how is the G5+ camera?

[Tayloj92]

I think title speaks for itself, but I am looking into getting a new phone soon. My two biggest things I'm looking for is a decent camera. And good battery life. I know the 625 is a battery life beast. So my only real question here is. How is the camera?

 

[MobileNick]

I have not been particularly impressed overall with the G5 plus camera. Sure - it takes fine casual shots in decent lighting but suffers from good shots in low light. I do not think it has optical image stabilization either. I think the key is what you mean by "decent" - it has been fine for my basic usage - candid snapshots, basic nature scenes, etc. But have not had the best results with say, close up macro shots and super clear words or details, etc.

In my opinion anyone looking for the camera as a *standout* feature on a phone should probably look at something else.

 

[Tayloj92]

I have not been particularly impressed overall with the G5 plus camera. Sure - it takes fine casual shots in decent lighting but suffers from good shots in low light. I do not think it has optical image stabilization either. I think the key is what you mean by "decent" - it has been fine for my basic usage - candid snapshots, basic nature scenes, etc. But have not had the best results with say, close up macro shots and super clear words or details, etc.

In my opinion anyone looking for the camera as a *standout* feature on a phone should probably look at something else.

Okay, thank you for response

 

[Macdtek]

I agree with the last post. it's good but not stand out good. again close up shots are good as are quick point and shoot. but for those long lingering sunsets it's a photo shop and filters galore for a decent pic. The bundled filters and tools are just about average but nothing to write home about. Apart from that the g5 plus is a great phone at its price point.

 

[Tayloj92]

I agree with the last post. it's good but not stand out good. again close up shots are good as are quick point and shoot. but for those long lingering sunsets it's a photo shop and filters galore for a decent pic. The bundled filters and tools are just about average but nothing to write home about. Apart from that the g5 plus is a great phone at its price point.

I have a new born that me and my wife both take tons of pictures of. Is it good enough for that use? I don't use manual mode on my phone now, so I'd only be doing point and shoot anyways.

 

[Macdtek]

Well the kids went back to school yesterday here in the UK. Took loads of pics as there is new uniforms. The pics were fine for that. Maybe a little too bright but that's because I'd turned up the brightness by accident.

it's ok for those quick snaps IMHO. If I want lingering sunsets, I break out a proper camera.

 

[MobileNick]

I agree - I think it would be pretty decent for pictures like this, unless you are specifically wanting to take pictures in low light (e.g., baby sleeping, etc.).

I have not fully played around with the camera app, but it does have some nifty features such as automatically taking more than 1 picture so you can choose the best one. I also like that if you rotate 90 deg left for landscape (seems most people put into landscape this way), puts the volume rocker at the top, and the volume up can be used as the camera shutter button. Totally mental thing, but this does make it feel a bit more like a camera If you press & hold the volume for a bit, it will take multiple pictures rapidly so you can choose the best one & delete the rest, etc.

And of course the Moto gesture of double wrist twist to quickly open the camera (even when locked) can be helpful for quick photos.

 

[Tayloj92]

thank you both for the long responses it seems that the camera will suit what I need it to do. I think I may just buy it and give it a try.

 

[MobileNick]

I've been very happy with mine. Other than the mediocre camera, only other gripe is that the body is a bit large for a 5.2" screen phone (e.g. - my prior LG G4 was about the same physical size but had a 5.5" screen).

But a ton of good things - as you already said, battery life is incredible. Also is very fluid & smooth - not bogged down with loads of unnecessary apps like you typically get with carrier branded phones. Fingerprint sensor is fast and conveniently on the front, home button gestures lets you remove the on-screen nav buttons giving you that much more screen space, gestures for camera and flashlight are super useful, etc.

I am not crazy about the default launcher especially with the non-removable Google search bar and page but installing a 3rd party launcher like Nova takes care of that

 

[Tayloj92]

how are the button gestures by the way, pretty accurate?

 

[MobileNick]

Pretty accurate for me. Still not 100% like a true button press - if I am sloppy when sliding left for back button, it sometimes ends up as a home button press. Just have to be a *bit* careful but does not require exaggerated or overly deliberate sliding gestures.

 

[Tayloj92]

okay thanks, I think honor(?) tried to do something like that and I had read it was a gimmicky mess wasn't sure about motos implementation

 

[acejavelin]

I found the gestures on the fingerprint sensor are rather useless, maybe I am just too used to the way things have always been. The "tap for home" is a real annoyance actually, especially in apps that use the fingerprint scanner to log you in, it just returns you to the home screen about 1/2 the time.

As far as the camera goes, I'm spoiled and came from a Moto X Pure, which had amazing camera front and back... In the MG5+ the selfie camera sucks in comparison (I don't actually use it for selfies, but often to read serial numbers or mac addresses from the back of equipment in a data rack) but the main camera is decent, nothing amazing but nothing terrible, but I knew this going in and the battery life trade-off was well worth it to me. I was a little surprised at the low-light capabilities and the speed of the camera though, faster focus and time to first shot than I expected.

 

[Rinsun]

Pretty accurate for me. Still not 100% like a true button press - if I am sloppy when sliding left for back button, it sometimes ends up as a home button press. Just have to be a *bit* careful but does not require exaggerated or overly deliberate sliding gestures.

It is the same with me.