Database Develop

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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
---------- Post added at 01:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:15 PM ----------
On another note is raw format already being supported on the 6 or is it coming in an update. I'm no photographer but I'm extremely pleased how well the camera functions. I've only had nexus devices. The last phone I had with a decent camera was the Nokia n 5

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

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

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

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

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

Try some low light shots....

tripler6 said:
I'm a photographer. Here's the thing.
Camera reviews on cell phones are reviewed by gadget freaks, not photographers. They're interested in specs, they think megapixels are important, they don't even mention the important stuff.
Android L is the first OS to have a decent camera api. This will allow the nexus camera - which is only inherently different from the note 4 camera in terms of software - to vastly outperform anything on the market given a good camera app.
This mythical camera app should take advantage of a few things - full manual control. Exposure compensation and AE/AF lock. Auto bracketing. Proper metering, with selections for spot through to matrix. FPS control. Video control with framerate and resolution options, and the ability to manually control or lock exposure and focus. And finally, take advantage of L's .dng output, so we can work on this in lightroom after we're done. I don't trust my $2000 camera to spit out a nice jpg processed the way I want it, I shoot raw, I sure as hell don't trust a phone.
The nexus 6 looks to have some nice hardware. Let the software take advantage of it and you'll be happy.
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....
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I found this thread after searching for a better camera for my n6. Realized after reading your post that it is the low light shots that suffer from severe shutter lag. Pics in good light are perfect. Ugh. My original moto x Dev. Took awesome pics compared to this low light garbage

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

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

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

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

Photo quality

Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the LG Nexus 5X come out. A higher rating indicates that photos offer rich color (without over-saturating), sharp detail (with all subjects in-focus), and appropriate exposure (with even lighting).
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

It's ok. Lots of details

I'm not a photographer by any means. So long as I can capture the moment, it's good enough.
I docked a star because the lack of OIS. It is noticeable under many circumstances, and it's sorely missed.
Otherwise, this camera is pretty darn great!

Coming from Oneplus One previously, this camera is 100x better IMO. No issues whatsoever.

Also comming from a OPO. The camera in NX5 is one of the best... I love to be able to take shots in low light without flash. HDR+ and 1.55 u size make great job.
Nexus 5X+ Nova+Root

Great cam, have to say I dont miss the OIS at all, its useless for 99% of my photography use cases. Video is a different thing, but here you can enable EIS in the build.prop and it does a decent job too.

I'm using the stock google camera on HDR+ mode for absolutely everything. Image quality even in low light is pleasantly surprising! I think I can get 85% of the image quality from my (well-aged) Pentax K-5 (built-in in-body stabilization) on the 35mm f/2.8 prime. Of course, HDR+ combines many shots in order to maintain colour saturation and reduce the appearance of noise, whereas on my Pentax I just shoot RAW and tweak one shot, so it's not a perfect comparison. But, the Nexus 5X is good enough for social media and one helluva lot lighter and easier to carry than the dSLR!
Also, I used to use a LG G4, and I prefer the look of google camera HDR+ compared to the LG camera HDR mode. Dynamic range and colour accuracy are all better on the Nexus 5X in my eyes.

amartolos said:
But, the Nexus 5X is good enough for social media and one helluva lot lighter and easier to carry than the dSLR!
Also, I used to use a LG G4, and I prefer the look of google camera HDR+ compared to the LG camera HDR mode. Dynamic range and colour accuracy are all better on the Nexus 5X in my eyes.
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You nailed it - as they say: "The best camera is the one that's with you."
Also interesting comparison regarding the G4, thank you!

its cool

Coming from a Z3 Compact, this camera is leagues better, there is legitimately no comparison. That being said, the pictures are quite stunning, possibly in some circumstances rivalling my RX100. I am no photographer but I am very happy with the camera in this phone.

Coming from Oneplus One previously, this camera is 100x better IMO. No issues whatsoever.

Very very good ... Better then Moto x pure which has a 21mp camera.
Not to mention the camera mods available that make this camera close to 6p cam
Sent from my Nexus 5X using XDA Free mobile app

I like the photos created with this device. It's okay for general using, posting some photos to the instagram or something else.

It would be nice if you guys put some photo examples here.

I jumped to the N5x from a Samsung ATIV S.
Damn I miss the two phase shutter button, but quality wise the N5x wins, not that the ATIV S was bad, just looking a little dated these days...

sny_tr said:
It would be nice if you guys put some photo examples here.
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Click to collapse
Check this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-5x/general/excellent-camera-t3230797

Photo quality

Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the Google Pixel 2 come out. A higher rating indicates that photos offer rich color (without over-saturating), sharp detail (with all subjects in-focus), and appropriate exposure (with even lighting).
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

Not taken by the "average consumer" but I have to admit that these picks are AMAZING! Cant wait to have my 2XL in hand to test it out! https://9to5google.com/2017/10/07/google-pixel-2-photos-videos-samples-gallery/
Updated link with Full Res Pics
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=WEdYT3BMNFZGdUlwQ0l6aEdFT1UwVlg2LUZESDhn

I haven't taken more than a few photos, but oh my lord this camera is absolutely awesome. Depth of field trick is snazzy and works perfectly 99% of the time. Color accuracy on photos is mind-blowing.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/AWwB8R1uW2CQJPBh1

Took some sample pictures with Pixel 1 and Pixel 2, compared images on PC, they look identical but some are better on Pixel 1. Pixel 2 colors are more saturated and there is no flare....

I have been comparing the photos from the Pixel 2 to the iPhone 8 Plus if anyone is interested ?
Daylight and Night time

Took pictures today after dusk, same thing. Most images look identical to Pixel 1, but when I zoom in I can see that lens on Pixel 1 is a little bit sharper with less noise.
Edit: also noticed that automatic white balancing is off sometimes. Pixel 1 gets it right while Pixel 2 doesn't.
But all negatives are relatively small, I wouldn't say one is better then another

I don't find the camera miles better than previous phones I've owned (S7, S8, 5s pixel port etc). But it's capable, fast, a good allrounder and DOF mode is okay for a single lens construction. Hdr+ is a joy and considered, that Google don't yet utilize the new chip empowering this function it's FAST.
Sendt fra min Pixel 2 med Tapatalk

I have been able to take amazing pictures with the N5,N5X,N6P and now with the Pixel 2.
HDR+ does a great job in all these phones I owned.
The main quality difference between the N5 and the latest 3 I mentioned, are the megapixels. (But HDR+ quality was still solid in the old 5).
They main difference between the 5X/6P and the Pixel 2 is the speed to take photos, launch the camera, focus and process the HDR+ but the quality is really close.
I've decided to stick with HDR+ enhanced (which is similar to the old HDR+ in the Nexus) to minimise the risk of getting unfocused areas that sometimes with the HDR+ are not so detailed. So I'm sacrificing speed to capture photos to try to get always a perfect HDR+ shot.
Sent from my Pixel 2

thesebastian said:
I have been able to take amazing pictures with the N5,N5X,N6P and now with the Pixel 2.
HDR+ does a great job in all these phones I owned.
The main quality difference between the N5 and the latest 3 I mentioned, are the megapixels. (But HDR+ quality was still solid in the old 5).
They main difference between the 5X/6P and the Pixel 2 is the speed to take photos, launch the camera, focus and process the HDR+ but the quality is really close.
I've decided to stick with HDR+ enhanced (which is similar to the old HDR+ in the Nexus) to minimise the risk of getting unfocused areas that sometimes with the HDR+ are not so detailed. So I'm sacrificing speed to capture photos to try to get always a perfect HDR+ shot.
Sent from my Pixel 2
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do you think it's better then middle range budget mirrorless camera ?

julianalaqrua said:
do you think it's better then middle range budget mirrorless camera ?
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I don't know because I stopped using cameras for my trips, since I got a Nexus 5 with HDR+ and before that I mostly used the typical compact Sony cyber shot with Carl Zeiss lense.
And I only regret to use smartphone as main camera when I switched from the N5 to Z5 Compact and went to Paris and took ugly photos. Specially nightly photos and closeup photos. This is the main reason I sold that phone after 6 months and went for the 5X.
Probably you can get better details with those cameras you mention. But there are some key features in HDR+ (this is all post processing) that do a lot of magic:
- Focus in most of the areas. (You can focus on a person's face and still capture the details behind a window that points to the street / or the clouds in the sky/ or other faces; as if you had focused directly on that window or clouds).
- More dark skies at night. The night photos look amazing. Nightly skies try to be converted to a more solid dark colour.
- Same good quality with sunny photos that have a lot of sunlight or sun rays and you can't see well trough the camera app when taking the photo because of the high brightness. After HDR+ you could have a good result more opaque.
Other things I like from the latest Google phones cameras:
- Panoramas. Sometimes I take a panorama with just 1 captured image, because of the increased FoV to fit a building. And sometimes you need to take more than 1 because the building still doesn't fit.
- Capture photos when walking: In previous HDR+ Nexus cameras when you press the shutter, camera starts capturing and you can have blurry photos if you were moving. In The Pixel 2 when I press the shutter of the camera (also walking and with HDR+ enhanced) phone camera blocks and take some time to capture to maximize the possibility of a crisp shot. (And if you press the shutter and starts shaking the camera it won't capture till you stop shaking)
So I'm taking photos when I don't have time to stop now.
- Minimum focus distance: I love close-ups / macro shots and the latest Google phones had a good minimum focus distance and mixed with HDR+ the result is amazing.
(The Z5 Compact I owned used to have a wide angle but terrible minimum focus distance I hate this).
What I don't really care is the new portrait mode. You get 2 photos when using it. With blurry unfocused areas and the original with no blur. I think this is only useful for CV photos or some close-ups or special cases. There is a lot of people that loves this feature. I personally prefer the photo that contains more data for 99% of my captures.
Sent from my Pixel 2

Absolutely love the camera on my Pixel 2. Below are some examples shot really quickly from The Shard in London.
I had the iPhone 8 plus briefly and although similar, I'd probably say the Pixel 2 is a bit better, I also think the portrait mode is insanely good considering it only has one camera! :highfive:

Pixel 2 vs Pixel 1 (Auto, flash off, lens clean, no case)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FTyfRvJHxWAx38e93

julianalaqrua said:
do you think it's better then middle range budget mirrorless camera ?
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absolutely not.
however, the pixel takes decent pictures completely automatically while you can completely mess up a picture on a mid range a mirrorless camera if you don't know how to use the settings - and the fully automatic mode of the mirrorless cameras tend not to be actually as good as the pixel
(technically, the pixel is also a mirrorless camera btw - just that the sensor and lens are tiny, get less light and aren't as sharp, basically - but they have much better automatic processing)

sstanton86 said:
Absolutely love the camera on my Pixel 2. Below are some examples shot really quickly from The Shard in London.
I had the iPhone 8 plus briefly and although similar, I'd probably say the Pixel 2 is a bit better, I also think the portrait mode is insanely good considering it only has one camera! :highfive:
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amazing shots. that's auto mode or you have used lightroom or photoshop ?

sammyalexandro said:
amazing shots. that's auto mode or you have used lightroom or photoshop ?
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Thank you! And it was through a glass window too! No Lightroom or any other editing app. Just HDR!

Very happy with the camera.

took pixel 2 for a two weeks Europe trip, omg! The pictures are amazing!!!!

elijahmendelson said:
what about bokeh? is it possible to make background blur on pixel 1 like pixel 2 in portrait mode ?
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Pixel 1 does not have Portrait mode (or at least not yet). Pixel 1 has Lens Blur mode, it works but not as good
---------- Post added at 12:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:43 AM ----------
bilboa1 said:
absolutely not.
however, the pixel takes decent pictures completely automatically while you can completely mess up a picture on a mid range a mirrorless camera if you don't know how to use the settings - and the fully automatic mode of the mirrorless cameras tend not to be actually as good as the pixel
(technically, the pixel is also a mirrorless camera btw - just that the sensor and lens are tiny, get less light and aren't as sharp, basically - but they have much better automatic processing)
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I had Canon G5 ($500 compact camera) and gave it away with a purchase of Pixel 1. I think P1 pictures are much better.

kolyan said:
Pixel 1 does not have Portrait mode (or at least not yet). Pixel 1 has Lens Blur mode, it works but not as good
.
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is it possible to activate portrait mode on pixel 1 ? this is only software thing as I understand, right?

alfonsocoralles said:
is it possible to activate portrait mode on pixel 1 ? this is only software thing as I understand, right?
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No you can't activate it, not sure if it's software or some hardware thing. Maybe Google will enable it later

Is the camera really that bad?

I'm curious because I've read that a lot of people don't like the camera. Why is that? I'm not sure if I should buy that phone.

Chippelchen said:
I'm curious because I've read that a lot of people don't like the camera. Why is that? I'm not sure if I should buy that phone.
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Why you make a new topic about this because its been talked about and some hate it but many love it. But why focus on words when you can judge for your self when you go to places like flickr and see how each phone takes them photo's

Chippelchen said:
I'm curious because I've read that a lot of people don't like the camera. Why is that? I'm not sure if I should buy that phone.
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The point and shoot is second to none.
The pro and night modes are both second to none..
Telephoto lens is superb
Only thing is say ia better is HDR on the pixel.
Besides that the p20 Pro stands alone. Even against late 2018 phones.

Unbeatable point & shoot camera performance. Never seen a camera fair that well on phone before.
Pixel 3 camera is very good but not as refined or versatile as the Huawei system.

If you don't know how to tame it, you will not like it. But if you can tame it and know the capabilities and limitations of the sensor, you will love it!
I'm having a blast with it, because i know how it works inside out and now i can push it to it's limits.
/ Magnus

I love it

The thing I don't like is that I often get blurry images if I point and shoot

Hello,
For "HDR" effect, yu can use "night mode" in the day time. Otherwise I love the camera... competely... Have been using this phone on daily bases for 3 months and I'm astonished.
Here are some pictures - point and shoot
https://imgur.com/a/wcyZP4q

FOXTEiN said:
Unbeatable point & shoot camera performance. Never seen a camera fair that well on phone before.
Pixel 3 camera is very good but not as refined or versatile as the Huawei system.
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You got your hands on Pixel 3 already? Weird I thought they're not supposed to deliver until sometime later.

Not at all, There is a entire thread showing the amazing photos this phone can deliver, this phone camera is versatile, it has the best nightmode out there, the best zoom, and the main 40mp sensor can capture a lot of detail, Last night i manage to take a photo of a lighting (https://i.imgur.com/32TxPqG.jpg).
a flicker with P20 pro photos :
https://www.flickr.com/groups/[email protected]/

Yea, i love the P20 pro camera and night mode is freaking awesome! Only negative things i can think off is no stabilization on 4k video and the selfie cam could be a bit better but besides these 2 i think this camera is pretty much the best you can get right now for a cheap price.

for me it doesn't matter what i read or what other peoples say.
The camera of this phone is insane. Especially the night mode. Never saw something like this. Night shots looks brighter than with the human eye?
The only thing i don't like is the post processing of the camera app (oversharpening)

P20 Pro camera is neither bad, nor cheap, but both of those are highly subjective opinions. And you know what they say about opinions....
I am enjoying mine very much.
Sent from my CLT-L29 using Tapatalk

Chippelchen said:
I'm curious because I've read that a lot of people don't like the camera. Why is that? I'm not sure if I should buy that phone.
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Click to collapse
The front/selfie camera is what most people are complaining about, esp. the color saturation. It gives a plasticy color to human skin.
The main camera is superb.

The camera is really bad on this phone.
Pictures are so over processed and lake dynamic range.
In 10mpx it's inusable and in 40mpx il't noisy. Video recording is also bad.
This phone is just horrible. My olds S8+ and Xiaomi Mi9t are much better except for zooming and low light. S9+ destroys completely the p20 pro.
I really regret my purchase.

achour7 said:
The camera is really bad on this phone.
Pictures are so over processed and lake dynamic range.
In 10mpx it's inusable and in 40mpx il't noisy. Video recording is also bad.
This phone is just horrible. My olds S8+ and Xiaomi Mi9t are much better except for zooming and low light. S9+ destroys completely the p20 pro.
I really regret my purchase.
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Click to collapse
I cannot second that. The only thing i can complain about is video recording.
Main shooter is more than capable to take great pics. It's incomparably better than op 7t.

The camera quality on this phone is really good. Anyone who says it's crap is objectively wrong.

The camera quality in the p20 pro still today better than many flagship, more than one year later, I compare the camera with the recents iPhone 11 pro max, pixel 4, mate 30 pro, samsung note 10, and it's nothing to envy of them, the kirin 970 is slower in games, but is smooth and very fast still

what is the best siting of camera ? in 10 m pixel or 40m pixel ?

Depend on the situation, with good daylight 40, 10 if you don't want big pictures files, for zoom, night and difficult light conditions better 10, normally I use 10, because Huawei optimized the software and the cams to work together in this setup, working main, telephoto and monochrome camera sensor together for improvement results
maahmd said:
what is the best siting of camera ? in 10 m pixel or 40m pixel ?
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