The camera is so incredibly bad that sometimes I actually carry around my Blackstone without a sim card just to use the camera because I don't want to use the Hero's camera. They're both 5 mp but I think the problem is that the Hero doesn't have a stabilizer so everything comes out blurrier, and it's impossible to take closeups. I've tried it with both the default camera app and Camera Magic and they are both terrible. Anyone know if there's a way to fix this or if it's just a useless camera?
Same Problem with me. I'm using Villian Rom 2.1. Camera is very blurry
The shutter speed on the Hero is quite slow so you have to be very steady when you press the trackball. And it will help a lot if you only press the trackball when the autofocus brackets are green, which means it's focused properly. A lot of people just press the trackball without waiting for the auto focus brackets to turn green and then blame the cam for taking blurry pics.
Personally I think the Hero cam is pretty decent, my shots are mostly sharp and in focus as I do take my time to take pics. Having said that, it's definitely useless for taking action shots or night shots.
It's only happenned on 2.1 Rom. The picture taken is full of yellow and bad quality compare to Magic, back to 1.5 is fine.
The biggest problem with the camera for me is the length of time it takes to capture a shot.
It's basically pointless trying to take a photo of anything that is moving at all.
I don't know if HTC generally have a problem making cameras work but my old TyTNII had the same problem.
Really I don't see the point of putting a camera in a phone if you're not going to make it work properly.
Things also look better if you change the metering mode to average.
I've found the Hero's camera to be ridiculously dark in comparison to even the Dream. It's just borderline unusable, IMO.
On my HTC Touch Pro 2, the camera was amazing, 3.2mp i think with flash, very clear picture. I was all excited to try the 5mp from the Hero, geesh it realllly suck
So I've been taking a few pictures on my phone, and I have noticed that the Galaxy S2 is very very inconsistent in taking quality photos. I can have a great clear shot of some mid-ranged photos, but far distanced photos have horrible quality. I understand if you take pictures of something really far, obviously it won't be that good, but when I compared to my friends iPhone 4, the 8MP is barely on par with it. Do any of you know what might be the problem? I've tried using auto focus and manual focus, but it is always blurry.
It seems to be an hardware problem. I find the sgsw camera pretty good, especially the dynamic range. My only concern is with indoor pictures, a bit noisy and cold.
Can you upload and provide some shots samples?
Everything on auto? It might help to know which ROM/mod you are using.
I'm not an expert in mobile digital photography but if I can see your blurry distant shots it might be able to tell if I get better result with my device.
The S2 tends to like low shutter speeds (1/4s - 1/20s) ALL the frigging time.
It will select this slow shutter speed even when it should raise the ISO and get a faster shutter speed.
This is why the S2 often takes blurry photos, because even 1/15 or 1/19sec is not fast enough to take a photo sharply with a 28mm lens (effectively what the S2 is).
The slowest shutter speed the S2 should use is 1/30sec to ensure the photos aren't blurred by *camera* vibration/shake. (But, if the *subject* is moving, like a child, then 1/60s or 1/80s are the minimum that are needed to freeze the subject).
This is why the photos are so often blurry as soon as the light gets slightly low - cloud day, in shade, etc. I don't have a solution sorry!
Proof: check the EXIF data of the blurry photos you take. Most will have a stupidly low ISO (like ISO25, ISO50) and a stupid low shutter speed.
Yes I have noticed that the shutter speeds are quite low...now I'm assured that its not just me
I can take SOME really good photos, but almost every other pictures are very blurry even at a close distance.
Everything is on default, except I have enabled Anti-Shake or something like that, and I am using CheckROM 3.1.1 (KJ3)
The first 2 are taken at a considerably good range, with no zoom or any effects, just a normal shot, but then the outcome was very weird.
The last one was a closer shot, but in a darker area, and that one was a little bit more clear
I don't want to be captain obvious, and I am sure you are a better photographer than me but can you check if the focus mode is set to macro if it is then change to auto focus.
Since this happened to me once i set to macro and forgot and all the photos were blurry.
I just felt that might be the reason.
I am guessing that what you're doing is pressing on the "Capture" button without focusing on the subject yet?
I do find that it's best to press to focus on the area you want to take and then press the main capture button to capture it. It seems like the focus hasn't focused on what you want to take.
It's quite annoying because then that means I have to press in the middle and then press the capture button to take a decent shot. I wish I could just hold down the capture button to focus, then release to shoot.. which works sometimes but not as good as what I said above.
Here you have 2 images, far and close focus. You can see the great quality of the camera. Take a look at the focus settings: better in auto mode if you don't want to manage it in all photos. Maybe you have some problem in the camera hardware... so warranty is the best option here.
There are at least 2 types of camera modules in SGS II.
Check this:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1098834
Mine also had this problem (blury at far objects), the soultion is set the metering to matrix in camera menu.It works for me.
iocar said:
Yes I have noticed that the shutter speeds are quite low...now I'm assured that its not just me
I can take SOME really good photos, but almost every other pictures are very blurry even at a close distance.
Everything is on default, except I have enabled Anti-Shake or something like that, and I am using CheckROM 3.1.1 (KJ3)
The first 2 are taken at a considerably good range, with no zoom or any effects, just a normal shot, but then the outcome was very weird.
The last one was a closer shot, but in a darker area, and that one was a little bit more clear
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are you using macro mode to take farer objects ?
thats why it is more clear when you are taking photo of the specimen (3rd one)
or the camera firmware is broken , if not ,it may be the hardware issue
I always touch the place where I want to focus, and that is why I am confused
Yes I was using Macro, but only because it had the best quality...Auto-Focus doesn't really help as it never focus properly, as in when I press the "Capture" button, most of the time it goes to red and doesn't turn green. I am holding the phone still and don't know why
The camera firmware is also up to date
What I don't get is that my old HTC Desire can take photos that are much more crisp than my Galaxy S2
Try resetting the camera settings see if that works,try a third party HDR camera app or Camera 360,if quility is still bad in the 3rd party app then it could be a hardware fault
Sichroteph said:
My only concern is with indoor pictures, a bit noisy and cold.
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auto contrast I find helps take better indoors
Cant say I've had any problems with the camera. Love the macro focussing.
It seems obvious that your device doesn't behave like it should and have focus problems. I can have the exact same results with macro mode activated (and not shooting close objects)
I would suggest :
- trying another camera app (like TheiPhoneKiller suggested)
- trying a totally stock rom
- trying a rom like CM7 or MIUI
If you still got totally unfocused shots, you may very well have an faulty device. Try to get a replacement unit if you can.
(And did you try the fix kisstom suggested?)
Well... my shots is certainly much more grainy, since i upgraded to 2.3.5 - even if shot outside in bright sunshine. And many of the pictures is becoming more yellow than before - especially when using the flash-LED, so something has happened when i upgraded... this is one of my big complaints about the new upgrade. My old W800i 2Mpx beats the SGS2 in pure quality of the pictures now (but that was also, and still is, a VERY good camera for a phone)...
When comparing the newest pictures to some of the old pictures i have shot in the past, it's clear to me that i have a loss of quality since upgrading. How do i check manually, if there's a new camera-software version available - as i can't seem to find any in the Samsung apps, even if i have read somewhere that there's a newer one, comparing to my version of the camera-software???
But a least it's still not as crappy as my old HTC's camera - THAT was lousy...
Frankly speaking, 'Camera quality is bad' makes no sense. If you've said it's bad than this or that then I'd take it. Have used all the SE phones as I loved their image quality and I'll say after playing with the Satio, C905 I don't think this one would beat them. We are talking about a small image sensor here. So the main job is how good the post image processing is, some part still depends on the lens though.
The thing is I didn't buy this one for camera, believe me or not, after purchase, that is almost six months now, I've shot barely 10 pics with it. For normal usage and as a professional can't go without 350D, and for short tours and holidays I still shoot with my C905 , but not GSII.
But still this Camera is capable of taking some great pics, posting some of them here, after seeing them you certainly can't say Camera quality is bad.
The very bests I've found,
-> ithehappy
Well - i used to have that image quality too, but it has become somewhat impossible to shot such good pictures, since upgrading... i suspect that it's because my camera firmware still is TBEC28 (but of course not sure of it)
iocar said:
I always touch the place where I want to focus, and that is why I am confused
Yes I was using Macro, but only because it had the best quality...Auto-Focus doesn't really help as it never focus properly, as in when I press the "Capture" button, most of the time it goes to red and doesn't turn green. I am holding the phone still and don't know why
The camera firmware is also up to date
What I don't get is that my old HTC Desire can take photos that are much more crisp than my Galaxy S2
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Confused!!! Are you saying that you always have macro focus on?
If so then turn it off. My cousin complained about the exact same thing, blurry and red box when trying to focus. Went through his settings, turned macro off and everything was good again.
Also auto focus will not work correctly if macro is on, unless your taking really close range pics, which is what macro focus is for.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
well i am on 2.3.5 Images are really Perfect for me am seriously impressed the Quality iam on kI8 here is one example
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/708/20111118205552.jpg
iocar said:
Yes I was using Macro, but only because it had the best quality
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That's exactly why your pictures are blurry at a distance.
Macro focus is for close-up pictures, use auto focus for longer distances
Hey all,
I've had my N4 for a week now and a couple of days ago I gave the camera a go. I have to say that I'm not impressed at all. Most all pics came out grainy. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm thinking of returning it. Now I don't use the camera a whole lot, but sometimes when a picture presents its self and I don't have my DSLR the cell camera is what I have. I would like the pics to look descent. I'm coming from a Samsung Galaxy S and with a 5MP camera and no LED flash it takes better pics than the N4. Is it the stock JB software for the camera and using another camera app would fix it?
Thanks,
Chevy
chevy2410 said:
Hey all,
I've had my N4 for a week now and a couple of days ago I gave the camera a go. I have to say that I'm not impressed at all. Most all pics came out grainy. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm thinking of returning it. Now I don't use the camera a whole lot, but sometimes when a picture presents its self and I don't have my DSLR the cell camera is what I have. I would like the pics to look descent. I'm coming from a Samsung Galaxy S and with a 5MP camera and no LED flash it takes better pics than the N4. Is it the stock JB software for the camera and using another camera app would fix it?
Thanks,
Chevy
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there will be grain in low-light but it's not too bad to my eyes.
if it bothers you, you could use flash; try another camera app, like camera zoom fx, that lets you control iso; or clean up the grain in post with noise-ninja or similar.
i never expect too much from phone cameras but they can produce decent results if you work within their limitations.
EDIT: i downloaded camera zoom fx yesterday and would highly recommend it over the stock camera app.
Hi there,
As everyone knows, default camera app of sony sucks. I have tried a lot of alternative applications. For me the best results is from Snap Camera with settings 20mpx, camera api2, jpeg quality Best, opengl2, auto scene auto whitebalance, auto flash. These settings allows me to take much sharper images tested on my small facial hair. BUT! Camera is very overheating, after few minutes (5-6 shots) i have started sony camera and it alerted that camera is too hot, so it shuts down.
Snap camera allows HDR in 20mpx also any scene, its not limited as sony-s camera
Also snap camera produced the best images on my old low quality mtk based phone. So i recommend it, its paid but as far i know it have trial version.
I will be happy if someone will tell how is satisfied with this app.
PS.: FV-5 is worse, for my eyes.
in the play store info, there is setting for ISO. but why is there non when i check in setting...?
ive taken some kick ass photos in good light/ low light / bad light with the stock app. IDK what everyone is on about. but to each their own =)
`Ghost` said:
ive taken some kick ass photos in good light/ low light / bad light with the stock app. IDK what everyone is on about. but to each their own =)
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In Auto mode or Manual?
Both.
Basically, when you unlock your boot loader, the great photo quality will be gone. If you have backed up your "TRIMM area" before unlocking it (where the DRM keys are stored), then you'll be able to get it back, by re-locking the BL, but this means you'll lose your ability to use costom ROMs, only modified stock ROMs are possible after that.
The reason for this is that Sony uses some pretty amazing software magic to get great pictures in low light (noise reduction algorithms) which aren't meant to be accessible for others to reverse engineer, so they lock them away with the DRM keys. So with a locked boot loader, the camera makes awesome pictures even in low light, with an unlocked BL, meh... (not so much any more)
Of course, these algorithms are only available to the Sony default camera app for the same reasons...
Have you tried this
It will let you have scene's and HDR in 20mp, also it has more ISO options.
I've used FV-5 from the start and imo it's a lot better for me then the stock app. I can't work with the stock app that has limited control
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Free mobile app
stock camera is the only one...'cause of manual iso... fv-5 has good auto but you can't force iso 100, 200 and so on
Recently I have the Z3 Compact therefore not yet tried everything, but the camera does not seem anywhere near what they sold me in reviews. The original camera seems poor choices, the automatic mode leaves much to be desired, especially in low light because when you have a lighthouse in front can not interpret well and properly handle white balance and contrast.
I was testing the Open Camera app and gives me better results than stock. The only thing I use it now for the stock camera is for timeshift and sometimes for panoramic shots.
I have almost forgot about this post, thanks for cleaning my bookmarks.
Thanks for everyone’s reply, I have figured out that another phones also uses that sensor and they make better pics, so probably problem is with sony's software developers who are doing a weak job. I am very addicted to zooming pictures and when I compare zoomed 5mpx downscale shot of lumia 1020 and 8 or 20mpx shot of Z3C, then shot of lumia is sharp and clear, full of details.... the shot of sony is like blurred and without details. So i think that they algorithm is wrong somewhere or they are compressing raw to too low quality and when jpeg is created then its final quality will be even worse regardless of 97% or 100% jpeg quality. Need to note that nokia's sensor is three times bigger in its physical size that captures the light.
But the video quality is epic i have never seen so good video quality from phone.
Currently i am waiting for availability of 5.1.1 in slovakia
So simple, i installed Camera FV-5 and i can feel the thing with faster time capturing a shoot and autofocus time is much better.
Fix the app camera SONY.
dfavefenix said:
So simple, i installed Camera FV-5 and i can feel the thing with faster time capturing a shoot and autofocus time is much better.
Fix the app camera SONY.
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Camera FV-5 didn't work for me. The shutter lag was far worse and the autofocus sometimes hangs and I cannot even take an image. ProCapture isn't much better either.
I'm on the latest software version as well.
I use stock app on manual mode with 8 megapixels and be sure to half-press the shutter button to let it focus. The delay is not as bad but you can still see it skips a frame from the one when you press the shutter. This is unacceptable for a flagship device.
FYLin21 said:
Camera FV-5 didn't work for me. The shutter lag was far worse and the autofocus sometimes hangs and I cannot even take an image. ProCapture isn't much better either.
I'm on the latest software version as well.
I use stock app on manual mode with 8 megapixels and be sure to half-press the shutter button to let it focus. The delay is not as bad but you can still see it skips a frame from the one when you press the shutter. This is unacceptable for a flagship device.
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I have been testing the app this last day and it feels so much better than app camera stock one. Thanks for the tip about the manual mode, i ll check it. But really Sony needs to fix the app, its just software fault
I personally like the stock Z5 camera app but I recommend you give Snap Camera a try if you hate the stock camera app.
I used to own the LG Optimus F3Q with most crappy camera you could find on a phone release in 2014.
But using Snap Camera on that phone made night and day difference. Some pics were even decent enough to be used as background wallpaper.
I like that app so much that I bought the full version.