Anyone else disappointed in the G4's camera?

[Lightshield]

I'm currently test driving my 3rd Verizon G4. The previous two had horrendous touchscreen lag and ended up being returned before the 14-day window. After the latest update hit, I decided to give it another try because every article I read just about says that the G4 has one of, if not THE best camera in a phone.

However, I'm not having that experience at all. Almost every photo I've taken indoors has come out blurry, or washed out, or simply "oil painting"-esque.

On auto, with or without HDR, it seems any source of light whatsoever, be it from a lamp or a window, completely blows out and overpowers the shot. Almost like the f/1.8 lens allows in TOO much light and the phone doesn't compensate for it.

Another problem I've had is shutter lag... I can have a picture of my dog for example perfectly focus and sharp in the viewfinder, hit the button, and even though the dog hasn't visibly moved by the time the G4 takes the pic, the result will be slightly blurry or smeared. I just don't get it.

I've been comparing it to the Nexus 6's HDR+ and the Note 4, and they both seem to get much better focus and contrast in similar situations.

So is it a case of the G4 being great outdoors but horrible indoors, like the Galaxy S5 was? Or is this 3rd G4 of mine saddled with a poor camera?

I don't know if I've ever tried as hard to convince myself that I like a phone as I have with the G4!

 

[Murph5150]

I gave the LG G4 and Droid Turbo. The Turbo camera has more pixels, but that is irrelevant to my needs.

Comparing the two phones, the G4 has shorter shutter lag, faster auto focus, and I almost never snap a pic that is blurry or out of focus unless I snapped too soon.

I was at Fenway Park two weeks ago. I was 4 rows behind home plate. The G4 was able to put the batter and left fielder in focus, even though they stand about 80-90 meters away from each other. I tried using my Turbo, but the ballpark was "too busy" for the camera to stay in focus.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[lostchild]

You could have oil smear inside the glass covering the lens. Does it happen on all 3 phones or just the last one you received?

 

[belodion]

There must be something wrong. The camera on my G4 compares very favourably with that on my Lumia 1020. The G4's sharpness never fails to astonish me.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[erwaso]

I sometimes get too much light but it corrects itself on the next shot or two after

 

[boogas8]

No problems here.

Sent from my LG G4 via The Uncarrier

 

[Jason De Castro]

This was taken today in manual mode. I think it looks great and I'm coming from cameras such as the 1020, 930, 1520, iPhone 6+ and note 4

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[scottysize]

I read the title and my first response is, Heck No! Best camera I've ever used!! While that's still my response, I am by no means, a photographer, so I cannot comment on any manual settings, or anything other than point and shot. Point and shot is by far the best I've ever used. By far!

 

[tardus]

Anyone else disappointed in the G4's camera?

No, I've continued to be amazed by how good the G4 camera is, outside and indoors.
Can you post some photos?

 

[Lightshield]

Here are a few pictures of my dog indoors to maybe illustrate what I'm encountering. In all three, the source of light (lamp) is overpowering the shot. With the two of him beside me, the lamp blows out the picture, and he comes out washed out and lacking detail. I would chalk it up to black fur being hard to photograph, but I think the bigger problem is how the phone compensates for the light.

The one of him laying on the back of the couch actually has nice focus on his face, but blows out toward the left, where there was a lamp. And the wall behind him is actually blue, not white as it came across. :-/

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=U3NaclM5ZENnSzRwSXMtYU9Cd0Y5R2ZaTkRVWWZ3

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=TzNvRDV5QUdVbEtmSm1IcG1PVk5qaXp2cGtLVFB3

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=TEd1OGJGQTRtbFpwckNobmFlRkxid2FXUHcwWmhR

 

[tardus]

Here are a few pictures of my dog indoors to maybe illustrate what I'm encountering. In all three, the source of light (lamp) is overpowering the shot. With the two of him beside me, the lamp blows out the picture, and he comes out washed out and lacking detail. I would chalk it up to black fur being hard to photograph, but I think the bigger problem is how the phone compensates for the light.

The one of him laying on the back of the couch actually has nice focus on his face, but blows out toward the left, where there was a lamp. And the wall behind him is actually blue, not white as it came across. :-/

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=U3NaclM5ZENnSzRwSXMtYU9Cd0Y5R2ZaTkRVWWZ3

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=TzNvRDV5QUdVbEtmSm1IcG1PVk5qaXp2cGtLVFB3

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=TEd1OGJGQTRtbFpwckNobmFlRkxid2FXUHcwWmhR

Thanks for posting. The third one looks ok. The first has back lighting - which is not good light for the object (your doggy) behind it. If you were standing by the window and photographed the dog the exposure would be much better.

Also, in the third photo you can see the couch is in focus - there's light and dark there. The camera sees the dog as a big dark spot and won't necessarily choose that for focus.

BTW do you tap to select a focus point?

 

[oldschoolsig]

The camera is crazy good...

 

[sswitzer]

Here are a few pictures of my dog indoors to maybe illustrate what I'm encountering. In all three, the source of light (lamp) is overpowering the shot. With the two of him beside me, the lamp blows out the picture, and he comes out washed out and lacking detail. I would chalk it up to black fur being hard to photograph, but I think the bigger problem is how the phone compensates for the light.

The one of him laying on the back of the couch actually has nice focus on his face, but blows out toward the left, where there was a lamp. And the wall behind him is actually blue, not white as it came across. :-/

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=U3NaclM5ZENnSzRwSXMtYU9Cd0Y5R2ZaTkRVWWZ3

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=TzNvRDV5QUdVbEtmSm1IcG1PVk5qaXp2cGtLVFB3

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=TEd1OGJGQTRtbFpwckNobmFlRkxid2FXUHcwWmhR

All 3 are difficult light situations with both very dark and very light subjects in the same shot.

I would suggest, though I can't be sure, that you need to tap on the screen to tell the camera what subject (the cutie pie of a dog) needs to be the basis for the focus and exposure. You might also to want to turn HDR to "on" instead of "auto".

 

[belodion]

I think we have to bear in mind that high quality equipment is no guarantee of success every time. I've got some quite staggeringly bad photos taken with Leicas and similar cameras. The wrong exposure, slightly wrong focus, awkward lighting, high subject contrast, etc., can all take their toll. It's the same with phone cameras. The G4 is up there with the best of them, but, as with all the phones I've used, including the mighty Lumia 1020, it will sometimes produce results needing heavy editing or binning. There's always an element of hit-and-miss in photography even with high-spec gear.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[RedOctobyr]

In terms of exposure, they all look somewhat over-exposed to me, on my laptop screen. At least in terms of the bright areas being blown out.

But you're taking a picture of a dark subject, with a bright light nearby/behind. That requires a large dynamic range, from a light source, to a dark subject. Asking for both to be properly exposed, without HDR, probably is not realistic, and doesn't seem (to me) like a failing of the camera.

Now, if part of your concern is that the pictures are overall too light, for instance, then that would be attributed to the camera/app, and its metering approach. Spot-metering on the subject could help ensure that he's exposed properly, but you'd still have the lamp appearing over-exposed, most likely.

And this doesn't excuse a white-balance problem with the wall.

In terms of focus, we do have to keep in mind that the wide f1.8 lens will result in a shallower depth of field. So even if the camera focuses perfectly on your dog's face, the back of him is more likely to go out-of-focus, like in the 3rd pic. Getting near-and-far objects all in focus won't happen.

 

[GrooveRite]

I think we have to bear in mind that high quality equipment is no guarantee of success every time. I've got some quite staggeringly bad photos taken with Leicas and similar cameras. The wrong exposure, slightly wrong focus, awkward lighting, high subject contrast, etc., can all take their toll. It's the same with phone cameras. The G4 is up there with the best of them, but, as with all the phones I've used, including the mighty Lumia 1020, it will sometimes produce results needing heavy editing or binning. There's always an element of hit-and-miss in photography even with high-spec gear.

Posted via the Android Central App

You're so right man! I have borrowed my friends T2i which is a good beginner DSLR I believe and I'm trying to take some nice shots of the Verrazano bridge so I can digitally print it on my CJV30-160 and I get home and this is the best looking shot I got......



........I'm not a photographer but I'm willing to bet that besides my lack of photography understanding that the lighting conditions produced such horrible looking shots! It was a HAZY and HOT day....not ideal lighting situation for a clear and less washed out looking shot.


Here are some light and dark shots I took with my G4 all taken on auto.....

 

[SCjRqrQCnBQ19QoYCtdl]

The G4 camera is very good. You can't expect it to make you a good photographer though.

 

[Anthony_NE]

In my experience when this camera gets it right, the results are awesome if a bit over sharpened. I find though that it has issues focusing. Landscapes are cake, lots of completely still objects and usually many areas of contrast to focus on. I mostly use mine to take pictures of my daughter, in action and relatively still sometimes. Now of course it's extremely difficult for a camera to auto focus when motion is involved, but when snapping pics of my daughter when she's not moving, say sitting at a picnic table, the camera hunts for long periods of time and gets the focal point wrong about half of the time. So I guess my answer to the OP's question is: Yes, I am disappointed in this camera a little bit. For me it definitely excels in all areas except focus.

 

[GibMcFragger]

I have been using the G4 camera a lot in the last month I have had it.

Things I have noticed.
1) It owns landscapes. Takes amazing pics.
2) Portraits are also great in good light. In mediocre lighting, LG's noise removal takes over and it starts to get blotchy.
3) Focus speed is hit or miss. It's generally really slow if there is any movement in the subject at all. I have had it take a good second to snap the pic after I hit the button, and that's in good light. The S6 kills the G4 at quick shots.
4) Pics are a tad oversharpened (if I am being nitpicky).

The G4 has an amazing camera, but it seems they tailored it towards landscape pics and portraits (aka still objects). It really seems to struggle at action shots, even in burst mode. I think it may be the laser autofocus and OIS trying too hard.

As for videos, I haven't taken many. The few I have taken have sucked hard. The OIS overcompensates and the audio is mediocre.

Luckily the issues can all theoretically be taken care of with software updates. I have no regrets, the camera takes killer shots and this is the first Android phone I have owned that has NO LAG and requires no reboots to keep it smooth. I do use Nova Prime Launcher though, so maybe it's just the LG Launcher that lags.

 

[SCjRqrQCnBQ19QoYCtdl]

I have been using the G4 camera a lot in the last month I have had it.

Things I have noticed.
1) It owns landscapes. Takes amazing pics.
2) Portraits are also great in good light. In mediocre lighting, LG's noise removal takes over and it starts to get blotchy.
3) Focus speed is hit or miss. It's generally really slow if there is any movement in the subject at all. I have had it take a good second to snap the pic after I hit the button, and that's in good light. The S6 kills the G4 at quick shots.
4) Pics are a tad oversharpened (if I am being nitpicky).

The G4 has an amazing camera, but it seems they tailored it towards landscape pics and portraits (aka still objects). It really seems to struggle at action shots, even in burst mode. I think it may be the laser autofocus and OIS trying too hard.

As for videos, I haven't taken many. The few I have taken have sucked hard. The OIS overcompensates and the audio is mediocre.

Luckily the issues can all theoretically be taken care of with software updates. I have no regrets, the camera takes killer shots and this is the first Android phone I have owned that has NO LAG and requires no reboots to keep it smooth. I do use Nova Prime Launcher though, so maybe it's just the LG Launcher that lags.

Regarding focus - are you using tap to focus? I have not noticed slow focus or lag at all, but I do generally tap to focus. I suppose the software that tries to determine what to focus on could be weak and that may be causing your problems and why I have not seen those problems.

Action shots- eh, not sure really as I find the whole form factor and ergonomics of phones not really conducive to good action shots so I really don't bother with them and when I do and get bad shots, I blame my technique and poor handling of the phone for the biggest part of any disappointment. I would really be surprised if any phone camera is consistently taking great action shots.

Regarding video - I find it to be pretty good, but I do try to use good technique and hold the phone steady while making a video. It could be that if you are not using good technique the OIS system can't keep up.

The audio may be mediocre, as in average, but it certainly isn't bad.