Anybody else agree w/ what the Verge is saying about LG's camera?

[Diehlirious]

"As to that all-important camera on the V30, I find it good, sometimes great, but never exceptional. LG billed the V30 as a major leap forward in imaging, what with its f/1.6 aperture and real glass lens for enhanced image clarity (on the main camera), however the actual results don’t distinguish this phone from a class of very high performers near the V30’s lofty price point."

Link to source w/ full article.
Tinyurl.com/y92c5tyl

 

[MA2GA28]

"As to that all-important camera on the V30, I find it good, sometimes great, but never exceptional. LG billed the V30 as a major leap forward in imaging, what with its f/1.6 aperture and real glass lens for enhanced image clarity (on the main camera), however the actual results don’t distinguish this phone from a class of very high performers near the V30’s lofty price point."

Link to source w/ full article.
Tinyurl.com/y92c5tyl

Honestly, I think the camera is very life like. I think what the writer is looking for is a vibrant, over-saturated picture that pops off the screen, which isn't what the V30 produces. Overall, I am pleased with the camera. Even in low light, backlit shots I am getting quality, usable images.

 

[chanchan05]

I'll wait for DxOMark. Lol.

In the end all top of the line smartphone cameras are great. Just pic which one has the feature you like best (monochrome, wide angle, etc).

 

[experiment 626]

The Wide-Angle Second Lens is what attracts me to the newer LG flagships. For my use that would be more important than the Portrait Lens of the N8 or iPhone 8+. My question is: How well does the V30's camera perform in low-light/night situations?

 

[Diehlirious]

I agree w/ everybody. I also think he has a specific taste & most people have praised the wide angle.

@experiment 626
The low light shots seemed comparable to the Note 8 imho

 

[Morty2264]

I think camera opinions and analyses are subjective. Sure, the specs are objective and one can derive a clearer performance from those attributes; but when I see reviews of cameras, I often think about things like bias, what phone the reviewer has, what the reviewer thinks of the company, etc.

As other users have said, any camera on a flagship phone is going to be pretty good. If it is a flagship phone, it will most likely have decent specs. Even my Honor 8, a midrange phone, has a pretty decent camera. So I think that camera quality and performance are largely determined by the specific user in question - if you think the camera is good, awesome! Everyone will have a different take on a phone feature or a phone in general.

 

[eshropshire]

The Wide-Angle Second Lens is what attracts me to the newer LG flagships. For my use that would be more important than the Portrait Lens of the N8 or iPhone 8+. My question is: How well does the V30's camera perform in low-light/night situations?

Totally the opposite for me. I have had my Note 8 since early September. I have used the camera a lot including two weeks in Europe and found myself needing a wide angle less than 5 times. I have used the 2x zoom on my Note many times. I personally agree with the Verge review on this point in the review. For every day running around shooting for MY needs the zoom is much more valuable. YMMV depending on your shooting needs.

I disagree with the Verge review on their comments on main camera image quality. I think the V30, Note 8 and just about every 2017 flagship's main camera shooter delivers excellent images. Sure you can chimp images to death, but I think both phones have great main cameras.

 

[NougatDude]

Totally the opposite for me. I have had my Note 8 since early September. I have used the camera a lot including two weeks in Europe and found myself needing a wide angle less than 5 times. I have used the 2x zoom on my Note many times. I personally agree with the Verge review on this point in the review. For every day running around shooting for MY needs the zoom is much more valuable. YMMV depending on your shooting needs.

I disagree with the Verge review on their comments on main camera image quality. I think the V30, Note 8 and just about every 2018 flagship's main camera shooter delivers excellent images. Sure you can chimp images to death, but I think both phones have great main cameras.

It's 2018 already???

 

[Rumblee1]

"As to that all-important camera on the V30, I find it good, sometimes great, but never exceptional. LG billed the V30 as a major leap forward in imaging, what with its f/1.6 aperture and real glass lens for enhanced image clarity (on the main camera), however the actual results don’t distinguish this phone from a class of very high performers near the V30’s lofty price point."

Link to source w/ full article.
Tinyurl.com/y92c5tyl

I totally disagree. I thought my S7 EDGE had a great camera, but the v30 is exceptional. Just about every reviewer agrees.

 

[RaRa85]

I tend to disagree with The Verge's review about the V30's camera. What I will say is that LG didn't take full advantage of their f/1.6 aperture by decreasing the sensor size which makes for less bright but less noisy, low light shots.(from what I've seen) But the V30 is more like a DSLR than most phones in that it takes excellent photos in great conditions. In low light and some tricky situations, you have to go into manual mode for the best results. No professional uses a DSLR at night in auto mode. You just don't get the best results that way. The "problem" with the V30 is the same one as most LG phones: they simply aren't the best in auto mode. Unfortunately that kind of leaves a mark on LG phones when in fact the cameras are very capable. And given their extensive manual mode you really can get amazing low light shots although you may need a tripod in a certain situations.

What I'm seeing with the Pixel that is so darn intriguing is that even in low light and especially in high dynamic range shots, the camera just does it all with the push of a button. Google's algorithms have been so fine tuned that it takes away the need for a dedicated manual mode. And in low light situations(something that LG desperately needs to adopt) the highlights from light sources are preserved beautifully. You just can't get that with the V30 and definitely not without some extra equipment like an ND filter. And with the V30 you have to make a choice in high dynamic range scenes: rely on auto mode HDR which will still probably over expose the highlights to a degree or shoot in manual at a faster shutter speed and then bring the shadows up in post. Rivaling smartphones just handle the situations more intelligently and that's more on LG's software side than the hardware.

But it depends on who writes the review from The Verge before I can really trust that its a genuine experience. Just look at the review. Where's the shiny accompanying video? They were too preoccupied with the new Pixels to even give the V30 a real chance if you ask me.

 

[xplod566]

"As to that all-important camera on the V30, I find it good, sometimes great, but never exceptional. LG billed the V30 as a major leap forward in imaging, what with its f/1.6 aperture and real glass lens for enhanced image clarity (on the main camera), however the actual results don’t distinguish this phone from a class of very high performers near the V30’s lofty price point."

Link to source w/ full article.
Tinyurl.com/y92c5tyl

It's too early to judge as every person have a different taste.However don't follow The Verge for everything.i remember when they reviewed the V20 initially they told the audio is good,but nothing to rant about.Little did they check it with a High Impedemce headphones !

 

[eshropshire]

It's 2018 already???

It is for my company. I am neck deep in financials so sometimes the years seem to blend

 

[Diehlirious]

It's too early to judge as every person have a different taste.However don't follow The Verge for everything.i remember when they reviewed the V20 initially they told the audio is good,but nothing to rant about.Little did they check it with a High Impedemce headphones !

I was just pretty surprised. His perspective in regards to photography I couldn't really understand it.

& everybody has their own opinion about the display but I thought he was kind of harsh. I guess it's interesting, it's been a hot subject.

Smh no high impedence *can't find the face palm emoji* You're so right though, I won't follow them

 

[Diehlirious]

Totally the opposite for me. I have had my Note 8 since early September. I have used the camera a lot including two weeks in Europe and found myself needing a wide angle less than 5 times. I have used the 2x zoom on my Note many times. I personally agree with the Verge review on this point in the review. For every day running around shooting for MY needs the zoom is much more valuable. YMMV depending on your shooting needs.

I disagree with the Verge review on their comments on main camera image quality. I think the V30, Note 8 and just about every 2017 flagship's main camera shooter delivers excellent images. Sure you can chimp images to death, but I think both phones have great main cameras.

Def agree, it comes down to the taste & I'm guessing about which feature(s) I'll personally like better but the one thing that makes me really want to go for the V30 & it's wide angle is that despite the fact that it can't compete with the Note 8's optical zoom I think it's digital zoom will be good enough w/ a steady hand. I'm also hoping that by using the Google Camera app I'll be able to play around with the blur effect to create some portrait style pics. So I see it as I'll take the wide angle & a dash of portrait & zoom if I can get it.

 

[xplod566]

I was just pretty surprised. His perspective in regards to photography I couldn't really understand it.

& everybody has their own opinion about the display but I thought he was kind of harsh. I guess it's interesting, it's been a hot subject.

Yeah.i guess consumers should give LG some time to settle with their display.its their first major Amoled screen phone and it's too much to ask.i guess people have gotten a nick that Samsung oled is the best and yeah they are but that spoilt everyone's perspective towards amoled.lg were never a pioneer in audio in their previous smartphones ,but the v series completely annihilated any mobile when it comes to music with the quad DAC.a little time and they can come up with something pretty amazing in displays too!

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Most smart phone cameras provide very similar results, none of them are significantly better when comparing flagships in my opinion.

 

[shaimere]

I was just pretty surprised. His perspective in regards to photography I couldn't really understand it.

& everybody has their own opinion about the display but I thought he was kind of harsh. I guess it's interesting, it's been a hot subject.

Smh no high impedence *can't find the face palm emoji* You're so right though lol I won't follow them

 

[flyingkytez]

"As to that all-important camera on the V30, I find it good, sometimes great, but never exceptional. LG billed the V30 as a major leap forward in imaging, what with its f/1.6 aperture and real glass lens for enhanced image clarity (on the main camera), however the actual results don’t distinguish this phone from a class of very high performers near the V30’s lofty price point."

Link to source w/ full article.
Tinyurl.com/y92c5tyl

Their hardware is definitely good. Software could use improvement. Samsung has put a large amount of money in research and development and they are definitely high tech. I still personally think LG makes excellent cameras, especially still keeping the 16MP sensor which I think still matters. What I've noticed with Samsung is their camera is tweaked to automatically enhance the image, I notice the colors are boosted to give it a more lively look. I still think the 12MP on Samsung looks grainy to me, 16MP still wins despite some flaws. I mean come-on, you get a full 13MP wide angle camera which no manufacture dared to even try, and a HiFi microphone that could probably be used to record studio vocals. Don't forget the DAC. Can't really complain. I bet if the iPhone had wide angle, everyone would go crazy excited although it's been out on LG.

 

[LeoRex]

Two things... 1) LG still went with a REALLY small sensor, so noise and light sensitivity will still be an issue regardless of the aperture. And this will then lead right into point #2 ... From what I've seen, LG still bludgeons the life out of pictures on the V30... noise reduction that destroys as much detail as it does noise and an amount of sharpening that is so shockingly poor, they must be doing it on purpose to appeal to some slug brained exec at LG who thinks halos actually look good. This was so bad on the G6 I stopped using the stock camera completely and used the modified Google Camera when I needed to use it to take a shot.... no wide angle, but I get keepable pics at least.

I have a G6 that's on a JUMP eligible line on T-Mobile and I can't wait to unload that thing.... and I'll get the V30 so I can give it a good once over before I probably return it. I just picked up a new(ish) first gen Pixel XL and its soooo far ahead of the G6 in so many ways its sort of sad. I want to see if LG learned anything since the G6 launched.

So to go back to the OP's question... While I will reserve judgement on whether I agree with the Verge, I will say that what they said is completely, 100% in line with my experience with the phones immediate predecessor... so that doesn't bode well. The best indicator of future behavior is past performance. And if I see someone saying the same stuff all over again.... *sigh*

 

[Johnny Cakes1]

well, based on the images being posted here in the V30 Pictures sticky, i probably agree with the Verge.
I am not really blown away by any of the images I have seen here. They just look OK, and not a whole lot better than my V10 to be honest.

But I don't have a V30 yet.. only looking at the images being posted here.
I would love for someone to provide some better samples or even a comparison.
I really would like to get a V30, and am rooting for it to succeed.