Related
EDIT: There are probably dozens of reviews/comparisons, but here are two just from today that are also harsh: Krystal Key and PocketNow. And UrAverageConsumer's wife's comments here and here "it does look a little washed out...it is a little soft...I'm not a fan of it...it's good enough..."
The consensus seems to be that the front camera is "soft" (aka it looks permanently out of focus or blurry), the rear cam consistently blows out highlights with or without HDR, and video is wobbly and distorted despite ois AND eis. To be clear (pun intended) this is not a problem with the sensors, but with Samsung's processing. If Google's Camera app didn't disable HDR+ on non-Nexus devices then the S8 it would very likely take the best pictures of any smartphone ever.
Here are my samples shot with my S8 with the better Sony sensors, and a Nexus 6P from 18 months ago. For maximum quality from the S8, HDR is enabled and beauty disabled. 6P is in auto mode. Be sure to right click on the side-by-side compilation images and open in a new tab to see them at full size, where the detail quality—rather than just the light/color quality—is most apparent.
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FULL GALLERY
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Rear Cam Side-by-Side 1/2 - VIEW AT 100%
Full Res: N6P — GS8
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Rear Cam Side-by-Side 2/2 - VIEW AT 100%
Full Res: N6P — GS8
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Front Cam Set 1/5: N6P — GS8
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Front Cam Set 2/5: N6P — GS8
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Front Cam Set 3/5: N6P — GS8
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Front Cam Set 4/5: N6P — GS8
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Front Cam Set 5/5: N6P — GS8
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BONUS - 2MP tablet front cam with no HDR from 2015
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SUPER BONUS - Mystery camera! Can you guess?
My first impression of the camera coming from a S6, is that it sucks, yes it's better in low light, but if there is decent to good light it is much worse, all my pictures look muddy where the S6 taken at its side looks sharp. really ruins the phone for me!
.psd said:
All in the interest of honesty (it's OK to be honest!)
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Good lord. GSMArena, AnandTech, and Notebookcheck do exhaustive subjective reviews. GSMArena's and Notebookcheck's camera evaluations are linked below. Spoiler alert: they don't agree with your objective testing of your sister's phone.
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s8-review-1603p9.php
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Samsung-Galaxy-S8-Plus-SM-G955F-Smartphone-Review.213438.0.html
Samsung frontcams are always behind the competition. Not sure why. Agreed with OP's honest review.
BarryH_GEG said:
Good lord. GSMArena, AnandTech, and Notebookcheck do exhaustive subjective reviews. GSMArena's and Notebookcheck's camera evaluations are linked below. Spoiler alert: they don't agree with your objective testing of your sister's phone.
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s8-review-1603p9.php
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Samsung-Galaxy-S8-Plus-SM-G955F-Smartphone-Review.213438.0.html
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I also included nearly 30 minutes of reviews of the camera by PocketNow and Krystal Key, but there are likely dozens of reviews by now showing the same thing.
The front cam looks like it's always out of focus—what reviewers universally are calling "soft". The rear cam consistently blows out the highlights even with HDR on. Video is wobbly and distorted despite having OIS AND EIS. In all cases, this is due to Samsung's processing because devices with inferior sensors from Google or Apple don't have these problems.
Something here in which i agree is that over-exposing. The Galaxy S8 loves doing this in certain situations where it shouldn't be doing but most of all is the auto-focus feature for me. Auto-Focus can be a mess when it wants too, simple macros where it should focus with ease it can't do that. I took my S6 and i found that in certain situations it was able to get a faster better macro with one tap compared to the S8. I felt that this one is a bit sloppy, and requires a lot of fiddling to get a good focus point. But don't get me wrong, whenever the phone is able to focus and does a good job in auto mode the photos look amazing. Overall my only complaint is the auto-focus on close-up shots and some over exposing. I really think these can be tweaked with a software update but honestly this phone should have had a completely new rear camera in the first place without being forced to wait for the new Note. I still believe this phone was a bit rushed, it looks stunning and awesome performance but man those software tweaks and scrolling bugs, and stutters and red screens could have been avoided. Oh yes.. let's not forget that Image Stabilization , wobbly videos and front face focus as mentioned above, i think these sometimes do a mess of a job. Real let down from the camera side of things for me.
I didn't do detailed comparison but for rear camera, which is the one i care the most, my S8+ seems similar and even slightly better than my Note 7.
Consumer Reports did more detailed comparison, they think the s8 has the best 12MP camera there is. And according this photo, in low light it's indeed a lot better than the s7.
https://youtu.be/3MmjHMWwtPU
So no, the s8 rear camera is NOT The Worst On A Flagship Phone In Years
My short time with the camera is the opposite. S8 front is marginally better than the 6p. Will do more testing.
No issues, amazing camera. Coming from a Pixel, pixel does look nicer but not by far.
When someone is doing pixel peeping, i am sure you can find flaws about every cameras out there. I look at overall quality and usability such as speed of launch and speed of taking the actual picture. After all phone pictures are all about capturing the moment.
Turn off one of the stabilizations. They dont both need to be on. Also, every samsung has let you adjust the exposure level..
Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk
The pictures are a lot better than the pictures the HTC M8 took.
Darkestred said:
My short time with the camera is the opposite. S8 front is marginally better than the 6p. Will do more testing.
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Any examples? I posted several, and I've not come across a single instance where the S8 is superior.
I just bought this phone for $800 and have the Nexus 6P sitting right next to me. Money isn't an issue. I don't make income from hyping the S8 or from my brand. I have no interest in suggesting the S8 camera is any better or worse than it is. Would be really interested to see you post actual selfies like I did to support your claim that, despite reviews and my 10 pictures posted, the S8 takes superior front cam pictures.
willymcd said:
My first impression of the camera coming from a S6, is that it sucks, yes it's better in low light, but if there is decent to good light it is much worse, all my pictures look muddy where the S6 taken at its side looks sharp. really ruins the phone for me!
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Whoa, no way the s6 takes better pictures. I just did my own comparison and ask the s6 photos are so dark and fuzzy
.psd said:
Any examples? I posted several, and I've not come across a single instance where the S8 is superior.
I just bought this phone for $800 and have the Nexus 6P sitting right next to me. Money isn't an issue. I don't make income from hyping the S8 or from my brand. I have no interest in suggesting the S8 camera is any better or worse than it is. Would be really interested to see you post actual selfies like I did to support your claim that, despite reviews and my 10 pictures posted, the S8 takes superior front cam pictures.
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I never said anything about that. I just said in my use i feel its better. Here are 2 sample pics i did. I dont have any fancy setup so its all manual and i realize my pictures are not lined up but i got lazy. I feel the color in the s8 is way nicer and while it does get soft or blend in details like my scruff - i still think overall it does a nicer shot. Its not always a perfect shot. out of the 6 i took one came out blurry.
If my pictures aren't perfect enough - i really do not care. Take it for what its worth.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3F4QJb82X1ReV9mVUMzRzJTdmc
I too made a thread because I noticed how soft this front camera is. I'm super disappointed.
@.psd
I appreciate the work you did, but can you provide the original pics with EXIF data included?
thx
Here is a great review on the S8 camera. https://youtu.be/NAEVPxQ4MCw
Sent from my SM-T800 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Looking at the pics it does look like the S8 shots are worse(maybe not) / different from other phones. In all of these reviews the one thing no one has mentioned is that smartphone cameras are largely software dependent. While the S8 is on software that has come right out of the box, 6p as used here has had a whole year's worth of updates some of which definitely did bring updates to the camera software. I still love the S8 and believe that future software updates can and will iron out the issues with the camera. (Just hoping Samsung doesn't drop the ball on the updates front).
Eddie Hicks said:
Here is a great review on the S8 camera. https://youtu.be/NAEVPxQ4MCw
Sent from my SM-T800 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
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That's the one I linked in the OP...??
kornelius1982 said:
@.psd
I appreciate the work you did, but can you provide the original pics with EXIF data included?
thx
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No because image hosts strip the metadata for user protection (e.g. location data) and it would take too long to do it for each picture the following way (e.g. undelete them from google photos and screencap some of the metadata minus the location, then save each file, then upload it, then link it here):
Here's the data for 2 of them to prove they were shot on the S8:
#1 — #2
Greetings my dear Mi A1 brethren! Today I am the bearer of bad news for you guys. From unreleased source codes to headphone hissing. This problem is the final nail in Xiaomi's coffin for me. I will never ever buy another Xiaomi device again.
I have reason to believe that the "dual" camera setup on the Xiaomi is FAKE! Let me show you. Follow these steps:
1) Open up the camera app.
2) Cover ONE of the two camera lenses at the back with your finger.
2) Zoom in to 2x mode (or greater).
Did you notice something? THE CAMERA LENSES DO NOT SWITCH! The main point of the Mi A1's dual camera setup is that one lens is wide angle and the other is telephoto (as mentioned on their website). When you zoom in, the app should automatically switch cameras.
Another test is that the dual camera setup should provide a background blur (bokeh effect) on objects that are up close to the camera. Cover a lens with one of your fingers and you'll see that either the camera gets blocked by the finger or the blur effect still remains (regardless of the fact that TWO cameras are needed for a proper bokeh effect)!
Both these tests prove that one of the Xiaomi Mi A1 cameras is a dummy. Has Xiaomi lied to us again? Why would Google let them do this?
Or is it that I don't understand how dual cameras work? Someone please enlighten me. I feel I've wasted 250$ of my hard earned cash on a scam
EDIT: Nevermind! I just found out it does work. But only in manual mode or portrait mode. Strange that the app does not switch to telephoto mode automatically. Perhaps in a future update.
Have you tried manual mode
MayanKKaushik said:
Have you tried manual mode
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Yes, I did. I've edited the OP. I feel like a goof for not trying that first
No its real!
Try that in outdoor lighting conditions.
In natural lighting cover the zoom lens, and then hit the 2x zoom.
You will notice that the zoom lens is functional in good lighting conditions, not in bad light conditions.
Same with the portrait mode, thats why it is recommended to use 2x optical zoom and portrait mode in outdoor lighting conditions.
The camera decides if it should use digital zoom or telephoto lens depending on light conditions. Telephoto zoom only works with a lot of light(like portrait). If there is not enough light, digital zoom from wide angle lens is better. This even happens on iphone 7plus/8plus camera set up(if there is not enough light they just use digital zoom). However, I think that maybe it switches to wide angle digital zoom sometimes in good light conditions.
I can understand that you were concerned but please test things thoroughly before posting (or maybe Google it out). Actually the telephoto camera have a narrower aperture then the main camera. So it captures less light then the primary camera. When who cover the telephoto camera to see if it is working or not, then hit x2, it detects that there is low light (since you are covering the lens) & hence uses the primary camera. Okay, so this is how you should have tested. First go to a very will lit environment, then select 2x zoom, and then try covering the telephone camera. You will get the proper results. Hope this helps.
It's the same in Oneplus 5, for example!
Telephoto works properly only in good light situation
RayDnafsa said:
Yes, I did. I've edited the OP. I feel like a goof for not trying that first
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should already have done that before starting a thread like this.
2017 dumbass award goes to you. smart alec.
erimin5 said:
should already have done that before starting a thread like this.
2017 dumbass award goes to you. smart alec.
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If you want to know before clicking a photo which lens is used for 2x zoom just look at the animation when you use the zoom button. If theirs an animation of zooming then it's digital zoom & if it is directly switching to 2x or 1x then it is actually switching between the lenses. And it won't change with a future update too as the OP hopes. Works the same way even on iPhones. It OK to have questions but you went too far calling it a scam, fake & never buying from Xiaomi again.
jazzthe#1 said:
No its real!
Try that in outdoor lighting conditions.
In natural lighting cover the zoom lens, and then hit the 2x zoom.
You will notice that the zoom lens is functional in good lighting conditions, not in bad light conditions.
Same with the portrait mode, thats why it is recommended to use 2x optical zoom and portrait mode in outdoor lighting conditions.
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But please help me, now my stock camera app there is no portrait and 2x mode , they're disappear after i've flash it to RR custom rom, but when i back to stock rom through miflash, the camera is still facing the same problems
Apart from the frustrating fact that you can't record video and that the ultra-wide lens isn't very wide, the colors and seem to be extremely off in the comparisons I've seen to the point that I don't know if it's solvable through a software update. Maybe fixing the distortion and the super low saturation through software will somewhat save it, I don't know. Heck, even Mi 9 has a clearly superior ultra-wide WITH recording. What do you think? Does anyone that has the phone have a different experience? I want to buy this phone, but at this point in my country it's about the same price as a S10+ (Exynos) and I'm struggling to make a decision.
I wish GCam mods come early to save this mess.
NightmareAndroid said:
Apart from the frustrating fact that you can't record video and that the ultra-wide lens isn't very wide, the colors and seem to be extremely off in the comparisons I've seen to the point that I don't know if it's solvable through a software update. Maybe fixing the distortion and the super low saturation through software will somewhat save it, I don't know. Heck, even Mi 9 has a clearly superior ultra-wide WITH recording. What do you think? Does anyone that has the phone have a different experience? I want to buy this phone, but at this point in my country it's about the same price as a S10+ (Exynos) and I'm struggling to make a decision.
I wish GCam mods come early to save this mess.
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I cannot answer specifically to the 7 Pro, but I can tell you that the colour science is off on my now-sold Galaxy S10 Plus Exynos version. Switching between the main lens and the wide angle lens in the same exact lighting and spot yields different colour reproduction. It might be down to the actual lens used in junction with the software, but I can safety say that this problem isn't exclusive to the 7 Pro if anything.
Also, don't buy the Exynos version of the S10. It has garbage battery life, and has different camera lenses to the SD version that have shown to be inferior to the SD version.
There is a setting in the camera called "Ultra Wide Lens Correction." I wonder if testers are switching this setting to see if this is the issue. I just got mine, but it's night time right now so I will need some time to test (but I only have the LG G7 ThinQ to compare to.)
AhsanU said:
I cannot answer specifically to the 7 Pro, but I can tell you that the colour science is off on my now-sold Galaxy S10 Plus Exynos version. Switching between the main lens and the wide angle lens in the same exact lighting and spot yields different colour reproduction. It might be down to the actual lens used in junction with the software, but I can safety say that this problem isn't exclusive to the 7 Pro if anything.
Also, don't buy the Exynos version of the S10. It has garbage battery life, and has different camera lenses to the SD version that have shown to be inferior to the SD version.
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Yes, but at least every other wide angle camera in the market gives decent results. 7 Pro's results are very undersaturated, very soft and sometimes seem like out of focus.
I know about the S10+. If it was a Snapdragon version I would have already bought it.
matistight said:
There is a setting in the camera called "Ultra Wide Lens Correction." I wonder if testers are switching this setting to see if this is the issue. I just got mine, but it's night time right now so I will need some time to test (but I only have the LG G7 ThinQ to compare to.)
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Great! Post some samples when you can. I'm not that worried about the lens correction, I don't mind the distortion. My problem is mainly the saturation and softness of detail. If you can, post original results + "corrected" versions using Snapseed/Photoshop to check if some post-processing saves the day at least. Thank you in advance!
NightmareAndroid said:
Yes, but at least every other wide angle camera in the market gives decent results. 7 Pro's results are very undersaturated, very soft and sometimes seem like out of focus.
I know about the S10+. If it was a Snapdragon version I would have already bought it.
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Beauty of OnePlus and this wonderful community is the fact that there'll be GCam for it very soon, and we'll undoubtedly be able to take amazing shots through GCam using the wide angle lens.
AhsanU said:
Beauty of OnePlus and this wonderful community is the fact that there'll be GCam for it very soon, and we'll undoubtedly be able to take amazing shots through GCam using the wide angle lens.
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That's what I hope!
AhsanU said:
Beauty of OnePlus and this wonderful community is the fact that there'll be GCam for it very soon, and we'll undoubtedly be able to take amazing shots through GCam using the wide angle lens.
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It really depends. It might not be fixable with gcam.
The main camera uses a pretty good sensor. But it is a different sensor for the wide angle lens. So the quality of the wide angle shots will heavily depend on the quality of the sensor they use for their wide angle lens. It might be a weak sensor, we don't know right now. Huawei uses 4 Sony sensors for example, their wide angle pictures are pretty good. And yes, the best hardware is useless without a good software. But the best software also can't fix a bad sensor.
Not saying that it is a bad sensor, it's just that we don't know by now. We might have to wait for a teardown and some talented devs to see what is inside and if it is fixable.
I can only link you the specs from dxomark:
Primary: 48Mp Sony IMX586 sensor (12Mp output size), 26mm-equivalent lens with f/1.6 aperture and OIS
Ultra-wide: 16Mp sensor, 17mm-equivalent lens with f/2.2 aperture
Telephoto: 8Mp sensor, 78mm-equivalent lens with f/2.4 aperture and OIS
Hey, anyone found any external lenses for the p20 pro camera, I had a nifty little set for my p20 wondering what other people have been using
If you mean for the P30 - as this is the P30 Pro xda page - then it's unlikely.
I have tried using kit lenses with mine and it's a royal PITA because it keeps changing between the lenses automatically. As such you can't predict what it'll try and use and how the resulting image will be affected. Was far too much faff, especially when the 10x hybrid zoom works perfectly fine for my needs.
Yeah p30 pro lol my bad writing.
All these multiple camera setups seem to have killed the lenses off
I wouldn't say that's a bad thing to be honest. From my experience they gave a very narrow field of view, major vignetting and required you to crop the image after taking. This then resulted - in recent experience - in an image that is of lower quality had I just used the digital zoom of the device itself.
It's a blase statement, but if you want to be taking pictures with mega zoom then look to get an entry level DSLR - it's a huge step up over a smartphone camera, even in today's world, and you can get yourself a nice cheap telephoto lens that'll take pictures of things at the end of the garden like you're stood next to them.
Buy a cheap £8 lens for your high-end camera and you'll likely have a bad time. You'll also encounter the issues of laser autofocus not being able to function as the lens will block it resulting in crappy focus as well.
Hello everyone. Am I alone who is getting horrible photos from the main camera here? It seems that every shot has disgusting blurry smudges at the sides. Basically only central part of the photo is in focus? Is it faulty camera module???!!! Again? If so where is the quality control then? Seriously I can't remember a single flagship smartphone I used to have in the past with such photo "quality"! What's wrong? I can quarantee that there're no dirty fingerprints on the camera glass cover. Please help!
Did you take the pitures in portrait or landscape?
What App did you use?
If you used HDR I would suggest using a tripod to reduce the camera shake
Something like a head on shot of a brick building is more revealing. Make sure to brace the cam for test shots. Dead center focus it.
No lense is consistent throughout its whole field of view. Center softness is the least desirable, edge softness to some degree is normal. The more from the center you can go before blur* increases noticeably the better.
Edge softness can even be desirable at times.
This isn't a 6 optic lense so the degree of compensation for various optical phenomenons is more limited. With lens it's always a compromise with various desirable qualities and the tradeoffs this brings; there is no perfect lense.
To tell if this is a bad copy a side by side comparison with a known good copy is best.
You can always crop it out if it really bugs you...
*see blur charts, which is one of the ways how lens are tested and compared