Camera Sensor + Performance - Huawei Nova/Nova Plus Questions & Answers

Does anyone know the sensor used in the Nova Plus? I don't know if its a 230, 240 or IMX298 (I doubt it)
Also, how is the photos in daylight, low indoor shots and low light outdoors?

Related

Camera issues. What's the point of OIS if...

Ok, let me try to explain.
On all my previous phones with OIS, I would set the ISO at 200 and leave it at that permanently. That way the night shots wouldn't be full of noise and the camera would adjust its shutter speed to get the most light.
One of the benefits of OIS is a "floating lens" so it should have a longer shutter speed with not as much blur as a camera without it. My problem with this camera is it still bumps up the ISO to extremely high levels in normal and IA mode, thus giving tons of noise in low light shots. Usually this is solved by setting the ISO at 200 and "forcing" it to have a longer shutter, but the problem with this camera is it doesn't. At 200 ISO, the low light pics should come out close to what you actually see with your eyes (as it did on my previous phones, like the lumia line) but it doesn't. It's WAY TOO DARK. It seems like it keeps the same shutter speed it would use even if it had 1600 ISO.
Do any of the camera mods fix this issue instead of just adding features like 4k video? I might root my phone if they fix this.

New HTC Butterfly2 Camera is even better than M8

http://www.eprice.com.hk/mobile/talk/4542/178742/1/
This is a first hand camera Hong Kong review of HTC Butterfly 2 and do a comparison with E8 and M8. It's real real surprised..... the 13M Duo, Imagechip 2.0, f/2.0 on B2 beats E8/M8 on ALL condition in terms of WB, exposure value, color and details! UltraPixel loss the fight even at low light. This HTC camera is very amazing!
Good job at comparing 4 mpx with 13 mpx camera.
you certainly know which is better:good:
There is no true low light test in this article; only a contrast lighting test (mixed high/low lighting). A night photo with bright neon lights is not low light.
Indoor with low artificial lighting, or outside without the big neon lights would be a better indication of whether the Ultrapixel is doing what its supposed to, or if the Butterfly 2 camera can still beat it out in low light.
jags_the1 said:
Good job at comparing 4 mpx with 13 mpx camera.
you certainly know which is better:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not entirely true, beside the megapixel war the color, wb, exposure value is also much better as I already mentioned.
redpoint73 said:
There is no true low light test in this article; only a contrast lighting test (mixed high/low lighting). A night photo with bright neon lights is not low light.
Indoor with low artificial lighting, or outside without the big neon lights would be a better indication of whether the Ultrapixel is doing what its supposed to, or if the Butterfly 2 camera can still beat it out in low light.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not real true too. This test at general low light is enough for most conditions. If you ask for true low light test then probably it is just testing long exposure time combined with slow shutter, then M7 with OIS probably would be the real winner at the end.
TheEndHK said:
If you ask for true low light test then probably it is just testing long exposure time combined with slow shutter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not necessarily. Larger pixels means you can potentially capture a better shot in low light with same shutter speed. At least that is the whole theory of the "Ultrapixel" camera. I personally don't see the "low light" test in the article as low light at all. Too much ambient light from the neon lights.
In any case, although the M8 shot is overexposed in the lighted window area, it captures a lot more detail in the darker areas, that shows up as completely dark on the other 2 devices. So its arguable either way which one is "better". In fact, the Butterfly 2 isn't capturing much at all in terms of "low light" its mostly just capturing the well-lit areas illuminated by huge neon lights. Hardly "general low light".
I think I'll bring this to a close now before we run away with ourselves.
Thanks to the OP for bringing the article to a wider audience and to those that have made their opinions available.
Thanks all

Low light

At the club, at the bar, or just in your mom's basement, nighttime is when you come out to play. Rate this thread to express how the Moto X4's camera performs when no or low light is present. A higher rating indicates that the camera sensor "sees" lots of light in dim conditions, and that the resulting photos have minimal noise. A higher rating also indicates that when the flash fires, the resulting photo is evenly-lit without any bright spots.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
With flash it's 5 stars. Works pretty good without. Works as good as my S8.
I took some test shots on my phone today, using 3 different camera apps:
- The Stock Moto Camera
- The Stock Google Camera from the Play Store
- Modified Google Camera found Here. MGCB_7.0H_C2API_Full_PXL2_v.1.4_60FPS_noburst_v3
I tested in a large room with the lights off, and sunlight coming in. There are lots of shadows and dark areas, as well as very bright spots. I tested with HDR Off, HDR On, and HDR Auto (if applicable). I also threw in a wide angle, for comparison. (spoiler: Ew).
Some things that surprised me, in no particular order:
- The Stock Moto HDR actually did a decent job at brightening up the dark areas, and giving the shadows a bit of color. Not a ton of extra noise, either. However, the window was still washed out.
- Stock Google Cam didn't offer anything the others didn't, and HDR On/Off didn't seem to do a thing.
- Modified Google Cam definitely helped with the bright spots, as those are the only 2 pictures that you could see out the window, but it also introduced a LOT of noise in the shadows and dark areas. This is a known side effect of HDR in low-light, as I saw the same effect on my 5x when using HDR+ in low light.
I may try a different Modified Gcam, and try to input the settings manually. Hopefully that will result in better pics, as otherwise the Stock Moto camera seems to be our best bet for now.
The stock camera app in normal picture mode is not using good ISO/shutter speed combinations in low light at all. Take some and check the info on your images. It always goes for high ISO and faster shutter speed. It stops on 1/15 A LOT, and seems to adjust ISO from there. Switch to Professional Mode and force a slower shutter speed, lower ISO and now they look much better. HDR on this app is garbage with those auto focus settings too. It works much better with higher quality images with less noise, which the auto focus is incapable of providing in any low light situations.
I did some more tests with the v4.0 AIO modified Gcam, and there wasn't a difference.
I went back to the v1.4, and took some pics at home. These were very low-light, with candles the only light source in the room. I noticed similar trends:
Stock Cam is VERY blochy when you zoom in.
Stock HDR seems to brighten the whole image, but isn't very, you know, dynamic.
Stock Cam is way less noisy/blochy when you zoom in. It preserves much more detail.
Modified Gcam using HDR+ does a MUCH better job handling the candle light in the pic, as the light source isn't overexposed.
I may do some 100% crops and share them tomorrow, but Stranger Things 2 with the wife is more important atm. #sorrynotsorry.
crazyates said:
I did some more tests with the v4.0 AIO modified Gcam, and there wasn't a difference.
I went back to the v1.4, and took some pics at home. These were very low-light, with candles the only light source in the room. I noticed similar trends:
Stock Cam is VERY blochy when you zoom in.
Stock HDR seems to brighten the whole image, but isn't very, you know, dynamic.
Stock Cam is way less noisy/blochy when you zoom in. It preserves much more detail.
Modified Gcam using HDR+ does a MUCH better job handling the candle light in the pic, as the light source isn't overexposed.
I may do some 100% crops and share them tomorrow, but Stranger Things 2 with the wife is more important atm. #sorrynotsorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using the manual Google APK here with HDR+ and it's also using very high ISOs, even in pretty good light. I have a lamp behind me, lights on in the room and both apps are using an ISO2400. If I manually set the ISO to 1200 or lower, I can still take a good photo by manually adjusting the shutter speed to 1/15, 1/10, or even 1/8 (anything lower and it's blurred). This HW should be capable of blazing fast auto focus so there is zero reason it's setting the ISOs so high. High ISO = more noise, less detail. Fast auto focus should mean that lowering the ISO in low light will focus better, faster, with less blur from the slower shutter speed. Something ain't right here.
HDR+ will clean up the noise from the high ISO setting some.
FrozenOx said:
I'm using the manual Google APK here with HDR+ and it's also using very high ISOs, even in pretty good light. I have a lamp behind me, lights on in the room and both apps are using an ISO2400. If I manually set the ISO to 1200 or lower, I can still take a good photo by manually adjusting the shutter speed to 1/15, 1/10, or even 1/8 (anything lower and it's blurred). This HW should be capable of blazing fast auto focus so there is zero reason it's setting the ISOs so high. High ISO = more noise, less detail. Fast auto focus should mean that lowering the ISO in low light will focus better, faster, with less blur from the slower shutter speed. Something ain't right here.
HDR+ will clean up the noise from the high ISO setting some.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's odd. Is this an issue you've been experiencing on the optimum configs (manual version) or with both modded apps?
FrozenOx said:
HDR+ will clean up the noise from the high ISO setting some.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, you're right on this. I did some more test last night, and the most consistent seems to be the modified Gcam HDR+. It preserves more detail while keeping the noise down.
Basically, I feel like these are all just playing around with settings and apks that are meant for other phones. I know the Gcam software can work wonders, and I know the sensor/ISP/DSP/CPU can support more than what the stock Moto Cam is doing, but getting a modded Gcam apk that's meant for out phones would be fantastic. Unfortunately, it'll take someone smarter than me to piece it all together.
Coming from a much older S3, the moto x4 camera is WAY ahead.
I have a small laser projector that only outputs 63 lumens.
The S3 camera could never get a photo on the highest setting.
The x4 camera does it easily.
Apples and Oranges possibly, but the camera is not nearly as "bad" as some
reviews stated.
That's Nobody said:
With flash it's 5 stars. Works pretty good without. Works as good as my S8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it really? I'm choosing between the S7 and the X4, the camera being the only thing making me lean towards the Galaxy.
gaurink said:
Is it really? I'm choosing between the S7 and the X4, the camera being the only thing making me lean towards the Galaxy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had an S7 for work until recently. Hated it. Battery life is worse than X4, too much bloatware, and the fingerprint sensor on it suuuuucked. Rear camera was about the same as X4 but front was inferior. No contest. Get the X4.
Please think twice believing reviewers.
Most of them hated Moto X4's camera coz it has a sluggish and mediocre quality when it comes to depth (portrait mode).
BUT I can assure you that my Moto X4 performs on par with HTC 10 when it comes to ALL lighting conditions.
I took photos side by side and the quality is the same. I even found that the Moto X4 does NOT need to auto trigger HDR in the lowlight pic I took (HTC did auto trigger HDR).
Both HTC 10 and Moto X4 have minimal noise and really looks almost the same given that they are using a different ISP (SD 820 vs SD 630).
I'll try to upload both pics so you can check them as well.
Quick one from today.
The Galaxy S7 will definitely has a better camera quality BUT the X4 also has a pretty good camera so you won't get disappointed.
BUT I'd rather choose Moto X4 since it is a new device while S7 is already almost 2 generations older (S9 is coming).
forbidden8 said:
Quick one from today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this using the stock camera app?
varunbala said:
Is this using the stock camera app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
Four low light examples. They were taken in hostile lightning codtions by Gcam HDR+. No tripod. The quality and the dynamic range is at the same level as Nexus 5x, Pixel 1.
Can you share a gCam version that you use. And setting ...I try few, but for me quality of stock camera photos is better. Thx.
forbidden8 said:
Can you share a gCam version that you use. And setting ...I try few, but for me quality of stock camera photos is better. Thx.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GCam5.1.018-Arnova8G2-V1.3-Front-HDR+
Nexus6p, nexus 6p, hdd+ on
tavcsor said:
Four low light examples. They were taken in hostile lightning codtions by Gcam HDR+. No tripod. The quality and the dynamic range is at the same level as Nexus 5x, Pixel 1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the portrait mode of gcam work?

Photo quality

Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the Xiaomi Poco F1 come out. A higher rating indicates that photos offer rich color (without over-saturating), sharp detail (with all subjects in-focus), and appropriate exposure (with even lighting).
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
I find the front cam can't even handle small shakes.. I need to be very careful to take a selfie. Does anyone else face this? I'm not sure if it's only my device.
senthilrameshjv said:
I find the front cam can't even handle small shakes.. I need to be very careful to take a selfie. Does anyone else face this? I'm not sure if it's only my device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, you have to keep the device very still while taking pic..no EIS and OIS.. have to live with it... But camera quality is good..
Vino Y said:
Same here, you have to keep the device very still while taking pic..no EIS and OIS.. have to live with it... But camera quality is good..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, not really . My 6p nor my Zenfone max pro m1 had ois or eis. Both took unshaken selfies. I also checked with few others using Poco and they can't find any such issue. For me the problem is when we use volume rocker, we tend to push the phone a bit. And that shakes. I always use volume rocker and asked other Poco owners to do the same and their selfies are not shaken. I think it could be individual device's fault.
senthilrameshjv said:
Well, not really . My 6p nor my Zenfone max pro m1 had ois or eis. Both took unshaken selfies. I also checked with few others using Poco and they can't find any such issue. For me the problem is when we use volume rocker, we tend to push the phone a bit. And that shakes. I always use volume rocker and asked other Poco owners to do the same and their selfies are not shaken. I think it could be individual device's fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No such problem in my phone, captures stunning selfies and rear snaps without any trouble. You might have tremors.
anyone try to take a photo of the imei at the back of box, cant seem to focus well
I bought POCO F1 during 1st flash SALE. I'm not satisfied with the camera performance especially the edge detection is very poor during portrait mode..
Even though the reviewer are showing good portrait mode with better edge detection...
Can anyone help me with the settings or is there anyone else who is facing the same issue.?
Please suggest whether or not i should replace my phone..??
I agree about the camera issue with slight shakes, the default camera app can't handle it well.
Bought it in 2nd flash sale. Camera quality is below par (rear camera). Focusing issues. My 1 year old lg g6 is way better. Im not talking about OIS. But taking still pictures with default settings.
Has anyone tried different camera app?
Does any one face the issue that in Portrait mode (rear camera) the faces are too beautified and they lack details.. i mean no sharpness.
Any one knows how to solve?
ravi776 said:
Does any one face the issue that in Portrait mode (rear camera) the faces are too beautified and they lack details.. i mean no sharpness.
Any one knows how to solve?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes bro same issue..Don't know how to correct it..replacing my order
So far so good, if you wan't not shaky photos, don't use volumen up or finger print, try to stay steady, don't be afraid to take more photos of same subject and delete bad ones.
So here we go:
Low light photos:
https://flic.kr/p/287ss2b
https://flic.kr/p/287srZY
https://flic.kr/p/M7gV4B
In door light photos:
https://flic.kr/p/2aMVQWC
https://flic.kr/p/29LPXVL
https://flic.kr/p/286sh6q
https://flic.kr/p/286sh7h
Close up photos
https://flic.kr/p/M5XspX
https://flic.kr/p/2866Tdm
https://flic.kr/p/M5Xegc
https://flic.kr/p/29KwmRs
Pet:
https://flic.kr/p/2aQUZc8
https://flic.kr/p/29KwpAA
HDR off
https://flic.kr/p/28679v5
HDR on
https://flic.kr/p/2867a5G
Food:
https://flic.kr/p/NLoJZQ
https://flic.kr/p/29vGxuM
Rest of album with daily uploaded photos:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsms3PM8X
So to conclude, pocophone has decent camera. In good light and in controled light it has good dynamic range, lot of details and focus is fast and accurate. In low light, noise reduction reduces amount of details, and photos can be blury due to longer exposure and lack of ois.
Solution?
GCAM
It is in earley stages of porting for poco, so give it few weeks, but already it gives better results in low light than stock camera. Best thing about it is that you don't need to root or flash anything, just install it and that is it.
Oneplus 3 with Gcam takes 12MP photos much better with sizes ranging from 6 MB to 10 MB which is a result of capturing higher details. While the poco stock cam takes 12MP photos with size less than 4MB and portrait photos are less than 1 MB. There is either compression taking place or some aggressive noise suppression that takes away all the details thus resulting in smaller file sizes. This problem exists even with the redmi note 5 with 12MP photos taking up less than 2 MB space. Can somebody else test this with their poco and see if they are able to get a higher file size?
Sandepp said:
Oneplus 3 with Gcam takes 12MP photos much better with sizes ranging from 6 MB to 10 MB which is a result of capturing higher details. While the poco stock cam takes 12MP photos with size less than 4MB and portrait photos are less than 1 MB. There is either compression taking place or some aggressive noise suppression that takes away all the details thus resulting in smaller file sizes. This problem exists even with the redmi note 5 with 12MP photos taking up less than 2 MB space. Can somebody else test this with their poco and see if they are able to get a higher file size?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From the stock cam, I see reasonable amounts of details in the images and file sizes range from 4-8 MB in varied conditions. I have a protraits that are around 8 MB, perhaps you may want to check the settings if there is something amiss
watsinaname said:
From the stock cam, I see reasonable amounts of details in the images and file sizes range from 4-8 MB in varied conditions. I have a protraits that are around 8 MB, perhaps you may want to check the settings if there is something amiss
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok so here are my observations. Poco's AI or auto mode uses fast shutter speed and low exposure to reduce blur and compensate for the lack of OIS.This results in loss of details. I see the oneplus 3 use slower shutter speeds and higher exposure to capture a lot more detail using its OIS. I used manual mode in Poco to mimic Oneplus's setting and took photos with 1/15 shutter speed and 800 ISO. Oneplus 3uses these settings on non hdr mode.
Oneplus captured a bit more detail but with more noise than poco with a file size of 5 MB and poco had less noise and lower details with a file size of 3 MB. These are indoor shots.So poco uses noise suppression resulting in loss of detail.
Gcam HDR mode dramatically improves image quality in oneplus 3 with higher details and lower noise with a file size of 7 MB for the same photo. Hence we can expect Gcam mod to do the same wonders for poco F1.
Sandepp said:
Ok so here are my observations. Poco's AI or auto mode uses fast shutter speed and low exposure to reduce blur and compensate for the lack of OIS.This results in loss of details. I see the oneplus 3 use slower shutter speeds and higher exposure to capture a lot more detail using its OIS. I used manual mode in Poco to mimic Oneplus's setting and took photos with 1/15 shutter speed and 800 ISO. Oneplus 3uses these settings on non hdr mode.
Oneplus captured a bit more detail but with more noise than poco with a file size of 5 MB and poco had less noise and lower details with a file size of 3 MB. These are indoor shots.So poco uses noise suppression resulting in loss of detail.
Gcam HDR mode dramatically improves image quality in oneplus 3 with higher details and lower noise with a file size of 7 MB for the same photo. Hence we can expect Gcam mod to do the same wonders for poco F1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's where I feel the poco stock cam does a fine job on the software to overcome the hardware limitations, for most of our normal day to day use, these pics are quite good, the dynamic range is impressive on many occasions.
watsinaname said:
That's where I feel the poco stock cam does a fine job on the software to overcome the hardware limitations, for most of our normal day to day use, these pics are quite good, the dynamic range is impressive on many occasions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally feel the auto mode on stock cam is very conservative on the settings resulting in an almost unusable indoor and low light shots. This can be overcome mostly by manual mode but I still feel this needs a proper gcam port to unleash the true capabilities of this sensor.
Sandepp said:
I personally feel the auto mode on stock cam is very conservative on the settings resulting in an almost unusable indoor and low light shots. This can be overcome mostly by manual mode but I still feel this needs a proper gcam port to unleash the true capabilities of this sensor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree on the indoor picture quality, good thing I have the Note8 for that and the low light shots
Poco is good for all day browsing, chatting, and some decent day light clicks. As a daily driver there's enough things on the phone to like it.
Does anyone have Direct experience taking pictures with a Galaxy S7 and this one? I would like to change my mobile phone but I wouldn't like to lose a lot in camera experience. Thank you very much
granbonobo said:
Does anyone have Direct experience taking pictures with a Galaxy S7 and this one? I would like to change my mobile phone but I wouldn't like to lose a lot in camera experience. Thank you very much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A friend has the S7 edge, I have the poco f1 let me know if you are looking for any specific tests to be carried out, will try and revert.
---------- Post added at 03:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:01 PM ----------
CROrION said:
So to conclude, pocophone has decent camera. In good light and in controled light it has good dynamic range, lot of details and focus is fast and accurate. In low light, noise reduction reduces amount of details, and photos can be blury due to longer exposure and lack of ois.
Solution?
GCAM
It is in earley stages of porting for poco, so give it few weeks, but already it gives better results in low light than stock camera. Best thing about it is that you don't need to root or flash anything, just install it and that is it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
some really good clicks there, are you active on instagram too?

About Pixel Binning

Is there any way to capture images from the rear 20 MP sensor without pixel binning in daylight? I believe the pixel binning smudges the details a lot. When I use the low light lens from the manual mode in daylight, the details and the overall quality is much lower than the rear 12 MP camera. Is there any way to use the 20 MP sensor without Xiaomi's algorithms?
[email protected] said:
Is there any way to capture images from the rear 20 MP sensor without pixel binning in daylight? I believe the pixel binning smudges the details a lot. When I use the low light lens from the manual mode in daylight, the details and the overall quality is much lower than the rear 12 MP camera. Is there any way to use the 20 MP sensor without Xiaomi's algorithms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong thread. Delete please.

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