HTC One (M8) Photos & Videos Thread

[Skyway]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

Some lovely pictures posted here. I think the bad rap the camera gets might be undeserved.

It only gets a bad rap because it is a 4mp camera. Unfortunately in this day and age, people hear a low number and it automatically means it's bad. Most of these people have no actual experience with the device and also base their opinions off of a website review

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[zipro]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

It only gets a bad rap because it is a 4mp camera. Unfortunately in this day and age, people hear a low number and it automatically means it's bad. Most of these people have no actual experience with the device and also base their opinions off of a website review

Posted via Android Central App

Not true - it gets bad press because it's not very sharp, has dull colors, has a tendency to underexpose and offers very low dynamic range.

There are other cameras that perform similarly. However since Nokia, Sony and even Samsung have raised the bar, people simply expected more from HTC, especially since these points were heavily criticized in the M7 as well.

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[o2k]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

Some great pictures indeed!

M8 camera is excellent in depicting objects in many lighting conditions as displayed in those pics, BOTH indoors and outdoors, not just comparatively good in low light conditions.

More photos/videos, please!

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

Some great photos being taken with the M8.

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[B0WIE]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

Not true - it gets bad press because it's not very sharp, has dull colors, has a tendency to underexpose and offers very low dynamic range.

There are other cameras that perform similarly. However since Nokia, Sony and even Samsung have raised the bar, people simply expected more from HTC, especially since these points were heavily criticized in the M7 as well.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

It typically gets that type of press from phone reviewers, who have no real education or experience in photography. The M8 can take outstanding photos, as has been proven, and can do several things that no other phones can. If you want to search for weak points, you can do that with any phone. The "dull colors" comment is really only applicable in comparison to an iphone, which traditionally have terribly saturated colors. If anything, the M8 itself is slightly oversaturated, not dull. The lack of sharpness is strictly user error, IMO. Yes, this phone can lock onto a focal point you didn't intend but if you have any type of eye for photog, you simply tap on the screen to refocus it and it'll do a bang-up job.

If we're honest, people saw 4mp and had a knee-jerk reaction. In application, it's outstanding and I prefer it over anything else on the market (which is why I went and bought it).

 

[omgitsjoe]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

I have no issues with the camera

The Freedom Tower downtown Manhattan.

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[Paul627g]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

I have no issues with the camera

The Freedom Tower downtown Manhattan.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/07/azavadum.jpg

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That is simply an awesome photo considering the past.... Kudo's

 

[o2k]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

It typically gets that type of press from phone reviewers, who have no real education or experience in photography. The M8 can take outstanding photos, as has been proven, and can do several things that no other phones can. If you want to search for weak points, you can do that with any phone. The "dull colors" comment is really only applicable in comparison to an iphone, which traditionally have terribly saturated colors. If anything, the M8 itself is slightly oversaturated, not dull. The lack of sharpness is strictly user error, IMO. Yes, this phone can lock onto a focal point you didn't intend but if you have any type of eye for photog, you simply tap on the screen to refocus it and it'll do a bang-up job.

If we're honest, people saw 4mp and had a knee-jerk reaction. In application, it's outstanding and I prefer it over anything else on the market (which is why I went and bought it).

Let me ask a question, in resonating with your point about reviewers:
What specs, besides pixel count, of the came on the M8, iPhone5.5,Nokia, Sony Z2, GS5, and etc are you aware of ? Do you know 2 of the most important cam specs, namely the focal length and the aperture of the lens, on them?

Too often when I read a tech review about a phone camera I don't even see these info listed. Some of the reviewers even go on to compare 2 different phone cams w/o knowing the difference in these specs. Are you surprised that a 35mm lens looks to have better zoom (actually large image) of an object on the pic than a 22mm one (wider angle view)?

More over, this also shows how most peeps see M8's 5MP front cam only as a non-necessary selfie cam for the self-important whatever generation. If one takes a closer look at the lens specs (not just the pixel count) you'd realize, hey you can take a selfie of more than 1 person(yourself) in the pic. And you don't have to always ask someone to take a pic for you when you want to have a pic of yourself in front of a monument or whatever as a memento of a trip. Isn't it a useful addition to a smartphone?

I'm not saying M8 has a perfect cam or the best cam among the competition (it's just different from everybody else. Understandably, that would cause controversy). And I'd like to have a higher pixel count, too. But a lot of the criticisms are not supported by facts.

 

[B0WIE]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

Let me ask a question, in resonating with your point about reviewers:
What specs, besides pixel count, of the came on the M8, iPhone5.5,Nokia, Sony Z2, GS5, and etc are you aware of ? Do you know 2 of the most important cam specs, namely the focal length and the aperture of the lens, on them?

Too often when I read a tech review about a phone camera I don't even see these info listed. Some of the reviewers even go on to compare 2 different phone cams w/o knowing the difference in these specs. Are you surprised that a 35mm lens looks to have better zoom (actually large image) of an object on the pic than a 22mm one (wider angle view)?

More over, this also shows how most peeps see M8's 5MP front cam only as a non-necessary selfie cam for the self-important whatever generation. If one takes a closer look at the lens specs (not just the pixel count) you'd realize, hey you can take a selfie of more than 1 person(yourself) in the pic. And you don't have to always ask someone to take a pic for you when you want to have a pic of yourself in front of a monument or whatever as a memento of a trip. Isn't it a useful addition to a smartphone?

I'm not saying M8 has a perfect cam or the best cam among the competition (it's just different from everybody else. Understandably, that would cause controversy). And I'd like to have a higher pixel count, too. But a lot of the criticisms are not supported by facts.

I agree, and when someone isn't knowledgeable the only thing they can do is look at the figures and make a judgement on that. A camera is a multi-faceted instrument and sometimes "better" is relative. The application is where the truth is revealed. There's a wonderful photo comparison of all of the flagships that one of the sites did and while the photos are very revealing, the actual written summary is almost laughable in that they didn't seem to have a real understanding of how to describe what they were looking at. I believe they scored the M8 the lowest or thereabouts but the photos they posted are actually what convinced me to buy the M8, because I felt they averaged out to be the best and I LOVED the character the M8 imparted.

The real problem with the M8 reviews is that it will do things that other phone cams can't. You don't see that type of thing covered in side-by side comparisons because they are strictly looking to make traditional comparisons. They fail to showcase the depth, focus effects, etc, the read advantages that are new with the unique cam they created. Inadequate reviews are as old as printed news and I'm not going to get caught up in "defending" the phone because I don't need to justify my purchase. To me, the cam was a strong reason to buy the phone. I do enjoy sharing info about it with others because I've been so pleased with it. It's nice to be able to share that enthusiasm by posting pics and talking about the cam.

 

[isdaako]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

Never takes long for this to turn into a discussion thread.

 

[jev425]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

The megapixel count for me is a no issue. I don't print anything off my phone just view them on the screen and tablet. I know some people print pictures off their phone so I can understand where the pixel count comes into play(family picture,pets, etc.) The M8 camera is by no means "bad" but I can see that it's not for everyone. Most people want to just take out their phone and be able to take a decent/good picture that captures the moment in a balanced manner(focus,lighting,color reproduction) without having to sit there and tweak any settings. These pictures are all in auto mode on both phones. The saturation levels on the M8 are definitely a little high but nothing I can't live with. From the looks of it indoor pictures and macro pictures come out great but it's the bright sky and landscape pictures the phone struggles to get exposure right.


iphone 5s


M8


iphone 5s


M8


iphone 5s


M8


iphone 5s


M8

 

[B0WIE]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

Still puzzled at the trouble some people are having so I did a few more tricky shots. I would once again recommend tapping on the subject to let the cam do it's calculations. It often makes a night and day difference. A lot of people aren't used to that but this cam has a super-wide range of adjustment so if it doesn't look quite right, just tap your subject and I think you'll be shocked at the difference.

Very Low Light; This large room was lit by a single corkscrew bulb in my jigsaw lamp. Too dark to read a book in but enough light to walk around. Every other digital cam I've used in this exact position (both phones and dedicated cams as well) have produced an orange-hued, grainy, mostly shadowed, shot that was absolutely unusable. The M8 was dim but still far better than the others when pointing and shooting. But, when focusing on the black area of the cat's nose, the light absorption suddenly bloomed. Really extraordinary how much light it found and THIS is why I wanted them to go with a design like they did, because a lot of my shots are real-world photos that aren't posed or taken in ideal situations. Oh, and yes, she's a naturally hairless cat, not a gargoyle.

Bright Light; This is in the Arizona sun and was bright enough that sunglasses were necessary and I couldn't see what was on the phone's display. I didn't have to focus or adjust a thing. The details will be mangled in the transfer but the original is pretty refined. Yes, the M8 does saturate colors a but. It's not as bad as an iphone but a samsung would be more accurate. However, a little saturation from the M8 is sometimes welcome, IMO, as it adds some life to photos and no one is taking historical archive shots with an M8.

Direct Sun; This is just to show that you can shoot directly into the sun (intense sun) and still get reasonable white-balance, contrast, color representation, focus, etc. It's so bright out that I'm still seeing white spots 20min after peeking at the sun while trying to take this pic;

Hopefully some of the examples will help those having trouble. Remember, pick your subject and, when in trouble, tap it to let the camera figure it out.

 

[Skyway]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

Just a quick comparison of auto and hdr

Full auto, no editing



HDR, no editing



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[jev425]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

I have tapped every single part of pictures I have tried to take and when I tap the sky it does it's thing to meter the sky correctly but makes the landscape underexpose to the point where you can't really see what's there. Same goes for when the landscape is tapped to meter and focus for that. The sky just gets washed out. I don't think it's people having trouble but I think a small software change would make a big difference.

 

[B0WIE]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

HDR, no editing

View attachment 111302

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Gorgeous! 3D clouds. I haven't even tried HDR yet. I did finally figure out how to un-focus so now the real fun begins!

I have tapped every single part of pictures I have tried to take and when I tap the sky it does it's thing to meter the sky correctly but makes the landscape underexpose to the point where you can't really see what's there. Same goes for when the landscape is tapped to meter and focus for that. The sky just gets washed out. I don't think it's people having trouble but I think a small software change would make a big difference.

Ask Skyway what he did. The one above looks fantastic.

 

[Skyway]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

I literally just switched to HDR and took the picture, no tap to focus

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[Skyway]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

A little bit of editing in Snapseed



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[zipro]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

If we're honest, people saw 4mp and had a knee-jerk reaction. In application, it's outstanding and I prefer it over anything else on the market (which is why I went and bought it).

You may prefer it - which is totally acceptable, but that doesn't make the camera any better. I've been a photographer for the better part of the last 20 years and I can safely say that the lack of detail and off-center sharpness aren't caused by user error in my case. The camera is mediocre at best, even when compared to last-gen devices such as the Galaxy S4 or the Nexus 5.

I love everything else about this phone, though.


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[B0WIE]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

You may prefer it - which is totally acceptable, but that doesn't make the camera any better.

By definition, it does, because we're dealing with matters of taste and suitability, not hard figures. For me, it's better. In the same turn, you seem to have the opposite opinion. I hope we can all respect the fact that we have differing views on what we like.

 

[Skyway]

Re: HTC One (M8) Photo's & Video Thread

Another auto HDR comparison

Auto, no editing


HDR, no editing


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