Develop Bugs

Why all the bad press about the camera on this phone?

I took a few test shots, and the images look great! What are your thoughts on the camera guys?

I found that in dimmer lighting, it is not as impressive as advertised.
I think some of the problem is that the camera needs to be kept pretty still, so more pics are blurry due to phone movement.
I might argue that my N1 camera was better. Slower, but better pics in low lighting.
Hopefully some software tweaks can help this.

WilliamStern said:
I took a few test shots, and the images look great! What are your thoughts on the camera guys?
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Click to collapse
compared to the sgs2 it's not as good.

Personally, I'm at a loss. As far as I can tell, 'zero shutter lag' basically means they've just removed auto focus?
Sure it takes instantaneous photos, but they are often blurry and out of focus unless I tap to focus first, then hold the phone super steady and then press the shutter (which is virtually impossible due to no physical shutter button).
So yeah, not that impressive to me and I don't get this whole zero shutter lag business.
Panorama mode is a total gimmick too, pictures are very tiny... though this is a criticism of ICS camera app and not the SGN's camera setup.

I am happy with the camera so far, I like the fact I don't have to wait 5-6s on my older phone to take another shot
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

Here is a quick snap no "Focus Tap"
http://twitpic.com/7toyrq

it has been a hit or miss for me.
so probably when they tried it they got alot of misses lol.

i think the main thing is that a lot of people are going "5MP?!... all the other new phones are 8MP!!"
sure, it may not be able to take pictures at higher resolutions or produce quite the same quality as those 8MP cameras, but the fact that it can snap pictures instantly is a big plus.
that and even if you were to take a pic at "8MP", most likely you're not a professional photographer and you're going to be re-sizing the photo anyway.

In answer to your question, it's due to the fact there are plenty of high quality cameras out there on phones slightly older than this that produce superior photos. The GN is a beast of a phone with the latest mobile technology, but the camera is still a generation or two behind. Disappointing to say the least, but not disappointing enough to prevent me from getting it.
That's why.

Are you guys seriously that dumb?
The phone autofocuses still (without using touch to focus). Zero shutter lag means no lag WHEN TAKING THE PICTURE, AFTER IT FOCUSES.
I can't believe some people have no idea how this works lol. You still need to focus the damn thing, or wait for it to autofocus.

I find that the camera is quite good for taking pictures outdoors, but under artificial light the come out a little off. Mind you this is not messing with any settings, just taking pictures out of the box. I will say that no matter where I take the pictures and under whatever lighting, they turn out much better than my Droid 1 (which I fully expected)

I love the new software I think its a step up from the SGS2 even tho its not quite the 8MP. Yes, it may not beat the pants off the iPhone4s but really its a phone and does the job I want it to..... If I need DSLR quality I will take the DSLR out. Also, for me my pics are mostly viewed on the phone for family and friends...not for family portrait books ect. This topic is just like the battery life issue some are happy and some want perfection.... I want it too... but as our devices get better so do our expectations.

I agree the camera works great in natural sunlight, a little funky indoors under artificial light..However, since I've taken the phone out of the store i've been taking random pictures everywhere and none them have sucked so far...focus, clarity, and color are all very acceptable.
---------- Post added at 05:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:14 PM ----------
voxigenboy said:
i think the main thing is that a lot of people are going "5MP?!... all the other new phones are 8MP!!"
sure, it may not be able to take pictures at higher resolutions or produce quite the same quality as those 8MP cameras, but the fact that it can snap pictures instantly is a big plus.
that and even if you were to take a pic at "8MP", most likely you're not a professional photographer and you're going to be re-sizing the photo anyway.
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even if it was a 15MP camera on my phone, i still would take a point & shoot camera for my precious moments..I guess i'm old school..I just use my phone camera for spur of the moment shots..which 5MP is more than adequate for the job.

True, but pics are still only very average even when focused. Poor, poor camera for such an uptodate phone. Google really have dropped the ball on this aspect.
One day a phone will work from all aspects - soon I hope!

It is too early for me to have a solid opinion but definitely better than the Dinc's 8MP. I really like the camera app on my Asus TF I was thinking the stock ICS cam app would be similar.
I think 1080P Video is very good for a phone, second only to iphone for my eye anyway.
---------- Post added at 05:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:11 PM ----------
Danny80y said:
.... want perfection.... I want it too... but as our devices get better so do our expectations.
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/slowclap
A bit on the nose but yes I wanted a N1 but they never came to verizon so I bought it's "cousin" the Dinc. I was awed by it and still am.
The GN...Makes it look like a ugly chunky brick with a dull screen...but so do most modern offerings.

The flash on people's skin (faces, etc) make you look orange, like you have jaundice or something.
I'm sure it will be fixed, just a bit irritating.
Speed is king, though.

The phone takes really blurry photos when I do try it.
Yes, I know what how to focus. Just seems even after it finishes focuses, the images come out blurry.
I've also compared it side by side to an i4s and it's night and day difference in quality.
http://i4c.org/86
Here's one of the better ones i've taken.
But most seem to come out blurry like this
http://i4c.org/88

my camera works great so far. occasional blurry pic but not often.

Can take some great pics.
Far better than my wife's 5mpx HTC Desire!!
For some reason, people think that zero lag means they can take a crystal clear pic instantly, without any kind of focus. Well DUH! lol!
OCCASIONALLY that'll work, but quite rare.

wonshikee said:
The phone takes really blurry photos when I do try it.
Yes, I know what how to focus. Just seems even after it finishes focuses, the images come out blurry.
I've also compared it side by side to an i4s and it's night and day difference in quality.
http://i4c.org/86
Here's one of the better ones i've taken.
But most seem to come out blurry like this
http://i4c.org/88
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To me the second one looks a bit more like motion blur instead of bad autofocus. 1/17s wasn't such a fast shutterspeed (low light) so you maybe moved the phone too much while taking the picture. It's not easy to hold such lightweight and thin devices really still.
You could try out another app like vignette which offers an option called "steady shot". Then it will take the picture when the phone is hold almost still - just may take a few seconds until it takes the picture then.

And this is why I hate the Nexus camera

I made a thread the other day saying how 4.0.3 seemed to fix the focus issues. Well that's great, now maybe an update needs to fix the actual quality? I mean, this is TERRIBLE. Look how dull/dark the picture is on a perfectly sunny day.
After seeing this I took a look at the exif data and it shows a shutter speed of 1/3000? SERIOUSLY?????????? It needs to be around 1/600 to look bright and not so damn dull.
We seriously need manual controls on this camera phone. I'm usually one of the first ones to say, "it's just a phone, get a real camera if you want good pictures," but this is just damn ridiculous now. Pictures look like they came from a flip phone.
What's funny is it looks bright and excellent on the phone. When I first saw it on the phone, I thought, "wow that's a nice picture." Until I looked at it on the computer...
http://i.imgur.com/HiYS6.jpg

What's wrong with the EV controls? Or even the scene settings? I feel I have pretty much control over my pictures from my GN by trying different settings or even another camera app.
I tend to take mobile shots not to seriously as I use a DSLR on a daily basis.
Mobile cameras aren't "there" yet. Period. The older nokias took great mobile pictures, but somehow the necessity for high en cameras got lost in the transitions to smartphones. I've heard the (the name we won't speak) 4S camera is one of the better ones on the market? Tried that?

brian85 said:
I made a thread the other day saying how 4.0.3 seemed to fix the focus issues. Well that's great, now maybe an update needs to fix the actual quality? I mean, this is TERRIBLE. Look how dull/dark the picture is on a perfectly sunny day.
After seeing this I took a look at the exif data and it shows a shutter speed of 1/3000? SERIOUSLY?????????? It needs to be around 1/600 to look bright and not so damn dull.
We seriously need manual controls on this camera phone. I'm usually one of the first ones to say, "it's just a phone, get a real camera if you want good pictures," but this is just damn ridiculous now. Pictures look like they came from a flip phone.
What's funny is it looks bright and excellent on the phone. When I first saw it on the phone, I thought, "wow that's a nice picture." Until I looked at it on the computer...
http://i.imgur.com/HiYS6.jpg
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Click to collapse
Maybe your monitor isn't set correctly. There's nothing terrible about that picture for a camera phone. It's underexposed by about 1/2 to 1 EV, but not terribly. Automatic metering is often off by that much; you can easily add an EV or 2 of compensation if you're not pleased with the results. Or just run it through Auto-Fix in the built-in editor, the results are actually very good in my experience.
/spectrometer-calibrated monitor here

copkay said:
Maybe your monitor isn't set correctly. There's nothing terrible about that picture for a camera phone. It's underexposed by about 1/2 to 1 EV, but not terribly. Automatic metering is often off by that much; you can easily add an EV or 2 of compensation if you're not pleased with the results. Or just run it through Auto-Fix in the built-in editor, the results are actually very good in my experience.
/spectrometer-calibrated monitor here
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My monitor is fine. It's not like this is the only picture I've ever seen on my computer.

fregor said:
What's wrong with the EV controls? Or even the scene settings? I feel I have pretty much control over my pictures from my GN by trying different settings or even another camera app.
I tend to take mobile shots not to seriously as I use a DSLR on a daily basis.
Mobile cameras aren't "there" yet. Period. The older nokias took great mobile pictures, but somehow the necessity for high en cameras got lost in the transitions to smartphones. I've heard the (the name we won't speak) 4S camera is one of the better ones on the market? Tried that?
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Click to collapse
No more excuses. Yes, mobile cameras are "there" now. Look at the galaxy s2. That phone takes excellent pictures, even better than the iphone 4s.
I don't usually take mobile shots seriously either unless they look absolutely terrible.

If this thing can shoot 1080p widescreen it should be able to take widescreen photos.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

brian85 said:
My monitor is fine. It's not like this is the only picture I've ever seen on my computer.
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Doesn't mean you've seen them correctly.
Explain what you think is wrong with this photo, because I'm not seeing it.
EDIT: Histogram of your image attached. As I said, 1/2 to 1 EV underexposed, but there's no clipping in the shadows or highlights.

Just use another camera...I'm using miui v17 and it shoots widescreen and takes decent pictures with control over autofocus
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Looks fine to me, but then again it is a phone

So many excuses.
I love my nexus, but it takes terrible photos. Simple as that.

brian85 said:
I made a thread the other day saying how 4.0.3 seemed to fix the focus issues. Well that's great, now maybe an update needs to fix the actual quality? I mean, this is TERRIBLE. Look how dull/dark the picture is on a perfectly sunny day.
After seeing this I took a look at the exif data and it shows a shutter speed of 1/3000? SERIOUSLY?????????? It needs to be around 1/600 to look bright and not so damn dull.
We seriously need manual controls on this camera phone. I'm usually one of the first ones to say, "it's just a phone, get a real camera if you want good pictures," but this is just damn ridiculous now. Pictures look like they came from a flip phone.
What's funny is it looks bright and excellent on the phone. When I first saw it on the phone, I thought, "wow that's a nice picture." Until I looked at it on the computer...
http://i.imgur.com/HiYS6.jpg
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Click to collapse
Dude, that's not a bad pic at all. Yes, the GSII takes better pics, but that one isn't bad. If you need the best quality pics grab a DSLR or something.

You keep saying everyone is making excuses but you aren't answering any questions. I have taken great pictures with my camera. Would love to post some but I'm at work right now.

What questions?
If you guys don't think that picture looks bad, then you aren't someone who is really into photography.
Dull colors, dark, noisy as hell, grainy, etc.

Just did VERY QUICK adjustment for you. Is this more of what you're looking for??

Much better.
I think the issue here was the shutter speed. I have NO IDEA why it used a shutter speed of around 1/3000. That is WAY too fast to gather any decent amount of light on a cell phone camera.
I've been looking at other pictures I've taken with slower shutter speeds, and they look fine.
Sorry for freaking out guys. I think my issue here was I took a picture in an area with plenty of light, where the nexus camera is supposed to shine, and I was shocked when I actually saw the picture on the computer. Just wish we had manual controls on this thing (shutter speed, iso, etc).

brian85 said:
What questions?
If you guys don't think that picture looks bad, then you aren't someone who is really into photography.
Dull colors, dark, noisy as hell, grainy, etc.
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Click to collapse
yeah your right, this is a phone forum not a camera forum...plus people who are really into photography dont do it on their phones...trust me I am married to a photographer...while she snaps pictures of the kids all day on her phone she would NEVER take it out to do a wedding or photo shoot.

madisonjar said:
yeah your right, this is a phone forum not a camera forum...plus people who are really into photography dont do it on their phones...trust me I am married to a photographer...while she snaps pictures of the kids all day on her phone she would NEVER take it out to do a wedding or photo shoot.
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Click to collapse
Thats not what I mean.
I'm saying if people are happy with flip phone quality photos on a smartphone in 2012, then they don't really know photography at all.
Anyways, see my post above. I'm a little calmer now lol.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

I'm no expert but it looks pretty good to me. Maybe the abundant lighter colored walls reflect too much light and require a faster shutter speed?
Interesting house. I assume the garage doors are hidden in the back.

Electronic rolling shutter vs mechanical shutter
brian85 said:
Much better.
I think the issue here was the shutter speed. I have NO IDEA why it used a shutter speed of around 1/3000. That is WAY too fast to gather any decent amount of light on a cell phone camera.
I've been looking at other pictures I've taken with slower shutter speeds, and they look fine.
Sorry for freaking out guys. I think my issue here was I took a picture in an area with plenty of light, where the nexus camera is supposed to shine, and I was shocked when I actually saw the picture on the computer. Just wish we had manual controls on this thing (shutter speed, iso, etc).
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Camera phones have shutters? This is news to me. They have electronic rolling shutters, but no mechanical shutter. It seems like the shutter speed you're relating to DSLRs is mechanical shutter speed. In this sense, 1/3000 doesn't really mean a whole lot.

In my opinion the camera takes great photos! I have taken a number of photos that are all brilliant quality. I have had the photos printed out on photo paper in a number of sizes and recently had a photo printed on a 16x16 canvas and it looks stunning! There has been no loss in quality with the photo on the canvas and I know that there will be no loss in quality if I have 46x46 canvases made!

Not another camera thread

I just can't handle it anymore! What on earth is wrong with so many people that they speak so lowly of the gnex camera?! Its the best camera I've ever used phone or standalone. I'm sure some photo snobs are going to try and correct me here but I'm just not convinced. People talk about it like its absolute trash and useless at taking pictures!! Can I really be the only one who thinks the camera is pretty awesome? No lag, great auto focus, super bright flash, auto enhance colors for that nice professional Photoshop kinda look that I think is gorgeous. But then again what do I know, I'm just a fool who thinks 5megapixels is plenty
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

betcmrekoapl said:
I just can't handle it anymore! What on earth is wrong with so many people that they speak so lowly of the gnex camera?! Its the best camera I've ever used phone or standalone. I'm sure some photo snobs are going to try and correct me here but I'm just not convinced. People talk about it like its absolute trash and useless at taking pictures!! Can I really be the only one who thinks the camera is pretty awesome? No lag, great auto focus, super bright flash, auto enhance colors for that nice professional Photoshop kinda look that I think is gorgeous. But then again what do I know, I'm just a fool who thinks 5megapixels is plenty
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
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Totally agree

The more read abot the camera and the more exampe I see te more I think some units have faulty lenses.
Some people try to blame the operator but I really do know how to take a phote (focusing and lighting etc) But my GN produces poor pics 70% of the time and average the rest.

its because this camera works two ways, and one of those ways isn't good quality.
regular auto focus with the button takes superb pics. but touch to focus is broken and bad.
i think everyong just uses touch to focus and didnt realize the regular old focus method exists, and not only exists but quality is great. that's why there are many excellent pics in the forum, mixed in with horrible pics.

I find the camera to be acceptable. I came from an iPhone 4, then went to the International Galaxy S II and they both had fantastic cameras.
I personally feel the GN's camera is a step backwards but it works fine.

Good thing you made a thread about camera threads then.

Don't know what's wrong with the camera o.0 is good enough for me. I bet who ever saying its bad thought it was supposed to be for Professional Photography o.0
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

The image quality on this camera fails even compared to phones that are 1+ years old. Stop bring up dslr's or professional photography....we ARE NOT talking about that. We are talking about in comparison to other high end smartphones.
The image quality on this phone is probably the worst I've ever seen on any of the smartphones I've owned. Terrible.

brian85 said:
The image quality on this camera fails even compared to phones that are 1+ years old. Stop bring up dslr's or professional photography....we ARE NOT talking about that. We are talking about in comparison to other high end smartphones.
The image quality on this phone is probably the worst I've ever seen on any of the smartphones I've owned. Terrible.
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Click to collapse
Is the first post talking about comparing to another smartphone? Cool cus that's who I replied to:what:
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Whether or not you can take good pictures is how YOU are able to use it. People are complaining about the physical sensor which is:
1) lower resolution than most phones these days
2) less sensitive (it's the same sensor that was on the Nexus ONE and Nexus S)
So whether people CAN take good pictures is not the issue, but the hardware potential which is seriously limited compared to other phones today.
The instant shutter is software. Given enough memory bandwidth you could easily have instant shutter 8mp+ pictures, it's not exclusive to this 5mp sensor.
Post-processing like "auto enhance" is also software which has nothing to do with their choice of sensor - it'll work on any picture regardless.

RogerPodacter said:
its because this camera works two ways, and one of those ways isn't good quality.
regular auto focus with the button takes superb pics. but touch to focus is broken and bad.
i think everyong just uses touch to focus and didnt realize the regular old focus method exists, and not only exists but quality is great. that's why there are many excellent pics in the forum, mixed in with horrible pics.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely wrong. In fact touch to focus is the only way I can get it to focus before hand (where the focus box turns green). Otherwise it has to focus then take the picture. It does very little different as far as the shutter or software is concerned. Pics turn out the exact same if using touch to focus or auto focus.
The only difference I noticed is that it defaults the flash on so naturally shifts the EV balance way down, so be sure to leave flash off.
---------- Post added at 02:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:14 PM ----------
brian85 said:
The image quality on this camera fails even compared to phones that are 1+ years old. Stop bring up dslr's or professional photography....we ARE NOT talking about that. We are talking about in comparison to other high end smartphones.
The image quality on this phone is probably the worst I've ever seen on any of the smartphones I've owned. Terrible.
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Click to collapse
Please don't spread misinformation like this. EVERY camera phone I've compared this phone to it either meets or exceeds. That includes the Droid X, OG Droid, Droid Pro, Galaxy S, etc.

mjohnk11 said:
Completely wrong. In fact touch to focus is the only way I can get it to focus before hand (where the focus box turns green). Otherwise it has to focus then take the picture. It does very little different as far as the shutter or software is concerned. Pics turn out the exact same if using touch to focus or auto focus.
The only difference I noticed is that it defaults the flash on so naturally shifts the EV balance way down, so be sure to leave flash off.
---------- Post added at 02:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:14 PM ----------
Please don't spread misinformation like this. EVERY camera phone I've compared this phone to it either meets or exceeds. That includes the Droid X, OG Droid, Droid Pro, Galaxy S, etc.
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Click to collapse
Misinformation? The camera on this phone is terrible, and that's a fact. Whether it's software or hardware, the image quality is absolutely terrible.
Some of you are in serious denial.

Oh darn I feel great about taking amazing photos with my SGN. Either my expecations are low, or my phone is exclusive (so I am very lucky), or your phones are defected (So I am very lucky too ), there is no way those photos I took are even close to terrible.

Is that a terrible photo really? I just took it in a dark condition, with phones own flash.

brian85 said:
The image quality on this camera fails even compared to phones that are 1+ years old. Stop bring up dslr's or professional photography....we ARE NOT talking about that. We are talking about in comparison to other high end smartphones.
The image quality on this phone is probably the worst I've ever seen on any of the smartphones I've owned. Terrible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
brian85 said:
Misinformation? The camera on this phone is terrible, and that's a fact. Whether it's software or hardware, the image quality is absolutely terrible.
Some of you are in serious denial.
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Click to collapse
I am not in denial, I know how to take pictures and how to post process pictures. I have worked extensively with professional photographers. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to pictures and cameras, so please don't try to spread information that I along with others know to be false.
This camera is overall pretty good, obviously you have a defective unit or (the more likely scenario) you just do not know what you are doing. Especially if you are stating that cameras from a year ago are better.

mjohnk11 said:
I am not in denial, I know how to take pictures and how to post process pictures. I have worked extensively with professional photographers. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to pictures and cameras, so please don't try to spread information that I along with others know to be false.
This camera is overall pretty good, obviously you have a defective unit or (the more likely scenario) you just do not know what you are doing. Especially if you are stating that cameras from a year ago are better.
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Click to collapse
Right, I don't know what I'm doing. Typical response from someone who thinks the camera is good.
Like I said in another thread, I own two DSLR's and a point and shoot. I've been into photography for over 10 years. But yeah, I don't know how to operate a simple cell phone camera. Gotcha.
The camera is not overall pretty good. Obviously when thousands of people and practically EVERY SINGLE review out there for the Nexus bash the camera, there is something wrong.
It's one of the worst cameras I have ever used on a cell phone.

Sorry OP, but I've seen enough of these threads, and there are still plenty of them to have this discussion. This is just going to turn into another argument thread for users.
- Jay (Sssutt Sssutt!)

The camera is good on this?

It really is. I have no idea why so many people whine about it. My girlfriend quite often uses my phone instead of hers for pictures because the camera is so nice. Only time it sucks is if I zoom in at night with zero lighting. Basically have to try to make it anything but amazing. I can capture beautiful pictures of animals mid hop which is hard even with a real camera. OK rant over but I'm impressed by it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA

because it is apart of humanity. we as humans always like to find something to criticize about, either that or they are trolls from other phone forums trying to bash the galaxy nexus. kinda like the whole criticism of "lack of sdcard" or "plastic phone". the camera is perfectly fine as long as its focused properly.
best tip is to just ignore them and keep using the phone we all enjoy the most

zephiK said:
because it is apart of humanity. we as humans always like to find something to criticize about, either that or they are trolls from other phone forums trying to bash the galaxy nexus. kinda like the whole criticism of "lack of sdcard" or "plastic phone". the camera is perfectly fine as long as its focused properly.
best tip is to just ignore them and keep using the phone we all enjoy the most
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Click to collapse
Hmmm true honestly I forget that people like trolling since I can't see the point. The sdcard thing is my only gripe but I keep seeing things about the camera. When I got this phone I was beyond surprised by how awesome my camera is now.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA

Its definitely better the the LG Revolution. I don't mind the camera.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Gahh Its Lee said:
Hmmm true honestly I forget that people like trolling since I can't see the point. The sdcard thing is my only gripe but I keep seeing things about the camera. When I got this phone I was beyond surprised by how awesome my camera is now.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
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honestly i don't see a problem with 16GB, i mean yeah its nice to have a SD card slot. Verizon users have 32GB. The phone itself (in GSM form) should of came with 32GB in my opinion. But it's not a big deal for me.
I don't understand why people need to carry all their movies and music on their phone at the same time. It's not like they're going to watch everything they stored on their phone. And there is always USB OTG where you can plug a USB drive into your phone for expandable storage.
4.0.4 also improved the camera. my same ideology goes with the camera, phone cameras are for CASUAL pictures. if you're going to go out to a important event like a wedding or whatever it is... you'd have a DEDICATED camera such as a canon rebel eos or something of that sort. it would produce higher quality. same thing for GPS etc etc. yes i know its convenient, but we have to all realize that the GN is a phone. Not a superphone that can do everything in one device.

In good lighting the camera takes good shots. In low lighting the shots are extremely washed out. Coming from a rezound I like the pics better on the nexus in good light...even though the rezound has an on avg better camera. It can pass.
Knocking a phone for having a plastic build is pathetic. Mine is in a case...who cares what it is made of. As long as its in a case no one will ever know lol.

ac29593 said:
In good lighting the camera takes good shots. In low lighting the shots are extremely washed out. Coming from a rezound I like the pics better on the nexus in good light...even though the rezound has an on avg better camera. It can pass.
Knocking a phone for having a plastic build is pathetic. Mine is in a case...who cares what it is made of. As long as its in a case no one will ever know lol.
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Phone actually feels really good regardless if it's plastic. When compared to a Galaxy S1, I feel that Samsung did a really good job on the Galaxy S2 backcover. Can't say too much about Galaxy S3 though. Looks like a downgrade.
+1 with case... Ringke Slim Case + Extended Battery = Perfection!

Why not have a look at photos taken with the phone?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1392436

mentose457 said:
Why not have a look at photos taken with the phone?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1392436
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You should read the thread before posting.
The OP is not asking if the GN camera is good or not. The OP is stating his OWN opinion about the camera and he feels that the camera is good enough and wonders why people complain about the camera.

Thanks I couldn't find that thread. I think we get some damn good quality for a phone.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA

****ty craftsmen blame their tools.
I've got an ET4G SGS2 until tomorrow. From the pics I've seen here and round the web I'm sure I'll get the same quality (if not better) pictures from this camera...they'll just be slightly smaller.
Also people think they are "tipped off" by their "superior intellect" that the camera must suck because it has 3mp less than most cameras. I see it as having 3mp less noise in the image. I have a 16mp digital camera....that doesn't mean that it necessarily takes better pictures--zoom in the 1:1 pixel-for-pixel and tell me that you really need all 8mp when--even on a good well focused steady shot in great lighting--you see noticeable noise in every shot. Show me a phone camera (or even ANY digital camera) that consistently doesn't do this at all.
I'm not worried at all. I'm a musician....I've been in bands....played out for more than half of my life (I'm 32). Other musicians and band guys will likely know exactly what I'm talking about....lots of people are just about to start a band, project, song, video, production company, etc....but they just need that one last key piece of equipment to get them started. An artist wants to create art with whatever they have, everyone else will blame their tools for not making them great.

zephiK said:
You should read the thread before posting.
The OP is not asking if the GN camera is good or not. The OP is stating his OWN opinion about the camera and he feels that the camera is good enough and wonders why people complain about the camera.
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Apparently you didn't read my post. I simply suggested he admire the great photos taken with the phone by others. Please refer to the OPs post below yours.

The camera on this is great. Just because it has less pixels than most other cameras it doesn't take horrible pictures. I still consider it an upgrade from my 8mp DINC.

I like it too. I installed Camera FV-5 and it has dSLR controls. Good for casual shooting
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA

zephiK said:
Phone actually feels really good regardless if it's plastic.
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Agreed. And I don't see it pointed out very often that the HTC Rezound is 100% plastic, the RAZR which claims to be aluminum feels a hell of a lot like plastic to me, the Thunderbolt, Revolution, X, X2, Bionic, Charge, Evo, Evo 3D, Evo LTE and 50 other high end phones over the last couple years - plastic. Even Casio's rugged phones are plastic. It's an illogical complaint, that's my point.

You guys are kidding right? The camera is simply not that good. It's not terrible, but just very disappointing for such a new flagship phone.
It has nothing to do with megapixels. If I read a review that compares cameras solely based on megapixels, I walk away. With the Nexus, it looks great in the viewfinder, but after I take a picture, I zoom in and it's usually blurry. I have gotten into the habit of taking 3 pictures and discarding the two worst ones and almost always the first pic is blurry as hell. I came from a 5mp Sony Ericsson Hazel feature phone with dedicated shutter button and I kinda miss it. I rarely needed to retake pictures like this. I'm only on 4.0.2 right now, so hopefully they did fix it in software.
The sensor is just weak, especially in low light. Annoyingly, our phone also loses to the iPhone 4s in picture quality. will try to find the link later.

It's pretty decent for the phone. You obviously can't expect SLR kind of quality but in good light it's very good.
The ICS improvements have made it very snappy too. Love the panaroma feature if that makes you tick...

zAlbee said:
You guys are kidding right? The camera is simply not that good. It's not terrible, but just very disappointing for such a new flagship phone.
It has nothing to do with megapixels. If I read a review that compares cameras solely based on megapixels, I walk away. With the Nexus, it looks great in the viewfinder, but after I take a picture, I zoom in and it's usually blurry. I have gotten into the habit of taking 3 pictures and discarding the two worst ones and almost always the first pic is blurry as hell. I came from a 5mp Sony Ericsson Hazel feature phone with dedicated shutter button and I kinda miss it. I rarely needed to retake pictures like this. I'm only on 4.0.2 right now, so hopefully they did fix it in software.
The sensor is just weak, especially in low light. Annoyingly, our phone also loses to the iPhone 4s in picture quality. will try to find the link later.
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I believe they did fix the focusing problems with the 4.0.4 update. Give it a go and see.

zAlbee said:
You guys are kidding right? The camera is simply not that good. It's not terrible, but just very disappointing for such a new flagship phone.
It has nothing to do with megapixels. If I read a review that compares cameras solely based on megapixels, I walk away. With the Nexus, it looks great in the viewfinder, but after I take a picture, I zoom in and it's usually blurry. I have gotten into the habit of taking 3 pictures and discarding the two worst ones and almost always the first pic is blurry as hell. I came from a 5mp Sony Ericsson Hazel feature phone with dedicated shutter button and I kinda miss it. I rarely needed to retake pictures like this. I'm only on 4.0.2 right now, so hopefully they did fix it in software.
The sensor is just weak, especially in low light. Annoyingly, our phone also loses to the iPhone 4s in picture quality. will try to find the link later.
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Its not a flagship phone. The Galaxy S III is a flagship phone. The HTC One X is a flagship phone. The GALAXY Nexus is a REFERENCE device.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA

zAlbee said:
You guys are kidding right? The camera is simply not that good. It's not terrible, but just very disappointing for such a new flagship phone.
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Click to collapse
I'm only on 4.0.2 right now, so hopefully they did fix it in software.
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And that is why the GN's camera has a bad reputation. People stuck with old firmwares giving their impression even though many camera problems were fixed.

[Q] M8 camera vs S3 camera

I currently have a Galaxy S3 and my contract is up soon, so I'll be looking for a new device. I've had Samsung for the last 2 contract periods and am looking for something different. The HTC One M8 impresses me, but many reviews say the camera is lackluster. I'm not looking for the best camera on the market or anything like that. I am quite happy with the camera on my S3 and would like to know if anyone has had both devices and can tell me if the M8's camera is in the same ballpark. I don't really crop pictures and the most I'd do is print out an 8x10 photo, which the S3 gives perfectly good resolution for. I've seen sample pictures taken with the M8 and they seem perfectly fine to me, but maybe there are issues that I don't see. Anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks for your time.

Just buy it
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Guys just. A note of caution. This type of question is allowed, but remember to keep responses on topic regarding the cameras only.
Ghost

ajt167 said:
I currently have a Galaxy S3 and my contract is up soon, so I'll be looking for a new device. I've had Samsung for the last 2 contract periods and am looking for something different. The HTC One M8 impresses me, but many reviews say the camera is lackluster. I'm not looking for the best camera on the market or anything like that. I am quite happy with the camera on my S3 and would like to know if anyone has had both devices and can tell me if the M8's camera is in the same ballpark. I don't really crop pictures and the most I'd do is print out an 8x10 photo, which the S3 gives perfectly good resolution for. I've seen sample pictures taken with the M8 and they seem perfectly fine to me, but maybe there are issues that I don't see. Anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks for your time.
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Reviews have also stated that the battery life on the M8 is awful when that's not the case at all. Are there better cameras out there? I'm sure, but the M8's camera does really well in most situations. I don't use the flash on any camera, I tinker mostly with the ISO. The dual sensor provides some nifty editing features later on too. And let's face it, if you were going to do full-time professional photography, no phone's camera can substitute a real camera or DSLR. I think you'll be happy with the results.

Oviously M8

XNine said:
Reviews have also stated that the battery life on the M8 is awful when that's not the case at all. Are there better cameras out there? I'm sure, but the M8's camera does really well in most situations. I don't use the flash on any camera, I tinker mostly with the ISO. The dual sensor provides some nifty editing features later on too. And let's face it, if you were going to do full-time professional photography, no phone's camera can substitute a real camera or DSLR. I think you'll be happy with the results.
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Thanks for the reply. Do you think I'd be able to get decent 8x10 prints of photos I take with it, or is the resolution not quite there?

I'd personally have a look on the thread pictures taken with M8 . . . I have posted some but some amazing photos coming from this phone
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

ILS_SuperNova said:
I'd personally have a look on the thread pictures taken with M8 . . . I have posted some but some amazing photos coming from this phone
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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It's funny you should say that because I did check out that thread before I posted this thread - I was trying to see if someone else had posted the question. There are a lot of great pictures there. Am I missing something? Hell, have the cameras on these phones become so good in the last 2-3 years that the photos there are considered sub-par? The fanciest thing I do with photos is some basic editing (I tend to just take pictures closer rather than crop) and then print out an 8x10. Will these photos be good enough for that? What do you think the size limit of the photos would be until they started looking poor due to the relatively low resolution?
Sorry I'm all over the place here, just trying to figure out if I'm missing something or the "standards" are way beyond what I consider good.

ajt167 said:
It's funny you should say that because I did check out that thread before I posted this thread - I was trying to see if someone else had posted the question. There are a lot of great pictures there. Am I missing something? Hell, have the cameras on these phones become so good in the last 2-3 years that the photos there are considered sub-par? The fanciest thing I do with photos is some basic editing (I tend to just take pictures closer rather than crop) and then print out an 8x10. Will these photos be good enough for that? What do you think the size limit of the photos would be until they started looking poor due to the relatively low resolution?
Sorry I'm all over the place here, just trying to figure out if I'm missing something or the "standards" are way beyond what I consider good.
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I'm still pretty amazed how a 4mp camera can produce these images . .I can from a Z1 with a 20mp camera then a note 3 with a 13mp . . .I will be honest some details are lost but that's just the limit of a 4mp camera. .
As for printing I really can't help but maybe some of the guys over on that thread have printed out ?
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Here's my opinion and it's not worth much...
The M8 camera is great for social networks etc. And possibly could do decent 8x10 prints.
The front camera craps on anything out there right now. If selfies are your thing.
Do not dwell on the camera aspect of the M8.
Instead recognize it for its other great features.
Aluminum chassis. Internals. Screen. Speakers. Etc etc.
If you are really concerned about great photos I'd suggest the S5.
My wife has one and I would say it has better detail in SOME situations.
But the Camera software on the M8 is so fun to use.
HTC UltimEight ?

It really depends on what kind of images you want to capture. Do you want to take spur of the moment shots of friends, family and kids in an indoor setting?
Or do you want to take highly detailed landscape photos which you have the ability to crop later.
Its a simple choice yet still very hard, the M8 will do great for indoor/night time shots and reasonably well in outdoor shots assuming you adjust the setting accordingly to prevent highlights from being blown out.
On the other hand, a device like the S5 will take really great outdoor photos with plenty of extra detail but in an indoor/low light situation it will be just average.
I'm in a similar situation to you as im upgrading from an S4 to either the M8 and S5 and the camera is fairly important to me thus all I can really say is is.
Pick your poison, both will do an adequate job in all scenarios but they each have there respective benefits in specific scenarios.
Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

Jooosty said:
Here's my opinion and it's not worth much...
The M8 camera is great for social networks etc. And possibly could do decent 8x10 prints.
The front camera craps on anything out there right now. If selfies are your thing.
Do not dwell on the camera aspect of the M8.
Instead recognize it for its other great features.
Aluminum chassis. Internals. Screen. Speakers. Etc etc.
If you are really concerned about great photos I'd suggest the S5.
My wife has one and I would say it has better detail in SOME situations.
But the Camera software on the M8 is so fun to use.
HTC UltimEight ?
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I have owned the S2, S3, S4 and now the M8. Photos are great on the galaxy phones and I have always had better luck with photos than reviews say. For instance, my wife has an iphone 5S and was always grabbing my S4 because she perceived the photos to be better.
so far with my M8 the photos have been "OK"...very inconsistent...some are great and some are "OK". Outdoors the Galaxy blows the M8 away (M8 tends to be a little washed out), indoors I would say it is a toss up (on a day to day basis with auto settings or flash). However, I have taken good outdoor photos with my M8, it just tends to be inconsistent. Also, if there is any type of backlight behind the subject the photo tends to be washed out some. I did not think it was enough for me not to buy a M8. I have a canon SLR for important photos. I think the responsiveness of the day to day operations far outweigh the camera lacking a little quality.

bitwiser said:
I have owned the S2, S3, S4 and now the M8.
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I agree with every point you touched on.
HTC UltimEight ?

The M8 outdoor shots are incredible on full he 1080p, decent tv's when showing off or viewing the pics and they come out great on 8x10 shots because I got some done recently.
You won't be too disappointed unless you are trying to zoom.
The quality of the pics are normal viewing is in my humble opinion better than s3 or s4 and in low light the s3 and s4 even the s5 cannot compete.
Try it, get it online, send it back if it doesn't stand up.

HtcOneJon said:
The M8 outdoor shots are incredible on full he 1080p, decent tv's when showing off or viewing the pics and they come out great on 8x10 shots because I got some done recently.
You won't be too disappointed unless you are trying to zoom.
The quality of the pics are normal viewing is in my humble opinion better than s3 or s4 and in low light the s3 and s4 even the s5 cannot compete.
Try it, get it online, send it back if it doesn't stand up.
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Click to collapse
Awesome, that's what I was looking for - something at least on par with my S3 as far as pics and videos go.

HtcOneJon said:
The M8 outdoor shots are incredible on full he 1080p, decent tv's when showing off or viewing the pics and they come out great on 8x10 shots because I got some done recently.
You won't be too disappointed unless you are trying to zoom.
The quality of the pics are normal viewing is in my humble opinion better than s3 or s4 and in low light the s3 and s4 even the s5 cannot compete.
Try it, get it online, send it back if it doesn't stand up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless you have used one in real life (which by this comment I can't see how) but my S4 camera is better than my M8, so I can't imagine the S5. The S4 is not that bad in low light. And if you use a flash the pics are very passable. Again better than my M8 in real world usage...not reviewer and photo buff critics..Not to say I don't like my M8, just, to me, this is very overloaded option and a person would be disappointed making a decision on a camera based on this description of the M8. I'm hoping for some firmware fix that will adjust camera quality, especially in sunlight.

bitwiser said:
Unless you have used one in real life (which by this comment I can't see how) but my S4 camera is better than my M8, so I can't imagine the S5. The S4 is not that bad in low light. And if you use a flash the pics are very passable. Again better than my M8 in real world usage...not reviewer and photo buff critics..Not to say I don't like my M8, just, to me, this is very overloaded option and a person would be disappointed making a decision on a camera based on this description of the M8. I'm hoping for some firmware fix that will adjust camera quality, especially in sunlight.
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I can easily prove his statements wrong, I have comparison images I took last year between the M7 and S4 which showcase the difference in outdoor capability.
Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

Also to add, the new "Google camera" in Playstore that has had the recent update is a pretty good camera to either bee a companion or replacement. i'm usually taking a zillion photos, well, say 15-25GB a month of photos I noticed in the past with my One X and LG G2 over the past couple of years (2 kids, 2 + 4 year old, I have like 5-10 photos of my childhood, I want the kids to savoir the joys of technology so most of their great moments are recorded, plus day to day stuff. That is what we and they are ultimately going to visually remember their young + older life. Might as well have more than less! Delete is easy, "recover from zero" is a tad harder
But I digress basically I'm just adding, even though I've had limited use of my camera relative since Google Camera latest *big* update happened, it looks the business. This coming from someone who usually has 7 or 8 camera apps installed to get the best picture depending on the situation, experience shows me the best app as needed
Better camera unlocked, Holo Camera, Procapture, LGcamera were my most used camera apps on the old phone(s), now it seems Google Camera might take the best pics for any situation (mostly). Tim e to stop blabbering, 2 hours sleep again in 48 hours and 14 hours the past 7 days makes me post 'the stupid'
---------- Post added at 10:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:40 PM ----------
msavic6 said:
I can easily prove his statements wrong, I have comparison images I took last year between the M7 and S4 which showcase the difference in outdoor capability.
Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
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Don't forget "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" also holds, while the technicality of various pictures can be seen/known, some people still prefer the technically inferior photo for their own taste. I worked in a tattoo shop for 2 years and saw _a lot_ of pictures, edited/modified/turned upside down while some tattoos we saw on customers or friends of customers, looked "crap" to my hopefully objective eye, they thought they looked awesome (Like badly inked in tattoos with 'stupid' pictures or photo realism that doesn't look like 'real life'.
It's very hard for some people to say a winner/better camera on any particular photo(s) to align with a review they're reading.
We like what we like Be happy with it and try not to impress someone we really care to impress ultimately. It'll make yourself have less 'bad moments' of not being able to impress aforementioned people we really don't care to impress but do. Impress yourself = win ! heh

waz675 said:
Also to add, the new "Google camera" in Playstore that has had the recent update is a pretty good camera to either bee a companion or replacement. i'm usually taking a zillion photos, well, say 15-25GB a month of photos I noticed in the past with my One X and LG G2 over the past couple of years (2 kids, 2 + 4 year old, I have like 5-10 photos of my childhood, I want the kids to savoir the joys of technology so most of their great moments are recorded, plus day to day stuff. That is what we and they are ultimately going to visually remember their young + older life. Might as well have more than less! Delete is easy, "recover from zero" is a tad harder
But I digress basically I'm just adding, even though I've had limited use of my camera relative since Google Camera latest *big* update happened, it looks the business. This coming from someone who usually has 7 or 8 camera apps installed to get the best picture depending on the situation, experience shows me the best app as needed
Better camera unlocked, Holo Camera, Procapture, LGcamera were my most used camera apps on the old phone(s), now it seems Google Camera might take the best pics for any situation (mostly). Tim e to stop blabbering, 2 hours sleep again in 48 hours and 14 hours the past 7 days makes me post 'the stupid'
---------- Post added at 10:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:40 PM ----------
Don't forget "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" also holds, while the technicality of various pictures can be seen/known, some people still prefer the technically inferior photo for their own taste. I worked in a tattoo shop for 2 years and saw _a lot_ of pictures, edited/modified/turned upside down while some tattoos we saw on customers or friends of customers, looked "crap" to my hopefully objective eye, they thought they looked awesome (Like badly inked in tattoos with 'stupid' pictures or photo realism that doesn't look like 'real life'.
It's very hard for some people to say a winner/better camera on any particular photo(s) to align with a review they're reading.
We like what we like Be happy with it and try not to impress someone we really care to impress ultimately. It'll make yourself have less 'bad moments' of not being able to impress aforementioned people we really don't care to impress but do. Impress yourself = win ! heh
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Click to collapse
Thank you and the rest of you all for replying and helping me.
As I said, I don't need anything that spectacular, just good enough for what I want to do. I'm certainly no expert photographer, so I don't need an amazing camera like the Z2 or the GS5. I don't socially network, so the M8's aim of having a camera suited to share photos on Facebook is of no value to me. My situation would be me playing around with my 2 year-old son, he’s screwing around acting like a goofball, laughing, dancing, and I snap a picture at just the right moment and I want to get a 8x10 made, frame it, and give it to the Mrs. for Mothers’ Day. Currently, my S3 takes good enough photos to be able to do that – resolution and overall picture quality. Would the M8 be able to do that as well as my S3? Granted, I understand that lighting has to be right and he can’t be moving too fast or it’ll be blurry and all that stuff. I don’t want a camera that’s worse than my S3, but I don’t need a camera that can perform rocket surgery either.

Rocket surgery?!?
As has been said, it's horses for courses. If you're constantly taking pictures outdoors of buildings / landscapes, then don't buy the M8 for this purpose, there are better camera phones for it.
I've found the M7 and the M8 to be fantastic at one thing in particular, photographing kids. I have a Lumia 1020 and an M8 and I frequently choose the M8 over the 1020 because of the camera's sheer speed, and Zoe, which is fantastic for kids. (I have a 3y/o and soon to be 5y/o that NEVER stay still!).
Add to this the compilation videos HTC Makes with Zoe, which you can edit and the value proposition from HTC is very strong, IF you have kids!
I haven't tried the S5 yet, but the HTC is fast BECAUSE it "only" shoots 4mp stills, so it's a trade-off.
I get around this trade off by carrying two phones