A few G4 disappointments so far - Camera, performance etc

My G4 is stellar.

The OIS does have a funny effect when recording video as it's stabilized on 3-axes, unlike the S6, which is stabilized on 2-axes, but in Auto mode, I found that it actually does take very good shots. Some are a bit overexposed, but these can be fixed in a patch. Of course, I use manual mode mostly but for my quick shots, Auto works just fine.

Other than that, well, I don't have anything much to say about my G4, other than Knock Code not working as well as usual sometimes, but I'm still very happy with mine.
 
If you're trying to take photos while walking, you're doing it wrong. No phone camera will do this well.

The issue with the maps is not an LG issue, it's android, and multiple phones have it. It's because of the memory leak on lollipop.
Lol with maps being memory issue, my Nexus 6, S6 and G4 had no issues navigating with maps... Just throwing out crazy statements aren't you?

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
Thanks. I deleted the app because it takes forever for what I write to actually post. Plus its in a rudimentary stage. Too bad the G4 has a hard time handling the forum via your full website. Its a toss up between resizing the full site or waiting for the mobile site to finish jumping up and down while it loads a page.

Are you using the ac app or the ac forums app? I always use the ac forums app.
 
Lol with maps being memory issue, my Nexus 6, S6 and G4 had no issues navigating with maps... Just throwing out crazy statements aren't you?

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
No. My 2013, 2014 Moto x's and wife's Galaxy s4 all had this issue too.

Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk
 
Are you using the ac app or the ac forums app? I always use the ac forums app.

Ahh, excellent! Thanks, I rarely went to my AC app since I could never tell where I had left off in a thread. Big difference!!
 
Your smartphone should not be judged by the free bundled software it comes with. Hardware, ergonomics, price are what you should base your purchase on. Software such as camera apps can always be improved. For most snapshots taken on my phone (Samsung Note 4) I'm happy with the stock bundled camera app but for anything approaching serious picture taking I will turn to a paid app and I have seven of them installed which all do very different things (pre-shots or exposure lock or dynamic range tweaking or zero sharpening to name a few) which the stock camera app will not do. A good phone tripod and holder/adapter is also a worthwhile investment. Even on my Nikon DSLR I run different firmware with custom settings. Don't blame your phone if you don't get on with its bundled software, experiment with alternatives, that's the beauty of modern smartphones.
 
Your smartphone should not be judged by the free bundled software it comes with. Hardware, ergonomics, price are what you should base your purchase on. Software such as camera apps can always be improved. For most snapshots taken on my phone (Samsung Note 4) I'm happy with the stock bundled camera app but for anything approaching serious picture taking I will turn to a paid app and I have seven of them installed which all do very different things (pre-shots or exposure lock or dynamic range tweaking or zero sharpening to name a few) which the stock camera app will not do. A good phone tripod and holder/adapter is also a worthwhile investment. Even on my Nikon DSLR I run different firmware with custom settings. Don't blame your phone if you don't get on with its bundled software, experiment with alternatives, that's the beauty of modern smartphones.

The sad thing is that most regular folk won't have any interest in exploring apps for the camera provided. Majority of people like to be 'spoon' fed without doing much work. They just want something that works without putting any effort. I see this within my family, friends, coworkers, etc....... Sad but true.
 
Mannikon, that is a fair point. Though for a phone whose camera was a big marketing point (including having manual mode, which I assume is simply a function of software, and nothing really related to the hardware), judging it based on the included camera app does seem reasonable to me.

I have seen some comments implying that not all camera apps can properly interface with the camera's hardware? At least not yet? I don't claim to be an expert in this, of course :) And I haven't tried a different app on the G4 yet (haven't gotten to spend a lot of time yet with the camera). I started exploring some alteratives on my last phone.

But, for instance, with the G4 having laser-assisted autofocus (fairly non-typical), along with a white balance sensor, there may be special features that apps would need to know how to use properly, to take proper advantage of the camera?

A little tripod for the phone could definitely be useful, especially for a device able to take long exposures.
 
A tripod? Ha-ha come on people , if I need that level of photography I will use my D90, this is a cell phone.

To say some one needs to put in the work is absurd, these phones are meant to put in the work for me, that's why I bought it, the manual mode and extra stuff is cool but its more of a marketing gimmick and for those who want to geek out out and try to see what can be squeezed out of this camera.

Again if I am going to bring a tripod and be taking manual mode photos I may as well just bring a proper DSLR.

Sent from my LG-H810 using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Hi all,

So I have been going back and forth between the S6 and G4 now for a while, I returned my S6 which I had for about a month and decided to go G4, with that said there are a few things I am ok with with but feel they are somewhat disappointing.

Let's just jump into camera which is great and while I say it's a somewhat of a disappointment it's still a great camera, let me e plain.

In auto mode in perfect conditions you can point and shoot and get an decent to great shot mostly and if you stand very still. However, if you are moving bit like walking and trying to snap a shot forget it, the camera can not keep up, it takes to long to focus and what you will most of the time end up with is a junk blurred photo.

Another area that disappoints me with the camera again point and shoot is the exposure levels, it seems the G4 is trying so hard to keep shots light that it often blows out a great shot and makes it worse due to the fact it is overcompensating when it does not need to.

Now before the use manual mode choir chimes in, let's be honest, how often are you ever going to do that, most cell phone shots are all about capturing that quick moment, or the food Instagram pic etc.

Sure manual is cool, but it's not exactly practical.

Next, video...

Forget it, this phone can not do videos, it tries, but its OIS is so aggressive that even when standing still it makes video look terrible, thankfully I do not record much video.

Front camera, gestures are slow to respond, the first motion works but it's too long, also I wish they chose a lesser MP and copied Samsung with the wide angle.

Now with that being said, I am not saying the camera does not take amazing pictures, which it does, but, as far as point and shoot goes the S6 takes the win easily. Sure it's colors are overly punchy, but as good as this camera is (and it's great), point and shoot is a gamble unless it's in ideal conditions.

So performance,

Well I am in Disney right now so I am using the phone for many tasks, and one area driving me insane is google maps and GPS, for some reason I keep needing to restart the phone since after a few uses of maps it does not start navigation unless I restart the device . Maps shows the route, starts as normal but does not speak or begin turn by turn unless I restart the phone and start again.

Another area is the image gallery, this is clearly where I can see a performance hit, the S6 can process an image to display with out letting me see it scaling in real time, what I mean is on the G4 when I look at certain images I get these vertical bands of transparent pixelated white lines scanning over the screen, after a second the image sharpens and looks great, but it bothers me to see this.

I also notice certain apps like Tapatalk feel sluggish while scrolling through for categories and posts.

As for battery, I can last a day , I seem to average about 2.5 - 3h SoT with light to moderate use and put it on the charger with abut 35% left late in the evening.

Also a quick note,I touch sensitivity, my phone does ok but it's not flawless, I would say double tap to wake works about 80% of the time.

I will say, overall, I think the S6 is the better device for me since I do,not need the extra battery and removable SD card, but what I missed on my S6 is the bigger screen (even though I feel robbed a little with them on screen buttons taking up so much space).

LG could have easily done some capacitive buttons or something in the bottom bezel which is rather large. Since they do,nothing with it they should have tried hard to either retain the form factor of the G3 or even strive to get smaller,while,maintaining the 5.5 screen.

And about the screen,,mi am enjoying it, it's not as punchy as the amoled on the s6 but it has its ow thing going on and it looks quite nice.

All in all, I am in the G4 camp as I own the phone now and no longer have my S6, here's to hoping they patch this phone some over the next couple of months.

Sorry for the rambling, just wanted to share my thoughts, as said for,me I needed the bigger screen so that's what drew me in, but I wish it did a few things a little better.

Cheers

I have actually been pleasantly surprised by the video capabilities of the G4. The stabilization could be better (and I believe the s6 has better stabilization) but it does a decent job - I have to look at my videos pretty critically to be bothered by issues due to the OIS.

And I have not seen the on screen processing of the images in the gallery as you mention. I just went back in to the gallery to see if I just didn't notice it but, no, the pictures come up just fine with no apparent processing, so I am curious why several people are seeing this when I am not.

Still, I am not 100% sold on the LG camera. I love the manual mode, but I am not yet really happy with how the pictures "look" somehow. I haven't used it much though and maybe I will learn to get the shots I am wanting. Technically, it should be a much better camera than my prior phone (HTC m7) although I really liked the way pictures looked with that phone despite it's low resolution. Anyway, the g4 camera does fine but I am reserving judgement on just how good it is or not until I get more experience with it.

My wife has an s6 and it is a good camera too, although I have noticed a couple things about it that bug me as well.
 
A tripod? Ha-ha come on people , if I need that level of photography I will use my D90, this is a cell phone.

To say some one needs to put in the work is absurd, these phones are meant to put in the work for me, that's why I bought it, the manual mode and extra stuff is cool but its more of a marketing gimmick and for those who want to geek out out and try to see what can be squeezed out of this camera.

Again if I am going to bring a tripod and be taking manual mode photos I may as well just bring a proper DSLR.

Sent from my LG-H810 using Tapatalk

That is your opinion I suppose, but it really isn't a very good one. You can carry a small tripod device that can support the phone in you back pocket with little inconvienence. You can't do that with a DSLR or better yet, a DSLR and a tripod that can support it.

Don't want to work at getting a better picture from you phone camera? Then don't, but don't blame the equipment because it doesn't work the way you wish it did. For me, a picture only warrants a quick point and shoot, then I don't really get very picky about the results. However, if I want a picture to look its best, I will make the effort to get the best shot and having a full manual mode and learning to use it will give the best result and is more than a "marketing gimmick".

You should have got the s6 or the iphone as they will give you better easy mode shots. This was obivious in every comparison video I watched, so if you did any research before buying the g4 you don't have any excuse.
 
Mod Note - Let us keep it civil. Bashing / trolling "the other side" of the argument isn't needed.

Thanks!
 
Your smartphone should not be judged by the free bundled software it comes with. Hardware, ergonomics, price are what you should base your purchase on. Software such as camera apps can always be improved. For most snapshots taken on my phone (Samsung Note 4) I'm happy with the stock bundled camera app but for anything approaching serious picture taking I will turn to a paid app and I have seven of them installed which all do very different things (pre-shots or exposure lock or dynamic range tweaking or zero sharpening to name a few) which the stock camera app will not do. A good phone tripod and holder/adapter is also a worthwhile investment. Even on my Nikon DSLR I run different firmware with custom settings. Don't blame your phone if you don't get on with its bundled software, experiment with alternatives, that's the beauty of modern smartphones.
So Third Party apps will take care of the stock LG camera software's Auto mode shortcomings (compared to the S6), i.e. blown highlights, off White Balance, poor mic for video?
 
Last edited:
So Third Party apps will take care of the stock LG camera software's shortcomings, i.e. blown highlights, off White Balance, poor mic for video?

You have full in camera control of white balance, you can adjust exposure and massage the RAW file for highlights, and the video mic seems fine on my phone. YMMV.
 
You have full in camera control of white balance, you can adjust exposure and massage the RAW file for highlights, and the video mic seems fine on my phone. YMMV.
I meant in Auto mode, which is what most of us will be using on a Smart Phone. I understand RAW for correcting certain things, but many times I (of my wife) doesn't want to remember to switch modes, or always shoot RAW.

As far as the Audio, I've listened to a few comparisons of S6 and G4 videos to compare the Video quality, and in every one, the S6 audio is noticeably better, with the G4 sounding very canned. Not End of the World kind of bad, just trying to compare various aspects of each before I take the plunge.

I really don't want to get the S6, but trying to decide if the G4 compromises are good enough, or wait to compare the upcoming Moto X.
 
Sure the camera allows for full control and raw (which has been demonstrated as not that great on a popular YouTube channel), be sure to ask the random situation you are taking a picture of to wait for you to get your tripod, ISO , white balance all set before hand, heck while we are at it, you might as well carry a white balance sample card and shoot a few pics before you get the right shot hehe :)

Sent from my LG-H810 using Tapatalk
 
No camera is perfect. The S6 can oversaturate, etc. Decide which you like better and get it. Only you can decide which phone to get. We can't tell you which YOU would prefer. They both have great cameras, but they are both not perfect. Nothing is. :)
 
do u recomment g4

Sent from my ASUS_Z008D using Tapatalk

Yes. The phone works well and the problems are minimal. For me. If you read the other posts in this thread, some people are not happy because it doesn't meet their needs or they possibly have one with a defect. I recommend you get one and try it for whatever trial period your store or carrier offers.

Posted via the Android Central App
 
G4 Camera is fantastic do not mistake my joking around :) just second best at simple point and shoot.

Sent from my LG-H810 using Tapatalk
 

Latest posts

Trending Posts

Forum statistics

Threads
956,815
Messages
6,970,136
Members
3,163,628
Latest member
lostcowboy