Camera Thread Spied in AC Note 4 Forum

[PowrDroid]

(Note 4 is widely acknowledged to have the best camera on any Android phone.)

Being an excelent phone camera I am very disappointed with mine. Everytime something moves just before I press shuter image is blury. For a camera with such a low F value this shouldn't happen. It doesn't help turning hdr on and off.

Usually Sports mode helps. This camera is great...as long as your subject is not moving or you're in an extremely well lit environment (like full on sunlight). Since the S4 Samsung has suffered from a slow shutter problem with their cameras. Very capable sensors, but with a little less light or too much motion, and the shutter just can't keep up.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-note-4/466201-note-4-camera-making-blury-photos.html

AHA! So maybe the Droid Turbo's shutter is not as bad as has been posted?!

 

[Xelios]

It's possible I guess. The shutter is pretty slow on the Turbo but I can still manage to take pictures so it's not atrociously bad. Still doesn't help me feel any better reading that though haha. Still hoping that 5.0 allows more camera adjustments. That would be wonderful.

EDIT: Burst mode does help with the blur though. Noticed that in the Note 4 thread, forgot that the Turbo had it other than the one time I used it.

 

[wolf_walker]

(lensless digital cameras don't have a shutter)

 

[PowrDroid]

(lensless digital cameras don't have a shutter)

And wireless phones, aren't wireless, they have wires!

 

[wolf_walker]

I can't find any wires on mine, I lay it on a plastic thing on the table to charge and the rest just seems to be some sort of magic.

 

[NameNotFound]

AHA! So maybe the Droid Turbo's shutter is not as bad as has been posted?!

No, it's still bad for taking anything other than still shots. Just because another flagship has issues, doesn't make the Turbo's go away.

Since it's using the same camera from the Z3, I'm going to assume the issue with the Turbo camera sluggishness is software. With any luck, the update to 5.0 will resolve this. If not, I'll need to start convincing my toddler to freeze for a few seconds to take pictures of him.

 

[wolf_walker]

I really hope it's software. I tried to take some pics of a pretty well lit kitchen with the Wife and friends cutting the turkey and it was a photogenic fiasco.
Luckily I took some video too, and some burst shots, etc. It's bothersome that I don't know enough about the hardware to determine if it's software or not.
Common knowledge that it's the same sensor as other cams that apparently do not behave as badly, but is there more than a sensor? Slower buffer memory maybe, same sensor but lower yield(quality) example? Any of a dozen other things I can think of but only vaguely understand. Who knows..
(an engineer somewhere). I really hope it's software though, but I see relatively little difference using the Play Store camera from Google, or Camera FX.
Is there firmware specific to the camera independant of the software that's jacked up maybe? Lot more questions than answers.

 

[tvouge]

I really hope it's software. I tried to take some pics of a pretty well lit kitchen with the Wife and friends cutting the turkey and it was a photogenic fiasco.
Luckily I took some video too, and some burst shots, etc. It's bothersome that I don't know enough about the hardware to determine if it's software or not.
Common knowledge that it's the same sensor as other cams that apparently do not behave as badly, but is there more than a sensor? Slower buffer memory maybe, same sensor but lower yield(quality) example? Any of a dozen other things I can think of but only vaguely understand. Who knows..
(an engineer somewhere). I really hope it's software though, but I see relatively little difference using the Play Store camera from Google, or Camera FX.
Is there firmware specific to the camera independant of the software that's jacked up maybe? Lot more questions than answers.

I've found that burst shot works pretty well for moving shots. You gotta clean up the mess (delete the garbage photos), but 2 or 3 out of 5 usually turn out to be decent, at least in my experience.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[jamielov]

Love the logic of the apologists. Amazing. So...the camera sucks at anything but pics of motionless objects. Another phone forum posts that their camera is bad. So...from that reasoning, the camera doesn't suck anymore. Awesome. Tell that to the 15 attempts at pics that are nothing but missed players or blurry action shots I took at the hockey game this evening.

 

[PowrDroid]

Love the logic of the apologists. Amazing. So...the camera sucks at anything but pics of motionless objects. Another phone forum posts that their camera is bad. So...from that reasoning, the camera doesn't suck anymore. Awesome. Tell that to the 15 attempts at pics that are nothing but missed players or blurry action shots I took at the hockey game this evening.

No, if the Note 4 is supposed to be the best Android phone camera and people have the same complaints about slow shutters and blurry pics as the Turbo, maybe it's operator error or else all phone cameras are not best suited for action shots.

 

[jamielov]

So all of us having issues, post after post of horrible camera performance, just coincidentally are having "operator error" and we simply can't figure out how to take non-blurred photos? Sorry, not buying it. If I wasn't able to get such amazing photos from my Droid Maxx, I may not have thought twice, but the fact is I'm shooting the same subjects (concert performers, ice hockey games, my slow moving dog) and getting horrible, horrible results. I'm not doing anything different, and have tried to modify my shooting technique, my camera settings, and simply can not do anything to compensate for the slow reacting shutter speed of this camera. Praying the update to 5.0 helps this, because if not this is going to be one of the biggest all time wastes of the camera part of this phone. All this prelaunch talk of the "powerhouse amazing 21 mp camera that will take amazing photos" really should've concluded with "as long as you are taking pictures of skylines, buildings, non moving objects, or a plastic android figurine (to paraphrase another members post).

 

[wolf_walker]

What's interesting is I was able to take a photo from a vehicle moving at 45mph the other day, of an approaching vehicle moving at a similar speed, and could for example easily identify the detail of the style of wheel which is the fastest moving part of the shot. Without making much effort. But a wagging dog tail, hang it up...

 

[PowrDroid]

What's interesting is I was able to take a photo from a vehicle moving at 45mph the other day, of an approaching vehicle moving at a similar speed, and could for example easily identify the detail of the style of wheel which is the fastest moving part of the shot. Without making much effort. But a wagging dog tail, hang it up...

Must be the difference in lighting.

 

[tvouge]

So all of us having issues, post after post of horrible camera performance, just coincidentally are having "operator error" and we simply can't figure out how to take non-blurred photos? Sorry, not buying it. If I wasn't able to get such amazing photos from my Droid Maxx, I may not have thought twice, but the fact is I'm shooting the same subjects (concert performers, ice hockey games, my slow moving dog) and getting horrible, horrible results. I'm not doing anything different, and have tried to modify my shooting technique, my camera settings, and simply can not do anything to compensate for the slow reacting shutter speed of this camera. Praying the update to 5.0 helps this, because if not this is going to be one of the biggest all time wastes of the camera part of this phone. All this prelaunch talk of the "powerhouse amazing 21 mp camera that will take amazing photos" really should've concluded with "as long as you are taking pictures of skylines, buildings, non moving objects, or a plastic android figurine (to paraphrase another members post).

If the camera is such a deal breaker, why did you buy the phone? I don't consider myself an apologist. The shutter speed sucks on this phone. There's about a clear second delay.

But I've managed to take good shots of my dog running around, moving cars, and people with the burst shot. It's definitely not the best smartphone camera, but I think its completely passable for my needs and use.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[wolf_walker]

Must be the difference in lighting.

That's all I can come up with, even though I've tried good lighting for the moving critters. Strange.

 

[tvouge]

That's all I can come up with, even though I've tried good lighting for the moving critters. Strange.

My dog going tazmanian devil an a new toy in low light. There wasn't a part of his body that wasn't moving. I burst shot for about 20 pics. There were a few better quality, but I don't think he would appreciate his junk being posted on the interwebs.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[jamielov]

If the camera is such a deal breaker, why did you buy the phone? I don't consider myself an apologist. The shutter speed sucks on this phone. There's about a clear second delay.

But I've managed to take good shots of my dog running around, moving cars, and people with the burst shot. It's definitely not the best smartphone camera, but I think its completely passable for my needs and use.

Posted via the Android Central App

Im not sure where in my post/retort did I say the camera was the "deal breaker". I am simply calling a spade a spade and saying the camera sucks, and I'm let down by how much pre-release/release hype went into claiming how much this " powerhouse 21 mp camera can do!!!!!". There will always be exceptions and I don't doubt some people get manageable photos, but that shouldn't be the rarity. Nor should I have to adjust lighting, turn off HDR, disable the flash, stand on my head, use the view to aim "where you think the moving subiect will be a second after you click shoot (as suggested in another thread), take 25 rapid burst shots for one useable picture, or any of the continuing attempts to clarify how to get a decent picture. As I continue to say, my prior phone was the Maxx, and it got amazing photos, so yes, I'm extremely let down that a model released a year later has gone in the opposite direction and can only take average to much worse photos. Its illogical. As ive said, I truly hope 5.0 corrects this. Allowing me to paraphrase again a different thread, its like a car company touting a state of the art cooling system in your brand new car, but it only can cool the car a few degrees, one rear window has to be down, you can only drive between 23-27 mph, oh and it has to be day time, with 82% or more visibility.

 

[tvouge]

Jamielov, I haven't messed with any settings besides the flash. I believe that the majority of the Turbos camera shortcomings can be fixed on the software side though.

Really they just need to speed up the shutter speed and the autofocus. Doesn't mean that it will happen though.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[jamielov]

Just going to have to wait and see I suppose. There really is, as far as I can tell, no rhyme or reason with how the camera behaves. My pup was sleeping in my hockey bag this morning so I decided to try and take a few pictures. Took about 8 shots, 3 of which I'd say were decent/fair. Rest were a mess. I simply don't understand this camera.