Camera how good is it.....really?

[SCjRqrQCnBQ19QoYCtdl]

Ok, nothing special here - except this is a very bright day so I went out at lunch and snapped a picture behind my building. Everything is full auto with sharpness -1 (as normal) straight out of the phone.

I am pretty impressed with how the phone handled this. Focus/exposure was on the side of the truck. There could be a bit of blow-out on the area where the fender meets the hood, but this was direct glare from the sun, so even if I couldn't pull that back in post processing, it certainly is more than acceptable from a phone. I see no serious problems with handling of contrasty conditions here. The shadows still maintain detail and overal exposure looks pretty good.

 

[john2910]

I love the detail the htc one produces in this picture taken inside a glas elevator today...



And this was inside the building...there was alot of light..

 

[hpilot]

Ok, nothing special here - except this is a very bright day so I went out at lunch and snapped a picture behind my building. Everything is full auto with sharpness -1 (as normal) straight out of the phone.

I am pretty impressed with how the phone handled this. Focus/exposure was on the side of the truck. There could be a bit of blow-out on the area where the fender meets the hood, but this was direct glare from the sun, so even if I couldn't pull that back in post processing, it certainly is more than acceptable from a phone. I see no serious problems with handling of contrasty conditions here. The shadows still maintain detail and overal exposure looks pretty good.



View attachment 69281

That's pretty good. There is no way my HTC One could do that...

 

[JHBThree]

Can you share the image details? ISO and shutter speed? I assume this was in auto or night mode? Thanks

Hdr.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

 

[hpilot]

This is my last word on the subject. For me, this camera is inconsistent. As you may know I have had a lot of trouble getting a good picture in bright sunlight. I am happy with the quality of this latest picture, but I don't know why it turned out OK. I am using full auto with no adjustments. The only things I did different are that I am using 4x3 aspect, and standing in the shade shooting out to the bright subject area. Also I adjusted the color a little in post along with a small amount of sharpening. But I have to do that with my high end SLR too. At least I know this camera is capable of good shots from time to time...

 

[SCjRqrQCnBQ19QoYCtdl]

This is my last word on the subject. For me, this camera is inconsistent. As you may know I have had a lot of trouble getting a good picture in bright sunlight. I am happy with the quality of this latest picture, but I don't know why it turned out OK. I am using full auto with no adjustments. The only things I did different are that I am using 4x3 aspect, and standing in the shade shooting out to the bright subject area. Also I adjusted the color a little in post along with a small amount of sharpening. But I have to do that with my high end SLR too. At least I know this camera is capable of good shots from time to time...

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/pp68/hpilot123/IMAG0039.jpg

Looks pretty fantastic, hpilot - as to why you get such inconsistent results, I don't know. Maybe it was just a weird day the other day?

 

[warpdrive]

This is my last word on the subject. For me, this camera is inconsistent. As you may know I have had a lot of trouble getting a good picture in bright sunlight. I am happy with the quality of this latest picture, but I don't know why it turned out OK. I am using full auto with no adjustments. The only things I did different are that I am using 4x3 aspect, and standing in the shade shooting out to the bright subject area. Also I adjusted the color a little in post along with a small amount of sharpening. But I have to do that with my high end SLR too. At least I know this camera is capable of good shots from time to time...

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/pp68/hpilot123/IMAG0039.jpg

I see no reason you couldn't take a picture like the truck and come out fine. It was not taken in contrasty lighting like it was described. In was taken around noon and thus was not contrasty. As you can see here, as long as you are not shooting in contrasty lighting like when the sun is not directly overhead, you will be fine. But taking a photo say between 5 and 7pm and I'll bet you'll get the same results as before. Harsh side lighting is hard on any camera never mind a cellphone.
Even on a point and shoot or a dSLR you'll have to make adjustments to make the photo more natural and less contrasty.

Some people here might not understand, but I dought that you will get poor results in anything but contrasty lighting.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

 

[SCjRqrQCnBQ19QoYCtdl]

I see no reason you couldn't take a picture like the truck and come out fine. It was not taken in contrasty lighting like it was described. In was taken around noon and thus was not contrasty. As you can see here, as long as you are not shooting in contrasty lighting like when the sun is not directly overhead, you will be fine. But taking a photo say between 5 and 7pm and I'll bet you'll get the same results as before. Harsh side lighting is hard on any camera never mind a cellphone.
Even on a point and shoot or a dSLR you'll have to make adjustments to make the photo more natural and less contrasty.

Some people here might not understand, but I dought that you will get poor results in anything but contrasty lighting.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

Evening light is the best light. Noon is the worst light. At noon you have full bright sun in the sky and reflected on bright surfaces, yet you have dark shadows. Noon light is much more "contrasty" than evening light. Photography 101.

 

[SCjRqrQCnBQ19QoYCtdl]

Evening light is the best light. Noon is the worst light. At noon you have full bright sun in the sky and reflected on bright surfaces, yet you have dark shadows. Noon light is much more "contrasty" than evening light. Photography 101.

Since you are having trouble with understanding light and it's effect on photography - here is a random photography instruction link (you could find dozens of similar introductory resources on line to help you out)Light and Photography- mastering lighting conditions

Here is an excerpt - notice what he says about noon light-

Light and Photography

To become a good photographer, you need to understand the use of light in photography. This principle is at the core of photography.

Photography cannot exists without light. From the beginning of photography the only element that had to be present for photography to exist was light, and this is still true today. Use of light in photography needs to be understood to make photos stand out and differentiate them from your everyday snap shot. One needs to know how the position of light will make or break the photo.

Most professional photographers, with the exception of studio photographers who have total control of the light, usually stay away from the mid-day sunlight. This type of light creates strong harsh shadows and gives very strong highlights which in turn create strong contrast which to the human eye seems normal, due to our being accustomed to it, but is usually well beyond the range of most film and digital cameras. Shooting in strong mid-day sun will cause your subjects to lose much of their detail.

The preferred light types for nature photographers and any photographer who shoots outside, are sidelight, back-light, twilight, front-light, and light from overcast days also referred to as diffused light.

 

[warpdrive]

You can say that 10 times fast and not not be true. Harsh lighting, like from the side is contrasty lighting. Shadows, be they from overhead or from the side will always be harsh, but side lighting creates longer shadows and the lighting is uneven.

Other reasons for contrasy photos are like when you have half the image in ultra bright light and the other half in shade or more even toned. Like Jerry's example of the town car. Behind the town car the buildings were reflecting a lot of light.

Making an adjustment like -1 exposure and -1 contrast would have gone a long way to making Jerry's pic better.

Your pic had no harsh side lighting. It ess dirrectly overhead. I'm not saying it wasn't bright outside our that you won't get reflections. But even without clouds to soften the lite, on this phone I'll take overhead lighting them contrasty side lighting any day.


Posted via Android Central App

 

[SCjRqrQCnBQ19QoYCtdl]

You can say that 10 times fast and not not be true. Harsh lighting, like from the side is contrasty lighting. Shadows, be they from overhead or from the side will always be harsh, but side lighting creates longer shadows and the lighting is uneven.

Other reasons for contrasy photos are like when you have half the image in ultra bright light and the other half in shade or more even toned. Like Jerry's example of the town car. Behind the town car the buildings were reflecting a lot of light.

Making an adjustment like -1 exposure and -1 contrast would have gone a long way to making Jerry's pic better.

Your pic had no harsh side lighting. It ess dirrectly overhead. I'm not saying it wasn't bright outside our that you won't get reflections. But even without clouds to soften the lite, on this phone I'll take overhead lighting them contrasty side lighting any day.


Posted via Android Central App

You are just wrong. Did you even read the link? I mean that is basic photographic knowledge. The shadows vs. highlights at mid day are much more contrasty than shadows later in the day. Yes there may be longer shadows later in the day but the light isn't as intense and therefore the CONTRAST between the shadows and light are less drastic. The photo of the truck has details in the shadows under harsh mid-day sun, with the only potential blow out of highlights coming from the surface of the truck reflecting that harsh sun. Even the background tress has plenty of noise free detail in the shadows if you could see it at 100%.

If you would take bright noon sun over evening light for photography, you must have a unique style that emphasizes harsh lighting.

 

[SCjRqrQCnBQ19QoYCtdl]

More dynamic range

 

[warpdrive]

You are just wrong. Did you even read the link? I mean that is basic photographic knowledge. The shadows vs. highlights at mid day are much more contrasty than shadows later in the day. Yes there may be longer shadows later in the day but the light isn't as intense and therefore the CONTRAST between the shadows and light are less drastic. The photo of the truck has details in the shadows under harsh mid-day sun, with the only potential blow out of highlights coming from the surface of the truck reflecting that harsh sun. Even the background tress has plenty of noise free detail in the shadows if you could see it at 100%.

If you would take bright noon sun over evening light for photography, you must have a unique style that emphasizes harsh lighting.

I don't have to read such nonsense because I'm well versed in it. Photographers use all types of lighting depending on what they are going for. Such as morning light if they want a warm photo or evening if they want it more cooler. We don't worry about the harshness level of a shadow because if anything we will use a reflector or strobe to remove a shadow. But harshness of a shadow is not an indicator of a contrasty image.

When side lit, half your subject will be in a shadow. In such lighting you can use a reflector. But in overhead lighting, no matter what direction you shoot at your subject is well lit. But without a reflector, when side lit, you will get a contrasty subject. Half the face well lit, and half in a shadow.

If back lit in evening sun and you use tap to focus on the htc one, your subject will be perfectly lit, but the ground and sky will be overexposed and too bright. That is called a contrasty situation bro regardless of your lame link. Try this with overhead sun and you'll find that the sky and side walk is perfectly exposed regardless if you used tap to focus.



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

 

[SCjRqrQCnBQ19QoYCtdl]

I don't have to read such nonsense because I'm well versed in it. Photographers use all types of lighting depending on what they are going for. Such as morning light if they want a warm photo or evening if they want it more cooler. We don't worry about the harshness level of a shadow because if anything we will use a reflector or strobe to remove a shadow. But harshness of a shadow is not an indicator of a contrasty image.

When side lit, half your subject will be in a shadow. In such lighting you can use a reflector. But in overhead lighting, no matter what direction you shoot at your subject is well lit. But without a reflector, when side lit, you will get a contrasty subject. Half the face well lit, and half in a shadow.

If back lit in evening sun and you use tap to focus on the htc one, your subject will be perfectly lit, but the ground and sky will be overexposed and too bright. That is called a contrasty situation bro regardless of your lame link. Try this with overhead sun and you'll find that the sky and side walk is perfectly exposed regardless if you used tap to focus.



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

Back light vs. contrast is a whole different thing. If I shoot my dlsr back lit in evening sun, I am going to have the same problem. You think the one should outperform a dslr?

If you are talking about using reflectors and strobes, you aren't working with natural light. Sure, you can expose a back light scene our cure harsh sunlight using a bunch of equipment, but it ain't gonna fit in your pocket.

Show me some of your s4 shots that demonstrate how good they look in the noon sun. I have been waiting for your demonstration of how the s4 is better, but all you posted were the "humidity ruined" shots that looked awful.

 

[JHBThree]

You are just wrong. Did you even read the link? I mean that is basic photographic knowledge. The shadows vs. highlights at mid day are much more contrasty than shadows later in the day. Yes there may be longer shadows later in the day but the light isn't as intense and therefore the CONTRAST between the shadows and light are less drastic. The photo of the truck has details in the shadows under harsh mid-day sun, with the only potential blow out of highlights coming from the surface of the truck reflecting that harsh sun. Even the background tress has plenty of noise free detail in the shadows if you could see it at 100%.

If you would take bright noon sun over evening light for photography, you must have a unique style that emphasizes harsh lighting.

He never reads the links. He posts false information, and when corrected arrogantly replies that because he's a photographer he's right and your wrong. He has never once been right about anything regarding cameras in this forum.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

 

[JHBThree]

I don't have to read such nonsense because I'm well versed in it. Photographers use all types of lighting depending on what they are going for. Such as morning light if they want a warm photo or evening if they want it more cooler. We don't worry about the harshness level of a shadow because if anything we will use a reflector or strobe to remove a shadow. But harshness of a shadow is not an indicator of a contrasty image.

When side lit, half your subject will be in a shadow. In such lighting you can use a reflector. But in overhead lighting, no matter what direction you shoot at your subject is well lit. But without a reflector, when side lit, you will get a contrasty subject. Half the face well lit, and half in a shadow.

If back lit in evening sun and you use tap to focus on the htc one, your subject will be perfectly lit, but the ground and sky will be overexposed and too bright. That is called a contrasty situation bro regardless of your lame link. Try this with overhead sun and you'll find that the sky and side walk is perfectly exposed regardless if you used tap to focus.



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

Read the links and stop posting nonsense.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

 

[Jennifer Stough]

Keep the conversation civil and bring the bickering to a close, please.

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Android Central Forums

 

[SCjRqrQCnBQ19QoYCtdl]

He never reads the links. He posts false information, and when corrected arrogantly replies that because he's a photographer he's right and your wrong. He has never once been right about anything regarding cameras in this forum.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

Sorry, probably too snarky on that one.............edit - not you, what I posted before I saw the warning

 

[warpdrive]

He never reads the links. He posts false information, and when corrected arrogantly replies that because he's a photographer he's right and your wrong. He has never once been right about anything regarding cameras in this forum.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

Stop trying to confuse the person seeking help. He already thinks his camera on the phone is broken. It's not and you're not helping.

My points of view might be different then yours on some subjects, but are far from wrong. I'm sorry if we disagree on many things but it won't help the htc one take better pics under contrasty or uneven lighting, it's biggest and for the most part only weakness of its camera.

You offered no help to this person in question and offer no added advise to help him. You don't even understand that by defending the camera you are telling people that thier phone is broken. Maybe you should calm down and help someone for a change.


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[Jerry Hildenbrand]

I don't claim to be a photographer. But Phil bought me several thousand dollars worth of camera and lenses, so I needed to learn how to use the damn things. A quick trip to my local community college website told me they offer plenty of photography courses, so I signed up.

The very first discussion of the very first class (the one they make everyone take) was about the golden hour and to never try and take pictures in mid day sun unless you're deep in the woods with a canopy of trees (relevant for my area).