Hello guys, I'm really disappointed and I need your explanations please !
I bought my Galaxy Note 9 (960F variant) from an official Samsung store so I'm sure I'm having a genuine one
As you know, there are two cameras in the rear. I thought that the main one is in the middle, and the 2X optical zoom powered is the one at the left.
Well, yesterday I was playing with my phone, and I masked the camera on the left with a paper. So I thought that I can take pictures in normal mode with the camera on the middle, but the 2X option should give me a blank picture only because of the mask. But no ! Both modes (1x and 2x) are using the same middle camera !
It's normal ?! So what is the purpose of the left sided camera ? Is the 2X really an optical zoom or just a software one ?!
Please do the test and answer me !
Maybe this explains is it
https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/samsung-galaxy-note-9-camera
My side camera works only on live focus. Everything else I tested works on the center only. I have a snapdragon, the same setup as my wife's Note 8 too. It's the way they are designed.
kaalalto said:
Hello guys, I'm really disappointed and I need your explanations please !
I bought my Galaxy Note 9 (960F variant) from an official Samsung store so I'm sure I'm having a genuine one
As you know, there are two cameras in the rear. I thought that the main one is in the middle, and the 2X optical zoom powered is the one at the left.
Well, yesterday I was playing with my phone, and I masked the camera on the left with a paper. So I thought that I can take pictures in normal mode with the camera on the middle, but the 2X option should give me a blank picture only because of the mask. But no ! Both modes (1x and 2x) are using the same middle camera !
It's normal ?! So what is the purpose of the left sided camera ? Is the 2X really an optical zoom or just a software one ?!
Please do the test and answer me !
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It's the same thing with the Note8. It all depends on the lighting and if anything blocking the other camera. It works by design. So when you hit 2x it seems it's blocked and gives you 2x digital zoom instead.
So it's truly an optical zoom ? I ask because if it's "just" a software one, I won't never use it to preserve picture quality !
kaalalto said:
So it's truly an optical zoom ? I ask because if it's "just" a software one, I won't never use it to preserve picture quality !
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yep, AFAIK, it is true optical zoom. The camera just changes back to main camera if something is blocking the secondary one.
Um I try to not cover it ,but it still using the main one
JalenHo said:
Um I try to not cover it ,but it still using the main one
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Same here !
I hope I didn't started a "cameragate" scandal !
There are no official specifications from Samsung explaining the purpose of each camera ?!
It depends on the lighting
Try and go outside, on a sunny and bright day, point at the clouds or something, and zoom
Then cover the center camera, it should be using the 2x lens (can confirm with my SM-N960F)
kaalalto said:
Same here !
I hope I didn't started a "cameragate" scandal !
There are no official specifications from Samsung explaining the purpose of each camera ?!
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You didn't, it's working properly. You are just confused. Cover the middle one and see. Take multiple pics @ 1x and then at @ 2x on both cameras with and without covering. Covering the camera just out it into a different mode so as to not take bad pics by default. The difference is clear of you understand the 2 technologies and have any eye for photography. It's working completely correctly and very nicely.
Yeah like the others stated, it's not supposed to work completely independently and take pictures even with no light to the sensor, it's supposed to be smarter than that, if it's working correctly.
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
Hey all, I worked this out.
In a low light situation the wide camera is used for the 2X zoom (So technically Digital zoom)
In a situation with more light, it switches to the dedicated 2X camera.
You can test this by putting your finger over the camera and showing it a bight light, then dark. I'm guessing this is because the main (Wide) camera is better at low light.
willhemmens said:
Hey all, I worked this out.
In a low light situation the wide camera is used for the 2X zoom (So technically optical zoom)
In a situation with more light, it switches to the dedicated 2X camera.
You can test this by putting your finger over the camera and showing it a bight light, then dark. I'm guessing this is because the main (Wide) camera is better at low light.
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Yes, although you mean digital zoom for low light situations.
My issue is that sometimes the camera still decides to use digital zoom in good lighting instead of the second camera because it decides that a slightly overcast day or sunset is "low light" or the subject is too close. I'm guessing the second camera can't focus as closely and its optics aren't quite as good as the main camera. In more inconsistent conditions I can sometimes see the viewfinder image jump between the two lenses and usually settle for the digital zoom. Doesn't seem to be used at all in Pro Mode. (I also wish Pro Mode had burst capture)
If you look at the EXIF data you can see which lens is used for your photo. The wide lens is 4.3mm and the telephoto lens is 6mm. The mushroom images were taken 20 seconds apart with "2X" in Auto mode; in the second shot the camera decided to use the wide lens with crop, and the EXIF shows 4.3mm compared to the first image. The crop version just looks like an upscale and has more aggressive nose reduction and edge enhancement; it's not too bad compared to some phone cameras which add too much sharpening or use a simpler interpolation filter. The third image of the grasshopper/locust was in very bright daylight, but the camera decided to use the main camera with 2X crop.
https://imgur.com/a/MYpRogb
With video it tends to be even more obvious which camera is used because if you take 4K in low light with 2X enabled it looks more noise-reduced and interpolated.
I get that Samsung tried to make its camera app "smart" but the 2x button implies that it's using the 2x lens and doing otherwise is deceiving.
If I knew that a zoomed photo would use digital zoom then I'd rather take the full shot and crop later so that I can have more flexibility in framing.
While this is unlikely to ever happen, here's how I feel this should be fixed:
1) Add an option to force switch cameras in all conditions (perhaps in pro mode only?)
2) Hide the 2x button unless the telephoto camera will actually be used. Still allow pinch to digital zoom.
I've looked around but couldn't find any 3rd party camera apps which are able to use the zoom lens. Does anyone know of one?
I've tried a few shot it seems if the lighting isn't good enough it will stick with the primary camera., in good lighting it does work though.
Just do two shots with each and compare the level of detail, it should be obvious.
Related
The 2x button is not actually switching cameras, it is just preforming a digital zoom on the wide camera.
I placed a piece of electrical tape over the long range lens, in 1x I can see clearly, in 2x I can see clearly (but digitally zoomed in)
Only in Live Focus is the camera blocked by the electrical tape.
So my question is, is Live Focus the only way to use the second camera?
Seems like a waste of a second camera. This is not how it was handled on other dual camera phones, what gives Samsung?
https://www.slashgear.com/note-8-camera-5-things-you-need-to-know-23496299/
And as per Slashgear: Instead, just as we’ve seen on the iPhone 7 Plus, Samsung mixes together the data from the wide-angle and telephoto lenses on the Note 8 to give the effect of a zoom. The result is the equivalent of 2x optical zoom, completely lossless, as well as a 10x digital zoom.
Going from 1x to 2x is an optical zoom on the wide angel camera, not digital. Beyond 2x is digital zoom.
Nowhere did Samsung claim that going from 1x to 2x was done by switching cameras.
WorldIRC said:
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/getting-to-know-the-samsung-galaxy-note-8-dual-camera-features/
They insist the 2x button triggers the other camera.
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The Cnet reviewer is mistaken on the 1x to 2x camera switching.
As stated above, the test is pretty simple to figure out which lens is being used.
Ok, so I really want to love this phone but I can't figure out why the front camera wide angle photos look sharp (almost too sharp) and the normal 8 Mp photos from the front camera have no detail whatsoever. Look at the attached picture and compare the clarity of the nose, eyes, and eyebrows. The difference is huge. When taking portraits, you don't have an option to take wide angle photos, so portraits from the 8Mp camera don't look good. Normal camera should be the same as the one in G7, but it's not nearly as good.
No effects / skin smoothing etc is applied, so I'm thinking mine is defective. Can you guys take some side by side normal and wide angle photos with the front camera to compare?
Thanks.
Allen K
Your “standard” camera looks unfocused, which is why it is blurrier.
That said, after some testing I do think the “wide” selfie camera looks better in general. The main thing that bothers me is the two cameras have differing color profiles. I prefer the default color profile of the wide, so that looks better to be.
The same problem applies to the rear camera as well.
Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk
It doesn't seem to focus. When I tap on the screen, all it does is change the exposure / brightness, but there is no change in focusing. It seems that both front cameras have a fixed focus because neither adjust to tapping, but wide angle has a good bit more detail.
I stopped by the store and took two pictures side by side - store unit was noticeably better, though as good as I would've liked. I'm getting another G7 for my wife and will have to compare them.
Allen K
shoes22 said:
Your “standard” camera looks unfocused, which is why it is blurrier.
That said, after some testing I do think the “wide” selfie camera looks better in general. The main thing that bothers me is the two cameras have differing color profiles. I prefer the default color profile of the wide, so that looks better to be.
The same problem applies to the rear camera as well.
Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk
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From what I can tell, and based on some reviews I've watched, front cameras have fixed focus... maybe, due to this, the main lens has a larger minimum distance that needs to be maintained for a clearer shot. It still seems a bit off.. but I've been able to get somewhat better shots out of it holding the camera a bit farther away. I'm getting a G7 for my wife, so I'll be able to do some comparisons.
shoes22 said:
Your “standard” camera looks unfocused, which is why it is blurrier.
That said, after some testing I do think the “wide” selfie camera looks better in general. The main thing that bothers me is the two cameras have differing color profiles. I prefer the default color profile of the wide, so that looks better to be.
The same problem applies to the rear camera as well.
Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk
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Allen K said:
From what I can tell, and based on some reviews I've watched, front cameras have fixed focus... maybe, due to this, the main lens has a larger minimum distance that needs to be maintained for a clearer shot. It still seems a bit off.. but I've been able to get somewhat better shots out of it holding the camera a bit farther away. I'm getting a G7 for my wife, so I'll be able to do some comparisons.
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Can you help me to check the camera sensor using 'device hw info' from playstore?
I can.. what would you like to know?
harysviewty said:
Can you help me to check the camera sensor using 'device hw info' from playstore?
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Allen K said:
I can.. what would you like to know?
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https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v40/how-to/lg-v40-pentacamera-sensors-t3870789
I just wanna make sure that what I wrote here is correct. Some say that the front camera is sl846, not Sony imx219 sensor
I can post a screenshot, but everything is exactly the same as in the image you posted in the thread you linked. It doesn't say exactly which camera model it is.. only the specs..
I can say this - I just compared the front camera with a G7, and the G7 is a little brighter and clearer, at least in semi-low light situation. It's possible that the main camera on my V40 is defective, but not bad enough to worry about it right now.
harysviewty said:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v40/how-to/lg-v40-pentacamera-sensors-t3870789
I just wanna make sure that what I wrote here is correct. Some say that the front camera is sl846, not Sony imx219 sensor
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Allen K said:
I can post a screenshot, but everything is exactly the same as in the image you posted in the thread you linked. It doesn't say exactly which camera model it is.. only the specs..
I can say this - I just compared the front camera with a G7, and the G7 is a little brighter and clearer, at least in semi-low light situation. It's possible that the main camera on my V40 is defective, but not bad enough to worry about it right now.
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Do you still have G7? Is it using 3 imx351 & 1 sl846?
Yes, I got the G7 yesterday. How can I tell the model number of the camera? I don't think the Device Info HW app tells me that. It only shows specs.
harysviewty said:
Do you still have G7? Is it using 3 imx351 & 1 sl846?
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Found it. Attached photo is for the V40. G7 lists imx351 and sl846.
Interesting to note that the 16mp rear wide angle cameras have a different focal length between V40 and G7 - 2.18mm vs. 2.38mm. Both are f/1.9.
harysviewty said:
Do you still have G7? Is it using 3 imx351 & 1 sl846?
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Allen K said:
Found it. Attached photo is for the V40. G7 lists imx351 and sl846.
Interesting to note that the 16mp rear wide angle cameras have a different focal length between V40 and G7 - 2.18mm vs. 2.38mm. Both are f/1.9.
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Thank you so much for your help. ?
Do you find any difference in picture quality from both of these phones (the identical sensors)?
Wait... Different focal length?, I hope this isn't like LG G6 variants
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g6/how-to/lg-g6-wide-angle-camera-2-versions-one-t3712985/page1
Not sure about the focal length differences...but they're definitely not the same.
When taking a close-up selfie, the main camera on the G7 is much clearer than the V40's. But V40's wide angle is sharper than the main camera, and despite lower resolution, is much closer in clarity to the G7 only front camera. At a distance, the difference is a bit harder to notice.
That said, I did compare my phone to another V40 in the store, and the store demo was clearer, so I think mine might just be defective. I'm just not sure if it's worth trying to replace, since I would likely have to pay restocking and I don't want a refurbished unit from LG.
Allen K
harysviewty said:
Thank you so much for your help.
Do you find any difference in picture quality from both of these phones (the identical sensors)?
Wait... Different focal length?, I hope this isn't like LG G6 variants
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g6/how-to/lg-g6-wide-angle-camera-2-versions-one-t3712985/page1
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So the phone has 2 front facing cameras. The 24 megapixel camera is working fine. But is the 2 megapixel one working for you? I tried covering the camera and there is no difference in portrait blur. It looks like it's just some software blur instead of a real one.
The secound one i used for the bokeh effect.
I know. I have enabled bokeh and covered the second camera but the background is still blurred. Also it does a really bad job identifying what's in the background and what's in the front.
Try with covered lens on Aperture mode. You will see the difference.
Sent from my SNE-LX1 using Tapatalk
There is no aperture mode for the front facing camera.
ShareACoke said:
There is no aperture mode for the front facing camera.
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My bad. Didn't read "front camera"... Yep on front one no difference if you cover the second sensor.
Sent from my SNE-LX1 using Tapatalk
Thanks for your answer. Do you know any way to check whether it is real or not?
That's very interesting.. i tried every mode, that i could, but as i can see, i don't really know, how to test it out :/
I just got a Mate 20 Lite. Funny if it is a fake camera.
Both secondary "cameras" are "depth sensors".
Anybody with Pie who got the depth sensor working?
Second cameras are working but they are working in conjunction with software. Software utilizes the additional information that is collected from the depth cameras but it does not solely rely on that information. And if you cover it you may not be able to see any difference because thanks to machine learning the software is really good at identifying subjects from the background. There is never a real bokeh on these smartphones because of the tiny lenses and sensors that are being used in them. So you are always in need of some software trickery to achieve good blurr. Another option is to get really close to your subjects but in many cases that is not useful.
Both the secondary cameras, front or rear, are real. But they are only used to the boken effect most of the time.
They are used to capture the depth of a cenary, imrpoving the effect in the final version.
You probably wont notice a difference if cover the secondary sensor, but in some cases can have impact.
Most of the work isn't done by that sensor, but by the câmera software, thats why you don't see any real difference in the images.
That secondary câmera can also be used to improve the quality of some photos, for instance, in the night.
So, is a real câmera? Yes, it is.
But like in any other dual câmera smartphone, is used for some situations, not all the time.
I guess everybody noticed already that you cannot use the telephoto lens whenever you please, since it's only used on good lighting situations, and cannot be used in pro mode. The reason why must be because this camera is terrible at low light, likely because of the 0.9 nm pixel pits on the sensor. I will attach a photo taken with the telephoto lens, and a cropped one of the same scene taken with the main camera, so you can see my point.
Cambapo said:
I guess everybody noticed already that you cannot use the telephoto lens whenever you please, since it's only used on good lighting situations, and cannot be used in pro mode. The reason why must be because this camera is terrible at low light, likely because of the 0.9 nm pixel pits on the sensor. I will attach a photo taken with the telephoto lens, and a cropped one of the same scene taken with the main camera, so you can see my point.
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dont understand.
plus the pictures aren't even taken at the same time so not sure what you are trying to show.
They were taken under the same lightning conditions. I was trying to show how the telephoto camera compares to the main one at night, since it's something that the phone won't let you do easily.
Cambapo said:
They were taken under the same lightning conditions. I was trying to show how the telephoto camera compares to the main one at night, since it's something that the phone won't let you do easily.
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oh ok.
i wonder why the number of lights in the building is not the same. and the star in the sky should have still been visible id think.
They were taken 15 minutes apart.
I have had trouble taking photos from close angles. Anthony closer than 6 inches is blurry and gives me a "move back to improve focus" message. I tried open camera as an alternative, but have the same blurry quality photo. I'm not looking for macro photos, but I do like taking closeup shots. Just wondered if anyone had noticed the same issue, and if you've found a work around for it.
I tried the same distance with my Galaxy S10+ as well as a Note 8, and they both handled the shots well. The second picture was taken by the Pixel, the 1st and 3rd taken by the S10+.
condor97 said:
I have had trouble taking photos from close angles. Anthony closer than 6 inches is blurry and gives me a "move back to improve focus" message. I tried open camera as an alternative, but have the same blurry quality photo. I'm not looking for macro photos, but I do like taking closeup shots. Just wondered if anyone had noticed the same issue, and if you've found a work around for it.
I tried the same distance with my Galaxy S10+ as well as a Note 8, and they both handled the shots well.
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There's no workaround. It's a common thing with new smartphone cameras. Step further, take a photo and then crop into your desired space.
SharifOthman said:
There's no workaround. It's a common thing with new smartphone cameras. Step further, take a photo and then crop into your desired space.
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Thanks man. I guess I am going to have to wait and get a macro option in my next upgrade. Progress
condor97 said:
Thanks man. I guess I am going to have to wait and get a macro option in my next upgrade. Progress
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If you really care about macro photography then you should get a phone with an autofocus macro lens, none of these useless 2 megapixel cameras that are being thrown in every phone these days. I'd rather use the main sensor than to use these awful sensors.
SharifOthman said:
If you really care about macro photography then you should get a phone with an autofocus macro lens, none of these useless 2 megapixel cameras that are being thrown in every phone these days. I'd rather use the main sensor than to use these awful sensors.
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Well you are right. I would pay for the exra feature if it didn't involve exra large phones with curved screens. But that is another topic....
I guess I don't look at closeup photos and macro photography as the same thing. The S10+ I took the above photo with has a 16mp and two 12mp cameras. They seem to perform fairly well in this range, but I know that I am not going to pick up the detail on the eyes of a bee with them (which is what I consider macro to be).
condor97 said:
Well you are right. I would pay for the exra feature if it didn't involve exra large phones with curved screens. But that is another topic....
I guess I don't look at closeup photos and macro photography as the same thing. The S10+ I took the above photo with has a 16mp and two 12mp cameras. They seem to perform fairly well in this range, but I know that I am not going to pick up the detail on the eyes of a bee with them (which is what I consider macro to be).
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I fully understand what you mean. As for big phones, that's the exact reason why I chose the smaller Pixel 7, even if I'm missing the telephoto and the macro.
condor97 said:
Well you are right. I would pay for the exra feature if it didn't involve exra large phones with curved screens. But that is another topic....
I guess I don't look at closeup photos and macro photography as the same thing. The S10+ I took the above photo with has a 16mp and two 12mp cameras. They seem to perform fairly well in this range, but I know that I am not going to pick up the detail on the eyes of a bee with them (which is what I consider macro to be).
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I noticed also that the minimun focus distance is quite far away. Althought, I've been happy with the results of the 2x crop (before taking the picture). Just get the minimun focus distance, then hit the 2x and take the picture. That big sensor and Super Res Zoom does the rest. Results are quite ok IMO.
Finneri said:
I noticed also that the minimun focus distance is quite far away. Althought, I've been happy with the results of the 2x crop (before taking the picture). Just get the minimun focus distance, then hit the 2x and take the picture. That big sensor and Super Res Zoom does the rest. Results are quite ok IMO.
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That's a good tip! Thanks!