How's the camera?

[spaceship00]

I'm thinking about getting a z5 and i wonder what you think about the camera, is it the best camera on a smartphone as dxomark says?

 

[smileman]

I think the general consensus is that, with regards to photos, it's close but the Z5 is maybe beaten slightly by the other main flagships. I suspect what's going on here is that Sony probably has put the best camera sensor in the Z5, but that Samsung, Apple, etc. have invested more time in refining the software/processing.

The lack of OIS on the Z5 is the other common complaint you hear. However, for video I thin the Z5 does an amazing job of stabilising the shot. Maybe as good as any other flagship?

The camera software got an upgrade today that dramatically improves the startup speed, and also made some nice changes to the UI.

 

[123Easy]

the camera is good.

 

[shisou]

My short response to that would be: good, but the app starts annoyingly slow.

 

[bbbrisco]

I can't post links yet, but if you search for Android Central blind camera shootout there was a recent one on October 15 that pitted the Z5 against the 6s, Note 5 and G4. The Z5 finished 3rd, but ahead of the well-regarded G4, so that indicates to me that the camera is decent, but perhaps not as good as dxomarks more technical measurements would indicate.

Two things from the shootout (and other recent reviews) that I'm unsure about:
1) 8M overscan mode (the default) vs 23M hi-res mode. I'm still unclear when to use each, and what impact it has on quality in different situations. Someday I hope to find a well-written guide, or I'll have to experiment when I get my own Z5 (order today).
2) I think Sony released an updated software camera app in October. Not sure if this affects picture quality, or was more geared towards ease-of-use and speed of app opening up, and whether the shootout included this new app or not.

 

[DJ Grand Theft Audio]

What about the top left camera lens blur issue. I'm hoping to buy this phone at the weekend for my daughter and I'm not sure whether to buy. I know that this is the best phone with under 5 inch screen on the market. I will be trading in her iphone 5C for a used z5c at CeX and I'm really worried about it. Any one here have or doesn't have this issue.