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[Q] Better camera app/settings?

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.)

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

Noobs help for manual camera

Hi guys I've just come back to the xzp from my note 8 (hate all the bezeless trend) and the pictures on the xzp are quite noisy especially in low light
I've heard that manual mode is the best but I'm a noob when it comes to manual setting in the camera app
What's a good starting point for the settings in manual mode to get me started with better pics in low light
I don't me night time pics just room lighting types lol
Thanks

Anyone have any recommendations :laugh:

It's easy, lower ISO better quality (but less light). You can compensate the low light by decreasing shutter speed, but then, you have to have a really steady hands, or tripod.
So, in short, to get the best quality, use ISO50 and shutter speed 1s. However, without a tripod, it's really hard to get sharp photo. Sometimes when handheld, you can try shutter speed 1/8s with higher ISO (200 or 400) you will see what is necessary by the brightness in viewfinder.
You can see some of my low light pics here https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72886521&postcount=8

admad said:
It's easy, lower ISO better quality (but less light). You can compensate the low light by decreasing shutter speed, but then, you have to have a really steady hands, or tripod.
So, in short, to get the best quality, use ISO50 and shutter speed 1s. However, without a tripod, it's really hard to get sharp photo. Sometimes when handheld, you can try shutter speed 1/8s with higher ISO (200 or 400) you will see what is necessary by the brightness in viewfinder.
You can see some of my low light pics here https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72886521&postcount=8
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Wow there some nice shots taken there :good:
I'm struggling to get decent pics just in my living room under normal lighting

admad said:
It's easy, lower ISO better quality (but less light). You can compensate the low light by decreasing shutter speed, but then, you have to have a really steady hands, or tripod.
So, in short, to get the best quality, use ISO50 and shutter speed 1s. However, without a tripod, it's really hard to get sharp photo. Sometimes when handheld, you can try shutter speed 1/8s with higher ISO (200 or 400) you will see what is necessary by the brightness in viewfinder.
You can see some of my low light pics here https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72886521&postcount=8
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The biggest problem I have is all my pics seem blurred like my lens is smudged even though its clean

brockyneo said:
The biggest problem I have is all my pics seem blurred like my lens is smudged even though its clean
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I think that's just a consequence of Sony's extreme post-processing, along with the the lack of OIS and the longer shutter speeds. When zooming in you'd notice that most detail is wiped out by the post processing even in good lighting conditions. As far as I know this can't be fixed since Sony doesn't give raw files and third party cameras are worse.
If you're using 1s shutter time then it's easy to get a bit of blur from the phone moving if you're holding it by hand but it should definitely has less noise than auto.. Resting it against a surface also helps. I found it better to use the on screen shutter button rather than the physical shutter button to reduce shaking, especially if you're using a case.
But in regards to high noise in room lighting, I find that a bit odd as the pictures I took were pretty clean, at least compared to similar cameras like the OnePlus 3. Maybe you're just noticing it because you came from the Note8, which possibly has the best camera?

brockyneo said:
The biggest problem I have is all my pics seem blurred like my lens is smudged even though its clean
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It's because of hand shake when taking picture. Bidiminished said one more important thing I forgot, set a self-timer for 3 sec, because it's very easy to introduce slight movement with button press or even on screen touch.
Also, having a mobile tripod is a huge help if you can use it at the moment of taking picture.
Some example, cheap tripod with lenses(lenses are not that useful, but the tripod in this set is good ) for 3,5$ with free shipping.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5in...a9dfc3f&transAbTest=ae803_5&priceBeautifyAB=0

Hi guys thanks I'll take another look today apart from the camera I'm loving the phone over the note 8 I'd of thought with Sony been the main provider of lenses and Sony are using there latest just thought it would be better lol
Thanks

How necessary is a telephoto camera?

I am wavering between buying an s10e or an s10. In favor of the s10e: I prefer the size of the device and I like that there is a slight bezel on the left and right of the screen. However, it doesn't have the telephoto camera. I found that zoomed photos with the telephoto on the s10 are quite a bit sharper. On the other hand, I seriously dislike the s10's infinity screen. It warps the egdes of photos, web pages, etc. So, it comes down to how much advantage the telephoto camera provides. If it's not so important, I'd opt for the s10e. I'd like to see some opinions about the necessity for the telephoto. BTW, I realize the P30 has 3 cameras and a flat screen, but it's not the horse I want to ride - no wireless charging, no IP68, so-so sound, probably even worse at updates the Sammy.

All depends what you want.

Yes, a dedicated zoom camera makes better zoom photos.
But, even with image stabilization it is harder to get good shots that are not blurry. I never used zoom on a phone. But i can tell you that since i have the S10e i do mostly 2 photos with the standard cam and than with wide angle. Wide angle does interesting photos.

It is good to have

I don't take photos all too frequently, and when I do I never use zoom. It degrades the quality of the image quite a bit, be it optical or digital.

Since asking this question, I took time at a local store to play with the 10 and 10e. I set both to 8x zoom, since that is the max zoom for the 10e. There is quite a noticeable difference. The 10e had lot of noise and the 10 didn't. In fact, at 10x, the 10 still had a clearer image than the 10e. Now, if I could just come to terms with the curved screen and the weird edge reflections.

Not at all to me but i wish samsung went for the same wide angle lens on huawei mate 20 pro, usable in close up shots and gets amazing photos.
Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

I don't think it's that necessary... When you get 5x or 10x optical then it's cool, but 2x nah... I think the ultrawide is more fun

Getting a 10e here. But wondering how much worse the live focus will be without the Tele lens. Anyone have the experience?

Camera vs S10?

Any one able to compare the camera with the Samsung S10? Is it better or worse?

Having both phones, I can say it's worse.
The main issue really is the exposure and whatever HDR+ algorithm they're implementing in the stock camera app. Even though they said it's the same HRD algorithm that was applied by google for pixel phones, I still think it's over exposing everything especially the low tones and shadows - this produce a very unnatural looking picture. (If I wear a black shirt, my pic came out as if I'm wearing a gray shirt due to overexposure on the shadows).
On the other hand, I'm really loving the flip camera and the ability to use wide angle for selfie/group selfie and video. That is definitely the highlight of this hardware. But I will be lying if I say I'm not struggling to love the quality of the pictures produced by this phone.

Have you tried the GCAM port? for me it produces better pics...

The Asus stock camera is hit or miss. Too inconsistent for me, especially the HDR++ mode.
But with arnova's GCam port it is simply amazing and blows away even the pixel 3 cameras.

The wide angle camera in our Asus does not focus as good as the main camera ..try it..also the slow motion videos are not that sharp and crisp.

baymon said:
Having both phones, I can say it's worse.
The main issue really is the exposure and whatever HDR+ algorithm they're implementing in the stock camera app. Even though they said it's the same HRD algorithm that was applied by google for pixel phones, I still think it's over exposing everything especially the low tones and shadows - this produce a very unnatural looking picture. (If I wear a black shirt, my pic came out as if I'm wearing a gray shirt due to overexposure on the shadows).
On the other hand, I'm really loving the flip camera and the ability to use wide angle for selfie/group selfie and video. That is definitely the highlight of this hardware. But I will be lying if I say I'm not struggling to love the quality of the pictures produced by this phone.
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Agreed, that there is sometimes overexposure, but I like more Asus camera's bright photos instead of GCAM darker photos. GCAM is better in very dark, but I prefer Asus camera often, specially for low light photos. Well, I have exposure compensation + 0,4 in GCAM, but still ...

I can easy say that this is the best cellphone camera on the market now, I installed Gcam and activaed raw.
I have never seen a phonecamera produce such a good raw files, even in low light.
Skintones, natural colors is great on this camera, Samsung, Sony, Huawei. and lot of other manufactors are terrible when it comes to natural skintones, overuse of noisce reduction....
Also the 4K 60fps is very natural and doesn't have the unatural look that almost every other brand have.