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I Just got my Xperia T and wanted to compare the image quality to my HTC One X I'm getting rid of (God awful phone by the way)
These pictures are in no way 'the best' the camera can do I'm sure and I hardly used a good subject... in fact it was just what was in the corner of my room
All pictures however were taken now (11:10pm ish) in a fairly dullish room so all had to use the flash feature.
See for yourself
oi46.tinypic.com/2qj8xfb.jpg (Add the usual http part!)
^^ I had to do it like that as it wont let me post a link, so I do apologise to any forum admin I'm not doing it to break the rules.. sorry!
Excellent shoot. Xperia T's camera definitely has a greater contrast.. which is the most noticeable thing that popped out to me. The shadows were darker, etc.
Fuzalert2k said:
Excellent shoot. Xperia T's camera definitely has a greater contrast.. which is the most noticeable thing that popped out to me. The shadows were darker, etc.
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It also picked up the varnish shine effect that the cabinet has where the HTC one x made it look dull. So far I'm very impressed with the Xperia t,for once I'm using the stock keyboard as its actually very good. Normally I install swiftkey but not this time.
I have both phones aswell and SXT has the far better camera and video and video sound quality too and I like the fact that the videos arent so zoomed in like on the hox, htc really need to do something about that because it is a horrible feature.
I like my HOX but seriously Tegra 3 really lets it down, phone has a tendancy to be zippy fast one minute then snail slow and laggy the next and not to mention it overheats like crazy when playing games or on the internet for even three mins which my sxt doesn't
How fast does your xperia t take shots, i came from a gs3 that was lightning quick at taking pics. I get some amazing pics with the xperia t, but sometimes it just seems sluggish at focusing if at all. Would you mind sharing detailed camera settings for everyday use so we can get the best out of the Xperia Ts Camera?
Thanks
jkr284 said:
How fast does your xperia t take shots, i came from a gs3 that was lightning quick at taking pics. I get some amazing pics with the xperia t, but sometimes it just seems sluggish at focusing if at all. Would you mind sharing detailed camera settings for everyday use so we can get the best out of the Xperia Ts Camera?
Thanks
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I have the stock settings only got my phone yesterday. When I press the capture button it takes about 0.5 to 1 seconds for the picture to flash in the gallery icon in the bottom right.
I always have my camera in normal mode as opposed to auto scene mode because auto scene mode it is too slow to focus and I use touch focus instead of auto focus.
RWSAMHTC said:
I always have my camera in normal mode as opposed to auto scene mode because auto scene mode it is too slow to focus and I use touch focus instead of auto focus.
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+1
The scene selection seems to take a while. I leave mine in normal mode but let auto-focus do its thing and select a specific scene mode (landscape, sports mainly) when needed. I only use touch focus when I want to focus on a particular area of the shot I'm taking.
If I helped, hit Thanks!
I left mine in auto for everything
RWSAMHTC said:
I have both phones aswell and SXT has the far better camera and video and video sound quality too and I like the fact that the videos arent so zoomed in like on the hox, htc really need to do something about that because it is a horrible feature.
I like my HOX but seriously Tegra 3 really lets it down, phone has a tendancy to be zippy fast one minute then snail slow and laggy the next and not to mention it overheats like crazy when playing games or on the internet for even three mins which my sxt doesn't
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That's the problem with all the Tegra devices. I refuse to buy one again
Sent from my LT29i using xda premium
today my focus froze completely when trying to take a picture of some christmas lights, I had to exit the camera and go back into it before it focused and btw that time the lights went off. This is kinda the same issue i had with the xperia s but the s was worse. Please, please, please SONY just stop it. why cant the camera focus straight away like on the HOX or SGS3 for example.
---------- Post added at 10:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:29 PM ----------
weebnuts said:
That's the problem with all the Tegra devices. I refuse to buy one again
Sent from my LT29i using xda premium
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Please believe, same here never ever again!
Unfortunately Xperia T is not the leader in good quality pictures. I would say my T makes awful pictures!! I have it now for a few weeks and I am really really disappointed in photo quality by my new Xperia. I had Samsung Galaxy SII before but I didn't like it due to network signal problems so I sold it after a few weeks and I decided to go for Xperia T. S2 was making way better pictures than Xperia T does. I wanted to by S3 but I didn't like the week network signal in S2 and I have used Sony Ericsson for many years before so I picked Xperia T. I was very disappointed when I noticed after my first shot how noisy it was. It is hard to catch focus, many pictures are blurred. Making a shot in bright sun is fine. But as soon as You will get inside and use a lamp as a light sources even with LED light it will be hard to make a nice clear shot. I had SE Satio before and it was making much better pictures. I also compared shots in the same room and lighting with my friend's Galaxy S3 and Samsung was making much better pictures without that much noise. So If you are looking for a good camera with your smartphone Xperia T might not be the best call.
matexone said:
Unfortunately Xperia T is not the leader in good quality pictures. I would say my T makes awful pictures!! I have it now for a few weeks and I am really really disappointed in photo quality by my new Xperia. I had Samsung Galaxy SII before but I didn't like it due to network signal problems so I sold it after a few weeks and I decided to go for Xperia T. S2 was making way better pictures than Xperia T does. I wanted to by S3 but I didn't like the week network signal in S2 and I have used Sony Ericsson for many years before so I picked Xperia T. I was very disappointed when I noticed after my first shot how noisy it was. It is hard to catch focus, many pictures are blurred. Making a shot in bright sun is fine. But as soon as You will get inside and use a lamp as a light sources even with LED light it will be hard to make a nice clear shot. I had SE Satio before and it was making much better pictures. I also compared shots in the same room and lighting with my friend's Galaxy S3 and Samsung was making much better pictures without that much noise. So If you are looking for a good camera with your smartphone Xperia T might not be the best call.
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Yeah coming from a Nokia N8 I have to agree that the image quality is just not to the standard I've been used to. I got camera zoom fx app but even with uncompressed images @ 12.8mp there is far too much noise in low level lighting. There is a mod you can get that will probably give you a real uncompressed JPG but as far as taking a decent shot without any motion blur it's almost impossible..The Video capture on the other hand is good.
I may have to wait a bit before trying this mod out as need to root the phone. Personally I would prefer if Sony wouldn't handicap the camera quality as the images are re-sized for sharing online.. The phone can store 14gig plus 32 gig of expanded memory.
IMHO if you want good camera hardware in a phone go for the Nokia 808 or the 920.
Irrespective of operating system. If you want a good photo you need good hardware and I never needed to buy extra software with Symbian to get a good shot every time I used the camera on the N8.
I don't know why Sony made such a poor quality camera/pictures. I am not sure where the problem is - is it the hardware or software, but pictures out of Xperia T are barely usable. I can compare pictures to old but good Sony Ericsson C902. Compared to Galaxy S3 Samsung makes much better pictures. If camera would be better T would be the best phone. For a plus is that videos are quite decent.
And most of the tests show the opposite as well as many other users say the oppostite too.
Another thread in loop. One likes this, another one likes that.
Truth is, that the image stabiliser needs to be turned on, to make not blurry photos in low light conditions. Noise is normal on this kind of cameras. If another phone has no noise, then it's only post processing.
Btw. this camera is perfect scanner of documents, even in low light conditions. It proved to be very useful for me.
peetr_ said:
Another thread in loop. One likes this, another one likes that.
Truth is, that the image stabiliser needs to be turned on, to make not blurry photos in low light conditions. Noise is normal on this kind of cameras. If another phone has no noise, then it's only post processing.
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But the stabiliser is a digital stabiliser right ? Do you know how does it work for pictures ?
edit : by taking multiple picture and keeping the sharpest one a suppose
So the image stabilizer is most likely "off" with the auto setting ? Why they don't choose to keep it "on" if its better ?
I also have been surprised by how much chroma noise the pictures have.
So maybe Sony just made the choice to apply less chroma noise reduction than its competitor. (but having chroma noise at lowest iso setting feel weird for sure)
crmb said:
(but having chroma noise at lowest iso setting feel weird for sure)
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Just a prove that it's not possible to make photo without noise in low light conditions with this optics. ISO is not everything.
crmb said:
But the stabiliser is a digital stabiliser right ? Do you know how does it work for pictures ?
edit : by taking multiple picture and keeping the sharpest one a suppose
So the image stabilizer is most likely "off" with the auto setting ? Why they don't choose to keep it "on" if its better ?
I also have been surprised by how much chroma noise the pictures have.
So maybe Sony just made the choice to apply less chroma noise reduction than its competitor. (but having chroma noise at lowest iso setting feel weird for sure)
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Not sure about the xperia t, but on my sgs3 when i turn on image stabilization all it really does is increase the iso therefore producing a faster shutter speed...which is what you want to prevent blur. The exif data of each photo shows this.
Sent from my SGH-I747M
Camera questions
Hi all,
New to the Xperia T and, more importantly, new to XDA. This is my first personal smartphone!
I got the Sony as I wanted a smartphone, but I wanted one that takes good photos, as I cannot take my dSLR everywhere.
A
In the default app, can you change jpeg compression? it is reported to be very high
What app do people use?
Image compression - can you set the shutter button open a different app?
B
Why do some reviews show that you can change the ISO, whilst others report you cannot?
Is this option "lost" in an update, ie has Sony removed it?
Thanks for your help!
icstm
Right now to find where to ask the idot's questions of - i)how do you stop free apps installing their advertising engines, or at least access the same information that you permit the app to access - ii)apart from allowing you to tinker what is the benefit of rooting (which I assme means gaining admin access df. unix) iii)what are the additional features on the xperia t of the popular customer ROMS
In which way do the 8 MP 16:9 (manual) photos differ from the 8 MP ones taken with superior auto mode?
Besides the automatic exposure and white balance, I keep hearing that the photos taken with superior auto mode are "oversampled" but what do they really mean by that? Is it just a downscaled photo? Because every picture dowscaled looks great, so I don't how this is a special thing, so if I tweak the exposure and the while balance I will get manual photos that look like the" superior mode " photos?
:confused
I see people complaining that 20 MP is too much for a smartphone with such a "small sensor " that the pictures taken by it, have too much noise .
If I use 8 MP do they have less noise in general or they look like they have less noise only because the picture is smaller?
Anyone? :crying:
Chad_Petree said:
Anyone? :crying:
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I just got my Xperia Z1, so I'll try all different camera modes and see which is best anyway.
If you give me some time, I may be able to share my results here with you
One thing I have already noticed: taking an 8 megapixel photo can sometimes yield more detailed images than 20 megapixel ones, especially when you've selected Night Mode (which isn't available in Manual Mode at 20 megapixels for some odd reason I have yet to learn). I'll have to experiment some more though, but take my word for it: 8 megapixels is more than enough actually.
EDIT: Another thing I had noticed: that so-called "superior auto mode" is far from superior - if you can hold your device steady, you mostly get the best results with night mode. Slightly worse is setting the ISO to 50 (still requires a steady hand for relatively low shutterspeed). Superior auto mode makes the images often look dull in vibrance and lack details.
Hermantje said:
I just got my Xperia Z1, so I'll try all different camera modes and see which is best anyway.
If you give me some time, I may be able to share my results here with you
One thing I have already noticed: taking an 8 megapixel photo can sometimes yield more detailed images than 20 megapixel ones, especially when you've selected Night Mode (which isn't available in Manual Mode at 20 megapixels for some odd reason I have yet to learn). I'll have to experiment some more though, but take my word for it: 8 megapixels is more than enough actually.
EDIT: Another thing I had noticed: that so-called "superior auto mode" is far from superior - if you can hold your device steady, you mostly get the best results with night mode. Slightly worse is setting the ISO to 50 (still requires a steady hand for relatively low shutterspeed). Superior auto mode makes the images often look dull in vibrance and lack details.
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How is it possible to get more detail with 8 mp pictures?
Well know I'm intrigued, how is the testing going?
Chad_Petree said:
How is it possible to get more detail with 8 mp pictures?
Well know I'm intrigued, how is the testing going?
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I've been testing some more and I've come to the conclusion that you shouldn't use Superior Auto mode unless you really just want to snap a picture and don't care about quality. Otherwise, use Manual Mode and set the ISO as low as possible without the image looking to dark. ISO also manipulates Exposure, so be aware of that. For the best results in low-lit situations, use Night Mode.
That's about all I can say.
The Z1 has a good camera if you know how to use it. As a counter example, Nokia devices are often really good as point-and-shoot devices with auto mode, which the Z1 is not. I have some test shots with the Z1 in my sorta-kinda-review of the Z1 comparing it with the Xperia S in the Xperia S forum, here on XDA-developers. In case you're interested in that, check it out right here.
Also: the only time when 8 megapixel shots are more detailed than 20 megapixel ones is if you use Night Mode which isn't available in the 20 megapixel mode, or if you really screw up the settings with 20 megapixel mode.
Hermantje said:
I've been testing some more and I've come to the conclusion that you shouldn't use Superior Auto mode unless you really just want to snap a picture and don't care about quality. Otherwise, use Manual Mode and set the ISO as low as possible without the image looking to dark. ISO also manipulates Exposure, so be aware of that. For the best results in low-lit situations, use Night Mode.
That's about all I can say.
The Z1 has a good camera if you know how to use it. As a counter example, Nokia devices are often really good as point-and-shoot devices with auto mode, which the Z1 is not. I have some test shots with the Z1 in my sorta-kinda-review of the Z1 comparing it with the Xperia S in the Xperia S forum, here on XDA-developers. In case you're interested in that, check it out right here.
Also: the only time when 8 megapixel shots are more detailed than 20 megapixel ones is if you use Night Mode which isn't available in the 20 megapixel mode, or if you really screw up the settings with 20 megapixel mode.
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It sucks a bit, because when I use use my phone to take pictures is mostly because I want to take quick pictures, when I feel like fumbling around with the camera then I use a dsrl
This is what the verge had to say about the z1 camera
" The Xperia Z1 can produce truly excellent images, but is held back by Sony’s penchant for excessive post-processing and a habit for overexposing outdoor shots. The most common artifices you’ll find in your pictures are a noise-reduction algorithm that produces artificially uniform blocks of color and an associated sharpening treatment that enhances edges. The exposure issue is sadly common among smartphone cameras: you get a sort of haze in outdoor photos where the camera shutter is kept open for too long.
Ultimately, though, these downsides are trifling compared to the Xperia Z1’s upside. An impressive amount of detail is kept even after Sony’s done its best to destroy it. The LED flash works well and doesn’t whitewash nearby subjects. Nighttime photos keep image noise competently suppressed, and even the full 20-megapixel pictures can look good under the right circumstances. It’s just a very capable piece of hardware that could’ve done with some smarter software."
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Chad_Petree said:
It sucks a bit, because when I use use my phone to take pictures is mostly because I want to take quick pictures, when I feel like fumbling around with the camera then I use a dsrl
This is what the verge had to say about the z1 camera
" The Xperia Z1 can produce truly excellent images, but is held back by Sony’s penchant for excessive post-processing and a habit for overexposing outdoor shots. The most common artifices you’ll find in your pictures are a noise-reduction algorithm that produces artificially uniform blocks of color and an associated sharpening treatment that enhances edges. The exposure issue is sadly common among smartphone cameras: you get a sort of haze in outdoor photos where the camera shutter is kept open for too long.
Ultimately, though, these downsides are trifling compared to the Xperia Z1’s upside. An impressive amount of detail is kept even after Sony’s done its best to destroy it. The LED flash works well and doesn’t whitewash nearby subjects. Nighttime photos keep image noise competently suppressed, and even the full 20-megapixel pictures can look good under the right circumstances. It’s just a very capable piece of hardware that could’ve done with some smarter software."
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I must say, I agree completely with the text from The Verge. It's indeed very capable hardware. I'd love to see an experienced XDA developer tweak the camera algorithms themselves.
If only Sony had the camera software developers from Apple, the camera might've even beaten the Lumia 1020 (say what you want about Apple but their camera software is very good)!
Hermantje said:
I must say, I agree completely with the text from The Verge. It's indeed very capable hardware. I'd love to see an experienced XDA developer tweak the camera algorithms themselves.
If only Sony had the camera software developers from Apple, the camera might've even beaten the Lumia 1020 (say what you want about Apple but their camera software is very good)!
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Maybe their BIONZ image processing is the one to blame here?
I'm curious of the outcome of the photos while using cyanmod or aosp
Yes, I won't deny that the iPhone 5s is maybe the only camera on smartphones that works perfectly without tweaking it
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Chad_Petree said:
Maybe their BIONZ image processing is the one to blame here?
I'm curious of the outcome of the photos while using cyanmod or aosp
Yes, I won't deny that the iPhone 5s is maybe the only camera on smartphones that works perfectly without tweaking it
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I'm not all that much into actual camera algorithms, but I doubt that the BIONZ processing creates those odd stripey noise artifacts when you zoom in at 20 megapixels. I would just love to be able to set the exposure and focus manually, but perhaps these are all things baked into the hardware of the camera, to make this impossible to tweak ourselves. Again, I really don't know much about image processing.
Hermantje said:
I'm not all that much into actual camera algorithms, but I doubt that the BIONZ processing creates those odd stripey noise artifacts when you zoom in at 20 megapixels. I would just love to be able to set the exposure and focus manually, but perhaps these are all things baked into the hardware of the camera, to make this impossible to tweak ourselves. Again, I really don't know much about image processing.
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I'm hoping someone else chimes in so we can understand a bit more.
I found this on the z1 compact review " You get a large 1/2.3-inch sensor, which can either shoot 20-megapixel stills or oversample — algorithmically condense multiple pixels’ information into one to make for a clearer image — and produce 8-megapixel pics."
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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)
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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.
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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
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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?
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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?
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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.
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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.
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Iruwen said:
They did? I mean, you're not talking about the extended Android API but Sony's actual camera software?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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,
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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...
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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.
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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!!
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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.
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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/
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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.
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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)
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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
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!
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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.
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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
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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?
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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
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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?
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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.
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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.