How to make Mi MIX camera digestible - Xiaomi Mi MIX Guides, News, & Discussion

Hi folks,
i wanted to share some of my insights from 2 days of usage of Mi Mix. As for most, camera was biggest letdown. I knew it was bad, but actual experience exceeded all expectations After some digging and thanks to some threads in xda forum i found a way to make quite decent photos with little sacrifice.
So few things first:
- I'm on rooted LineageOS with Camera API2 unlocked (to be honest i didn't have to unlock it - i suppose it is unlocked with LineageOS? )
- As some noticed before, the hardware isn't that bad, it's software that spoils photos with ugly postprocessing in most cases.
- I'm using Snap Camera HDR - i tried most of software in Google Play and only in it found something like Low Light Mode - if someone know software with similar feature - pls let me know .
So what i did is basically turning off all useless postpro in Snap Camera (sharpenning, denoising, post-processing, anti-banding) and enabled Low Light Mode in all photos . From what i understand i takes series of photos and compare them to make one clean photo. You can choose how many frames to take. More you take the better picture you will get but it will also take more time to process. The processing time is biggest letdown of this method. You can't take another photo during processing so burst mode won't work. I found 5 to be best compromise - it enhances photo noticeably and takes only 1-3s to process. If u can spare more time between photos u can crank it up to 32 - with that count i had really impressive results even with ISO around 1500-2000 but the processing can take 10-30s. Another letdown as you can probably guess is that you can have some issues with moving objects - the darker it gets, the more blurred will they be (slower shutter for every frame).
Now to main dish, examples
All photos taken in 16Mpx without flash or any tripod, all taken form hand for real life comparison. As photo is processed in Snap Camera the jpg lose photo metadata so i only write that data for stock camera, for Snap Camera i write how many frames was set for Low Light Mode. I know it's not very scientific but i take photos in both softwares almost at the same time, in same light conditions and on basic auto modes.
Stock camera on left, Snap Camera on right - I'm posting 100% crops, ill post full pictures if there will be some demand
1. [ISO 2500 1/15s] [5 LLM] - far objects in bad indoor lighting
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2. [ISO 1250 1/17s] [5 LLM] - some fine details - fur, fabric, wood texture in mediocre light
3. [ISO 1600 1/17s] [5 LLM] - small details in mediocre light
4. [ISO 160 1/33s] [32 LLM] - outdoor in good light - i took more frames to show some extra foliage details
5. [ISO 6400 1/15s] [32 LLM] - most hardcore example, very bad indoor lighting. Snap Camera algorithm made some wired border around Marshall logo, but apart form that great job.
I hope my post will help some of you with Mi Mix camera, please post your own experiences with camera - maybe there is even better solution for our phones

Download Google Camer Hdr+ from OnePlus 5 thread and all your problems will solved you wont need to do any kinds of settings and quality of photos will be much much better!!(i past this step that you are now months ago and i had tried hundred type of apps out there )

Jinthegodstyle said:
Download Google Camer Hdr+ from OnePlus 5 thread and all your problems will solved you wont need to do any kinds of settings and quality of photos will be much much better!!(i past this step that you are now months ago and i had tried hundred type of apps out there )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Big Thx, i will most certainly try it:good:

I'm considering getting this device, but the camera is the main thing holding me back (besides price for last year's SoC...)
Does the Google HDR camera make this acceptable? I don't necessarily need the BEST camera, but I'd prefer relatively fast rate of capture and at least mediocre detail. The initial reviews of the device's camera make it seem like utter trash.
Also consider I want to root the device & install something Lineage based, most devices you sacrifice camera quality when you go this route (because of lack of API 2 / hardware source).

crash4fun said:
I'm considering getting this device, but the camera is the main thing holding me back (besides price for last year's SoC...)
Does the Google HDR camera make this acceptable? I don't necessarily need the BEST camera, but I'd prefer relatively fast rate of capture and at least mediocre detail. The initial reviews of the device's camera make it seem like utter trash.
Also consider I want to root the device & install something Lineage based, most devices you sacrifice camera quality when you go this route (because of lack of API 2 / hardware source).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera is equally bad regardless what ROM you run

OT. Found this OP5 camera app(proted or something) on AFH by blackterroristh https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=817906626617944662

Kalisfura1001 said:
OT. Found this OP5 camera app(proted or something) on AFH by blackterroristh https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=817906626617944662
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you link the thread please? I get a parsing error during installation (stock global rom).

nr-thunder said:
Can you link the thread please? I get a parsing error during installation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No idea if there is one for it. As i said I found it on AFH, but works on my mix. Perhaps re-downloading by another browser or app?

Kalisfura1001 said:
No idea if there is one for it. As i said I found it on AFH, but works on my mix. Perhaps re-downloading by another browser or app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately no, same with edge on desktop and yandex on mobile. Running rooted stock Global MIUI 8.5.5.0.

nr-thunder said:
Can you link the thread please? I get a parsing error during installation (stock global rom).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=817906626617944662

caballon said:
https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=817906626617944662
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the file link, I thought there is a discussion thread where I could ask for help because of the error. I also got parsing error with other ported Google Camera apks featured in XDA news, other 3rd party camera apps work though.

It's not prerequisite to have Nougat ? Stock Global ROM is under Marshmallow...

nr-thunder said:
That's the file link, I thought there is a discussion thread where I could ask for help because of the error. I also got parsing error with other ported Google Camera apks featured in XDA news, other 3rd party camera apps work though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Today tried it on Epic 7.11.9 and got the same error. Didn't really invest why.
lesscro said:
It's not prerequisite to have Nougat ? Stock Global ROM is under Marshmallow...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps but see my above post. Anyway it's not a ''wow'' app, just saying.

Received the Nightly OTA today, updated to V9.1.1.0 . Now I am on Nougat, the OP5 port linked in this thread works now , other versions of the google camera get installed but will close immediatly. Just tested it in my room and can't say that I see an improvement, maybe when tested outside at daylight. But I use the google camera anyway because I'm using immersive mode + dpi changes which make stock camera working less stable.

Hi. I updated yesterday to V9.1.1.0 via OTA. I tried the OP5 camera and is does a better job in lower light and image stays in better focus then stock camera. Is the OP5 the same as the google HDR camera. If not, is there a version of google hdr camera that works on Mi Mix without root? Also is there there a way to turn on some type of optical stabilization on stock camera. If I hold it really still when snapping pic the image is a lot sharper. It's actually pretty good. Just not practical to take pictures that way.
EDIT: OK. I guess no OIS on Mix...

I got my mi mix a bit more than a month ago coming from a OP3 and I was shocked by the awful camera of the mi mix. Sorry, I have no other words for it.
The op5 APK seems to make it digestible, but it's still not great. I know that for a GREAT camera I should've picked a different phone, but I didn't expect it to be like this.

Related

Camera quality is ugly

I've got sgs around month ago and already tried many kernels and firmwares but neither of those deal with photo camera shots quality issues. Let me explain - I had Huawei u8220 before and the camera photo shots where nearly perfect, when I get to computer I will try to upload a couple of pictures to see. Now with this high end super phone I get photos of the same quality as my wife's simple nokia but 5mp instead... I wonder if this is hardware of software fault, and if it is software, maybe there is better app available for camera?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
The SGS's camera is not the best in the world, but I've been able to make fairly good shots with it. But in the end; just with all phone cameras, it's a tiny sensor with lousy optics. Just use it for what it is for and only use it under the right circumstances (enough light, little movement) and you should be oke.
I don't understand alot of the negative opinons about the sgs camera, it seems perfect for a phone camera, better than all those htc ones and my old nokia n95 one by far, which is all I could really ask for.
don't know what you talking about really.
SGS has a great camera.
Compare the pictures taken by sgs on other websites with yours and see any diffference.
Check setting and camera lens.
done
[email protected] said:
don't know what you talking about really.
SGS has a great camera.
Compare the pictures taken by sgs on other websites with yours and see any diffference.
Check setting and camera lens.
done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have compared pictures before I purchased sgs and I saw that they are way worth than those from huawei but I thought that is because of taking picture conditions, besides I liked to have this phone,i still do, but here are two shots one from huawei and one from sgs,i didn't pick the best, just random.
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Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
The photo compression on the SGS is bad. It would be great if somebody fixedthat and the crappy filters on the video.
if that sgs camera sample is actually indicative of all the pics you take then there is something seriously wrong with your camera, I've never taken a pic that bad. Maybe you're picture quality is on normal, not super fine and its on a low res?
go to camera then go to settings. try to change the resolution from 600x480(not exact) to 2500x1900(not exact) or something like that. I think its a bug cause when i put mine to 2000x1900 it magically changes back to 800x600. just check if you are really using the full 5m.
i also checked the one you uploaded and its just 600x480. may you are just using .3m
tterencesy said:
go to camera then go to settings. try to change the resolution from 600x480(not exact) to 2500x1900(not exact) or something like that. I think its a bug cause when i put mine to 2000x1900 it magically changes back to 800x600. just check if you are really using the full 5m.
i also checked the one you uploaded and its just 600x480. may you are just using .3m
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the resolution was 2048x1536 and quality superfine why the image got smaller on the post? I dont know, will try to to find shots in approximately same condition. The size of Huawei's 3mp photo is slightly bugger than the SGSs 5mp. By the way, Huawei's camera was set on NORMAL image quality here (fine one would add some strange artefacts so, I never used it)
Huawei u8220:
SGS i9000:
View attachment 445250
For me, the Camera on the Outside has a great Quality while the Front Facing camera Picture is useless because its blurry as hell. Like theres extreme Bloom is turned on.
I didnt find any options to change anything on the Frontcam.
Do you have the same prob?
brack11 said:
the resolution was 2048x1536 and quality superfine why the image got smaller on the post? I dont know, will try to to find shots in approximately same condition. The size of Huawei's 3mp photo is slightly bugger than the SGSs 5mp. By the way, Huawei's camera was set on NORMAL image quality here (fine one would add some strange artefacts so, I never used it)
Huawei u8220:
View attachment 445249
SGS i9000:
View attachment 445250
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what are you complaining about. You do not use SGS best quality but use the best quality of the Huwaei. The SGS is still much better if you compare. Both cameras is set to 3mp still the SGS is both sharper (you used the same number of pixel and they should be equal), have correct color, better contrast etc than the Huawie and still it is only roughly the half potential of the SGS (5mp versus 3mp). Strange thread the title should be why does my Huawei take so crapy pictures.
I think the problem is that you seem to prefer saturated pictures, the only problem is that the SGS camera looks 'dull' in comparison? Go fiddle with the settings?
Also, do you still have your huawei? Why don't you take pictures of the same subject matter to compare, instead of taking entirely different types of photos?
milsjg said:
So what are you complaining about. You do not use SGS best quality but use the best quality of the Huwaei. The SGS is still much better if you compare. Both cameras is set to 3mp still the SGS is both sharper (you used the same number of pixel and they should be equal), have correct color, better contrast etc than the Huawie and still it is only roughly the half potential of the SGS (5mp versus 3mp). Strange thread the title should be why does my Huawei take so crapy pictures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both cameras on last uploaded photos are set to 3 mp, it's max for huawei, but the quality setting for huawei was set to normal and for sgs superfine
To me huawei pics look sharper and sgs ones are dull,
Yes I should experiment with settings of sgs camera and yes,i need to charge huawei and make a few pics of the same object, will be back with results tomorrow after charge.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Ok I figured some options to make photos look better, and even better than huawei - settings-> adjust->+2 on contrast and sharpness and quality photos are there, however,i have to set this option ecru time I start camera, those are not saved for some reason, maybe there are some tricks on how to save options in camera?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
i wish i still had the shots i took with my first SGS. they were great! I'd have used them to populate this site
http://litlclic.com
(ok, little plug there)
it's still in the works ...
the SGS is a great little camera/phone! as someone above mentioned, of course it isnt as good as a camera, but take it for what it is and you can get some great shots!
this guide will help too
http://litlclic.com/guides/take-better-pics
brack11 said:
Ok I figured some options to make photos look better, and even better than huawei - settings-> adjust->+2 on contrast and sharpness and quality photos are there, however,i have to set this option ecru time I start camera, those are not saved for some reason, maybe there are some tricks on how to save options in camera?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know you can touch to zoom on specific ellements right?
Also, the different modes (click SCN) will make a big difference.
t1mman said:
You know you can touch to zoom on specific ellements right?
Also, the different modes (click SCN) will make a big difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Touching doesn't zoom, but adjusts the focus.
ssj4Gogeta1 said:
Touching doesn't zoom, but adjusts the focus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep, my bad!
I meant Touch to focus
I've found that using Vignette, the SGS camera takes better photos.
Always remember, it's not the camera that makes a photographer, especially if you've comparing smartphone cameras. If we were talking about various prime lenses and the like, then it's a lot more serious.
Also, factor in that almost all photos nowadays go through post-processing if you want it to look good. I personally feel that there is nothing wrong with that, if one is just to touch up the photo.
Hence my inclination towards programs like Vignette, which do a lot of the post-processing effects that I like, all within the camera. Excellent feature of Vignette is that it can save both original JPEG (which considerably looks better than the default camera), and the edited JPEG.
Here are some random photos taken using Vignette:
Vignette01
Vignette02
Vignette03
Vignette04
I am in no way affiliated with the makers of the program, nor am I being paid to this. These are all my side on things. I hope it was informative.
Im also using vignette and noticed that right before the photo is taken when the app is trying to focus theres a split second that you will see the images that are very very sharp and great quality, after the photo is snapped it looks dull.

Xperia Z1 2nd Place in DxO Mark's Overall Mobile Camera Ranking

Apparently, DxO Mark just gave out a score to Xperia Z1 and amazingly, just sits at 2nd place behind the Pureview 808 in overall Mobile Camera Ranking! :victory:
And that's without the "firmware updates" that will supposedly improve the camera!
I can't post the link as I'm still within the new user limitation of posting outside links. But if you're curious to see it, just do a quick google search for DxOMark and Xperia Z1!
More details:
Actually, the stills for Z1 stands at 5th place, however the video was deemed to be outstanding and the best in the mobile cameras and just 2nd place in their database behind the GoPro Hero 3!
If you're wondering what happened to the 1020, they also have an article on it and while they deemed the stills to be amazing and 2nd only to the 808. However, video was said to be lacking.
What are your thoughts?
bloodfire1004 said:
Apparently, DxO Mark just gave out a score to Xperia Z1 and amazingly, just sits at 2nd place behind the Pureview 808 in overall Mobile Camera Ranking! :victory:
And that's without the "firmware updates" that will supposedly improve the camera!
I can't post the link as I'm still within the new user limitation of posting outside links. But if you're curious to see it, just do a quick google search for DxOMark and Xperia Z1!
More details:
Actually, the stills for Z1 stands at 5th place, however the video was deemed to be outstanding and the best in the mobile cameras and just 2nd place in their database behind the GoPro Hero 3!
If you're wondering what happened to the 1020, they also have an article on it and while they deemed the stills to be amazing and 2nd only to the 808. However, video was said to be lacking.
What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess the big sensor is the key here. Dxomark doesn't reflect the real life though. I'm not very happy with the z1 camera... far too noisy especially at 20mp. Still better than my older nexus 4 anyway.
j0sh0 said:
I guess the big sensor is the key here. Dxomark doesn't reflect the real life though. I'm not very happy with the z1 camera... far too noisy especially at 20mp. Still better than my older nexus 4 anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just curious, what settings are you using? I'm pretty satisfied with the Z1 Camera of mine, but that was after tweaking some of the shooting settings I'm in. At first, I was pretty disappointed as well but now I think I'm good.
bloodfire1004 said:
Just curious, what settings are you using? I'm pretty satisfied with the Z1 Camera of mine, but that was after tweaking some of the shooting settings I'm in. At first, I was pretty disappointed as well but now I think I'm good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought the phone yesterday so I'm still testing it. At the moment I like to shoot in manual mode at 8mp with image stabiliser on.
j0sh0 said:
I bought the phone yesterday so I'm still testing it. At the moment I like to shoot in manual mode at 8mp with image stabiliser on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah ok. That's good then. Shooting at 20MP especially in low-light results in (I'm not sure why) worse pictures than shooting at 8MP 4:3 .. in my tests, it resulted in darker images.
I also like to shoot at 8MP 4:3 to take advantage of the oversampling and leave the rest of the settings to Auto. One thing though is that I turn off the Stabilizer. I found that turning it on resulted in the camera choosing a much higher ISO than intended compared when leaving it off. This may be due to its detection of slight handshake movements and it tries to compensate by upping the ISO in favor of a faster shutter speed.
bloodfire1004 said:
Ah ok. That's good then. Shooting at 20MP especially in low-light results in (I'm not sure why) worse pictures than shooting at 8MP 4:3 .. in my tests, it resulted in darker images.
I also like to shoot at 8MP 4:3 to take advantage of the oversampling and leave the rest of the settings to Auto. One thing though is that I turn off the Stabilizer. I found that turning it on resulted in the camera choosing a much higher ISO than intended compared when leaving it off. This may be due to its detection of slight handshake movements and it tries to compensate by upping the ISO in favor of a faster shutter speed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes shooting at 20mp is useless. Pics are so noisy... it's a shame. At 8mp the image quality is pretty good and yes, with the stabiliser on the iso is higher for that reason. But I prefer a bit more noise other than a blurred image.
j0sh0 said:
Yes shooting at 20mp is useless. Pics are so noisy... it's a shame. At 8mp the image quality is pretty good and yes, with the stabiliser on the iso is higher for that reason. But I prefer a bit more noise other than a blurred image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice. What metering and focus are you using? Particularly for macro / night shots. I find that using Single Auto Focus setting doesn't keep the whole image in focus and just the middle part, but I find that the multi-auto focus setting doesn't do too well either particularly in macro shots. Currently, I shoot in landscape mode when shooting macro.
I'm using metering average (it seems to do a better job with white balance as well). About focus I always use touch focus... I like to choose what I want in focus...
I love th bokeh management of the lens.. look at this for example
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j0sh0 said:
I'm using metering average (it seems to do a better job with white balance as well). About focus I always use touch focus... I like to choose what I want in focus...
I love th bokeh management of the lens.. look at this for example
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohh nice, I'm gonna try that out Thanks!

			
				
j0sh0 said:
I bought the phone yesterday so I'm still testing it. At the moment I like to shoot in manual mode at 8mp with image stabiliser on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And there's you mistake - the software image stabiliser introduces noise. Switch it off.
Timaustin2000 said:
And there's you mistake - the software image stabiliser introduces noise. Switch it off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I know... but as I said I prefer a slighty noiser image than a blurred one. I'll try again without stabiliser anyway.
j0sh0 said:
Yeah, I know... but as I said I prefer a slighty noiser image than a blurred one. I'll try again without stabiliser anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hopefully new update has improved superior auto mode...
Try night mode can reduce noise.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda app-developers app
Why is everyone so scared of noise I just don't get it. If the fine detail is their don't worry about the noise.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Yeah. The Z1 does lovely bokeh.
here is theDxO report for the Z1 which i could not find on DxO's website.
matheus_sc said:
I dont think samsung software is better, have more mods, but is very large and camera lags, i have gs4 9500 until last week
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What i find telling from that review is this graph.
Above 80 lux the S4 shots have more 'texture' than the Z1.
Contrary to what people might think the Z1 has the best noise reduction indoors.
bloodfire1004 said:
Apparently, DxO Mark just gave out a score to Xperia Z1 and amazingly, just sits at 2nd place behind the Pureview 808 in overall Mobile Camera Ranking! :victory:
And that's without the "firmware updates" that will supposedly improve the camera!
I can't post the link as I'm still within the new user limitation of posting outside links. But if you're curious to see it, just do a quick google search for DxOMark and Xperia Z1!
More details:
Actually, the stills for Z1 stands at 5th place, however the video was deemed to be outstanding and the best in the mobile cameras and just 2nd place in their database behind the GoPro Hero 3!
If you're wondering what happened to the 1020, they also have an article on it and while they deemed the stills to be amazing and 2nd only to the 808. However, video was said to be lacking.
What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not much of a fan of them anymore, after I wrote to them to see if they would do the Xperia Z test again after Sony updating the firmware to fix the bad camera quality, they didn't even respond to me. On the flip side it is Sony's fault for shipping substandard equipment, get all the important things right first, especially the camera when they are making such a big deal about how amazing it is.
DxO finally got around to testing the G2. Overall G2 placed 6th. However in the photo section it ties with the Z1 in terms of score. A closer examination of the parameters tested shows the Z1 edges ahead slighlty.
Where the Z1 comes out ahead : Exposure & Contrast, Colour, Noise Reduction, Flash
Where the G2 comes out ahead : Autofocus, Texture, Artifacts
4 > 3 or Z1 ahead by a little.
What lets the G2 down is video, where its ranked 15th to the Z1's 2nd place.
If you consider phones alone, Z1 has the best video out there.
Now we have to wait for DxO to test the Note 3 to see whether it will affect the Z1's ranking.
Sorry to jump here like that, I don't even know all this stuff but after read what you guys saying is like the camera on Z1 was made for experienced people who know how to set up the device. This is a phone anyway and I like to go around and shooting everything but almost of the pictures are crap. That how shouldn't be with a camera on a phone with 20mpx.

Camera/picture samples - before/after unlock

FWIW, since there's probably quite a few people concerned about the picture quality on unlocked phones, I did a simple comparison. One Z3C with completely stock/locked bootloader, and one Z3C rooted with unlocked bootloader.
Here are a few of the pictures. The first couple taken with Auto mode, the locked bootloader consistently came out much cleaner - especially in low light. Switching to 20Mp Manual mode, however, both phones took fairly comparable photos and the unlocked one actually did an ever-so-slightly better job focusing.
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I assume that using an alternative camera on our phone implies not using sony proprietary tecnology, so a test can be easily carried out on any phone regardless of the bootloader.
Am I wrong?
I suspect only the 8MP and lower modes trigger the post processing. That'd also be why the SCN modes are only available at 8MP and less.
That means 8MP manual mode.
Then if you dont have the DRM files, it never triggers and you just get whatever additional post processing stuff the camera app does.
In particular in low light mode it does pixel correlation (ie pixel binning) which works rather well IMO... heck even the 12800 ISO mode works. Turns black images into something visible, even if the quality is not exactly great
Interesting, thanks for posting the pics. It sounds like it's the software holding it back, maybe some backports or third party alternative might solve this?
Thanks for the comparisons! Are low light photos as effected in 20.7MP manual mode as they are in 8MP?
If we root without unlocking the bootloader and install an AOSP ROM, will we still get image quality similar to an unlocked bootloader one?
There is no installing of any ROM (except official) without unlock.
And yeah, every Custom ROM will not have the Sony postprecessing except if somebody is able to activate it without DRM and also port it.
Bäcker said:
There is no installing of any ROM (except official) without unlock.
And yeah, every Custom ROM will not have the Sony postprecessing except if somebody is able to activate it without DRM and also port it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about the L Camera APIs? Will they help the unlocked bootloader's camera performance be similar to the one without unlocked bootloader?
darkgoon3r96 said:
What about the L Camera APIs? Will they help the unlocked bootloader's camera performance be similar to the one without unlocked bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We won't know until L lands and is available on devices!
In theory, you should be able to simulate camera performance sans-DRM keys by using another camera such as Google Camera. However not all camera apps are equal, so it's not really a 'fair test'. Should give you an idea first hand though.
This is a post I made yesterday which might help clarify the issue surrounding the camera and DRM (as per my understanding)
Scottland said:
My understanding is that with a custom/unlocked recovery, you'll lose the TA partition with DRM keys. So you'll lose out on anything that needs the DRM keys. If a root exploit is found, then you could use the standard ROM with root and not touch the bootloader/recovery/TA partition. But as soon as an update rolls out, you'll lose root again (and likely the exploit with it).
Backing up the TA partition means that you can restore it to stock (i.e. to sell or for warranty repair).
Again, as per my understanding - any AOSP/CM based ROM will lose any of the Sony proprietary software and features anyway, no different to Samsung or HTC in that respect. I remember having a HTC One (M7) last year where the camera was worse on CM because HTC used their own post processing software within their camera app.
In theory, it may be possible for someone to come up with a stock based ROM with root baked in that keeps some the Sony proprietary software etc, but this is unlikely I would say.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ragnorok161 said:
Thanks for the comparisons! Are low light photos as effected in 20.7MP manual mode as they are in 8MP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I took some more comparison shots using different modes, and the unlocked phone consistently shows a bit more noise than the unlocked one using both auto, as well as manual modes.
That said, in normal lighting conditions, I am finding that Sony trends to overcompensate and many of the pictures from the locked phone are over sharpened when I zoom in.
When i get some time tonight, I will try to get some comparison shots using the stock android camera app using both devices.
Do I understand that right? I only get good pictures on a stock rom with sony camera app, since Google camera (or any other camera app) has no use for the DRM library?
---------- Post added at 03:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:38 PM ----------
dew.man said:
Yes. I took some more comparison shots using different modes, and the unlocked phone consistently shows a bit more noise than the unlocked one using both auto, as well as manual modes.
That said, in normal lighting conditions, I am finding that Sony trends to overcompensate and many of the pictures from the locked phone are over sharpened when I zoom in.
When i get some time tonight, I will try to get some comparison shots using the stock android camera app using both devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you do your shots with Focal too? To see the difference between stock and third party app!?
spychodelics said:
Do I understand that right? I only get good pictures on a stock rom with sony camera app, since Google camera (or any other camera app) has no use for the DRM library?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No exactly. Initial results between the Sony camera and the stock/android camera were very comparable (at least with normal lighting). I'll try to get more specifics later tonight, but right now, I'm thinking the major difference lies in Sony's proprietary noise reduction algorithms for high-ISO/low light scenarios. Looks like their camera application does a very good job of pulling shapes/images out of low light conditions.
spychodelics said:
Can you do your shots with Focal too? To see the difference between stock and third party app!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by "focal"? I presume you're referring to the focus mode in manual settings?
Nope, im sorry, i meant to use a different camera app, like Focal.
I would really appriciate to see the difference
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.xplod.focal
dew.man said:
Yes. I took some more comparison shots using different modes, and the unlocked phone consistently shows a bit more noise than the unlocked one using both auto, as well as manual modes.
That said, in normal lighting conditions, I am finding that Sony trends to overcompensate and many of the pictures from the locked phone are over sharpened when I zoom in.
When i get some time tonight, I will try to get some comparison shots using the stock android camera app using both devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks dude, I really appreciate this. Please take alot of comparison photos - the more the merrier. And, if possible, also use different apps such as Focal or Google Camera as discussed above. Not meaning to put too much workload on you, but I seriously think that we'll be waiting for quite some time (at least months) before there's a new exploit available to root our phones with locked BL. Therefore, these comparison shots are just about the only way we'll be able to decide if it's worth it to unlock the bootloader now instead of waiting. I think you're one of the few lucky people out there with both a locked and unlocked Z3C available. Personally, I'm really dying for root and feel hamstrung every day without it, so if the quality loss isn't too severe, I'll probably go ahead and unlock the BL and never look back.
Thanks very much OP. Much appreciated. As others mentioned it'd be great to see more including the stock Google Camera for comparison!
More pics
Sorry guys - been very busy at work today so I didn't get any outdoor pics.
Looks like the Sony proprietary stuff is MOSTLY for the stock camera High ISO mode. Google camera and Focal pics come out very similar between the two phones. However, one or two of the shots do appear to have a bit more noise in the dark areas on the unlocked phone so their customization might go a bit deeper.
Here are a couple shots in very low light using the Google camera
Here is the same picture but using the Sony Auto mode. It really is amazing what Sony is able to pull out in those conditions (keep in mind this is without flash).
And now the same scene using the Google camera but with a flash
Lastly, here is a picture with normal lighting using the Focal camera. The thing that caught my attention here, is that even using a third party application, while the pictures appear very similar in overall quality, the locked phone seemed to do a slightly better job with the noise reduction in the darker/shaded corner.
That's all I have for now. Will try to get some more tomorrow with better lighting and more landscape/further objects. Unfortunately, time is very tight this week so I can't make any promises...
Oh, and here are some comparisons between the different cameras (Sony, Google, and Focal)
First from the locked bootloader
and next from the unlocked/rooted phone
It appears to me from the auto pics that in auto mode the z3 is using a high f-stop to force a very small focus range.
Does the z3 have an adjustable f-stop?
I have used cameras where you could set the f-stop and then the camera would auto set the ISO to adjust the exposure level. Can the z3 do that?
Well, wait, all of this is by definition in software, right? It's not like it's keeping the camera from catching an image a certain way. Since the hardware reacts the same with or without DRM, isn't it possible to fix it yourself? Add your own noise-reduction, keep it from oversharpening... That could even be preferable to a lot of people's tastes. Look at the whole situation around the Moto G's camera, and the switch for noise reduction they found and immediately turned and left off.
Great comparison OP. And yes, like you, I am completely floored by stock Sony camera's ability to capture shapes and colors in essentially complete darkness. Yes, there's noise (although they touch it up nicely I must say), but that's better than just blackness that every other camera captures under the same conditions.

Laggy camcorders + Bad front camera

I am really fed up!
I can't understand why the camcorders of Mi A1 lag when shooting in low light condition like a 50$ Android Phone.
My brother have a low-cost Redmi 4X and his camcorders (rear and front) are super smooth in low light / internal ambients, and selfie quality is fantastic.
I hope it's a driver fault, because i don't think that in 2017 it's possible to have laggy camcorders on mid-range phones.
Mi A1 has OV12A10 and OV13880 as rear cameras, and OV12A10 has a max frame rate of 90fps at 1920x1080. Why we have only 30fps?http://www.ovt.com/sensors/OV12A10
Bad front facing camera chapter:
This phone has a 5-megapixel Samsung S5K5E8 BSI sensor, that is also used in Redmi Note 4 16GB, Redmi Pro, Vernee Apollo Lite and Meizu M3 Note. Why only in Mi A1 this sensor sucks? See this selfie from Meizu M3 Note!
Is Xiaomi using bad camera libraries? I hope yes!
How to fix this s#!t?
Was doing the same like you 3 weeks ago. I checked the actual sensor with 90fps on the website. I really dont get why we get this crappy camera. I just hope that its the buggy driver of the camera. Otherwise its pretty sad. FHD with 30FPS and FHD with 90FPS are 200percent difference. Not even my HTC HD2 had a laggy camera like the A1
Seriously bro! Front camera is bad as hell!!
And colour accuracy is ****.
I mean in indoor lighting the back camera can't identify the red color! It shows dull pinkish color. But back camera is good in outdoor conditions. But the front camera is ****! Really **** in indoor as well as outdoor!
Devs should do something to improve the camera performance.
And yeah, the video recording is crap in indoors as well as outdoors.
It should be a libraries issue, or at least I hope that. Same front camera used in other brands it's better
All this is true, unfortunately.
There's a Google Camera App that was ported from the Pixel (requires root) that improves the camera quality and adds HDR+ and video stabilization so there's still hope that Xiaomi improves the camera quality with a software update, right?
Cheers
When Xiaomi will release kernel sources, we absolutely need to solve these problems...
Please report it on the Feedback App.
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One quick work around (until this issue is properly addressed) is this one:
✓ Download Open Camera from the Play store.
✓ When in low light, manually set video ISO to 3200
✓ Set Scene mode to "Steady Photo" ( I think it works best on our phone.)
✓ Enjoy your smooth video.
I completely agree, the stock camera app is horrendously bad in low light. I believe it has to do more with default settings in auto mode than drivers.
Good luck.
Steady photo mode provide steady photo or is it alternative to eis for videos recordin???
StePaDrums said:
One quick work around (until this issue is properly addressed) is this one:
✓ Download Open Camera from the Play store.
✓ When in low light, manually set video ISO to 3200
✓ Set Scene mode to "Steady Photo" ( I think it works best on our phone.)
✓ Enjoy your smooth video.
I completely agree, the stock camera app is horrendously bad in low light. I believe it has to do more with default settings in auto mode than drivers.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried... but no visible improvements to be honest
FerrarisIV said:
Tried... but no visible improvements to be honest
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's interesting.Using this method I get 30 fps in low light every time. I'm trying to upload a screenshot showing 29fps but I get a "bad request" from the XDA app.
I have the global version purchased in Greece a couple of months ago. What is your version?
kaushal4595 said:
Steady photo mode provide steady photo or is it alternative to eis for videos recordin???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure, but to me it seems better. Anyway you can stabilize your videos after you shoot them in Google Photos.
StePaDrums said:
That's interesting.Using this method I get 30 fps in low light every time. I'm trying to upload a screenshot showing 29fps but I get a "bad request" from the XDA app.
I have the global version purchased in Greece a couple of months ago. What is your version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Global version, Italy, one month ago
But i was talking about pictures, maybe you refer to video, is it right?
FerrarisIV said:
Global version, Italy, one month ago
But i was talking about pictures, maybe you refer to video, is it right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that is correct. It wouldn't be of much help with the photos. I hope they fix that, it's so annoying not being able to capture a moment on video because you have to fiddle with the settings first.
It would be a good idea to compare the camera performance with the mi5x. Its the sale phone wirh different módem, firmware, OS and internal partitioning. If mi 5x can hace a decent camera performance so can The a1
Just to update, the lag issue has not been fixed!
Camcorder still sucks, and the only method to get a smooth video recording, is using the StePaDrums method.
StePaDrums said:
One quick work around (until this issue is properly addressed) is this one:
✓ Download Open Camera from the Play store.
✓ When in low light, manually set video ISO to 3200
✓ Set Scene mode to "Steady Photo" ( I think it works best on our phone.)
✓ Enjoy your smooth video.
I completely agree, the stock camera app is horrendously bad in low light. I believe it has to do more with default settings in auto mode than drivers.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jack_21 said:
Just to update, the lag issue has not been fixed!
Camcorder still sucks, and the only method to get a smooth video recording, is using the StePaDrums method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I kinda hoped that Oreo would fix this but nope. Otherwise I'm very happy with the device. Here's hoping for a fix. ?
StePaDrums said:
Yeah, I kinda hoped that Oreo would fix this but nope. Otherwise I'm very happy with the device. Here's hoping for a fix. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not very happy... Because you can't do an Instagram stories without using Open Camera first...
Selfie camera is terrible! No one here can try porting other libs from other devices using the same model?
jack_21 said:
I am not very happy... Because you can't do an Instagram stories without using Open Camera first...
Selfie camera is terrible! No one here can try porting other libs from other devices using the same model?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true. It is definitely a software issue, so hopefully they will fix it.
Use CINEMA FV 5' and 'CAMERA FV 5',as they include lots of manual controls which we can use.
FOR VIDEOS
Open 'CINEMA FV 5' and first select settings from top left corner,then second tab from left then find image parameters option and open it,set contrast to 0 or 1(will work as alternative to HDR in video recording)saturation to 5 or 6 and sharpness to max.You can also select above option by your choice.
Now come back to main screen and set
ISO to auto(for good lighting) or 3200(for low lighting but will increase noise),now point you camera towards the point where the lighting is not too dark or bright and then set the exposure(third option below) control to frame average and lock it by tapping the lock option there.Now set exposure slider to max point where frame are smooth(in low light conditions.In good lighting, set according to your need).
Now when you start recording you may notice frame skips in low lightings,simply slide the exposure slider little bit and it will become smooth again.
You can play with various different controls to get the best result in different situations.
If your video is shaky then you can stabilise it in Google photos by selecting edit option in it at preview screen(Better than nothing).
FOR FRONT CAMERA
Open 'CAMERA FV 5' and select front camera(top right) and then go to setting(top left),then third option from left and find image parameters.open it and set the contrast to 0 or 1,saturation to 4 or 5 and sharpness to maximum.Now return back to main screen and set ISO to auto(for good light)or 3200(for low light) and set the exposure slider according to your need.You can turn on the screen flash for low light situations by selecting flash option in left side.

Photo quality

Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) 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`ll be honest here too.
I don`t think that these sensors are true 24MP. I would say that they are at most 8MP and with heavy (and very bad) interpolation they get them to 24.
I have tried this. Shot few pictures at 24MP and the same in 8MP through the camera settings. Then I used Photoshop to interpolate the 8MP ones to 24. Guess what, at 100% crop the quality was the same, if not better.
But still if you shot something in 24MP and then reduce and resize the whole picture and do a little sharpening in PS the result will be better than just shot in 8MP.
The camera is a mess.
But then again when they are looked at the phone screen they are not all that bad. More like in the decent range.
TL;DR
If you want good camera in your phone this model is not for you.
Currently I`m not able (personal reasons) to provide raw shots for demonstration but if someone wants resource you can find some in this review https://mobile-review.com/review/samsung-galaxy-a7-2018.shtml
After week or so I`ll provide my own photographs.
I have this phone over a month now and I'm pritty happy with the camera. I was able to compare it to my previous phone - iPhone 7 and Galaxy s7. Pictures from a main sensor has better quality in terms of details, noise control and dynamic range than than Galaxy S7. Comparing to iPhone details and noise control are on pair, dynamic range much better and speed and quality of automation worse. Wide lens has quite a bit of a lens distortion which are clearly no corrected with postprocessing although those are natural with that kind of lense. Video made with A7 had natural smooth panning and good quality in good and very good light. In bad light conditions wide lens has much noise and main sensor has unnatural brown tint. There is EIS in normal and wide lens no same high class like in iPhone but with proper technique there is no problem to produce steady nice looking recording. Now some pictures made with A7. First wide lens and after that standard one:
:
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Wysłane z mojego SM-A750FN przy użyciu Tapatalka
I`m really busy lately so I have only made few example pictures but to preserve their real quality I have upload them in gdrive here A7 2018 pics. As the winter is near and everything is grey there isn`t anything interesting to photograph around so I apologize for that.
When I have more time I`ll try and snap more "macro" shots but as there isn`t any bugs around in this cold nor beautiful flowers I doubt that any of you wants to see snaps of spoons or something, haha.
Well, I can snap some electronic components and stuff, hmm.
Btw I discovered snapseed app but as I said when looked in the phone pictures doesn`t really look that bad and if I want to do good edit for desktop view I would always prefer PS anyway.
But if someone needs good editor for posting pics in social medias snapseed is the way to go.
Note that the pictures in my gdrive are not touched with any apps, they are straight from the camera app.
Belgarionbg said:
I would say that they are at most 8MP and with heavy (and very bad) interpolation they get them to 24.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MIND = BLOWN
This stuff should be illegal.
blazzer12 said:
MIND = BLOWN
This stuff should be illegal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me f* you up little bit more.
According to samsung this is their super mega amazing 24MP sensor at it`s best: (at 100% crop)
Some exif info: 1/220 s, f/1.7, 0.00 eV, ISO 40, Center weighted average, focal length 3.93 mm
Now lets look at what my 11 years old Canon PowerShot A550 do with his poor 7MP sensor do at 100% crop:
some exif: 1/320 s, f/7.1, ISO 80, 0.00 eV, metering mode Pattern, focal length 5.8 mm
============================
Now, tell me what do you think. Would real 24MP sensor be that f*cked up and on top on that I think was from Sony.
I would even say it`s may be even 6 or 5MP...
Again, 100% crop from some clouds, just look at this sh*t:
I really don`t understand how they managed to mess this bad.
Then again the fault lays partly with the integrated camera app. It`s really bad and it`s using bad processing. Just look at this:
But there is another problem with HD camera pro. For inside shots is amazing but when shooting outside the sharping is way, way too much to the point of loosing details. See this (100% crops)
In the end after taking over 1200 photographs in the course of the last few weeks with 7 different apps I found one that is the best all around and it`s Camera Zoom FX. (100% crops)
This is after sunset with bad light at 1600 ISO. Bad as you can get. But still camera zoom manages to stand out.
Just for the record. The firmware for the A7 (2018) has been updated. At Sammobile it says:
Firmware for the SM-A750FN with product code PHN from Netherlands. This firmware has version number PDA A750FNXXU1ARK4 and CSC A750FNOXM1ARK2. The operating system of this firmware is Android 8.0.0 , with build date Fri, 23 Nov 2018 06:05:24 +0000. Security patch date is 2018-11-01, with changelist 14377560.
Model SM-A750FN
Model name
Country
Version Android 8.0.0
Changelist 14377560
Build date Fri, 23 Nov 2018 06:05:24 +0000
Security Patch Level 2018-11-01
Product code PHN
PDA A750FNXXU1ARK4
CSC A750FNOXM1ARK2.
I did install it successfully (download via Smartswitch) on a rooted phone. It adds super slow-mo the the camera. My phone is so new that I can't really say whether it has improved on the overall quality of the camera at all.
awful
this is the simple way to describe this camera..I had a huawei with a 12MPx cam before getting this one the other day and the photo quality is waaaay worse than it was on the huawei with half the resolution (and half the lenses, lol) The images are an overprocessed mess (the preview looks better than the photo ffs) and I'm not sure why people are writing praises to its wide lens included in a medium range phone..I mean, whats the point if the pictures are pure crap? The bundled app clearly doesn't know whats its doing but there is no way to stop it messing up your pics..I hope that somebody makes a working google cam port and it fixes up things a bit..really disappointed with it
The photo looks fine in the preview, but then Samsung's processing ruin everything.
for Italian people and all SAMSUNG GALAXY A7 (2018) users
Poor quality, low details, and images are soft and muddy.
You can read and participate
on Samsung Community thread:
Foto galaxy a7 2018 sfocate o con effetto "pastello"
and facebook group:
Samsung A7 Problema Foto
Now since One UI and Android PIE is in beta, we have to wait, maybe something will change. If someone already updated, or will update soon, please provide some info about camera quality
Russia should get soon Pie update, plz tell us if this improves picture quality.
Thanks a lot for spoiler
gigiotd said:
Russia should get soon Pie update, plz tell us if this improves picture quality.
Thanks a lot for spoiler
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Camera quality is same. Same drivers, same app, and same quality. So don't get your hopes up
Erecik said:
Camera quality is same. Same drivers, same app, and same quality. So don't get your hopes up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure?
In changelog I read something related to camera improvements...
Inviato dal mio SM-A750FN utilizzando Tapatalk
gigiotd said:
Sure?
In changelog I read something related to camera improvements...
Inviato dal mio SM-A750FN utilizzando Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I am sure. Quality is as bad as it was in oreo
OK, I am in the process of exchanging the device for an iPhone, unless Samsung service center can manually change the software settings. 
First, here is the cause of the problem: Noise reduction can not be turned off and it destroys any image, even in the daylight. SAMSUNG, give us the option to turn off noise reduction completely in the default camera app!!!
To all of you who are stuck with this device(and I might be stuck with it as well). I FOUND A TEMPORARY SOLUTION!!!
AGAIN! THERE IS A TEMPORARY SOLUTION!!! Install the app called FreeDCamera!!! It is free and allows you to turn off noise reduction and shoot normal images!!!
This, of course is not what we need. We need to be able to turn off noise in the default camera app, but this will allow you to shoot regular 24mpix images that are sharp and have good color reproduction. The wide angle camera and bokeh will not be utilized, and unfortunately this means that device is still not functioning as specified but at least you can take some really good pictures.
24mpix camera, both front and rear with noise reduction turned off is actually pretty damn good!
Freedcam denoise not work. Root is need?
I bought this and the camera quality is hugely disappointing . Such a damn shame , since everything else is very good .
How to change shutter speed?

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