Database Develop

Sony Xperia T Camera

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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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

[Q] z1 camera issues

Hi all,
Hoping someone can help please. Just took delivery of my z1 and the pictures look absolutely terrible. It's current set to superior auto but every photo looks so grainy on screen. Anyone else experiencing similar issues?

mbath said:
Hi all,
Hoping someone can help please. Just took delivery of my z1 and the pictures look absolutely terrible. It's current set to superior auto but every photo looks so grainy on screen. Anyone else experiencing similar issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I'm less than impressed with mine - certainly nowhere near dslr level as they were touted. I get a lot of noise on mine and they are over exposed.
If you manually focus with camera button then take pic, results are somewhat better but still disappointing.

Could you please post some of the pics you've taken please? The reason I got rid of my LG Optimus G was because of the subpar camera, been waiting for the Z1, so I'd hope it's not a lateral move on the camera front

pinn___________ said:
Yes, I'm less than impressed with mine - certainly nowhere near dslr level as they were touted. I get a lot of noise on mine and they are over exposed.
If you manually focus with camera button then take pic, results are somewhat better but still disappointing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any idea if it could be fixed with some sort of software update? Proper gutted first time I've moved away from ios since the first iPhone

mbath said:
Any idea if it could be fixed with some sort of software update? Proper gutted first time I've moved away from ios since the first iPhone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah they had the same issues with the Z Ultra! They'll fix them after a software update!

I agree photos not great but potential there. Just need Sony to update firmware asap
See samples here on my blog. More tomorrow http://gavinsgadgets.wordpress.com/sony-xperia-z1-mega-review-and-qx10/
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

mbath said:
Hi all,
Hoping someone can help please. Just took delivery of my z1 and the pictures look absolutely terrible. It's current set to superior auto but every photo looks so grainy on screen. Anyone else experiencing similar issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah same here...photos appear washed out in low light..also a lot of purple grains appear when attempting to take a photo in low light...for a flagship device which touts camera as its biggest selling point z1 is a massive disappointment...also the microphone did not work for me while connecting the phone to a headphone without a mike...ill be going to sony service centre on monday...hopefully they'll replace my unit..will update whether the other unit's camera is better...

Guys, do we have any informed update about the camera low quality issue? Is it an early release issue which will be fixed by an update or should I return my phone and get another one in a couple of months?
Please share your input because I am really skeptic about this otherwise excellent device.

Use Manual mode with Night setting
I've come across a lot of people complaining about the camera not giving out noise-free images like it's supposed to. The trick is to use manual mode. I agree, if you use Superior Auto mode, it's a miss most of the times, and when it does work, it gives a purple-ish tint at the corners.
However, If you use manual mode and select the SCENE to NIGHT, the images come out amazing and noise-free!
[DO NOT JUDGE THE IMAGE BY WHAT THE VIEWFINDER SHOWS YOU. A lot of things happen when you press the shutter button. The viewfinder simply goes red for making it easy to focus. The final image in the gallery is a hundred times better]
The Scene modes are one of the most commonly ignored settings.
I hope this helps!

Sorry. Most people just want to use auto mode and haven't got time to fiddle here and there.
The scenes help but they are not the cure in that the underlying problem of poor quality is there. I wonder if people who post either are using a different software version, or are being paid by Sony to post positive remarks.
Nor is it acceptable that we should resort to using alternative camera apps. This phone cost £600 or up to.
It should work as advertised on the tin.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Did anyone face auto-focus issues? Sometimes the camera stuggles to auo focus..

No focus issues on mine, just horrible, grainy images. really really unimpressed with the camera. If this is a firmware issue then I am really unimpressed that they saw fit to release it in this state.
Example's here - note the complete lack of any detail, the grainy over compressed background. Zoom in slightly and see the over sharpening that has been done, the bike frame goes jagged.
The camera was one of the reasons I bought this phone, and in its current state, I declare it 'unusable'
My old GT-N7000 Galaxy Note 1 took way better photo's
Poor Poor Poor! Shame on you, Sony!
http://scratch.veletron.com/z1
Nigel

veletron said:
No focus issues on mine, just horrible, grainy images. really really unimpressed with the camera. If this is a firmware issue then I am really unimpressed that they saw fit to release it in this state.
Example's here - note the complete lack of any detail, the grainy over compressed background. Zoom in slightly and see the over sharpening that has been done, the bike frame goes jagged.
The camera was one of the reasons I bought this phone, and in its current state, I declare it 'unusable'
My old GT-N7000 Galaxy Note 1 took way better photo's
Poor Poor Poor! Shame on you, Sony!
http://scratch.veletron.com/z1
Nigel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Nigel,
I appreciate your frustrations. I have just moved onto the Z1 after holding onto my old but trust worthy Galaxy S2 and after the expense and hype surrounding the release feel let down by the camera as well. Suggestions seem that issues may be resolved once further firmware updates come about, not sure how soon these will happen though.
Anyhow off to take some crappy photos sine it's nice in Stirling today lol!

You up my way (stirling) too then? Be sure to stick some of said crappy photos online so the fanboi's cannae keep sticking their heads in the sand and claiming that the camera is good!
Nigel

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/9984408866/in/photostream/

veletron said:
No focus issues on mine, just horrible, grainy images. really really unimpressed with the camera. If this is a firmware issue then I am really unimpressed that they saw fit to release it in this state.
Example's here - note the complete lack of any detail, the grainy over compressed background. Zoom in slightly and see the over sharpening that has been done, the bike frame goes jagged.
The camera was one of the reasons I bought this phone, and in its current state, I declare it 'unusable'
My old GT-N7000 Galaxy Note 1 took way better photo's
Poor Poor Poor! Shame on you, Sony!
http://scratch.veletron.com/z1
Nigel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
veletron said:
You up my way (stirling) too then? Be sure to stick some of said crappy photos online so the fanboi's cannae keep sticking their heads in the sand and claiming that the camera is good!
Nigel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep sure am pal, we should start a Z1 photo shoot course one evening lol! Got to say pictures taken with the link above are not looking too bad tho

veletron said:
No focus issues on mine, just horrible, grainy images. really really unimpressed with the camera. If this is a firmware issue then I am really unimpressed that they saw fit to release it in this state.
Example's here - note the complete lack of any detail, the grainy over compressed background. Zoom in slightly and see the over sharpening that has been done, the bike frame goes jagged.
The camera was one of the reasons I bought this phone, and in its current state, I declare it 'unusable'
My old GT-N7000 Galaxy Note 1 took way better photo's
Poor Poor Poor! Shame on you, Sony!
http://scratch.veletron.com/z1
Nigel
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Click to collapse
you are fooling nobody - I looked at the properties of your samples, perhaps an explanation is now required - idiot
didn't you know every image taken with a camera has embedded properties lol
---------- Post added at 11:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:01 AM ----------
http://scratch.veletron.com/ebay/
LMFAO

Confused. Com lol? Take it the pictures posted Nigel by the other user were not via the Z1? Waste of a post then and why?!

http://scratch.veletron.com/ebay/P1010314.JPG
something just not quite right about our poster Nigel lol

????
I said the photos in http://scratch.veletron.com/z1 are my examples of the Z1, not in any other folder on that site. Go look at the properties in the files in http://scratch.veletron.com/z1 and you will see 'C6903' as the camera model.
Some numpty then went and picked up some pics from some ancient ebay auctions on the same site, and claimed that I reckoned these were taken by the Z1. Know your facts Geoffxx !! You are making yourself look like a right amateur!
Since taking the pics in http://scratch.veletron.com/z1 , I have added some 100% crops of the same pics.
Oh, and its no good looking at the pics on your phone, if you want to see their true ugliness quality-wise, look at them on a PC.
Nigel

[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)
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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.
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
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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.
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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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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)
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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.
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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] Hope for the Nexus 6 Camera?

Alot of the reviews says, nexus 6 camera experience has been a "hit or miss" from taking a good pic even with HDR on. Would it help to install a new camera app and do some tweakings over it, or better yet use an xposed module (if any) to fix the issue?

I'm a photographer. Here's the thing.
Camera reviews on cell phones are reviewed by gadget freaks, not photographers. They're interested in specs, they think megapixels are important, they don't even mention the important stuff.
Android L is the first OS to have a decent camera api. This will allow the nexus camera - which is only inherently different from the note 4 camera in terms of software - to vastly outperform anything on the market given a good camera app.
This mythical camera app should take advantage of a few things - full manual control. Exposure compensation and AE/AF lock. Auto bracketing. Proper metering, with selections for spot through to matrix. FPS control. Video control with framerate and resolution options, and the ability to manually control or lock exposure and focus. And finally, take advantage of L's .dng output, so we can work on this in lightroom after we're done. I don't trust my $2000 camera to spit out a nice jpg processed the way I want it, I shoot raw, I sure as hell don't trust a phone.
The nexus 6 looks to have some nice hardware. Let the software take advantage of it and you'll be happy.

tripler6 said:
I'm a photographer. Here's the thing.
Camera reviews on cell phones are reviewed by gadget freaks, not photographers. They're interested in specs, they think megapixels are important, they don't even mention the important stuff.
Android L is the first OS to have a decent camera api. This will allow the nexus camera - which is only inherently different from the note 4 camera in terms of software - to vastly outperform anything on the market given a good camera app.
This mythical camera app should take advantage of a few things - full manual control. Exposure compensation and AE/AF lock. Auto bracketing. Proper metering, with selections for spot through to matrix. FPS control. Video control with framerate and resolution options, and the ability to manually control or lock exposure and focus. And finally, take advantage of L's .dng output, so we can work on this in lightroom after we're done. I don't trust my $2000 camera to spit out a nice jpg processed the way I want it, I shoot raw, I sure as hell don't trust a phone.
The nexus 6 looks to have some nice hardware. Let the software take advantage of it and you'll be happy.
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Good post. My girlfriend is a photographer but her biggest complaints were:
- The lens should've been bigger (1.5/3 at least - according to her the sheer size of this phone would have allowed for a much bigger lens, even 1.2/3).
- The dual LED flashes would likely overexpose the images due to their placement on the back of the phone. Sure, aesthetically it can look good (depending on your preference) but logically it will risk adding too much exposure to photos. The Note 4, 6+, top Nokia phones with large lenses all have the flashes further away from the lens for example (for good reason).
- The type of flash (LED) wont be as good an xenon flash (or dual). According to her the phone body is definitely thick enough to house the bigger flash; this would reduce noise in the images and provide better lighting/exposure in photos.
She also mentioned that even with a 10/10 camera app which does absolutely everything you want, the photo quality will not be much better (maybe the same as or potentially still worse) compared with the Note 4 or even iPhone 6+. Yes the hardware might be similar but the placement of the flash compared with the Note 4 will affect the way the camera captures photos with flash enabled. As, even though TW in Samsung has major issues it does have very heavily optimised camera software which will always improve - better than every camera app that I personally know of.
Front facing camera however will not complete with the Note 4. From demo's , despite being higher MP than the iPhone 6+, the results are worse. I do not know why, it could be down to the quality of the lens in the front but the Nexus 6 FF camera quality isn't much better than the Nexus 5 (it looks the same to me).

spartanm99 said:
Good post. My girlfriend is a photographer but her biggest complaints were:
- The lens should've been bigger (1.5/3 at least - according to her the sheer size of this phone would have allowed for a much bigger lens, even 1.2/3).
- The dual LED flashes would likely overexpose the images due to their placement on the back of the phone. Sure, aesthetically it can look good (depending on your preference) but logically it will risk adding too much exposure to photos. The Note 4, 6+, top Nokia phones with large lenses all have the flashes further away from the lens for example (for good reason).
- The type of flash (LED) wont be as good an xenon flash (or dual). According to her the phone body is definitely thick enough to house the bigger flash; this would reduce noise in the images and provide better lighting/exposure in photos.
She also mentioned that even with a 10/10 camera app which does absolutely everything you want, the photo quality will not be much better (maybe the same as or potentially still worse) compared with the Note 4 or even iPhone 6+. Yes the hardware might be similar but the placement of the flash compared with the Note 4 will affect the way the camera captures photos with flash enabled. As, even though TW in Samsung has major issues it does have very heavily optimised camera software which will always improve - better than every camera app that I personally know of.
Front facing camera however will not complete with the Note 4. From demo's , despite being higher MP than the iPhone 6+, the results are worse. I do not know why, it could be down to the quality of the lens in the front but the Nexus 6 FF camera quality isn't much better than the Nexus 5 (it looks the same to me).
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A lens is proportionate to the sensor. On top of that? It's a fixed lens. They can make those extremely small when we're talking about phone sensors. There is also no mechanical shutter, meaning the lens can be even more compact. This is why mirrorless cameras have small lenses. This of course goes for cell phone lenses in general, but the reason is there's really no need to put a huge lens on a phone.
The dual LED flashes won't overexpose the image, don't worry. In the studio we use a ring flash - same concept - there are some versions that operate as a regular flash, and there's some versions that operate constant on. You can shoot with either. Studio LED lighting is even becoming a thing now, it's cool because you can control the color temp directly and change the brightness.. it's also always on so WYSIWYG. Either way your flash will operate TTL and will not overexpose Xenon - what a hotshoe flash uses - will just use a lot of energy and drain your batteries. LED is very efficient.
The ring flash appears to be too small to have the "ring flash effect", which is uniform lighting around a subject that is popular in fashion and hides blemishes.. I mean it's like the size of a finger. The source of the flash is too small to produce any meaningful difference between the "ring" flash and the regular samsung/iphone flashes. It's going to look about the same. If you see a difference, it's software.

I am just excited about the RAW support in 5.0. I am okay with an f/2.0 aperture on a device in my pocket. If I needed something better, my DSLR has a 50mm f/1.5 which is only a camera bag away

The problem I'm having with my Nexus 6 is lag. That is, I went into my 9 month old's room, and turned on the light. So, okay incandescent lighting, not too bright, but I wouldn't call it 'low-light', either. My little son is standing up in his crib bouncing around, and every now and again turning and smiling at me. I go for the shot with my nice Nexus 6....and in the FOUR SECONDS it takes for the camera to actually take the picture, he's looked away again. I tried several times. Each time, the camera did NOTHING for a few seconds and then took the shot when the window of opportunity was gone. WHAT THE HECK?!?!?! It didn't even look like it was doing any autofocus hunting.
THIS is very depressing. Anyone know of any camera apps that will actually, I don't know, take the picture when I actually ask it to?
Randy

I'm waiting for devs to work their magic on the camera. It has a great sensor (Sony IMX214) so the potential is there. I really wish they could use the G3's software because its great. Is there a way to make the G3's software work on the Nexus for the camera? It processes images really well and is very fast.

rmagruder said:
The problem I'm having with my Nexus 6 is lag. That is, I went into my 9 month old's room, and turned on the light. So, okay incandescent lighting, not too bright, but I wouldn't call it 'low-light', either. My little son is standing up in his crib bouncing around, and every now and again turning and smiling at me. I go for the shot with my nice Nexus 6....and in the FOUR SECONDS it takes for the camera to actually take the picture, he's looked away again. I tried several times. Each time, the camera did NOTHING for a few seconds and then took the shot when the window of opportunity was gone. WHAT THE HECK?!?!?! It didn't even look like it was doing any autofocus hunting.
THIS is very depressing. Anyone know of any camera apps that will actually, I don't know, take the picture when I actually ask it to?
Randy
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Do you have HDR+ enabled? If so that's why your focus takes so long. It's taking 3 pictures in a row and is great for still images. I find the camera with HDR+ off plenty fast.
---------- Post added at 01:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:15 PM ----------
On another note is raw format already being supported on the 6 or is it coming in an update. I'm no photographer but I'm extremely pleased how well the camera functions. I've only had nexus devices. The last phone I had with a decent camera was the Nokia n 5

Smallsmx3 said:
Do you have HDR+ enabled? If so that's why your focus takes so long. It's taking 3 pictures in a row and is great for still images. I find the camera with HDR+ off plenty fast.
---------- Post added at 01:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:15 PM ----------
On another note is raw format already being supported on the 6 or is it coming in an update. I'm no photographer but I'm extremely pleased how well the camera functions. I've only had nexus devices. The last phone I had with a decent camera was the Nokia n 5
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No, HDR+ was NOT on, nor was the flash. I just wanted it to snap the stupid picture with as little muss n fuss as possible

I extracted the lib files and camera apk/odex from my g3 is there anything else I would need to make it work? I can get the framework from my system files if needed. I want to see if this will help the camera at all considering it had a lot of potential.

Pilz said:
I extracted the lib files and camera apk/odex from my g3 is there anything else I would need to make it work? I can get the framework from my system files if needed. I want to see if this will help the camera at all considering it had a lot of potential.
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Let us know how it goes

rmagruder said:
No, HDR+ was NOT on, nor was the flash. I just wanted it to snap the stupid picture with as little muss n fuss as possible
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Then something is broken on your phone. Completely stock N6, not even root let alone disabling encryption, without HDR+ or Flash... the phone takes pictures within half a second every time.

Smallsmx3 said:
Let us know how it goes
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Click to collapse
It's still FC's even after I moved the camera.apk and camera.odex into the system/app and I wrote over the Nexus's libs with the G3's. I'm not sure why its FC's maybe I can install the framework.apk from my G3 and see if that works.

Try some low light shots....

tripler6 said:
I'm a photographer. Here's the thing.
Camera reviews on cell phones are reviewed by gadget freaks, not photographers. They're interested in specs, they think megapixels are important, they don't even mention the important stuff.
Android L is the first OS to have a decent camera api. This will allow the nexus camera - which is only inherently different from the note 4 camera in terms of software - to vastly outperform anything on the market given a good camera app.
This mythical camera app should take advantage of a few things - full manual control. Exposure compensation and AE/AF lock. Auto bracketing. Proper metering, with selections for spot through to matrix. FPS control. Video control with framerate and resolution options, and the ability to manually control or lock exposure and focus. And finally, take advantage of L's .dng output, so we can work on this in lightroom after we're done. I don't trust my $2000 camera to spit out a nice jpg processed the way I want it, I shoot raw, I sure as hell don't trust a phone.
The nexus 6 looks to have some nice hardware. Let the software take advantage of it and you'll be happy.
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Click to collapse
Any chance for Slo Mo video (at least 120fps) with this "mythical camera app"?

rmagruder said:
Try some low light shots....
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Click to collapse
I found this thread after searching for a better camera for my n6. Realized after reading your post that it is the low light shots that suffer from severe shutter lag. Pics in good light are perfect. Ugh. My original moto x Dev. Took awesome pics compared to this low light garbage

Cwoomer said:
I found this thread after searching for a better camera for my n6. Realized after reading your post that it is the low light shots that suffer from severe shutter lag. Pics in good light are perfect. Ugh. My original moto x Dev. Took awesome pics compared to this low light garbage
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The pics are great when you are in a very well lit place. The moment you start to lose even a little light (semi lit), the camera really struggles. I'm very disappointed to start, but I'm going to stay patient and wait for Google to fix this.

Pilz said:
I'm waiting for devs to work their magic on the camera. It has a great sensor (Sony IMX214) so the potential is there. I really wish they could use the G3's software because its great. Is there a way to make the G3's software work on the Nexus for the camera? It processes images really well and is very fast.
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The G3 is the best camera on a phone because of the hardware.. not sure if the software has much to do with it because I've switched camera apps on that phone many times and the pics still come out amazing

dannieloco said:
The G3 is the best camera on a phone because of the hardware.. not sure if the software has much to do with it because I've switched camera apps on that phone many times and the pics still come out amazing
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The G3 uses the IMX135 sensor while the Nexus uses the IMX214 which is a better sensor. So in theory the Nexus 6 is capable of better photos if the software can back it up. The G3 still uses the lib's and framework from LG no matter what camera app you are using from what I understand.

Anyone know anything about the Slo Mo capabilities? Im wanting to buy the N6 but the Slo Mo feature is really important to me. Hopefully it is possible with the sensor which everyone seems to regard as a pretty high quality sensor.

[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
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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
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How do you save in RAW/DNG format on Z3C?

wpcoe said:
How do you save in RAW/DNG format on Z3C?
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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.