Database Develop

[Q] can someone help me stop heavy post processing?

I have a sony xperia Z C6603 and I absolutely hate something about the phone. Before i take pictures it looks great (amazing even) as i take the photo the picture is perfect, then after a second it processes it so much i look more like an alien from outer space than a human being. Not only this but the files are also ridiculously small compare to all other phones. I've downloaded the FV-5 app and it's great, but my photos from my front camera stll lokks like horse s***. i do not want other setting configurations, because nothing fixes it... Has anybody made a fix for this via rooting or whatever? i've searched all over the internet after a solution , but can't seem to find one. One of you geniuses must have a solution, right? (have the 4.3 android version and 10.4.B.0.569 build number).

Not yet. People have tried.many things but.no luck so far. At least Sony finally updated the camera app which was the same since x1 was released
[email protected] Z

indycar said:
Not yet. People have tried.many things but.no luck so far. At least Sony finally updated the camera app which was the same since x1 was released
[email protected] Z
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
geez.... Yah... my photos did not get better at all, haha. If they could just change the format to JPG or whatever (know that is big files) that would be fantastic, but nooo.... (now referring to sony and not XDA-developers) Great phone, TERRIBLE photo software.

mrdalesen said:
I have a sony xperia Z C6603 and I absolutely hate something about the phone. Before i take pictures it looks great (amazing even) as i take the photo the picture is perfect, then after a second it processes it so much i look more like an alien from outer space than a human being. Not only this but the files are also ridiculously small compare to all other phones. I've downloaded the FV-5 app and it's great, but my photos from my front camera stll lokks like horse s***. i do not want other setting configurations, because nothing fixes it... Has anybody made a fix for this via rooting or whatever? i've searched all over the internet after a solution , but can't seem to find one. One of you geniuses must have a solution, right? (have the 4.3 android version and 10.4.B.0.569 build number).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Sony's post processing is ****.
Unfortunately, there is no solution as of yet.
Sent from my C6603 using xda app-developers app

if you have extensive knowledge with camera settings you could try using manual mode and set everything yourself.

spazzy1912 said:
if you have extensive knowledge with camera settings you could try using manual mode and set everything yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That does not help with the secondary camera, it's bad quality no matter what I do.
My girlfriend has a Iphone 5 which deinitely takes better pictures than mine, I think you all agree that this is unacceptable, we must stand together and crush the underpowered Iphone with the wrath of our mighty hardware and fixed software!

mrdalesen said:
That does not help with the secondary camera, it's bad quality no matter what I do.
My girlfriend has a Iphone 5 which deinitely takes better pictures than mine, I think you all agree that this is unacceptable, we must stand together and crush the underpowered Iphone with the wrath of our mighty hardware and fixed software!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
we can see it two ways
the camera hardware sucks and we can't do anything about it
or the camera software sucks and we have to wait for sony to update their binaries and libraries and other stuff. which we also cannot do anything about.

I agree...when I first looked at myself trough the front camera I thought if I brought a renovated phone with a broken camera...

Mijiwo said:
I agree...when I first looked at myself trough the front camera I thought if I brought a renovated phone with a broken camera...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, such a waste, it's such a great phone

Hello!
I have installed AOKP 4.3 ROM on my Xperia Z. When I need to take a fast picture, I just use auto ISO/Exposure...
When I wanna get better picture in low light, I just use a little bit tweaking In low light, when I'm taking picture of some close object, I just put ISO on 100/200 (max), use flash and that's it! When I'm taking picture a little bit further (3/4 meters), I use 200/400 ISO, and use flash if I can (very big con of our device is bad flash). When I'm doing night portrait, just put ISO on 400 and turn on HDR, photos will look awsome believe me
Tonight I could upload some pictures from my Z, just to give you some clue.
P.S. When you're using front camera, turn on HDR you will get a much better photo quality

MARKOZD15 said:
Hello!
I have installed AOKP 4.3 ROM on my Xperia Z. When I need to take a fast picture, I just use auto ISO/Exposure...
When I wanna get better picture in low light, I just use a little bit tweaking In low light, when I'm taking picture of some close object, I just put ISO on 100/200 (max), use flash and that's it! When I'm taking picture a little bit further (3/4 meters), I use 200/400 ISO, and use flash if I can (very big con of our device is bad flash). When I'm doing night portrait, just put ISO on 400 and turn on HDR, photos will look awsome believe me
Tonight I could upload some pictures from my Z, just to give you some clue.
P.S. When you're using front camera, turn on HDR you will get a much better photo quality
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much, I will definitely try!
I found oyt that the HDR was turned on, the picture quality is still terrible....

mrdalesen said:
Thank you so much, I will definitely try!
I found oyt that the HDR was turned on, the picture quality is still terrible....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you turned off 'soft tan effect'' or something like this? It helps a bit on stock ROM (Honami camera app)
I'm using AOKP ROM and I have better front camera picture quality than my friend (Galaxy S4), I just turned on HDR

MARKOZD15 said:
Did you turned off 'soft tan effect'' or something like this? It helps a bit on stock ROM (Honami camera app)
I'm using AOKP ROM and I have better front camera picture quality than my friend (Galaxy S4), I just turned on HDR
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just flashed the ROM after aloooooooot of work and I currently have the PAC-MAN ROM and the picture quality is amazing. It takes pictures in JPEG automaticallly and the files aren't that big! If anyone wants to do this I can deliver some links which actually unlocks bootloader, roots and flashes ROM, looked for the right downloads for ages.

[Q] Z3 Compact camera any better than Z1 Compact?

Hi. I've searched through some of the forum threads and can't find a direct comparison by actual owners so apologies in advance if this has been covered already....
I have a iphone 4s; the camera is good. I have tried to move to a android phone twice now, (HTC one and a Sony Z1 Compact) and was not impressed with the camera on either so I went back to my iphone 4s.
The HTC uses 4k ultra pixels so is good in low light but mediocre in normal daylight.
The Z1 compact camera just seemed flat, slow, blurred and I took several pics with my 4s and the 4s blew the sony out the water, which surprised me given it's age and much lower pixel count. (which I know isn't everything)
I want a compact phone, android with a excellent camera. Has anyone had experience using the Z3 AND the Z1 compacts?
Other than the camera on the Z3 compact which has mixed reviews, I'm very tempted by this phone as its small, has good battery life, decent specs but I'm weary after my bad experience with the Z1 compact.
Can anyone alley my fears or confirm the camera quality?
thanks

rcbmulder said:
much lower pixel count. (which I know isn't everything)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The higher pixel count is actually counterproductive since each individual cell collects less light and there's additional space between them even increasing the effect (same with high density displays). Unless you do some kind of binning. That's been a trend since at least ten years, my ancient 4MP camera still takes very good low-light shots.

I received my Z3C yesterday so I don't have a lot of experience with it but my first impression is that you will be also disapointed with the camera like you were with the Z1C. Why that? Because I am a disappointed myself. I had the Z1C for 9 months before selling it of the Z3C. I also had the iPhone 4S before and I have to admit that the iPhone is a way more reliable device when it comes to instant photography.
What a pity to embed such a great hardware and not being able to get the most of it.

Rexet...
Thanks for the response. I feared that maybe the case. What a shame. I can't find a decent, small android phone with a top camera.... im hoping the nexus x may be the answer but who knows then that will be released..
iphone 6 (compact) seems to be the logical upgrade but i want to go back to android without sacrificing the camera and refuse to pay what is in my opinion too much for the iphone.

To answer your original question, the z3c camera is MUCH better than the z1ç. This is in both low light, and normal lighting.
HOWEVER my wife ip5s still take better pictures ...

Comparing with Z1 Compact which I had for 6 months, yes it's better with a noticeable margin.

In my opinion, the Z3c (1 week so far) takes roughly the same quality photos as the Z1c (4 months). It's a little snappier and that may be to the slightly faster chipset. The physical button is more sensitive on the Z3c which seems to capture faster.
In both cases, I think the cameras are super competitive with other phones but only if you use manual mode and learn how to shoot with it. You can take some pretty amazing photos with it but Sony makes you work for it. The Superior Auto is crap in my opinion since it often picks the wrong white balance.

Ive both and the z3c is slightly better than the z1c specially at low light. the 12800 ISO actually works (ie z1c == black picture where you see stuff on the z3c)
in bright light its hard to spot any difference.
as for the washed out colors and slight blur look, this is all post processing settings. washed out looking colors generally are actually natural colors. if you change the white balance and sharpness filter they'll look better than the iphone4 pictures.
I compared with colleague's iphone 6. In bright light (ie sun light) they look very similar once the image has been processed for the z3c. Otherwise it does look less contrasted etc. and the iphone6 picture looks better by default. All pics were taken in manual mode, they tend to suck in superior auto...
You can use the Google photo enhance for auto processing if you dont want to do it yourself, it does an okayish job of changing contrast, white balance and sharpness settings.
In low light the z3c is much better than the iphone6.
Hope it gives you an idea. Check the picture thread for samples http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-...ost-pictures-xperia-z3-compact-t2889119/page5

bilboa1 said:
as for the washed out colors and slight blur look, this is all post processing settings. washed out looking colors generally are actually natural colors. if you change the white balance and sharpness filter they'll look better than the iphone4 pictures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean applying a filter after you take the picture, or a setting you can change before and/or during taking a picture?

theres some things you can do while you take the picture, some you can do after. you can actually do the exact same changes after as you can do before except for SCN modes which change the sensor settings.. all other settings appear to be post processing (happening as you take the picture thought).
Most programs will let you do that. I change them in Gimp most of the time, when im lazy and didnt do it in the camera i just use google auto enhance from their photo app.
To look more like the iphones and galaxy phones tho, the settings i generally have to boost are whitebalance (a lot), sharpness (a fair amount) and just a bit of contrast.
I believe you cannot adjust the sharpness within the sony camera app.

With a phone camera, the last thing I want to do...and I bet many others too...is root around with post processing (what the hell??!) and with tweaking in manual mode.
I want to take it out of my pocket and press capture...snap. Done. Like the iphone.
Why is it so hard to do this?

In same position, bought the z3 compact to replace my iPhone 5.
In short, the camera is the only disappointing feature of the phone, and it really is a big disappointment. Washed out colours, terrible shutter lag, slow focus, very soft focus. Have tried all the different camera options (superior auto, different manual options, scenes options) and found nothing adequate yet.
A real shame as I really want to move away from ios, the rest of the phone is superb, if the camera isn't important then it's a fantastic device!

Yep automatic modes arent very good.
Manual modes are okay / mostly on par with competition.. That exludes phones like the lumia 1020 of course. One would hope sony work on the software a bit more in this area

News said z3/z3c camera software will be re-written on Android L(not sure about z1/z1c/z2), so now on 4.4.4 it won't be any better than z1c. I've got a z1c and only played z3c in a local phone store, the phone got faster focus but I think that is pretty much all of this. The quality is just same with Z2, not any better til Android L out. Z3/z3c used a slightly improved cmos(IMX220 vs IMX200) and G lens but you only got better at low light, day time quality has no different at all.
HTC, Samsung, Iphone all got better focus, so they always got a sharper picture and Sony is soft. Speaking for the photo quality, indeed z1/2/3 is real good at low light(when you focus right) and even slightly better than HTC/Samsung/Iphone(this is my experiences and you can notice that from many reviews too) but day time just not that good though acceptable.

TheEndHK said:
News said z3/z3c camera software will be re-written on Android L
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They did? I mean, you're not talking about the extended Android API but Sony's actual camera software?

Iruwen said:
They did? I mean, you're not talking about the extended Android API but Sony's actual camera software?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like a source on this as well. It really is a shame that Sony's camera software isn't on par with the rest of this fantastic device despite the superior hardware. I understand manually adjusting the camera is a solution, but for the layperson who doesn't have the time nor the know-how to make those adjustments, a simpler solution is preferred and a revamp/improvement of their software would go a long way in achieving that.

rcbmulder said:
I want a compact phone, android with a excellent camera. Has anyone had experience using the Z3 AND the Z1 compacts?
Other than the camera on the Z3 compact which has mixed reviews, I'm very tempted by this phone as its small, has good battery life, decent specs but I'm weary after my bad experience with the Z1 compact.
Can anyone alley my fears or confirm the camera quality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my limited experience with the z3c, the camera is very poor when it comes to fine details like trees and leaves etc. If camera performance is important for you, then definitely look elsewhere. Shame on such a good phone otherwise.

radicans said:
In my limited experience with the z3c, the camera is very poor when it comes to fine details like trees and leaves etc. If camera performance is important for you, then definitely look elsewhere. Shame on such a good phone otherwise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The trees and leaves needs an extremely low compression rate to maintain the fine details because of JPG problem(too old). However, the compression rate is often too high on all Sony phones. RAW image is very possible being a basic requirement on Android L according from Google speaking, so this problem might be solved in the future.
---------- Post added at 01:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:51 AM ----------
Iruwen said:
They did? I mean, you're not talking about the extended Android API but Sony's actual camera software?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not? Android L is a total new OS so Sony is forced to rewrite anythings(though I believe Sony is lazy and actually doesn't want to do it... lol)
---------- Post added at 02:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:57 AM ----------
boojay said:
I'd like a source on this as well. It really is a shame that Sony's camera software isn't on par with the rest of this fantastic device despite the superior hardware. I understand manually adjusting the camera is a solution, but for the layperson who doesn't have the time nor the know-how to make those adjustments, a simpler solution is preferred and a revamp/improvement of their software would go a long way in achieving that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sony keen to Fix Image Algorithms in Xperia Z3
http://smartphonetechie.com/sony-keen-to-fix-image-algorithms-in-xperia-z3/
The SA mode works good to me, the only problem on SA for most people because it very actively detects the handshake and switch to sport mode and turn up shutter speed and ISO in the end, it will ruin the overall quality and may increase/decrease the brightness in a wrong way but it will also help for folks who got seriously handshake.

TheEndHK said:
Sony keen to Fix Image Algorithms in Xperia Z3
http://smartphonetechie.com/sony-keen-to-fix-image-algorithms-in-xperia-z3/
The SA mode works good to me, the only problem on SA for most people because it very actively detects the handshake and switch to sport mode and turn up shutter speed and ISO in the end, it will ruin the overall quality and may increase/decrease the brightness in a wrong way but it will also help for folks who got seriously handshake.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, but from the sounds of it, the fix was supposed to come with the Z3 series, but clearly that never happened. Fingers crossed with Android L then, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.

is the camera really that bad, all the reviews say its pretty good, not quite the gold standard iphone 6 level but close enough? The pics posted on this forum from the z3 compact look good too IMO.

[Q] Xperia Z3 camera updates

Hello,
I've noticed some "artifacts/noise", with a recursive pattern, in some photos of the Sony Xperia Z3 in "some" smartphone websites (I don't know if I can say the names ).
They were made in manual mode 20mpx.
Are there updates/firmware for the camera that have improved the final result versus the early reviews?
Thanks a lot.

Looking in deep, they seems JPEG artifacts... how can Sony ruin Z3 photos like this?

The Sony Z3 Compact camera is anyways a ****ty hardware and the software that is hard protected by the DRM keyes is also a turd. Compared to my 5 years old iPhone 4S, the all new Sony phone makes very very bad photos. Less quality, no real color, too much noise, slower focusing, bad contrast and the HDR doesnt makes anything...
So I am sitting here and just waiting for the end of my carreer contract, when I will change this horrible phone to something usable.

****ty hardware? really?
The only problem with the phone is the software, automatic mode is a joke. If you have very bad photos with this phone it's either a faulty unit or your fault (by using auto). Hopefully with android 5.0 coming they tweak the auto mode so people who can just point and shoot will be happy with the device - for me RAW DNG is already enough

davebugyi said:
****ty hardware? really?
The only problem with the phone is the software, automatic mode is a joke. If you have very bad photos with this phone it's either a faulty unit or your fault (by using auto). Hopefully with android 5.0 coming they tweak the auto mode so people who can just point and shoot will be happy with the device - for me RAW DNG is already enough
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried a few Z3 compacts and Z3's and the results of the camera are pretty bad. Very noisy, autofocus is total hit or miss, and my biggest blunder is that all reddish colors come out with a funky purpleish tone in the pictures. The software is also pretty abysmal and unnecessarily complicated. Even my nexus 5 a year after the updates takes much more natural looking pictures although AF still sucks.
There's just something wrong with the hardware+software stack of the Xperia Z series and Sony needs to get up with the program if they want to compete. The current experience pales in comparison to the cameras of the iPhone or the Note4/Galaxy S5 which are fantastic. It would be ok if this was not supposed to be a flagship, but it is such a thing.

No man just no. The hardware is completely fine. The software is not upto par. The same Sony lenses are used by other manufacturers and they achieve good results. This 20.7 will be used on HTC M9 next probably and you'll see whether it's the problem with the hardware or software

Very noisy = turn down the ISO sensitivity, it's no APS-C or Full Frame sensor - but probably Sony's mess while on Auto
Autofocus is total hit or miss - Again, this one is not that visible on my unit, even in poor lit conditions makes a few misses, but in daylight never.
Magenta tint? nope, not here.
However without arguing the stock camera app needs improvemrnt, I am taking pictures with Camera FV-5 and those are great.

davebugyi said:
Hopefully with android 5.0 coming they tweak the auto mode so people who can just point and shoot will be happy with the device - for me RAW DNG is already enough
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you save in RAW/DNG format on Z3C?

wpcoe said:
How do you save in RAW/DNG format on Z3C?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the moment, you can't. As you can see, I already wrote that feature will come in Android 5.0, and if Sony's camera won't support it, others will. Camera FV-5 already has the option.

No updates for the camera AKAIK, which sucks because it is not great right now. Pink spot, crummy white balance, almost unuseable "superior auto", funky reds, poor shutter speed selection, stupidly complicated software, and appalling jpeg processing that leaves 20MP photos in particular looking like they were saved at 30% quality.
One of the main reasons i bought the z3c was for the camera, but those reviewers who sang its praises must have been smoking something (or paid by Sony). I hope the Lollipop update brings some improvement.

Same here, I had very high hopes coming from iPhone 5 but I already miss how easy it was to take a photo with that.

There are no jpeg artifacts, only artifacts from excessive artificial sharpening.
The jpeg quality must actually be quite high here, considering the ~9 MB size of the full-res photos.

[Q] Will the Lollipop update fix the terrible camera?

As we all know the sensor and lens on the Z3 are some of the best on the market right now. However, for some reason, Sony, who make maybe the best compact cameras out there, seems to have failed miserably in regard to the camera software in its phones. All photos come out with little detail, soft focus, artifacts and overprocessed. Do you think that will get fixed in 5.0(2)? Will the camera finally be comparable to, say, the Galaxy Note 4 or some of the Lumias?
Regards.

what terrible camera?
i'm no Ansel Adams, but i think the Z3c has a great camera, especially once you get the hang of it.

seklerek said:
As we all know the sensor and lens on the Z3 are some of the best on the market right now. However, for some reason, Sony, who make maybe the best compact cameras out there, seems to have failed miserably in regard to the camera software in its phones. All photos come out with little detail, soft focus, artifacts and overprocessed. Do you think that will get fixed in 5.0(2)? Will the camera finally be comparable to, say, the Galaxy Note 4 or some of the Lumias?
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In theory yes. With Lollipop we will be able to take RAW images with the camera due to the new api. RAW images are unprocessed, straight from the sensor. The Sony camera sensor is good but the software image processing isn't. Taking photos in RAW eliminates the poor image processing so the images should be much much better.
Sent from my D5833

I actually agree on this, especially when taking photos. All the other devices I used before my Z3 Compact did not try to focus again after I already touched focus a certain area, but my Z3C actually does so as I press the shutter button. It also has trouble trying to focus on really close objects, only able to get precise focus 1/10 of the time.

I personally use google camera for simple, clear, low-processed pictures. The drawback is that the photos cannot be saved on the sd card w/o root.
Or, you can very well use the manual mode - this one also is pulling some nice photos, w/o blur,

ro_explorer said:
I personally use google camera for simple, clear, low-processed pictures. The drawback is that the photos cannot be saved on the sd card w/o root.
Or, you can very well use the manual mode - this one also is pulling some nice photos, w/o blur,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Atleast on the regular Z3 you can choose to save photos and videos on the sd card directly.
Camera, the three blocks, settings icons.

I'm currently playing around with the app ABetterCamera and so far images are taken faster and low light photos look much better. They have an option to choose where to store the photos and if you choose external card it gives you the message Android doesn't allow that...BUT there is an option to choose custom folder which I pointed to the SDCard and it worked!

Yeah I find the camera terrible too.
My dads Note 2 takes much better pictures. If I put them side by side at a certain distance and take a picture of a piece of paper, on one I can clearly read what is written on it, and on the other it's all blurrines. I didn't expect this camera to suck that big especially compared to such an old low-res camera.
If that was not enough, colors are much more innatural on the sony, while the note 2 reproduces them much better...

michyprima said:
Yeah I find the camera terrible too.
My dads Note 2 takes much better pictures. If I put them side by side at a certain distance and take a picture of a piece of paper, on one I can clearly read what is written on it, and on the other it's all blurrines. I didn't expect this camera to suck that big especially compared to such an old low-res camera.
If that was not enough, colors are much more innatural on the sony, while the note 2 reproduces them much better...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless you print out the pictures or look at them on the same screen it's really not possible to compare color reproduction from camera to camera.
Try ABetterCamera app, for me it takes better shots.

lol1rfs said:
Atleast on the regular Z3 you can choose to save photos and videos on the sd card directly.
Camera, the three blocks, settings icons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use the sony camera yes you can, but he was using Google camera that can't save to Sdcard.

Back camera is mostly ok. But the front camera is the worst! I cannot wait to sony fixes this soft skin efect bug. It's driving me nuts!!

I think the camera Lumia 925 that I had, much better than the camera's compact Z3. To be honest, the camera of this device did not please me so much.

android167 said:
Back camera is mostly ok. But the front camera is the worst! I cannot wait to sony fixes this soft skin efect bug. It's driving me nuts!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can actually turn the "soft skin effect" off in the menu and if you want better pictures from the front camera make sure the "HDR" option is always enabled.
---------- Post added at 01:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:22 PM ----------
FSRBIKER said:
Unless you print out the pictures or look at them on the same screen it's really not possible to compare color reproduction from camera to camera.
Try ABetterCamera app, for me it takes better shots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Camera FV-5 is a better choice. It allows 100% JPG Quality, 100% Thumbnail quality AND uncompressed PNG format option for taking shots.

seklerek said:
As we all know the sensor and lens on the Z3 are some of the best on the market right now. However, for some reason, Sony, who make maybe the best compact cameras out there, seems to have failed miserably in regard to the camera software in its phones. All photos come out with little detail, soft focus, artifacts and overprocessed. Do you think that will get fixed in 5.0(2)? Will the camera finally be comparable to, say, the Galaxy Note 4 or some of the Lumias?
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally will not get my hopes up that Sony will do anything to the camera software to improve image quality just because 5.0 supports RAW format. Sony may not even include RAW support in their version of 5.0.
So many times, phone manufacturers pick and choose which features of android to implement or substitute that feature with their own.

seklerek said:
As we all know the sensor and lens on the Z3 are some of the best on the market right now. However, for some reason, Sony, who make maybe the best compact cameras out there, seems to have failed miserably in regard to the camera software in its phones. All photos come out with little detail, soft focus, artifacts and overprocessed. Do you think that will get fixed in 5.0(2)? Will the camera finally be comparable to, say, the Galaxy Note 4 or some of the Lumias?
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The formal answer is "no" - it will NOT fix the poor image processing. RAW format is not supported by Sony in Android 5.0
http://www.xperiablog.net/2015/03/1...-does-not-support-manual-camera-settings-raw/

PuffDaddy_d said:
The formal answer is "no" - it will NOT fix the poor image processing. RAW format is not supported by Sony in Android 5.0
http://www.xperiablog.net/2015/03/1...-does-not-support-manual-camera-settings-raw/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's sad, I had my hopes up that they would finally do something about it. How can a camera company make a phone camera so bad I can't understand.

Daryll99 said:
You can actually turn the "soft skin effect" off in the menu and if you want better pictures from the front camera make sure the "HDR" option is always enabled.
---------- Post added at 01:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:22 PM ----------
Camera FV-5 is a better choice. It allows 100% JPG Quality, 100% Thumbnail quality AND uncompressed PNG format option for taking shots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You cannot. Try to turn it off, take a picture, then take a picture when it's on. There is apsolutely no difference.

camera is not terrible, doesn't need to be fixed. because iphone has better camera doesn't mean it's terrible, it's just second best after Gs5 in android (third after iphone)

ilgreco112 said:
camera is not terrible, doesn't need to be fixed. because iphone has better camera doesn't mean it's terrible, it's just second best after Gs5 in android (third after iphone)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hardware is indeed great, but software is very bad, and since the combination of both make the picture, the camera needs to be fixed (software part).
I mean look at all the phones using SONY sensors, they take excellent pictures on AUTO. Z3? Nope, rarely. Manual is super, but sometimes you do not have the time to fiddle around with the settings. And no DNG RAW in 5.0.2? Well, totally wasted potential of this phone's camera.

I'm very disappointed with the Z3C camera too... I mean, considering the specs, I was hoping for a lot much better pictures.
I´ve just got mine, I did a lot of research before buying a new phone (I had a Note 2), and the main reasons why I bought this phone are: size/specs, battery life and camera. I also considered buying the Moto Maxx (Brazilian Droid Turbo variant) but the Z3C compactness (is this a word?) made me chose it and I'm kind of regretting it a little bit... lol

Thoughts on the XZ3 Camera (Auto Mode)

So for those who already own the XZ3, what are your thoughts so far on the camera??
For me, I've been happy with daytime photos and definitely the selfies are fantastic, but I'm not too happy with the low light shots, at least some of the time. While the XZ3 maintains Sony's ability to be VERY color accurate (unlike Samsung and Apple, and maybe LG sometimes?), it seems so far in low light it doesn't fare all that well.
What do you think? If you've found a way to improve the camera, ESP in low light conditions, please let us know what settings you implemented, or tricks you used. Also mention which mode you're in, though I'd prefer to keep this on Auto only, I will be open to Manual Mode suggestions as well.
Thank you!!

As I said on my previous post, the only thing I hate is the lens flare. Other than that, I'm pretty much satisfied with the camera.

This is from iArvee, who posted it in another thread:
"Comparing it to my XZP, I find the XZ3 to be better, especially in low light photos. Low light photos come out more clear, and less smudged in comparison with the XZP. However, I hate that there's a huge lens flare when taking photos in both low light or daylight."
That's cool! I too notice the lens flare, and have been in some cases lowering the brightness while in Auto mode to compensate. To elaborate more on what I said above, in low light, it just seems like the XZ3 in most cases keeps color accuracy but the details are smeared out more than they should be. I wonder if I don't have the best settings up, but Auto is limited there, so I dunno. To elaborate, here are some pics b/t my LG V30 (which uses the modded GCam ((same camera app found in the Pixel phones)) app) and the XZ3.
Thoughts? Any way I can make these better?? In both cases, the LG ones with GCam app seems to be more detailed. Though in other shots the Sony was better. The ones with the clock........zoom into the Glenlivet liquor box. Which one looks better to you? (Note: Waive mouse over each pic to see if it's LG or Sony.)
Note: I apologize for the Sony pics being rotated over. I have no idea why this is happening. lol Feel free to download the pics and rotate them accordingly if you wish for comparison's sake.

Here are some additional pics. Waive over each pic to see which phone took it (again, LG is NOT using stock but modded GCam app in Auto) and also the mode.
Looks to me that the Sony in Auto mode won out here, where the LG couldn't quite keep up.
The Sony Manual mode pics (HDR off and HDR on) came out the worst, proving that Manual mode isn't always better. Unfortunately, XDA isn't letting me upload those, but I can tell you they came out VERY dark and inferior to the two that did get uploaded to this message.
Thoughts?

I love how the colors turn out in low light. Sony delivers there for years. I also don't bother a bit of noise as long as the chroma noise is eliminated. But it is the end of 2018, they need to step up the game in Computational Photography. Something like a night mode on Huawei or Pixel Phones is missing. Something like HDR+. And functional Portrait modes.
If the Google Camera worked on the XZ3, it could be the best camera phone on the market. This sensors performance on high iso is sick. Gcam makes heavy use of multiple high iso shots and merges them together to increase the dynamic range and reduce the noise. So this sensor is kind of made for something like gcam.
A real portrait mode is also missing. The selfie one is ok, sharp but really flat looking, and making a lot of mistakes bluring out the background. But the downloadable portrait mode for the rear camera is total garbage.
Even though Sony App improved a lot compared to previous iterations, it feels like it is still 2 or 3 years behind.
I'd pay 100€ to get the gcam working on this phone. I'm pretty sure it will rock!

I'm satisfied with it but it doesn't hold a candle to the Xperia XZ2 Premium camera. I wish Sony would put all the best features into one device and call that the flagship. Xperia XZ2 Premium has a dual lens camera and 4K. The Xperia XZ3 has OLED screen. Make one device, with all the best features, and sell that. As it is, I carry the XZ3 to use as my phone and watch videos and carry the XZ2 Premium if I will be taking pictures.

madphone said:
I love how the colors turn out in low light. Sony delivers there for years. I also don't bother a bit of noise as long as the chroma noise is eliminated. But it is the end of 2018, they need to step up the game in Computational Photography. Something like a night mode on Huawei or Pixel Phones is missing. Something like HDR+. And functional Portrait modes.
If the Google Camera worked on the XZ3, it could be the best camera phone on the market. This sensors performance on high iso is sick. Gcam makes heavy use of multiple high iso shots and merges them together to increase the dynamic range and reduce the noise. So this sensor is kind of made for something like gcam.
A real portrait mode is also missing. The selfie one is ok, sharp but really flat looking, and making a lot of mistakes bluring out the background. But the downloadable portrait mode for the rear camera is total garbage.
Even though Sony App improved a lot compared to previous iterations, it feels like it is still 2 or 3 years behind.
I'd pay 100€ to get the gcam working on this phone. I'm pretty sure it will rock!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love the phone overall, and camera overall too. But when it comes to details, it's not as good as it should be. So I agree with you there that they need to step it up for sure!
Case in point............here are some more daytime pics I took earlier today (attached). The outdoor pics are superior to what I took on my LG V30 with modded GCam app (yes, I WISH there was one for Xperia!!!! lol), but when I come indoors, the XZ3 disappoints. When you zoom in, even with the movies one, it just doesn't look all that great. I'm honestly having second thoughts about keeping it sadly.
I even tried out some other camera apps off Google Play Store. NONE of them were as good as Sony's stock software, but that's not saying much. For overall pics, and also selfies (EVEN nighttime selfies), the XZ3 is fantastic. For wanting detail, it still isn't up to par despite it being a 2018 flagship.
Thoughts?

augie7107 said:
I'm satisfied with it but it doesn't hold a candle to the Xperia XZ2 Premium camera. I wish Sony would put all the best features into one device and call that the flagship. Xperia XZ2 Premium has a dual lens camera and 4K. The Xperia XZ3 has OLED screen. Make one device, with all the best features, and sell that. As it is, I carry the XZ3 to use as my phone and watch videos and carry the XZ2 Premium if I will be taking pictures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Very helpful post!
Let me ask you augie, how was the XZ2 P when it came to detail, both in daytime and low light vs. the XZ3 (please see my last post before answering)?? I am very interested in your opinion there. Please feel free to be AS DETAILED as possible!
Yeah it sux b/c the XZ2 P is 16:9, and I really really like 18:9 phones. But they couldn't make 4K in an 18:9 phone with the 845 chip I guess. So the XZ3 P next year will offer that up instead as I believe the 855 will be able to handle that. If I don't keep my XZ3, I may just wait for the XZ3 P then.
Wow ok. You shouldn't have to do that, but I guess you got the best of both worlds at least! lol

RockStar2005 said:
Interesting. Very helpful post!
Let me ask you augie, how was the XZ2 P when it came to detail, both in daytime and low light vs. the XZ3 (please see my last post before answering)?? I am very interested in your opinion there. Please feel free to be AS DETAILED as possible!
Yeah it sux b/c the XZ2 P is 16:9, and I really really like 18:9 phones. But they couldn't make 4K in an 18:9 phone with the 845 chip I guess. So the XZ3 P next year will offer that up instead as I believe the 855 will be able to handle that. If I don't keep my XZ3, I may just wait for the XZ3 P then.
Wow ok. You shouldn't have to do that, but I guess you got the best of both worlds at least! lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As always, good to hear from you. I will provide a detailed response with examples tomorrow. The short of it, XZ2P is the best Sony low light/night time camera I have had on a Sony phone. The 51200 max ISO makes this possible. Great point on the 4K screen ratio issue but what is stopping them from putting a dual lens camera with higher ISO in the XZ3?

augie7107 said:
As always, good to hear from you. I will provide a detailed response with examples tomorrow. The short of it, XZ2P is the best Sony low light/night time camera I have had on a Sony phone. The 51200 max ISO makes this possible. Great point on the 4K screen ratio issue but what is stopping them from putting a dual lens camera with higher ISO in the XZ3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Likewise old friend! Been a while too. Hope you're doin' alright!
Ok that's cool. I await that post!
Oh yeah that's right.........51200 max ISO! The XZ3's max is 12800. So that makes sense why the XZ2 P's would be so much better. I just REALLY wish they also had ISO on ALL these cameras. Then I believe they would be unstoppable. But Sony Mobile is SO damn stubborn about OIS. But hey, let's RANDOMLY put it on the XA2 Ultra's FRONT cam only!!! Not the main camera, or any of the ACTUAL flagships! Cuz that would be too weird and insane to conceive!! lol
I have NO idea why they didn't continue using dual lenses augie. But at this point I've made a final decision to return my XZ3. The main reason I'd say is the camera thing. But also, T-Mobile's about to get a new radio band, Band 71/600 MHz, and Sony didn't program it on this phone, so although I get Band 12, I won't get 71 when it does if I keep the XZ3. If they'd CERTIFIED it with T-Mobile then I would, or else if they wanted to ACTUALLY remove their heads FULLY out of their a$$es, they'd get with ALL the major carriers here and actually sell some phones! I've seen charts that show that the same time they stopped dealing with T-Mo and Verizon (2015) is when their sales here started to plummet. Coincidence? I think not. lol It just sux cuz I really love this phone.
Again, I look forward to your XZ2 P pics tomorrow. In addition though, can you tell me, is there anything CAMERA-wise that the XZ3 does better than the XZ2 P? I'm kinda hoping not, but I thought I'd read they made further improvements. Ughh I dunno! lol

Here are some samples from XZ2P. I am a photography novice but I thought these low-light pictures were the best I have captured with a Sony phone

augie7107 said:
Here are some samples from XZ2P. I am a photography novice but I thought these low-light pictures were the best I have captured with a Sony phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow!! Gorgeous man. Thanks for sharing!
So again, was there ANYTHING about the XZ3's camera that you thought was actually better vs. the XZ2 P's?

RockStar2005 said:
Wow!! Gorgeous man. Thanks for sharing!
So again, was there ANYTHING about the XZ3's camera that you thought was actually better vs. the XZ2 P's?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There isn't, XZ2P camera is far superior in my humble opinion. Again, a photography novice so simply my preference is stated.

augie7107 said:
There isn't, XZ2P camera is far superior in my humble opinion. Again, a photography novice so simply my preference is stated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. That's what I was expecting you to say too. lol
Very sad!! But also, hopeful for the XZ3 P!!!!! :good:
Let me ask you, if you have time, can you take some new pics with the XZ2 P of something specific? I'd like to see some close-up pics (within 5-7 feet) of anything with writing on it............boxes, DVD/Blu-Ray movie containers, etc. In low-light would be preferred, just to see how the XZ2 P handles it vs. the XZ3's weak a$$ for this. lol
Thank you!!!!!
In other random news lol.