Database Develop

3x Optical zoom?

How does the zoom actually work?
From the specs both colour lenses are fixed, so below 3 times, is this simply digital zoom on the wide lens?
At 3x it also does not seem to always switch to the telephoto lens. Why?
I bought the phone for the camera abilities but currently question whether they work as advertised.
One review mentioned Open Camera as a better alternative, so I tried that, but from testing, that seems to never use the telephoto lens in any conditions?
I notice as well that apps like Lightroom do not pick up an option for the second lens either.

Ajf350d said:
How does the zoom actually work?
From the specs both colour lenses are fixed, so below 3 times, is this simply digital zoom on the wide lens?
At 3x it also does not seem to always switch to the telephoto lens. Why?
I bought the phone for the camera abilities but currently question whether they work as advertised.
One review mentioned Open Camera as a better alternative, so I tried that, but from testing, that seems to never use the telephoto lens in any conditions?
I notice as well that apps like Lightroom do not pick up an option for the second lens either.
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Click to collapse
Hi, I dont claim to be an expert, but I think I can answer your questions
Yes, any zoom level below 3x is effectively digital based. It's not a straight crop so you will get better results from using that zoom than cropping in to a wide shot later.
For 3x zoom will use the tele camera provided the subject is far enough away for it to focus, and there is enough light. i.e trying to take macro-type shots with the zoom lens is a no go, and in low light the software will use the big primary sensor as the tiny sensor used for the tele would just give a noisy mess of an image.
N.B: The image preview shown in the app when zooming doesn't always update to reflect the feed coming from the tele lens. (you can normally see it transition) when you actually take the image, it will use the correct lens for the conditions, even if the preview suggested otherwise.
Seems that third party apps can't access the other sensors, at least for now.
Finally, the same as above it true when recording video. Contrary to what some sites have reported the phone WILL switch to the tele camera for zoom levels of 3x+, and can do so whilst recording. The same applies as photos, 1-2.9x will be digital zoom (and for video is does appear to be a straight crop, no clever digi-zoom). In this range the quality is pretty poor, so try videoing a 1x or 3x only. (note the tele cam has ois which is great for shake-free video)

Thanks for thr clarification.
Think I understand better now what is happening!
I had also emailed Huawei support and their response was basically the same.
Think it would be good to have this clearer in reviews and spec sheets though.
I am generally happy with the camera but bought it to use the 3x a lot for close ups, which seems to be one scenario where it may not be using the actual tele lens in full.

Thank you!
I've been having same issue all day with my new P20 pro and been thinking that the phone or app is broken. So pleased the 3x works like that. I'll now try test it. ?
Thanks for giving this response. B&W sensor on it is insanely good so I was bummed by the broken 3x

Huawei P20 Pro indoor photos are poor quality - please help?

Hi All,
I recently purchased my Huawei P20 Pro phone expecting the photos to be amazing. The main reason I bought the phone was because of reviews stating how great the camera was indoors, and I have 2 children that I want to photo inside.
Sadly I am noticing the following issues:
- Skin tone of people shot using both the front and back camera are automatically smoothed and beautified, sometimes to the extent that they can look like wax works/ heavily made-up. It looks unnatural. I heard this could be issue on the front camera but was not expecting it on the back camera. This issue remains even when I turn down the beautification setting to zero.
- Indoor photo quality on the front camera for photos and videos is not great. Photos are grainy and full of artefacts in addition to the issue mentioned above about beautification. In fact I have shot comparatives with my iPhone 7 and there is little difference in quality.
- The camera can have a several second delay between pressing the "take" button and then snapping the photo. There is a particularly long lag when pressing using 40 MP and RAW settings.
The outdoor photos are largely taking fine though I am still seeing beautification of faces.
I hope this is something I can fix with the settings or a camera software update. So far it seems to me that my issue relates to one of the following:
- The settings I am using are not optimal. Perhaps I need to turn off AI. Could this be the case?
- The software on the camera is outdated. How can I check and update this?
- The phone I have is faulty.
- I have drastically overestimated how good the quality of this phone is. I hope this is not the case!
Please help me fix the issue as I don't want to return the phone...

I don't claim to have used the camera a lot. However, I did find this video which covers all the camera functions in detail. I keep it in its own playlist so I can easily refer to it.
Sent from my HUAWEI CLT-L09 using XDA Labs

I had the same problems with the Mate 10 Pro, no matter if shooting in Auto, Pro or Portrait. Horrible quality indoor, terrible skin tone. Pictures looked like oil paint

have you tried using the flash? photography is about light without light it will push up the iso and i wont use my rx100 past 1600-3200 so i would think these smartphones top out at what 400-800 maximum before they get grainy and noise reduction smears details etc

Oh I have seen so much worse when it comes to smoothening out details than P20 Pro. Galaxy S9 for example. P20 Pro gives me good details even in low light, best I've ever used.

im used to take photos indoors (mostly of my little nephews), i dont have problems with exposure or soft skin on the rear camera(i disabled the AI mode ) , on the other hand in the front facing camera you need to disable the beauty mode, disable it and set it to 0, Its normal to have a little delay in 40 MP RAW since well its a big 40MP picture. what firmware is on your device?

new update pie , now take video 4k in zoom mode cant smooth

in new update pie 9.0
now take video 4k in zoom mode cant smooth , why?
is just me or ?
*sorry for my bad english

ronaldods said:
in new update pie 9.0
now take video 4k in zoom mode cant smooth , why?
is just me or ?
*sorry for my bad english
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Click to collapse
Same here, after upgrading the phone tele lens does not work 4k video zoom 5x-10x, quality poor.
8.1 Oreo worked better (not complaining about it)

TKA77 said:
Same here, after upgrading the phone tele lens does not work 4k video zoom 5x-10x, quality poor.
8.1 Oreo worked better (not complaining about it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any resolution for this problem?
Or waiting huawei fix this ?

I downgrade my phone back to version 8.1.0.161 and the tele lens (zoom) works again when video is taken 4k uhd quality.
I don't know is it feature or some bug for version 9.
Now I am waiting for the OTA upgrade to 9 so i can see how the camera works.
Previous 9 update came through FF.

Hi all, I've upgraded to pie yesterday by OTA and sadly the 4k mode does not allow optical zoom anymore. It has even more bugs than the Android 8. I honestly don't even know what Huawei's programmers even do apart from crippling these phones with every update.

Now upgraded to 9 version (ota update) and 4k video zoom does not work with the telephoto lens.
Hopefully Huawei people will fix in future updates that the telephoto lens will work with 4k video as in version 8.1.

TKA77 said:
Same here, after upgrading the phone tele lens does not work 4k video zoom 5x-10x, quality poor.
8.1 Oreo worked better (not complaining about it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I have downloaded and installed android 9 build 195 and there the zoom works on 4k

Robert_1968_ said:
Hi,
I have downloaded and installed android 9 build 195 and there the zoom works on 4k
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Click to collapse
Nice! ??
Hopefully this update will quickly come to my phone.

Robert_1968_ said:
Hi,
I have downloaded and installed android 9 build 195 and there the zoom works on 4k
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where you download it?

Yes, where you downloaded, and it's not clear if for you in 4k works the zoom with tele lenses... Or only works zoom.....

Yep, have p20 pro, went out to do some 4k video and found the 3x zoom no longer works also, had to downsize the video to full hd. The phone's not even a year old it seems and they're already neglecting it. I'm disappointed.

Createataco said:
Yep, have p20 pro, went out to do some 4k video and found the 3x zoom no longer works also, had to downsize the video to full hd. The phone's not even a year old it seems and they're already neglecting it. I'm disappointed.
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Click to collapse
Let's hope that future updates will fix the "bug"......

problem with the camera is, no more tele cam for 4k, and no more video stabilization (both optical and electrical) for any resolutions. That sucks.

spiderx_mm said:
problem with the camera is, no more tele cam for 4k, and no more video stabilization (both optical and electrical) for any resolutions. That sucks.
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Click to collapse
Sorry, but I'm on 9.0.0.163 and no issues like you. I can zoom in every resolution, we have got a 1x 3x 5x switch in every mode video, camera and front camera, and of course they work. The stabilization is always on and you cannot turn off in every mode also 4k but I can't say if ois or eis... Or both
Just some shaking added in some situations when you keep the camera steady in video mode.

saisallo said:
Sorry, but I'm on 9.0.0.163 and no issues like you. I can zoom in every resolution, we have got a 1x 3x 5x switch in every mode video, camera and front camera, and of course they work. The stabilization is always on and you cannot turn off in every mode also 4k but I can't say if ois or eis... Or both
Just some shaking added in some situations when you keep the camera steady in video mode.
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Are you sure?
Bcs if you just test zoom in 4k is working, but if you start record/press button record in zoom 3x or 5x nah thats problem, the quality video didnt smooth/tele cam didnt work if you start recording

about my post I'm sure 100%
I've tried also,right now, recording in 4k : it works if i press 3x or 5x I get an instant zoom.
About tele : i've done many tests the results are that :
using 3x 5x switch to tele sensor if you point to distant subject like you are outdoor
if you are indoor it'll stay on main sensor at any zoom level.
sometimes indoor gives you a switch to tele but this happens few times only.
Now after these tests I'm very happy more than before !! PIE = great camera evolution ( and also for selfies).
what they really miss is a BW video mode with BW sensor and a real slow motion..

Here's a screenshot video of my phone screen where the telephoto lens problem appears when recording 4k video.
https://youtu.be/tRmcEWkhzNI

You use 10x zoom, its digital zoom. Of course it is bad quality. Tele lens is 3x zoom.

olafsand said:
You use 10x zoom, its digital zoom. Of course it is bad quality. Tele lens is 3x zoom.
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Fault is in the pie update, version 8.1 worked perfectly. Do the same with 3x and 5x zoom, the telephoto lens does not work when recording in 4k quality. Lower quality (1080p) works with telephoto lens when recording video.

TKA77 said:
Fault is in the pie update, version 8.1 worked perfectly. Do the same with 3x and 5x zoom, the telephoto lens does not work when recording in 4k quality. Lower quality (1080p) works with telephoto lens when recording video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry for you, but after update, mine works OK as I told you.
Also I find fantastic that it recognizes indoor scene (no tele sensor) from outdoor or very far objects (switch to Tele sensor)
Just I can say that sometimes we may want Tele sensor indoor and we cannot change it manually...
I'm on 9.0.0.163......

camera problems greyscale while zoom

Guys, anyone having this problem too? If you zoom from above 1x to 5x (before the switch happens) all pictures from my camera become almost monochrome, I screen recorded what happens.
Check this link, I uploaded a video of what happens to my viewfinder whenever I click the shutter button in zoom option.
Check for example the difference between 1x and then above it
https://streamable.com/5f5nx

Hey did you find a fix for this? I just picked up a P30 pro and i discovered the exact same behavior with my camera. im seriously considering returning this device because of it!!!

Errrrm, it's a grey cat sat next to a grey cupboard?

Yes, the issue is there on my phone too.... hope they'll fix it somehow

Telephoto lens is a lot lower spec than the main 1x lens, only 8MP
Sometimes for fairly close subjects like that cat and stuff, you're better off using main camera @ 1x and cropping

Help
Hi did you manage to get this fixed? I have the same issue when I zoom the viewfinder is full colour but the picture de saturates when you press shutter
I have been to. Huawei who replaced the camera and I'm still having the issue
Please help if you have the answer
Many thanks

This seems to be a lower specced lens or sensor more than software, it makes the telephoto lens useless.

I have the same problem. To debunk some of the replies, it's not because the cat is grey. It's not because the telephoto lens is of lower quality because it's not used between 1.1-2.9X zoom where muted colors happen and what does "only 8MP" have to do with the colors.
There's definitely a software bug. Like others said, it looks good in the viewfinder but comes out almost greyscale when saving. A bug, just like the main camera being out of focus when zooming back out in video recording. Such simple bugs but still not fixed.

Noticed this too :/

I have this problem too. I had it on emui 9 and now on emui 10. I writed to the support but they think it's hardware defect..

1 year with this phone and the problem isn't resolved yet. And not only that problem, white balance is too blue, the sharpness is really hard, absurd amount of contrast. I'm very disappointed with this phone, because was publicize as "the best photography phone" and It's a lie. This phone do "good photos" if you hate photography.

Question Inconsistent Exposure When Recording Video

I'm having an issue where the video would the exposure would flicker even when recording a stationary object. It's not that bad, but it's noticeable enough that you can tell it's from a not-so-good camera. I've tried using GCam and issue still persists, so I'm not sure if the sensor is just bad or it's an issue with my phone. Recording with my 13 or 16 MP Samsung camera from 5-6 years ago still looks better than this and doesn't look as blurred.