Camera is good but Is it just me or is the camera so slow on the G6?

[strikeIII]

Re: Camera is good but...

I don't "need" to turn anything off on the Pixel to get adequate camera performance either.

I would guess the OP came from Samsung. The difference in focus and shutter speed is easily noticed.

Yes, I have many devices including the S7E, Pixel XL and V20. LG camera performance is definitely a lot slower compared to the others. LG are typically cheaper so I guess you get what you pay for. I'm sure LG can easily fix this through software updates but they haven't even fixed the V20 so I'm not gonna hold my breath.

 

[LeoRex]

Re: Camera is good but...

I'm just saying what I heard and saw in reviews.. Not from usage.. I heard that the pixels photos without hdr+ aren't as good. Obviously you have first hand knowledge.

Well, the thing with how the Pixel does HDR+ is that there's no need to turn it off. In Auto mode, the thing is constantly exposing shots, so when you hit the shutter, all it does is snag whatever set of exposures it already has in memory and uses those to build the image in post. No other phone does it that way.

I'll have to go grab a G6 and take a look myself... I am sick of the issues with my wife's S7 Edge and I'm looking for an exit strategy, and the G6 is one of those offramps. But if the camera is a bit sluggish, that complicates my decision.

 

[Jeremiah Bonds]

Re: Camera is good but...

Well, the thing with how the Pixel does HDR+ is that there's no need to turn it off. In Auto mode, the thing is constantly exposing shots, so when you hit the shutter, all it does is snag whatever set of exposures it already has in memory and uses those to build the image in post. No other phone does it that way.

I'll have to go grab a G6 and take a look myself... I am sick of the issues with my wife's S7 Edge and I'm looking for an exit strategy, and the G6 is one of those offramps. But if the camera is a bit sluggish, that complicates my decision.

Yeah I understand that, but there were a few reviews from way back where they reviewer turned "hdr" off on all devices to show how well those camera did without the dynamic range processing.. I'm not saying people do it, I'm just saying what I saw. Lol

 

[ffejjj]

Re: Camera is good but...

I'll have to go grab a G6 and take a look myself...

Just do it lol

Honestly I think the camera speed complaints are like splitting hairs. It's a strong camera, not the best, not the worst. I'd at least give it a look.

 

[Almeuit]

Re: Camera is good but...

It is to launch. Once up it is fine but the quick launch (double press volume down) definitely takes a little.

 

[AustinTech]

I returned my G6 due to the camera. It's not the worst camera in the world, you can get some good shots out of it. However I have three small children who move. And movement doesn't work on the G6 camera because the lens and sensor are so slow. The slow lens effect also carries over to indoor shots which generally are average with decent lighting. In moderate to somewhat poor lighting, with any type of moving subject, the photos completely fall apart. My pixel absolutely wipes the floor with the g6 in low light performance. The front facing camera is bad in damn near every situation. It's very disappointing since I otherwise loved the phone. Camera quality is very important to me because of my kiddos.

 

[David Bugyi]

I returned my G6 due to the camera. It's not the worst camera in the world, you can get some good shots out of it. However I have three small children who move. And movement doesn't work on the G6 camera because the lens and sensor are so slow. The slow lens effect also carries over to indoor shots which generally are average with decent lighting. In moderate to somewhat poor lighting, with any type of moving subject, the photos completely fall apart. My pixel absolutely wipes the floor with the g6 in low light performance. The front facing camera is bad in damn near every situation. It's very disappointing since I otherwise loved the phone. Camera quality is very important to me because of my kiddos.

The lens is not slow. f/1.8 is amongst the best you can get in a phone right now, with Samsung having a tiny bit better f/1.7. It is the older 1.12um 13MP sensor which makes things "bad". Pixel, S7/S8, IP7 - all have larger sensors, which can take in more light, thus can shoot at faster shutter speeds. If anybody hopes for a software fix, well this can not be fixed. Well, only if the ISO is boosted, so you get more noise in the pictures. And regarding the FFC... When I tried and saw the results, i was surprised, but in the wrong way.

 

[strikeIII]

The lens is not slow. f/1.8 is amongst the best you can get in a phone right now, with Samsung having a tiny bit better f/1.7. It is the older 1.12um 13MP sensor which makes things "bad". Pixel, S7/S8, IP7 - all have larger sensors, which can take in more light, thus can shoot at faster shutter speeds. If anybody hopes for a software fix, well this can not be fixed. Well, only if the ISO is boosted, so you get more noise in the pictures. And regarding the FFC... When I tried and saw the results, i was surprised, but in the wrong way.

I agree with the sensors of the other devices being bigger thus faster shutter speeds but I honestly think LG can optimize the software a bit better as the interface itself is slow and lags and can affect the performance of the camera.

 

[LeoRex]

Granted, it isn't a definitive sort of statement, but I was out today at lunch and stopped by Tmo to take a look. In store, I didn't see any sort of speed issue with it... quick launch was pretty fast, shutter response was quick. Overall, the camera was pretty snappy. BUT.... I obviously couldn't ask the people there to turn the lights down a bit so I could test how it is in low light. I should have NFC'd over some pictures to my 6P, but looking at direct comparison shots between the two, the 6P was better.... better dynamic range, more natural details, etc.

As for the sensor... yeah, that was a bit curious. But LG does silly stuff like that all the time. Everyone else has been dropping resolution but increasing sensor size. Not LG... they make the bold move of reducing resolution AND sensor size! A quite daft move if you ask me. I don't think a photographer has ever said, "Yeah, I sure wish my camera had a smaller sensor"

I'll have to do a little bit more research, of course. But I'm a wee bit discouraged.

 

[hoonigandad]

The camera works well in automatic mode. It's when you change modes it takes 7 to 10 seconds to start working again. That is ridiculous. I've had it 5 days so I'm going to test it some more, i wonder if using a memory card affects anything. I may just return it for the S8. Which is unfortunate because I like 95% of this phone, especially at $354

 

[scaots]

Camera is the only thing that I am concerned about with the G6. I really like the rest of the device. Coming from Nexus 6, any slowness will not be an issue for me; it has to be faster. But quality from the front camera is very disappointing. Rear cameras look good enough, except when getting into much lower light they seem to completely fall apart (as expected with small sensor). I'm not sure I can deal with that, or to be seen for me how much it also affects moderate lit shots, and the seemingly slightly limited dynamic range.

 

[darkehawke]

The low light performance is pretty poor

 

[tnt4]

Figuring out what to focus on is what slows it down. In good lighting, this is easier, unless the target is moving a lot - then you'll see it delay again when you try and take a shot. In poor to medium lighting, it's definitely slower. The lag in the viewer in low to medium light feels like a viewer from a phone 2-3 years old at times.

I agree with the first comment on this page. It's a solid camera, especially with the wide angle option. But not for activity or lower light shots.

But they're using an older sensor and their auto-focus algorithms or abilities have taken a step backward IMHO.

 

[tnt4]

So what DO you use? Also have three kiddos... I tend to end up back on an iPhone...

 

[Mike Dee]

Re: Camera is good but...

Probaby 1 second on a good day. But it can be up to a 3 second delay.

3 seconds is real long time... Are you sure?

 

[strikeIII]

Re: Camera is good but...

3 seconds is real long time... Are you sure?

Oh yeah. Especially if you launch the camera from the short cut button.

 

[GibMcFragger]

I have owned the S6E+, S7E, the Note 7, the Pixel XL, and the S8+, and now the G6. This G6 has the slowest camera (to snap pics) out of all of them.

Or so I thought. I switched over to save pics to the internal SD instead of my SD card, and the camera speed went way up.

I guess the write to the slower external SD was causing my camera to be slow.

 

[mesocyclone30]

I have owned the S6E+, S7E, the Note 7, the Pixel XL, and the S8+, and now the G6. This G6 has the slowest camera (to snap pics) out of all of them.

Or so I thought. I switched over to save pics to the internal SD instead of my SD card, and the camera speed went way up.

I guess the write to the slower external SD was causing my camera to be slow.

I wonder why the SD card is slower? You're using a high speed card i presume. What's the point of an SD card it the phone cripples it? My phone takes pictures fast till I wanted to take some pictures of my cockatiels in low light. Then it's like a 3 sec lag like a camera from 2006.

 

[GibMcFragger]

I wonder why the SD card is slower? You're using a high speed card i presume. What's the point of an SD card it the phone cripples it? My phone takes pictures fast till I wanted to take some pictures of my cockatiels in low light. Then it's like a 3 sec lag like a camera from 2006.

Yes. It really makes you wait in lower light. I think it's the smaller sensor size, combined with LG's OIS being slow.

I've noticed some performance hit with any phone that I have ever used an SD card in. I always end up pulling it out in the end. SD cards are fine for reading from (playing movies, music, etc), but write speeds are nowhere near as fast as the internal memory.

 

[Jeremiah Bonds]

I tested mine last night with internal storage and the SD card and there was no difference for me in speed.