.
But besides that i love everything else.
Enviado desde mi XT1053 mediante Tapatalk

My hands were not shaking for any of the shots and I did use manual focus.
I added 2 more shots today.
One is a building by my work. The lighting was quite bright and thus the shutter speed was over 1/4000 a second. At that level the effect of minor shaking would be greatly diminished. I can usually hold a camera steady enough to avoid blur down to about 1/40 a second if I am careful so I know its not me.
By comparision I took another shot tonight, inside with much lower light conditions. Its a battery in my hand taken while I hold the phone with the other hand. Shutter speed 1/60 a second and the shot is clear. This shows I can indeed hold it steady enough so hand shake isn't a factor. It also shows that my camera is good with macro shots. but not much else.
I looked around for the reviews I used before purchase and have this one: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7235/moto-x-review/10
The shots shown there from the MotoX show it is capable of focusing fine, at distance, compared with other phones. It may have other issues with odd colors and patterns, but the focus is solid enough.
Based on the review shots and the shots I've posted I do not think the Moto X is simply incapable of focusing as clearly it was able to focus for the review. It looks like my phone may have a defective camera module or somehow be stuck in some kind of macro mode.
Anyone know if I can get an advance replacement or something vs just sending it back and waiting?

In case anyone wonders what happened when I finally did try to get help from Moto the experience is not pleasant. I did wait a bit(still well within warranty and I don't want to be without my phone). I called them on 4/5. 2 calls later, one email though their website and a live chat tonight and I still have not gotten the promised email with return instructions and shipping label.
So, at least if you have a Dev Edition it seems Moto may be unable or unwilling to help you in any reasonable time.
I'll update this when the saga concludes. One initially happy customer getting decidedly less happy.

glimmer00 said:
I'll update this when the saga concludes.
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Click to collapse
Sorry for the thread necro, but what happened? Did you get your original phone back, or a replacement?
I have the same problem currently with a Droid Mini, the camera was working fine but one day I noticed the auto-focus was unresponsive. Tried the software solutions but it's no good... No warranty, so I've ordered a replacement camera module and hopefully that will resolve it (bad pun).

Camera quality gets me thinking to switch to another phone.. Any inputs?

Hi all,
So it has been a week that have XZ1 Compact, but as most of you aware from the forums camera is not very satisfying. I got a chance to use Galaxy S8 for two months prior to XZ1C, which is also a great phone, however I get the XZ1C just like most of us here; for the phone being in a compact size.
So with the disappointing camera, I am very torn between keeping the phone and wait for an update maybe for the issue to be fixed, or return the phone and get the taller S8.
I wonder what other fellow XDA users think on this issue whether the camera quality can be fix or why should I stay with XZ1C or leave it for S8?

i have the s8 and the XZ1C.
in my opinion, the only thing s8 really has that is special is the camera. i also think this is very overblown. most people don't use their camera that much, but it has become a strong focal point of choosing which phone to buy.
s8 has a slew of issues, including the rounded edges on the screen, the laggy interface, incompatible aspect ratio, bluetooth & wifi issues, poor battery life and a locked bootloader.
before asking if the camera is worth going to, ask yourself if the camera really matters that much. sony camera isn't as good as s8, but then again none are. if the camera means that much to you, then you are forced from here on to only buy samsung products. they really do always have the best cameras, but they pretty much suck at everything else. i don't ever miss my s8 now that i've switched. hell, i enjoy my OP5 more than the s8.
EDIT: you wanna buy my s8? lol (not joking)

The XZ1c is a great compact phone. There isn't any other compact comes close. I bought it because it fits in m pocket and I can drive it with one hand. That's why I love it.
Sure I am disappointed that it can't do close up's, but I have been using the camera a couple of weeks and for all the outdoor stuff and landscapes, it's brilliant. I think people have made too much of an issue about the distortion.
If you're asking the thread if you should get another phone, why not ask yourself what you're going to do with the phone.?
Is it going to fit in a pocket?
Are you going to be taking close up pictures of keyboards?
The sound chip is outstanding, as is the video camera and there's nothing comes close to out performing the battery life, there are so many things that this phone does right.
£500 for qualcomm 835, you're not going to beat that.

I find the issue with the camera is that you can't "just get it out and snap a pic" then expect the result to be something good every time.
With the S8 (and S7, and recent iPhones, and the Pixels) you can do that and most of the time you have a very decent picture.
On the flip side if im careful when taking the picture (mainly making sure there is zero shaking, exposure being correct, etc), the result is generally of higher quality, as long as it's not in low light. I can't easily reproduce the results with the S7/8/iPhone at least.
I suspect that whenever this gets OIS (or they somehow do even better magic with the EIS) this might solves most of this.. (XZ2C?!) but so far, it's not really as good in the "snap and boom decent pic" area.
Finally, I currently own a S7 and while the pic quality is a little less good than the S8 it performs admirably. I'm very tempted to switch full time to the XZ1C and sell the S7 though, because as other said, the XZ1C is better *everywhere else*.

I own XZ1c for 4 days now and annoyed by the camera too. 2 problems on the camera which I found followed by its solution:
1) Distortion problem. I have read various sources, it is due to wide angle lens that caused this, and this issue found too in other phones like Samsung S7 or LG G6. There is 2 solutions from what I know which is a) a software update from Sony that adds an additional step in post photo processing that corrects the distortion, and b) manual correction via software like Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop with 'lens correction' tool.
2) Dark photos during low light environment, in superior auto mode. I managed to get better photo by a) adjust 'colour and brightness' in the setting, or b) switch to manual mode and increase the 'EV' attribute.
Hope it helps.

WaxysDargle said:
i have the s8 and the XZ1C.
in my opinion, the only thing s8 really has that is special is the camera. i also think this is very overblown. most people don't use their camera that much, but it has become a strong focal point of choosing which phone to buy.
s8 has a slew of issues, including the rounded edges on the screen, the laggy interface, incompatible aspect ratio, bluetooth & wifi issues, poor battery life and a locked bootloader.
before asking if the camera is worth going to, ask yourself if the camera really matters that much. sony camera isn't as good as s8, but then again none are. if the camera means that much to you, then you are forced from here on to only buy samsung products. they really do always have the best cameras, but they pretty much suck at everything else. i don't ever miss my s8 now that i've switched. hell, i enjoy my OP5 more than the s8.
EDIT: you wanna buy my s8? lol (not joking)
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Click to collapse
I have the S8, have it set up with Nova Launcher, turned all animations to.05 & set the speed on Nova Launcher to the fastest. Got rid of all the bloat ware. This phone flies. It's a great phone with a little doctoring. Saying that I'm still getting the XZ1 Compact, the phone is the perfect size. Just wish the damn phone had FM Radio & more internal storage. 32 just isn't enough for today's apps.
Vinny [emoji631]
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

The distortion is annoying if you tafe photos that are straight like a building for example. in other cases you wonto notice unless its a close up foto. So yes, it is annoying. there is a rumor sony will improve this, but thats it, just rumor.
Overall the xz1c makes fotos almost as good as the s8 in daylight conditions. You can prove my statement useing the compare tool from gsmarena.
It is in the night that the thing goes bad to the Xz1c. But anyway im still kinda satisfied with its capability in night mode. definetly not good as the s8 i8, but its not bad either. You have to think how important is that to you.

vinnyjr said:
I have the S8, have it set up with Nova Launcher, turned all animations to.05 & set the speed on Nova Launcher to the fastest. Got rid of all the bloat ware. This phone flies. It's a great phone with a little doctoring. Saying that I'm still getting the XZ1 Compact, the phone is the perfect size. Just wish the damn phone had FM Radio & more internal storage. 32 just isn't enough for today's apps.
Vinny [emoji631]
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i also noted a big improvement on my s8 after some extreme debloating via ADB. performance was definitely not the worst thing about the phone. i can deal with occasional hiccups.
for me, the worst thing is the screen. my ear pressing buttons while on a call, accidental grazes on the edges and loss of the corner utility because of the roundness and curved nature. looks cool, but not practical once used. it's a beautiful device, but i never could figure out exactly how to hold it securely and still remain functional.
oh, and the speaker on that thing! i've heard mouse farts that could drown out max volume on the s8.

The only thing I don't like with the camera is the slow autofocus. The feature of holding the shutter button to take many pictures quickly apparently focuses between each shot, so why can't the first single shot have a faster autofocus?

I've just looked at my pictures on the computer and holy ****, the quality is horrible for anything not taken outdoors. Just wow. The one thing holding me from unlocking the bootloader was what I thought were the camera improvements by Sony's DRM keys, but since that does nearly nothing to the quality of the pics, I may just do it whenever there's an AOSP rom available.

android_fury said:
I may just do it whenever there's an AOSP rom available.
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Click to collapse
They've been available for a while now.

legendnexus said:
Hi all,
So it has been a week that have XZ1 Compact, but as most of you aware from the forums camera is not very satisfying. I got a chance to use Galaxy S8 for two months prior to XZ1C, which is also a great phone, however I get the XZ1C just like most of us here; for the phone being in a compact size.
So with the disappointing camera, I am very torn between keeping the phone and wait for an update maybe for the issue to be fixed, or return the phone and get the taller S8.
I wonder what other fellow XDA users think on this issue whether the camera quality can be fix or why should I stay with XZ1C or leave it for S8?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't like the phone, just get another one. You won't find one where you like every aspect, so you'll have to priorize.
Regarding fixing the issues, yes, that's entirely possible.
The distortion comes from the wide-angle lense used and can be corrected in software.
The blur and loss of detail is part of Sony's smoothing algorithms and could be turned off in software.
Also, regarding the distortion: https://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/Xper...as-serious-distortion-issue/m-p/1271268#M7658

4rz0 said:
If you don't like the phone, just get another one. You won't find one where you like every aspect, so you'll have to priorize.
Regarding fixing the issues, yes, that's entirely possible.
The distortion comes from the wide-angle lense used and can be corrected in software.
The blur and loss of detail is part of Sony's smoothing algorithms and could be turned off in software.
Also, regarding the distortion: https://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/Xper...as-serious-distortion-issue/m-p/1271268#M7658
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Click to collapse
Wow, that message sounds promising. Lets see what the update has to bring us

In the XZP oreo update, aside from camera distortion fix, there is also addition of 3D scan feature which previously only limited to XZ1 series. And if this is the update pattern, to let all recent series capable of running the sama feature, I am sure camera fix for XZ1 will come in next update.
The other thing I really hope for in next update is tap to wake feature, which shall very handy in real life usage experience.

P20 Pro thinking of buying

Ok ever since Ive seen this phone I've been smitten with it., but the price has scared me off a bit...it does seem to have some down to a relatively reasonable price and its got me thinking again. The Camera is what intrigues me the most, as with most people I would assume.
Here is what gives me pause though...from a lot of accounts it doesn't do very well taking pictures of people and just about every real review Ive sen says the camera oversharpens a lot, in any situation. My dilemma is I take a lot of pictures of my kids, as a lot of people do, so crappy pictures of people is sort of a dealbreaker for a phone. The low light performance seems amazing and teh 3x zoom I could definitely get some use out of, but the beauty mode and sharpening is stopping me from buying this phone.
Are there any ROMs that can be flashed that addressed this? Is this something someone could find in the software of the phone and disable? VIA a rom again obviously because it cannot be disabled in stock form it appears.

I find with people oh and dogs it can be a a little slow I am thinking of jumping ship to the note 9 as that camera is lightening fast plus you can add a memory card
When you come to scenary I have to say wow
The attached pic is unedited
I have to say however it's an amazing device it's fast and fluid operating system wise i have always used iPhones and am happy to have moved to android just wish camera person wise was more polished
Sent from my CLT-L29 using XDA Premium HD app

Yeah that's great, but as you probably know people and dogs rarely stand still..babies even worse. If it's a little slow that's a definitely no, I got a note 8 and even that is a bit slow at times and I miss the shot Im trying to get.
My other options are a p2xl or a Oneplus 6, or keep the Note 8 but the GF needs a new phone

loki993 said:
Yeah that's great, but as you probably know people and dogs rarely stand still..babies even worse. If it's a little slow that's a definitely no, I got a note 8 and even that is a bit slow at times and I miss the shot Im trying to get.
My other options are a p2xl or a Oneplus 6, or keep the Note 8 but the GF needs a new phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the problem people move and the AI modes say keep still even once shot
I played with the note 9 last night and it was lightening fast
Sent from my CLT-L29 using XDA Premium HD app

mancuk29 said:
I find with people oh and dogs it can be a a little slow I am thinking of jumping ship to the note 9 as that camera is lightening fast plus you can add a memory card
When you come to scenary I have to say wow
The attached pic is unedited
I have to say however it's an amazing device it's fast and fluid operating system wise i have always used iPhones and am happy to have moved to android just wish camera person wise was more polished
Sent from my CLT-L29 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Slow to focus or slow shutter speed? Anyway I don't find it slow by any means, one of the fastest to both focus and fire of a shot to be honest

I've found the rear cameras work really well - it is fast to focus, the night mode and B&W are really good. Turn off the AI as I think it's not very good. For just a point and shoot, I think the Pixel 2 will give you better results. If you are willing to put in a bit of work into your shots, I think the P20 Pro will give you excellent results. Now, if you are talking about the front camera, it is not very good (IMO). So, if you use the front camera quite a bit, I might suggest other options for you.
From what I hear, the video is not very good either (I don't shoot video, so I cannot comment first hand). I've read that the rear camera processing software was done by Leica and the front camera and video was done by Huawei - that may explain the difference in quality between those.
Overall, I find the hardware excellent but am not so fond of EMUI (esp. the memory management, notifications and AOD).

I take loads of photos of my kids, who never stop moving. Ever. Most of the time it takes amazing shots, but sometimes they're a bit blurry.
The over softening of faces has been reduced on recent updates, and if you're in portrait mode you can dial it down with a slider (it's called beauty level).
You'll struggle with ROMs now though - Huawei have stopped giving bootloader unlock codes. This means you won't be able to flash anything, and even if you could it has completely stifled development. Personally I wouldn't buy it now because of this (you also won't be able to root). But the photos really are incredible so if you can put up with stock software and no root then get it.

rajeshr said:
I've found the rear cameras work really well - it is fast to focus, the night mode and B&W are really good. Turn off the AI as I think it's not very good. For just a point and shoot, I think the Pixel 2 will give you better results. If you are willing to put in a bit of work into your shots, I think the P20 Pro will give you excellent results. Now, if you are talking about the front camera, it is not very good (IMO). So, if you use the front camera quite a bit, I might suggest other options for you.
From what I hear, the video is not very good either (I don't shoot video, so I cannot comment first hand). I've read that the rear camera processing software was done by Leica and the front camera and video was done by Huawei - that may explain the difference in quality between those.
Overall, I find the hardware excellent but am not so fond of EMUI (esp. the memory management, notifications and AOD).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah honestly I don't use a front camera a lot and even when I do the quality doesn't really matter all that much.
I do do a lot of point and shoot, the quick snap of a kid doing something . But I do like having the extra functionality if I really wanted to take the time to get a really good shot. That's just not always practical.
krs360 said:
I take loads of photos of my kids, who never stop moving. Ever. Most of the time it takes amazing shots, but sometimes they're a bit blurry.
The over softening of faces has been reduced on recent updates, and if you're in portrait mode you can dial it down with a slider (it's called beauty level).
You'll struggle with ROMs now though - Huawei have stopped giving bootloader unlock codes. This means you won't be able to flash anything, and even if you could it has completely stifled development. Personally I wouldn't buy it now because of this (you also won't be able to root). But the photos really are incredible so if you can put up with stock software and no root then get it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, it seems that people were trying to get Huawei to allow people to unlock again. Eh may it would be better to just wait until that happens.

Ok so a few things.
The device as a non rooted device is as good as they come.
Design
Battery
Camera
Performance
Storage
System
Can't fault any of it.
My wife has the phone as stock and she loves it.
I have the phone with the bootloader unlocked, debranded and rooted and I love it.
I can do a lot more than my wife can with it due to the flexibility of being able to remove bloat and install things like lineage and mods like swap torpedo for speed.
Personally if I was unable to unlock the bootloader, there is no way I would contemplate buying this phone, not for its price or for it's hindered lack of unlocking options.
My advice, you cannot unlock the bootloader any more.
Pixel 2 XL It's just dropped by £100
OnePlus 6T when it arrives
Pixel 3 when it arrives.
Not this phone, unless you are going to never hope to root it.

No one of the things I would need would be to get rid of EMUI because people don't seem to like it and from what I hear I wouldn't like it either. I would by buying it with the intention of swapping something more stock ish on it, so if I can't do that its really a non starter.
I'm really looking at a 2xl probably from swappa there are a bunch of refurbs or buybacks on there for a pretty decent price and there is the 200 off deal from Fi too.
I am considering the 6, yeah the 6t will be out but not until November and even then what can they do to change it? wireless charging is almost a sure bet, but not sure what else. Maybe a bit of work on that notch but that doesn't bother me too much. My note 8 has wireless charging and I never use it, so I can do without that.
The 3XL was what I wanted originally but the more leaks I see of the phone the more I don't like it. Again I'm not a notch hater like some people seem to be but it is rather large on the 3xl it seems and with the chin on the bottom it makes the screen look oddly placed...aesthetic issues only though.
The big thing though is it looks like it's only going to have 4 gigs of ram and a battery that's not any larger than its predecessor and for a phone that's likely going to cost around a thousand dollars that's just not acceptable. Now if they come out and say we could only fit this battery and 4 gigs of ram in it because our sensor is bigger than the P20 pros, or something else crazy like that, they may have my attention, but until I hear something like that Im not so interested. Even then, Huawei managed to fit a 4k battery and 6 gigs of ram and 2 more cameras in their phone in addition to the big one...so even that would be a weak excuse, but I could settle for that.

Loving my pro. Coming from Samsung for over ten years, I really like emui. Very easy to use. Very customizable. Thumbs up from me.
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Question I NEED HELP !!!

My s21 ultra snapdragon was fine until i got an update of February i guess and the camera got blurry as shown in the picture. Only the 1x . I went to Samsung and they said they cant do anything for me they dont even have the camera . And my phone did not fall or anything. I really really need help

Nothing we could really do. You could try a factory reset or reflashing the official firmware to see if it fixes.

The weird thing is when u tap the camera from the back it works normally

Hey, have you tried cleaning the lenses. Normally I would attribute this kind of issue from having debris on the lenses. Wipe all the holes at the back of the phone including the black area where the other sensors are located (laser)

Iyad22 said:
My s21 ultra snapdragon was fine until i got an update of February i guess and the camera got blurry as shown in the picture. Only the 1x . I went to Samsung and they said they cant do anything for me they dont even have the camera . And my phone did not fall or anything. I really really need help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like an issue with the Optical Image Stabilization mechanism. Could be software or hardware. Can't say with certainty. It happens to me occasionally (once a month or so). Seems to me that the OIS mechanism gets stuck in a non optimal position and is unable to lock focus by itself.
The Quick fix (and the only thing that really works for me) is to whack the phone around the camera island. This seems to reset the OIS back into functional position. I'm not entirely sure but I think I've noticed this happening after bike rides or long walks which keep shaking the phone in my pocket. Maybe that throws the OIS out of alignment? I'm not sure. Anyway, just wanted to share my experience. YMMV.
TL;DR
1. Factory reset your phone. If not solved, it's a hardware issue and need camera module replaced.
2. If can't replace module, tap/whack the phone before taking photos if you notice focus is off. That should fix it temporarily.

I'm guessing the camera is focusing on the closes thing to the phone which is that ground and the rock sitting near you... as objects get furthur it seems to get blurry... if you look at the details of things that are captured in the bottom segment of the picture they look to be in focus.
my guess is the AI processing gone wrong, or badly implemented vs what they intended to do.
reproduce the issue then report it to samsung using samsung members app > get help > error report share the detail as much as you can and be specific of the issue. Also share the original image if you can.

mpore14 said:
Hey, have you tried cleaning the lenses. Normally I would attribute this kind of issue from having debris on the lenses. Wipe all the holes at the back of the phone including the black area where the other sensors are located (laser)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I literally did everything. But no solution
TheNewGuy92 said:
I'm guessing the camera is focusing on the closes thing to the phone which is that ground and the rock sitting near you... as objects get furthur it seems to get blurry... if you look at the details of things that are captured in the bottom segment of the picture they look to be in focus.
my guess is the AI processing gone wrong, or badly implemented vs what they intended to do.
reproduce the issue then report it to samsung using samsung members app > get help > error report share the detail as much as you can and be specific of the issue. Also share the original image if you can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I experienced this before. my solution is cam module replacement.

angeloamorato said:
I experienced this before. my solution is cam module replacement.
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Bruh if my oppo f1s from 2016 works normally and my s21 from last year need new camera samsung needs some quality control ??? What the hell

Iyad22 said:
Bruh if my oppo f1s from 2016 works normally and my s21 from last year need new camera samsung needs some quality control ??? What the hell
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Click to collapse
Yes they do. And it's terrible to see these failures in so called premium flagship devices.
If you're still in warranty period, start pushing for replacement. Otherwise try a local repair shop that might have a camera module from an otherwise damaged phone.
And don't buy a Samsung device next time, if you want to teach them a lesson. The only thing companies respond to is a spanking with their customers' wallets.
We can rant and complain all we want on forums like these but unless we stop funding their bad practices and poor quality control by cutting off the money, they won't have any reason to change.
Sadly, the number of people that will do this is probably insignificant and the majority will continue as usual, so this is unlikely to make a dent immediately. But over time, maybe? Nokia was once king of all phones...

Totally agree with u bro . Its always our loss. I went to Samsung official shop here in my country and they said they dont have the camera and they cant do anything and no one on my local shop have this camera all phones here are budget phones . I cant do anything right now i will keep the device or maybe wait for a software update to come out and maybe it will be fixed caus my phone never fell so this got to be software issue