Develop Bugs

[Q] TP2. Really Bad Camera Quality?

Hi all,
I have a touch pro 2, have upgraded from a touch pro, and its an all round better phone than its older brother.
However, the Camera on my old TP is so much better than mine on my TP2. On both the stock Rom, and my Energy rom the picture is total rubbish at all resolutions that its taken from. all the images seem very grainy and distorted compared to my TP.
I have tried cleaning the lens, and that hasnt seemed to make any difference either.
Has anyone else found this?

I completely agree with you on this. I remembered I was watching a video review on this device and they noted that the severity of the camera graininess is carrier specific due to the different battery covers. The other day I took a Pic with the battery cover off just to see if their was a difference and the pic was definitely a little bit sharper.

The clear window on battery cover can severely degrade image quality if scratched or greasy. The TP2 camera takes very nice pictures set at highest resolution and with good/bright light. Not so good in dim/poor light situations.

I've seen the same thing. Detail is all mushy. It reminds me a bit of some noise reduction software set too high. Since the tiny sensor in this phone would be prone to noise (small sensors have small pixels, so their light gathering capability is boosted by amplification, adding noise), so the Tilt2/Touchpro2 may have excessive noise reduction running.
Just a thought.

Images taken w/TP2
I am surprised to hear these comments! I have had a couple people mention how good images look that I have taken (using default settings). I have the T-Mobile version TP2 and am using b16b's AthineOS 21914 (superb) and am OC'd @729mhz. I have attached a couple photos taken recently that show what my device produces with it's camera. I am not a photographer by any means, and the image quality isn't amazing compared to a high-end digital camera, however, for my everyday usage which is somewhat limited to impulsive shooting of animals or car-wrecks & bum-fights, it seems to take fairly decent pictures. I do want to also mention that I take great pains to keep my device clean and use microfibre cleansing material frequently. Also, most of my use is outdoors, I have noticed that indoor usage doesn't give great results unless there is PLENTY of light available. Lack of a flash really disappoints me, however, overall I am very satisfied with my TP2!

[Q] Neo - Question about camera compression

I'm thinking to buy a Neo this week and it will be my first Android phone. In a few reviews I've seen some complaints about the .jpg's being over compressed using the stock camera app. If you use a different camera app are you able to set it for less compression and better pictures?

Hi mattarse
The jpg compression is fine as it is, I believe the discussion on the compression has been started due to very high expectations of the camera in the new xperia phones. The camera IS very good I think considering it is a mobile phone with a very small camera sensor.
Pictures will when you magnify them on your pc never look as good as a dslr or newer compact camera with bigger sensors and better optics. This is probable what started the jpg compression discussion as it would have been nice to just change the jpg compression level and have super sharp pictures even when you zoom in.
The Camera Advance app will give you the option to change the compression but my own tests show no visual difference from the xperia camera app and the picture from camera advance. File size differences was 1MB from xperia camera and 2.2MB from camera advance app.
Camera360 Ultimate will give pictures at the same sizes as the xperia camera app even when you select the finest compression level.
I personally prefer to use the xperia camera app compared to camera360 and camera advance.
I have allways enjoyed photography and normally use a dslr. This is actually the first mobile phone where I have started to use the camera as I have allways disliked the picture quality from my older mobiles. It is amazing to see pictures at iso 1600-2000 being useable from this small camera, the low light performance is very good and the dynamic range under sunlight is also very good.
I have the xperia arc and not neo, but I belive the camera is the same on both mobiles. Have seen some samples from neo where it actually looks like it is producing better pictures, could be due to different optics in the slightly bigger mobile or just differences in firmware.

Well I've bought a Neo for my wife recently. But was surprised also to see the size of the files for an 8mp camera. I was also surprised there is no option for the level of compression.
What is more important that the camera does not produce good quality for darker rooms.(in a room with 15*10W halogen light bulbs). The pictures have a visible yellow-greenish tint and a lot of noise. I haven't tried on outside just yet.
May be my expectation are too high. But I still think this is a marketing trick. They could have easily put a sensor with less density (5mp or 6mp) which is supposed to produce less noise.

valqka said:
Well I've bought a Neo for my wife recently. But was surprised also to see the size of the files for an 8mp camera. I was also surprised there is no option for the level of compression.
What is more important that the camera does not produce good quality for darker rooms.(in a room with 15*10W halogen light bulbs). The pictures have a visible yellow-greenish tint and a lot of noise. I haven't tried on outside just yet.
May be my expectation are too high. But I still think this is a marketing trick. They could have easily put a sensor with less density (5mp or 6mp) which is supposed to produce less noise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do believe the exmoor sensor has improved low light performance compared to a regular mobile camera sensor. But this is still only a small camera and even my dslr would struggle indoor with only artificial lighting unless flash is added.
Have only shot a couple of low light pictures with my arc both outside and inside and agree that pictures especially at iso1600-2000 contain a larger amount of noise. I would say the pictures are very good compared to my old mobile which was useless in low light and good compared to my compact camera.
You can change the scene mode to make the xperia use slower shutter speeds and lower iso, that will give you some very nice scenery shots in low light with little noise. I have to my surprised shot a few sharp fotos at 1/4 shutter speed in low light, that would not be possible without fixed mounting on my dslr or an extremely steady hand.
You will ever only be able to archive good low light pictures with expensive slr and optics. One thing I have learned using slr is that light is king, you can not get enough light if you want sharp, good looking, strong colors etc.
Now you got me interested in doing some tests to compare the low light performance with my dslr and compact camera

Well hygge, I am quite an amateur in shooting but I also know from my extended zoom camera that noise in low light is a nightmare (at least I use Program mode and not automatic ).
I really got the phone form several days and did not had the time try it good. I've just changed settings from 6mp 16:9 (strange for default settings) to 8mp.
Then the LED flash came on automatically. But the result was not good. (3 from 4 shots were with yellow-green tint and one was too bright (or is more correct over-exposed). But I must confess the scene was complicated if this matters at all: my baby in the bathing tub. So there is water, reflection.....
But anyway I put my bet on the dslr with a huge distnace

valqka said:
Well hygge, I am quite an amateur in shooting but I also know from my extended zoom camera that noise in low light is a nightmare (at least I use Program mode and not automatic ).
I really got the phone form several days and did not had the time try it good. I've just changed settings from 6mp 16:9 (strange for default settings) to 8mp.
Then the LED flash came on automatically. But the result was not good. (3 from 4 shots were with yellow-green tint and one was too bright (or is more correct over-exposed). But I must confess the scene was complicated if this matters at all: my baby in the bathing tub. So there is water, reflection.....
But anyway I put my bet on the dslr with a huge distnace
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Click to collapse
That would have been a nice picture, but it do sounds like a challenging picture with the reflecting. Remember to record movies of your baby in the bathing tub. My daughters now 3 og 5 years really enjoy looking at short movie clips of them as babies splashing in their bathing tub
(they love playing games on the xperia, mostly drawing apps )
What I have seen so far is that the xperia tend to prefer low shutter speeds in low light situations. I still only have a handfull of shots to base my conclusions but with flash on it was using 1/25 sec shutter. This is too slow taking pictures of moving kids, you will need 1/60 or even 1/120 which is normally only available on slr's. Without flash it has been 1/8 and high iso, must admit it was under circumstances I would never have used my dslr without flash and maybe a bit unfair to judge the xperias camera capabilities.
I agree that the wrong color balance will totally screw up the pictures, have you tried setting the white balance manually in the camera? A setting I have not yet changed on my xperia and are not aware what options are available.

I have now made some quick comparisons of my three cameraes under low light conditions.
Might upload test pictures later when I have the time, for now you will have to trust me
Camera 1. Xperia Arc 8MegaPixel
Camera 2. Olympus u Tough 12MegaPixel
Camera 3. Konica Minolta 5D dslr 6MegaPixel
Test 1 without flash
Xperia 1. Kamera advance app with lowest compression, no flash
ISO: 1000
Exposure: 1/8
Olympus 2. Default settings with disable flash
ISO: 400
Exposure: 1/4
KM 5D 3. Full auto, no flash
Could not focus, too little light, camera suggested 3-4 sec shutter speed
(was using OEM lense with bad aperture which gave it problems focussing, could have used a better lense but decided to use OEM lense to keep the comparisons fairly)
Results:
Olympus had only a tiny bit more details and allot more noise, picture was looking very bad up close.
Xperia Arc, even at iso 1000 the noise was lower than my Olympus and the picture looked more clean with nicer colors. I definitely prefered the Xperia result.
The olympus will not go lower than 1/4 shutter speed and iso 400. I selected night scenery on the Arc and got a picture with iso 160 and shutterspeed 1/2. This picture had even less noise but was slightly blurred at 1/2, need a more steady hand but still a very useable result.
My DSLR would not take a picture without focus.
Winner:
Xperia Arc, higher shutter speeds and a cleaner picture with less noise. I was surprised to see the loss of details on my 12MP Olympus at ISO 400 compared to the Xperia Arc.
Test 2
With Flash:
Xperia 1. ISO 400, shutter 1/24
Olympus 2. ISO 100, shutter 1/30
KM 5D 3. ISO 100, shutter 1/60
Result:
The Olympus with flash and ISO 100 gave a sharp, low noise picture and the 12MP provided better details than the xperia could show. The flash on the xperia is not very strong and it was not possible for me to configure it to use lower ISO than 400. The xperia arc picture did give a nice result with low noise.
The 6MP DSLR with flash give the same amount of details as the 12MP Olympus, my old DSLR is still going strong and a better lense will give an even sharper picture
Winner:
KonicaMinolta 5D wins, followed by Olympus. Xperia Arc still gave a nice result but with less details and more noise than the other two devices.
One last test at a really dark area without flash also proved xperia arc to be the winner. My Olympus would not go lower than 1/4 iso400 while xperia used 1/8 iso2000. The motive was only visible on xperia arc and even a fairly noisy picture at iso2000 is better than no picture at all
My own conclusion is that the xperia arc/neo is really good at low light performance and even outperforms many compact cameras, but the the weak flash give some serious limitations. The low shutter speeds will probably also be an issue taking pictures of moving motives in low light.
(did shoot a couple of shoots with sony camera app and did not notice any difference from Camera Advance, I used the 3PP camera to use as little jpg compression as possible but I doubt the pictures visually differ much)
It would be interesting to do some tests during daylight as well, it will not benefit from the improved low light performance compared to other camera sensors. I am curious to see how the dynamic range of this sensor is, can it compare to my Olympus compact camera then it would be a serious contender as my primary point and shoot camera as long as flash is not needed.

Thanks forthe replies - I'm not expecting amazing things from camera on a phone Just want to make sure that software isn't unnecessarily hindering the hardware.
It also looks like it will be a couple of weeks before I pick one up...Unless i opt for something else in that time, but for a smallish screen size Android phone this currently looks the best. I do wish it had gorilla glass - but you can't have it all
Now I've found a confusing thread about in line remotes on the headphones that I need to figure out (yes I do seem to put way too much thought into these things!).

valqka said:
I really got the phone form several days and did not had the time try it good. I've just changed settings from 6mp 16:9 (strange for default settings) to 8mp.
Then the LED flash came on automatically. But the result was not good. (3 from 4 shots were with yellow-green tint and one was too bright (or is more correct over-exposed). But I must confess the scene was complicated if this matters at all: my baby in the bathing tub. So there is water, reflection.....
But anyway I put my bet on the dslr with a huge distnace
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the yellow green tint you're seeing will be from the lights in the room - you see this on most cameras of any quality, if you have a white balance setting you should have one for indoor/halogen lights. It's also normally easy to fix in Photoshop.

Anyone disappointed with the Pixel XL camera?

TL;DR: Unhappy with noisy photos/videos from camera. Not sure if I'm being unreasonable, or if this device has hardware/software issues. Your thoughts?
I'm curious as to what other people's thoughts are on the Pixel camera? The pictures and videos on this phone do not seem up to par with what Google represented, or else I possibly received bad hardware. Here's my experience so far...
I ordered the device from the Google Store and received it early December. First thing I did was update the firmware and updated the apps, which included the Google Camera app. Every photo I took, in varying degrees of lighting, seemed to have a great deal of noise or pixelation. Even 4K video in daylight looked like I ran it through a noise filter in editing software. I contacted Google Support and they ran through a series of tests while the engineer was remote viewing my screen. We deleted the Google Camera app's cache/data, put the device in safe mode, and performed a factory reset. After each step the photos looked no better than before. The engineer then stated my hardware was defective and issued an RMA for the device. Now that I'm on my second Pixel XL, I can't say the camera is any better and I'm still disappointed with the results, but I'm reluctant to contact Google again because I feel like it's more than likely a software/firmware issue at this point.
How could both devices (brand new, second was not a refurbished device) have the same hardware defect and this not be a widely reported issue? I've read articles about the "Halo" issue and people having pink lines on the camera viewer, but Google claimed it was software related and I believe they already released a fix. I've also flashed ROMs before on old devices that didn't have proper drivers, which resulted in similar experiences similar to my current problem when I knew for a fact the hardware was just fine.
Anyway, sorry for the meandering post, but I'd love for anyone to share their thoughts about the camera. Does it live up to your expectations and take photos worthy of the highest rated smartphone camera of all time?

In well lit environment, high megapixel cameras win for me due to detail. But for low light, this camera is awesome
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Pictures sometimes turn out fantastic, and sometimes average.
The camera seems to not know what to focus in on which leads to weird looking images. Also, for some reason, my pictures all have a somewhat yellow tint.
Maybe my expectations for "the highest rated smartphone camera...ever" was set a bit too high.

Mr Hoff I would have to say no, as the camera works awesome I would say its the best smartphone camera on the market, and that is even without ois to boot.

As much as I don't wanna admit it but iPhone 7 camera is definitely a better all around camera. There's no debating it. Yes the pixel can beat it out in perfect circumstances taking still photos.. but the iPhone exceeds in more areas.
The pixel is horrible at capturing the slightest movement without blurring the picture. I heard this is because the camera uses a slow shutter speed compared to other devices.
Same thing goes for videos. Taking a video of someone standing there talking.. the pixel will likely win..But try to follow a moving person or object and that's where you notice the lack of OIS and the pixel looses by far.
I take riding pictures (BMX) with a normal DSLR but always have my cell phone to take some pics to.. the pixel doesn't do much better than my s5 did

aholeinthewor1d said:
As much as I don't wanna admit it but iPhone 7 camera is definitely a better all around camera. There's no debating it. Yes the pixel can beat it out in perfect circumstances taking still photos.. but the iPhone exceeds in more areas.
The pixel is horrible at capturing the slightest movement without blurring the picture. I heard this is because the camera uses a slow shutter speed compared to other devices.
Same thing goes for videos. Taking a video of someone standing there talking.. the pixel will likely win..But try to follow a moving person or object and that's where you notice the lack of OIS and the pixel looses by far.
I take riding pictures (BMX) with a normal DSLR but always have my cell phone to take some pics to.. the pixel doesn't do much better than my s5 did
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. This is my biggest issue as well. I have a newborn and half my pictures are blurry due to him moving his arms when I'm taking pics.

Here's what I'm referring to. Granted this is low light, but when the camera does hit the light you can really see the noise I'm referring to. This can't be normal.
4K Video taken tonight: https://goo.gl/photos/MCTbfb96Cpw74bkFA

If you're having issues with motion blur (will be more prominent in middle and low light) disable HDR for those shots. It keeps the "shutter" capturing longer. Your image quality will take a hit but the motion blur should be reduced.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

I'm disappointed but I'm so used to my rx100 so it's not fair at all
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

biggiestuff said:
I'm disappointed but I'm so used to my rx100 so it's not fair at all
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an rx100m3 as well, which is partly why I'm wondering if I'm being unreasonable. Guess I'll have to keep carrying that with me when I want higher picture quality.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

chrisstl said:
I have an rx100m3 as well, which is partly why I'm wondering if I'm being unreasonable. Guess I'll have to keep carrying that with me when I want higher picture quality.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure that plays a huge part in it. There isn't a smart phone camera that can compare. Once you've become accustomed to the quality of the Sony, it's hard to downgrade. I take it with me to anything that is going to involve low light.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

The low light is absolute garbage, worse than the Note 4 I had before it.

I loved my note 7, the panoramas were amazing on that phone. Thought camera was great on pixel but after more use I have some quirks I dislike. If I want to take quality photos or video I bring my Nikon D3300.

Are you guys trying to compare a DSLR vs. a smartphone camera in low light?
Ok, consider this. Low light shots require a lot of light collection. How much bigger is a DSLR lens vs. a smartphone lens.
I'm looking at the Pixel XL lens, and it's about 2.5mm in diameter. That's about 5 mm squared of area.
A DSLR lens would be about 2 inches wide, that's 50.8mm in diameter or about 2000 mm squared of area.
The difference in light captured in low light, with the same exposure, is a factor of 400!
It is a miracle that enough light is even captured by a tiny smartphone camera lens for low light shots. If I were completely unaware of the actual quality of pictures but was only given the specs of both cameras, I would say that they couldn't even be compared!

nabbed said:
Are you guys trying to compare a DSLR vs. a smartphone camera in low light?
Ok, consider this. Low light shots require a lot of light collection. How much bigger is a DSLR lens vs. a smartphone lens.
I'm looking at the Pixel XL lens, and it's about 2.5mm in diameter. That's about 5 mm squared of area.
A DSLR lens would be about 2 inches wide, that's 50.8mm in diameter or about 2000 mm squared of area.
The difference in light captured in low light, with the same exposure, is a factor of 400!
It is a miracle that enough light is even captured by a tiny smartphone camera lens for low light shots. If I were completely unaware of the actual quality of pictures but was only given the specs of both cameras, I would say that they couldn't even be compared!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm certainly not comparing a DSLR vs a smartphone. And also an rx100 isn't a DSLR either. My disappointment, which I didn't really mention, was mentally comparing my iPhone 6+ and the Pixel XL. I think I'm having issue with the HDR overcompensating and causing noise.
Edit: To clarify my rx100m3 comment, I just wished that a smartphone camera quality could improve to the point where I would be comfortable leaving the rx100m3 at home sometimes. I thought the Pixel would bring me closer to that dream, but it hasn't.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

chrisstl said:
I'm certainly not comparing a DSLR vs a smartphone. And also an rx100 isn't a DSLR either. My disappointment, which I didn't really mention, was mentally comparing my iPhone 6+ and the Pixel XL. I think I'm having issue with the HDR overcompensating and causing noise.
Edit: To clarify my rx100m3 comment, I just wished that a smartphone camera quality could improve to the point where I would be comfortable leaving the rx100m3 at home sometimes. I thought the Pixel would bring me closer to that dream, but it hasn't.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is not a general consensus, but this is what I got out of reviews of modern flagship phone cameras.
iPhone 7, Galaxy S7, Pixel cameras have similar capabilities in terms of hardware. What makes a difference is the software processing and noise reduction.
Galaxy S7 seems to have the best algorithms for noise reduction, and the fastest autofocus in very dark scenery. That means less noise, and sharper photos in the dark for the Galaxy. Pixel has an excellent HDR, with good color reproduction in HDR screnery, where dark and bright objects are present simultaneously. iPhone has a good all around camera not excelling at any particular feature.
That said, all smartphone cameras are not even close to large dedicated cameras - the sizes of lenses and sensors are literally two orders of magnitude better in low light. At the current level of technology, you cannot replace a large camera with a smartphone in low light.

Honestly, there's really not much of an upgrade from the 6P to the Pixel camera.

I've actually been pretty impressed. Coming from the S7 Edge the Pixel does not offer huge improvements in any single area, but subtle improvements across the board. When it comes to the camera, I spent weeks and hundreds of shots in different settings trying to decide which camera was better as I was weighing the decision of which device to keep. Ultimately, I found them both to be great but the Pixel seemed to do a little better when taking shots of my kids who are 1, 3 and 5 and are thus always moving and very active. I'm quite surprised with some of the comments in this thread because I've been quite pleased. When comparing photos to those of my wife's iPhone 6s+, the gap becomes a little larger and the Pixel is significantly better in most every situation, especially with moving targets. I cannot comment on comparisons to the iP7 because I don't have one and would only base my opinion on the many reviews I've read and watched over the last month or so. The one aspect of my S7 Edge camera I really miss is the wide angle FFC and probably the S7 Edge low light performance overall.
In all honesty, I do have mild regrets about keeping the Pixel and selling the S7Edge. Overall I think the S7 is a slightly better device with its design, waterproofing, form factor, and features. But the Pixel is solid enough to get me through to Pixel XL 2 or Galaxy S9.

chrisstl said:
I'm certainly not comparing a DSLR vs a smartphone. And also an rx100 isn't a DSLR either. My disappointment, which I didn't really mention, was mentally comparing my iPhone 6+ and the Pixel XL. I think I'm having issue with the HDR overcompensating and causing noise.
Edit: To clarify my rx100m3 comment, I just wished that a smartphone camera quality could improve to the point where I would be comfortable leaving the rx100m3 at home sometimes. I thought the Pixel would bring me closer to that dream, but it hasn't.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The RX100 is darn good and can give some of the lower DSLR/mirrorless camera competition. The video you posted is the incredibly hard for a sensor this size and we know the pixel is not great at low light. RX100 is also a excellent F/1.8 lense on it.
I think you are just expecting too much out of a sensor much smaller than the RX100s. Assuming the IMX 378 has the same aspect ratio to the RX100 it is 4.1 time smaller in area.
IMX378 - 7.81mm diagonal (28mm^2 assuming same W/H ratio as RX100)
RX100 III - 8.8mm x 13.2mm, 15.86mm diagonal, 116.16mm^2
If you are comfortable shooting manual and RAW try it on the pixel (manual camera is simple and effective). It will at least show you the limits of the sensor and should help you understand when and why it will fall on it face in certain lighting conditions. It will also so you why HDR+ is so amazing.
nabbed said:
I think this is not a general consensus, but this is what I got out of reviews of modern flagship phone cameras.
iPhone 7, Galaxy S7, Pixel cameras have similar capabilities in terms of hardware. What makes a difference is the software processing and noise reduction.
Galaxy S7 seems to have the best algorithms for noise reduction, and the fastest autofocus in very dark scenery. That means less noise, and sharper photos in the dark for the Galaxy. Pixel has an excellent HDR, with good color reproduction in HDR screnery, where dark and bright objects are present simultaneously. iPhone has a good all around camera not excelling at any particular feature.
That said, all smartphone cameras are not even close to large dedicated cameras - the sizes of lenses and sensors are literally two orders of magnitude better in low light. At the current level of technology, you cannot replace a large camera with a smartphone in low light.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would not agree that the S7 has better image processing. It is by far the worst by overdoing the noise reduction and overcompensating with too much sharpening. It is a better sensor/lense underneath though.

rancor22 said:
The RX100 is darn good and can give some of the lower DSLR/mirrorless camera competition. The video you posted is the incredibly hard for a sensor this size and we know the pixel is not great at low light. RX100 is also a excellent F/1.8 lense on it.
I think you are just expecting too much out of a sensor much smaller than the RX100s. Assuming the IMX 378 has the same aspect ratio to the RX100 it is 4.1 time smaller in area.
IMX378 - 7.81mm diagonal (28mm^2 assuming same W/H ratio as RX100)
RX100 III - 8.8mm x 13.2mm, 15.86mm diagonal, 116.16mm^2
If you are comfortable shooting manual and RAW try it on the pixel (manual camera is simple and effective). It will at least show you the limits of the sensor and should help you understand when and why it will fall on it face in certain lighting conditions. It will also so you why HDR+ is so amazing.
I would not agree that the S7 has better image processing. It is by far the worst by overdoing the noise reduction and overcompensating with too much sharpening. It is a better sensor/lense underneath though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sorry, but do you own any of the phones/cameras in question? Do you speak from experience or from rumor mill?

Image Quality?

Considering it is a 2017 device, can we expect the camera quality to be at par with the new fad of "dual" lens? I don't mean the effects...I mean the resolution and clarity.

X0LARIUM said:
Considering it is a 2017 device, can we expect the camera quality to be at par with the new fad of "dual" lens? I don't mean the effects...I mean the resolution and clarity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't very pleased with the camera. The quality is just fine but more megapixels doesn't always mean a better picture. Low light always seems to render images or videos with a red or orange hue. Any zooming and the pictures get way too noisey. In the right light I've taken some great shots. Another thing to look out for is movement and facial tracking. If your subject isn't perfectly still, having facial tracking for focus seriously hinders the shutter speed so I find it best to turn it off when taking pictures of parties and kids and things that are moving.

jaybles said:
I wasn't very pleased with the camera. The quality is just fine but more megapixels doesn't always mean a better picture. Low light always seems to render images or videos with a red or orange hue. Any zooming and the pictures get way too noisey. In the right light I've taken some great shots. Another thing to look out for is movement and facial tracking. If your subject isn't perfectly still, having facial tracking for focus seriously hinders the shutter speed so I find it best to turn it off when taking pictures of parties and kids and things that are moving.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm..over the weekend... I played with the device on display at some store. Wasn't very happy with the speed and performance. Didn't feel like a 2017 device. My 3 year old Nexus 6 is faster lol.. So..don't think I would be buying one (not at this price at least).

X0LARIUM said:
Hmmm..over the weekend... I played with the device on display at some store. Wasn't very happy with the speed and performance. Didn't feel like a 2017 device. My 3 year old Nexus 6 is faster lol.. So..don't think I would be buying one (not at this price at least).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The speed of the phone has nothing to do with the image quality of the camera....
Like jaybles, I also struggle with the camera quality and are having the same red, purple noisy tint in very Low Light in Manual Mode, but also it can be a struggle to take steady shots in Manual Mode in daylight.. However, thanks to the Newer updated imaging algorithm found in the XZ1 and XZP which from what Ive read, SONY have used in the XA1U... it functions really great in Auto Mode, so SONY phones can now be used as great Point and Shoots.. and we no longer have to struggle anymore with ISO, WB and Metreing.
Ive found that by setting the camera to 12MPX in Manual Mode... gives great shots... 20 and 23MPx modes give camera shake and poor image quality in Manual Mode..

my lg v30 review and comparison with previous phone

Hi guys, so i just updated my phone from previous s7 edge tp the lg v30+ unlocked us998 version , just want to share my usage and to help people decide with this phone
so for my background , i am a tech geek phone lover. I always buy used phone since 2010 and always go after cheap high performance phone. My previous phone was mostly samsung , s7 edge, note 4. The last LG phone i was used was lg optimus 2x on 2012, and that's thx to tegra2 hype back then.
Okay, so why i upgrading to my phone because, i want a large new display to play games, ragnarok mobile , anyone? haha and so i listing mi 8 and note 8 to my next target phone back then few months ago. And i was nearly buy the note 8 back then. But the 18,5:9 ratio is turning me off. it was to tall slim skinny screen and thx to the edge it look not to good for my taste. The first time i see a lg v30 is when 3-4 months ago, my friend was using it. The screen is great big and 18:9 ratio looks good and not turning me off, but after reading it have a bad camera 1um pixel, i just auto not to buy this phone back then. Reading news article was my hobby , and that time i read about gcam port than magically make the lg v30 usable, woalah. it actually not look to good when i see the image example on the gcam port review. And the other thing, this thing was cheap for a used one, costly approximately 250 us dollar in my country vs note 8 used which is two times the price. And so my mind was swinging whetever to buy this phone or not. Shortly i brought this phone and sell my s7 edge , LoL
So for my lg v30+ spec is unlocked us998 with oreo. I think i got lucky because the phone is on mint condition with power button like new, giving a strong tactile feedback. i think this was used few weeks than returned, and just got in my hand few months after
okay , lets go enter the review :
Display
So my impression with the display it have a large good propotional 18:9 screen with large SRGB and color space, also with the HDR video support. It easily on par with s8+/note 8 screen and supercede my s7 edge display. On sunny day, the screen have roughly same brightness with my s7 edge display, with s7 edge , slightly have better color and luminance, Other than that the lg v30 display on sunlight is good. For blue shift issue, it's only show up on all white image, so you won't notice it for 99% most of the time except all white image/ui display. it does appear when you see it on all white display and noticeable, but on most daily ui app and games , there's no any noticeable things on my experience. Other than that there's no issue with the screen as ext reviewer said, luminance and brightness is balance and no area is brighter than the other on the screen, like some ext website review said.
On temperature said, the screen does look little bluish, i change the temperature with slider all goes to warmer and turn the blue color to the most left, voila it became very wamer now. I also change the screen to fhd+ to save battery life and performance, and the screen look fantastic, no pixelation can be seen,
Camera
Camera , Camera, the stock camera app for front camera is obviously the worst ever stock camera app i ever use, period. the screen color is very strange, like they have bug on pre prod and no fix. Seriously LG. Most reviewer will judge and said the front camera is terrible, i said yes because of the software, outside software wise, its very good!. Now the back camera using stock app with Oreo is quite good, but it's still hit and miss. Sometimes the image look blur, sometimes it have a great detail on all side of the image. For AI cam, it only bring better colour and exposure from my exp so that maybe a little plus. Changing to googlecamera port is absolutely amazing experience, all low light and good light photo is superb with excellent detail. You can zoom peep to 200% and get nice detail with text clear to readable with almost all lighting condition. Front camera also take a blow with google camera port, there's HDR and a great detail to it, some reviewer said it fix the front camera, i said it makes the front camera look very great with superior HDR color and detail. For video , i wont said much , but as you can read on most reviewer said it have great features that beat other phone. The only annoyance to me is the shaky effect when you walk, not too bad , look s natural but still look strange. The Google camera does fix this a little bit using 1080p and EIS.
Now comparing to s7 edge, the only advantage with my old phone is faster auto focus and high bright photo, other than that the lg v30 is absolutely an upgrade to meeee, the detail photo using gcam on lg v30 beat's quality of s7 edge, any text or image when zoom till 200% is clearer and better due to resolution advante with googlecamera app handling all the processing. For brightness you can play with setting on gcam port + edit brightness to make dark image look brighter as the s7 edge.. Now the s7 edge faster focus is a hit and miss for my exp, sometimes look like you taken a picture on stable but the image appear blurry, this is also the case with gcam, sometimes i need to hold a stable few second to get a good shot that was not blur.
Comparing to my friend s9 plus phone with newest software that contain note 9 camera algorithm, is absolutely great also. the 12 mpx limited res image on s9+ kicked by all the detail that the gcam port given, Sure the s9 plus color and brightness is better than s7 edge, but the gcam photo looks very natural and detailed. Even with telephoto camera lens on s9 plus, the zoomed 200% main camera with gcam still give a good fight,albeit loses on clarity and detail. I even said that my 1/3 prices phone is killing the s9 plus device LoL and he surely tempted
All the above review is using gcam app, with stock lg is a hit and miss. , you need several hit to get a nice pict. Overall with gcam the camera is greatttt
Now front camera wise, the s7 edge have lower aperture and better um pixel size, comparing apple to apple stock camera is absolutely wins to s7 edge, but use the gcam port and you get absolutely amazing image. The s7 edge with beautify off is still applying beautify picture, image doesn't look sharp with smoothing effect going on , this is same behaviour with the lg front camera stock app, only worseeeeee. Using the gcam, the quality is killing the s7 edge front camera, even with superior spec, the s7 edge smoothing the skin makes the image look less sharper vs gcam on lg v30 front camera giving a lot of detail. When you take a image on day light with a lot of strong light on the backgroud the HDR will help you show all detail your backside without any lens flare hiding it, while s7 edge front camera will blow up, if there's too many light and can't see anything. Now comparing the lg v30 front cam with gcam vs note 8/s9 plus camera i think their can have a a par quality, surely the note 8/s9 camera have better resolution,spec and auto focus, but the lg v30 have a very wide angle lens camera, so you can selfie or vlog and show things you want to share on your side with the camera still cover it up for you. So i can say wide angle vs narrow angle, is your choice.
p.s : i didn't post any picture due to limited quota internet bandwith
Battery
The battery life is so amazing, it can easily get 6 hours SOT just like others youtube review said. since 2010 i always buy a used phone and the battery life already drop the first time i use it. The lg V30 is the best smartphone that i buy with very good battery life, the s7 edge only hit around 3-4 hour sot with all efficient setting turn on. Also fast charging temperature is almost low , only 2/3 c higher than standard charging, thx to qnovo adaptive charging tech, usb c technology that make the heat transfer lower than micro usb cable and lg charge tech? it only warm while fast charge. My s7 edge usually become hot while fast charging, easily hit 45c on battery temp, while the v30 hit 39.7 for the highest battery temp.
Loud speaker
The volume quality is very good, just like gsmarena said, loud enough on loud env and clear balance sound, More louder than my s7 edge. While s7 edge speaker gives bass sound effect, the lg v30 speaker is very balanced and clearer, is this due to lg v30 speaker tuned by B&O ? this is still a question with no answer LoL. But i notice that the volume different on 80 vs 90-100% is very huge, when you move to 90 or 100% you get very loud sound, while move to 80% will reduce the vol a lot, i think this is a tweaking done by LG
Audio Quality
One of samsung strengh with music is there is adapt headset app to optimize your earphone, Every people use different headset/iem from the cheapest and the expensive one, using samsung adapt headset program the music quality on s7 edge is great while feel balance. The hifi quad dac on lg v30 does enhance the audio big, it can be felt and the sound become very different everytime i change the eq on the hifi dac mode. For this one as i'm not an audiophile, i give the advantage to lg v30, the only bad thing i need to play with the eq to find the best setting, while samsung one just optimize and play. FYI i'm using c100 jbl , a cheap 6 us dollar iem.
Signal and reception
The phone does have same quality signal reception with s7 edge, but the stepping frequency jump is better. Currently i m using mobile operator with low signal quality on my country, but have cheapest packet for mobile data etc, the signal on lg v30 jump faster per step than s7 edge, this is good to optimize signal and prevent bad signal searching to save battery.