A pretty lengthy alternative review of the Galaxy Nexus - Samsung Galaxy Nexus

I'm sharing this review for two reasons. First off, it's quite detailed and goes deep into certain aspects of the GN. Second, it takes a sort of different view.
http://www.stuff-review.com/2011-12/samsung-galaxy-nexus-complete-review/
I'll let you make up your mind whether you agree or not.

Good, fair review. Thanks for posting.

Liked the review. The camera shots shown in the review look really good, I'm so confused on whether I should pick up the Galaxy Nexus or not because of all the different quality of pictures I've seen.

LeanNSupreme said:
Liked the review. The camera shots shown in the review look really good, I'm so confused on whether I should pick up the Galaxy Nexus or not because of all the different quality of pictures I've seen.
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The low quality pictures were likely taken by those who haven't yet learned how to use the camera app properly. If you wait for autofocus and/or play with the camera settings until you get a clear picture in the "viewfinder," your picture will be one of the higher-quality ones.
Has anyone seen John Connor?

I've decided to get it based on the review but I'll wait until January to make sure all the kinks have been ironed out, not willing to act as a beta tester for Google.
I hate to use cases on my phones but it seems I'll have to get one for this, based on what I'm also reading here on XDA.

Related

[Q] This 5MP camera isn't looking good, is it?

I've been reading about how lower MP can actually mean better low light performance and this camera may just beat the 8MP competition. Zero-shutter lag being really awesome too.
But then looking at the photos taken with it by an Android developer...
https://plus.google.com/photos/107606703558161507946/albums/5669407328146570481
Where is this awesome quality? Those pictures look no better than what my Galaxy S takes.
Not only is this outclassed by the 8MP camera in the S2 and iPhone 4S, it may be outclassed by the old 5MP Galaxy/Nexus S.
Those photos seem to have more noise and odd colour compared to photos from my Galaxy S.
Low light photos look like they might be better, but overall these don't look good.
I don't know how people manage to compare image quality between different phone cameras - they all look equally terrible to me.
Not sure how you can make a quality call based on 1 phone and 1 person operating.
How can you tell without having side by side shots of the same scenes at the same time with 2 or 3 different devices?
I find it extremely hard to believe that the Galaxy Nexus would have the same camera performance as the Nexus S.
martonikaj said:
How can you tell without having side by side shots of the same scenes at the same time with 2 or 3 different devices?
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Do you need to put a Mini and a bus side by side to tell which is bigger?
Maddmatt said:
Do you need to put a Mini and a bus side by side to tell which is bigger?
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How is that comparison even remotely similar? Size difference can be seen in anything but pitch black.
Would you be able to determine if the Mini and the bus were the exact same color (exact nuance) in completely different light? No, probably not and even then you are basically cheating because your brain will adjust the colors you see based on what it "knows" other things should look like.
Maddmatt said:
Do you need to put a Mini and a bus side by side to tell which is bigger?
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That only works because the size of a Mini and a bus are known values (relatively). The quality of this camera is not a known value, and because of that you can't make an accurate comparison.
By this analogy, you're saying that you can look at a photo of one car, and immediately tell me if its the same as another car you've never seen...
blunden said:
How is that comparison even remotely similar? Size difference can be seen in anything but pitch black.
Would you be able to determine if the Mini and the bus were the exact same color (exact nuance) in completely different light? No, probably not and even then you are basically cheating because your brain will adjust the colors you see based on what it "knows" other things should look like.
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This
People love to jump to conclusions that its a bad camera because its 5MP, and then from that initial point, they simply assume everything it does is terrible. I wonder how the tables would be turned if it were a low quality 12MP camera, and every picture it took was sh*t but everyone just said it was amazing. People see what they want to see.
Just wait until the galaxy nexus comes out, and then you'll see the true power of the 5mp camera they put in it. It will be a great shooter.
Sent from my Sensation using XDA App
Seriously? Its a phone, not a dedicated camera. If you don't like it don't get the phone.
Punched in..
It really does not look very good. I hope that it is not final version of nexus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dPe3lsoVQA
Chirality said:
I don't know how people manage to compare image quality between different phone cameras - they all look equally terrible to me.
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I agree. Phone cameras arent like absolute trash terrible but they're all so equally bad thats its incredibly hard to tell the difference.
Between the click of the light and the start of a dream.
hrcro said:
It really does not look very good. I hope that it is not final version of nexus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dPe3lsoVQA
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And you're judging that video what about this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhlL-ys5iOA
So you see we have two totally different videos. Which one should we believe now?
I recommend wait until it's out and test it if possible or trust your preferd reviewer when he did his job with the Nexus.
The only photos I've seen are of a shipping dock. Hard to make that look good.
I am not judging. I am shareing what I found. Video that I posted was shot in "realistic" environment, another one is heavily modified. Anyway, there is no need to be nervous or judgemental.
I agree that we should wait and see how retail model performes.
Lets judging when phone is out
hrcro said:
I am not judging. I am shareing what I found. Video that I posted was shot in "realistic" environment, another one is heavily modified. Anyway, there is no need to be nervous or judgemental.
I agree that we should wait and see how retail model performes.
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That's what the filmer says to the video.
The only processing done on the original footage was to speed it up in the first clip.
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The video clips were shot without the help of a tripod and shake a little bit. The time-lapse clips were shot using a Stage Zero Dolly from Dynamic Perception
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So it was as well made under "realistic" circumstances. Expect from the first part. But he is a Android dev so who knows if it's true or not.
I didn't really pay much attention to the camera on the Galaxy Nexus as it seems good enough. The Engadget comparisons sometimes show it on par with the Nexus S, sometimes a little worse. What I'm more interested in is the 1080p video, which looks a whole lot better than anything else on the market (I've seen a dozen videos from different places already) and even better than the Galaxy S II. The audio capture, another sadly ignored pivotal part of video recording, is quite stellar. It really irks me when all the reviewers tout the earsplitting garble of sound on HTC phones as first-class because they look at the 44khz stereo spec and somehow ignore the actual sound, which is really terrible. I would love to get a unibody HTC phone, but this has been their achilles heel for me, and their video capture as a whole.
You can't deny that the camera on a phone is important, is a very very big selling point, and many people do make their buying decisions on the phone's ability to replace a dedicated point-and-shoot camera, and many phones are at that level right now. If you are too enamored with DSLR quality photos, you might not notice that camera quality in phones has jumped up leaps and bounds, regardless of MP. My five megapixel Samsung slider I bought 4 years ago is worse than your typical 5 megapixel budget smartphone camera. It's also 50% fatter and super slow. The software and processing, backlight sensors, wide angles, apertures, and other fancy stuff have improved drastically over the years. 1080p video is leaps and bounds above the QCIF stuff only a few years back.
Um, am I alone in thinking those pictures look just dandy? It's a phone. I'm not taking artistic photos, as long as they're clear and sharp (which those are) then there's no issue.
SomeGuyDude said:
Um, am I alone in thinking those pictures look just dandy? It's a phone. I'm not taking artistic photos, as long as they're clear and sharp (which those are) then there's no issue.
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+1 on that. And Most of the pictures where shaky und unsharp but that's due to the user and not to the camera. The pictures which were sharp however are okay and look totally fine for a phone.
have we all really forgotten about the fact that if you upload a picture to most websites, the picture becomes compressed?
being a car enthusiast like others here apparently, this is like comparing the same car on the same track with the same driver.. except one lap is in the rain and one lap is in the dry. of course results will be different!
For everyone who is complaining about the quality of the camera, I don't see what you're basing your judgement on. First, admit right now that all cell phone cameras take crap pictures! It's simple physics. Your point and shoot camera is only marginally better. More to the point, the limited samples I have seen would appear on par with other current devices. But without a comprehensive side by side comparison of the Galaxy Nexus to the 4s (or others) either qualitatively or quantitatively in a controlled environment, you just can't tell much. Shooting video of the sun and then the ground demonstrates very little especially when the comparison video is un-synced and crammed into a small PIP box.
Seems some are having a knee jerk reaction to not getting all 8 megapixels. Unless you are printing 8x10s, it doesn't really matter. If you are, get a DSLR! A good quality lower resolution camera can easily spank a cheaper higher resolution camera. The glass plays a huge role. As do chromatic aberration, exposure, latitude, color balance, sensitivity, focus, speed, image stabilization, noise reduction, white balance and so on. And don't even get me started on compression.

[thread] galaxy nexus camera shots

Let's post here your (maybe best) photo shots taken with Galaxy Nexus.
Just to share your experience with this 5MP camera, and let everybody make an idea on the quality of the NExus camera.
Thanks in advance to everyone!
Nobody?
Here's a quick one I've just taken.
Only had the phone 48 hours so far and not had much chance to take pictures outside with so little daylight hours.
Good, thank you!
Here is one, I will sent some more later!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Can I post one from my atrix??
On a serious note, those 2 photos look good. Can't wait for my gn to arrive
Thank you guys, but be careful , don't RESIZE images!
Use something like imageshack, or dropbox, but don't resize images.
Thanks.
Uploaded some full res photos now, straight off the camera.
http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/9498/img201111241131181.jpg
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/7321/img201111241243261.jpg
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/6600/pano201111241248141.jpg
Nice photos. Has anyone managed to take any good low light shots?
C'mon guys don't be lazy
I've done a low light one.
There was a security light on the area and also had the flash on on the phone... but still low light
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/24851860/IMG_20111118_235748.jpg
I've just uploaded a few pictures onto my blog, along with some of my thoughts.
I don't know if any of the theories I have are correct or not; it's all guesswork
My Galaxy Nexus pictures and thoughts
Taken yesterday. Very good weather
Edit: strangely this pic looks great in my gallery, on FB but looks ****ty here. I think it's the size of the photo (100kb)
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
dumb donkey said:
I've done a low light one.
There was a security light on the area and also had the flash on on the phone... but still low light
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/24851860/IMG_20111118_235748.jpg
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looks a bit grainy in the corner; still miles ahead of my Atrix camera though
my SGS1's camera was so much better than my Atrix
I get the feeling this camera is just really random, some pics i've seen look truly fantastic, and some are just...whut..?! Hope a software patch can make it more consistent.
Sent from my X10i using xda premium
Tjotte said:
I get the feeling this camera is just really random, some pics i've seen look truly fantastic, and some are just...whut..?! Hope a software patch can make it more consistent.
Sent from my X10i using xda premium
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same here; like the ones on google+ were really nice
yet some with good lighting i've seen seemed below average.
anyhow; its bound it be an improvement over my craptastic Atrix camera
I love Galaxy Nexus camera. It is super-fast and with the option to tweak the photos on the phone before sharing then with your friend, it works absolutely brilliantly.
The purpose of a camera phone is to be social and on-the-go. You don't go photographing nature with a camera phone. You take pictures of things you happen to witness or find interesting. You take pictures of friends or some food you like. You can easily edit it and share with friends.
The camera of Galaxy Nexus serves those needs better than some 8MP camera would. It is wickedly fast, I can take multiple photos while on the go of a subject and then pick out the one I liked the most.
This photo I took of two dogs that were difficult to take a picture of. The sun had just set, so the forest was already getting dark. I entirely forgot about selecting a proper focus point, but that did not matter. I tweaked the picture a little on the phone, the contrast and colors, added soft vignette and shared it. People loved it.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.ne...1787878641_578863640_8424837_2044298629_n.jpg
The purpose of a camera phone is to take pictures of things you cannot put into words and share them. For that purpose I have found Galaxy Nexus camera phone to be perfect.
I remember the camera being rubbish on the SGS2 initially also, and was improved significantly over time with firmware updates. I really hope its the same on this, as the camera is a a little hit and miss for my liking
winwiz said:
I remember the camera being rubbish on the SGS2 initially also, and was improved significantly over time with firmware updates. I really hope its the same on this, as the camera is a a little hit and miss for my liking
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Same here. I came in here with the express purpose of researching the camera. Side by side shots with other phones show a lot of fuzzy and blurry photos. Hopefully that gets fixed with a firmware update....if it does that will eliminate my last concern with the Nexus.
I think people have hit the nail on the head with the "variable" comments.
Sometimes the pictures are really good - other times not so good. Not finding a pattern as to why yet though!

[Q] Camera quality due to hardware or software or both?

Hello all,
Do you think the issues with the Galaxy Nexus camera are due to software issues or is the camera sensor just really that bad? It seems that the low light capability of this camera is even worse than that of the Nexus S. I've never had any issues with my camera phones in the past producing such crap photos as the one this phone produces(HTC Sensation, Nexus S and original Nexus). I'm thinking about just going back to my Nexus S and selling this one.
I've attached two photos that someone posted on Google+ illustrating how bad the Galaxy Nexus compares to the Asus Transformer Prime's camera. This is really frustrating and if I were Google and/or Samsung, I'd be embarrassed.
Not the same angle, not the same focus point which impacts the validity of this comparison.
Also note that there is a little bit more detail in the more grainy shot. This is something that actually could be improved with a software update.
Valynor said:
Not the same angle, not the same focus point which impacts the validity of this comparison.
Also note that there is a little bit more detail in the more grainy shot. This is something that actually could be improved with a software update.
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Hmm...each picture look pretty close to the same angle. I'm more concerned with the graininess of the Galaxy Nexus photo. It seems that the camera's ISO is too high which is why it's producing a grainy picture.
oracleicom said:
Hmm...each picture look pretty close to the same angle. I'm more concerned with the graininess of the Galaxy Nexus photo. It seems that the camera's ISO is too high which is why it's producing a grainy picture.
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It mainly comes down to a balance of exposure time, ISO, picture quality level of the sensor at that ISO and noise reduction algorithms/general software post-processing of the image.
I agree that there is quite some room for improvement in this area on the GN camera. I hope Google/Samsung will address this in an update someday.
Apart from this, any phone camera sucks at low light.
I find the camera really good. The only thing I find kind of strange is how photo's look in a dim room with flash on close up.
Videos look godly
Coming from the SG2 the Nexus certainly is a step backwards. What has impressed me about the Nexus camera is the ability to focus and stay focused, and snap shots almost instantly. The SG2 has issues with focus and delays. In movie mode the SG2 would come in and out of focus even when I have not moved the phone at all. Taking photos of moving objects on the SG2 is a real challenge because of its inability to focus, but having said that the photos that are taken properly do come out very sharp and vibrant, especially given enough daylight.
So where the Nexus improved vastly on focus speed, it fails in image quality. Even in moderate light I see more than usual noise from photos taken with the Nexus.
I look forward to the SGIII.
I just remind myself that I'm taking pictures with a phone. So I don't care. I also have not had issues with photos. Especially when I remind myself, again, that I am using a phone to take pictures with.
mzrdisi said:
I just remind myself that I'm taking pictures with a phone. So I don't care. I also have not had issues with photos. Especially when I remind myself, again, that I am using a phone to take pictures with.
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Yeah dude, I agree. If I want yo take sick photo's, I'd use a camera anyway, even if the phone is the best "camera" phone on the market. Its for quick shots. I agree aswell that the Gnex could be better... But I've seen/used worse. = )
mzrdisi said:
I just remind myself that I'm taking pictures with a phone. So I don't care. I also have not had issues with photos. Especially when I remind myself, again, that I am using a phone to take pictures with.
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Amen!
That's why I lug a DSLR around with me when I go away for work.
REAL camera = photography, cell phone = phone with a point & shoot camera built into it.
For indoor pics just set your phone to Party preset. Works best.
You can get similar / better results by manually choosing the white balance and exposure settings depending on your light conditions. But for quick snaps, just select party mode and see the difference.
Camera is more than decent.
Personally I am using Camera Zoom FX for most of the time. But in certain low light conditions, stock camera app with party preset actually does much better job.
This is one of the worst camera I seen in years.
This is what really holds me back from buying a GN these days...I would be interested in your guys thoughts: Do you think that there will be some software based improvements within the next weeks? Or is it just the lense (or some hardware stuff like that, not my terrain here^^), which can´t be improved?
brooon said:
This is what really holds me back from buying a GN these days...I would be interested in your guys thoughts: Do you think that there will be some software based improvements within the next weeks? Or is it just the lense (or some hardware stuff like that, not my terrain here^^), which can´t be improved?
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Hardware is always limiting. No amount of software can make something better than it physically can be. I'm not saying that updates cant fix the issues we're seeing, I actually believe the contrary. There is a lot you can do with software to really tweak things. But you can't compare a phone camera to a DSLR or something like it.
I personally believe google will update the camera but the question is when. Personally I think the camera is great. I think it depends on what you're used to taking pictures with, and how ocd/picky you are about quality. The SGS2 has better camera hardware, but do try to remember the issues it had when it first came out. The camera quality issues of it were patched up really nice with a software update so don't give your hopes up.
EddieN said:
Hardware is always limiting. No amount of software can make something better than it physically can be. I'm not saying that updates cant fix the issues we're seeing, I actually believe the contrary. There is a lot you can do with software to really tweak things. But you can't compare a phone camera to a DSLR or something like it.
I personally believe google will update the camera but the question is when. Personally I think the camera is great. I think it depends on what you're used to taking pictures with, and how ocd/picky you are about quality. The SGS2 has better camera hardware, but do try to remember the issues it had when it first came out. The camera quality issues of it were patched up really nice with a software update so don't give your hopes up.
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Thanks for your input! Yeah I´m coming from an SGSII, atm I´m on a Galaxy Note...so both of my current devices do have better hardware...in the past there was the HD2, which had some terrible software bugs, that have been worked out within months. The last roms I used with the HD2 really pushed the photoquality...
I came from the sgs2 and they are almost identical, I do find the nexus a bit sharper. Great macro
Sent from my francoPhone using xda premium
I started using Shot Control over the stock camera app. It seems to do a better job of with the settings and does give a higher degree of fine tuning them. Give up the panorama mode though, which I love!
People want the highest quality, buy a freaking camera. Or get over it already, stop making this kind of threads.
i am completely dissatisfied with the camera on this phone. I came from a Nexus One to the Gnex. The Nexus one has an AMAAAZING camera on it. Of course HTC uses better hardware. Ill post comparison pics later... damn samsung!
how can i reduce the noise (or grain... i dont know the exact english term) in the pic??
the pics on first posts explain very good the problem.
thx a lot.
daffyno said:
how can i reduce the noise (or grain... i dont know the exact english term) in the pic??
the pics on first posts explain very good the problem.
thx a lot.
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In short...you can't. The hardware in a device this small can't do much more than that.

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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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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm only on 4.0.2 right now, so hopefully they did fix it in software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
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

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