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[Q] camera

I have the Sony Xperia J and, as I'm sure you guys already know, the camera isn't the best. My main problem is with the focus. If I set it to autofocus it doesn't focus properly ( for example I take, let's say 5 shots- in those 5 shots only a maximum of 3 are focused right, for the rest the phone does its thing and tries to focus and takes the picture but the focus is all messed up).
Now I know that I also have to keep my hand steady so that the picture will be better but still, the camera is a bit disappointing .
Do you guys have any tips for me? Do you use a different app instead of the stock Camera app?
I tried the Camera Zoom Fx and even dough it this have more options I'm still not pleased...

Nothing?

Well, j isnt equipped with exmor r cybershot blah 3x... If you do get a good pic, then you can count yourself as lucky. Even if you use other apps, its the hardware that matters when it comes to camera. Its like pocket camera vs DSLR battle. We know for sure DSLR wins.
Sent from My Awesome Paradox ST21i

photo question

I
Want to purchase this device and i qould like to is the camera as bad as said in all the reviews your opinions are greatly appreciated

Main camera - Meh.. Great
Front camera - Epic... BAD

Main camera, good in daylight, not so good in low light conditions. Photos have a yellow-ish tint. Front camera is bad, but you should not expect much in the beginning.

thank u all very much
starterz said:
Main camera, good in daylight, not so good in low light conditions. Photos have a yellow-ish tint. Front camera is bad, but you should not expect much in the beginning.
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Can u please post a low light shot please I need a decent cam and I really want a Sony

If you want a decent cam get a more expensive Sony As I said, good enough in daylight, not decent enough in low light conditions. This means that if the photo quality is important to you, this cam will not provide it in low light (with ot without flash). I think the phone is great for the price, but I don't care much about the quality of the camera as I use it very rarely.

thank u
starterz said:
If you want a decent cam get a more expensive Sony As I said, good enough in daylight, not decent enough in low light conditions. This means that if the photo quality is important to you, this cam will not provide it in low light (with ot without flash). I think the phone is great for the price, but I don't care much about the quality of the camera as I use it very rarely.
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I think I made up my mind then

The camera got better with kitkat, but it's still nothing impressive. If you want a good camera, get a camera. Or pay way too much for minor upgrade in quality by buying a high-end phone.

Like a said in my review, Sony always made great cameras, remember very well of my X10 and Arc ,great cameras. Im very disappointed with M2, both cameras are terrible, dunno why they did that. I would never buy M2 if i were a photographer.

The camera itself (=sensor) is fine, what isn't are the post-processing settings. Just look at these photos:
Example 1: 4.3 stock app | non-stock app
Example 2: 4.3 stock app | non-stock app
All of them taken with an M2, but the non-stock app is clearly superior; not oversharpened and no weird noise (like ex2, upper left corner)

In my opinion, the camera has a problem, if there are light and dark olayes in the picture. An darker daylight room with an window. In this situation, the pictures are getting realy creapie.

Crim Soukyuu said:
The camera itself (=sensor) is fine, what isn't are the post-processing settings. Just look at these photos:
All of them taken with an M2, but the non-stock app is clearly superior; not oversharpened and no weird noise (like ex2, upper left corner)
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What is this non stock app that you are using, please share how you set it up

@boro111: i'm using this one. I like the fact it offers saving to "raw" (.png) format, it's also the only one i saw so far that gives you control over the sharpness parameter, which i set to 0.

[Q] Photography Tips?

One of the reasons I got the Zperia Z3 was because I was under the impression that it had a great camera. Now all I have read on this forum is about the poor camera quality, especially in low light.
Do you have any tips or tricks on how to take better pictures with the Z3? Special Manuel settings? Use a different Camera app like the Google Camera? What works best for taking low light pictures? Etc?

Ask some of the guys on-set the next movie you're in!

se1000 said:
Ask some of the guys on-set the next movie you're in!
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Unfortunately they are all apple fanboys.

ChristianBale said:
Unfortunately they are all apple fanboys.
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:good: hilarious!
Generally speaking, the Z3 isn't terribly different than other smartphones, but it is a lot more configurable.
In super low light, I actually find that the mode superior auto chooses will work pretty well.
In good light, I find the key is to remember that the Z3 will have a "shallower" range of focus (depth of focus) than other smartphones, so making sure you tap the area you want the picture to be focused on is important.
Finally, the dedicated camera button is dual-stage, the first is to lock focus, this is a great feature. The more you use this, the more you'll find that you'll get the pictures you want.

Pick manual mode, 20mp, touch to focus, and use the on screen camera button. Using the physical button introduces a lot of camera shake which really shows up on 20mp shots.
I find the 20mp shots come out brilliant.
Waiting on an update to improve Superior auto.

I have found that :
>for general photos default mode is ok
> for panorama shots google camera
> for macros Camera - FV-5 manual settings 15.5 MP 16:9, really good
Have a Z3 D6603 , no Pink spots

ChristianBale said:
One of the reasons I got the Zperia Z3 was because I was under the impression that it had a great camera. Now all I have read on this forum is about the poor camera quality, especially in low light.
Do you have any tips or tricks on how to take better pictures with the Z3? Special Manuel settings? Use a different Camera app like the Google Camera? What works best for taking low light pictures? Etc?
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I am not sure why people go on about poor low light, it is not the best out there but it is hardly poor. It's better than most point and shoot cameras. Each iteration of the Z series cameras improves slightly on the quality.
Here is a shot, handheld low light ISO2000, superior auto with a Sony Z1
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-wilson/15543990377/
Here is an early firmware Z1 low light ISO800
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-wilson/10819208553/
Manual mode will give you the best results, plus allow you to get 20MP shots.
Here is a macro'ish shot manual mode, at full size you can see the pollen details, depth of field shallow due to the F2 aperture (again old Sony Z1)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-wilson/10819208553/
Will get out and take some shots with the Z3 today or tomorrow.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-wilson/15750020141/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-wilson/15566477008/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-wilson/15566041399/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-wilson/15727931396/

Camera

I'm considering the XZ, however there are very conflicting reviews of the camera. Some show really nasty photos, some show good photos. I'm assuming some of this has to do with SW versions and I know the XZ recently updated to 7.0.
I can't tell anything from a tethered store display unit.
Anyone have any comments regarding photo quality?
Manual mode is fine for me to shoot in. I almost always use manual mode on my cell phones and also my digital cameras.
Thanks in advance.

I find it pretty good, the manual shutter speed goes right down to 1/4000, manual focus ISO etc.
In MM I did realise the camera quality was worse than in 7.0 - so they did improve it.
Photos I have taken have great colours, and can usually be edited quite well in lightroom.
Big downside is the no RAW support (Yet, hopefully they release it)

nzzane said:
I find it pretty good, the manual shutter speed goes right down to 1/4000, manual focus ISO etc.
In MM I did realise the camera quality was worse than in 7.0 - so they did improve it.
Photos I have taken have great colours, and can usually be edited quite well in lightroom.
Big downside is the no RAW support (Yet, hopefully they release it)
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Thanks.
Colors have pretty much always been good in reports. The main thing that some of the "bad" reviews have mentioned is the artifacts especially in lower light. The better reviews and pictures that I've seen online don't really show a huge artifact problem and some of the youtube videos show what appears to be very good lowlight performance using manual mode.
I knew about the lack of raw support and I've used LR for a long time.

Fred98TJ said:
Thanks.
Colors have pretty much always been good in reports. The main thing that some of the "bad" reviews have mentioned is the artifacts especially in lower light. The better reviews and pictures that I've seen online don't really show a huge artifact problem and some of the youtube videos show what appears to be very good lowlight performance using manual mode.
I knew about the lack of raw support and I've used LR for a long time.
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Sony has always been a bit dodgy with low light, but I have found the XZ really improves on that (Compared to ther Z3, and Z5) Manual mode really helps with some of that though (same as a DSLR though)
Another thing to note, the device unlocks super quickly, and same with the camera, good for those un prepared shots

nzzane said:
Sony has always been a bit dodgy with low light, but I have found the XZ really improves on that (Compared to ther Z3, and Z5) Manual mode really helps with some of that though (same as a DSLR though)
Another thing to note, the device unlocks super quickly, and same with the camera, good for those un prepared shots
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Thanks again for the response.
I suppose that there isn't really any infor on their nrw 19mp camera used in thr XZs, nor have I found any pricing on it. At any rate it seems only a small upgrade from the XZ, with mostly the new camera and another 1 of ram

Pictures are generally very noisy and blurry when its not in extremely good light (inside with the sun shining through the windows with the lights on as well) Video however is very very good. I dont use manual mode since I don't know what to do, but as a point and shoot I can think of several phones that do better and probably cost less. If you want to buy it for the camera, just dont.

omarfarrah said:
Pictures are generally very noisy and blurry when its not in extremely good light (inside with the sun shining through the windows with the lights on as well) Video however is very very good. I dont use manual mode since I don't know what to do, but as a point and shoot I can think of several phones that do better and probably cost less. If you want to buy it for the camera, just dont.
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Noisy and blurry? Do you have a xz? In my xz i don't have those problems...

djgigi94 said:
Noisy and blurry? Do you have a xz? In my xz i don't have those problems...
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Thats strange, I hope I dont have a faulty hardware , however did you try to take indoor pictures and zoom in, you'll really notice the noise atleast, and if I'm not still as a building then it will also blur.

Sometimes the SW can overboard with the sharpening, I wish there was an option to disable it. Most phones probably have this issue too though.
I dont know if this can be counted as an issue but the lens on XZ has kind of a fish eye effect, So If you are taking a picture of an object and put it i the corners, it stretches and looks a bit... uh, unnatural? Because of this I try to make sure to center people as much as I can.
Some also say that taking pics in 8 mp mode introduces some artifacts because of the conversion algorithm (23mp to 8mp downsizing). So I use 23MP to avoid any unwanted processing.

I find the colors of the photos, taken with the XZ, to be very dull and way too cold to my liking, and XZ's Camera UI and Camera API have very limited manual controls set, unlike the rest of the flagships out there. I made a few photos with my old Xperia Pro and my new Xperia XZ for comparison, you can check them here - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0u28226fxm9z27d/AADrU08TmvfIUtSbprgharT-a?dl=0 . I was very unhappy with the XZ's camera so I sold it one week after I bought it.
EDIT: you check this thread for more information about the limitations, related to the manual controls of XZ's camera - https://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-xz/help/enable-manual-controls-camera-t3580654

My experience, XZ pictures have a lot of noise (you can see that when you zoom in) when the light is not enough (and the phone is the one that decides what it means by enough )
I am coming from Galaxy s6 edge + to XZ Dual, and the S6 is the winner in my comparison.
If you want it for the camera, I wouldnt recommend you to go for the XZ.
---------- Post added at 04:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:09 PM ----------
check this for your reference
https://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-xz/help/xperia-xz-dual-sim-camera-noise-t3582899

Fred98TJ said:
Thanks again for the response.
I suppose that there isn't really any infor on their nrw 19mp camera used in thr XZs, nor have I found any pricing on it. At any rate it seems only a small upgrade from the XZ, with mostly the new camera and another 1 of ram
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This review has sample photos in full res from XZS if you wanna know about picture quality. I own the XZ and i do see a difference in quality to the better in XZs compared to XZ..
https://www.lowyat.net/2017/128842/sony-xperia-xzs-review-one-trick-pony/

After I started using 4:3 full resolution instead od cropped 16:9 and disabled object tracking I very rarely see edge bluring and the photos in general are a lot better.
The "noise" people talk about in most cases is not really noise, it's a result of the image processing algorithm being too aggressive trying to eliminate noise even when there isn't any. First it sharpens the hell out of the photo to bring out as much detail as possible and then it tries to remove the resulting noise by applying heavy noise reduction. It's basically shooting itself in the foot. But, it really isn't as dramatic as some would say, you can't really see that effect until you zoom in really close. If Sony could find a middle ground, balance it out a bit, it would be perfect.
Sony's image processing has always been an issue for some unexplainable reason, they mastered sensors and image processing in photography a long time ago, but when it comes to phones it fails in software department, the sensor are the best on the market still.
It really is mind boggling, and they are aware of that, it's basically a software issue, it just needs some adjusting, why apply a noise reduction filter when there isn't any noise? HDR usually sucks as well. Then again, their DIS is top notch, the autofocus since the XZ is superb, the colors to me look great all around, low light photos are very good, specially in manual mode with adjustable shutter speed...there are great things about Sony's cameras, but usually things average user doesn't really see or cares about.
To be fair, the only time I see those artefacts is when I zoom in, not even when watching fullscreen on a PC, so I'm really pleased with the camera on Xperia since the Z3, but all things considered, Sony should have the best smartphone cameras in the world or at least be the top 3.
All that being said, shooting in manual mode is a different story, once you get a hang of it and learn how to use it, it can stand besides the best of them, easy. But that's not really a fair measurement, only auto modes, because that's what most people will use, and that's where Sony usually doesn't do that great.
The phone takes great photos, and I have yet to see a review that says it's a bad camera. It really isn't, it just isn't at the top few as it could be.
As for the XZs, currently it often produces lower quality photos than the XZ, depending on the scenario, it isn't a better camera, it's just different and has different strenghts in different scenarios. Plus, the slowmo gadget, if you care about that stuff. Other than that, there is no reason why it should be a better camera in average scenarios, maybe in low light because the pixels are bigger, but that's pretty much it.
If the quality of photos is your only concern about buying an XZ (or XZs, for that matter), you shouldn't be worried.

Camera is buggy - Too much Noise ( High ISO - 2000-3000 )

Hello,
So I received my all new HTC U11 3 days back ( in India) officially. HTC u11 has world's best rated camera but I am not quite satisfied with the results.
1.) Rear camera is really struggling to capture the photos in low light. I can clearly see the noise.
2.) Front facing camera has no OIS so pictures are blurry and most of the times I noisy photos.
Find the attachments below :
1.) Front facing camera
2 ) rear facing camera
See the noise and level of quality.

hm.. photo #1 has the plant completely out of focus. photo #2 has the pot in focus. you may wanna make sure that the subject is in focus before snapping.
did you change the camera settings to "Touch autoexposure"? The default mode of the camera is "Center-weighted"

Conan1986 said:
hm.. photo #1 has the plant completely out of focus. photo #2 has the pot in focus. you may wanna make sure that the subject is in focus before snapping.
did you change the camera settings to "Touch autoexposure"? The default mode of the camera is "Center-weighted"
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Thank you for replying. Let me make the things clear.
The first photo was taken from the selfie camera where I tried to focus on the plant/pot everywhere but it was not focusing anyhow. No matter what it wasn't focusing.
In low light, I can clearly see the noise in the all corners.

The selfie camera doesn't have auto focus everything is in focus ( as long as it is at least 18 inches away). Play around with the settings for the rear camera. HDR auto, HDR, so far all my photos are excellent focal point and background.

Conan1986 said:
hm.. photo #1 has the plant completely out of focus. photo #2 has the pot in focus. you may wanna make sure that the subject is in focus before snapping.
did you change the camera settings to "Touch autoexposure"? The default mode of the camera is "Center-weighted"
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schmeggy929 said:
The selfie camera doesn't have auto focus everything is in focus ( as long as it is at least 18 inches away). Play around with the settings for the rear camera. HDR auto, HDR, so far all my photos are excellent focal point and background.
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Well I have attached a sample selfie shot. Please check and tell me.

[email protected] said:
Well I have attached a sample selfie shot. Please check and tell me.
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Like I said you are too close using the selfie cam, it is meant too be an arm's long away to have everything in focus.

schmeggy929 said:
Like I said you are too close using the selfie cam, it is meant too be an arm's long away to have everything in focus.
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Sir I am not complaining about the focus and all... See the noise... Can't you see the noise in the picture?
Even zoom your spiderman... You will notice the same noise.

[email protected] said:
Sir I am not complaining about the focus and all... See the noise... Can't you see the noise in the picture?
Even zoom your spiderman... You will notice the same noise.[/Q
Adjust the iso manually
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Conan1986 said:
did you change the camera settings to "Touch autoexposure"? The default mode of the camera is "Center-weighted"
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Hi. Can you say more here or is there a link to how we can best make this adjustment? I'm not terribly savvy and appreciate the tips. Thx.

skypilotofhope said:
Hi. Can you say more here or is there a link to how we can best make this adjustment? I'm not terribly savvy and appreciate the tips. Thx.
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Well, in the camera app, pull down the slider with the = icon, swipe to the right to reveal "Settings" which is on the left, tap on that and "Touch autoexposure" should be the first option.
This option is important if you tend to compose your shots with the subject not in the middle (rule of thirds) so tapping on your subject will adjust the exposure and focus according to your subject.

My low light shots are all at over 3000 ISO which leaves quite a bit of visible noise in the picture.
Not liking the camera in poor lighting just yet. Hopefully they will introduce an ISO limiter, or simply fix this in an upcoming update.

I also have a lot of noise in low light photos (rear camera). Automode just isn´t usable if you want to have nice low light photos. The pictures look like that of phones some years ago. Light sources are also always blown out a lot. I also think that the OIS of the U11 isn´t the best out there. So far I don´t really think that this is the best smartphone camera and I was hoping for a better camera performance. HTC told a german magazine in May that they want to deliver an update for the camera. But I don´t know if they really deliver or if this update was the small update of June (?) of the camera app itself. I did this update and nothing changed.

Camera is phenomenal with stunning low light performance.
Check one of mine in auto
IMAG0247 by xristos zerzis, on Flickr

Guys, I've been into photography for over 40yrs. - shooting at ISO 3000 will give you noise onless you're using one of the latest Pro or Prosumer cameras w/advanced sensors- the Nikon D5 / D500 are full frame cropped frame verions ef virtually the same camera in terms of auto focus, pic rendition, & yes, superlative results w/astronomical ISO's - which both support. This is a phone, not a prosumer or petter camera. 3000 ISO is gonna give noise. There are a number of companies that make post processing software specifically to help w/Noise. That nite shot the other fellow took is good work.
The phone is great. The camera is quite good. Deal w/the technical realities & don't expect the cellphone camera to deal w/noise like a Pro DSLR.

foxy4270 said:
Camera is phenomenal with stunning low light performance.
Check one of mine in auto
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That's great, but the ISO fired at only 1262.
Whenever I take a shot in similar lighting, auto mode uses ISO 3152, which means there will be a lot of noise.
Perhaps there are different software versions going around, because my phone has very poor low light performance in auto mode due to it using a far higher ISO than it should.
oldwolf613 said:
The phone is great. The camera is quite good. Deal w/the technical realities & don't expect the cellphone camera to deal w/noise like a Pro DSLR.
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I'm not expecting such a small sensor to handle ISO well - I'm expecting that the camera won't default to a ridiculously high ISO like 3152 where my previous Samsung S6 was happily snapping along at ~1000 with stellar results.

Yes, everyone knows that this isn't a DSLR. But when they claim to have the best smartphone camera around I expect better results. I also don't know why they use a smaller sensor than before... This phone goes for 749 Euro and the low light results often look like from an old S5 or iPhone 4. The Automode just isn't usable in this scenarios. If they deliver an update they could solve the issues, I guess.

Turn on pro mode and drop ISO..

rom116 said:
Turn on pro mode and drop ISO..
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And here in the first sample you can see what I mean with this weak OIS...

Zico, as someone else said go Pro mode & get lower ISO, & even if this phone's camera sensor is smaller than prev ones, - compared to a Pro(sumer) DSLR, this fone's cam compared to prev one vs.
DSLR is like the choosing pinch hitters who bat .249 & .253- the smaller fone sensor is just a bit less than the prev *slightly* bigger one- then there is the density of pixels & dynamic range that make for a good camera - Y am I still talking abt this?

Pro mode and manually selecting ISO is not a solution to a poorly tuned auto mode - it is a workaround that is barely tolerable.