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Nexus 5 is the best camera phone you will ever own, and heres why.

Right, so with a bold statement like "the nexus 5 is the best camera you have ever owned" you probably think i'm completely crazy. But I would like to try and see if I can explain why I made such a statement in the first place. With many of you mentioning how the camera doesn't measure up to other phones on the market and comments discrediting it all over the forum I though I needed to point out a few things.
1) The image stabilization is amazing. Literally stunning. Having recently been to see Bring me the horizon I decided to use the phone to take a few photos and some video of the gig. Now while the nexus 5 may not be the only phone on the market with good OIS it is most definitely one of the best. Have a look at some of the videos below, all were filmed completely hand held, and while the audio may be poor (ill get to this later) it is still a very good image considering the conditions.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/evPUs6pIeW0
http://www.youtube.com/embed/K2u-gR-XLVc
2) Low light performance is amazing too. Many people have compared this to the photos from the HTC One, and iPhone 5 saying that the Nexus 5 doesn't bring out enough light in certain areas and that the colours are off, but if you look at it properly and check the colours you find that the Nexus 5 produces much sharper, less over saturated and less hazy night time shots. Some people like the over-saturated look but honestly from the point of view of a photographer, your better to take a 'flat' image from the phone and edit it than try and edit a poor image from the HTC One. Of course I will admit the Lumia 1020 blows any other phone out of the water, but its hardly a fair fight..
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Although the G2 appears brighter in this image, the nexus 5 still wins on colour accuracy, that is however subject to opinion.
3) The Nexus 5 is aimed with amateur photographers in mind. The little ring around the back camera, yep that glass bit. Its magnetic which makes for very easy mounting of mobile extension lenses, this coupled with the very powerful new image editing tool in the gallery seems to hint that Google want to help you get more out of your photos. More importantly the editor is now non destructive, meaning you can undo all changes and get your original image back very easily. :good:
4) Nexus 5 images are a editors dream (when it comes to smartphones anyway). As mentioned above the Nexus 5 creates almost reference style images it makes editing, colour correction, exposure correction amazing and camera software updates on the way and a few improved camera apps in the play store, it can out put some very detailed near RAW quality images which a a joy to edit, not some of the over processed rubbish the iphone 5 and HTC output.
5) The aperture, while only being f2.4 it is still a reasonably wide aperture which means that it can do lovely close ups and in good lighting conditions its better than most point and shoot cameras. The camera is very sharp when compared to many other and while some people may say that the videos and photos in low light can get a little grainy but I think its at an acceptable level.
Sound quality, now although above I said the sound quality was poor, under normal conditions it performs very well, the problem in my videos was that I was at Brixton O2 and they have a 9000w audio system (for comparison your average disco is around 2500w) and this is made worse by me being stood three meters away from the subs.
Shutter lag, something I forgot when first writing this, is completely software based, many of the free camera apps on the play store fix this issue and I am sure goggle will fix this with an update soon!
So what im really trying to say is...
The Nexus 5 is the phone Google are branding as a way to keep memories, right from the first ad its has been sold as the phone to document life with and I think it really does a good job of that, yes the photos aren't DSLR standard but thats not what its about, its about making sure you get the shot, that memory captured to keep with you. I think the real ethos of the nexus 5 is the phone for life, and in that sense I think it does an amazing job.
But really the most important thing to remember is that
The best camera in the world is the one that you have on you at the time!​

You didn't address the long focus times and terrible shutter lag. Thanks for your effort but you are not convincing me of anything. You should also change your title to reflect if taking pictures of non moving objects only because anything that moves won't stay still long enough for the N5 to focus and actually snap the picture.
Your title also does not reflect your statement below either:
Of course I will admit the Lumia 1020 blows any other phone out of the water, but its hardly a fair fight..

-Reserved-
Please, post your opinions along with your own photos and videos taken with the nexus 5
User Photos
afraaa said:
i also wonder how ppl complaining ... in low light its awesome .. pictures are talking here and other review sites look here and see how nexus 5 beats iphone 5s s !!
it alos awesome on focus picturing : see for yourself and then you will ocnvinced
http://narenji.ir/sites/default/files/uploaded/pw/2528/2013/11/Google-Nexus-5-narenji-20131105.jpg
http://narenji.ir/sites/default/files/uploaded/pw/2528/2013/11/Apple-iPhone-5s-narenji-20131105.jpg
and also its about colors .nexus 5 has better natural colors :
http://narenji.ir/sites/default/files/uploaded/pw/2528/2013/11/Google-Nexus-5-narenji-20131105_0.jpg
http://narenji.ir/sites/default/fil...013/11/Apple-iPhone-5s-narenji-20131105_0.jpg
http://narenji.ir/sites/default/files/uploaded/pw/2528/2013/11/Google-Nexus-5-narenji-20131105_3.jpg
http://narenji.ir/sites/default/fil...013/11/Apple-iPhone-5s-narenji-20131105_3.jpg
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[email protected] said:
You didn't address the long focus times and terrible shutter lag.
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Shutter lag, something I forgot when first writing this, is completely software based, many of the free camera apps on the play store fix this issue and I am sure goggle will fix this with an update soon!
thanks for reminding me
I would also say thats not true, moving objects are not a huge problem its the focusing which again is only a massive problem if your taking photos of something very fast moving like sports, I also think this is easily fixed with software updates

Oli1122 said:
Shutter lag, something I forgot when first writing this, is completely software based, many of the free camera apps on the play store fix this issue and I am sure goggle will fix this with an update soon!
thanks for reminding me
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I am yet to find a 3rd party app that fixes the issue. So far they all have some kind of issue of their own.
Until we see a fix from Google this is how the camera is acting today and any review or opinion should based on current usage and not in the hopes of an update. No one knows when Google will fix this if they can fix it at all.

[email protected] said:
I am yet to find a 3rd party app that fixes the issue. So far they all have some kind of issue of their own.
Until we see a fix from Google this is how the camera is acting today and any review or opinion should based on current usage and not in the hopes of an update. No one knows when Google will fix this if they can fix it at all.
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Google are working on a fix to come out soon apparently but until then ive been using the Moto X camera apk much faster and generally much better. Another solution is to record a video and then tap the screen for instant photos. Once done just delete the video
nfl46 said:
I'm not sure why I started laughing while reading the OP's post. I thought they were being sarcastic, but they are really serious.:highfive:
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Yep, im serious

Oli1122 said:
Shutter lag, something I forgot when first writing this, is completely software based, many of the free camera apps on the play store fix this issue and I am sure goggle will fix this with an update soon!
thanks for reminding me
I would also say thats not true, moving objects are not a huge problem its the focusing which again is only a massive problem if your taking photos of something very fast moving like sports, I also think this is easily fixed with software updates
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If you think the camera only has problems capturing fast moving things like sports you did not really use your camera enough to write up your opinion article here. lol
Not saying the camera can't be fixed with software, I am just saying you can't review the camera based on an if Google updates it. When Google updates it, you can then update your review to reflect the update. Until then your review should be a tell all of the camera today for people who might be deciding on the N5 not what might be later on.
If you can't tell I am extremely annoyed at the camera on the N5 and Google for releasing it like this. lol

I've been using the MotoX APK and getting great quality pictures, very little lag and overall a much better experience. If I need HDR then I will use the stock camera. Focus time and lag shouldn't matter in HDR anyway since it's not moving.

[email protected] said:
If you think the camera only has problems capturing fast moving things like sports you did not really use your camera enough to write up your opinion article here. lol
Not saying the camera can't be fixed with software, I am just saying you can't review the camera based on an if Google updates it. When Google updates it, you can then update your review to reflect the update. Until then your review should tell all of the camera today for people who might be deciding on the N5.
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My review is based on what ive experienced with it so far with the stock camera app and im not guessing at what Google will fix or wont fix, ive used the camera in very different conditions and only found a problem with very fast moving subjects, but its not a massive problem and can be solved with other camera apps that are available now for free. I don't see your problem?

Oli1122 said:
My review is based on what ive experienced with it so far with the stock camera app and im not guessing at what Google will fix or wont fix, ive used the camera in very different conditions and only found a problem with very fast moving subjects, but its not a massive problem and can be solved with other camera apps that are available now for free. I don't see your problem?
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Please tell me what camera apps will help me right now because currently I cannot get any picture of my kid on my phone because he does not like to pose like a flower or a building. I am always willing to listen and have tried a few apps on the Play Store that need to be updated for the N5.

[email protected] said:
Please tell me what camera apps will help me right now because currently I cannot get any picture of my kid on my phone because he does not like to pose like a flower or a building. I am always willing to listen and have tried a few apps on the Play Store that need to be updated for the N5.
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Like I said try the MotoX apk, does a much better job than the stock one in most everything but video and HDR+
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2380199

Oli1122 said:
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Based on the samples the camera does seem very capable (albeit with high level of inconsistency), but it's dynamic range is subpar. Look how much clipping is going on, nothing burned out on the 5S photo while mustache fella's body is clipped all over the place. I guess that's more of a lens issue than sensor, but I do not like that in normal condition (non HDR) you rarely see a photo without clipping.

Certainly is the best in it's price range. I don't expect the best camera in a 350€ phone, but it's very good for what I need it. If I need to take quality pictures, I have my nikon dslr, which blows any phone out of the water anyway.

BoneXDA said:
Based on the samples the camera does seem very capable (albeit with high level of inconsistency), but it's dynamic range is subpar. Look how much clipping is going on, nothing burned out on the 5S photo while mustache fella's body is clipped all over the place. I guess that's more of a lens issue than sensor, but I do not like that in normal condition (non HDR) you rarely see a photo without clipping.
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Yes, you make very good points, I also think its good that it has good dynamic range and optics rather than amazing colours as you can edit those in post. You cant change physical factors like lenses in post. :good:

BoneXDA said:
Based on the samples the camera does seem very capable (albeit with high level of inconsistency), but it's dynamic range is subpar. Look how much clipping is going on, nothing burned out on the 5S photo while mustache fella's body is clipped all over the place. I guess that's more of a lens issue than sensor, but I do not like that in normal condition (non HDR) you rarely see a photo without clipping.
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Exactly, if you look at the N5 versus the others you will notice on both Finn and Jake there are overexposed, blown out portions you don't find on the others. This was a problem with the HTC One as well in my testing.
I am just hopeful Google releases a real fix, not some BS excuse for a camera fix. Having come from the HTC One I am happy with the overall quality of the N5's camera with the following caveats - most photos have to be shot in HDR+ and forget about pics of moving kids. I've actually been doing what was suggested earlier - take video and then quick tap the screen to take many single frames, keep the best. The one issue is if you do want to keep the video it stutters everywhere you took a photo - what the hell is with that!?
To the OP - I applaud your courage to buck the trend and make this review. Everyone's opinion counts!

Oli1122 said:
Yes, you make very good points, I also think its good that it has good dynamic range and optics rather than amazing colours as you can edit those in post. You cant change physical factors like lenses in post. :good:
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lol, you didn't address any points brought up in the post you quoted. The dynamic range of the Nexus 5 SUCKS, waaaaaaaay to many highlights blown out, and you can't fix all of it in PP from my experiences.
And for action shots, FORGET ABOUT IT, its a nightmare in frustration. Too slow to load, too slow to focus, unbelievable shutter lag. By the time the picture is taken, the moment is long gone. Unlike other people who say the camera is fine, I don't just take pictures of inanimate objects.
Face it, the only reason you made this post is that you're justifying to yourself that the camera is good

Oli1122 said:
Like I said try the MotoX apk, does a much better job than the stock one in most everything but video and HDR+
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2380199
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So this camera seems to only take pictures in 1920x1080 (2MP) and is only about 300KB in size. Is there a way to change these settings?
That can also be why the shutter might seem quicker?

flippingout said:
Exactly, if you look at the N5 versus the others you will notice on both Finn and Jake there are overexposed, blown out portions you don't find on the others. This was a problem with the HTC One as well in my testing.
I am just hopeful Google releases a real fix, not some BS excuse for a camera fix. Having come from the HTC One I am happy with the overall quality of the N5's camera with the following caveats - most photos have to be shot in HDR+ and forget about pics of moving kids. I've actually been doing what was suggested earlier - take video and then quick tap the screen to take many single frames, keep the best. The one issue is if you do want to keep the video it stutters everywhere you took a photo - what the hell is with that!?
To the OP - I applaud your courage to buck the trend and make this review. Everyone's opinion counts!
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Thank you. Im trying to change the way people view it. I think we go in to these camera comparisons looking for the wrong thing. After all these are mobile phones not DSLRs so if you want amazing photography go buy a camera, I just think the Nexus 5 has several tactical advantages that make it slightly better for documenting life than many others, the few miner problems appear to be basic software stuff.

walie said:
lol, you didn't address any points brought up in the post you quoted. The dynamic range of the Nexus 5 SUCKS, waaaaaaaay to many highlights blown out, and you can't fix all of it in PP from my experiences.
And for action shots, FORGET ABOUT IT, its a nightmare in frustration. Too slow to load, too slow to focus, unbelievable shutter lag. By the time the picture is taken, the moment is long gone. Unlike other people who say the camera is fine, I don't just take pictures of inanimate objects.
Face it, the only reason you made this post is that you're justifying to yourself that the camera is good
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No, im more than happy with my purchase, much more than happy. My phone is for android and the occasional photo, if i want to take pictures I use my 5D III, im not stupid. Im simply making this because I believe Google have the right idea.

Oli1122 said:
Thank you. Im trying to change the way people view it. I think we go in to these camera comparisons looking for the wrong thing. After all these are mobile phones not DSLRs so if you want amazing photography go buy a camera, I just think the Nexus 5 has several tactical advantages that make it slightly better for documenting life than many others, the few miner problems appear to be basic software stuff.
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You are claiming the Nexus 5 is the best camera phone we will ever own. No one here is expecting DSLR quality but if I am going to snap a picture when I am out, at this point I am grabbing my wifes HTC One and snapping away.
Maybe after a software update my mind will change but for now, the camera is to slow. Not saying the pictures are bad, it is just waaaaaaay to slow for my needs.
If I want DLSR quality photo's I will use my Nikon but I do want to be able to capture pictures with my phone other then flowers.

Why are 360 videos SO out of focus?

I watch HD videos in the Oculus Cinema and although i can see pixels the focus is pretty good. But then I watch a 360 video and the focus is absolutely awful. The NYC and Iceland flyovers are awful quality. Just watched a Venice 360 and I could not distinguish peoples facial features standing just 10 feet away.
I don't believe this is a GVR problem as still 360 pics are quite in focus. It seems to be something about how the 360 videos are shot. Hugely disappointing and at this point I don't even bother watching them.
Does anyone know where we can get some true FHD 360 videos?

mitchellvii said:
I watch HD videos in the Oculus Cinema and although i can see pixels the focus is pretty good. But then I watch a 360 video and the focus is absolutely awful. The NYC and Iceland flyovers are awful quality. Just watched a Venice 360 and I could not distinguish peoples facial features standing just 10 feet away.
I don't believe this is a GVR problem as still 360 pics are quite in focus. It seems to be something about how the 360 videos are shot. Hugely disappointing and at this point I don't even bother watching them.
Does anyone know where we can get some true FHD 360 videos?
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I agree that the quality is kind of poor and it would've been nice to not deal with the blurry videos issue.
There is a site called www.airpano.com that I think has some good quality video. I couldn't download any of the videos directly from my phone and maybe you need a computer. Try it out and let us know if you are able to get any good video on the VR.
I find that 180 degree adult videos are great compared to the demo ones. There is a thread were we are talking about it.

I think the issue may be that with a 360 video it really is TMI (too much information) and thus the quality suffers. It makes sense then that 180 videos would be much better. And unless you are standing or in a swivel chair, 360 video is pretty useless. I think I'll start looking for 180 content instead.

mitchellvii said:
I think the issue may be that with a 360 video it really is TMI (too much information) and thus the quality suffers. It makes sense then that 180 videos would be much better. And unless you are standing or in a swivel chair, 360 video is pretty useless. I think I'll start looking for 180 content instead.
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Nah, 360 is nice to have. You can move your head around to inspect the location.
You bring up a good point before as of why the videos recorded with the phone /regular camera are far better. It took me a lil' bit to get used to the 360 video quality and now I am enjoying it.
VirtualRealPorn.com has some good content and 180 trailers. Let us know if you find anything else.

SDJB said:
VirtualRealPorn.com has some good content and 180 trailers. Let us know if you find anything else.
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Cool concept but that site needs some better looking models before they get my money - eeech!

mitchellvii said:
Cool concept but that site needs some better looking models before they get my money - eeech!
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LOL... Agree with you on that reason why I only downloaded some trailers to experiment. I would definitely like to have one full just for giggles and demo to friends.
Top question I get asked by random ppl is "can you watch porn?". For some reason girls have asked me more than guys (surprising to Me).

SDJB said:
LOL... Agree with you on that reason why I only downloaded some trailers to experiment. I would definitely like to have one full just for giggles and demo to friends.
Top question I get asked by random ppl is "can you watch porn?". For some reason girls have asked me more than guys (surprising to Me).
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Yeah well porn pretty much makes up like 30% of all Internet traffic. Hey, people like sex, who knew? I think the whole VR thing brings it to another level (obviously). Closest lots of these fat slobs will ever get to the real thing (cheaper too). Just a matter of time before the uber hot chicks start making them.
Funny thing is I bought this mainly for the 360 videos hoping for an "immersive" experience. The pixels and focus issues kind of ruined that for me; however, I really am enjoying the immersion in some of these games, especially the space blaster ones. The black background of space reduces the binocular effect and seems like you're really there.

Anyone Else Disappointed with Gear Image Quality?

Having spent way too many hours trying to perfect my own DIY HMD, I thought I'd found the solution: I could just buy a Note 4, buy a Gear, and be done with it ( at least until the Rift is released).
Got my Gear today, and ... I can't get over how poor the image quality is. It's not the Note 4 screen, which is fine, it's the lenses on the Gear. When I look at a screen capture on my HMD (using the Note 4 as a screen), and then look at it on the Gear, the same image seems drastically different: zoomed in, with pixels the size of baseballs drowning out all sense of immersion. I tried a 1080p video on the Oculus Theater ... it was so pixelated it reminded me of watching videos on my old psp ...
In every other respect the Gear beats my DIY HMD hands down, but in this one--I would argue very important area--it absolutely does not.
Am I the only one who had this experience?

I agree with you that the image quality is still not good enough to replace mediums like a TV or monitor. This is for sure one reason why it will not find mass adoption right now. You must understand that this are really early days of consumer VR now and until today there is no "real" consumer ready HMD on the market.
ad. Gear VR lenses:
They really could have used better optics but then the price would be not "consumer friendly" then - also the DK2 lenses are crap in my opinion but it seems the market for good vr optics also just have been awaken.
I remember my first VR experience was with a homemade cardboard-design HMD using good lenses from high grade binoculars. They were heavy (as glass made) and the achieved FOV was not really great but it was crystal clear and nearly zero SDE. When i got my DK2 i was really disappointed to see this big pixel party! But realizing what a great FOV and the right software can achieve (a kind of presence) i knew we have to go for great FOV if VR should be a new medium and not only a image/movie viewer.

Thanks for the detailed response!
I think Samsung/Oculus tipped the balance WAY too far toward FOV at the expense of SDE.

Haints said:
Thanks for the detailed response!
I think Samsung/Oculus tipped the balance WAY too far toward FOV at the expense of SDE.
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Personally I prefer a larger FOV, and think you get the best experience with the foams removed (only have some on my nose). Would never choose a smaller FOV just for slightly less of a SDE as that would totally kill the immersion for me. Hoping for 4K full RGB screens in two years time.

Agree with you
I for one absolutely agree with you. got mine 2 days ago and yeah the experience is nice but the image quality is fuzzy or blurry, it would be nice if someone can mod a lens on to the Gear VR to sharpen the quality.
my question: is this issue addressed in the upcoming drift in 2016?
Haints said:
Having spent way too many hours trying to perfect my own DIY HMD, I thought I'd found the solution: I could just buy a Note 4, buy a Gear, and be done with it ( at least until the Rift is released).
Got my Gear today, and ... I can't get over how poor the image quality is. It's not the Note 4 screen, which is fine, it's the lenses on the Gear. When I look at a screen capture on my HMD (using the Note 4 as a screen), and then look at it on the Gear, the same image seems drastically different: zoomed in, with pixels the size of baseballs drowning out all sense of immersion. I tried a 1080p video on the Oculus Theater ... it was so pixelated it reminded me of watching videos on my old psp ...
In every other respect the Gear beats my DIY HMD hands down, but in this one--I would argue very important area--it absolutely does not.
Am I the only one who had this experience?
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To be very very honest, Im not disappointed about it at all. The tech is really young, the Note4 was only compatible with the innovator and development editions of the hardware. I cant comment on the quality improvement between the devices. But with a Note5 and a consumer version, Im getting exactly what I thought id be getting. Very bleeding edge technology that hasn't even gotten off the runway but is far ahead than anything else on the consumer market today.

Remember this: 100$ ..................... if you want something better, the next step is 600$ and only in march.
Also, this is technically not even an official 1st gen device. It's a slightly better draft than the slightly better draft of the previous editions. I think oculus and samsung partnered to use Galaxy users as a sort of Beta test. This technology obviously is the future, but as of now, its still a foetus. I have a Note 5, one of the most powerful smartphones in the world, and yet, the VR uses 98% of the phones performance. The battery drains within 1h practically and it generates so much heat it would probably keep your coffee warm in winter.
I bought one of the best rated VR headsets on amazon as a gift for my nephew, it cost me half of what my GearVR cost me, and it doesnt even come close to offer what Samsung does. The ONLY thing it does better, it it has almost no light leak. Thats also the only thing i can ***** about the GearVR, i would have liked a black background around lenses and thicker padding around face, or at least, an extra strip of padding we can patch the light leaks (also a carrying bag would have been nice even if it was cheap).
This GearVR sould have been called the "Early Bird Edition". We all are early adopters, I can tell you one thing, for 100$, I have impressed 100% of the people that put the headset on, and not only impressed, amazed. And 3 weeks later, i'm still being impressed by the new thing I find I can do, explore or play.
As for the pixels, it would take an 8K screen 3 inches from our face to not see them. I didnt know this until recently when the app froze on me but out the the entire screen realestate, only a very small portion is used for a majority of content. So yeah, that 1080p content you are watching, not exactly trueHD
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I might have made it a bit small, but not by much.
P.S. Not a big fan of the super mega studio adult films, but they have actually some of the highest quality videos out there, there are some samples floating around, its quite impressive.

Over the moon with mine, can watch full length movies with ease Tonto being one of them, battery no problem here with an s6 edge plus, but use mine on wifi only usually, and I have facebook blather and g+ disabled, and nothing polling ,email etc. all on manual , usually use unit at 4 to 5 on its brightness slide ,not aware of any light leak in my experience.
Everyone without exception who has tried it is blown away, I own my favourite phone anyway and then this appears, an accessory for $99 with this level of experience, if you are fortunate to be able to afford it without neglecting your life and dependants needs.......who wouldn't . If apple had released this exact same item with their logo ,the media would have eaten it alive with cream and the public would too, and, when they do, they will, we all
know this is in its infancy, but its a great place to be, the next advance in screen resolution will nail it, when your looking at a 25 foot screen with the clarity of a samsung big tv quality ,you, entertainment wise, have arrived.
plus, keep em like new guys, when it comes time to upgrade, this will practically sell your phone for you...maybe. lol.

Love mine too. Have had it since the day after Thanksgiving, and still using it a lot daily. There is a "screen door effect" to it, but the resolution is still clear and bright on movies. I put on some 3D movies last week, and they look great, and are easy to watch. Games like Herobound and Gunjack are also stunning and extremely fun with a controller to play. Samsung Internet browser is great, but don't count on all content to be great quality. There are some good 3D video samples on Youtube through the browser though. Also just looked through some Experiences in the Oculus Video app tonight, like going to the Electric Daisy Carnival. Again, quality of that video not great, but still a fun experience to see what it would be like to be there.

SDE is overpowering and both sides of the screen out of focus - in my experience. Its a cool toy but nothing I would use for any length of time. This is with the Note 5.
That being said, the tech should probably be good in a year or so.

[Q] Gear VR 360 degree photo maker?

With google cardboard, I can use Google's "Cardboard Camera" app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.vr.cyclops) to create my own 360 degree 3D photos that I can view with google's cardboard app.
Is there something similar for use with the Gear VR apps?

Just download the Surround Shot mode from within the Note 4 camera and then you will see them in the Gear VR 360 gallery

Rayan said:
Just download the Surround Shot mode from within the Note 4 camera and then you will see them in the Gear VR 360 gallery
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Surround Shot does a great job but is a 2D image.
garyd9 said:
With google cardboard, I can use Google's "Cardboard Camera" app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.vr.cyclops) to create my own 360 degree 3D photos that I can view with google's cardboard app.
Is there something similar for use with the Gear VR apps?
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Click to collapse
I would just disable the gear vr service and use the Cardboard Camera viewer from the Gear VR if you want 3D. The KISS principle.

developweb said:
Surround Shot does a great job but is a 2D image.
I would just disable the gear vr service and use the Cardboard Camera viewer from the Gear VR if you want 3D. The KISS principle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's exactly what Gear VR 360 degree photo really is. It's just a spherical photo same as Google Cardboard's. In other words, 360 or spherical photos taken with our Note 4 will always be flat spherical photos. For them to be really 3D, we would require a two lens camera.
Cheers ?

The cardboard camera gives a 3D 360 image. I don't know how they do it, but it's really amazing. @Rayan, try the Google cardboard camera before assuming it's a flat image...

Rayan said:
Well that's exactly what Gear VR 360 degree photo really is. It's just a spherical photo same as Google Cardboard's. In other words, 360 or spherical photos taken with our Note 4 will always be flat spherical photos. For them to be really 3D, we would require a two lens camera.
Cheers ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly. 3D photos have been taken for decades by taking 2 photos in succession and simply altering the camera position slightly for each one (shifting stance from left leg to right for example or by turning your camera as when using Cardboard Camera) and stereo viewing the two shots together. Using cardboard camera you clearly get a 3D image and not 2D as it is a 3D capture and not a spherical panorama shot like Surround Shot.
Sent from my SGH-I717D

So the solution is to use cardboard app

developweb said:
Not exactly. 3D photos have been taken for decades by taking 2 photos in succession and simply altering the camera position slightly for each one (shifting stance from left leg to right for example or by turning your camera as when using Cardboard Camera) and stereo viewing the two shots together. Using cardboard camera you clearly get a 3D image and not 2D as it is a 3D capture and not a spherical panorama shot like Surround Shot.
Sent from my SGH-I717D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the brief explanation, but yeah I know how 3D photos work, and what Google Cardboard Camera really does is a pseudo 3D panorama. Not a real one as with a two camera setup.
Amazing algorithms nonetheless, but not real 3D. You can compare with the 3D images and videos (taken with real 3D cameras) included in the Gear VR and you'll see what I mean.
@garyd9, I have used the Cardboard Camera several times and I know for a fact the output is not 3D. There's no parallax perception, just pseudo depth perception.
I rather have a full 360 degree panorama with Google Sphere or Samsung Surround Shot, than a pseudo 3D blurred on top and bottom panorama. However I like the audio feature of Cardboard Camera.

Rayan said:
It's just a spherical photo same as Google Cardboard's. In other words, 360 or spherical photos taken with our Note 4 will always be flat spherical photos.
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Click to collapse
Rayan said:
Thanks for the brief explanation, but yeah I know how 3D photos work, and what Google Cardboard Camera really does is a pseudo 3D panorama. Not a real one as with a two camera setup.
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Click to collapse
I was pointing out that the statement earlier quoted was incorrect. The spherical photos taken with the note 4 (or note 5) are NOT the same as the photos taken with google cardboard. Regardless of if they are "real" 3D or "fake" 3D, the google cardboard images are still 3D.
Again, unlike the samsung camera ones, the cardboard camera ones APPEAR 3 dimensional when viewed. So, they are NOT the same.
BTW, being you are obsessing over technicalities, for imaging a still subject, two lenses are not required for 3D. It's only required that the still subject be captured from two perspectives, each approximating a view from each of the two eyes. So, if you take a picture of a still subject, move the camera a certain distance left or right (the distance approximating the distance between the eyes of an average person) and take another picture, they could be combined to be a "real" 3D image.
My best guess is that this is how google's cardboard camera works...

garyd9 said:
I was pointing out that the statement earlier quoted was incorrect. The spherical photos taken with the note 4 (or note 5) are NOT the same as the photos taken with google cardboard. Regardless of if they are "real" 3D or "fake" 3D, the google cardboard images are still 3D.
Again, unlike the samsung camera ones, the cardboard camera ones APPEAR 3 dimensional when viewed. So, they are NOT the same.
BTW, being you are obsessing over technicalities, for imaging a still subject, two lenses are not required for 3D. It's only required that the still subject be captured from two perspectives, each approximating a view from each of the two eyes. So, if you take a picture of a still subject, move the camera a certain distance left or right (the distance approximating the distance between the eyes of an average person) and take another picture, they could be combined to be a "real" 3D image.
My best guess is that this is how google's cardboard camera works...
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Click to collapse
Again, I do understand how that works. However I beg to disagree because in this case the images are taken from the same point in space (pivot), in other words no lens separation. In the case of Cardboard Camera, they are using algorithms to emulate a two image separation which for me does not seem 3D at all.
Have you ever used a Nintendo 3DS XL? The effect while not panoramic, is real 3D because those images and videos are actually shot with two cameras.

Rayan said:
However I beg to disagree
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You don't have to beg if you want to disagree. In fact, I'd prefer if you didn't beg. It's very hard to have a conversation with someone when they're on their knees.
Rayan said:
because in this case the images are taken from the same point in space (pivot), in other words no lens separation. In the case of Cardboard Camera, they are using algorithms to emulate a two image separation which for me does not seem 3D at all.
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Click to collapse
Ah, perhaps that's why it doesn't work out for you... I don't think it'd work well if the origin point of each frame was identical.
Instead of pivoting the phone, pivot your entire body. (When I did it, I just spun around in an office chair.) That will change the origin point of each "frame" of the photo. While not perfect, that allows subsequent frames of the overall image to closely simulate the distance between two eyes on a human.
In fact, the following blog post from google documents that usage (https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2015/12/step-inside-your-photos-with-cardboard.html)
It’s simple to take a photo: just hold out your phone and move it around you in a circle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

garyd9 said:
You don't have to beg if you want to disagree. In fact, I'd prefer if you didn't beg. It's very hard to have a conversation with someone when they're on their knees.
Ah, perhaps that's why it doesn't work out for you... I don't think it'd work well if the origin point of each frame was identical.
Instead of pivoting the phone, pivot your entire body. (When I did it, I just spun around in an office chair.) That will change the origin point of each "frame" of the photo. While not perfect, that allows subsequent frames of the overall image to closely simulate the distance between two eyes on a human.
In fact, the following blog post from google documents that usage (https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2015/12/step-inside-your-photos-with-cardboard.html)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha, you are funny :silly:
Technically, holding out your phone and moving it around you in a circle creates the aforementioned pivot, because you are the pivot! :laugh:
Kidding aside, yeah I got your point and I have tried it several times while rotating in my office chair too and it does create a seamless panorama, but the so called "depth effect" I can barely see.
Now (while its not stated in the instructions) if you hold the camera with your arms extended while rotating to create more distance that becomes a radii and then the effect is a bit more perceptible. :good:
:silly:

Rayan said:
I have tried it several times while rotating in my office chair too and it does create a seamless panorama, but the so called "depth effect" I can barely see.
Now (while its not stated in the instructions) if you hold the camera with your arms extended while rotating to create more distance that becomes a radii and then the effect is a bit more perceptible.
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Click to collapse
Odd... when I did it in my desk char, then displayed the image via google cardboard camera app using the gear VR (with oculus dev test mode enabled and the service disabled, of course), the effect was incredibly realistic (as long as I didn't look up or down.) It was impressive enough that I showed my workplace to my wife (who has never been there) and she was able to judge distances fairly well...
(actually, too well: her comment was "who's that attractive woman who sits only about 10 feet behind you? Does she have to be so close?)
I wish I still had the image, but I deleted it when I returned the gear vr.. (It didn't fit really well on my nose.. causing soreness. It also provoked me to get incredible motion sickness while standing almost completely still - which is pretty impressive.)

garyd9 said:
Odd... when I did it in my desk char, then displayed the image via google cardboard camera app using the gear VR (with oculus dev test mode enabled and the service disabled, of course), the effect was incredibly realistic (as long as I didn't look up or down.) It was impressive enough that I showed my workplace to my wife (who has never been there) and she was able to judge distances fairly well...
(actually, too well: her comment was "who's that attractive woman who sits only about 10 feet behind you? Does she have to be so close?)
I wish I still had the image, but I deleted it when I returned the gear vr.. (It didn't fit really well on my nose.. causing soreness. It also provoked me to get incredible motion sickness while standing almost completely still - which is pretty impressive.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahaha BUSTED!!!
How come you got dizzy with the Gear VR? Supposedly the Gear VR is less prone to create motion sickness than Cardboard because of its dedicated set of sensors that improve motion tracking with a smoother experience.
But yeah, some people are more susceptible to get dizzy with VR.

Rayan said:
How come you got dizzy with the Gear VR?
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Click to collapse
It didn't start until the third day playing with it. I downloaded and started playing a demo of something called something like "dreadhalls." It seemed like a 1st person dungeon crawler. (I was really impressed with it..) After a couple hours with it, I was ready to lose my dinner. From that point forward, I couldn't handle anything beyond watching a movie.
Then I noticed that the soreness on my nose was leaving a big red mark. So, back to Best Buy it went.

garyd9 said:
It didn't start until the third day playing with it. I downloaded and started playing a demo of something called something like "dreadhalls." It seemed like a 1st person dungeon crawler. (I was really impressed with it..) After a couple hours with it, I was ready to lose my dinner. From that point forward, I couldn't handle anything beyond watching a movie.
Then I noticed that the soreness on my nose was leaving a big red mark. So, back to Best Buy it went.
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Click to collapse
Too bad!
Maybe the included padded replacement could have helped you with the soreness?
Yeah, Dreadhalls is a neat game!
For me the dizziness went away the more I used it and getting dizzy (to some extent) is part of the fun. That's why I love Theme Parks :good:

Rayan said:
Maybe the included padded replacement could have helped you with the soreness?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There wasn't any additional replacement padding.. just the single padding that was already attached to the gear VR.
I have to admit that I really liked the device. A completely portable "VR" rig (even if the resolution isn't great) is pretty nice. (Of course, it's only visual VR, but still damn nice.)
The other flaw I found with the Gear VR was that my kids (10 and 12) kept "borrowing" my phone. That made me remember that the gear VR really only should be considered an accessory for a specific phone (my note5) and a specific phone that has a sealed battery... so even if I would keep the phone for more than my normal 1 to 1.5 years, the gear VR would start to become useless as the sealed battery started to lose capacity.
(This last consideration wasn't really a factor in returning it, to be honest.)

garyd9 said:
There wasn't any additional replacement padding.. just the single padding that was already attached to the gear VR.
I have to admit that I really liked the device. A completely portable "VR" rig (even if the resolution isn't great) is pretty nice. (Of course, it's only visual VR, but still damn nice.)
The other flaw I found with the Gear VR was that my kids (10 and 12) kept "borrowing" my phone. That made me remember that the gear VR really only should be considered an accessory for a specific phone (my note5) and a specific phone that has a sealed battery... so even if I would keep the phone for more than my normal 1 to 1.5 years, the gear VR would start to become useless as the sealed battery started to lose capacity.
(This last consideration wasn't really a factor in returning it, to be honest.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's odd about the replacement "thicker" padding, maybe it only was included in the initial release?
You made a VERY VALID point to consider when using the Note 5 or S6 with the Gear VR!
Actually that's one of the main reasons why I didn't upgrade my Note 4 to the Note 5. :crying:

Photo quality

Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the Razer Phone 2 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!

i found the stock camera app to be pretty poor coming from a pixel 2 like it was almost dealbreaking. I also have an essential phone that needed a google cam port to be usable. So i went to the gcam repo and spent a good hour trying all the versions from arnova, cstark etc. and i found that the only one that actually works is from BSG for the Mi 8 and the quality is night and day. i posted on reddit about it. https://www.reddit.com/r/razerphone/comments/9rv2ed/google_cam_port_quality_vs_stock_app_vs_pixel_2/

meh
There is no 60 frames-per-second 1080p video nor is there 16 by 9 aspect ratio for photos they are also blurry, the zoom is okay though I guess.

https://imgur.com/gallery/5tkoGjG
Picture taken with it, does an amazing job at medium-low lighting

Razer's photo app does pretty good, minus not having slow motion, beating all my previous phones in clarity, quality and ability to take photos of an always moving 2 year old with very minimal, if any, motion blur, and in low light without flash and no visible grainyness. But to boost your cameras performance, Gcam works wonders (slow motion still does not work) Beware of file sizes of videos, though... An 8 minute 4k video of my daughter was a whopping 2.5gb... and when you take photos at the same time you're recording, they come out much darker than just taking a photo by itself. Photo quality is outstanding, taking bright, clear photos in low light with no motion blur what so ever, and with no visible grainyness or loss of color accuracy. People with high end iPhones and Samsung devices were amazed at the photo quality of the Razer 2 compared to their phones...so a big plus for this phone. I have NO idea what people we're talking about when they said the camera was crap... As far as the photo album app, I think the one that comes with the phone totally sucks, it's the Google albums app, which for me is over complicated, I have no idea how to browse it, or organize it, or create folders, or move them to folders...so, I downloaded a very simple, easy to use gallery app that fits all my needs. VERY simple to understand, I can move things around, create new folders, etc. If you're interested in it, here's the link.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro
It reminds me of the simpler album apps that came with earlier versions of Android Galaxy phones, which is what I'm used to.
EDIT- 10/16/19
Finally found a camera app that makes full use of the camera. Gcam
Version 6.2.030. greatly increased clarity, amazing low light performance, night mode, multiple resolutions to choose from, hdr, hdr+, 4k video, bokke effect in portrait mode, which makes a HUGE improvement in photo dramatic effect when taking pictures of people, and most importantly, to me at least, VERIFIED WORKING SLOW MOTION AND TIME LAPSE... Which for some STUPID REASON Razer has OMITTED from even their latest software update, posted only a couple days ago. Link below for the gcam mod.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rAgBKJ9ZixrsfP2_29HHJabm-2g9etLY/view?usp=drivesdk
I cannot recommend you use this gcam mod enough! It's EXACTLY what this phone was missing all along
Not my work, BTW. Simply pointing a link at someone else's work.

mmfnsmith said:
Razer's photo app does pretty good, minus not having slow motion, beating all my previous phones in clarity, quality and ability to take photos of an always moving 2 year old with very minimal, if any, motion blur, and in low light without flash and no visible grainyness. But to boost your cameras performance, Gcam works wonders (slow motion still does not work) Beware of file sizes of videos, though... An 8 minute 4k video of my daughter was a whopping 2.5gb... and when you take photos at the same time you're recording, they come out much darker than just taking a photo by itself. Photo quality is outstanding, taking bright, clear photos in low light with no motion blur what so ever, and with no visible grainyness or loss of color accuracy. People with high end iPhones and Samsung devices were amazed at the photo quality of the Razer 2 compared to their phones...so a big plus for this phone. I have NO idea what people we're talking about when they said the camera was crap... The only problem I have is audio quality issues. Sounds like they have a background noise suppression setting turned on by default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p9wTQKDUWFDrOMX2zAofWl7G2ULpTdRn/view?usp=drivesdk

I'm pretty blown away with this camera, especially in very low light. I downloaded the gcam app. And just wow!
This is a picture in my hobby room with just the light from my computer monitor no other lights or flash
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Sent from my Phone 2 using Tapatalk

Warrior1988 said:
Try this. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p9wTQKDUWFDrOMX2zAofWl7G2ULpTdRn/view?usp=drivesdk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man, I tried this app you linked to and here are some comparison shots.
In our play room with low light currently.
Stock camera app
You linked camera app
Sent from my Phone 2 using Tapatalk

Hey, a Razer Phone 2-specific version of GCam was uploaded to https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/ the other day. I downloaded it, and it's so much faster than the MI8 version. It's bloody quick. No more loading ring when I'm taking a picture. Just a flash as the picture is taken.

The quality is "okay" but not that good
I hope they'll do better in the future .
Mini Militia App Lock

cs88 said:
i found the stock camera app to be pretty poor coming from a pixel 2 like it was almost dealbreaking. I also have an essential phone that needed a google cam port to be usable. So i went to the gcam repo and spent a good hour trying all the versions from arnova, cstark etc. and i found that the only one that actually works is from BSG for the Mi 8 and the quality is night and day. i posted on reddit about it. https://www.reddit.com/r/razerphone/comments/9rv2ed/google_cam_port_quality_vs_stock_app_vs_pixel_2/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you like the Razer 2 w/gcam compared to the Pixel 2?

I just installed the RP 2 gcam from the link and only saw a lowlight/indoors performance difference while indoors. Once I went outside there was a bit of a split decision. On one hand the dynamic range of gcam was a lot better and maintained clear details in the image. There were a couple of occassions where the stock camera app took a more appealing picture. Most of the pics while outside in good natural light were almost identical; only zooming in all the way and searching would you see the difference. Again, that goes back to the dynamic range and how the apps process the images once you take the picture. At some point we need to stop splitting hairs on the most minor detail that really isn't discernable unless you zoom in 300% an search vice when you look at the normal zoom image. I have noticed however, the RP2 does over process more often than not, leading to it softening the image way too much causing a slight blur in the details. But other times it takes really good pictures.

I just uninstalled the gcam app now. I don't know what happened but was using the camera a few hours after installing and testing it out and I noticed major artifacts, color distortion and image distortion when I am looking at the screen and moving the phone around to different subjects. I also notice it having a real hard time adjusting the exposure and balance. The removal of the gcam app hasn't seemed to fix anything. I may have to reset the phone to get it functioning again.

lamamafia said:
There is no 60 frames-per-second 1080p video nor is there 16 by 9 aspect ratio for photos they are also blurry, the zoom is okay though I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not bad...

I just got the phone, and knew going into it the camera was going to be bad (doubly bad considering I was coming from an LG V20!). What I didn't expect was just how bad HDR is on the stock app. It's rather laughable. The first image is a normal photo on the telephoto lens. The second photo is an HDR shot on the same lens. I plan to play around with Gcam, but HDR will never see the light of day on my stock app. Lol

Not as good as my motorola z2 force. Really, very bad! I can only play games now. . . . Maybe gaming phones can only play games.