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

[worldspy99]

I have used the LG G6 and LG V20. I also have the Google Pixel and the iPhone 7. I had the Galaxy S8 for a few months as well. I am chomping at the bit to get some of the newer devices this year. But here are my 2 cents on the LG cameras. It takes a bit of fiddling before you can settle in with the LG camera to produce pictures at par with the Pixel or S8 or iPhone. The Pixel on the other hand produces superb pictures regardless of the situation/condition thanks to HDR+ and software. If you are wiling to invest a bit of time to learn the intricacies of LG camera software, I think overall you will not be disappointed with it. It's just that you have to remember the idiosyncrasies of the LG device every time you use the camera whereas the Pixel spoils you completely rotten. The S8 camera is also very similar to the Pixel however in low light the Pixel tops it. FWIW the low light camera in the LG isn't too bad either.

 

[NationalTrust]

Could you give a comparison of sensor sizes between current flagship phones. What is "REALLY small". The camera site DPReview gives the LG G6 an 85% score compared to original Pixel XL of 88% and Iphone 7 plus at 88%.

 

[TennisGuy45]

Its "The Verge", that site has their heads so far up Apples @ss everything they post is pro Apple and con everything else.

 

[GrooveRite]

everything they post is pro Apple and con everything else.

Pretty much. They really shouldn't be reviewing any Android device because their bias is ridiculous.

 

[LeoRex]

Well... it's not so much the physical size as it is the pixel size itself. The V30's 16MP sensor is is 5.87mm diagonally with a 1.0
μm pixel size. To put that in perspective, the first generation Pixel's 12MP sensor is 7.87mm with 1.55 μm pixels. The new Pixel uses a different sensor, a 12MP that runs 6.84mm (1.4μm)

Yes, they have a wide aperture and top quality glass lenses, but they NEED a wide aperture and top quality lenses to compensate for those wee pixels.

All things being equal, smaller pixels are more prone to noise than larger ones... and that increased noise sensitivity becomes even more an issue as ISO values go up.... which then requires more noise reduction processing... etc. And whether this is intentional or not, LG tends to go way overboard with NR and they end up stomping on real data in the picture.

I have a couple of samples kicking around here somewhere where I took some shots of a calendar that I had hanging on the wall of my office. With the 6P I have (sensor was same size as the Pixel 1), if you looked at the calendar you could see the slight variations and grain of the paper it is printed on. Same shot with my G6, paper looks like solid white.

Now, here's the thing... those shots from the G6 have less noise than even the Pixel XL I just picked up. But contrary to what's been hammered into our brains... noise isn't necessarily bad and sometimes it adds a bit of character to a picture. So while my XL might have more noise, it also retains a significant amount more detail along with that noise. To be honest, the 6P/Pixel's shots have a film-like quality to them.... They might be softer and have more noise, but they look REAL.... like an actual photograph. The stuff I get out of my G6 has been processed so heavily that it ceases to look like a photograph and instead looks like a digital reconstruction. (Yes, I know Google has HDR+ which is, by a WIDE margin the best image processing in all of mobiledom, but it is what it is)

OK... I just went way off the rails here... but I could talk about this stuff all day.

Long story short... LG did themselves a great disservice by not going with larger camera sensors. Because staying small means they have to rely on their processing more, and their processing sucks sewage.

 

[MA2GA28]

After looking into it, The Verge basically craps on anything that doesn't have a piece of fruit as it's logo. So, the fact that they trash the V30 is not a surprise.

 

[Doug Moffat]

Samsung has spoiled alot of people with the over saturation and pop off the screen look. I'm one of those spoiled people.

 

[Jheebs]

Samsung has spoiled alot of people with the over saturation and pop off the screen look. I'm one of those spoiled people.

Yeah, if you like cartoons and comic books... Lol
Even their TV's look fake, but then again, a lot of people buy into it...

 

[lcs101]

Yeah, if you like cartoons and comic books... Lol
Even their TV's look fake, but then again, a lot of people buy into it...

Not to digress but every television brand does this for the in-store displays. Like any TV, you need to do spend some time calibrating it in your own home.

 

[Diehlirious]

Well... it's not so much the physical size as it is the pixel size itself. The V30's 16MP sensor is is 5.87mm diagonally with a 1.0
μm pixel size. To put that in perspective, the first generation Pixel's 12MP sensor is 7.87mm with 1.55 μm pixels. The new Pixel uses a different sensor, a 12MP that runs 6.84mm (1.4μm)

Yes, they have a wide aperture and top quality glass lenses, but they NEED a wide aperture and top quality lenses to compensate for those wee pixels.

All things being equal, smaller pixels are more prone to noise than larger ones... and that increased noise sensitivity becomes even more an issue as ISO values go up.... which then requires more noise reduction processing... etc. And whether this is intentional or not, LG tends to go way overboard with NR and they end up stomping on real data in the picture.

I have a couple of samples kicking around here somewhere where I took some shots of a calendar that I had hanging on the wall of my office. With the 6P I have (sensor was same size as the Pixel 1), if you looked at the calendar you could see the slight variations and grain of the paper it is printed on. Same shot with my G6, paper looks like solid white.

Now, here's the thing... those shots from the G6 have less noise than even the Pixel XL I just picked up. But contrary to what's been hammered into our brains... noise isn't necessarily bad and sometimes it adds a bit of character to a picture. So while my XL might have more noise, it also retains a significant amount more detail along with that noise. To be honest, the 6P/Pixel's shots have a film-like quality to them.... They might be softer and have more noise, but they look REAL.... like an actual photograph. The stuff I get out of my G6 has been processed so heavily that it ceases to look like a photograph and instead looks like a digital reconstruction. (Yes, I know Google has HDR+ which is, by a WIDE margin the best image processing in all of mobiledom, but it is what it is)

OK... I just went way off the rails here... but I could talk about this stuff all day.

Long story short... LG did themselves a great disservice by not going with larger camera sensors. Because staying small means they have to rely on their processing more, and their processing sucks sewage.

Wow, you completely broke that down. Props. That's why I always loved those soft, beautiful shots my 6p would take? I would permanently leave my 6p w/ HDR+ on. I always loved the HDR+ shots better.

We've both had the 6p & it's the only good shooter I've ever had, do you think I'll like the V30, I mean pics wise? I really want LOG.

 

[SupraLB]

Is anyone using the Google camera app with HDR+ from the XDA website? I'm using it on my V20 and the difference in quality over the V20 stock app is a mile wide with anything needing HDR. Its like 4k vs 1080p.

I've also watched a few of those Youtube comparisons of photos of Pixel 2 vs V30 on my 4k big screen and the Pixel is just so much better. More detail, less of that LG overexposure, blacks don't hide detail, etc.

I was just really surprised how much Google has done with their camera, when so much else can be just blah and boring.

 

[lateck2]

I do NOT agree with that article.
I personally have no problems with my V30 camera(s)

 

[eak1570]

I think V30 camera is very good and I am very happy with all the photos I took.

 

[cnotes2016]

I think V30 camera is very good and I am very happy with all the photos I took.//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171019/9652c6d17cd9eb418e55da32e44e900a.jpg//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171019/4b1230f375c083fbe6adf2c459491309.jpg

Those are breathtaking

 

[LeoRex]

Wow, you completely broke that down. Props. That's why I always loved those soft, beautiful shots my 6p would take? I would permanently leave my 6p w/ HDR+ on. I always loved the HDR+ shots better.

We've both had the 6p & it's the only good shooter I've ever had, do you think I'll like the V30, I mean pics wise? I really want LOG.

Well... I can't really say either way as I haven't had a chance to try out one myself. But that'll come soon. As soon as I can get to the TMo store I am trading in my G6 for a V30. I am just basing my expectations based on what I know of LG's phones. I've owned three... G3, G4 and G6. All did well, but suffered from the exact same processing problems. It's what LG wants in their cameras and I don't see any indication that they've made any kind of fundamental shift.

I will say this... if you've used a 6P or Pixel (or even a 5X), you probably have become very used to how the pictures look. And Google and LG sit at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of image processing. When looking at pics taken from the G6 scrunched down on a phone screen, or posted to social media, they look really good... there, the heavy processing gives the appearance that the picture is better focused, cleaner. Go look around at reviews and you will see people comment that Pixel shots look soft.. and they do, because they haven't been sharpened with an angle grinder. But if you look at them at full resolution, those sharp, focused pictures take on a weird artificial pall.

Now, my wife takes a bazillion pics... and she'll go back every couple of months and pics out the best and puts them in albums she has printed by Shutterfly. And once those images get printed on a page, the ones we had taken with the G6 look pretty meh and my 6P shots looked stellar. Long story short, she's had my 6P since May.... and the happiest day I've had (phone wise) since then was Monday, when my 1XL finally came in the mail.

But I will reserve final judgement until I can make a first hand conclusion.

 

[wk123]

I think V30 camera is very good and I am very happy with all the photos I took.//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171019/9652c6d17cd9eb418e55da32e44e900a.jpg//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171019/4b1230f375c083fbe6adf2c459491309.jpg

Amazing pics! Just curious what settings did you use, or was it all auto?

 

[eak1570]

Amazing pics! Just curious what settings did you use, or was it all auto?

No setting everything on Auto mode.

 

[Diehlirious]

Well... I can't really say either way as I haven't had a chance to try out one myself. But that'll come soon. As soon as I can get to the TMo store I am trading in my G6 for a V30. I am just basing my expectations based on what I know of LG's phones. I've owned three... G3, G4 and G6. All did well, but suffered from the exact same processing problems. It's what LG wants in their cameras and I don't see any indication that they've made any kind of fundamental shift.

I will say this... if you've used a 6P or Pixel (or even a 5X), you probably have become very used to how the pictures look. And Google and LG sit at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of image processing. When looking at pics taken from the G6 scrunched down on a phone screen, or posted to social media, they look really good... there, the heavy processing gives the appearance that the picture is better focused, cleaner. Go look around at reviews and you will see people comment that Pixel shots look soft.. and they do, because they haven't been sharpened with an angle grinder. But if you look at them at full resolution, those sharp, focused pictures take on a weird artificial pall.

Now, my wife takes a bazillion pics... and she'll go back every couple of months and pics out the best and puts them in albums she has printed by Shutterfly. And once those images get printed on a page, the ones we had taken with the G6 look pretty meh and my 6P shots looked stellar. Long story short, she's had my 6P since May.... and the happiest day I've had (phone wise) since then was Monday, when my 1XL finally came in the mail.

But I will reserve final judgement until I can make a first hand conclusion.

Well you have to let me know what you think once you get the V30. That's disappointing about the V30 being on the opposite side of the spectrum & quality diminishing once enlarged.

LOG is such a great feature I didn't know I needed so I have to go w/ the V30 & accept what it gives me w/ photography. I wonder if the Google Camera app that you can download would help or maybe not because of the small sensor/pixel size?

 

[LeoRex]

V30 is in hand now. I'll be giving it a good once over and I'll be back to give some insight.

 

[Diehlirious]

V30 is in hand now. I'll be giving it a good once over and I'll be back to give some insight.

Congrats!!