I've noticed that the updated camera software applies some kind of post processing even if you have image adjustments set to default with nothing set to +/-. The resulting image looks different from what actually appears on screen at the time of the snap. Can live with this but the big problem I'm having now is with self portraits. I'm having this problem indoors with mediocre lighting, I have not had the opportunity to try this outdoors.
The front camera now appears to have some kind of face recognition (which can't be turned off, have not seen an option for this but it does exist for the rear camera). What happens is after snapping the picture, you'll visually see the screen apply some strange lighting effect - when I review the self portrait the face is lightened and the eyes are darkened to the point that I look like a zombie. Needless to say the image is completely messed up. If you manage to take a self portrait with the camera not locking on to your face with the "visible white box cue" the picture will be snapped as normal like it used to be before the Jelly Bean update. Anyone else having similar probs?
It looks like I'm solo on this particular issue. I happened to also have wifi problems after the OTA update; the connections would drop within minutes. Ended up doing a factory reset which resolved the wifi problems but the front camera is still buggy -- basically once the face recognition white box engages and starts tracking your face the picture will become screwed up. It's possible to get a normal picture by doing something to avoid having the box engage like doing a very close up shot. Either way I'm hoping I can get the front cam working like it used to before this update.
Front facing cam pics are not something I do often, so I just tried it. The effect I see is not quite as horrific as you describe. But the captured shot does seem to have a slight exposure issue. And like you said, the preview looks fine, but the captured shot gives a slight white pallor to my face.
The first couple pics were pretty ghastly, maybe more like the "zombie" effect you described. But I realized the lens was pretty dirty (again, I use the front facing cam very seldomly). I cleaned it off, and the results were much better (just slightly pale, as I mentioned in the above paragraph).
Cleaning the lens seems obvious. Although, maybe some change they made to how the JB camera handles exposure makes it extra sensitive to dirt/dust on the lens.
redpoint73 said:
Front facing cam pics are not something I do often, so I just tried it. The effect I see is not quite as horrific as you describe. But the captured shot does seem to have a slight exposure issue. And like you said, the preview looks fine, but the captured shot gives a slight white pallor to my face.
The first couple pics were pretty ghastly, maybe more like the "zombie" effect you described. But I realized the lens was pretty dirty (again, I use the front facing cam very seldomly). I cleaned it off, and the results were much better (just slightly pale, as I mentioned in the above paragraph).
Cleaning the lens seems obvious. Although, maybe some change they made to how the JB camera handles exposure makes it extra sensitive to dirt/dust on the lens.
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True, cleaning the lens did indeed help. Less of the zombie effect now! I guess the face bleaching helps to hide blemishes
Related
So far, I'm pretty happy with this phone but very disappointed with the stock camera app. The camera does pretty well outdoors and in low light, but is terrible in moderate light conditions (i.e. normal indoor conditions.) I just took a bunch of blurry, grainy pictures of my kids with their Easter baskets that all snapped 1/2 a second after I clicked the shutter. The thing that makes me think the camera can do better is that everything looks great on the screen up until I ask it to take a photo, then it refocuses and everything goes to hell. I tried Samsung's sports mode, and that is only marginally better. My wife's new S5 is suffering from the same problem.
Has anyone had better luck with other camera apps or a change in settings? Camera Zoom FX and Google's new camera app don't seem any better. I don't care about effects, HDR, manual photo settings or gimmicks; all I want are sharp, in-focus photos that take without a bunch of lag.
Bazirker said:
So far, I'm pretty happy with this phone but very disappointed with the stock camera app. The camera does pretty well outdoors and in low light, but is terrible in moderate light conditions (i.e. normal indoor conditions.) I just took a bunch of blurry, grainy pictures of my kids with their Easter baskets that all snapped 1/2 a second after I clicked the shutter. The thing that makes me think the camera can do better is that everything looks great on the screen up until I ask it to take a photo, then it refocuses and everything goes to hell. I tried Samsung's sports mode, and that is only marginally better. My wife's new S5 is suffering from the same problem.
Has anyone had better luck with other camera apps or a change in settings? Camera Zoom FX and Google's new camera app don't seem any better. I don't care about effects, HDR, manual photo settings or gimmicks; all I want are sharp, in-focus photos that take without a bunch of lag.
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Turn picture stabilization off and it gets rid of the picture lag.
But yes, otherwise similar issues.
That's the thing. The HTC M8 wins on indoor/low light pics (if you don't get that purple blob effect), this will on outdoors. That's where the whole MP vs. sensor size come into play as larger sensor means more light but not as sharp vs. more MP means sharper but due to smaller sensor less light thus not always great.
Anyway I've found it takes me about 2 pictures to get one I like with HDR and image stabilization off. With that on that all seem to suck due to the delay. Would have been nice to have some true optical image stabilization too. Samsung just doesn't seem to learn/care though.
We get good HW but they cheap out on the little things that make it better.
Yeah, turning off stabilization, HDR etc helps, but there's still a noticeable lag. The lag bothers me less than the fact that my near-stationary subject is coming out blurry. If the camera would simply capture the exact image that is on-screen at the moment I hit the shutter, I would be thrilled...
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
So here's kinda the problem. And it happens a lot with people taking pictures on your phone.
A phone was not meant to be a camera. It just wasn't. In the early days of low resolution things went faster. When you try to run 16 megabit... things are necessarily going to be harder.
Here's the easiest solution to your problems: Practice taking pictures with the phone. Keep your arms tucked in at your sides, keep the phone closer to your body. Shoot in landscape instead of portrait so your hands are in better position. I use the flip case for this phone which means I can use that as well to have better grip and stability. Take the picture... and keep the camera pointed just where you were taking the picture for at least 1/2 sec after you tap the "shutter release". Shutter lag will only be exacerbated by being too quick to move the phone. Also, you don't have to mash the on screen button, light tap and whatnot. Oh and the 1/3 of a sec focus time is their "fastest" rating. While in truth that is pretty darn decent, it's also the fastest you'll have. Expect a possible 1/2 to 3/4 sec focus time. And make sure you're PICKY about your focus. Do it over and over again if it's not right.
Also, your metering mode will have a big impact on your images. Get used to changing them to suit your subject.
I have 13+ years experience as a photographer. If it weren't absolutely absurd, and say all of my bodies died at the same time... I would be carrying a monopod or tripod for use with my GS5... Stability is the key to image quality. Who cares what you look like when you take the picture, it's the picture that matters.
Oh and one other thing, image blur is exacerbated when objects are either very close, or very far away. One because the contrast elements (edges and such) are easy to distinguish from the rest and when they're blurry... you notice it. The other because detail elements are TINY at that range, down to even 1 pixel width, so any shake makes those disappear entirely into blur.
Just some basic things to do. Honestly if it's a choice between getting the shot with my Nikons... or getting it with my GS5? the Nikons will win every time. But in a pinch, the camera on the GS5 is good enough. Just takes the right hands and the right frame of mind.
Arkanthos2015 said:
So here's kinda the problem. And it happens a lot with people taking pictures on your phone.
A phone was not meant to be a camera. It just wasn't. In the early days of low resolution things went faster. When you try to run 16 megabit... things are necessarily going to be harder.
Here's the easiest solution to your problems: Practice taking pictures with the phone. Keep your arms tucked in at your sides, keep the phone closer to your body. Shoot in landscape instead of portrait so your hands are in better position. I use the flip case for this phone which means I can use that as well to have better grip and stability. Take the picture... and keep the camera pointed just where you were taking the picture for at least 1/2 sec after you tap the "shutter release". Shutter lag will only be exacerbated by being too quick to move the phone. Also, you don't have to mash the on screen button, light tap and whatnot. Oh and the 1/3 of a sec focus time is their "fastest" rating. While in truth that is pretty darn decent, it's also the fastest you'll have. Expect a possible 1/2 to 3/4 sec focus time. And make sure you're PICKY about your focus. Do it over and over again if it's not right.
Also, your metering mode will have a big impact on your images. Get used to changing them to suit your subject.
I have 13+ years experience as a photographer. If it weren't absolutely absurd, and say all of my bodies died at the same time... I would be carrying a monopod or tripod for use with my GS5... Stability is the key to image quality. Who cares what you look like when you take the picture, it's the picture that matters.
Oh and one other thing, image blur is exacerbated when objects are either very close, or very far away. One because the contrast elements (edges and such) are easy to distinguish from the rest and when they're blurry... you notice it. The other because detail elements are TINY at that range, down to even 1 pixel width, so any shake makes those disappear entirely into blur.
Just some basic things to do. Honestly if it's a choice between getting the shot with my Nikons... or getting it with my GS5? the Nikons will win every time. But in a pinch, the camera on the GS5 is good enough. Just takes the right hands and the right frame of mind.
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Lots of truth to your post in regards to the pointers about technique and settings. I've got an EOS-1Ds I use when I plan to take photos, and you need to know how to use your gear and be practiced if you want to take a decent photo.
However, I disagree when it comes to expectations for smartphone camera performance. I used to have the same attitude you expressed about taking photos with a phone, until I recently backed up and printed some of the photos off my wife's old iPhone 4S. The photos it took were shockingly good, and my disappointment with the Galaxy S5 camera stems from the fact that it is getting severely outperformed by the 3 year old iPhone. If the Apple crowd has been able to rely on their iPhones as a competent point-and-shoot camera for years, I see no reason why my flagship Android phone should be no different.
In other news, I've been playing with different settings and apps all afternoon, and still aren't seeing any improvement in performance. Camera Zoom FX allows for ISO 1600, and that's giving me the best performance so far in terms of reducing lag and image blur. (Of course, the images are quite grainy...boo hiss.)
Can anyone confirms this? Almost 4 units i tested from sony stalls has this issue.
The photos taken by camera turns out to be overly sharpened, with lots of artifacts.
Turning on or off image enhancements does not help.
I am seeing this as well. And most of the reviews I saw also reported this.
Currently I am trying a few third party camera apps to see if they do the same
Haiz.. Why can't they make the camera right for once?
I concurred this. Mine focused good. I learned a trick that you actually have to tap the screen then press and hold the camera button on screen or side until it is clear. When i first got it, all my photos was focusing on the wrong spot. However, now with that trick i could get sharp images but zooming in they look very blurry and a lot of noise.
Do you experience this is good or low light? You do have to work a little bit harder with the camera settings as the light drops off to get the right image. And use the designated camera button too rather than the on screen one.
Good lightings... Not to mention if its poor lighting conditions. Guess have to wait for a new firmware.
Yep so much sharpening in all lighting conditions. Hoping for a software update soon.
Here is samples pictures from my XZ. It has undoubtedly the best selfies camera under daylight. Lowlight shooting takes a bit to get used to it. It was bad as first but if you toggle on "tap - focus and brightness" in setting it will improve tremendously as it uses it light sensor to automatically brighten the photos. Overall, I'm happy with the camera. It beats Iphone 7 Plus and on par with the S7Edge. My beef with the XZ is the small size and 3GB. I would prefer 5.5 and 4GB for a $600 phone. But if you can get it for $450 or $500, this phone is definitely worth every penny.
http://imgur.com/a/1S4Si
I am not talking about selfies. I am talking about the main camera. Very bad quality here. So fall 8 sets i have tried, same issues
Noticed this myself, not impressed with the image quality. Seems to be worse than my Z2. Hoping when they eventually drop Nougat it'll iron out some of the issues.
About blure and noise, increse ev to +0.7 or 1
A very good example of xz camera samples. You can guess which photos are by xz. The oversharpening of images when zoomed in.. Soo much artifacts.
http://m.gsmarena.com/blind_shootout_iphone7_galaxy_s7_xperia_xz_lg_g5
I've been honor 8 since one week and i have found one thing that when even i cover right side lens it capture black image but when ever i cover left side sensor it's take snappy sharp image like it's ideally take . So i think so it's just fake second camera is dummy or any other problem ? please let me know i'm worried for my money
Are the pictures good? If so then don't worry about it.
Sent from my SM-T713 using Tapatalk
From my experience the second camera is mostly used for background blur effect. If you cover the lens, everything is in focus.
It is also used for minor noise reduction. If you take a picture in low light and cover the secondary lens there is a little bit more noise. But you won't really notice it unless you enlarge the image.
well the fact that when you block one lens, the other works is proof that neither is dummy. perhaps the post processing is not that dramatic as you were expecting. try taking low light pics with both and just the normal lens then compare them by zooming.
no difference found
I've tried in low light too but second lens is just a fake . it's don't enhances quality i think so i have to wait for android N update
sn9691 said:
well the fact that when you block one lens, the other works is proof that neither is dummy. perhaps the post processing is not that dramatic as you were expecting. try taking low light pics with both and just the normal lens then compare them by zooming.
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I love the pictures the Honor 8 takes when using the Wide Aperture mode. It seems the second camera is essential for creating the blur effect. If you haven't noticed you can go into the Stock Huawei Gallery and adjust the wide aperture pictures after the fact. Even if you took a picture that looked like you focused in on the wrong thing, just go into the Gallery, click on the wide aperture button (only shows up on wide aperture pictures) and select what you wanted to focus on.
Sure enough, without the second camera the wide aperture mode doesn't work properly if at all.
Second lens is for focusing, depth of field, and additional light. As well, when covering the second lens, it persistently gives a warning about not covering the lens while shooting, especially when refocusing. I think this should be enough to disprove your "fake camera" theory.
Hey everyone,
I'm just trying to figure out if my S8+'s camera is working the way it should. I am transitioning from an S6 which was super-sharp at the cost of also being noisy sometimes. I do love my S8+, but will you have a look at these samples? All in AUTO mode. Please make sure you zoom in.
https://ibb.co/dA5hz5
https://ibb.co/mKMBsQ
So in the first picture, the church is in focus which is great. But look at the rest of the image... The white building on the left, the 'BUS' inscription on the left bus lane... It looks terrible. And what's even more confusing, the closest part of the crosswalk seems to be in focus as well.
The second one has the left bus lane in focus, that was intended. And I am very pleased with the sharpness of the crosswalk this time, but look at the rest of the picture. Everything is blurry! The street, the buildings, the church.
I have another set for comparison. This time, from the other side of the church
https://ibb.co/dOyPCQ
https://ibb.co/mC6Y6k
I focused on the horse statue in the first picture and it is just right I would say. But look at the second one...
I focused on a random point, on the church, for the second picture. See how blurry the horse statue became? And the part of the church vertically inline with the statue seems blurry as well.
What do you think? These were like the perfect shooting conditions. The camera chose shutter speeds like 1/3000s which should eliminate any camera shaking I guess (assuming that's not handled well by the OIS).
As a side-note, I also tried an indoor shot (with the lights turned on) to capture a flower bouquet. The camera chose 1/11s shutter and I was not able to get the shot right (all came out blurry) until I used vocal commands. Presumably pressing the on-screen button was causing a shake that couldn't be compensated by OIS. Is that expected, really?
Thanks, looking forward to see others' thoughts.
Looks like a misplaced lens. Sony smartphone users are getting the same issues with almost every model. Better to exchange it, I think.
Thanks for your reply.
Shouldn't always behave the same if it's a misplaced lens? I mean, I once had a lens that had this issue and it was more noticeable at specific apertures. But all the time, not just in some photos. These were all taken at the same aperture I believe.
I'm convinced, that this is the normal behaviour of the S8's camera.
The S6 has got a 1/2,6" sensor and a f/1.9 aperture.
The S8 has got a 1/2,5" sensor and a f/1.7 aperture.
Either a larger sensor and a more open aperture results in a picture in which the area of maximum sharpness becomes smaller, this is just physics.
For the same reason, you get these nice bokeh on a DSLR, because of the large sensor.
It's not possible to change that behaviour, you have to more carefully decide, which is the most important part of your picture and manually focus on it.
Thanks for your reply. Samsung seems to agree with you because...
I had a live-chat with Samsung today and they offered to remotely check the camera and the sensor which we did. They, indeed, claimed that the camera is expected to only display the area in focus as being sharp, the rest of the image should be at some level blurry.
Do I like it? I don't know. Do pictures look better than on my old S6? Absolutely! I think they got it right in the end. For what it is, it's a good compromise.
I have two snapdragon s22 ultra one purchased last week another a month ago
Whenever I reach 10x zoom slider (either directly or even by sliding, from any lens) it switches to 10x lens for a split second and then switches back to 3x lens and zooms digitally.
This happens irrespective of lighting conditions and distance of subject.
Comparing both my s22 ultras side by side I was able to confirm that this problem exists only in one of the phone and not in the other model that phone keeps 10x optical zoom and does not switching to 3x zoom.
Options
A. Any solution to this problem would be highly appreciated?
B. Want to keep formatting as last option.
C. The phone is just 7 days old shall i take it to service centre.
One possible clue, I can make that happen on my S22U in situations where the 3X lens can focus, but the 10X lens can't, for example something about 6 inches away. Then the switchover is delayed as you zoom until about 14x. I'm not sure if it is using the laser ranging for that situation or not, but possibly if the laser thinks you are close, for example taking a picture through glass on a window, it might not switch to the 10x lens until 14x.
But as I said I have another unit at my home.. thuis one constantly switch only after 15 x and not 10x. The other unit is doing perfectly fine for same subject
ryudhruv said:
But as I said I have another unit at my home.. thuis one constantly switch only after 15 x and not 10x. The other unit is doing perfectly fine for same subject
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Return it. I had a similar problem with a Verizon 10+5g with the wide angle lens. Frequent camera error messages turned into always camera error message when selecting wide angle. Sometimes a tap on the corner to a hard surface would fix it but that stopped as a solution after a few times.
I would say if possible, return or change it. My first one was no issue with camera but heating issue.. replaced one; Most of the time randomly pick the regular lens instead of 10x lens. Also at 10x zoom color suddenly changes to fuzzy and dull.
Replaced. This one no color issue but 10x n 30x n 100x has focus issue. Cant focus correctly, output image is most of the time blurry which my first ome had no issue. But i decided to keep as i dont have that time to go n chamge again. I also don't keep phone too long, and i rarely take pic.
ryudhruv said:
I have two snapdragon s22 ultra one purchased last week another a month ago
Whenever I reach 10x zoom slider (either directly or even by sliding, from any lens) it switches to 10x lens for a split second and then switches back to 3x lens and zooms digitally.
This happens irrespective of lighting conditions and distance of subject.
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Click to collapse
How can we know which lens is being used by the phone at 10x? I want to confirm if my unit is not faulty.
linom said:
How can we know which lens is being used by the phone at 10x? I want to confirm if my unit is not faulty.
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Click to collapse
After taking the picture check in the picture details the focal length:
10x lens has 27,2 mm
3x lens has 7,9 mm
1x lens has 6,4 mm
0,6x lens has 2,2 mm
You can also just put your finger in front of the lenses to see which one it is using.
I have the same problem here
Any way to solve it?
I've seen this happen in low light. The Periscope 10x zoom is f/4.9, while the 3x zoom is f/2.4. I don't know what the optics of the periscope are, but with the extra reflections/prisms the "t-stop" is probable closer to 5.6 for the periscope lens. That means that the 10x lens gathers approximately 4 times less light, and sometimes the phone seems to stick with cropping the brighter 3x lens in low light because there just isn't enough light. Sometimes in really low light it seems to use the main lens as well.
brachiopod said:
I've seen this happen in low light. The Periscope 10x zoom is f/4.9, while the 3x zoom is f/2.4. I don't know what the optics of the periscope are, but with the extra reflections/prisms the "t-stop" is probable closer to 5.6 for the periscope lens. That means that the 10x lens gathers approximately 4 times less light, and sometimes the phone seems to stick with cropping the brighter 3x lens in low light because there just isn't enough light. Sometimes in really low light it seems to use the main lens as well.
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Sure, but it's strange, because my dad's s22 ultra does not do this, only mine, in same condition. Thinking about changing phone, its my 3 galaxy with problem
Do you think have any way to solve it?
use the expertraw
GabNeumann said:
Sure, but it's strange, because my dad's s22 ultra does not do this, only mine, in same condition. Thinking about changing phone, its my 3 galaxy with problem
Do you think have any way to solve it?
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Click to collapse
There is definitely some weird logic that dictates which lens it will use regardless of the zoom level that you request. Is there enough light, can I focus, is the subject too close for the 10x lens or are they shooting through glass and the laser misreads the distance as really close; if one of those things is true it switches lenses.. It happens when you try to take a macro shot too, you can't really control which lens it is going to use and a lot of times you get a crop view that is lower quality from one of the main lenses instead of what you wanted. I've played around with it a lot, and I'm still not sure exactly what it is doing. For example, start out with the 10x zoom about 10 feet from something, then move closer and closer. At some point you will see a little jump in the image as it switches to one of the other lenses without telling you. Then back away slowly, and it does not appear to switch back, keeping the crop from the other lens; I don't know when it switches back. Still, it should not happen all the time, especially with good light and a good subject that is far enough away for the 10x, it COULD be a hardware problem with your device but you also could be falling victim to the complex logic they are using.
Hi All. Similar problem. I was taking close ups of flowers using the PHOTO mode... I had blotchy results at 10x. I did some investigations. It turned out that when using the PRO mode, all was well. I first thought that it was some weird image processing that Samsung did, but that's not true. The truth is that the phone used the 3x camera at 10x magnification on the PHOTO mode! I then discovered that it only switched to the telephoto lens at precisely 15x magnification. Very weird. I can get very good results at 15x. But, when using PRO, the switch occurs at 10x. Samsung - what is going on? It looks like purely a software issue? Paul
Update: I've just restarted the phone. All back to normal and as intended. Lenses switch at precisely 10x.
Update 2: No, this is not due to a restart. The same issue again. The switch sometimes takes place at 10x, but if the phone is to close to the object, the switch will take place at precisely 15x. Super weird and inconsistent.
Update 3: Ok, so the switch between the lenses (on the PHOTO mode) is dictated by the distance between the object and the camera. If the phone is too close to the object, the phone will want to use the 3x lens. Absolutely no issue for long distance shots. These switch at 10x. You have to be super carful with telephoto closeups as you can basically ruin the shot thinking that you are on the 10x lens but in fact you are on the 3x lens. The PRO mode does not have that issue, but then changing iso and shutter speed are a bit hit and miss as well.
Worst still, this is also happening on the VIDEO mode.
For me the middle lens out of three is used for 1&3 zoom and small lens under flash is used for 10x in standard mode. At least kind of, seems to switch depending on distance and also the lower of the three is used for 10x sometimes......
When in pro or expert raw it behave less erratic and uses the lens I choose.
Highly annoying tbh.
I recently discovered this issue and its really embarrassing. Not many of us will go into pro mode and fiddle but as a simple point and shoot. This is terrible.
I am on the latest Software AVF7. My 10x photos keep looking like trash and there is a lot of light around. But i discovered that if you open a picture within the gallery while at 10x zoom and return to the view finder, it switches to the optical and stays. Has to be a bug rather than a defect.
It doesn't seem to be an app bug. I am also on AVF7 and cannot replicate the fault. If it is an app bug, then resetting the camera, clearing the camera app's cache and data should clear it up.
How to verify if this problem is also on my default samsung camera? As far as I'm using my phone, I saw nothing wrong with those zoom lens, but just want to check to make sure.
roffemckivi said:
For me the middle lens out of three is used for 1&3 zoom and small lens under flash is used for 10x in standard mode.
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Does this also happen daytimes outside and at distances >2 m?
gernerttl said:
It doesn't seem to be an app bug. I am also on AVF7 and cannot replicate the fault. If it is an app bug, then resetting the camera, clearing the camera app's cache and data should clear it up.
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Did all the above and still the same. Sigh