I love HTC , but still have not bought One (M8) ...because of the camera

[anon(677651)]

just curious how many of you are like me? I am really frustrated by htc not stepping it up on the camera.
I hate my phone (s3) right now. So I decided to go check out m8 and s5 in person.

I saw both htc m8 & s5 in store. m8 is soooo gorgeous and the UFocus is a super awesome feature... on the other hand, s5 looks more of the same and the silver trim just feels... cheap.

So I rushed home, about hit the buy button on htc's website for m8...but I did some more research.

Read pretty much every single major review site - I am not impressed by the camera. Honestly I can careless how many MP or Ultra pixel it has. What matters in the end of the day is the picture quality, detail, color, and contrast when the pictures are viewed on pc.

Also seeing all the photos so far taken with m8 on the AC forum, I also am quite disappointed about 80% of the photo produced by this phone's camera. They all seem to have a layer of gray over the images. And many of them dont seem sharp. And colors are not very vibrant. The greatest weakness of all is probably light exposure. It seems to over expose light way too much causing small details to get blown out.

I am not here to bash htc, because I love htc phones. The camera is pretty capable. And I really want to buy one! I just wonder if photo quality is more of hardware issue or software? I mean if it's software.. then I would assume it will get updated. And I'd be less reluctant to buy the phone.

I have a feeling that it's due to nature of ULTRA pixel letting more light in, that in outdoors hots pictures get way over blown, so htc had to dial back down to let less light in, and as result you see darker/ grayer images for out door shots...

Edit:
I am actually pretty excited about Desire 816. Because it has 13MP which means it can possibility have the camera that I am looking for in a HTC. I dont care that it has plastic body since I am covering it with case anyway. It will be light weight, and thin.
However, I am abit concerned that it has only 1.5GB of ram. But I assume the latest phones should be all pretty fast nowadays anyway. Shouldn't be a huge deal breaker.

5.5-inch 720p display
Boomsound
13MP
Sense
Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor
1.5GB of RAM,
SD card supporting 128gb

From what I read, it is a mid-range phone. So It should affordable enough to last me until next year's flagship upgrade. htc sounds like they will really step it up with optical zoom. I am already excited about next years m9

HTC Desire 816 Video clips
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/HTC-Desire-816_id8465/videos

HTC Desire 816 previewed and compared to Sony's Xperia T2 Ultra
http://www.phonearena.com/news/HTC-...-compared-to-Sonys-Xperia-T2-Ultra_id53985#3-

Mobile World Congress 2014: HTC Desire 816 is a plastic HTC One
http://www.cnet.com/videos/htc-desire-816-is-a-plastic-htc-one/

Unboxing / Unpacking HTC Desire 816 with TETDED Leather Case
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up1ZV8EhvV4

 

[cyberr8der]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

You can adjust the light exposure if you like. I don't think most people do though. For a phone camera I feel like it's fine. I have a real camera for events which I want great pictures.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[ankah]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

If you want pixel count buy a real camera.

It's a cell phone, majority of images taken from cell phones are posted to websites that compress them ( Facebook. Imgur. Instagram. Twitter etcetera )

You don't need a better camera for a cell phone

Posted via Android Central App

 

[UJ95x]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

I'd say that it has more to do with the hardware. Software can make for better shots, but can only be improved as much as the hardware allows. The Moto X was an example of this, as they updated the camera it improved slightly; taking sharper shots. But ultimately it didn't do enough to make the camera stand out. If the camera is important to you, you might be better off with an S5 or waiting for another phone.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[nestafaria]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

I bought the S5 for the camera and waterproofing. It's great -- but I might return it and try the M8.....for everything else. Still hesitant b/c I mostly take pictures on the golf course or when traveling. Camera phones can take great pictures, I have no desire to carry around something else. Used my n5 in Thailand for 3 weeks and I'm plenty happy with the photos.

 

[Prinny Mask]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

Being honest, it's still a second-generation Ultrapixel camera. Besides the resolution, it's mostly just software. Reviews are really harsh, but they all pretty much agree that it's still better than the M7. And the M8 has the same sensor as the later M7s. So all the improvements over the M7 were software tweaks. There's a limit to what software can do with specific hardware, but I think this showcases that there is still improvement capable. Who knows how much HTC will actually improve it, but since the phone just came out, I'm pretty sure there will be more than a few instances.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Jun Alcanites]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

It is a smart phone, not a smart camera. I have mine set to 0.5+ EV. If I know I will be taking a lot of pictures, I will be bringing with me one of my 7 cameras. Otherwise, the pictures it produces is just fine with me.

 

[anon(677651)]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

If you want pixel count buy a real camera.

It's a cell phone, majority of images taken from cell phones are posted to websites that compress them ( Facebook. Imgur. Instagram. Twitter etcetera )

You don't need a better camera for a cell phone

Posted via Android Central App

Like I said, I can careless about pixel count. What matters to me is the picture quality. I already have a real camera, the point of paying the money for a high end phone is so i dont have to carry around my big camera.

You can't tell me that I dont need a better camera for a cell phone when camera is one of the main features people look for when deciding which phone to buy nowadays.

 

[freddyttt]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

the camera is fine...

 

[Skyway]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

All the issues you mention can be handled with a tiny bit of photography knowledge. You don't have to be a professional or educate yourself on every aspect of photography, but a little bit of information will help drastically improve your shots.

The m8 camera features a full manual mode in which you can deal with almost every situation in which there might be an issue. You can also save your camera settings as a quick preset, so you aren't digging through settings to capture the perfect shot.

All in all, I think it's a great camera. Easily on par with all the other flagships. If you don't believe me check out the photo blur poll Android Central recently did. Jerry stated that the m8 took the best picture when compared to the s5, LG G2, and the nexus 5. I know it's only one picture taken by one guy, but it still illustrates my point all the same.

A camera is only as good as the person using it, this rings true for ANY camera

Posted via Android Central App

 

[anon(677651)]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

I bought the S5 for the camera and waterproofing. It's great -- but I might return it and try the M8.....for everything else. Still hesitant b/c I mostly take pictures on the golf course or when traveling. Camera phones can take great pictures, I have no desire to carry around something else. Used my n5 in Thailand for 3 weeks and I'm plenty happy with the photos.

what is your main reason for returning the s5? what are you not happy about it?
I really dont want to buy the S5 because how cheap it looks and how much crap ware it has. But camera is my main thing

 

[anon(677651)]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

All the issues you mention can be handled with a tiny bit of photography knowledge. You don't have to be a professional or educate yourself on every aspect of photography, but a little bit of information will help drastically improve your shots.

The m8 camera features a full manual mode in which you can deal with almost every situation in which there might be an issue. You can also save your camera settings as a quick preset, so you aren't digging through settings to capture the perfect shot.

All in all, I think it's a great camera. Easily on par with all the other flagships. If you don't believe me check out the photo blur poll Android Central recently did. Jerry stated that the m8 took the best picture when compared to the s5, LG G2, and the nexus 5. I know it's only one picture taken by one guy, but it still illustrates my point all the same.

A camera is only as good as the person using it, this rings true for ANY camera

Posted via Android Central App

great point. I think it's awesome to hear people claiming the camera is better than s5. I would like to see the link for those comparison pictures .
Mind if I have the link?
I totally agree that camera is only as good as the person using it. I also hope someone would make a website for those of us who want to learn how to take better shots and create presets.

 

[Skyway]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

great point. I think it's awesome to hear people claiming the camera is better than s5. I would like to see the link for those comparison pictures .
Mind if I have the link?
I totally agree that camera is only as good as the person using it. I also hope someone would make a website for those of us who want to learn how to take better shots and create presets.

Sure here it is:

http://www.androidcentral.com/battle-blur-winner-and-look-how-it-all-done

The nexus 5 was the winner, but that is based on the blur effect and not overall quality. Jerry stated that the m8 took the best overall picture out of the bunch.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[nestafaria]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

what is your main reason for returning the s5? what are you not happy about it?
I really dont want to buy the S5 because how cheap it looks and how much crap ware it has. But camera is my main thing

The software just isn't fluid or fast coming from a n5. Too many little stutters. They really are tiny and insignificant, but as a software engineer, they bug the @#%#@ out of me. Otherwise, it's pretty great. On full auto i get GREAT pictures outdoors.

 

[anon(677651)]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

Sure here it is:

Battle of the Blur winner, and a look at how the cameras get it done | Android Central

The nexus 5 was the winner, but that is based on the blur effect and not overall quality. Jerry stated that the m8 took the best overall picture out of the bunch.

Posted via Android Central App

I'd like to think m8 looks best, but my eyes is telling me different.
I was hoping to see a comparison in this type of format Samsung Galaxy S5 camera shootout versus HTC One M8, iPhone 5S - CNET

 

[anon(677651)]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

The software just isn't fluid or fast coming from a n5. Too many little stutters. They really are tiny and insignificant, but as a software engineer, they bug the @#%#@ out of me. Otherwise, it's pretty great. On full auto i get GREAT pictures outdoors.

you think the google play edition s5 would get rid of those problems?

 

[Skyway]

you think the google play edition s5 would get rid of those problems?

Possibly, but then you lose all those nifty features on the s5. Same goes for any Google play edition

Posted via Android Central App

 

[KennyJohnson]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

I think you need to ask yourself what you want out of the camear. I want something that takes good enough pictures that I can post to FaceBook. I have a DSLR for taking real photos. It suits my needs.

 

[icenija]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

Read pretty much every single major review site - I am not impressed by the camera. Honestly I can careless how many MP or Ultra pixel it has. What matters in the end of the day is the picture quality, detail, color, and contrast when the pictures are viewed on pc.

This statement alone may be the reason you are on the fence. Also asking others to post pics is not going to help either. You need to buy the phone use it the way you would use it and make a decision for you. If it is good enough then great welcome to the club if not then take it back and find the phone with the camera that you are happy with. Good luck on your decision.

Ice

 

[anon(677651)]

Re: I love htc, but still have not bought m8...because of the camera

I think you need to ask yourself what you want out of the camear. I want something that takes good enough pictures that I can post to FaceBook. I have a DSLR for taking real photos. It suits my needs.

i am definitely not looking for DSLR quality images, but I am looking for the best value in terms of picture result...for price tag