Camera performance after Lollipop?

[Zendroid1]

I ordered a new Moto X with the Cyber Monday promo and the only thing I'm concerned about is the camera quality based on the reviews. I read a few posts on here about how the camera is vastly improved in Lollipop but never any details really.

Can anyone shed any light on camera performance that was shipped vs Lollipop?

I'm using this phone in addition to my iPhone 6 Plus so I'll have a nice camera available. I was hoping this would have a decent enough camera to become my daily driver since I love the user experience more on the Moto X.

 

[Rukbat]

The Lollipop camera app (which, if it's not already available in Play, will be shortly) gives you better control over cameras that allow that control (shutter speed, lens opening, etc.) It doesn't make the camera any different.

However, 98% of how good a picture is, is the ability of the photographer. If you take a picture in such a position that your camera is metering a spotlight, don't wonder why the rest of the picture is shades of black - you were telling it to get a good exposure of the spotlight. Learning your camera goes a lot further toward a good picture than more megapixels or a better app. (Ansel Adams, probably one of the best photographers ever, used a wooden box camera. Dorothea Lange (she was famous for her Depression-era pictures of poor people) used a Brownie many times. (That was the 0.5mp camera of today - you gave it as a gift to a 5 year old as his first camera. Look at some of her work on line - it's WHAT she took, and the lighting, not the technical qualities of the pictures, that make them so great. You can actually feel the hopelessness.)

ANY current camera has the ability to take great pictures. The stock Jellybean camera app has the ability. I have the ability to take pretty decent pictures, but I'll never be a great photographer (I don't have the eye for it), even if I used a $4,000 Hasselblad. I'd get the same pictures I get from my 3MP Fuji.

Read all of Kodak's online literature about how to take pictures - it applies no matter wht the camera is. Rule of thirds. Perspective. Selective lighting. Depth of field. Those are photographic things, not camera things. Get good at those and you'll take great shots with an old box camera you buy for 25 cents at a yard sale. You don't need more than 10MP to make something you can print at 8X10, but if you want to approximate 35mm film you need about 1GP, which isn't going to happen soon.

 

[Clocks]

I'll be receiving mine on Thursday. I plan to do a controlled picture quality test before and after L looking at indoor lighting conditions with and without motion. I'll also be comparing it to a Note 3 and a Droid Turbo. I'll post a new thread with the results when I'm done.

 

[sharkita]

I'll be receiving mine on Thursday. I plan to do a controlled picture quality test before and after L looking at indoor lighting conditions with and without motion. I'll also be comparing it to a Note 3 and a Droid Turbo. I'll post a new thread with the results when I'm done.

I'm looking forward to reading what you find out, since indoor lighting conditions is when the Moto X is hit-and-miss for me. Outdoors I have no complaints. It'll be interesting to see what you find with the Turbo as well, since that camera has impressive specs but seems to be suffering from the same low-light issues with KitKat.

 

[itinj6]

The Lollipop camera app (which, if it's not already available in Play, will be shortly) gives you better control over cameras that allow that control (shutter speed, lens opening, etc.) It doesn't make the camera any different.

However, 98% of how good a picture is, is the ability of the photographer. If you take a picture in such a position that your camera is metering a spotlight, don't wonder why the rest of the picture is shades of black - you were telling it to get a good exposure of the spotlight. Learning your camera goes a lot further toward a good picture than more megapixels or a better app. (Ansel Adams, probably one of the best photographers ever, used a wooden box camera. Dorothea Lange (she was famous for her Depression-era pictures of poor people) used a Brownie many times. (That was the 0.5mp camera of today - you gave it as a gift to a 5 year old as his first camera. Look at some of her work on line - it's WHAT she took, and the lighting, not the technical qualities of the pictures, that make them so great. You can actually feel the hopelessness.)

ANY current camera has the ability to take great pictures. The stock Jellybean camera app has the ability. I have the ability to take pretty decent pictures, but I'll never be a great photographer (I don't have the eye for it), even if I used a $4,000 Hasselblad. I'd get the same pictures I get from my 3MP Fuji.

Read all of Kodak's online literature about how to take pictures - it applies no matter wht the camera is. Rule of thirds. Perspective. Selective lighting. Depth of field. Those are photographic things, not camera things. Get good at those and you'll take great shots with an old box camera you buy for 25 cents at a yard sale. You don't need more than 10MP to make something you can print at 8X10, but if you want to approximate 35mm film you need about 1GP, which isn't going to happen soon.

Wow... Excellent post! I'm one of those who sees the camera on a cell phone as just a tack on for convenience purposes. The phone capabilities are what I look for in a phone. It makes sense that any good photographer can take great pictures with subpar equipment. After all, the human eye, so similar to a camera, also needs the right conditions for the brain to process the information received, clearly. You nailed it. This reminds me of a famous quote:

"The quality of the crate matters little. Success depends on the man who sits in it."
~Manfred Von Richthofen (The Red Baron)

Posted via Android Central App

 

[grn4frk]

I didn't really notice a difference after the update. The X's camera is pretty good in most situations already (to me), but it's not the absolute best on the market by any means. I do hope they eventually update the camera software to better process images as the hardware is there..just the software needs a little more polish to make it top notch.

Posted via the Android Central App - Moto X (2nd Gen)

 

[jephanie]

I noticed a very measurable difference. Prior to 5.0, almost every picture, even in good lighting conditions, had a ton of motion blur. It reminded me of the Galaxy Nexus upon its release; every pic was blurry until the next update came along. When 5.0 was dropped, I noticed a great improvement in terms of picture quality. Even lower light pics lacked the motion blur issue and were "crisper." Noise levels weren't improved any in low light/dark areas but I've never depended on a cell phone's camera sensor to be too good in that respect. I didn't post any pics in the "Post Your Pictures" thread until after the update because of how lousy the pics tended to be initially.

I posted a few post-5.0 pics here and here.

The weather around here has been lousy since last week so I haven't had much occasion to snap any more pics but am looking forward to it as soon as the big fiery ball in the sky reappears. Gloomy, cloudy pics make for meh pictures regardless of the camera...