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
So as seen on dxomark , the Huawei P20 pro is now the king of phone cameras, and one key thing is that it has a second monochrome camera just like the essential. Perhaps they figured out how better to "utilize" the monochrome camera much better than the devs at Essential?
i love my essential and i think is hope that it can be even better!
geminihc said:
So as seen on dxomark , the Huawei P20 pro is now the king of phone cameras, and one key thing is that it has a second monochrome camera just like the essential. Perhaps they figured out how better to "utilize" the monochrome camera much better than the devs at Essential?
i love my essential and i think is hope that it can be even better!
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There are a lot of ways to use the monochrome camera.
You can possibly use the image for increased dynamic range or contrast.
I use the Google Camera port for most shots, and use the OEM camera for B/W shots, which it does very well.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
How do they do it? Better hardware that's how
I don't think the way Huawei incorporates both cameras is better hardware, it's much better software. Huawei uses what they have better.
Murbert said:
I don't think the way Huawei incorporates both cameras is better hardware, it's much better software. Huawei uses what they have better.
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The hardware itself, i.e. the cameras, are better quality. We can argue this all day, but you can only polish a turd so much (fix poor quality hardware with software)
The P20 Pro takes amazing pictures because Huawei put an amazing primary sensor (and lenses) in the phone along with good image processing.
GCam demonstrates the limit of image processing (taking low-light images being more detailed than the monochrome camera on the stock app) but without better camera hardware that's as far as this phone can go.
What better hardware? The P20 can get about 50% more light per pixel which is half a stop which amounts to nothing in the photography world. DSLR sensors gather 10 times or more light than phone cams and yet DSRLs are dying.
In the smartphone camera world, software is everything. Remember that the LG G6 has the same sensors as the PH-1 and yet its DXO scores for texture and noise are way higher than both the P20 and the Pixel 2. And that's the scores for just a single sensor. The Xiaomi 5s also has the same sensor pair in the same arrangement as the PH-1 and the combined output trounces any single sensor in the smartphone world.
Essential is really behind in their software department, notwithstanding their commitment in software support. Despite of the fact the camera designer was the one behind the iPhone's portrait mode, their software still can't live up to hardware potential. The current stock cam app, even with combined sensor output, can't come close to some GCam mods which use just a single sensor.
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The P20 Pro, on the other hand, got the good low light quality only in 10MP mode which pixel-bins the 40MP down to 10MP. Its texture and noise scores are still no better the than the G6. At 40MP its low light quality is worse than crap.
Yeah no.
You can't go using "it's nothing compared to DSLR's" when the difference is 50% more light per pixel. DSLR's are not dying because of quality but because it's convenient to have a good enough camera in your phone.
Obviously software is the key for modern cellphone imagery, that isn't even the point here. We already know what better processing does for the Essential sensor in the GCam mod. Which also works on the G6 incidentally and yields generally better results than LG's own app. But on the whole it's not nearly as good as the Pixel 2 for instance. Don't give me "but DXO said" because even G6 users don't believe they do better.
ChronoReverse said:
Yeah no.
You can't go using "it's nothing compared to DSLR's" when the difference is 50% more light per pixel. DSLR's are not dying because of quality but because it's convenient to have a good enough camera in your phone.
Obviously software is the key for modern cellphone imagery, that isn't even the point here. We already know what better processing does for the Essential sensor in the GCam mod. Which also works on the G6 incidentally and yields generally better results than LG's own app. But on the whole it's not nearly as good as the Pixel 2 for instance. Don't give me "but DXO said" because even G6 users don't believe they do better.
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I didn't say "it's nothing compared to DSLR's" . If you don't understand, I'll say it again: 50% more light is half a stop which is nothing in the photography world. Do you even know what 50% more light means?
DSLRs have better hardware, but are dying not because of lack of convenience, but because quality from smartphone are good enough these days. Convenience was always there from the beginning of the smartphone age, but quality has only gotten good enough a few years recently. DSLRs always have the hardware advantage, but smartphone have the software and that's what make the difference.
And G6 users can't do better than Pixel 2 like DXO because they don't know what to do to get as good as DXO, at least in terms of texture and noise. "On the whole" is another matter since it's the whole package, which means Google software is much better than LG software. Well, it's the software that makes the difference. That's the point I'm making. It's not the camera hardware, it's the software. Differences in smartphone camera hardware are peanuts.
He also neglects to mention OIS on the g6.
Also, the Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus has the exact same design, with the same two Sony IMX258 sensors, one RGB and one Monochrome, no OIS, and it has the exact same problems with low light, even in daylight, and shutter lag. That phone was released a year ago. So Xiaomi proved this idea is a failure.
crixley said:
He also neglects to mention OIS on the g6.
Also, the Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus has the exact same design, with the same two Sony IMX258 sensors, one RGB and one Monochrome, no OIS, and it has the exact same problems with low light, even in daylight, and shutter lag. That phone was released a year ago. So Xiaomi proved this idea is a failure.
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Since you mentioned OIS, what does OIS do to make the sensor output better, specifically texture and noise quality? If you don't know, it does exactly jack squat nothing to the sensor. It helps with the whole package, but that doesn't make people like it more than the Pixel 2.
And the Xiaomi 5s is not a failure, at least in terms of camera quality. The least you could do when trying to argue against it is to look up review results for yourself. Look at the comparison tool at GSMarena for the 5s in stereo mode compared to any other phone cam, instead of talking about something you know nothing about. People make the results and tools available and you don't even bother to look at. Sad!
Why people make unsubstantiated claims about something they don't understand or even try to learn about? Opinions can always be different, but at least have some informed opinion.
tnthd2 said:
Since you mentioned OIS, what does OIS do to make the sensor output better, specifically texture and noise quality? If you don't know, it does exactly jack squat nothing to the sensor. It helps with the whole package, but that doesn't make people like it more than the Pixel 2.
And the Xiaomi 5s is not a failure, at least in terms of camera quality. The least you could do when trying to argue against it is to look up review results for yourself. Look at the comparison tool at GSMarena for the 5s in stereo mode compared to any other phone cam, instead of talking about something you know nothing about. People make the results and tools available and you don't even bother to look at. Sad!
Why people make unsubstantiated claims about something they don't understand or even try to learn about? Opinions can always be different, but at least have some informed opinion.
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Lol you're one to talk. You don't think OIS effects low light photos? Interesting. You should do some reading. Noise levels in low light are highly related to OIS.
It is ranked about the same as essential phone by most reviewers.
If you're going to call me out, at least be right
crixley said:
Lol you're one to talk. You don't think OIS effects low light photos? Interesting. You should do some reading. Noise levels in low light are highly related to OIS.
It is ranked about the same as essential phone by most reviewers.
If you're going to call me out, at least be right
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Absolutely not. OIS reduces vibration from your hands to help getting sharper images. Same exposure parameters with or without OIS give exactly the same noise level. It does nothing to help noise from sensor. If you think it does, explain or cite how it does.
The effectiveness of OIS on smartphones is dubious at best due to the very short focal length on most phones. If it's really effective, those gimbals wouldn't be in high demand or that expensive. But this is another matter unrelated to the photo quality of sensor output.
tnthd2 said:
Absolutely not. OIS reduces vibration from your hands to help getting sharper images. Same exposure parameters with or without OIS give exactly the same noise level. It does nothing to help noise from sensor. If you think it does, explain or cite how it does.
The effectiveness of OIS on smartphones is dubious at best due to the very short focal length on most phones. If it's really effective, those gimbals wouldn't be in high demand or that expensive. But this is another matter unrelated to the photo quality of sensor output.
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"If your camera meters the need for a slow shutter speed which will cause camera shake, there are two ways to switch to a faster shutter speed:
1. Open up the aperture. Opening up the aperture (makes the hole bigger and therefore) allows more light to come in and so reduces the time the shutter needs to stay open. ["Shutter speed" is simply the time the camera keeps the shutter open.]
2. Often, especially in low-light situations, this will not even give you a fast enough shutter speed to hand hold the camera, so the second way is to use a higher ISO."
"At this slow shutter speed and without using a tripod, we will obtain a blurred image if we hand hold the camera. But, with Image Stabilization, we are now able to hand hold the camera without worrying about camera shake (1/15 sec. is 2 stops slower than 1/60 sec.).
If the light level falls further and the camera now needs an even slower shutter speed, say of 1/4 sec. (that's 4 stops slower than 1/60 sec.: 1/60 sec., 1/30 sec., 1/15 sec., 1/8 sec., 1/4 sec.), Image Stabilization will not help us eliminate camera shake in this case. It will, however, reduce its effect.
Note that IS works irrespective of the ISO used. Whereas High ISO forces you to use a high ISO (with resulting high noise and image degradation issues *1), IS allows you to keep at a low ISO while still reducing camera shake (thus keeping maximum image quality). That is, it does not mess with your selected exposure settings (you keep the shutter speed, aperture and ISO you want to use)"
crixley said:
"If your camera meters the need for a slow shutter speed which will cause camera shake, there are two ways to switch to a faster shutter speed:
1. Open up the aperture. Opening up the aperture (makes the hole bigger and therefore) allows more light to come in and so reduces the time the shutter needs to stay open. ["Shutter speed" is simply the time the camera keeps the shutter open.]
2. Often, especially in low-light situations, this will not even give you a fast enough shutter speed to hand hold the camera, so the second way is to use a higher ISO."
"At this slow shutter speed and without using a tripod, we will obtain a blurred image if we hand hold the camera. But, with Image Stabilization, we are now able to hand hold the camera without worrying about camera shake (1/15 sec. is 2 stops slower than 1/60 sec.).
If the light level falls further and the camera now needs an even slower shutter speed, say of 1/4 sec. (that's 4 stops slower than 1/60 sec.: 1/60 sec., 1/30 sec., 1/15 sec., 1/8 sec., 1/4 sec.), Image Stabilization will not help us eliminate camera shake in this case. It will, however, reduce its effect.
Note that IS works irrespective of the ISO used. Whereas High ISO forces you to use a high ISO (with resulting high noise and image degradation issues *1), IS allows you to keep at a low ISO while still reducing camera shake (thus keeping maximum image quality). That is, it does not mess with your selected exposure settings (you keep the shutter speed, aperture and ISO you want to use)"
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Hmm, that's a lot of quote, but not sure how much you understand or believe in all that. How do you adjust any of those settings with any (except one) cam app?
Whatever exposure setting you take a picture at with OIS on, I can take another picture at the same setting with OIS off. The noise level will be exactly the same. There might be a difference in sharpness, but how much difference will depend on how firm I can hold the camera or if I use an external stabilization device or not.
Like I've said, it helps with the whole package, but it doesn't explain how the G6 get higher noise score than the Pixel 2 which also has OIS. It's all in the software.
tnthd2 said:
Hmm, that's a lot of quote, but not sure how much you understand or believe in all that. How do you adjust any of those settings with any (except one) cam app?
Whatever exposure setting you take a picture at with OIS on, I can take another picture at the same setting with OIS off. The noise level will be exactly the same. There might be a difference in sharpness, but how much difference will depend on how firm I can hold the camera or if I use an external stabilization device or not.
Like I've said, it helps with the whole package, but it doesn't explain how the G6 get higher noise score than the Pixel 2 which also has OIS. It's all in the software.
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What that user was trying to convey is OIS let's you use a slower shutter with less motion blur due to camera shake. Slower shutter equals lower ISO, which likely results in less noise. This doesn't help for moving subjects though.
gk1984 said:
What that user was trying to convey is OIS let's you use a slower shutter with less motion blur due to camera shake. Slower shutter equals lower ISO, which likely results in less noise. This doesn't help for moving subjects though.
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That's the theory. Slower shutter speed *requires* lower ISO for the same lighting level, since the aperture is fixed. But in practice, I wouldn't give it up like that, but rather try to brace myself to reduce vibration or just use a stabilization device/tripod so I can shoot at the same exposure setting and get the same acceptable noise level.
tnthd2 said:
That's the theory. Slower shutter speed *requires* lower ISO for the same lighting level, since the aperture is fixed. But in practice, I wouldn't give it up like that, but rather try to brace myself to reduce vibration or just use a stabilization device/tripod so I can shoot at the same exposure setting and get the same acceptable noise level.
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I think you have it backwards.
A slow shutter allows you to use a low ISO.
A fast shutter requires a high ISO.
This assumes shutter an not aperture priority.
Also 1/focal length is the minimum shutter speed to not have noticeable shake at correct lighting.
I feel like this has gone a tad off topic. Not to say its completely irrelevant but I feel the starting point is, us comparing both the Ph1's and the P20 implementation to know whats different.
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.
Has anyone experienced the camera on an Oppo Find X2 Pro at times to be extremely slow to take the shot? I basically press the shutter button and it takes a full second to then snap the shot. It's infrequent and seems to be present in lower light conditions but it's absolutely insane how it takes a full beat to capture the shot after hitting the button. I've never experienced anything like it in other phones and I'm just wondering if my device is faulty in some way. I bought it yesterday and have noticed it heats up a lot, even with just general use and thats something I'm not used to either. I can't seem to find any info on the Find X2 Pro experiencing camera issues or heating issues, it seems to get rave reviews where ever I look. It's certainly not my experience unfortunately.
I was just hoping to hear from anyone else who may have had this happen.
Yes, I sometimes run into this problem, too. It's really annoying. It mostly happens when I'm using the camera at home when the lighting conditions are not ideal but then again also far from bad or actually dimly lit.
The darker it is the longer it takes to take a good photo. The phone decreases the shutter speed to let in more light(auto night mode). Its annoying if u wanna take a photo of something thats in motion but if u keep the phone still it will take one of the best photos. You can use expert mode and set your own shutter speed but photos might look dark.
@cosmin94 well the thing is though that this behavior also seems to occur under lighting conditions that may not be ideal, but also far from a level where you'd think such a slow shutter speed is actually necessary. If I compare that to my old Samsung Galaxy S9+ under the same conditions it still takes quite okay photos in a much shorter time even though it has a much smaller sensor. So the Oppo should actually do much better than that considering...