Canyon Photography - Samsung Galaxy Nexus

So I decided to bring along the GN on a fishing trip at the Colorado River, just to see what it was capable of. Now, I'm not a great photographer, (you can see my finger in one of the pictures), but I played around with the exposure, scene, and zoom settings, and I took pictures at different times of the day to see how the camera would react to different lighting scenarios.
It seems the camera is able to handle shadows and sunlight in the same picture fairly well, but when looking toward the sun there is noticeable discoloration and glare, and when fully zoomed in, the picture loses a lot of its quality (duh).
I think for a cellphone camera, these pictures are great, and while is won't replace a dSLR or a point and shoot, it's definitely adequate for the quick shot.
Let me know what you think.
https://plus.google.com/photos/112585127680349312278/albums/5694424386311084593?authkey=CNm-gMWztYfm5AE

not bad, not bad at all. i believe most of the complaints have been around low light environments and motion pics.
They tend to always fare well outdoors

Nice pictures, beautiful place- so jealous that you can just take " a trip to the Colorado river"

jameslfc5 said:
Nice pictures, beautiful place- so jealous that you can just take " a trip to the Colorado river"
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I was thinking the Same
"A trip to the Mersey" has a depressingly British ring to it

They look great to me. I wish I was fly fishing for trout! Was that in AZ?
I've read it's best to not point digital cameras at the sun as the optic sensor could become damaged.

Lovely. I cant see what people really expect from a phones camera.
You cant have it all, If you would be ok with a 250gr heavy and 50mm thick nexus, it would be taking amazing 12 MP photos
You have to choose between "slightly better photos, smaller screen and no freedom at all" and "bigger screen, faster and slimmer phone, and full of freedom"

killyouridols said:
I was thinking the Same
"A trip to the Mersey" has a depressingly British ring to it
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Haha tell me about it :/

TiltedAz said:
They look great to me. I wish I was fly fishing for trout! Was that in AZ?
I've read it's best to not point digital cameras at the sun as the optic sensor could become damaged.
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Yeah, this was in AZ, by Lee's Ferry if you're familiar with the area.
I figured a quick shot wouldn't completely mess it up so I decided it was worth the risk to see how it would handle it. Maybe not the best idea, but oh well.

lightninman said:
Yeah, this was in AZ, by Lee's Ferry if you're familiar with the area.
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That's what I was thinking. I've yet to get up there but I may have to do it soon.

Very nicely done! And nice catch!

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.

The camera software sucks

tl;dr - see subject
i have to vent here for a few minutes.
i'm sorry but the camera on this phone - or at the very least the software that controls it - sucks beyond anything i've ever used before. my main issue stems from the brainless way it handles orientation when attaching to things like email, tweets, mms, etc. WHY.THE. can't the software figure out how i took the shot? if i don't post the shot in the exact way that samsung wants me to, my shots come out upside down or rotated the wrong way.
maybe it's me. maybe i'm too big of an idiot to use a camera. oh wait, no. i'm a professional photographer. i know what you're going to say but i like having a phone with a good point and shoot so i don't have to lug around another piece of equipment.
full disclosure, i'm a fruit phone convert and i've only been on android for a month but in that time i've figured out how to put a kickass ROM on the phone (juggernaugh FTW) and a host of other things so i think i'm pretty keen on what the phone can/cannot do.
i feel like a total idiot when i tell people how much radder android is than iphone but i can't seem to send them an appropriately orientated photo.
thoughts?
thanks for letting me rant.
!
yea tl;dr lol just skimmed
but i do agree that the camera sucks. doesn't auto focus on specific double tap areas in low.light conditions.
i.e. room light is on low and i double tap to focus on the TV. TV still blurry and bright.
my Vibrant isolates the TV when i do the same thing. can see what's on my TV clearly instead of blurred and bright.
Its not bad but its no amaze or mt4gs.. that's how I see it
sent from my real Gs move in silence like lasagna
mbernusg said:
Its not bad but its no amaze or mt4gs.. that's how I see it
sent from my real Gs move in silence like lasagna
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My brother has the amaze and my sister has the mt4gs and we all agree my camera takes the best pics. ....I don't know what you guys are talking about
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
I have to agree with the OP, my Sensation had a way better camera. I still like my GS2 better, but the camera is weak sauce!
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Mine take great pics, then again im not a queen expecting my smartphone to replace a device of equal cost that is specialized in just taking pics..
kennyp987 said:
My brother has the amaze and my sister has the mt4gs and we all agree my camera takes the best pics. ....I don't know what you guys are talking about
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
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my overall complaint isn't i guess with the optics but with the software. especially for sharing or moving to a computer. i don't think that i should have to worry about orientation when i post to twitter or an email.
Rekzer said:
Mine take great pics, then again im not a queen expecting my smartphone to replace a device of equal cost that is specialized in just taking pics..
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am i a queen? hmm. i just checked. i'm not.
i didn't say anything about replacing any of my high-end gear. all i want is the orientation to work as any camera would...phone or dedicated.
umm something wrong wit your device or something mines take some sick pictures
immunityx said:
umm something wrong wit your device or something mines take some sick pictures
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try taking a vertical picture, post it to twitter, fb, whatever, and see what happens. again my complaint isn't the optics - it's the software.
Ill second the whole orientation thing. I took a picture with the phone upside down, and it made the photo upside down... we have an accelerometer and gyroscope in this thing for a reason!! Its been getting on my nerves.
Other than that the camera is pretty bad ass, ive got no other qualms with the camera.
Rekzer said:
Mine take great pics, then again im not a queen expecting my smartphone to replace a device of equal cost that is specialized in just taking pics..
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I second this. You sound really full of yourself and think because you are a "pro" photographer you can bash a camera. The orientation issue, I don't have it. My pics post just fine. And quality is good for a phone.
The sensation camera sucks and the audiobl recording has been horrible since the 2.3.4 update.
Try one of the many camera replacement apps like Pudding Camera or Camera360
Sent from my T-Mobile Galaxy S II 4G
Yeah sensation has a different camera than mt4gs and amaze, they have the same camera.. our camera is great don't get me wrong but amaze is far superior. Smart shot and hdr alone are in a different class.
Truth is when talking about a phone camera ours is spectacular, but the amaze camera can compete with point and shoots and even some cheap dslrs
sent from my real Gs move in silence like lasagna
The Amaze camera is not that good. It can complete with some point and shoot cameras in a few scenarios, but it's got poor color reproduction among other issues. All of that HDR **** is just software processing. The Nokia N8 or whichever Nokia has that 12MP lense is where it's at.
unlvmike said:
I second this. You sound really full of yourself and think because you are a "pro" photographer you can bash a camera. The orientation issue, I don't have it. My pics post just fine. And quality is good for a phone.
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That made no sense..lmao
unlvmike said:
I second this. You sound really full of yourself and think because you are a "pro" photographer you can bash a camera. The orientation issue, I don't have it. My pics post just fine. And quality is good for a phone.
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i wonder how all that money goes into my bank account to feed/clothe/shelter my family? hmmm.
feeding the troll aside, i've downloaded a few different camera apps and haven't had the same issues. i'll explore that avenue a bit more. if anyone has any suggestions for camera applications they like feel free to let me know.
unlvmike, next time i'm in vegas shooting for sports illustrated i'll let you know. then i do so *hope* you decide to take those quotes off pro.
I agree OP.
The camera on my Sensation blew this one out of the water. This camera takes pictures that look worse than those taken with a $1 disposable camera.
I mean, look...
Lol ****ty pic.....
But to be fair I think in order for our cameras to reach full potential you have to tweak the dozens of setting put in place by Samsung. I think that's where 3rs party camera apps come in...
So I suggest we turn this thread into a how to/which apps improve pictures on the sgs2.
I myself haven't found a great daily stock replacement camera on the market that works well with a balance of features/picture quality. I tried pudding but the quality suffers a little.. 360 is not for me too much like a toy cam. Vignette is nice I've yet to try it on our phone.
I also have been using the "fall" scene mode on our phone and colors come out 10x more vibrant and saturated
sn0warmy said:
I agree OP.
The camera on my Sensation blew this one out of the water. This camera takes pictures that look worse than those taken with a $1 disposable camera.
I mean, look...
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sent from my real Gs move in silence like lasagna
sn0warmy said:
I agree OP.
The camera on my Sensation blew this one out of the water. This camera takes pictures that look worse than those taken with a $1 disposable camera.
I mean, look...
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Cool fireplace.
I agree app suggestions would be great.
Sent from the Spruce Goose

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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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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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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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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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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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!

iPhone 4S vs Nexus vs GS2-1 pic

I just went outside to snap these pics with these 3 phones. I have not altered them in any way except for resizing them. I tried to take them as close as possible (as far as angle goes) but they are gonna be slightly off. They were all set to auto and none of them fired with the flash.
I am trying to see where everybody is saying that the Nexus camera sucks so bad and that the iPhone and GS2 are amazing???
These are all "real world" pictures, a photo that you would just out of the blue.
Lighting was EXACTLY THE SAME for all of the phones.
Nexus:
iPhone4S:
SGS2:
Thanks for the pics.
Unfortunately exposure on all 3 pics is wildly different, so you can't really compare them.
Could you try again with a scene with A LOT less contrast, i.e. no extremly-bright vs. dark shadows areas?
Valynor said:
Thanks for the pics.
Unfortunately exposure on all 3 pics is wildly different, so you can't really compare them.
Could you try again with a scene with A LOT less contrast, i.e. no extremly-bright vs. dark shadows areas?
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See, that is exactly the point! When you are shooting with a camera phone, most of the time it will be a spur of the moment. You will get scenes where you don't have perfect lighting or contrast.
You have to compare the pics as they are. Looking at those 3 pictures I would say the Galaxy Nexus holds its own against the iPhone and GS2 which "don't suck."
People keep saying how much better the iPhone and S2 cameras are so I posted a pic from all 3 to get a comparison.
The argument can't be made that the iPhone and S2 cameras are 1000000000x better and then say well "we need a pic with a better scene" to judge that.
These are camera phones and that is exactly the type of scene it will be used in.
Pictures look fine to me. I actually think it looks better than the iPhone one. People who are taking bad pictures must really be doing something wrong or maybe defective device. I've taken gorgeous pics.
z06mike said:
See, that is exactly the point! When you are shooting with a camera phone, most of the time it will be a spur of the moment. You will get scenes where you don't have perfect lighting or contrast.
You have to compare the pics as they are.
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The problem is: You can't.
Even a slightly different angle will produce a different exposure. Also the different focal lengths of the 3 cameras will produce different exposures simply because the picture itself is different. If you are ignoring this you have to make pictures from more than one location so you can say with at least some certainty which camera is choosing the best exposure most of the time.
Totally agree! You cant set the picture for the phone. Real experience is the deal. Sure, the iPhone takes better pics in SOME situations and I would say probably as a whole, better pics overall. But the Nexus holds its own in most situations.
Valynor said:
The problem is: You can't.
Even a slightly different angle will produce a different exposure. Also the different focal lengths of the 3 cameras will produce different exposures simply because the picture itself is different. If you are ignoring this you have to make pictures from more than one location so you can say with at least some certainty which camera is choosing the best exposure most of the time.
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These are exactly the type of educated responses I am looking for, not just the Nexus camera sucks.
Obviously you have some photography experience and make some very valid points, which is why I agree with your above statement, but...
Looking at the above pictures, which looks best???
z06mike said:
These are exactly the type of educated responses I am looking for, not just the Nexus camera sucks.
Obviously you have some photography experience and make some very valid points, which is why I agree with your above statement, but...
Looking at the above pictures, which looks best???
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Click to collapse
The SGS2 pic looks best under the assumption that the best possible shot of the car was the intended outcome.
But look at the Nexus picture: A white and a dark car are passing in the shadow on the right lane when you took the picture. Those cars are not in the iphone4s picture, so the scene as a whole was brighter, which likely is the reason the exposure was lowered and the picture is darker.
The SGS2 picture shows considerably more of the dark pavewalk -> higher exposure -> car looks better.
z06mike said:
These are exactly the type of educated responses I am looking for, not just the Nexus camera sucks.
Obviously you have some photography experience and make some very valid points, which is why I agree with your above statement, but...
Looking at the above pictures, which looks best???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not a photography expert by any means, but to my eye, the iPhone 4 one looks the best - I say this based solely on the fact that the bright upper half isn't burned out, whereas the shadow still retains some detail - it seemed to do pretty well given the huge range of brightness across the scene.
Having said that, I'm perfectly happy with my Nexus. I see no reason to feel bad or complain if another phone has a "better" camera than mine.
To me, the Nexus' and the iPhone's cam beat the SGSII's one by more than one detailed view. And the Nexus wins.
Having a zero-lag lense gives you much more opportunities than being able to play with saturation, angle, contrast, best point, ... .This is a mobilephone cam, not a professional one.
The iPhone's pic looks a bit more "detailed" because of the missing cars in the dark side, thus the image is less overlightened.
With those pics I think the iphone came out best (slightly), followed by the GNex, and the GS2 pulling up the rear. I really had to look closely to compare the Gnex and the iphone pic to determine which was better. As far as I'm concerned if I have to stare at a picture closely to figure out which is better then there isn't enough difference for me to concern myself with. As for the GS2 picture, I think that one is clearly poorer than the other two. I could see that at a quick glance.
The iphone4s handled contrast but not without compromise, the closest or dark side of the car is too dark. The ipone image was centered so the background was also in focus.
The GN looks best if you wanted to focus on the car, its slightly washed out on the car's dark side.
The SGII looks bad, the picture is centered/focused on the car yet the camera couldn't handle the contrast, even the dark side of the car is washed out.
I wonder if all camera settings were on auto.
Can you do a side by side testing the flash on both cameras? My GN seems to take pictures with a yellowish tint when the flash is on. Its mostly noticeable on Asian people's skin which turns out looking sickeningly yellow.
most the time complaints just fall from the 8 > 5 so 8 is better. Which doesnt hold true with photography. One of the best DSLR which could still hold its own today when everything is 12mp or more, is the Olympus E-1 which is only 5mp.

Initial Camera Observations

Had my first day out with the V30 yesterday and just imported the photos and videos from it to my laptop for a closer look to make some initial evaluations. With some very interesting things to note and a lot to dig into further. There's definitely some realities that need to be addressed to better manage expectations.
1) I have no f'n clue what the HDR setting is doing other than making crappy photos. Which is about the same as it was on the V20. It's completely the opposite of what it was on the Nexus 6. On the Nexus 6, if you wanted the best photos out of the Google Camera you could get, you turned on HDR and forgot about it. With LG's Camera app, it's the exact opposite. Turn it off and forget it was ever there.
I still need to figure out the mess that the Google Camera app port has become and DL a copy and see how it does with this sensor.
2) If you shoot manual, there's a noise reduction on/off switch now. Unless you have some decent NR software though or know what you want to do with grainy photos (and I think it will have its uses, I just have to find the right subject), leave it on in very low light conditions. Not only does it tame grainy noise, it also tames a bit of purple fringe that will show up in high gain (high ISO) photos once the electronics start heating up around it.
3) As to that last part of #2: We have to be realistic here. This is a tiny cellphone camera packed in with A LOT of other electronics. If you're shooting several shots in a row or long exposures, either in dark conditions at high ISO, you will see amp glow or purple fringing. It's just a reality. Even DSLRs see it.
4) Digital zoom is digital zoom. If you aren't using just the standard view of each sensor, then you are going to see the limitations of a small sensor. I don't care what cellphone you're using. None of my larger/dedicated cameras have it for many good reasons. You shouldn't expect miracles from a smaller camera.
5) The wide angle sensor actually takes pretty good shots now in most conditions! The wide angle camera on the V20 was full of so many compromises that I avoided it at all costs. If I wanted a wider view than the standard lens, I would use the pano setting on the standard lens. Which is still a great option if everything in the frame is going to sit still but it takes time and patience. It still has distortion though, just not as much as before. You can't focus the wide angle in manual mode but you can in auto. Weird. It doesn't like to focus pointing directly overhead. That was hit or miss. Same rules about the NR and HDR apply here.
6) Video AF in low low light does miss sometimes. Again, just remember this phone doesn't have all the high end AF sensors that some DSLRs have to make sure focus is nailed every single time. Somewhere there's an article about the useful range of all the AF systems on the V20, I assume it still applies to the V30. I'll dig it up if I can to help manage expectations. If I remember right, laser AF is short range, maybe 7 feet.
7) During my import of files from my phone to my laptop, some of my videos lost their audio tracks. Not sure what that's about. I don't remember which ones were auto and which ones were manual but I suspect that's the problem. All videos have sound on my phone though.
8) I suck at video. Kinda hoping to kick myself in the rear with this phone and learn more about it. There's a lot more to manage and I probably won't be happy until I figure out the whole color grading thing and get the look I want. So the log file option ought to be a nice addition.
9) I remember telling someone that I swear I saw a video somewhere of a pre-unit that had the directional mics settings in manual video. Well, I can tell you that I must have imagined that because the unit I have does not have that setting. Just sliders and windcut.
10) And I don't know where LG is hiding it but I don't see 240 fps in any settings anywhere. The fastest video setting I see is 120fps. (Remember, only at 720p) I'm guessing 240 fps is reserved for the slo-mo mode and not available in manual or auto video modes.
11) Selfie camera. Yeah, I've seen the complaints. Are you sure your ugly mugs aren't breaking the camera? I posted this in the first impressions thread and I'll post it here. First thing I suggest doing is turning down the "skin toning" and skin lighting settings. Whoever renamed skin smoothing to skin toning should be shot as that's not what I thought that setting was at all. My first thought is that it adjusted the white balance of the skin to give you a rosier glow. Nope. Skin toning will butter face the heck out of you even on basics settings. Set it to zero. After that, the image held up well to some post processing and consistently gave me selfies I actually like. They actually remind me of something that might come from..... film.
I'm going to do some more shooting today and I'll try to figure out how to post examples without making you all click through to some other site. I also need to figure out how to get the videos over sound and all so I can give them honest assessments.
Ah, I just remembered something else to look out for.
12) If you shoot in manual and have the RAW option turned on, it isn't like on a real camera where you get the RAW file and a processed version of the RAW file. It shoots two photos. This does two things. One, it means you will see lag as it is shooting two photos for each press. This gets worse with longer shutter speeds. Two, this means unless you're shooting a still life that the RAW and JPG will not match. If you're shooting action like I was last night, you will get two completely different photos.
Interesting. Thanks for you observations.
I'm a pixel owner and I love the camera. It's ace. I really want to like the v30, but so far the real world observations and initial reviews haven't sung the praises of the camera. Are you happy with the camera or is it not worth the hype?
The camera is better than the V20 and I liked that a lot. Here's the issue in a nut shell. This phone is for those that aren't happy to just let the device to everything for you like an Apple product would. If that's what you want, that's what Pixels are about. Pixel is Google's iPhone. If you want control over the creative process, that's why the V's exist. The V series is more akin to using a DSLR and Pixels are more like a point and shoot. The Pixel series they're kinda hoping you're ok with whatever the phone spits out. The V series you tweak the initial settings and decide what the phone is even going to shoot so you can tweak it more to your liking later. The V30 gives us even more control than the V20 does.
CHH2 said:
The camera is better than the V20 and I liked that a lot. Here's the issue in a nut shell. This phone is for those that aren't happy to just let the device to everything for you like an Apple product would. If that's what you want, that's what Pixels are about. Pixel is Google's iPhone. If you want control over the creative process, that's why the V's exist. The V series is more akin to using a DSLR and Pixels are more like a point and shoot. The Pixel series they're kinda hoping you're ok with whatever the phone spits out. The V series you tweak the initial settings and decide what the phone is even going to shoot so you can tweak it more to your liking later. The V30 gives us even more control than the V20 does.
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Click to collapse
Interesting. Thanks for the summary
I would like to but V30, all because camera. But I don't know is this camera one of the best in 2017 or it is just average camera. I see many bad comments on internet. And is front face camera really bad?
isko01 said:
I would like to but V30, all because camera. But I don't know is this camera one of the best in 2017 or it is just average camera. I see many bad comments on internet. And is front face camera really bad?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I probably still have a few more days of testing but just based off of what I've seen in my standardized shooting at the museum, LG has pulled off a miracle with this tiny little sensor.
Like I said above, you have to have realistic expectations and know what the limits are of your gear. That's what a really good photographer does though. They know how the gear works and how to use what it does but also know when it's time to use something else or accept not getting a shot.
This is a tiny sensor. The largest sensor on this whole phone is only 1/3.09". It's smaller than the main one on the V20 but it looks better. That in itself is amazing but I'm not expecting a sensor that's 1/3 the size of the sensor of my smallest camera to match it. Yet that's what some people seem to expect . Which is asinine.
Really the only "failing" I had yesterday was trying to shoot overhead in extremely dark conditions with the wide angle camera and shooting performers wearing all black on an outdoor stage in the dark with just stage lighting (which was changing colors constantly) while moving around quickly. Neither of those surprised me at all. The second condition really is the realm of DSLRs still. The first one, I'm ok with too. That said, what I did get from the second condition, I'm still surprised with.
I've only had one day with it but I think I'm going to get some surprising images out of this camera. Now to teach myself more about video editing.
And again, about the front camera. Once you set those stupid settings to the bottom, you can get more skin detail out of a photo than most people would like to see. Every crease and furrow in my brow line and forehead ,pock mark in my nose, and hairs on my head and beard. From shooting models, I can tell you a lot of people wouldn't want to see that level of detail on their face. So I have no idea what people are complaining about. It's an f'n vanity camera that most people wouldn't want to use to its full potential.
Uploaded a couple of shots. All shots are my normal workflow with a cellphone camera. Shot with the V30 and the jpegs processed in Snapseed. First one is shot with the main camera overhead in a room not known for being well lit at the museum I used to work at. In fact the only real lighting is from some LEDs in the pearl at center. The LEDs are designed to be very soft so they don't degrade the paint and woodwork. The other two shots are selfies taken with indirect sunlight being the only light source indoors. The one with back background is indirect sun through clear glass. The one with the light background is indirect sunlight through very milky glass.
Main camera: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/36870848874/
Dark background selfie cam: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/37322765870/
Light background selfie cam: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/23728950428/
Seriously, I'm not sure I'd really want more detail than that. I'm actually quite please with how all of these images turned out so far. I'll try to work up some more shots from the main and wides.
Can you post some pics in a room at night with just a lamp on or something in auto mode?
EVOme said:
Can you post some pics in a room at night with just a lamp on or something in auto mode?
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I'll have to see what I can set up. That's not really a normal shot I have set-up or sitting around. I might be able to do something at work tomorrow before everyone else gets in and the whole place is blasted with light. Unfortunately, I no longer work at the museum but I might be able to make something work.
isko01 said:
I would like to but V30, all because camera. But I don't know is this camera one of the best in 2017 or it is just average camera. I see many bad comments on internet.
And is front face camera really bad?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not hijacking this thread, but you asked a specific question. There's another thread where the camera is discussed, along with other features, and @keithleger took all his in "auto" mode, to compare the two V30 back cameras, and he also compared it to the Note 8 camera which he's decided to sell.
Camera
-Excellent camera but not on par with Pixel line or Samsung. Don't get me wrong, it is a great camera and in the sunlight it is fantastic but low light it does not do as well as Note 8. Video or Stills. But it is very adequate for my needs and I prefer having the wide-angle lens over the zoom lens any day.
-The one thing that really bothered me was shutter lag at times. Sometimes when I snapped a photo it was almost instant and others I had to wait a second or so. Long enough to think I might not of pressed the button. Not sure if others have had this issue but it is troublesome. It was not isolated to taking multiple photos fairly quickly either. Sometimes first shot.
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Click to collapse
However, he's selling the Note 8 to keep the LG V30.
He posted an album of his first weekend pictures, as well as the comparison shots to the Note 8. The V30 outside shots look FANTASTIC, and even though the Note 8seemed to do better indoors the LG V30 won at least one of the indoor shots, in my opinion.
As for selfies, he gives the same advice as @CHH2.. Turn off the enhancemet crap on the selfie camera.
keithleger said:
For selfies, if you set the skin tone and lighting effects to 0 then it is ok.
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CHH2 said:
Selfie camera. . First thing I suggest doing is turning down the "skin toning" and skin lighting settings.
Skin toning will butter face the heck out of you even on basics settings. Set it to zero.
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Click to collapse
See, they say the same thing. The only reason I'm mentioning the other thread -- and I do not mean to hijack @CHH2 camera thread -- is because @keithleger has direct comparisons to the Note 8 camera was well as the f/1.6 and wide angle cameras on the V30. Plus he only shot in auto, and didn't do any post processing (to my knowledge).
I appreciate all the work @CHH2 has put into this thread!
CHH2 said:
I'll have to see what I can set up. That's not really a normal shot I have set-up or sitting around. I might be able to do something at work tomorrow before everyone else gets in and the whole place is blasted with light. Unfortunately, I no longer work at the museum but I might be able to make something work.
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Thanks! You don't have to go out of your way. I will have my phone tomorrow.
EVOme said:
Thanks! You don't have to go out of your way. I will have my phone tomorrow.
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Click to collapse
I shot this real quick this morning. It's completely SOOC. Yes, you might notice something rather odd and be asking yourself, "Why didn't he rotate the image?" Well, I didn't rotate it because on my phone the image is upright and correct. Somewhere between the phone and Flickr, it got rotated. I'll be deleting this one at the end of today as it's not really something I'd normally shoot even as a reminder or novelty.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/36882784984/
And just because I got lucky this morning, a little close up:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/37593620881/
Going to add one more photo. This one shot in probably one of the most challenging places to shoot, a jazz club. This is probably the cleanest shot I've taken in there with a cellphone. I'm impressed.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/36883443574/
CHH2 said:
I shot this real quick this morning. It's completely SOOC. Yes, you might notice something rather odd and be asking yourself, "Why didn't he rotate the image?" Well, I didn't rotate it because on my phone the image is upright and correct. Somewhere between the phone and Flickr, it got rotated. I'll be deleting this one at the end of today as it's not really something I'd normally shoot even as a reminder or novelty.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/36882784984/
And just because I got lucky this morning, a little close up:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/37593620881/
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Click to collapse
Wow man! I have restored faith in the camera. That office shot is very sharp. For the grasshopper, are you using one of the installed filters or is a post render?
Thank you for taking those.
EVOme said:
Wow man! I have restored faith in the camera. That office shot is very sharp. For the grasshopper, are you using one of the installed filters or is a post render?
Thank you for taking those.
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Click to collapse
You're welcome. For photos, I never use the filters in the camera apps. I always use Snapseed. It has a lot more control and much more power once you learn how to apply the various filters in combination. The grasshopper only had typical post processing that most photographers would apply; a tad sharpening that is only really noticeable when zoomed in, B&W conversion, bump in contrast, and a bump in shadows to make them a tad darker. Oh, and a crop, maybe threw away a little more than half the overall pixels from the frame as I didn't want to scare it off.
And yeah, for being such a tiny sensor, I'm impressed with the low light shooting. I still want to try shooting in the basement of the jazz club. That's usually territory that I need at least my smaller dedicated camera if not my DSLR. I won't get to try that again until this next weekend.
Decided to try something a little different. This isn't final by any means but this shows what playing around for a couple of minutes in Snapseed with just a couple quick shots can get you: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/37605204891/
Looking forward to showing this to my curator friend and watching him fall off of his barstool when I tell him it was all done on one cellphone in under five minutes. (He's pretty much a film guy as is the guy who is the inspiration for this photo. Bonus points if you can name the photographer I'm copying for this photo.)
Main camera: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/36870848874/
Dark background selfie cam: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/37322765870/
Light background selfie cam: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/23728950428/
.[/QUOTE]
What camera was used for those selfies? I'm not a fan of selfies but love the ones you've taken. I'd like to experiment with it and my fiance would too.thank you. Btw love you test album. Talent for sure
lg3FTW said:
Main camera: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/36870848874/
Dark background selfie cam: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/37322765870/
Light background selfie cam: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/23728950428/
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What camera was used for those selfies? I'm not a fan of selfies but love the ones you've taken. I'd like to experiment with it and my fiance would too.thank you. Btw love you test album. Talent for sure[/QUOTE]
I used the front selfie camera with all of those silly settings at the bottom of the frame turned off, set to zero, whatever their values are. Then I just did some quick processing in Snapseed. That's pretty much it. I don't get too complex. And thank you.
Finally figured out a work around so I can hear the audio on the videos I'm importing from the phone to my laptop and can't believe I didn't think of this before. Pulled the videos from their folder over into an empty Chrome browser window and Voila! they played complete with their soundtrack!
So the following is from shooting in a dark jazz club. (Notes, not footage yet. I'll try uploading something to youtube when I figure out what, when, and how.)
Probably the most important observation I see about video from the V30 (and this actually applied to the V20 too) is that loud music can end up jostling the OIS and introduce more shake than it removes.
Another observation is that recording video while in Auto mode, you better make sure you have plenty of somewhat decent light. Tonight while playing around, the screen would be plenty bright all the way up until I hit that little red record button. Then the screen squeezes down and went dark enough that the footage was unusable. Shooting in manual video mode, I was able to get some footage. It wasn't exactly ideal settings that I was shooting with though so the footage is so-so. (Best settings I could get were ISO 3200 and a shutter speed of 1/25. My understanding is that since I had my frame rate at 24fps, I should have had a shutter speed of 1/50 but that just wasn't happening inside that place.)
In manual video mode, it really doesn't like ISO 3200 for some reason. I'd play with a setting and come back and the ISO would be set to 3150 for some reason. I'd bump it back up to 3200, go do something else, come back to 3150. I would have to make sure that's the last thing I tweaked before hitting the record button.
The audio picks up pretty much all the sounds I'm hearing. I need to sit down with headphones and see if there's extra noise being introduced. I suspect dragging the videos into the Chrome browser is exactly the best quality test. It just lets me know the audio tracks are intact in the file which I was a little worried about at first.
I still have a lot more playing around with the video as most of it is new to me.

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