The Moto G camera: noise reduction is the key - Moto G General

Here are some details I uncovered in regards to the camera of Moto G:
Camera specification:
- 5mpxl
- f/2.4
- 4mm focal length.
Most definitely a small sensor, (< 1/3.2' ), likely 1/4'. Also very likely won't have BSI for better low light performance.
Meanwhile there's no good teardown (yet) to find out the make of the camera module, by going through the spec sheets of many other phones, the sensor is likely to be same one you find in Lumia 625.
Most of you will probably agree that Moto G doesn't take good photos. Meanwhile the optic is the best it should be well capable of better.
Issue at the moment is that there's TOO MUCH noise reduction, which can cause a very 'water-paint' feel to the pictures, and destroying any form of sharpness.
From my test with stock and many other camera apps (Lenovo, focal, a better cam, etc etc), while they help with the compression, focus, white-balance and metering etc. and can help the quality of the photos. They don't fix the sharpness/noise reduction issue with the camera. It seems like it's been hard-coded into the software for the camera.
Are there anyone out there who will be able to fix this?

The Motorola camera app was updated today, has this improved the noise reduction?
Nuthin' but a 'Moto G' thang

cption said:
Are there anyone out there who will be able to fix this?
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Google seems to be working on a completely overhauled Hardware Abstraction Layer for the cameras that will allow apps to tap more directly into the camera pipelines. They'll be able, for instance, to get RAW captures and and do their own custom demoisacing/debayering and the whole post- pipeline. That would probably fix any heavy-handed processing done by any of the OEMs.

AluKed said:
Google seems to be working on a completely overhauled Hardware Abstraction Layer for the cameras that will allow apps to tap more directly into the camera pipelines. They'll be able, for instance, to get RAW captures and and do their own custom demoisacing/debayering and the whole post- pipeline. That would probably fix any heavy-handed processing done by any of the OEMs.
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RAW just gives an uncompressed image, there's no real guarantee that no processing takes place..
I'm going to report my findings on the new moto camera update. From the look of it it's just a routine, general update that shouldn't make much difference.

bien irleeno
cption said:
RAW just gives an uncompressed image, there's no real guarantee that no processing takes place..
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Not really. RAW is much more than an uncompressed image, it's as close to the raw, unprocessed sensor output as possible. No demosaicing, no tone mapping/gamma, no conversion from (typically) 12 bits per pixel to 8 bits, no processing and no lossy compression. If any of this is done, then it isn't RAW.

For you which camera app is the best ?

el-marino said:
For you which camera app is the best ?
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camera awesome is amazing and vignette its very good try with this app's u can get a better pic from stock cam

I think the original Android app takes better photos
The only problem with this app is the HDR
I installed the original app 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4, none of them has the HDR
Any way to solve this?

I've just installed snap camera, I have to say it is streets ahead of stock moto cam.
Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

I wasn't able to post before/after comparison with the stock camera app as it updated itself. So far I'm not seeing any different image wise between the update.
I've done some comparison shots in between the cameras, and added in my Ativ S (GS3 WP8 alter-ego) as a bonus.
Snap Camera focus very well, and I was able to take good shots with my shaky hands. However, the blurring issue is very apparent with all camera apps..
N.B. The Focal photo was slightly blurred due to my shaky hands, sorry!

Just to clear it, you're talking about this paid app ?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.marginz.snap&hl=en

SlashGear have posted an article on the Camera software update released by Motorola.
This update does a tiny bit to improve all areas of shooting with manual controls, and shows sign that Motorola isn’t going to let this device fall by the wayside at all, whatsoever.
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[SlashGear]

lost101 said:
SlashGear have posted an article on the Camera software update released by Motorola.
[SlashGear]
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I dunno Slashgear articles seems iffy...
Moto G ALREADY had the Exposure/Focal Ring tbh, seems they didnt notice or use it in their original review. This exposure/focus ring is the basis of their camera comparison it seems.

I did not find options to manual focus and exposure.

Psychoferno said:
I did not find options to manual focus and exposure.
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It's just the ring that you can drag around the screen to choose the point of focus and exposure. I'm sure that we (at least I did!) had this from the beginning on Moto G (maybe the X didn't and that's where the stories are coming from?) and the recent update was basically bug fixes for us.

Yes, the G Moto already had this function. Thanks for the clarification.

Kameo said:
Just to clear it, you're talking about this paid app ?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.marginz.snap&hl=en
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Yes, I just used the trial for the comparison.
Note that XDA compresses the image so it's very hard to tell from the photos I posted.
But the Moto-G is absolutely no match for the camera on my Ativ-S/GS3. Not sure if it will fair better if the noise reduction issues been fixed.
But Snap Camera seem to do the best job out of the apps I've tried, for my shaky hand of course. Not compared the HDR mode yet but stock camera do that quite well.

any comparison between s3?^

t-bon3 said:
The Motorola camera app was updated today, has this improved the noise reduction?
Nuthin' but a 'Moto G' thang
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Camera apps rarely make any significant difference in quality, unless they start passing different parameters/settings to the camera HAL.
Usually, if you see major changes in camera performance, it's HAL changes, which require a system firmware update.

Entropy512 said:
Usually, if you see major changes in camera performance, it's HAL changes, which require a system firmware update.
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Click to collapse
I'm guessing that we'll get the Camera HAL v3 with Kit Kat 4.5. I mean, that's the kind of feature that would justify a version bump. Hopefully the hardware will be compliant enough that it won't have to run in the Limited Semantics mode.

Related

Note 3 camera blur/post processing

Well, hello there,
as you Note 3 owners probably noticed, the Samsung Camera Stock app applies a heavy (!!) blur filter on every picture. Why? Don't know, because it's the Samsung way. My Note 1 made far better and sharper pictures.
But fear not, there is a solution. There is an App called "FV5" in the store which has far less agressive post processing and is much sharper. Here is a comparison.
You should really get rid of the stock-app, I suggest. It's horrible and there is much more in the Note 3 camera when we thought so far. It's pretty ok in combination with the right app.
Stock:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g1g4kxw65e8gkzf/20140106_092845.jpg
FV5:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1rb0qp0qzxs09ck/DSC_0089.JPG
I have FV5 and Snap camera, but I rarely use my camera unless it's for a drunken pic of something stupid. - Haven't really tested the differences in any of them either. But I will later today
I've had mine little over a week and have to say I have been far from impressed with the pictures it takes.
descb600f said:
I've had mine little over a week and have to say I have been far from impressed with the pictures it takes.
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The hardware itself is pretty good. It just needs the right software to drive it. Without the blur of the stock app you can make nice pictures.
Sephi said:
Well, hello there,
as you Note 3 owners probably noticed, the Samsung Camera Stock app applies a heavy (!!) blur filter on every picture. Why? Don't know, because it's the Samsung way. My Note 1 made far better and sharper pictures.
But fear not, there is a solution. There is an App called "FV5" in the store which has far less agressive post processing and is much sharper. Here is a comparison.
You should really get rid of the stock-app, I suggest. It's horrible and there is much more in the Note 3 camera when we thought so far. It's pretty ok in combination with the right app.
Stock:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g1g4kxw65e8gkzf/20140106_092845.jpg
FV5:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1rb0qp0qzxs09ck/DSC_0089.JPG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have noticed that the first image is 9.6 Mp whilst the second is full 13mp
The default setting is 16:9 aspect ratio
Try setting 13mp in standard camera app then repeat your test.
Certainly FV5 has a lot of flexibility if you're familiar with photography settings
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app
I know that was a mistake I made. But fear not, that is not the issue here. In fact it does barely make a difference. It's the Stock-Apps post processing that kills all image quality. FV5 is far superior.
Sephi said:
I know that was a mistake I made. But fear not, that is not the issue here. In fact it does barely make a difference. It's the Stock-Apps post processing that kills all image quality. FV5 is far superior.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also noticed a slight blur with the AOSP Camera app under CM 11. But at least there is no annoying post-processing. I would say the stock camera app does provide the best image quality results, due to the post-processing, since the hardware by itself is nothing incredible (the sensor is rather small compared to the sensors used in the latest Sony and Nokia phones). A bigger sensor not only enables greater detail, but when combined with OIS (like in the aforementioned phones), minimizes blur as well. I tried the FV app, and while it has a lot of added functionality, I did not like the layout in which they were implemented, and the picture quality was similar to the stock Samsung app. If the Lenovo Super Camera app worked on my ROM, that would probably be the best alternative.
semendemon said:
I've also noticed a slight blur with the AOSP Camera app under CM 11. But at least there is no annoying post-processing. I would say the stock camera app does provide the best image quality results, due to the post-processing, since the hardware by itself is nothing incredible (the sensor is rather small compared to the sensors used in the latest Sony and Nokia phones). A bigger sensor not only enables greater detail, but when combined with OIS (like in the aforementioned phones), minimizes blur as well. I tried the FV app, and while it has a lot of added functionality, I did not like the layout in which they were implemented, and the picture quality was similar to the stock Samsung app. If the Lenovo Super Camera app worked on my ROM, that would probably be the best alternative.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, but the Stock Camera App from Samsung applies HEAVY post processing. It basically blurs the whole image, all sharpness is gone. It's horrible. FV5 does take much better pictures.
Sephi said:
You should really get rid of the stock-app, I suggest. It's horrible and there is much more in the Note 3 camera when we thought so far. It's pretty ok in combination with the right app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good find, seems like a nice app, the stock camera app really is garbage.
Kinda funny, i come from a z1 and i take better pics with my note 3 in low light i just play with ev and iso
Lexrg said:
Kinda funny, i come from a z1 and i take better pics with my note 3 in low light i just play with ev and iso
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will take even better pictures with FV5. The stock apps noise filter is so heavy that it blurs everything, imo it's impossible to shoot a really sharp picture. It's always kinda blurry.
Take some photos and compare, it's super obvious.

One Plus X Camera Samples

Here are some one plus x camera samples, I hope this thread helps others to get an idea about one plus x camera.
Video Samples of One Plus X Camera by some youtuber.
Front Camera - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMyjawiSG4s
Rear Camera - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAvlGPNpxvw
TL;DR, it looks like the X will probably have a decent daylight camera that produces somewhat soft & noisy images in low light, with quick focus & decent colors but a so-so AOSP-ish camera app.
GSM Arena's hands-on review is one of the few with any camera samples or evaluation.
HDR Off
HDR On
The image quality can vaguely be described as good. We could only test it indoors in poor lighting conditions. Considering the odds were stacked against it, we'd say the camera fared well and despite the lighting, the images are usable with good amount of detail and acceptable amount of noise. We'd like to test it more thoroughly in different lighting conditions but from our brief experience with it we are willing to bet the overall image quality is going to be pretty good.
The camera speed is also impressive. The camera launches and shoots quickly. The phase detection autofocus occasionally falters but is still quick even in low light.
The camera software is similar to the one on the OnePlus 2, which means it's really not very good. It follows the Google Camera app too closely, which honestly is far from user-friendly. There aren't many shooting options available and the app makes you feel like a novice who has just figured out how to take a picture. Those who want more control are bound to be left frustrated.
The camera app doesn't have any quick launch gesture by default but you can assign any of the capacitive buttons below the display to launch the camera by double tapping, but this only works if the phone is unlocked.
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---------- Post added at 10:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:31 AM ----------
Add this to the evaluation:
engadget.com said:
An immediate worry is the OnePlus X's camera -- the 13-megapixel sensor is supposed to be a highlight of the device, but I wasn't all that impressed. On the 28th floor of a tower in central London, the photos it spat out looked a little soft and noisy. With large windows on either side, the room wasn't exactly dark or dingy, so low-light performance could be an issue.
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cnet.com said:
I snapped a few photos and images looked sharp with accurate colors. The camera also operated quickly, with touch focus that adjusted smoothly. Its interface is kept to a minimum with few on-screen editing options.
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COOL
cool
One Plus X Quick Camera Overview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87CxoFJBq2o
Looks good to me but then im not a photografer
I have a z3 compact and I consider the X. Even though the z3c is, by many, appreciated for it's camera, for me, it's terrible. Mainly because of the freaking long time it takes to snap a photo (impossible to get a good photo of my kid). So I'd take a downgrade in "perfect conditions" for a faster camera that's reliable of snapping usable pics.
What do you reckon?
Adebisi666 said:
I have a z3 compact and I consider the X. Even though the z3c is, by many, appreciated for it's camera, for me, it's terrible. Mainly because of the freaking long time it takes to snap a photo (impossible to get a good photo of my kid). So I'd take a downgrade in "perfect conditions" for a faster camera that's reliable of snapping usable pics.
What do you reckon?
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Click to collapse
Hard to say. At this point we have very little information on the camera since no full reviews have been published.
Adebisi666 said:
I have a z3 compact and I consider the X. Even though the z3c is, by many, appreciated for it's camera, for me, it's terrible. Mainly because of the freaking long time it takes to snap a photo (impossible to get a good photo of my kid). So I'd take a downgrade in "perfect conditions" for a faster camera that's reliable of snapping usable pics.
What do you reckon?
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Agreed. Who knows, with a bit of editing, the photos might turn out to be pretty good. My old HTC One V had only a 5mp camera, but it was really fast. In good lighting and with a little tweaking, it managed to take some surprisingly good photos. I think the OnePlus X camera will do just fine, especially for the price.
Sent from my iPad Mini Retina using Tapatalk
Here are mine ! I'm not a photographer at all. I'm an amateur, i even was a little bit shaky on the flower picture
Front camera
PoloB49 said:
Here are mine ! I'm not a photographer at all. I'm an amateur, i even was a little bit shaky on the flower picture
Front camera
Click to expand...
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Can you post some low light / night photos?
Thank you so much
qwerty123321 said:
Can you post some low light / night photos?
Thank you so much
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It would be great if you wouldn't quote his entire post including the pictures.
Here's a look at the OnePlus X's camera:
OnePlus X camera samples: What does $250 get you? | technobuffalo.com
qwerty123321 said:
Can you post some low light / night photos?
Thank you so much
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It's night outside, i used night mode with the app ProShot.
In normal mode :
The images look quite good. I wasn't expecting them to be that good.
How is the camera performing in taking quick snapshots? That will be my primary use for the camera.
Thanks mate
I found this interesting comparison with the camera on the Galaxy S6 Edge+.
ubergizmo.com said:
While the S6-series win if images are viewed in detail on a computer (no contest), they look quite similar on a phone screen or on Social Media. This means that for most usages (FB, Instagram, email, text…) the OnePlus X photo quality is quite comparable to the best out there. It is only when you inspect the photos from up close, that the higher resolution of high-end phones truly shows the difference:
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Source: ubergizmo.com
Please delete
I can't find the Option in the camera APP to change the storage mode from pictures to SD card. Anybody know that?
criz.89 said:
I can't find the Option in the camera APP to change the storage mode from pictures to SD card. Anybody know that?
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Exactly my question.
Why do low light shots have so much noise in them? My Nexus 5 has that too, I'm sure there is a technical term for it; what does one look out for when buying a camera to avoid that? Is there a way to clean it up with software?
Naatan said:
Why do low light shots have so much noise in them? My Nexus 5 has that too, I'm sure there is a technical term for it; what does one look out for when buying a camera to avoid that? Is there a way to clean it up with software?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The main problems are a small sensor (collects less light) and sub-par lensing giving a high f-stop (lets in less light). The software has to compensate by increasing ISO (sensitivity of the image sensor), and that's what causes the noise. It can't be photoshopped out completely, and trying will always cause a loss of image detail.
What to look for: A camera with a large sensor, large pixels, low f-stop and image stabilization.

LG G5 Camera discussion thread - Post your pictures here !

The LG G4 was one of last year's best camera phone. Let's see what the G5 has in the guts with its dual rear cameras:
- 16 MP F/1.8 - 75° field of view - laser autofocus, OIS
- 8 MP F/2..4 - 135° field of view (ultra wide angle) - fixed autofocus
Here is video link describing some of the camera features:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFD8qkzpJCs
Some reviews of the camera:
GSM arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_g5-review-1416p7.php
Phone arena: http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/LG-G5-Review_id4181/page/3
I will get some shots up soon.
Just 2 quick pictures I took ill take some more tomorrow
dino1342 said:
Just 2 quick pictures I took ill take some more tomorrow
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Are the manual controls fun to use?
same as using a G4
Here are pictures taken today unedited. Camera seems more than capable enough, if you want legit photos buy a dslr and call it a day.
Can someone who already has the device post couple of JPEG + associated DNG files both for the regular and wide angle cameras (big files can be shared via Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive) ?
I would like to know whether LG included a flat field correction in the DNG this time (it wasn't the case at the G4 launch and was addressed months later during the marshmallow release). I had to create one in the mean time but it wasn't addressing perfectly the issues.
More background on the G4 DNG issue here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=61360315&postcount=314
Envoyé de mon SM-G928F en utilisant Tapatalk
If anyone is interested, I posted on Reddit yesterday a comparison (totally amateur) of the G4 G5 and S7E.
LG G4 vs LG G5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge picture shootout (informal)
Here are some pics testing out the manual settings
vincent2167 said:
Can someone who already has the device post couple of JPEG + associated DNG files both for the regular and wide angle cameras (big files can be shared via Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive) ?
I would like to know whether LG included a flat field correction in the DNG this time (it wasn't the case at the G4 launch and was addressed months later during the marshmallow release). I had to create one in the mean time but it wasn't addressing perfectly the issues.
More background on the G4 DNG issue here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=61360315&postcount=314
Envoyé de mon SM-G928F en utilisant Tapatalk
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Anyone?
vincent2167 said:
Anyone?
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I've seen your posts but no longer have the pre production model which is not the same as the retail version. In the UK, the retail launch has got delayed a lot. However, I should get a raw file very soon (in 24 hours). I'll DM link to dropbox when done.
Here's a couple taken of two frogs on my trip to Point Reyes. Unedited, straight from my camera roll.
Here is an auto HDR auto shot with the wide angle sensor. Pretty cool.
Sent from my LG-H820 using XDA-Developers mobile app
The camera on this absolutely smashes my s7
Has anyone noticed or experienced the camera distorting in lower light condition or in conditions where the subject is not perfectly still?
Some of my photos look like they've been run through a really bad water colour filter or like they have been shot through a sheet of plastic (like a protective film over the lens, but it doesn't appear to have one on out of the box), in perfect daylight photos of still subjects (building/scenery) are stunning, with both the wide and normal camera, but if the subject is moving, the wide angel really struggles with the distortion type effect. In low light, the wide angle seems basically unusable if the subject is not perfectly still.
sdmix said:
Has anyone noticed or experienced the camera distorting in lower light condition or in conditions where the subject is not perfectly still?
Some of my photos look like they've been run through a really bad water colour filter or like they have been shot through a sheet of plastic (like a protective film over the lens, but it doesn't appear to have one on out of the box), in perfect daylight photos of still subjects (building/scenery) are stunning, with both the wide and normal camera, but if the subject is moving, the wide angel really struggles with the distortion type effect. In low light, the wide angle seems basically unusable if the subject is not perfectly still.
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Next time try turning HDR off and see if that helps.
gedas5 said:
Next time try turning HDR off and see if that helps.
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I'm going to try and give it a better test this evening, I think HDR was set to auto in that pic. I'm hoping you're right and changing that to off will solve this, it really does look software over hardware though, the Google Camera app seems to handle HDR processing better (although much slower than the camera on the G5, which is pretty instant, whereas my 5X took an age to process after the photo was taken). It's a shame the Google Camera app doesn't support the HDR mode when installed on the G5 and doesn't support the wide angle camera either so can't take a photo with that to do a direct comparison.
sdmix said:
I'm going to try and give it a better test this evening, I think HDR was set to auto in that pic. I'm hoping you're right and changing that to off will solve this, it really does look software over hardware though, the Google Camera app seems to handle HDR processing better (although much slower than the camera on the G5, which is pretty instant, whereas my 5X took an age to process after the photo was taken). It's a shame the Google Camera app doesn't support the HDR mode when installed on the G5 and doesn't support the wide angle camera either so can't take a photo with that to do a direct comparison.
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Nothing to do with HDR. The G5 went into night mode and held the shutter open longer. Go manual and fix the shutter speed.
The camera definitely hasnt been optimised yet in auto mode. Can tell by the way it selects a high iso in night shots. But I'm not worried as LG will sort this out in upcoming updates. I normally shoot in manual mode any way, and the photos are as amazing as I'd expect coming from the lg g4.
Really happy with this phone so far.
sstanton86 said:
The camera definitely hasnt been optimised yet in auto mode. Can tell by the way it selects a high iso in night shots. But I'm not worried as LG will sort this out in upcoming updates. I normally shoot in manual mode any way, and the photos are as amazing as I'd expect coming from the lg g4.
Really happy with this phone so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Manual Camera normally for anything other than quick shots (normally on night out, so in low light where I use auto mode for speed), the manual mode in the default camera app though I'm really impressed with, especially coming from Manual Camera, this is my first LG phone so I'm loving that being available out of the box. The photos I've taken where I haven't been in a hurry or in low or challenging light have come out amazingly well. I agree though the look of the weird "shooting though plastic" or almost water colour like effect that appeared on that shot I posted earlier definitely looks like a processing issue, I just wanted to post it to see if anyone else had experienced the same or if it was a possible hardware fault (although I didn't think it was, so was more wondering if anyone had a solution to it software wise).
Hopefully though it is just software and they fix it in later updates. So far I think I'm happy to keep the phone after my few days with it so far, it really is an amazing device, fast, great build quality (fantastic to hold), great sound and what they've done to the OS is nice too, just hoping for root at some point in the future too although I'm getting used to LGs customizations now, so that's not a deal breaker for me yet (it will be more in the future if updates to Android N are slow).

Workaround to increase Camera Photo quality

I am aware that our Mix uses a 1/3.06" 16MP Omnivision Sensor with a Pixel size of the measly 1um. But the Huawei Mate 9 has a similar sized sensor (1/2.9" 12MP sensor with a pixel size of approx. 1.25um.) and shoots really great pics. Obviously Huawei may have used a latest generation Sony sensor with Leica's optics which will blow the Omnivision away. Even the cheapest Sony sensor would outperform an Omnivision any day.
My question is, will shooting images at a lower resolution like 12MP on the Mix give us better results? I'm not expecting Mate 9 like results as the phone's camera was never a priority when I bought this device. But would this help reduce noise or give us better results compared to shooting at 16MP? I am noticing lower noise when shooting at 13MP on Open camera compared to shooting at 16MP.
Does shooting at a lower resolution increase the Pixel size from 1um? Or is it strictly something to do with the sensor? Does the sensor behave the same either way and are we just getting cropped images when shooting at lower resolutions?
I've read in a few places that the sensor is fully utilized regardless but shooting at lower resolutions can reduce noise. If I can at least get half decent 12MP images compared to noisy unreliable 16MP ones, I wouldn't mind shooting at lower resolutions. Of course I am not expecting ground breaking image quality.
Some older Sony phones like the Xperia Z2 used to have a default mode which clicked images at 8MP even though the effective sensor resolution was 21MP. Sony claimed that the lower resolution gave batter images especially lesser noise. I am referring to something like this.
Hope someone can explain this.
@satishp did a search on dpreview.com
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/2995010
The 2nd reply sums it up pretty well.
The answer to your question is no, reducing the resolution will not increase your image quality. The sensor always takes full-resolution image. Reducing resolution is a post-processing function and is no different than reducing resolution on the computer. Note that there are a few cameras with special low-resolution modes that are supposed to improve either the image or performance in certain ways. But when you have these modes you know it because they’re selling features of the camera.
There is now a significant amount of information available publically demonstrating that image quality depends on sensor size and sensor efficiency only. The number of pixels doesn’t matter. When printed at the same print size, images from the same sized sensor exhibit the same amount of noise regardless of resolution.
Thorin78 said:
@satishp did a search on dpreview.com
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/2995010
The 2nd reply sums it up pretty well.
The answer to your question is no, reducing the resolution will not increase your image quality. The sensor always takes full-resolution image. Reducing resolution is a post-processing function and is no different than reducing resolution on the computer. Note that there are a few cameras with special low-resolution modes that are supposed to improve either the image or performance in certain ways. But when you have these modes you know it because they’re selling features of the camera.
There is now a significant amount of information available publically demonstrating that image quality depends on sensor size and sensor efficiency only. The number of pixels doesn’t matter. When printed at the same print size, images from the same sized sensor exhibit the same amount of noise regardless of resolution.
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Thanks for clearing this! So it may have been placebo that the images shot at 12MP seemed to be less noisy to me. Lol!
I use Open Camera which seems to produce brighter images compared to the stock camera. I'm sure these 3rd party apps aren't magically making the sensor capture more light compared to the stock app. I've noticed that these apps automatically crank up the display brightness to max as soon as they are launched. There may also be some real-time processing involved which makes the images appear brighter and slightly better compared to the stock app.
I am considering getting the Sony Alpha QX1 (with inter-changeable lenses) or the older QX100 which would make the Mix perfect! These lens style cameras attach to the phone and transfer images directly to the phone via NFC pairing. Just wondering whether the mix is too wide for the bracket on the lenses. The QX1 has the same APS-C sensor utilized on some of Sony's Alpha range and the QX100 has the 1" BSI sensor used on the RX100II. Only downside is that none of them can do 4K video.
Thanks again! Cheers!
satishp said:
I am considering getting the Sony Alpha QX1 (with inter-changeable lenses) or the older QX100 which would make the Mix perfect! These lens style cameras attach to the phone and transfer images directly to the phone via NFC pairing. Just wondering whether the mix is too wide for the bracket on the lenses. The QX1 has the same APS-C sensor utilized on some of Sony's Alpha range and the QX100 has the 1" BSI sensor used on the RX100II. Only downside is that none of them can do 4K video.
Thanks again! Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will need this - https://www.amazon.com/SPA-TA1-Tabl...UTF8&qid=1483946210&sr=8-2&keywords=qx+tablet
The smallest one should work perfectly with the phone. I had the QX-100 and it didn't fit the note 4 out of the box.
emann56 said:
You will need this - https://www.amazon.com/SPA-TA1-Tabl...UTF8&qid=1483946210&sr=8-2&keywords=qx+tablet
The smallest one should work perfectly with the phone. I had the QX-100 and it didn't fit the note 4 out of the box.
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Click to collapse
Seems to be quite expensive just for an attachment. If it didn't fit the Note 4, it most definitely won't fit the Mix. So I guess that attachment is a must and when you add the price of the QX1's body + Lens + the attachment, it doesn't seem to be worth it. Ofcourse, the images would blow away even the best of mobile cameras.
Only if it was priced right!
I have the QX-30, the tablet mount is a must unless you plan on not attaching it to the phone. It makes the overall portability not so great, you're probably better off just getting a full blown dedicated camera but the QX-1 might be good, just make sure to buy one of the lenses otherwise you can't do anything, the SELP1650 might be decent I think.
Also if you're thinking of getting the swiveling rotation mount, don't bother, it's not compatible with the tablet mount.
For those who haven't tried RAW capture yet, stock camera works perfectly fine after activating the camera2 api. Just thought I should mention that since it's not such an uncommon issue.
Camera
benziii said:
For those who haven't tried RAW capture yet, stock camera works perfectly fine after activating the camera2 api. Just thought I should mention that since it's not such an uncommon issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you do that. please give us instructions on how to.
jaime4272 said:
How do you do that. please give us instructions on how to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Add the line "persist.camera.HAL3.enabled=1" at the end of your build.prop, then reboot. It goes without saying you either need a build.prop editor or like me, just use the text editor that comes with Root explorer for example. Next get a camera app that supports RAW, like Open camera or Manual camera.
[Edit] Remember to mount as read/write when you are in system folder, or your changes won't stick. Our build.prop has two empty lines at the bottom, so if you have added something at an earlier time, make sure you have one empty line at the end.
benziii said:
For those who haven't tried RAW capture yet, stock camera works perfectly fine after activating the camera2 api. Just thought I should mention that since it's not such an uncommon issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only for my understanding
Does it only activate RAW mode or does it increase the picture quality for ordinary mode too?
vergilbt said:
Only for my understanding
Does it only activate RAW mode or does it increase the picture quality for ordinary mode too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is more to it than just RAW. Read up on camera2 features and what an api is. But to answer your question, no, it does not increase quality.
Apps that support raw
benziii said:
There is more to it than just RAW. Read up on camera2 features and what an api is. But to answer your question, no, it does not increase quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I downloaded camera FV-5 which support raw the option said that this phone does not support RAW, any idea?
jaime4272 said:
I downloaded camera FV-5 which support raw the option said that this phone does not support RAW, any idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even though I know FV-5 has been praised for years, I've never bought it. I'm not a big snapper so I've often been content with manual modes on the stock cameras. But since I have recently gotten RAW capture going, I've contemplated loosely on paying for either Manual camera or Camera FV-5. All I've tried on the Mix so far, is Manual camera's compatibility app (which checks out), and taken some RAW pics with Open camera.
I'm going to check out some more apps soon.
Considering it is required for RAW capture, I reckon you have a paid version? I quickly tried the free one, and see only one instance of compatibility (under general photo settings). But there is nothing there. Do you get the message when you change picture output?
There is an option on the paid version but it's grayed out because of incompatibility, but there is
you don't improve the noise performance by taking a smaller resolution, you do that by downsizing from a large image.
I think the best method is to use a good manual setting, shoot in raw and then edit in post processing.
however I think the images aren't that reliable
I cannot Open the dng file
---------- Post added at 05:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:18 AM ----------
Snapseed and Lightroom cannot parse the dng File ....Amy Help?
gorillalaci said:
I cannot Open the dng file
---------- Post added at 05:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:18 AM ----------
Snapseed and Lightroom cannot parse the dng File ....Amy Help?
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Click to collapse
On my desktop I use UFRaw and Gimp / Photoshop. But I haven't gotten any mobile apps to open my RAW images either. Weird.
I know this is a few months old, but I think this app needs to be better known:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=troop.com.freedcam
Yes, it works with DNGs and can handle our Mix Camera sensor. And yes, it's 100% FREE.
Also, it comes from a XDA dev, so even more kudos for him!!
codymamak said:
I know this is a few months old, but I think this app needs to be better known:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=troop.com.freedcam
Yes, it works with DNGs and can handle our Mix Camera sensor. And yes, it's 100% FREE.
Also, it comes from a XDA dev, so even more kudos for him!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installed it, but crashing when try to tap to focus.. Autofocus doesnt work it self
I have it working, but I'm using the LOS 14.1 build 20.5.17 from here on XDA, not MIUI. Sorry but I didn't test stock ROM before flashing.
Also, you can contact the dev at this thread here at XDA: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/camera-freedcam-4-0-3-t3115548
Maybe he can help out.

Improvements in stock camera app?

Has Moto stock camera app improved picture quality? I haven't updated my camera app for a long time now, even the one that changed the app icon. Are there any improvements after updating the camera app on stock ROM?
Nops only changed the icon and microphone bug. Even the pink tint is still present in high ISO setting. forget HDR+
I think that the quality is little bit better using manual mode.
Enviado desde mi LG-V400 mediante Tapatalk
cpvm said:
I think that the quality is little bit better using manual mode.
Enviado desde mi LG-V400 mediante Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Agreed. I find setting a manual shutter speed cuts down on the oversharpening that usually occurs with low light shots. I use 1/30 second for most indoor shots. The photos are usually under-exposed and require some tweaking in Google Photos or your editor of choice. I'll take that any day, instead of automatic mode's tendency to over-expose and clip the highlights.
I've got to admit, I just got this phone today and was hoping it would be at least as good camera-wise as the Nextbit Robin it was replacing. I didn't think the Nextbit's camera was so amazing, but with the right manual controls I was able to nail decent shots with it.
This, I feel like the colors are oddly oversaturated and the sharpening is ugly as sin. I did also find that switching to manual helped a bit, at least with the sharpening, but what's with the clipping highlights so early? Does this camera sensor just suck when it comes to dynamic range? Or is it just bad software?
My phone hasn't had a chance to update yet so I was hoping new software might have come along to address the shortcomings, which is how I ended up in this thread.
Are there other camera apps which might improve things? I tried Open Camera, but it seems to just behave the same as the stock app with a different UI. Has anyone tried the ported Google Camera app?
Dishe said:
....[much snipped]....
Are there other camera apps which might improve things? I tried Open Camera, but it seems to just behave the same as the stock app with a different UI. Has anyone tried the ported Google Camera app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm resurrecting this thread in order to address your original question, which is now irrelevant to you. Meanwhile, you've demonstrated (in this thread and others) that the G5+ does, indeed, have a capable camera module that's hamstrung by lousy software. But this is for those of us who are still wimps and not yet willing to unlock the bootloader.
As others have said (and I have too) just switching the stock camera to "pro mode" seems to reduce the oversharpening effects, but only slightly. Setting the shutter speed to 1/30 also helps in some low light situations.
However, my best luck has been with the Camera FV-5 app, which I bought years ago. In addition to allowing much more manual control, it also can be set to save images in .png format, and that seems to bypass more of the default image processing. (Unfortunately, it also means no EXIF data, so no info about exposure is recorded.)
Setting Camera FV-5 to save black and white images (Settings/photo encoding settings/color channels) also produces some strikingly sharp images that I find very pleasing. I'm sure many will not be interested in that option.
Am I the only one who finds it hilarious that Moto is now advertising the G5+ as having the "Most advanced camera in its class"?
One more app worth trying, whether rooted or not: FreeDCam. It's free and open source. It's possible to turn off denoising, resulting in a much sharper image. Some sort of noise reduction is still needed for most low-light images, though. Even without root, I'm getting much better photos now. For those who are rooted and have access to camera2 api, raw images are supported.
edit: after more experimentation, my enthusiasm for FreeDCam is waning, at least on unrooted phones. I think it still has a lot to offer those who have rooted. And it still produces incredibly sharp images in good light. But in low light, the noise is severe and I haven't found an effective way to deal with it. For now (until I root) it's either the stock camera in "pro" mode or Camera FV-5 for low light shots.
I was disappointed with the camera too when I first got mine, but I've recently discovered it's not the camera itself, but merely the software. I've been using the 3rd-party, free, ad-free Open Camera app by Mark Harman, available in the Google Play store, & it's heaps better! You can download it here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.sourceforge.opencamera&hl=en

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