Terrible Camera at 13mp

[RealtorROb]

Hello,
I'm new to Android, I hav an Asus zenfone 2. Even tho it has a 13 MP rear camera, it is the worst camera I have ever used. I was gonna get the note 5, but it only has a 15 mp camera and if this is how Android cameras are then I'll have to go back to Iphone. When I send a video it is not even watchable, how can I fix this? Every review for the zen fone says it has a good camera, but no way, not at all.
Thanks for help

 

[Almeuit]

Hello,
I'm new to Android, I hav an Asus zenfone 2. Even tho it has a 13 MP rear camera, it is the worst camera I have ever used. I was gonna get the note 5, but it only has a 15 mp camera and if this is how Android cameras are then I'll have to go back to Iphone. When I send a video it is not even watchable, how can I fix this? Every review for the zen fone says it has a good camera, but no way, not at all.
Thanks for help

If you're that worried about MP -- iPhone only goes up to 12 with their latest phone. MP definitely aren't the end-all for a camera taking good pictures. If you want a phone that takes good photos I would recommend a Note 5 or LG G4.

As for sending a video -- Any video sent via MMS will have the quality toned down a ton due to carriers. This is your carrier doing it since MMS cannot handle large files. iPhones can send higher res videos (only to other iPhones) because it uses Apple's system (iMessage) and not the carriers.

 

[RealtorROb]

I know the IPhone only has a 8mp camera, but the video looked way better. I've had ATT with both ndriod and IOS and never had them shrink vids down on the iphone

 

[RealtorROb]

So I can never send a good video to an Iphone if I have a droid? That can't be right

 

[Mooncatt]

I prefer my M8's 4MP rear camera over my wife's 16MP Note 3 any day simply because of color clarity, so indeed pixel count isn't everything.

You may want to try and clean the camera lens. I've seen many poor pics and videos simply because of people keeping them in a dirty/oily pockets and they don't wipe off the lens before using the camera. This causes blurry or foggy looking images.

For sharing videos, I just upload to YouTube. That way I can just link it to people and they can watch it in full quality regardless of what they're on. I've never shared one via MMS.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Or making a community folder in Drive, Dropbox, or other cloud storage service, and share access to that folder.

 

[RealtorROb]

So even if I had a really nice camera on a droid it makes no difference because it will be compressed. Sending links is such a hassle there is no way in 2015 people can't send photos back and forth with there phones. Is this what Android users do? Drop box photos back and fourth

 

[Golfdriver97]

So even if I had a really nice camera on a droid it makes no difference because it will be compressed. Sending links is such a hassle there is no way in 2015 people can't send photos back and forth with there phones. Is this what Android users do? Drop box photos back and fourth

How are you sending the videos? Through the text application?

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

So even if I had a really nice camera on a droid it makes no difference because it will be compressed. Sending links is such a hassle there is no way in 2015 people can't send photos back and forth with there phones. Is this what Android users do? Drop box photos back and fourth

Sending links for videos is not as inconvenient as it sounds. Especially since they can be very large files.

Sending via MMS will always have compression. As has been said, Apple to Apple is iMessage, which avoids the MMS protocol completely.

Having a nice camera on "Droid" (which technically refers to one line of phones from Verizon) is not a waste at all.

 

[RealtorROb]

I like Android, but I don't see how this Drop box work around would make sense in real life. So, lets say I'm at the store and I'm texting someone, with an Iphone I can just snap a pic of some apples and ask if they want some apples, I never have to leave the messaging app. With Android I have to take a pic of some Apples, upload it to drop box, wait for it to upload, copy the link, opening back up the messaging app then paste the link, then they have to open the link. All of that just to send a pic of some Apples? That can't be right.

 

[RealtorROb]

i trid this Drop box technique and the person receving the link can't save the video

 

[Almeuit]

I like Android, but I don't see how this Drop box work around would make sense in real life. So, lets say I'm at the store and I'm texting someone, with an Iphone I can just snap a pic of some apples and ask if they want some apples, I never have to leave the messaging app. With Android I have to take a pic of some Apples, upload it to drop box, wait for it to upload, copy the link, opening back up the messaging app then paste the link, then they have to open the link. All of that just to send a pic of some Apples? That can't be right.

Pretty much. It is pretty simple -- iPhone to iPhone uses iMessage -- which can send a big file. If you take a video on an iPhone and text it to an Android phone it will do the same thing (horrid quality). MMS messages through the carrier get their quality dropped dramatically since it can't handle big files. iMessage goes through Apple (bypassing the carrier) hence why iPhone to iPhone iMessage messages do not see the video degradation.

 

[lucianus_luciferus]

I like Android, but I don't see how this Drop box work around would make sense in real life. So, lets say I'm at the store and I'm texting someone, with an Iphone I can just snap a pic of some apples and ask if they want some apples, I never have to leave the messaging app. With Android I have to take a pic of some Apples, upload it to drop box, wait for it to upload, copy the link, opening back up the messaging app then paste the link, then they have to open the link. All of that just to send a pic of some Apples? That can't be right.

if you want to do it the "iphone way" use hangouts
or buy an iphone

 

[RealtorROb]

Does the person I'm sending a message to need Hang outs also? Cause I've never heard of hang outs until I got my android

 

[Almeuit]

Does the person I'm sending a message to need Hang outs also? Cause I've never heard of hang outs until I got my android

Hangouts doesn't do video (I think he was mistaken). If your friends all have iPhones and you text video a lot it may be better for you to have it as well.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

You've switched between asking about photos and videos. Recommended solutions will be different for each.

Please clarify.

 

[RealtorROb]

I want to send both, but I'm realizing that Android just does not do this. I like Android, but if I'm spending almost a thousand dollars on a Flag ship phone I expect to be able to send videos that are watchable. I don't think anyone who is being honest could agree that the Drop box method is even remotely practical. Anyway, thanks for the help

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

I want to send both, but I'm realizing that Android just does not do this. I like Android, but if I'm spending almost a thousand dollars on a Flag ship phone I expect to be able to send videos that are watchable. I don't think anyone who is being honest could agree that the Drop box method is even remotely practical. Anyway, thanks for the help

You have a Zen Fone 2, which isn't a thousand dollars. You can send pics very easily over MMS. If you could figure that out on iOS I'm surprised out haven't been able to figure that out on Android.

Video is more complicated. iOS to iOS is easy because of iMessage. Android to android or android to iOS won't use iMessage so you'll still be stuck with MMS.

 

[RealtorROb]

I was thinking about getting a note 5, which is close to a thousand dollars at my store. I can send pics and videos, but the problem is that they look terrible. I'm disappointed that I can't send pics or videos over text with android.

 

[Mooncatt]

Perhaps your expectations are too high? iMessage is an Apple only thing, so they can control messaging more tightly. Everyone else, not just Android, uses the traditional MMS protocols and such. That, for now, is the standard that pretty much all phones are capable of using without having to install additional apps, making sure other people have the same apps, and having as few conflicts as possible. As others mentioned, even sending video from an iPhone to any other non-Apple device will revert to the traditional MMS protocol, be it Android, BlackBerry, and probably even "feature phones."

If you wish to send video as a text-type message at full quality (or whatever Apple allows, I don't have personal experience), then go with iPhone. It personally doesn't bother me to upload someplace else so I can just link people to it (not to mention save on data use), or use another app like Skype for direct transfers. There's so much more about Android I love that it's hardly a trade-off worth mentioning.