Hey, i just bought the Z3 Compact The phone itself is very good, EXCEPT The camera! 20 mpx of what? The camera is so blurry and noisy. And you can see the pixels easy. This is so TERRIBLE i have to ask if there is anything wrong with it? I have had Android since it came out. This results are worse than what my HTC Magic did. A phone from 2008-09. I have tried different settings, no luck. Been like this from day one. So is there something wrong, or is this suppose to be the 20mpx camera? ...
Some examples, first pic is taken in daylight. You can see at the second is in darkness (Very noisy!) Front camera is even worse!!
Please get some help! I like the phone, but if the camera is suppose to be like this i'm switching it out immediately!
I'm new to Z3c too, my camera sucks in the first shots as well, but, so did my sister's, until suddenly, it got all well. I don't know how.
Well said about camera suddenly getting good.
My recommendation is don't use superior auto. Launch your camera from a shortcut and set it to manual and from that moment on it will always launch in manual mode, but not when you launch it with shutter key.
Once in manual mode, try my settings:
Exposure: one or two bars below value of 0
WB: auto
Resolution: 15,5 mpx
Focus mode: multiple autofocus (i think that's what it's called in english)
ISO: This is the most important setting. You can set it to 100 or even 50 to avoid noise and artifacts caused by heavy postprocessing by software. But, the lower the iso, darker the image will be. So on a sunny day it can be 50 od 100, On a cloudy day, a bit higher and in night photos 800.
Metering: multiple
Focusing: When you want to take photo, put object you want to take photo of in the middle and half press shutter button. When squares turn blue on places you want focused, keep shutter half pressed and you can then move your phone to left, right, up or down and not losing focus. That way you make your composition. When you think you have your scene set up, finally press the button all the way.
Once you set it up every time you launch camera by a shortcut it will launch in manual mode with settings remembered from last time you used camera so no need to fiddle with settings every time. Camera widget is very useful.
Avoid superior auto unless you're in complete darkness because in that case heavy postprocessing and very high iso that it always uses have to be made.
Superior auto uses very high iso values when not needed. High iso causes much noise on the photos, and sony software removes that noise and does it in a not so good way. That results in artifacts and 'flat' photos.
It sounds complicated, but it really isn't. I have SLR camera experience so it's natural to me. Once you practice half pressing, composition making and then taking photo people will wonder how can you make such photos. It's knowledge that you'll be able to use always in all cameras, phones and whatever.
I hope this helps and let me know if it does. I'm thinking about writing a camera tutorial with samples because not many people use the potential of it.
See my samples, they're only resized:
http://i.imgur.com/YF2fU8l.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/0cP9SiO.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/1EFhzze.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/fvWzbg1.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ptrBLVu.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QbKBrdq.jpg
Well said ... The tutrial is good ... N m setting up these setting. It would be better to open a thread with tutrial about the camera setting n people help each other how we could get the good pictures. Thanks very much. :thumbup:
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Free mobile app
saab90095 said:
[original post]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you unlock your bootloader?
degraaff said:
Did you unlock your bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lstic said:
Well said about camera suddenly getting good.
My recommendation is don't use superior auto. Launch your camera from a shortcut and set it to manual and from that moment on it will always launch in manual mode, but not when you launch it with shutter key.
Once in manual mode, try my settings:
Exposure: one or two bars below value of 0
WB: auto
Resolution: 15,5 mpx
Focus mode: multiple autofocus (i think that's what it's called in english)
ISO: This is the most important setting. You can set it to 100 or even 50 to avoid noise and artifacts caused by heavy postprocessing by software. But, the lower the iso, darker the image will be. So on a sunny day it can be 50 od 100, On a cloudy day, a bit higher and in night photos 800.
Metering: multiple
Focusing: When you want to take photo, put object you want to take photo of in the middle and half press shutter button. When squares turn blue on places you want focused, keep shutter half pressed and you can then move your phone to left, right, up or down and not losing focus. That way you make your composition. When you think you have your scene set up, finally press the button all the way.
Once you set it up every time you launch camera by a shortcut it will launch in manual mode with settings remembered from last time you used camera so no need to fiddle with settings every time. Camera widget is very useful.
Avoid superior auto unless you're in complete darkness because in that case heavy postprocessing and very high iso that it always uses have to be made.
Superior auto uses very high iso values when not needed. High iso causes much noise on the photos, and sony software removes that noise and does it in a not so good way. That results in artifacts and 'flat' photos.
It sounds complicated, but it really isn't. I have SLR camera experience so it's natural to me. Once you practice half pressing, composition making and then taking photo people will wonder how can you make such photos. It's knowledge that you'll be able to use always in all cameras, phones and whatever.
I hope this helps and let me know if it does. I'm thinking about writing a camera tutorial with samples because not many people use the potential of it.
See my samples, they're only resized:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for a good answer. Some of the shots is amazing! Still, i can see them getting a little blurry. Also i think that if you can't choose auto and take decent photo when you are in a hurry it's actually a struggle. If you always have to set your ISO etc. Then i would rather bring my DSLR with me instead! Here are some examples from my previous phone. The S3. I set HDR on. Nothing more! Nice and easy.
I'm not saying this shots is amazing, but i just found it to be better overall than the Compact. This also have 12mpx less! Newer Samsungs have a pretty decent camera! So my questions is now, what other phone would you guys recommend? I was quite happy with my Samsung til it got slow and the battery drained out easily. I'm also happy with Sony, apart from the camera.
It's not unlocked.
Have you tried to use Google Camera? I think these crappy denoising algorithms won't be used in it. It lacks advanced options but if you just want to make nice photos with 'auto' i think it might be good enough.
Manual mode, much better photos than superior auto.
saab90095 said:
Thank you for a good answer. Some of the shots is amazing! Still, i can see them getting a little blurry. Also i think that if you can't choose auto and take decent photo when you are in a hurry it's actually a struggle. If you always have to set your ISO etc. Then i would rather bring my DSLR with me instead! Here are some examples from my previous phone. The S3. I set HDR on. Nothing more! Nice and easy.
I'm not saying this shots is amazing, but i just found it to be better overall than the Compact. This also have 12mpx less! Newer Samsungs have a pretty decent camera! So my questions is now, what other phone would you guys recommend? I was quite happy with my Samsung til it got slow and the battery drained out easily. I'm also happy with Sony, apart from the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it's true that auto mode is not good. I had an Xperia P before this one and never had any issues with the camera. It had 8 mpx of amazing quality camera on the daylight at least.
But as I said, once you set your manual mode, you almost never have to fiddle around with it. At least I don't. I set iso to 100 and when it's daylight i start camera by shortcut, and on night time i start it by shutter key.
Anyway, I keep my fingers crossed that lollipop will fix all that, because it's software issue only if you ask me.
lstic said:
Well, it's true that auto mode is not good. I had an Xperia P before this one and never had any issues with the camera. It had 8 mpx of amazing quality camera on the daylight at least.
But as I said, once you set your manual mode, you almost never have to fiddle around with it. At least I don't. I set iso to 100 and when it's daylight i start camera by shortcut, and on night time i start it by shutter key.
Anyway, I keep my fingers crossed that lollipop will fix all that, because it's software issue only if you ask me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried today with your settings. Works better, so thanks! Still very blurry, but not as bad like it was. Why haven't anyone mentioned something about the camera before? Since allot of you are experiencing it? Hope Sony will release an update soon because this isn't OK at all! The colors and details are pretty decent. It just becomes blurry and not sharp enough. and why can't we turn on HDR?
Everybody has mentioned it. It's the third most talked about thing with this phone after root and battery.
Apart from the low light algorithms the camera is pretty ****.
Like the others I hope L will fix it. Until then i just use camera fv5. It even uses the hardware button so it's cool. And much better pics
HDR only works in 8MPx mode. Can't turn in on in 15.5/20MPx mode. And it's not THAT great actually. Wise exposure helps more than the HDR.
Also, you could maybe try the Camera FV-5, which has a ton of settings and also RAW capturing abilities, if you'd like to postprocess the images on your own. But I doubt anyone is doing this and taking it somehow seriously.
You have to play around a lot with the camera, bringing down exposure as suggested is a great start. I left the size at 8MPx, and also played around with some scenes (useful in the night) or lowlight, you sacrify motion blur from long exposure time for more noise, but that's how it works in photography.
The camera is not bad, you just need to be patient with it, if you'd like to quickly snap perfect shots, this may not be the perfect device, however, if you use the camera wisely, it can deliver stunning photos for large prints.
saab90095 said:
Tried today with your settings. Works better, so thanks! Still very blurry, but not as bad like it was. Why haven't anyone mentioned something about the camera before? Since allot of you are experiencing it? Hope Sony will release an update soon because this isn't OK at all! The colors and details are pretty decent. It just becomes blurry and not sharp enough. and why can't we turn on HDR?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The pictures you posted before from the S3 really aren't better then the Z3C. Why no mentioned anything about the camera before? I'd relay the question back at you, why haven't you looked up the forum, because there are really PLENTY of topics regarding the camera. So the only thing I can conclude is that you didn't even check the forum. Even the blurry pictures have been mentioned before. Like someone above mentioned, try Camera FV-5 or any other ap. I use Camera FV-5 myself and I'm really happy with it, even with an unlocked BL. Check out the topic I created (in my signature) and you'll find plenty of pictures from the phone. It can really make some great pictures, but as you said before when you don't have a lot of time to make a picture, to change settings it can really be a bich to work with.
wayne_sk said:
HDR only works in 8MPx mode. Can't turn in on in 15.5/20MPx mode. And it's not THAT great actually. Wise exposure helps more than the HDR.
Also, you could maybe try the Camera FV-5, which has a ton of settings and also RAW capturing abilities, if you'd like to postprocess the images on your own. But I doubt anyone is doing this and taking it somehow seriously.
You have to play around a lot with the camera, bringing down exposure as suggested is a great start. I left the size at 8MPx, and also played around with some scenes (useful in the night) or lowlight, you sacrify motion blur from long exposure time for more noise, but that's how it works in photography.
The camera is not bad, you just need to be patient with it, if you'd like to quickly snap perfect shots, this may not be the perfect device, however, if you use the camera wisely, it can deliver stunning photos for large prints.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, i actually just want something nice and easy. When i take pictures with my phone i don't want to try a bunch of settings for the camera to take a decent shot. and doing this in sunlight for example when you can't see the screen at all? Instead of just pressing the camera button..Actually the superior Auto is so bad i can't even describe it. I got some OK settings now, but far from good. Of course if you play around with the settings any camera can be good, the thing that you have to do that tells me it's rubbish! Then what's the point? I could rather bring my DSLR. I would be able to take better pictures, without a hassle. For me a good camera is very important, that's one of the reason i brought it. And can you really defend a 20mpx camera from 2014 that can't even take a clear shot on a sunny day with perfect light in Auto mode?
Dsteppa said:
The pictures you posted before from the S3 really aren't better then the Z3C. Why no mentioned anything about the camera before? I'd relay the question back at you, why haven't you looked up the forum, because there are really PLENTY of topics regarding the camera. So the only thing I can conclude is that you didn't even check the forum. Even the blurry pictures have been mentioned before. Like someone above mentioned, try Camera FV-5 or any other ap. I use Camera FV-5 myself and I'm really happy with it, even with an unlocked BL. Check out the topic I created (in my signature) and you'll find plenty of pictures from the phone. It can really make some great pictures, but as you said before when you don't have a lot of time to make a picture, to change settings it can really be a bich to work with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have actually seen your photos, i did go through allot of camera samples before i brought it. Little did i know that the camera was useless in auto mode. I know the shots with my Samsung isn't that good but still, this is shot in Auto mode. The first picture has HDR but nothing more. If you compare that to what i did with my Sony it's WAY better. Because as i said, if i want to take some amazing shots i will use my DSLR instead. And when i'm not having it on me i want a decent photo, but i just can't get that with the Compact.
And the S3 has 8mpx, the Compact got 20.
I changed the settings on my Compact, still blurry and un-sharp.
saab90095 said:
I have actually seen your photos, i did go through allot of camera samples before i brought it. Little did i know that the camera was useless in auto mode. I know the shots with my Samsung isn't that good but still, this is shot in Auto mode. The first picture has HDR but nothing more. If you compare that to what i did with my Sony it's WAY better. Because as i said, if i want to take some amazing shots i will use my DSLR instead. And when i'm not having it on me i want a decent photo, but i just can't get that with the Compact.
And the S3 has 8mpx, the Compact got 20.
I changed the settings on my Compact, still blurry and un-sharp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to say, but you've most obviously been too lazy to use the search function and you have even ignored the automatic search results while writing the title of this thread. Having said that, in the beginning you wrote about picture noise and that they come out blurred. Ok, but now you claim they're even unsharp. Sorry, that's definitely not a problem of the phone, at least you'd have the first sample with such an issue...
Regardless, please refrain from cluttering the forum by opening threads on topics that are already being *extensively* discussed. Thanks.
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Free mobile app
wayne_sk said:
The camera is not bad, you just need to be patient with it, if you'd like to quickly snap perfect shots, this may not be the perfect device, however, if you use the camera wisely, it can deliver stunning photos for large prints.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely depends what you are photographing. At 20MP I've taken some impressive photos, for sure, but under closer scrutiny on a large monitor they don't look quite as good, and they fall apart almost instantly when post-processed. Sony's sharpening algorithms are far too aggressive so any high-contrast edges look almost posterized. Other aspects of jpeg processing also leave a lot to be desired, even at low ISO. In other words, Sony took a decent sensor and only lets us get mediocre results.
And, yes, auto mode is an absolute joke. I estimate about one in ten photos I've taken in auto are useable (many of them only after slapping on Instagram filters). I just wish I could start in manual using the shutter button. Still, I'm not expecting output from a camera phone to come anywhere close to a good compact camera let alone a DSLR, so in that sense I'm a little less miffed. But reliable auto mode is essential IMO since that's always gonna be the most used mode for quick Facebook/Twitter/Instagram update snaps, which is how 99% of people use camera phones. Epic fail from Sony on that count.
I am most annoyed at all the clueless tech reviewers who last fall declared this to be the best phone camera, on a par or better than the iPhone and S5. It's not. Not even close.
pipspeak said:
I am most annoyed at all the clueless tech reviewers who last fall declared this to be the best phone camera, on a par or better than the iPhone and S5. It's not. Not even close.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. A million times this. How on earth did initial reviewers rave about the camera? My experience of its performance closely mirrors your own. Only a small percentage of all photos come out looking ok, even though I've messed around with wb, iso settings etc.
Same here, got my z3c yesterday and I am quite disappointed with camery quality. Images become really blurry, especially on a front facing camera. It is clear to me, that it's a software issue, because when I look at the screenm picture looks OK. But when the photo is shot, it becames blurry after pocessing. I used to have iPhone 5s before and it did amazing photos compared to sony's device.
And I also agree with an opinion that most people don't want to mess with camera settings on a mobile phone. We just want to quickly take a decent photo in an auto mode...
Hey people.
Today, i was "playing" with new manual camera, and noticed Optical stabilisation is missing. Do you have guys same problem? When i switch to video mode, the options shows up, but it crops image to 2/3 of stock size, as i remember in Lollipop it was full sized, or i am wrong? anyway, when i switch to photo mode, image stabilisation dissapear.
There are 2 options for video stabilization in 5.0.1
The first is OIS and it works great
The second is called "Stabilizer" and crops the frame inwards and relies on image processing to counteract movement. If you wave your hand across the frame while keeping the phone still you can see the video feed move on its own even though the lens is still.
In 5.0.1 you can turn on both options independently and OIS is available in both photo and video mode. Stabilizer is video only.
Sucks if they removed the OIS option. Is it permanently turned on now then?
magnetz said:
There are 2 options for video stabilization in 5.0.1
The first is OIS and it works great
The second is called "Stabilizer" and crops the frame inwards and relies on image processing to counteract movement. If you wave your hand across the frame while keeping the phone still you can see the video feed move on its own even though the lens is still.
In 5.0.1 you can turn on both options independently and OIS is available in both photo and video mode. Stabilizer is video only.
Sucks if they removed the OIS option. Is it permanently turned on now then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i had b200 lollipop an i remember that i was suprised how amazing the stabilisation is, but now, no IOS option and if i try shake hands a bit, i can see its not stabilised as it was on lollipop, its just disabled. I ask people here if they has same problem or i need just reflash system.
If I look into the lens and move the phone around I can easily see that the lens counters my movement with OIS turned on. It looks like it's floating.
I hope they fix that because the OIS is a very nice feature on this device.
ok, i reflashed whole system and even in options there is not still IOS switch, i think its enabled now, its pretty stable and image is floating while shaking it, so its good now, thanks for replies
Hi.
Ever since I received the latest update (.153), my phone does not switch the camera to the 5x all the time. It only changes, 100% of the time, when I press on the 10x zoom.
I have a hard time explaining, basically what I want to say is: When I press the 5x zoom button the app stays on the main sensor and doesn't use the 5x one all the time, only sometimes.
Try to go to settings>apps>storage and then clear data, it should fix it, otherwise, go to the service center.
Or maybe your subject is too close or you do have a low light environment
Just checked mine and it works 100% okay, so it's not a "global" bug.
IamNumber25 said:
Try to go to settings>apps>storage and then clear data, it should fix it, otherwise, go to the service center.
Or maybe your subject is too close or you do have a low light environment
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it happens only in low light and also when its too close, but still, why?
When I tried outside(in the night) it still used the main sensor, but when I tried using the x10, it was sharper than the main sensor at x5, so I dont understand their logic.
Robert- said:
Well, it happens only in low light and also when its too close, but still, why?
When I tried outside(in the night) it still used the main sensor, but when I tried using the x10, it was sharper than the main sensor at x5, so I dont understand their logic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because focusing has minimum required distance, maybe at least 2m-3m when you use 5x optical zoom to properly focus on the subject (Even DSLR/Mirrorless lenses has it). Also, it will shift to main sensor at night because it has only 3.5 Aperture and it will be too dark if it will use it compared to 1.6 aperture of the main camera. Same how samsung uses its telephoto lens at night, it will automatically shift to main sensor.
In contrast, 10x zoom uses hybrid zoom which uses both the periscope lens and the main camera. So far, my device is good in lowlight even I use 5x zoom, I think you just need to focus it firmly before taking photos
I've noticed the very same issue after .153 with mine, I've cleaned data for camera and reset it to default which immediately fixed the issue, but now it's happening again... and not always, it seems like it just can't switch to other camera module... when needed (5x only) both for video or photo... really strange... Mine is from UAE...
Yeah, same here... But I can't even fix the issue.
It keeps struggling with 5x zoom.
When it starts focusing, often a noticable switch (different camera module?) to a much noisier image occurs.
Also with zooming in from 1,1x to 4,9x I have no image stabilization...
I hope they can sort this out with future updates.
For now I have to use 5,1x zoom or 10x zoom for a clean image with stabilization.
Can anyone confirm that behaviour?
Hi,
Currently in the .153 firmware and have noticed a couple of camera problems and just wanted to see does anyone else have the same problems or know a solution.
First problem I noticed is sometimes when I take a picture and go to view it using the gallery button in the camera it will say "loading" and it will stay like that and then I'll either get a could not connect to camera error or the camera will crash and the picture won't be saved. This seems to be solved with a reboot.
Secondly I noticed that when using the 5x zoom it appears to not use the dedicated zoom lens and instead using digital zoom from the main lens. Clearing the data and cache fixes this issue for a period until I comes back.
HOLOYOLO said:
Hi,
Currently in the .153 firmware and have noticed a couple of camera problems and just wanted to see does anyone else have the same problems or know a solution.
First problem I noticed is sometimes when I take a picture and go to view it using the gallery button in the camera it will say "loading" and it will stay like that and then I'll either get a could not connect to camera error or the camera will crash and the picture won't be saved. This seems to be solved with a reboot.
Secondly I noticed that when using the 5x zoom it appears to not use the dedicated zoom lens and instead using digital zoom from the main lens. Clearing the data and cache fixes this issue for a period until I comes back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have also noticed the zooming not using the main zoom lens you could hear it before but you cant hear the lens anymore since the update so they have bust the camera in the update ?
Mine seems to zoom okay
When there's not enough light for the tele lens to expose correctly the phone will switch to the main lens and then apply digital zoom. This is because the main lens has higher aperture (lower f/number) and therefore it will let pass more light to the sensor than the tele lens
Stolz said:
When there's not enough light for the tele lens to expose correctly the phone will switch to the main lens and then apply digital zoom. This is because the main lens has higher aperture (lower f/number) and therefore it will let pass more light to the sensor than the tele lens
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think this is the problem for me because I noticed this happening outdoors in nice sunny areas.
The latest updates has many camera bugs even using light painting mode. Silky water feature does not work very well even in other light painting modes which produces around 700kb file only instead of more than 2mb.
SO how does that 5x optical zoom work? Everything beneath 5x is not optical, is that right? Or does it depends on the light conditions?
drcldrcl said:
SO how does that 5x optical zoom work? Everything beneath 5x is not optical, is that right? Or does it depends on the light conditions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the time, 0.6x, 1x and 5x zooms are purely optical, any other zoom is not. But as stated before in certain light conditions 5x can be non purely optical
I've noticed the same issue with the camera lenses and was surprised, that the quality of the results differs a lot even with the same focal lenght!
The phone does not always chose the lens you actually want to use. I did a few tests on that by covering each lens when changing from wide to 1x to 5x (that 10x is digitally zoomed is obvious). Everything in between is digitally zoomed (or cropped?) as well of course.
Please see attached pictures. Both on "5x" - 135mm focal lenght, but of course with different aperture (F3.4 vs. F1.6), exposure (1/30s vs. 1/120s) and ISO (200 vs. 80). This indicates quite accurate, that the phone uses the main lens (1x) with digital zoom in some situations, which is a mess! You cannot force the phone to use one lens, that's the issue, even in pro mode. It seems the phone decides which lens to pick on the available light (of course the main lens has the larger aperture), but digital zoom is a really bad solution!
As you guys mentioned, this issue is the same with videos!
I have not found any solution or how to chose one explicit lens. Hope an update will make that possible...
I'm on 153 also but didn't have any problems with lenses so far..altough I can tell it sometimes takes some time to switch the lens between the main and tele lens..you can tell because picture sudennly "clears out" while composing a shot.
I noticed different problem. When using slow motion video above 120fps resolution is horrible and focus is extremely slow.
I did experience some camera crashes while doing macro photography but continued to use the camera and phone normally without rebooting.
Same Problems, maybe even worse...
Hi,
I'm having the same problems but after the picture does not load in my gallery, it becomes just a green picture... My phone is been to the store 5 times now, i've had a new one, but i'm experiencing the same issues.
Is there a solution yet?
I have exactly the same issue with regular P30
Telephoto lens was working fine with EMUI 9.1, but since EMUI 10 any zoomed pictures results in a blurry mess, in order to use telephoto you have to switch to Pro mode AND enable RAW output, otherwise it won't work
This surely looks like a bug in the camera software