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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
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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.
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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

Nexus 5 in the hands of a photographer

We gave our Nexus 5 in the hands of a photographer (friend of mine) for a month, and this is what we get!
Very impressive!
http://www.androidworld.it/2014/01/...i-di-un-fotografo-il-nostro-test-foto-209321/

cisoprogressivo said:
We gave our Nexus 5 in the hands of a photographer (friend of mine) for a month, and this is what we get!
Very impressive!
http://www.androidworld.it/2014/01/...i-di-un-fotografo-il-nostro-test-foto-209321/
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Knowing a thing or two about taking picture taking results in some impressive pictures.
Whodathunkit!

Cirkustanz said:
Knowing a thing or two about taking picture taking results in some impressive pictures.
Whodathunkit!
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yup

There's some pretty severe pink-camera-problem going on in the center of most of the photos.

Wow, these look great.
Getting excited to see if I'll be able to get shots which look are remotely as good

and you had to get a photographer for those shots? :laugh:
anyways, OP has "generating clicks" written all over it.

Nice shots! I especially like how well OIS works on the n5 when taking videos too, much better than the n4.

PoisonWolf said:
There's some pretty severe pink-camera-problem going on in the center of most of the photos.
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I think that issue is pretty common these days, you camera might even produce those with the very same conditions.

Nice Pic's, probably could have been a litter better if it was from a White N5

Grande ciso!

EarlZ said:
I think that issue is pretty common these days, you camera might even produce those with the very same conditions.
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My N4 has it as well, I agree, but not to the extent as observed in those photos.

ghettopops said:
Nice Pic's, probably could have been a litter better if it was from a White N5
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O_O explain

biscuitownz said:
O_O explain
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Auto correct. Little. White N5's are better than the black ones

ghettopops said:
Auto correct. Little. White N5's are better than the black ones
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How are they a little better?

cisoprogressivo said:
We gave our Nexus 5 in the hands of a photographer (friend of mine) for a month, and this is what we get!
Very impressive!
http://www.androidworld.it/2014/01/...i-di-un-fotografo-il-nostro-test-foto-209321/
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I am assuming that your friend bit**ed and moaned about the lack of manual shutter speed and aperture control, default camera app (awful), and in general lack of a manual mode (which is how most pros shoot- manually setting everything).
Disclaimer: I'm a photographer (not the 'I have a DSLR and use AUTO mode and press this thingy' photographer, the 'I have my own successful business' kind) and the lack of manual shutter & aperture is beyond frustrating to me. Sure there are (mostly worthless) apps that give you some control of ISO, WB, burst mode, etc., but without those vital exposure controls (shutter and aperture) to me all smartphone cameras will suck.
I know, I know. It's not a pro level slr... it's a phone...

Of course having stunning locations always helps.

anactoraaron said:
I am assuming that your friend bit**ed and moaned about the lack of manual shutter speed and aperture control, default camera app (awful), and in general lack of a manual mode (which is how most pros shoot- manually setting everything).
Disclaimer: I'm a photographer (not the 'I have a DSLR and use AUTO mode and press this thingy' photographer, the 'I have my own successful business' kind) and the lack of manual shutter & aperture is beyond frustrating to me. Sure there are (mostly worthless) apps that give you some control of ISO, WB, burst mode, etc., but without those vital exposure controls (shutter and aperture) to me all smartphone cameras will suck.
I know, I know. It's not a pro level slr... it's a phone...
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While I agree with you that the default camera app is incredibly awful and lacks many controls, mobile phones are replacing point and shoot cameras, not DSLRs or micro 4/3. Also, most people use photos nowadays for stupid web shots/social/ready-made-filters etc and not for printing or cropping and zooming for the perfect frame.
I replaced my Cannon P&S since I had the HTC One X two years ago, but no mobile will ever replace my Fuji X-A1

anactoraaron said:
(which is how most pros shoot- manually setting everything).
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I don't disagree with you on anything but this - most modern SLR pros I know (less than 100, but many more than 10) do NOT shoot all manual. Most may shoot A-priority or S-priority, or use P mode and wheel their way to the desired blend, but only landscape, product or portrait shooters really can practically go all manual, all the time - you need non-moving subjects and somewhat consistent lighting to rock all manual and get a decent return on your shots.
And let's be fair, manual shooting modes do not make better pictures: better photographers make better pictures.

mr.r9 said:
While I agree with you that the default camera app is incredibly awful and lacks many controls, mobile phones are replacing point and shoot cameras, not DSLRs or micro 4/3. Also, most people use photos nowadays for stupid web shots/social/ready-made-filters etc and not for printing or cropping and zooming for the perfect frame.
I replaced my Cannon P&S since I had the HTC One X two years ago, but no mobile will ever replace my Fuji X-A1
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I know this and agree with you entirely, but I do have an old Polaroid P&S that allows me to set the shutter speed (like from 1/30-1/200, but no aperture control) and that thing is 5+ years old now. But yeah, the need to own a P&S is mostly non-existent with how good smartphone cameras are getting now. It still wouldn't stop me from griping about the things I mentioned if someone gave me a smartphone to take photos with the expectation of delivering pro quality work though (OP was 'I gave my phone to my pro friend to see what he/she could do').
big_adventure said:
I don't disagree with you on anything but this - most modern SLR pros I know (less than 100, but many more than 10) do NOT shoot all manual. Most may shoot A-priority or S-priority, or use P mode and wheel their way to the desired blend, but only landscape, product or portrait shooters really can practically go all manual, all the time - you need non-moving subjects and somewhat consistent lighting to rock all manual and get a decent return on your shots.
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The only problem I have with P, A, and S priority modes is the reaction time of the camera to lighting conditions - especially outdoors. I particularly have an issue with P mode as most cameras seem to want a neutral/balanced shutter and aperture - like 1/60 @ f8 - whereas I may want 1/125 or faster @ f4.5-6.3 - and it gets worse outdoors (like wanting 1/160 @ f25 instead of 1/800 @ f8 etc) almost necessitating use of S mode if auto operation is desired. It also seems to take too long sometimes for the camera to read the amount of light and adjust the exposure (shutter speed in A mode or aperture in S mode) correctly. Shooting in manual mode for me is easier and better for me as I can read the light and pick a proper shutter, etc. based on conditions where I am shooting without having to worry about being occasionally slightly too bright (concern for a loss of detail being washed out) or too dark (where softness/pixelation comes into play).
But I suppose how you use your camera will vary on what you are taking pictures of. My gripe with the Nexus 5 is that with adequate lighting indoors and having the flash on auto the camera seems to always want to take pictures with the flash off at 1/10 or 1/20 @ f10 ISO ~400 or something like that, and that's just no good with really anything especially pictures of the kids. Why can't I at least just set the shutter? So many blurry pics... I thought there would be more emphasis on getting the camera experience better on a Nexus phone... the sad thing is that the hardware is actually really good for a phone but sadly the software side is woefully behind :crying:
And let's be fair, manual shooting modes do not make better pictures: better photographers make better pictures.
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Absolutely correct.

I always love these posts,
I have been an on again off again professional photographer for over 10 years mostly in industrial photography.
Even once owned an online photography magazine with pros writing articles from around the world.
My first thought is that it never really has much to do with the camera, its the photographer that stands behind this.
The best example I can give you of this, is the gear snobs that say you can't use mirror-less cameras in the professional setting.
Just grab a pro photographer give them a Nikon V1 or a Olympus OM-D and let them go shooting for a day.
As far as not having P/S/A/M modes, it's a phone....
1 in 100 000 people will even know what that is and about a third of those will actually know how to use it.
If we want to talk camera geek for a moment.
Sensor size is 1/3.2″
Aperture is f2.4 (fixed Aperture)
Max iso is 100 - 800
What does this mean?
Low light shots will still be grainy (Tiny sensor doesn't collect enough light)
The Lens is equivalent to about 28mm which if you have a Canon Rebel or a Nikon DXXXX camera it works out to the 18mm on a kit lens.
So why no manual control?
Well with a fixed aperture of 2.4 what can you change?
Well if you know cameras there is something called the exposure triangle, all this means is aperture, shutter speed, iso have to line up just right for an image to be exposed correctly. In A (aperture priority) you only control aperture and iso, S (shutter priority)you only control shutter and iso, and M you control everything. If you can't change the aperture then you can't use these modes.
Any app that says it gives you control of these things are just simulated.
Every photographers favorite word.... Bokeh!
The blur in the background, how to get it on a phone.
First we have to look at two things the 28mm lens and the tiny sensor. The smaller the sensor does not help at all in this case and nether does the focal length. To get Bokeh with your phone you have to get really really close to your subject almost as if your taking a macro shot.
One more trick for you guys if your still reading this, the camera phone is not ideal for taking portraits.
The reason why is at 28mm you get barrel distortion that pulls the center of the image towards the viewer. You can give people longer than usual noses and get strangeness going on. If your going to take a portrait of a person, instead of taking a close up on the face back up a bit. It will help hide this distortion.
Wow didn't mean for this to come out this long but I am at work, and bored.... lol

[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.
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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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any chance for Slo Mo video (at least 120fps) with this "mythical camera app"?

rmagruder said:
Try some low light shots....
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

Disappointed in Lollipop implementation by Samsung ( CameraV2 API, RAW support etc )

After a day playing with LP on the Note 4 I'm a bit disappointed in Samsung's implementation. For me, the wait for LP was actually only for core feature (as I was perfectly happy with KitKat); Better camera support with LP !! The Note 4 has pretty amazing camera hardware for a phone, which was under KitKat limited by the OS.
Well things have NOT changed with Lollipop. Still no shutter speed control, no support for RAW. It's not LP Camerav2 API compatible Not even with thirdparty camera apps, who do support this on lollipop on other devices. According some developers I spoke (for instance from Camera FV-5) this is because Samsung has been cutting corners (again?) with result that these enhanced options probably will never be available on the Note 4 devices. If they manage to work around it, it will be probably by the time I already have my S6 and Note 5. Yes I know its only a phone camera, but with more (manual) control you can create amazing effects and with RAW support touching up a picture is so flexible and easy in light-room or Photoshop.
Another annoying thing in KK was the recent app button lag. Its a little better but still it lags (I rather think this is touchwiz UI related and not Android related). Finally a crazy move of Google, is to remove the silent mode and replace it with a "partly" broken notification priority schema and Samsung made this even worse by removing scheduled priories from this new feature.
So yes, the phone feels a little snappier in use then when I was running KK, but this limited LP implementation is a bummer for everyone who uses the Note camera regularly. For me it's for sure not what I expected nor I had hoped for. Some other things that are not implemented in the Samsung's lollipop release is the Multi-user option and Ambient light option. Honestly I would have rather waited for a month (or two) to receive a proper (more complete and less bugs) Lollipop then what it is now
EDIT: FIX for recent apps button lag in TouchWiz props to @2000Hugo works on kk and lp
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4/help/fix-recent-apps-button-lag-touchwiz-lp-t3033000
my 2 cents

I was wondering when such a thread would show up, it was long overdue. ?

You already have an app in general section which can capture raw pics in kitkat itself, check it out if you want. This is the very first release it's not fair to talk about recent lag, hope they tweak it in subsequent releases
Texted from Note 4

marleyb said:
recent app button lag. Its a little better but still it lags.
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Click to collapse
Yep, that is exactly and ALL I am disappointed in... Samsung seem incapable of making a phone that is as smooth as a Nexus 5, despite faster processor and more ram.
Mark.

iridaki said:
I was wondering when such a thread would show up, it was long overdue.
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Click to collapse
Lol @iridaki Well its my point of view based on feedback from camera app developers I received today. But yes I'm quick on the money for sure

bala_gamer said:
You already have an app in general section which can capture raw pics in kitkat itself, check it out if you want. This is the very first release it's not fair to talk about recent lag, hope they tweak it in subsequent releases
Texted from Note 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@bala_gamer I'm aware of that, but the the beauty is (or in case of the Note 4 rather was) that with LP this could be done straight from within the stock camera app (shutter speed too). The recent apps lag was already a problem in KK so honestly I think its more TW UI then android OS related. So yes I think it would be fair if they would have fixed this by now. (But I'm perfectly happy with a lagging recent app button too) Limited camera driver implementation is a whole other story. I think that ship is sailed already for the Note4

bala_gamer said:
You already have an app in general section which can capture raw pics in kitkat itself, check it out if you want. This is the very first release it's not fair to talk about recent lag, hope they tweak it in subsequent releases
Texted from Note 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you share the link or tell me the name?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g2/general/app-mi2raw-enables-capturing-real-raw-t2837089
I know mi2raw but only works with Sony IMX135 sensor.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2753946
Freedcam seems supported Samsung but the result may not good as OP stated and it is only for Qualcomm model, no Exynos.

Samsung not pushing updates? people unhappy. Samsung pushes updates? people unhappy.
Raw support? on a phone? if you know how to use raw and what its for, you most likely have a DSLR.
Complaints! Complaints everywhere ! :laugh:

marleyb said:
Well things have NOT changed with Lollipop. Still no shutter speed control, no support for RAW. Not even with thirdparty camera apps, who do support this on lollipop on other devices. According some developers I spoke (for instance from Camera FV-5) this is because Samsung has been cutting corners (again?) with result that these enhanced options probably will never be available on the Note 4 devices. If they manage to work around it, it will be probably by the time I already have my S6 and Note 5 (still a big IF) Yes I know its a phone camera, but with more control you can create amazing effects and with RAW support touching up a picture is so flexible and easy in light-room or Photoshop.
my 2 cents
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm thinking to buy Note4 but no RAW and manual shutter really hurt me. Can you tell me is there night mode and portrait night available there in Lollipop? Because since 4.4 Samsung removed them(note2/note3) in the scene menu and only leave auto mode.
---------- Post added at 01:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:48 AM ----------
mih3y said:
Samsung not pushing updates? people unhappy. Samsung pushes updates? people unhappy.
Raw support? on a phone? if you know how to use raw and what its for, you most likely have a DSLR.
Complaints! Complaints everywhere ! :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not about complaints because RAW and manual shutter will be included on Galaxy S6 but considered Note4 is still very new and no reason to not implement it for us.
RAW is even a bit more important on camera phone because the white balance, exposure and jpg compression is just too bad implemented.

TheEndHK said:
I'm thinking to buy Note4 but no RAW and manual shutter really hurt me. Can you tell me is there night mode and portrait night available there in Lollipop? Because since 4.4 Samsung removed them(note2/note3) in the scene menu and only leave auto mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be fair, auto mode detects low light situations very accurately and the results aren't half bad, especially for a phone.

iridaki said:
To be fair, auto mode detects low light situations very accurately and the results aren't half bad, especially for a phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really I don't think so, it may be good for you and some other guys but not me. I've tested the Note4 today in a phone store and portrait night mode will only enabled in extreme low light environment and there is even still no pure night mode available.

mih3y said:
Samsung not pushing updates? people unhappy. Samsung pushes updates? people unhappy.
Raw support? on a phone? if you know how to use raw and what its for, you most likely have a DSLR.
Complaints! Complaints everywhere ! :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Partly true, I don't have a DSLR but know my way in Adobe products. Shutter speed and f-stop control can be found on a 40 dollar camera and is basic photo making knowledge (don't have to be a rocket scientist to use it for great effects) In previous Android versions this was "as we all know" not possible due to limited hardware support from the camera API. One of the major improvements in LP is that this is now possible . Well it is on other LP devices, but not on the Note 4 and if my information is right (I'm no developer) it will not happen .

TheEndHK said:
Really I don't think so, it may be good for you and some other guys but not me. I've tested the Note4 today in a phone store and portrait night mode will only enabled in extreme low light environment and there is even still no pure night mode available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree totally on this

marleyb said:
Partly true, I don't have a DSLR but know my way in Adobe products. Shutter speed and diaphragm control can be found on a 40 dollar camera and is basic photo making knowledge (don't have to be a rocket scientist to use it for great effects) In previous Android versions this was "as we all know" not possible due to limited hardware support from the camera API. One of the major improvements in LP is that this is now possible . Well it is on other LP devices, but not on the Note 4 and if my information is right (I'm no developer) it will not happen .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While it may now be possible in LP, I'm not surprised Samsung hasn't implemented these changes yet. These are great features but also very niche. Most users wouldn't care about them or even use them in everyday situations. As such, Samsung may very well implement them down the line (which would be great), but again for most people no one would notice them being there or not...so Samsung focuses instead on other priorities (like ensuring full functionality with Gear VR, which has the potential to make them a ton of money if it gets more mainstream, etc).

TheEndHK said:
Really I don't think so, it may be good for you and some other guys but not me. I've tested the Note4 today in a phone store and portrait night mode will only enabled in extreme low light environment and there is even still no pure night mode available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I see the need for more control over camera modes.
However, I did not quite get what you're trying to say here. Do you own the Note 4 or you just tried a display model in a store? And if you do own the device, did you try it in a store environment? It's no surprise that night mode didn't kick in, stores tend to have lights on and whatnot. ?
I'm not arguing about how the lack of Night mode may be a drawback for some, I'm just not entirely sure you have tested the device properly enough to form such a strong opinion.

Sent from my SM-N910H using Tapatalk

iridaki said:
OK, I see the need for more control over camera modes.
However, I did not quite get what you're trying to say here. Do you own the Note 4 or you just tried a display model in a store? And if you do own the device, did you try it in a store environment? It's no surprise that night mode didn't kick in, stores tend to have lights on and whatnot. ?
I'm not arguing about how the lack of Night mode may be a drawback for some, I'm just not entirely sure you have tested the device properly enough to form such a strong opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, you exactly get what I meant. Yes, I don't really have the device but I like to shoot photo with night mode to have the best quality during at indoor environment(most people would not do that so auto mode don't turn on but this is my personal preference). And Note4 seems to lack of pure night mode, even though the screen is completely dark, there is still only portrait night mode on.
I"m started to thinking about Galaxy S6 because RAW and manual shutter speed is implemented(so I can create a night mode myself) but it is just way over priced and excess my budget.

iridaki said:
OK, I see the need for more control over camera modes.
However, I did not quite get what you're trying to say here. Do you own the Note 4 or you just tried a display model in a store? And if you do own the device, did you try it in a store environment? It's no surprise that night mode didn't kick in, stores tend to have lights on and whatnot.
I'm not arguing about how the lack of Night mode may be a drawback for some, I'm just not entirely sure you have tested the device properly enough to form such a strong opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think he has the Note 4 @iridaki and I agree a store environment is not the best place to test a phones camera. But I do own the Note 4 since release and I have to agree on the night mode. Also it's not only night shots that benefit amazingly from shutter and f-stop control. You can create more dept in landscape shots and nice effects with moving objects against a steady background too. They could do it with the Nexus devices with the LP upgrade (not fair to compare I guess) but also the One plus and LG could do it. So then I'm disappointed that Samsung left a (for me at least) major LP feature on the drawingboard instead of implementing it.
Oh this a pretty good article on what it should have been (and is on other LP devices)
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8274/understanding-androids-camera-hal3

TheEndHK said:
Nope, you exactly get what I meant. Yes, I don't really have the device but I like to shoot photo with night mode to have the best quality during at indoor environment(most people would not do that so auto mode don't turn on but this is my personal preference). And Note4 seems to lack of pure night mode, even though the screen is completely dark, there is still only portrait night mode on.
I"m started to thinking about Galaxy S6 because RAW and manual shutter speed is implemented(so I can create a night mode myself) but it is just way over priced and excess my budget.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, so you don't own the device, therefore you cannot dismiss my personal opinion, because I have been using this phone for 3 months now and I've taken hundreds of photos with it in a variety of places and situations.
I understand you need Night mode and that is perfectly reasonable but posting in the forums of a device you do not own to say that its camera is not good enough for you, is a bit provoking.
I believe the S6 will indeed have an improved camera but I'm sure other devices available now and later will too. And I hope you'll be able to get one of them and be happy with it.
marleyb said:
I don't think he has the Note 4 @iridaki and I agree a store environment is not the best place to test a phones camera. But I do own the Note 4 since release and I have to agree on the night mode. Also it's not only night shots that benefit amazingly from shutter and f-stop control. You can create more dept in landscape shots and nice effects with moving objects against a steady background too. They could do it with the Nexus devices with the LP upgrade (not fair to compare I guess) but also the One plus and LG could do it. So then I'm disappointed that Samsung left a (for me at least) major LP feature on the drawingboard instead of implementing it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not saying that the lack of Night mode and shutter speed control couldn't be construed as drawbacks, I'm with you on that. It was more his attitude "It may work for you but not for me" which was very arrogant for someone who hasn't actually tried the device in everyday circumstances.
Anyway, I see the source of frustration and I agree that it'd be nice if Samsung had taken advantage of the new LP APIs.

I think that they've done a good job with Lollipop, everything works nice and smooth, the recent apps works perfectly fine for me...the only thing I dislike is that there is no animation when clicking the recent apps button while in an app...also camera works good, it's a shame there is no night mode but image stabilisation does the job pretty good(they should have added an option to turn it off or on though).

Which Sony Xperia 1 II Camera App Works BEST For Auto Shots??!

Can anyone tell me if the regular Main camera or Photo Pro in Auto Mode is BEST for getting the best quality shots on this phone?? I know Cinema Pro is basically the Manual Mode camera app on this phone, so disregarding that. But for getting the very best auto shots, which of those 2 is best?
I'm guessing no one can answer this until the phone is released, but if someone saw a review or can answer based on past experience, please feel free to reply as well!!
Thanks in advance!!

This new review by WIRED Magazine indicates that (see quote below) the Photo Pro app is superior to the default camera app on the 1 II, but I'd still like some confirmation that the Photo Pro app can work/act as a FULL auto camera app when set to Auto Mode.
A few of the inconsistencies I found in the default camera app, like frequently over-exposed photos, can be avoided by switching to Sony's Photography Pro app, which comes pre-installed on the phone. It offers far more granular controls than what you get on most other smartphones—even those with dedicated manual modes in the camera app. You'll find an interface that's very similar to the one on Sony's professional cameras, allowing you the option to set things like the shutter speed, ISO, focus area, auto or manual focus, auto-exposure lock, and continuous shooting mode.
Thanks!

I'm curious of this too. I know there'd be some people wondering why we'd be getting this phone to use auto, but there'll certainly be occasions where a quick auto-shot would be preferred rather than fiddling around with settings

cd993 said:
I'm curious of this too. I know there'd be some people wondering why we'd be getting this phone to use auto, but there'll certainly be occasions where a quick auto-shot would be preferred rather than fiddling around with settings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. I used to not mind using Manual Mode (etc.) on past Xperia phones, but at this point, I don't wanna deal with it anymore. Just give me a STRONG Auto Mode that can compare with the Pixel line, and I MAY reconsider buying another Sony phone again.
I'm gonna pass on the Xperia 1 II though b/c 1) NO 5G bands in the U.S. (yet they're still selling it at the full $1200 price here..........NOT cool!) and 2) Still NO dedicated Face Unlock. More and more ppl are using this feature on other phones, so I think Sony needs to realize that and implement one ASAP. (And 3) A minor thing.......... but I keep seeing reviews sayin' the max brightness isn't very bright. Come on Sony! Quit holdin' back!!)

This is something that I would also really like to know. I am by no means anything more than a casual photographer and most pictures I take are of friends, family, me, my partner and our dog (aside from the occasional scenic photo on holiday).
To take a high quality portrait photo or selfie am I best off using the standard stock camera or should I be using the pro camera as my go-to?

Photo quality is not great. the 24 mm lens gives good results, comparable in both apps. the 70 mm lens gives comparable results in both apps but is pretty soft. On a white towel I got a bit of a white with yellowish spots. the 16 mm lens is a bit overprocessed in both apps, but the shots I took indoors at ISO 400 looked acceptable in the normal app and very bad in in the Pro app. No texture at all. I hope that future firmware upgrades will improve the quality, it's like 4 years back in time. The worked with the Alpha team.....seriously?

Sho-Bud said:
Photo quality is not great. the 24 mm lens gives good results, comparable in both apps. the 70 mm lens gives comparable results in both apps but is pretty soft. On a white towel I got a bit of a white with yellowish spots. the 16 mm lens is a bit overprocessed in both apps, but the shots I took indoors at ISO 400 looked acceptable in the normal app and very bad in in the Pro app. No texture at all. I hope that future firmware upgrades will improve the quality, it's like 4 years back in time. The worked with the Alpha team.....seriously?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that is disappointing! The one or two reviews I've seen indicate that Photo Pro App can be used in Auto if you desire AND is superior to the stock camera app too.
What about just putting everything in Photo Pro app on auto and comparing it again to the stock app? Maybe that will improve the results of Photo Pro app?