Database Users

Galaxy Camera review and samples

This is a review I made for the Galaxy Camera after a week's use. It's stunning and completely incomparable to other high end compacts.
A few features that I love: the smart modes (especially rich tones, light trace and burst shot), the slow motion video recording and of course, the Android 4.1.1 which is perfect for such a device.
Here's my Dropbox folder for the camera photo and video samples: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1ocgbtdcra4zm8q/LjNTonk7PR
What you should check out: the difference between normal shots and rich tones (taken at the same time by the camera, the second one is HDR) to see just how much better it is than anything else, the slo-mo shots of seagulls on Dambovita river in Bucharest, the light trace pictures (some are taken without using a tripod) and the macros.
I'm available for any type of question, don't hesitate to ask! Enjoy

I will check out the review later.
But, since you have played with the camera more than me, I have a question:
Is there a way to set manual focus? I wanted to record some equipment at work and as the equipment moves, the camera keeps refocusing. And it often focuses on part of the robot, not the part of the system I want to record. With other cameras you can set the focus and turn off auto focus.
floiancu said:
This is a review I made for the Galaxy Camera after a week's use. It's stunning and completely incomparable to other high end compacts.
A few features that I love: the smart modes (especially rich tones, light trace and burst shot), the slow motion video recording and of course, the Android 4.1.1 which is perfect for such a device.
Here's my Dropbox folder for the camera photo and video samples: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1ocgbtdcra4zm8q/LjNTonk7PR
What you should check out: the difference between normal shots and rich tones (taken at the same time by the camera, the second one is HDR) to see just how much better it is than anything else, the slo-mo shots of seagulls on Dambovita river in Bucharest, the light trace pictures (some are taken without using a tripod) and the macros.
I'm available for any type of question, don't hesitate to ask! Enjoy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

You can always click on the screen on the part of the image you want focused or you can set it in expert mode and change the settings there manually (f, ISO, exposure, shutter speed etc)

I am recording videos, so I don't want to have to keep refocusing.
And the robot is moving while recording.
floiancu said:
You can always click on the screen on the part of the image you want focused or you can set it in expert mode and change the settings there manually (f, ISO, exposure, shutter speed etc)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

floiancu said:
I'm available for any type of question, don't hesitate to ask! Enjoy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would be great to see how it behaves in low-light and with/without using the flash. Samsung cameras are notorious to fail in their operations (focus, video etc) at Low Light levels.

To be fair I haven't taken any indoor low light photos, but you can see the exterior night shots in the shared Dropbox folder. I no longer have the camera, but I can ensure you the flash does a hell of a job and I can't see why you wouldn't use it.

Well... This guy is not very happy with the horrible cracking noise when zooming in/out, and another guy says he can't use the flash as a light while shooting video... So I don't know what to think about this $500+ "thing"...

My zooming was smooth and pretty silent, although you could notice it in the videos. You can't use the flash when filming because it's a discharge flash as opposed to LED flashes on mobile phones.

This is a really good review! I especially like the way you have incorporated the sample clips in the video with good examples also of the different settings.
---------- Post added at 03:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:51 PM ----------
floiancu said:
I no longer have the camera, but I can ensure you the flash does a hell of a job and I can't see why you wouldn't use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How come you no longer have the camera??!

apprentice said:
How come you no longer have the camera??!
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Click to collapse
I had it from Samsung for reviewing. You can check my Youtube account and my other posts on XDA to see other devices I've tested for them.

E:V:A said:
Well... This guy is not very happy with the horrible cracking noise when zooming in/out, and another guy says he can't use the flash as a light while shooting video... So I don't know what to think about this $500+ "thing"...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... this is a photo camera which is also able to take video clips. If you want a video camera, get one.
If you want a touchscreen and Android on a point & shoot camera this is the one to buy. If you can live without them you can buy much cheaper cameras with the same picture quality.

Before buying the Galaxy Camera or even commenting on it you need to understand its purpose and specs / advantages.
It's NOT a DSLR. It doesn't aim to be a professional camera (although it gives you plenty of manual settings) and it certainly won't take pictures as good. It does offer the smart modes such as rich tones (for which you need filters on a DSLR), macro and light trace (which takes tweaking and setting on a DSLR as opposed to two clicks), 21x zoom without buying extra lenses etc.
It's NOT a regular compact camera. The price tag, build quality, specs and features stress that out pretty well.
The main purpose of the Galaxy Camera is the Android OS which means fast sharing, cloud integration, picture editting on the spot, not to mention all apps available for regular smartphones.
If you judge it on these terms and actually find out it's what you need, it's the perfect camera. Otherwise get a DSLR or a compact camera. Nobody will be upset

floiancu said:
Before buying the Galaxy Camera or even commenting on it you need to understand its purpose and specs / advantages.
It's NOT a DSLR. It doesn't aim to be a professional camera (although it gives you plenty of manual settings) and it certainly won't take pictures as good. It does offer the smart modes such as rich tones (for which you need filters on a DSLR), macro and light trace (which takes tweaking and setting on a DSLR as opposed to two clicks), 21x zoom without buying extra lenses etc.
It's NOT a regular compact camera. The price tag, build quality, specs and features stress that out pretty well.
The main purpose of the Galaxy Camera is the Android OS which means fast sharing, cloud integration, picture editting on the spot, not to mention all apps available for regular smartphones.
If you judge it on these terms and actually find out it's what you need, it's the perfect camera. Otherwise get a DSLR or a compact camera. Nobody will be upset
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 Well Said. I love my camera!!

floiancu said:
This is a review I made for the Galaxy Camera after a week's use. It's stunning and completely incomparable to other high end compacts.
A few features that I love: the smart modes (especially rich tones, light trace and burst shot), the slow motion video recording and of course, the Android 4.1.1 which is perfect for such a device.
Here's my Dropbox folder for the camera photo and video samples: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1ocgbtdcra4zm8q/LjNTonk7PR
What you should check out: the difference between normal shots and rich tones (taken at the same time by the camera, the second one is HDR) to see just how much better it is than anything else, the slo-mo shots of seagulls on Dambovita river in Bucharest, the light trace pictures (some are taken without using a tripod) and the macros.
I'm available for any type of question, don't hesitate to ask! Enjoy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice review.
On your drop box photos, one of them shows the white, black and red versions, where is the red version available please for customers to buy. I don't mean demo versions.
Does a 64 GB card work in ex fat or does it need to be in fat32.
Is there a video editor and can it edit the videos shot on the camera itself. Can't seem to find an official case. On amazon uk there is a deal for this camera to get a discount on the short manfrotto tripod. Do you think that tripod would be fine for video as well as photos or would one need a different head for that tripod. Just looking for tips on that count.
On amazon different people say sgs2 or sgs3 battery works. Any idea which one actually works. Guessing its the sgs2.
Does it have USB OTG functions. If so does it need sgs2 or sgs3 USB OTG cable. I know you don't have the camera but since you seem to be a Samsung mobiler I am hoping you know about this.
My Samsung note can shoot videos longer than 30 mins. I read on other posts on XDA that this camera can't record more than 29mins 59secs. Is there a setting to increase this limit?
Did any of the Samsung remote apps work from your phone to control the camera like mobile link or remote view finder etc. Does the DSLR controller or any similar app work with this camera by wifi or USB.

I don't know about the red (I would say pink) version, in Romania none are available yet.
I don't exactly know about the filesystem type required for 64 GB microSDs, but I'm sure it's the same as the SIII, whatever that is.
There is Video Wizard, an app similar to Photo Wizard for editing videos shot on it, it's pretty cool and has more than the functionality you need on a camera, but I would rather use my PC for that so I didn't cover it... Maybe I will do an extra video specifically for that.
The tripod hole is standard, I used mine without any problems.
The battery has the same capacity with the S II, however I don't know if it's exactly the same. I will ask.
Yes, USB OTG is supported.
I never tried to shoot videos longer than a couple of minutes, but being a dedicated camera I'd be surprised if it had a time limit (besides the storage space).
The remote viewfinder option was available in the menu of the camera app, but after an update to the latest firmware it's gone. I haven't tested any remote shooting modes besides voice commands (which works like a charm, but you need silence and you can't see what you're shooting). If there are dedicated remotes for Android (not necessarily made by Samsung), then they should work on the Galaxy Camera without issues.

Thanks. On the engadget post about covers for this they show covers in white black red pink and orange. So i assume those are the proposed colors to be released. But can only find white and black online for now.

[Q] Camera framerate issue. Is it by design?

I've had my G2 for about a week now and love it so far.
But there is one issue which irritates me, the camera. It does take a good picture and I like the 60fps 1080p. But these work best outside or in really good light.
I tried to take a video of my 11 month old son with the camera indoor and I noticed that even at 60fps, the framerate on the screen could not be more than about 20. The picture quality was not good either, lacking detail, blurry.
This translates to pictures too and perhaps the most annoying feature. When taking pictures the camera just takes ages to snap that picture. I tried to capture a moment of my son and after pressing the shutter button, I counted to 5 before the shot was taken. No good for those moments you want to capture.
Any ideas to any of this? Is it by design? Or is my phone faulty?

Post Front Camera Pictures

Hey,
Can I get some full quality pictures posted from the Note 4 Front Camera? Good & Bad lighting, With and Without Beautyface.
They don't need to be selfies, but I would like a few to be.
I noticed my Note 4 when taking front camera pictures and selfies suck compared to my Note 3.
I tried recreating the same pictures (same room, same lighting, same angle) I took with the Note 3 and the White Balance is way off, there are more artifacts, and distortion, and the pictures really are not in focus, especially at a minor distance on the Note 4. Even lights in pictures have an starburst/halo effect that others don't seem to get on the same shot.
I contacted Samsung and they had me pretty much clear app cache and data and factory reset the mobile. Not much help.
I wanted to see if this is just the norm for the Note 4 or if I have a bad cmos sensor or whatever before I send it for repair or exchange.
With full spectrum daylight led and cfl bulbs, all front pictures are yellow hueued. Adjusting the white balance helps, but shows more artifacts and can't be done in apps like snapchat, skype, google hangouts... pretty much anything you would use a front camera for that's not a camera app selfie. I even have a softbox setup with proper professional lighting and images show up with lots of artifacts and halos.
It's almost as if it's ever slightly out of focus and when the system API jpeg compresses it, it shows sloppy artifacts.

My cat took a selfie the other day! Lol! Not sure if this will get alot of replies. Most of us are too ugly for front camera shots

sino8r said:
My cat took a selfie the other day! Lol! Not sure if this will get alot of replies. Most of us are too ugly for front camera shots
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, they don't have to be face shots. Like point it at a bottle of something with text on it or pictures.

htmltag said:
Thanks, they don't have to be face shots. Like point it at a bottle of something with text on it or pictures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I know. Couldn't resist though. Hehehehe! I'll play around with it some and see if I notice what you mentioned. What rom are you using? Have you tried the camera mod and talked to the guy who's been modifying the camera apk? Here's the link...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4/themes-apps/mod-camera-quality-mod-t2917502

sino8r said:
Yeah I know. Couldn't resist though. Hehehehe! I'll play around with it some and see if I notice what you mentioned. What rom are you using? Have you tried the camera mod and talked to the guy who's been modifying the camera apk? Here's the link...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4/themes-apps/mod-camera-quality-mod-t2917502
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on Stock Rooted Rom.
I have used multiple apps with the same result.
Apps that allow you to adjust the exposure and white balance can compensate a little.
I have a feeling when Android 5.x is released for our phones, if Samsung updates the driver to allow raw images, things would get a lot better.
It would be nice if you could adjust camera variable defaults in the OS for applications that don't provide an interface to them.
I am definitely going to check out that modded camera app. Thanks for pointing me at it.
Even if it doesn't make a difference, "No audio interruption if listening to music" alone is worth it.

htmltag said:
I'm on Stock Rooted Rom.
I have used multiple apps with the same result.
Apps that allow you to adjust the exposure and white balance can compensate a little.
I have a feeling when Android 5.x is released for our phones, if Samsung updates the driver to allow raw images, things would get a lot better.
It would be nice if you could adjust camera variable defaults in the OS for applications that don't provide an interface to them.
I am definitely going to check out that modded camera app. Thanks for pointing me at it.
Even if it doesn't make a difference, "No audio interruption if listening to music" alone is worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah mine seems a little like that with the modded camera. I noticed the yellowed tint a little but it seems to be related to the lack of flash and it seems like it's being processed like it's in low light mode to make up for lack of a flash. Have you tried in day outside with alot of light? Might help a little. Not a fan of those low light/night modes. They are alway pixeled up and blurry. Look like sh!t most of the time. I've never used the front facing camera much on my phone or even on my computer. All my friends, family, and gf live here in town so I haven't had much need for it much. Sucks, I know, for those who need it. But!... Like you said, the lack of timer, audio interruptions and now that the camera works while on a phone call makes the camera mod worth it. Maybe the driver could be modded or at least the software related to it could be cleaned up by a dev or future updates might improve stuff some. You never know... Let us know if you think the camera mod helped any with the FFC at all. I just don't use it enough to know for sure. Thanks!

Selfie
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app

Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app

Thanks donnyp1, it appears you have Christmas spirits in there. You're in the spirit, you have spirits (drinks), and it looks like there is a Christmas Spirit hovering behind you guys.

All over it. This phone takes great selfies. This wasnt one of my better ones. Merry Christmas
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app

Representin'
I thought this might be appropriate...

The AT&T version never took sloppy shots. I'm experiencing a poor performing front facing camera on the T-Mobile Note 4 as well. Solution is, use the rear facing camera.
htmltag said:
Hey,
Can I get some full quality pictures posted from the Note 4 Front Camera? Good & Bad lighting, With and Without Beautyface.
They don't need to be selfies, but I would like a few to be.
I noticed my Note 4 when taking front camera pictures and selfies suck compared to my Note 3.
I tried recreating the same pictures (same room, same lighting, same angle) I took with the Note 3 and the White Balance is way off, there are more artifacts, and distortion, and the pictures really are not in focus, especially at a minor distance on the Note 4. Even lights in pictures have an starburst/halo effect that others don't seem to get on the same shot.
I contacted Samsung and they had me pretty much clear app cache and data and factory reset the mobile. Not much help.
I wanted to see if this is just the norm for the Note 4 or if I have a bad cmos sensor or whatever before I send it for repair or exchange.
With full spectrum daylight led and cfl bulbs, all front pictures are yellow hueued. Adjusting the white balance helps, but shows more artifacts and can't be done in apps like snapchat, skype, google hangouts... pretty much anything you would use a front camera for that's not a camera app selfie. I even have a softbox setup with proper professional lighting and images show up with lots of artifacts and halos.
It's almost as if it's ever slightly out of focus and when the system API jpeg compresses it, it shows sloppy artifacts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

That's an unfortunate answer.

I notice with face beauty set to 4 and up it creates a blur effect so I slide all the way off and my images are sharper but I haven't noticed and yellow tint that some of you are reporting.

Nexus 6 Ultimate 4K Video Test

Change to 4K/2160p in Quality Settings! The only real compression is on youtube's side. And I will say I see a little better quality on my Master File than on youtube.
I decided to test the 4k video recording on the Nexus 6 by shooting my entire vacation with it. I've compiled a recap video showcasing the camera's abilities.
-There conditions recorded in are: high light, low light, sunny, overcast, indoors and outdoors, etc.
-I've zoomed in a few times and moved the phone to force refocus in a few clips.
-There has been NO post editing to the footage such as color correction, cropping, stabilizing, etc.
-Crossfading, fade to black, muting of audio, and title overlays are the only alterations made to compile this video
ENJOY!

Looks like OIS keeps making things a bit juttery and focusing in and out at times.

knitler said:
Looks like OIS keeps making things a bit juttery and focusing in and out at times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes Google camera does that. Same on nexus 5

rootSU said:
Yes Google camera does that. Same on nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does using another camera app prevent it?

knitler said:
Does using another camera app prevent it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never tried. I doubt it

Then it's a hardware issue I assume.

knitler said:
Then it's a hardware issue I assume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No... But 3rd party cameras are not a complete solution. They use the existing libs and camera HAL etc, which is software.
But you can try it, who knows?

i need to look around to see if there are any apps that lock focus.
That would come in handy

Robert_W said:
i need to look around to see if there are any apps that lock focus.
That would come in handy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try with Cinema FV-5

I watched the whole thing before realizing my monitor at work isn't 4K
nice video - I'll have to watch it later at home to really see the quality. The focusing issue sucks and is really pronounced on this phone, I wonder if L Camera is any better at it.

springer.music said:
Try with Cinema FV-5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have that app in my wish list. Gotta do some more research to see if it offers what I want. I prefer simplicity like the stock app is designed, but I don't think google will ever include these especiall features.. Including 60/120/240 fps.

springer.music said:
Try with Cinema FV-5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
camera focus doesnt seem to be an issue with cinema fv-5. pretty sure its an android issue as my nexus 5 had the same problem (as mentioned above). anyway i just shot a few minutes of 4k video w cinema fv-5 and i dont see any re-focusing nonsense going on

rman18 said:
I watched the whole thing before realizing my monitor at work isn't 4K
nice video - I'll have to watch it later at home to really see the quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you get to watch it in all its glory? Lol

Cinema FV-5 seems to fix the constant jittery focus issue. Wish I make this video test in that app instead

Manual Camera is, by far, the most feature-packed camera app for the Nexus 6. Full support with the new camera API's too ?

StrizzMatik said:
Manual Camera is, by far, the most feature-packed camera app for the Nexus 6. Full support with the new camera API's too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fv5 supports the new apis as well. i read manual camera has issues. like you can't zoom and theres no way to switch between front and rear cameras...
but on topic, does manual camera support video recording?

indianajonze said:
fv5 supports the new apis as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope they add 60/120 fps soon. That's the only camera feature I really want

Open camera supports everything people!!!! Just downloaded it and is now my default camera!!!! It support all resolutions for stills and recording, shows amount of memory left in real time, and a lot of other things and you get really check the options for a lot and best part of all its open source!!! So always free and never ad filled, I think Google should have hired this guy to make their camera app!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.sourceforge.opencamera
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

I started watching the video on my phone, then decided to stream it to my 42 inch flat screen tv to check out the quality on a larger scale, and then realized my 42 inch TV is lower resolution than my phone as a result. lol!
i was recently looking around for other camera apps so as to see how the device's ability to shoot in RAW compares to various cameras. I was considering trying FV5 but was checking out the free alternatives first.
I tried L Camera, which did let me adjust ISO, white balance, and so on, but it had some pretty major issues that need to be worked out still.
While I haven't tried FV5 yet (so I can't say much about that app specifically) I just tried out Open Camera (the above post caused me to remember it showing up in the app store several times while I was browsing) and wowee it's actually really good so far. Only one bug so far that I've encountered and it's very minor. The customization and various settings are really well thought out.
It says it can do 60/120 fps with a disclaimer that it may not always reach the designated fps if the hardware doesn't support it..so maybe?
auto-focus seemed quite a bit faster compared to google's stock camera app and it's much easier to adjust the lighting quickly than any other camera apps I've tried so far.
Right now the only thing I can really find "wrong" with it is the overall design and layout of the app, but it's not poorly designed at all.
I'll be using Open Camera as my default camera app until a major flaw presents itself or google amps up it's own app to compete. Very pleasantly surprised so far.

Robert_W said:
Change to 4K/2160p in Quality Settings! The only real compression is on youtube's side. And I will say I see a little better quality on my Master File than on youtube.
I decided to test the 4k video recording on the Nexus 6 by shooting my entire vacation with it. I've compiled a recap video showcasing the camera's abilities.
-There conditions recorded in are: high light, low light, sunny, overcast, indoors and outdoors, etc.
-I've zoomed in a few times and moved the phone to force refocus in a few clips.
-There has been NO post editing to the footage such as color correction, cropping, stabilizing, etc.
-Crossfading, fade to black, muting of audio, and title overlays are the only alterations made to compile this video
ENJOY!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome video and very helpful. Thank you.

Samsung Motion Photo? Use SGS10 Camera app?

A70 is so nice I almost pulled the trigger on it, when during testing I noticed... huh? No Motion Picture in photos?
I checked Samsung's page and it's true, there is no Motion Picture for A-series phones.
I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but with 2 small kids this feature (I'm using SGS7 now) paid itself in gold - not the moving part, but the fact that I can effortlessly "rewind time". Those with children know that they can do something magical for few seconds, and by the time you snapped photo it's already gone - well, with Motion Photo the phone is saving sensor output from camera app start. This means that I can trigger camera when puling the phone from my pocket, aim, snap photo, then rewind 3 frames back and save THAT picture.
I tested Gcam and while it has similar feature, it's not nearly as polished - first, Samsung's saves frames only BEFORE snapping the photo, second, it's much more difficult to crop single frame, third - the picture quality of Samsung Motion Photo is far, far superior compared to that from Gcam.
So my question is - is this app or processing system limitation? If it's the app, is it possible to use camera app from e.g. SGS10 to get Motion Picture?

Maybe we should wait for a camera app port from s10 to get motion photo and also to get pro mode

Stasheck said:
A70 is so nice I almost pulled the trigger on it, when during testing I noticed... huh? No Motion Picture in photos?
I checked Samsung's page and it's true, there is no Motion Picture for A-series phones.
I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but with 2 small kids this feature (I'm using SGS7 now) paid itself in gold - not the moving part, but the fact that I can effortlessly "rewind time". Those with children know that they can do something magical for few seconds, and by the time you snapped photo it's already gone - well, with Motion Photo the phone is saving sensor output from camera app start. This means that I can trigger camera when puling the phone from my pocket, aim, snap photo, then rewind 3 frames back and save THAT picture.
I tested Gcam and while it has similar feature, it's not nearly as polished - first, Samsung's saves frames only BEFORE snapping the photo, second, it's much more difficult to crop single frame, third - the picture quality of Samsung Motion Photo is far, far superior compared to that from Gcam.
So my question is - is this app or processing system limitation? If it's the app, is it possible to use camera app from e.g. SGS10 to get Motion Picture?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an app limitation. You can use other cam apps from play store for motion picture though.

I've installed Gcam (google photos apk) and I can make Motion Photos with it. It's a shame samsung does not update A70 firmware to be able to make these too.
Just make sure you install a compatible Gcam version. Not all of them are. Search google for "a70 gcam" and you'll find one which is compatible.
Regards,
Francis

http://cyanogenmods.org/galaxy-a70-google-camera-7-0/

Thanks a lot Sklks.