Terrible low-light autofocus in camcorder mode - Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

My Nexus 5 is horrendous at focusing in camcorder mode in low light situations. I am often recording my kids at home at night, and I can never get it to focus. It is extremely frurstrating.
I didn't record this video, but I found it and it shows exactly what I am experiencing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82OwBJRCI0c
Can anything be done about this? It's making me hate this phone.

sparhawk6 said:
My Nexus 5 is horrendous at focusing in camcorder mode in low light situations. I am often recording my kids at home at night, and I can never get it to focus. It is extremely frurstrating.
I didn't record this video, but I found it and it shows exactly what I am experiencing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82OwBJRCI0c
Can anything be done about this? It's making me hate this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Overall the video in low light is horrible. For some reason the blacks become a really light gray and all the colors just go way off. Good thing I never take videos. :good:

Autofocus in low-light conditions is horrible in all Nexus 5s...

Related

how is the camera

Can you tell me how the camera is? shutter speed in low light and recording frames in low light? sorry my g2 kinda sucks when it comes to low light.
Not that great. Getting ready to put a post about it but flipping through the threads first to see if it's been posted before (search is broken)
tvdang7 said:
Can you tell me how the camera is? shutter speed in low light and recording frames in low light? sorry my g2 kinda sucks when it comes to low light.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's ok. Just ok...not bad, not good, just average.
I wish there can be an android phone for once that has a camera as good as the iPhone's. Then again....Samsung Galaxy S 2 just might....
I've taken some indoor shots on night mode and it really brightened up the images. The color tone was a lot more accurate as well by doing so.

Over sharpening of camera image

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

How's the 960fps slo-mo?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on it; if you use it or not, the video quality, maybe even some of your own cool clips.
It works great in well lit places. If it's anywhere near low light conditions I noticed its rather unclear. Overall its perfect for outside in daytime
pikeylfc said:
It works great in well lit places. If it's anywhere near low light conditions I noticed its rather unclear. Overall its perfect for outside in daytime
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are there any continuous slow motion options such as 120/240fps?
isaali said:
Are there any continuous slow motion options such as 120/240fps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes for 120 fps
It shoots amazing videos in high light environments.
But when it's not so bright, there's significantly noise on the video... Sometimes can't even see clear pictures...
The best part of this camera is the normal mode, it takes photos super fast, very unlikely to get blurry pictures.
I wished the user had more options with the slow motion. For example 240FPS continues as most top of the line phones support out of the box and a longer burst 480FPS option. Basically the buffer that gets filled using 960FPS could last twice as long with half the frame rate. The slow motion would still be incredible but with the added benefit of twice the action.
Hopefully when ROM's come along someone can unlock some cool new features.
isaali said:
I'd love to hear your thoughts on it; if you use it or not, the video quality, maybe even some of your own cool clips.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
at 960fps it records video at 720p resolution. You will get great videos only at high lighting conditions. Anyways it looks great
I have also posted a youtube video link and for your info...... it took a total of 4-5 balloons to get it right.
Hi chitshiv, great work capturing your video using slow motion. I've just picked up the xzs, g8232, and was wondering if you are also finding the slow motion capture display to be ridiculously grainy when trying to film indoors? I've yet to take it outside to see if it is any clearer. Looking forward to hearing from you.
-J
Works great in a good light like daytime outdoor, I recorded some amazing videos when playing basketball, but lots of unacceptable noisy point in low light.
awesome!!!

Samy camera disapointing?

I dont know if other users agree with me but my old Nexus6P was way better on low light conditions. In outdoor situations at a sunny day there is no problem, with most phones but the S8+ has a really good camera but if i try to take a picture when the sun has set and the light is low the software makes the pictures really fuzzy. The faces are washed out (i am aware that the software is trying to reduce the noise) and its not that great at auto mode. I took great low light pictures with the manual mode and this is something missing on the nexus 6p and pixels but if i want to take a quick picture at low light i cant start setting up the manual mode i just want to take a quick photo. So at this point my question is, is there any way to install the google photo apk with the hdr+ mode? I dont really know if something like this would work or if its even possible, but i really miss the hdr+ from the google phone.
I attached some examples.
Photo 1 is S8+ selfie in low light
Photo 2 is N6P selfie in even lower light
Photo 3 is S8+ rear shooter in low light
Photo 4 is N6P rear shooter in lower light
Thank you everyone in advance
I also came from the 6p and gotta admit I was totally amazed with the 6p's camera in both low light and day time shooting. I still have not taken much pictures with my s8 plus yet, so I can't really compare the difference in an night out experience, but hope to soon. From around the house shooting the camera seems good, I want to say slightly better than the 6p in low light. I really like the zero shutter lag of the s8 though, even though I had the ZSL mod on the 6p. Your pictures do look pretty fuzzy and not clear on the s8 though. Probably a dumb question, but it's your camera lens clean?
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Switch to manual mode and the playing field changes dramatically.
Never had the 6P but I have the Nexus6 and I must say for a phone going on 3 years old it still has a nice shooter (using an app called Manual Camera).
Semi pro skill set with photography here, never liked auto anything.
Your pictures look exactly like mine and I too am disappointed with the S8+ auto Camera shooting. I am coming from a LG G4 and my pictures were amazing on that camera. I would frame them people were shocked they were from a camera phone. My S8+ does great in bright sunny light, but in side/low lighting conditions the pictures are very washed out/lack detail.
I'm also feeling the same. The auto settings are so shonky, my LG G3 had better auto settings. When there's proper lighting it's crisp as anything, also with the flash. When it's low light like this, mine look exactly the same, it's like they have the skin smoothing on the selfie camera but for everything... Also!!!! I've noticed that there still seems to be a bit of grain / not so sharp even in light. I really do feel like my G3 produced better images. Haven't played with manual but like... I feel like I shouldn't have to. Auto should be banging!
I'd have to agree. My iPhone 7 plus beats this camera when it comes to quickness, ease of use, and consistency. Not too impressed.
Subiegsr said:
I also came from the 6p and gotta admit I was totally amazed with the 6p's camera in both low light and day time shooting. I still have not taken much pictures with my s8 plus yet, so I can't really compare the difference in an night out experience, but hope to soon. From around the house shooting the camera seems good, I want to say slightly better than the 6p in low light. I really like the zero shutter lag of the s8 though, even though I had the ZSL mod on the 6p. Your pictures do look pretty fuzzy and not clear on the s8 though. Probably a dumb question, but it's your camera lens clean?
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ye i double check it every time i run in a situation like that. I am not using the fingerprint sensor tho but i still check if its clean and in those situations you see its 100% clean
cpufrost said:
Switch to manual mode and the playing field changes dramatically.
Never had the 6P but I have the Nexus6 and I must say for a phone going on 3 years old it still has a nice shooter (using an app called Manual Camera).
Semi pro skill set with photography here, never liked auto anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as i said earlier the manual mode is better but you cant tell people or friends "wait let me set it up" so i can take 1 picture. the point of the auto mode is to take quick good picture. You are totaly right about the manual mode, ive taken very very good pictures with it but its not fast to set it up, eventualy you will lose the moment
Iphone camara sucks, buy tk each their own. Maybe i got a good S8+.
HitNrun_ said:
I dont know if other users agree with me but my old Nexus6P was way better on low light conditions. In outdoor situations at a sunny day there is no problem, with most phones but the S8+ has a really good camera but if i try to take a picture when the sun has set and the light is low the software makes the pictures really fuzzy. The faces are washed out (i am aware that the software is trying to reduce the noise) and its not that great at auto mode. I took great low light pictures with the manual mode and this is something missing on the nexus 6p and pixels but if i want to take a quick picture at low light i cant start setting up the manual mode i just want to take a quick photo. So at this point my question is, is there any way to install the google photo apk with the hdr+ mode? I dont really know if something like this would work or if its even possible, but i really miss the hdr+ from the google phone.
I attached some examples.
Photo 1 is S8+ selfie in low light
Photo 2 is N6P selfie in even lower light
Photo 3 is S8+ rear shooter in low light
Photo 4 is N6P rear shooter in lower light
Thank you everyone in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try taking the SAME shot with both phones. Can't say much looking at totally different shots. I do notice the S8+ tends to overexpose a little bit. So if you were shooting in the dark, it would try to get a brighter exposure resulting in a higher ISO and lower quality images.
Itaintrite said:
Try taking the SAME shot with both phones. Can't say much looking at totally different shots. I do notice the S8+ tends to overexpose a little bit. So if you were shooting in the dark, it would try to get a brighter exposure resulting in a higher ISO and lower quality images.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly trying to compare totally different pictures taken in different places under different conditions is pointless.
I had a 6P for a long time and it had the best camera of any nexus device by light years but just doesnt compare to the S8 camera.
I had a note 5 at the same time as the 6P and the note 5 camera eas better than the 6P so....
ssgunner20 said:
Iphone camara sucks, buy tk each their own. Maybe i got a good S8+.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Idk about an iPhone but my camera is good in my s8 plus....lottery strikes again...?
HitNrun_ said:
as i said earlier the manual mode is better but you cant tell people or friends "wait let me set it up" so i can take 1 picture. the point of the auto mode is to take quick good picture. You are totaly right about the manual mode, ive taken very very good pictures with it but its not fast to set it up, eventualy you will lose the moment
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As they aim to replace the traditional point-and-shoot camera, it would be nice to have similar pre-set manual mode settings remembered. Then you could set up your perfect "in the pub with mates" manual settings and switch to it quickly without all the sillybuggers of camera phone manual mode faff.
Edit: As an afterthought, what you could do is utilise an app I use called SyncMe. What this does is automatically copy all new photos from my phone to a specified folder on my NAS every day when I connect to my home network and plug in a charger. You simply set the phone to take RAW, and add a filter to this rule to MOVE (instead of copy) any RAW file extensions so your phone doesn't fill up.
Then, if you ever find yourself wanting a nice photo of a night out but the Jpeg is bad, you can hop onto your network and find the RAW equivalent and get editing.
Use pro mode for low light. The higher the iso, the brighter the picture but will leave your photo more grainy.
The lower the shutter speed, the brighter your photo but will require a steady hand or a tripod, and a still target.
Combine these with some editing.
http://www.knowyourmobile.com/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-s8/24175/samsung-galaxy-s8-camera-guide
https://recombu.com/mobile/article/samsung-galaxy-s8-camera-video-modes-review-bixby-vision#
jericko said:
Your pictures look exactly like mine and I too am disappointed with the S8+ auto Camera shooting. I am coming from a LG G4 and my pictures were amazing on that camera. I would frame them people were shocked they were from a camera phone. My S8+ does great in bright sunny light, but in side/low lighting conditions the pictures are very washed out/lack detail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I loved my G4 camera as well until the phone bootlopped.
HitNrun_ said:
I dont know if other users agree with me but my old Nexus6P was way better on low light conditions. In outdoor situations at a sunny day there is no problem, with most phones but the S8+ has a really good camera but if i try to take a picture when the sun has set and the light is low the software makes the pictures really fuzzy. The faces are washed out (i am aware that the software is trying to reduce the noise) and its not that great at auto mode. I took great low light pictures with the manual mode and this is something missing on the nexus 6p and pixels but if i want to take a quick picture at low light i cant start setting up the manual mode i just want to take a quick photo. So at this point my question is, is there any way to install the google photo apk with the hdr+ mode? I dont really know if something like this would work or if its even possible, but i really miss the hdr+ from the google phone.
I attached some examples.
Photo 1 is S8+ selfie in low light
Photo 2 is N6P selfie in even lower light
Photo 3 is S8+ rear shooter in low light
Photo 4 is N6P rear shooter in lower light
Thank you everyone in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here some photos in low light conditions taken from me with some devices I own...
S8+ extremely dark Auto
Sorry no santa-claus
[url=https://postimg.org/image/k544k7l9l/]
upload image free[/URL]
Mate 9 extremely dark Auto
[url=https://postimg.org/image/w9xaycemp/]
upload an image[/URL]
LG V20 extremely dark Auto
[url=https://postimg.org/image/vhg60h1dz/]
gifs upload[/URL]
S7 edge extremely dark Auto
[url=https://postimg.org/image/xa2hur46r/]
image upload with preview[/URL]
S8+ 2 light Auto
[url=https://postimg.org/image/sq2i1va2x/]
hosting images[/URL]
S7 edge 2 light Auto
[url=https://postimg.org/image/714ozgpk9/]
free picture upload[/URL]
LG V20 2 light Auto
[url=https://postimg.org/image/m65ifbvvr/]
image hosting sites[/URL]
S8+ extremely low light Auto
[url=https://postimg.org/image/awhruezpb/]
free image uploading[/URL]
This is what I get Everytime I try to take a shot indoor. Little movement and the photo comes out very blurry. I don't get why reviewers didn't notice this. Wasn't getting this result in the 6P.
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
greystealth said:
I'd have to agree. My iPhone 7 plus beats this camera when it comes to quickness, ease of use, and consistency. Not too impressed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also come from IPhone 7+ and that camera seemed so good compared to this but the s7edge camera seemed the best I've seen but this doesn't seem as good as them
In poor lighting so everyone will take pictures, in general a normal camera
Juliogol80 said:
This is what I get Everytime I try to take a shot indoor. Little movement and the photo comes out very blurry. I don't get why reviewers didn't notice this. Wasn't getting this result in the 6P.
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried to use Tracking AF? Also try lock the focus on the subject and then let it move and take the picture and see if its still blurry not sure but you might have defective camera sensor
Sent from my SM-N910G using Tapatalk

Poor camera composition of HDR images

I have OnePlus 7 for exactly one week, use the stock camera on auto with default settings and took under 20 pictures. Even though I take images in bright summer light and my daughters are in little to no move, I often end up with these poor artifacts.
I will try switching HDR off. Any other suggestion (except trying GCam)? Does anyone else experience something like that? (Am I using it wrong? I had no issues with Samsung Galaxy S7.)
Have similar issues. Portrait mode comes out with artifacts as well. Stock cam sucks despite what everyone else says. Not sure if the OP7pro's cam is as bad.
I think OP needs to put more effort into marketing the OP7 globally (not just the pro) and improving the cam. I am very disappointed.
Have just installed GCam to try. Hopefully it is better.
HDR is and never will be made for super low shutter speeds.
As I reckon these kids are moving quickly there is simply not enough time for the phone to quickly burst shoot and merge those 5 or so pictures for HDR
Just my guess. Try holding your phone still and shoot a static object and see if these problems persist
The attached pictures were taken with shutter speeds of 1/50 to 1/450 sec and on Oxygen OS 9.5.5. I'm now on 9.5.6 but I still experience issues with HDR so I keep it off.
The thing is that with Samsung (S7), only really low shutter speeds of around 1/10 s and low light caused issues - but then objects were blurred, which is what I expect. Not weird artifacts like the samples.
I basically never have enough time to play with settings so I only use auto.

Categories

Resources