Database Develop

Camera

What is everyone's thought of the camera? I've read a couple of articles and they just don't rate the camera well. Thanks for anyone who can give an honest response to whether the camera is just all hype.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

In my opinion I don't think it's something to get exciting over. Yes it does perform well in lowlight, but lacks detail in well lit images compared to most other phones. I'd honestly prefer just a regular 13 megapixel camera, but I really don't take many photos so it doesn't bother me much. If I want great images ill take a dedicated camera with me. Besides the lack of detail, I think all the features that it comes with and Zoe is really cool. Once I get my hands on the device ill know if the extra features it carries will be enough for me to forget about the lack of detail in images in well lit images.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

Having used it for a few seconds I think the sensor is great, definitely a step in the right direction. The problem is HTC's overly aggressive noise reduction algorithm that smooths over all of the details inherent in the picture. If you could turn it down so there was some more noise/grain I think most people would say that this is the best camera phone sensor on the market besides maybe the Nokia PureView (which I have not seen in person). The dynamic range is seriously point and shoot good and the low light images speak for themselves.
sassafras

[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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
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.

Slow Motion Video - 120fps or 210fps

Anyone know what if there's been any progress to getting this set up on our devices? This is literally the only thing I feel like it is missing. And I really don't understand why it is so hard to implement if the camera has the capability. Maybe Im missing something. Really wish one of the dev's here could get this set up for us all.
Thanks!

Really surprised no one else is really interested in slow mo video.

look in your app store, there are apps for slow motion recording, just not many. oh, and the devs here on xda, do things for free, no body pays them. if i were to make an app for slow motion video, id want to get oaid for it, i wouldnt do it for free. it actually would take wuite some personal time to make.

simms22 said:
look in your app store, there are apps for slow motion recording, just not many. oh, and the devs here on xda, do things for free, no body pays them. if i were to make an app for slow motion video, id want to get oaid for it, i wouldnt do it for free. it actually would take wuite some personal time to make.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He means apps that shoot in 120-210fps. Not apps that shoot 30fps and cut that down to 15 or less and render the poor mans slow mo.
In regards to OP. No, not yet.

No camera on the planet can CAPTURE in slow motion. To do so would require travelling away from the scene being captured at insanely high rates of speed, specifically, to turn the capture speed down to 50% would require the capture device to travel away from the scene at HALF THE SPEED OF LIGHT!
ALL "slow motion" video is slowed down during PLAYBACK. It is done by rendering the frames at a rate lower than they were captured. Now naturally, the higher the rate they were captured at, the more smooth the playback will appear once they are rendered at a lower rate, but the actual function is identical.

This would require the camera to be able to capture video at 120-210 FPS... which ain't happening.

Ryjabo said:
This would require the camera to be able to capture video at 120-210 FPS... which ain't happening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uhmmm the N5 camera was able to do 120fps and so is my old s4, the camera in the n6 is perfectly capable of it hardware wise.

+1 for looking for slow motion
Well, as allready said this will not come until Google implements it or something magical happens
This is the closest I've found:
https://github.com/PkmX/lcamera/issues/153
Seems it theoretically could be possible to do the same hack as on nexus 5 for higher framerate videorecording. So keep the hope alive! I think i might reconsider going for nexus the next time around if google keep on skipping this... Oh well.
Lcamera - linked above is the best camera for now for taking really low light photos at least. I can take pictures at half a second exposure :good:
So here's hoping 120fps for the n6 will show up too

PETITION: Samsung to implement Camera API 2 in Note 4 firmware

Hi.
We all want better camera control and access to manual controls for our Note 4 camera.
Google has made that possible with Camera API 2 in Android 5. But Samsung decided not to implement that into they're Android 5 build for Note 4.
This will give us Manual shutter control, more ISO control, Manual blender and so on.
I have started a petition at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/implement-camera-api-2-in-note-4-firmware
Please sign

yeah i really want this camera2 api, i really love the custom controls on my Lumia would be perfect if they came to the note too.
I want to vote but the page you linked is not availible

Daemonum1980 said:
yeah i really want this camera2 api, i really love the custom controls on my Lumia would be perfect if they came to the note too.
I want to vote but the page you linked is not availible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ups. link fixed

..

I want this too, sure.. But isn't there a way a developer can actually transfer part of the camera firmware from the s6 to the note 4?

@arovik
Petition should also Include
-Fast Firmwares Updates
-Update Apps like Gallery and Launcher just like HTC and Sony Do

Camera2 API would be perfect, but let's face it, Samsung will not react to an online petition and give us what we want.
As far as I know the Galaxy S6 supports Camera2 API, so chances are high that we'll get a Note 5 in autumn that will also support it.

Stefan0vic said:
I want this too, sure.. But isn't there a way a developer can actually transfer part of the camera firmware from the s6 to the note 4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No no.. Closed source Sammy firmware that controls the hardware.. It would be awesome (and incredibly difficult) for a Dev to implement something like this.
foo said:
Camera2 API would be perfect, but let's face it, Samsung will not react to an online petition and give us what we want.
As far as I know the Galaxy S6 supports Camera2 API, so chances are high that we'll get a Note 5 in autumn that will also support it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes S6 does (but still NOT 100%)..Figures! Still no manual shutter and one other of the main api's (can't remember which one)
But yes you're right Sammy won't do anything about a petition.
I was however practically praying for this before their LP firmware came out! But of course Sammy didn't and I just don't know why! (left out multi-users from LP too)
But this is so sweet in LP and gives their more advanced users the pro/manual controls we all crave!
Especially this camera (which for the most part is incredible but has one major flaw) where the shutter speed is way too damn slow.. It's indoor/lower lighting shooting just causes way too much motion blur - basically my one major gripe with this awesome phone.. Us with kids who like to take lots of indoor candid shots (and lighting isn't absolutely perfect as Sammy expects) will often get motion blur in parts even with the slightest movements.. Better hope your subjects stay immaculately still and don't breathe, flinch, move an inch lol!
Damn I want Camera2 on this.. Maybe (if ever) on 5.1.x? Probably not though.. Note5 and flagships beyond

electech13 said:
No no.. Closed source Sammy firmware that controls the hardware.. It would be awesome (and incredibly difficult) for a Dev to implement something like this.
Yes S6 does (but still NOT 100%)..Figures! Still no manual shutter and one other of the main api's (can't remember which one)
But yes you're right Sammy won't do anything about a petition.
I was however practically praying for this before their LP firmware came out! But of course Sammy didn't and I just don't know why! (left out multi-users from LP too)
But this is so sweet in LP and gives their more advanced users the pro/manual controls we all crave!
Especially this camera (which for the most part is incredible but has one major flaw) where the shutter speed is way too damn slow.. It's indoor/lower lighting shooting just causes way too much motion blur - basically my one major gripe with this awesome phone.. Us with kids who like to take lots of indoor candid shots (and lighting isn't absolutely perfect as Sammy expects) will often get motion blur in parts even with the slightest movements.. Better hope your subjects stay immaculately still and don't breathe, flinch, move an inch lol!
Damn I want Camera2 on this.. Maybe (if ever) on 5.1.x? Probably not though.. Note5 and flagships beyond
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They'll do nothing about it on the Note 4 and market it as a new feature on the Note 5.

Batfink33 said:
They'll do nothing about it on the Note 4 and market it as a new feature on the Note 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
simple .. i ll buy a nexus or an htc or a sony

Count me in!!!!!!!!!

Count me 2

electech13 said:
No no.. Closed source Sammy firmware that controls the hardware.. It would be awesome (and incredibly difficult) for a Dev to implement something like this.
Yes S6 does (but still NOT 100%)..Figures! Still no manual shutter and one other of the main api's (can't remember which one)
But yes you're right Sammy won't do anything about a petition.
I was however practically praying for this before their LP firmware came out! But of course Sammy didn't and I just don't know why! (left out multi-users from LP too)
But this is so sweet in LP and gives their more advanced users the pro/manual controls we all crave!
Especially this camera (which for the most part is incredible but has one major flaw) where the shutter speed is way too damn slow.. It's indoor/lower lighting shooting just causes way too much motion blur - basically my one major gripe with this awesome phone.. Us with kids who like to take lots of indoor candid shots (and lighting isn't absolutely perfect as Sammy expects) will often get motion blur in parts even with the slightest movements.. Better hope your subjects stay immaculately still and don't breathe, flinch, move an inch lol!
Damn I want Camera2 on this.. Maybe (if ever) on 5.1.x? Probably not though.. Note5 and flagships beyond
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my biggest problem. Shots during the day are fantastic, but anything in "less than outside light" (not low light...) come out ... Meh... I had the 930 and the 1520, wow, those took FANTASTIC photos! In almost every lighting condition. And EVERY Review for the Note 4 said how it was just as good or better... I couldn't believe they said that... The Note 4 camera leaves a lot to be desired in the camera department. I hope they fix this. If they don't, since I change devices frequently, I can promise my next device WON'T be a Samsung device. Other than that, and the lousy lag for recent apps and reviewing picture after taking it on the camera (all very well documented), I'm very happy.
Bring Camera2.0!

The problem with too slow shutter speeds can be controlled to some extend.
When I use a real camera with a fixed focal length lens, I have control over shutter speed, aperture and ISO. This 3 variables mainly define the outcome of my picture.
On a smartphone the aperture is fixed, so only 2 variables are available in theory: Shutter speed and ISO.
If I increase the shutter speed, there is less time for the light to hit my sensor, to compensate this, I have to increase the ISO (and get more noise), but moving subjects will be less blurry. Unfortunately we need camera2 API to do this.
BUT: as ISO and shutter speed are directly related I can do it the other way round. If you increase the ISO the shutter speed will also increase, so setting the ISO to the highest value (and not "auto") will increase noise in your picture, but it will also increase the shutter speed.
You can also trick the metering to increase the shutter speed even more, by adjusting the exposure value ("EV"). If you decrease the EV by -1, your picture will be darker as you requested the camera to collect less light by doing so, but this will lead to an increase of the shutter speed as well.
Last but not least you can add more light by forcing the LED-flash to fire no matter what.
The app "Camera FV-5" allows to set a fixed ISO of 1600 while the stock camera app limits this to ISO 800.
You may want to try this out, if you're taking pictures of your moving kids indoors.
One more thing: If noise becomes too bad you may try to convert the image to black and white. As color noise is not an issue in b/w images, your image may look much better as in color (luminance noise will still be present though).

foo said:
The problem with too slow shutter speeds can be controlled to some extend.
When I use a real camera with a fixed focal length lens, I have control over shutter speed, aperture and ISO. This 3 variables mainly define the outcome of my picture.
On a smartphone the aperture is fixed, so only 2 variables are available in theory: Shutter speed and ISO.
If I increase the shutter speed, there is less time for the light to hit my sensor, to compensate this, I have to increase the ISO (and get more noise), but moving subjects will be less blurry. Unfortunately we need camera2 API to do this.
BUT: as ISO and shutter speed are directly related I can do it the other way round. If you increase the ISO the shutter speed will also increase, so setting the ISO to the highest value (and not "auto") will increase noise in your picture, but it will also increase the shutter speed.
You can also trick the metering to increase the shutter speed even more, by adjusting the exposure value ("EV"). If you decrease the EV by -1, your picture will be darker as you requested the camera to collect less light by doing so, but this will lead to an increase of the shutter speed as well.
Last but not least you can add more light by forcing the LED-flash to fire no matter what.
The app "Camera FV-5" allows to set a fixed ISO of 1600 while the stock camera app limits this to ISO 800.
You may want to try this out, if you're taking pictures of your moving kids indoors.
One more thing: If noise becomes too bad you may try to convert the image to black and white. As color noise is not an issue in b/w images, your image may look much better as in color (luminance noise will still be present though).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know all this stuff as I use DSLR's a lot but those are all unfortunate work-a-rounds or bands aids for this phone.
Other then the fixed aperture Camera2 would give access to everything else and open up a lot of possibilities.
The S6 and G4 with their f1.9 and f1.8 apertures respectively are insane.. Makes a big difference. S6 pics are phenomenal and what I've seen in G4 reviews are even better, especially in low light!
Btw I love Camera FV-5 and Snap HDR.. Amazing apps and help a bit but this note can't access all of their amazing features... Due to no camera2 of course... Grrrr
---------- Post added at 02:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:03 AM ----------
zkyevolved said:
This is my biggest problem. Shots during the day are fantastic, but anything in "less than outside light" (not low light...) come out ... Meh... I had the 930 and the 1520, wow, those took FANTASTIC photos! In almost every lighting condition. And EVERY Review for the Note 4 said how it was just as good or better... I couldn't believe they said that... The Note 4 camera leaves a lot to be desired in the camera department. I hope they fix this. If they don't, since I change devices frequently, I can promise my next device WON'T be a Samsung device. Other than that, and the lousy lag for recent apps and reviewing picture after taking it on the camera (all very well documented), I'm very happy.
Bring Camera2.0!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep... It sucks.. There are so many who think this is literally the best camera ever and go on and on.. And it is good but that one (in my case) big scenario, it really sucks! It was made for perfect lighting and if so the shots are incredible.
Sure.. Crank up the ISO all the way and get a super noise filled shot or try the useless "sport mode" lol.. Even then, shutter still too slow

heh just checked back on this topic and it's going great guys, we will have api2 in 2075 if we kep em going like this
But seriously, we need to spread the word for this petition or nothing will happen.

SquirtingCherry said:
heh just checked back on this topic and it's going great guys, we will have api2 in 2075 if we kep em going like this
But seriously, we need to spread the word for this petition or nothing will happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
serious, nothing will happen anyways, petition or not. Do you guys seriously think Samsung will care about the 0.0001 % of users who actually know what Camera V2 compatibility is. If you want really want it, buy a Note 5 in a couple of months or S6/edge if you want it now. Let's face it Note 4 is already outdated

Question Disappointing daylight photo quality

Hello
For different reasons, I had to upgrade my vanilla S20 to vanilla S23 (though I was not entirely convinced to).
Although the phone runs incredibly smooth, the battery life is amazing, screen is the best I've ever seen, the most important phone aspect for me is the camera video and photo quality, especially during the daytime.
Videos are amazing from S23 and way better than S20's, especially in terms of stabilization.
However, the daylight photos, from all cameras leaves A LOT to be desired. No matter what photo is it - well lit room, landscape, greenery, plants, moving objects, from both main and Telephoto camera are noticeably WORSE than from S20 during daytime.
Photos are noisy as hell, does not have that much details and has too much oversharpening applied. Even using fake 1,1 "tele" lens from S20, the resolved details during the daytime are just better on S20, on all available zoom ranges. Oversharpening on S23 is so strong that it literally kills some finest details sometimes and makes all photos look artificial and unnatural. S20 photos, compared to S23 look as if it S20 was from far future compared to S23.
I am incredibly disappointed as I was expecting A LOT more from phone of that kind. S20 photos are just amazing and I expected something either similar or better.
Is there any way to reduce the oversharpening and smoothen the photos so that they are not that noisy? Or maybe force S20's camera algorithms to S23?
Expert RAW is a no go for me as it takes too much time to play with to take photo. It also processes these photos too much.
Thanks,
Maciej

I came from pixel 7 and I am also dissaponted a lot from the camera although I wouldn't say my photos have noise. It's this Overusaturation that Samsung does( I have turned off scene optimizer) that gets on my nerves. Also night photos are not good. I'm thinking of switching back to pixel.

Download the Camera Assistant software from the Galaxy Store. There you can adjust the softening of your images.

vzsolti said:
Download the Camera Assistant software from the Galaxy Store. There you can adjust the softening of your images.
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I have it and I see only option for automatic hdr and where to give priority, speed or quality

Is there a Google cam available?

ermacwins said:
Is there a Google cam available?
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There is: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/gcam-port.4553443/

vzsolti said:
Download the Camera Assistant software from the Galaxy Store. There you can adjust the softening of your images.
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Wow, thank you for reply!
I've been looking for something like this, although I'm not entirely convinced if there are enough options regarding eg. noise. Nevertheless, I will surely try it out and share my findings
Kindest regards,
Maciej

I have played with the Camera Assistant app and it helped a little bit indeed, but the quality is still far from perfect.
No matter what "Smoothening" level I select, there is still visible noise, but more or less "smudged" based on "Smoothening" settings. Finest details are also lost when any "Smoothening" is enabled (even the medium option).
Although there is some visible changes with Camera Assistant, I still preffer S20's photos as they are both detailed and noise-free.
I hope Samsung improves the Camera, because this is not what people should expect from the top tier Android flagships. Too bad is that March security patch does NOT include any Camera improvements.

You can also try to switch off Scene Optimizer or use Pro mode to take photos

Benoe said:
You can also try to switch off Scene Optimizer or use Pro mode to take photos
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Thank you for your reply.
Scene optimizer has been off since I first launched the camera. On pro mode the results are moreless the same - very noisy and tons of artificial oversharpening.
I've had an opportunity to compare my shots from last year's S22. I think there is less noise from S22 shots, so I believe this will get fixed by Samsung in the near future. BTW - S22's photos are still worse than my old S20's and that's the major reason I decided not to purchase S22 year ago.

I shoot and edit in RAW/DNG only. I like the S23 photo compared to my S21 phone.

Do you use Pro mode then?

Hi,
I have the same issue, as per the flagship tag, the photo quality is not that much great I would say.
Usually people taking photos just point and shoot no other special settings changes.
This camera taking 2 to 3MB picture with 12MP camera but too much noise and little blurry as well.
When I switch to 50MP 3:4mode then picture is capturing little sharpen as compared to the above 12MP camera, but it has very large size of picture around 8 to 12MB.
Even banana shape are also capturing specially on humans head.
I'm very disappointed with the camera.
If I talk about overall phone except camera then this is the best phone I have ever seen.
I don't know why every YouTuber is telling lie to us in camera department, they are saying camera is much better then the iPhone or Pixel but the real truth is this phone has very poor camera specially while capturing the photos.
My brother have Realme 9pro+ and he has taken photos on my daughter's birthday and I have taken also and I'm surprised when I saw the quality of his phone's camera photo, very sharp, no noise good quality and size is also not that much.
Thinking to buy pixel 7 or some other flagship kind of phone in exchange of this S23 because I don't this so Samsung will push the camera update on this as they are very much focused on 23ultra and they have bought every YouTuber mouth as well.

I'm very happy with the camera quality so far. This month we should receive a major camera update and it will get only better with time. I have compared the gcam output with the Samsung camera app and gcam is significantly worse. And yes I have used the config file as described.

I truly hope this match update will indeed improve the quality of the camera as this is simply bad now.
Moreover - I have also found many other issues as I keep using my S23 as a daily driver.
First - the video stabilization simply does not work. It did work once released and it was actually one of major improvements that made me amazed, but it seems like february (or march) security patch has simply destroyed this feature. The videos are completely without ANY kind of stabilization.
Second - I have noticed that the Super Slow Motion mode has a HUGE step back when compared to S20. I love this feature as this allows you, without any professional hardware, to capture interesting physical phenomenoms using just your phone, such as lighting up the lighter, break the glass/ice, or even see how the little bees' wings work. These kind of videos have always been unique to Samsung and I find them extremely interesting and I'm a huge fan of these.
While S20 did capture the real 960 frames for 1 second (quite a long of time for a smartphone), S23 captures only half a second and... it's certainly NOT 960 FPS, but rather 480 FPS artificially enriched to 960 FPS by the software.
The effect is that you can't see all the phenomenoms - bees are wingless, the glass breaks unnaturally (you clearly see it's more AI work than actual capture). I'm terribly disappointed.
Honestly I doubt this upcoming March camera patch will solve that many issues and I'm extremely disappointed that 1000 EUR phone is such a garbage in terms of camera. I agree with @Normas Interruptor
If I talk about overall phone except camera then this is the best phone I have ever seen.
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But the truth is that you can charge your battery if it's empty, you can still use the phone if it lag sometimes, you can play the games if you don't have full details. But you can't repair damaged and bad photo. Period.