Develop Bugs

[Q] Picture quality, day and night?

Hey guys/gals,
Just wondering on how the quality of the pictures are with this phone. I've seen pics taken by reviewers, but it's always better to look at it from a user's perspective. Has anybody tried playing around with the camera?
Also, can someone be kind enough to upload some sample pictures of random shots, like daylight shots, night time, and macro shots? I know the camera is supposedly very good, but it'll be nice to actually see a few real samples, especially the night time shots.

bump, anybody? hehe

Actual pics to come, but from my own experience as both a previous user of the Nexus One AND a hobby digital photographer are;
All of this is using the default Camera, default settings (except for turning OFF the shutter sound).
1. The Nitro does a rather good job in low light situations. Opting to raise the ISO more than use Flash. On more than a few occasions where I expected to see flash, it didn't. When blown-up you certainly can see the picture is grainier without the flash, but for web/facebook viewing the results are quite good and a LOT LESS harsh from not using flash.
2. LONG shot-to-shot time! I wonder what the buffer size with the camera is, IF there's even a buffer that comes with it! Because it takes me about 6 seconds between taking one picture before I'm able to take the next. Even when I try using a 3rd party app (Camera Zoom FX) I only got the time down to 3 seconds. Do NOT plan on using this phone's camera for any kid's birthday parties!!
That's all I've got for the moment, will add more when I've done more playing/testing.

Guess I can upload a bunch I took.
A note, some are taken with HDR + and others with Camera Zoom FX.
http://thewisedumbass.tumblr.com/post/14540968432 (Had to make it a post on Tumblr, pics kept messing up here)

The photos looks decent for a phone, nothing spectacular, at low light is more like "meh" - an average or slightly above, but when it comes to movies at low light I'd prefer have grain (Atrix 4G / Nitro) rather then ghosting (any other phones). On Nitro and Atrix 4G regardless of the light the picture is smooth 30fps, as opposite to Skyrocket or ANY HTC phone with 5fps and all smugged.
Here are some shots to compare:
Nitro with flash (left), no flash (right):
Atrix 4G with flash (left), no flash (right):
Also note Nitro has much lower lens focal length, which makes it capture wider surroundings. The photos were taking from 4 feet away and Nitro's photos captured much more surroundings then Atrix. Even when you hold both phones side by side the image at Nitro looks at pretty much correct distance, rather then on Atrix it looks like zoomed in. Yet, in low light Atrix's ISO captures much more light.
This is first phone camera that beat Atrix's (IMO). /me very happy with it.

Nice!! thanks guys for the details comparisons. I am liking wat i see with the Nitro. Do any of u guys find the auto focus annoying, or is there an option to do manual focus, like the atrix??

Not sure what manual focus you are talking about, but the camera does allow you to touch to pick the area to focus. Still auto-focus to the region, but better than the normal.

aquariuz23 said:
Nice!! thanks guys for the details comparisons. I am liking wat i see with the Nitro. Do any of u guys find the auto focus annoying, or is there an option to do manual focus, like the atrix??
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Neither stock nor MIUI camera has manual focus on Atrix...In fact Atrix doesn't allow you pick which part on the picture you want it focus to, it's always at the center.

[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.

[Q] CM 11 vs stock camera results: what has been YOUR experience?

I'm sure everyone is tired of people parroting that CM camera is not as good as stock and blah blah blah. Since I am a constant tester of my phones, here is what I have personally found. Feel free to share your results as well.
4.3 stock camera: I could not believe Sony released such bad software. Focus was a disaster and at least 50% of my pictures and videos were out of focus. Videos were especially affected by the lack of focus control. A significant number of my videos ended up being pure crap. Lighting conditions did not matter. Focus was horrible outdoors in plain daylight, indoors during day and night, everywhere. The camera was unreliable for one-time opportunities.
4.4.2 stock camera: The camera became much better than the 4.3 version, but still not the best. Pictures don't seem to be affected as much by the focus problem, but videos still have issues. Outdoors, videos seem to be mostly OK now, but indoors, I've noticed that the camera tries to focus constantly whenever I move the phone one tiny bit, even if the subject hasn't moved at all. That created a ghost on most of my videos because focus was never constant, although both the camera and subject moved very little.
CM 11 camera: Although definitely not perfect, my experience has been the best with CM. My pictures are hardly ever out of focus, and my videos are nearly always good. However, there are exceptions. I've noticed that the camera doesn't get and hold focus in certain situations. I've recorded a video inside a gym, at night with lights on from the middle of the court to the back wall. Without any zoom or flash, the focus was just shy of perfect, but was clearly off. This less-than-perfect focus issue has appeared in several of my videos. I've also noticed that when the camera is trying to acquire focus in macro pictures, it passes through the perfect focus point, but often settles in a less focused state.
My verdict
Out of all cameras, CM has given me the best results overall. It is far from perfect, but it has been the best for me. Also, after all the hype about the "amazing" Sony camera, I can honestly say I am disappointed. The cameras on my previous phones (AT&T Note 2 and S4) generated better pictures and videos. I expected it to be at least comparable in quality to Samsung cameras, but that is not the case when comparing all the pictures and videos I've taken, several of which at the same locations/events for better comparison. I absolutely love my Z1C and it was the first phone to break me free from the Samsung curse, but the camera does not meet my expectations.
What has YOUR OWN experience been? What problems have you found in each rom? How do you get the best pictures/videos?

hi,
nice post. I did quick test of RRrom vs KK camera few days back, keeping it short, CM camera gaveme too few settings to choose from. what is more, not like it matters much, CM11 front facing camera gives much worse output compared to stock. I have seen the new version of CM has rolled out recently, I hope for new CM based roms to come out soon. I will have some camera heavy days this week so I can do some more tests.
BTW, having the weekend free, I did 4.4 vs 4.3. Like the 4.3 camera better :]

Camera/Photography thread - tips, apps, advice

Hi, guys,
I'm coming from an Xperia Z3C, which had a camera that was pretty bad. Even though some bash the XZ1C camera, it's a lot better than what I used.
I'm no photographer and I dont' know the apps, so I'd like everyone to share what they know and use.

doriandiaconu said:
Hi, guys,
I'm coming from an Xperia Z3C, which had a camera that was pretty bad. Even though some bash the XZ1C camera, it's a lot better than what I used.
I'm no photographer and I dont' know the apps, so I'd like everyone to share what they know and use.
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Despite people putting down the stock camera, I find it does take good a picture, although using a small tripod gets the best results. This is far from idea for a phone, but just resting the phone on something solid dramtically imporves the picture.
The focusing seems to be better if you turn off 'object tracking' and although HDR is supposed to be automatic in the auto mode, I tend to shoot in manual with HDR enabled. The predictive capture is a good & useful tool. I wasn't sure when I first saw it introduced, but it does a burst shot when it gets triggered by a smile and dramtically increases your chances of getting a great picture.
My favorite post proccessing app is SKRWT. I love taking landscapes and this is great for straightening things or there are some funky mirror effects.

Didgesteve said:
Despite people putting down the stock camera, I find it does take good a picture, although using a small tripod gets the best results. This is far from idea for a phone, but just resting the phone on something solid dramtically imporves the picture.
The focusing seems to be better if you turn off 'object tracking' and although HDR is supposed to be automatic in the auto mode, I tend to shoot in manual with HDR enabled. The predictive capture is a good & useful tool. I wasn't sure when I first saw it introduced, but it does a burst shot when it gets triggered by a smile and dramtically increases your chances of getting a great picture.
My favorite post proccessing app is SKRWT. I love taking landscapes and this is great for straightening things or there are some funky mirror effects.
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What about the resolution? Many people avoid the 19MP resolution for different reasons.

doriandiaconu said:
What about the resolution? Many people avoid the 19MP resolution for different reasons.
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19MP is the only resolution. It's the native size of the sensor, meaning you get one=one. Anything else is derived from a software interpretation.
People seem to be obsessed by letterbox, perhaps because that's the way they watch TV. If you don't like the square shape of a 19MP picture, then edit it afterwards, but a least get the best quality you can to start with.

I've taken some decent shots with Open Camera. I like its DRO mode (dynamic range optimization). Haven't had much luck with stock camera app, although I'm a fan of the wide angle selfie camera.

the camera is good not more... not a lot of choices in creative mode, iA can't be customized, "macro" focus at 10 cm... at least it's pretty fast

I use the stock app, mainly in manual mode without object tracking (with that setting on I find the focus is a little inaccurate, maybe just an impression).
Overall i would say the app has all you need to take a photo plus a couple of nice features (like autofocus burst mode and predictive capture).

Any tips on what kind of exposure and ISO to use in manual mode? My pics always come out blurry.
Edit: For example, would the tips here apply? https://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-xz/how-to/xperia-xz-camera-how-to-optimize-manual-t3534640
Sounds like most people are saying choose a low ISO and EV a little below 1.
I'm particularly interested in tips or settings that don't require a tripod, because I don't own one. And I think it's unrealistic to expect people to use a tripod to take decent phone pics.

I had a big night shootout in Frankfurt with XZ1c and Galaxy s8. Im not good in photography and all shoots are in Auto mode. Couple of shoots are manipulated in Adobe Lightroom in Auto light and color corections. They names started with LLR....
What You think?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/YUQIYsKXGg5tGugK2

propov said:
I had a big night shootout in Frankfurt with XZ1c and Galaxy s8. Im not good in photography and all shoots are in Auto mode. Couple of shoots are manipulated in Adobe Lightroom in Auto light and color corections. They names started with LLR....
What You think?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/YUQIYsKXGg5tGugK2
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I'm no photography expert, but I could see the difference instantly on most of these. The XZ1c photos were blurry and seemed improperly exposed. The S8 wasn't perfect, but it was generally a lot sharper. This basically mirrors my experience with the XZ1c and my previous phone that had a better camera, HTC 10.

Has anyone installed AOSP and got the Pixel's camera apk working on the xz1c? This is my main motivation for going the root -> rom route.

Take a picture of a green lawn or of leafy trees, and there's often an unpleasant, slightly smeary watercolor-like effect. Is it possible that using another camera application would prevent this processing effect?

Hello,
I am sorry in case this has been covered so far. I did not find it.
I have a custom ROM (RR6), but would like to use the stock Camera mainly for the slow motion 960fps video recording. It seems to be possible via this topic:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/cr...-apps/app-xperia-xzs-panorama-camera-t3577514
But even if it worked, it would replace the custom ROM's Camera, which I'd like to keep. Is there a way to run these two Cameras side by side?
Or should I use another 3rd party app that does the slo-mo job?
Thanks a lot for anz advidce!

vhatp said:
Hello,
I am sorry in case this has been covered so far. I did not find it.
I have a custom ROM (RR6), but would like to use the stock Camera mainly for the slow motion 960fps video recording. It seems to be possible via this topic:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/cr...-apps/app-xperia-xzs-panorama-camera-t3577514
But even if it worked, it would replace the custom ROM's Camera, which I'd like to keep. Is there a way to run these two Cameras side by side?
Or should I use another 3rd party app that does the slo-mo job?
Thanks a lot for anz advidce!
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Click to collapse
yea thats my concern as well. I am not sure if drm fix can re-enable the 960fps slow mo or is it gone for good after unlocking bootloader. If only we can get gcam and stock camera run together

General GrapheneOS Camera

Just released, don't know a thing about it...yet. Going to give it a try.
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1498831066051850248

bencozzy said:
Needs a good bit of optimizations done to it. Open camera so far does better quality at photos and videos. I think grapheneOS will get the camera app to a high functioning and high quality, production stage later this year.
So far it works, has a built in qr/bar code scanner, no night sight yet. No trackers or ads or dialing the mother ship.
GrapheneOS camera
View attachment 5550391
Open camera
View attachment 5550393
Google camera
View attachment 5550521
Google camera night sight
View attachment 5550523
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They all look the same to me. Probably because they are all the same.

They are definitely all different, interesting your take on open camera being better, IMO it is soft. But very hard to tell because you camera is also not taking shots from the exact same position therefore the focus points will likely be different. Google camera you can see sharpness and depth of this sharpness

96carboard said:
They all look the same to me. Probably because they are all the same.
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Same here... Then I took a few minutes and really focused in as if I was looking at a "where's waldo" image. You can see the Google camera photo is a lot sharper as far as the detail whereas the others the same spots are a little blurred/fuzzy. Again, I really had to focus.
It's crazy that some people have such a good eye when comparing photos and can spot every difference at first glance and to others (obviously like you and me) it all looks the same.

scott.hart.bti said:
Same here... Then I took a few minutes and really focused in as if I was looking at a "where's waldo" image. You can see the Google camera photo is a lot sharper as far as the detail whereas the others the same spots are a little blurred/fuzzy. Again, I really had to focus.
It's crazy that some people have such a good eye when comparing photos and can spot every difference at first glance and to others (obviously like you and me) it all looks the same.
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Its definitely not enough of a distinction to try to say that one of the programs is doing measurably better than another. The fact that each is taking the picture at a different moment in time means that the conditions will be varied to some extent. Like maybe the auto-focus is targeting a spot just a bit more to the right.
But as far as pictures on these phones really goes, the fact of the matter is that they all use the same Camera HAL, which means that you're going to get about the same thing. Maybe one does a bit more post-processing than another, but post-processing really should be done POST anyway.
Personally, I use the GrapheneOS Camera. Partly because that's what comes with GrapheneOS, which I use for privacy and security purposes and therefore reject the gooble camera, partly because it doesn't do any post-processing, partly because open camera is just too much to mess with.
EDIT: The photo with GrapheneOS Camera is focused highest. Open camera is slightly below that one. Gcam is substantially lower and to the LEFT compared to the other two. It looks to me like Gcam is focused on the "eyebrow" part of the stuffy, and the other two are focused on the "hair". You can see the difference in how its aimed by looking at the white dirt spots on the black plastic thing.