Is the camera any better?

[MoreDef]

Flat out, no. This camera is terrible. It's like someone put a Ferrari engine in a Civic and expected it to run like a Ferrari. There are so many other things that make for a good camera, but Samsung has focused on gaudy specs and parlor tricks for this phone. It shoots landscape and scenery fine, but I've got a cute kid and a pretty wife, and damnit, this phone makes them look like porcelain dolls... And that's if the camera can focus on the in the first place!

Coming from a Note 9 running Arnova GCAM, the S20 Ultra camera makes me regret making the jump. My only hope is someone create a decent GCAM mod for the ultra so that I can finally take pictures of people again.

 

[Peter Scooze]

Flat out, no. This camera is terrible. It's like someone put a Ferrari engine in a Civic and expected it to run like a Ferrari. There are so many other things that make for a good camera, but Samsung has focused on gaudy specs and parlor tricks for this phone. It shoots landscape and scenery fine, but I've got a cute kid and a pretty wife, and damnit, this phone makes them look like porcelain dolls... And that's if the camera can focus on the in the first place!

Coming from a Note 9 running Arnova GCAM, the S20 Ultra camera makes me regret making the jump. My only hope is someone create a decent GCAM mod for the ultra so that I can finally take pictures of people again.

https://www.cyanogenmods.org/downloads/urnyx05-gcam-apk-7-2-010-v2-3/

Works great for the main camera and night mode

 

[Kilroy672]

https://www.cyanogenmods.org/downloads/urnyx05-gcam-apk-7-2-010-v2-3/

Works great for the main camera and night mode

Is that for the S20 Ultra only? Can it work for the Note 10+ as well?

 

[Peter Scooze]

Is that for the S20 Ultra only? Can it work for the Note 10+ as well?

That one is for the ultra heres one for the note 10 +.

https://www.cyanogenmods.org/google-camera-gcam-galaxy-note-10-10-plus/

Its a trusted source too. This guy has been around since the original droid days making custom roms

 

[MoreDef]

https://www.cyanogenmods.org/downloads/urnyx05-gcam-apk-7-2-010-v2-3/

Works great for the main camera and night mode

Thanks, I'll try it out. I was running another version of 7.2 because of the astrophotography option that seems to be missing on the 7.3 versions...but I can't seem to find one that gives me the crisp pictures and fast shutter speed shots that I got on my N9. Any tips on how to tweak the camera to take decent pics of people and 2 year old in constant motion?

 

[Peter Scooze]

Thanks, I'll try it out. I was running another version of 7.2 because of the astrophotography option that seems to be missing on the 7.3 versions...but I can't seem to find one that gives me the crisp pictures and fast shutter speed shots that I got on my N9. Any tips on how to tweak the camera to take decent pics of people and 2 year old in constant motion?

It comes set with hdr+ on i switched it to hdr+ enhanced and it seems to be working pretty good so far

 

[strikeIII]

Took the Ultra to a kids party tonight. Indoor lighting taking pics of groups of people and kids and practically all the photos were terrible. Kept the Ultra in my pocket the rest of the night and used the Pixel 4 instead. I really hope Samsung improves it but I'm not holding my breath. Love everything else about the device but indoor photos and people I'm definitely not going to depend on it.

 

[rdrive41071]

Took the Ultra to a kids party tonight. Indoor lighting taking pics of groups of people and kids and practically all the photos were terrible. Kept the Ultra in my pocket the rest of the night and used the Pixel 4 instead. I really hope Samsung improves it but I'm not holding my breath. Love everything else about the device but indoor photos and people I'm definitely not going to depend on it.

Can you give some examples of why they were bad? Most reviews and comparisons with other devices seem to be more favorable towards the ultra. So far with my ultra i have not run into your experience.

 

[strikeIII]

Can you give some examples of why they were bad? Most reviews and comparisons with other devices seem to be more favorable towards the ultra. So far with my ultra i have not run into your experience.

Here's a photo of a baby in pretty bright indoor lighting. The focus locked in to her face and just look at the horrible details and smoothing of the skin. Pretty much all the photos looked like this of people.

 

[goji26]

Here's a photo of a baby in pretty bright indoor lighting. The focus locked in to her face and just look at the horrible details and smoothing of the skin. Pretty much all the photos looked like this of people.

I'm not sure why people don't see the awful skin and fur smoothing of the Galaxy line. It's been around as long as I can remember. Maybe it's because they haven't used a good camera setup like the Pixel line.

 

[MoreDef]

And yet here we are, complaining about something we've all known, like we were expecting something different from Samsung. Let's be real, it's basically the same camera set up ever since the s7, right? And yet we flock to it because under the hood, it's respectable and gives us more freedom than having an apple. Hell, I use GCAM, I throw on Nova launcher and basically just use the Galaxy series as a canvas for the phone I really want. A pixel is the opposite, where the camera is the only redeeming quality because Google makes some questionable decisions about battery, screens and features. I'd gladly switch to a pixel if it weren't for all the things that a Galaxy does better. I can skin a Galaxy to act like pixel, but I can't beef up the specs of a pixel to perform like a Galaxy.

 

[MoreDef]

It comes set with hdr+ on i switched it to hdr+ enhanced and it seems to be working pretty good so far

I like the quality of the initial shots, but the true test is when I take my little girl out to play and need the camera to keep up with her. HDR+enhanced looks promising, but that processing shutter makes me think that reserved for pictures that aren't stolen moments. Thank you though, you've saved me from returning this overly priced piece of tech.

I really have to wonder why so many glowing reviews about the camera online thogh. Did the influencers get better cameras? Do I honestly suck that much at taking pictures? Is there a setting I'm missing that let's me take decent pictures of things that aren't statues? I don't get it.

 

[rdrive41071]

In this review the pixel comes in last vs Ultra and 11 pro. People need to stop trashing the camera. Everyone has different opinions regarding the quality of the camera. This picture shows just how the pixel does in this instance. Pixel shot is on the right - Ultra center - pro on the left.

https://youtu.be/giYZRi0iN5s

 

[DanielLoreti]

How do you turn HDR+ on?

 

[neil74]

Hell, I use GCAM, I throw on Nova launcher and basically just use the Galaxy series as a canvas for the phone I really want.

People in the US are lucky to have the snapdragon Samsungs, in the UK we get Exynos which are arguably worse all around but also are not properly compatible with the GCAM mods. I found one but it did not realy work whereas on my OP7 Pro the Arnova GCAM mod is great.

 

[jtcannonball]

And yet here we are, complaining about something we've all known, like we were expecting something different from Samsung. Let's be real, it's basically the same camera set up ever since the s7, right? And yet we flock to it because under the hood, it's respectable and gives us more freedom than having an apple. Hell, I use GCAM, I throw on Nova launcher and basically just use the Galaxy series as a canvas for the phone I really want. A pixel is the opposite, where the camera is the only redeeming quality because Google makes some questionable decisions about battery, screens and features. I'd gladly switch to a pixel if it weren't for all the things that a Galaxy does better. I can skin a Galaxy to act like pixel, but I can't beef up the specs of a pixel to perform like a Galaxy.

Yeah, my Pixel 4xl is just hot garbage. 7 hours SOT with only adaptive battery and using it as is out of the box. The anti-pixel hardware argument is old and needs a rest. That aside if Samsung fixed the camera I'd have a hard time trying anything else for a year until the next Samsung models because I really dig their hardware.

 

[strikeIII]

In this review the pixel comes in last vs Ultra and 11 pro. People need to stop trashing the camera. Everyone has different opinions regarding the quality of the camera. This picture shows just how the pixel does in this instance. Pixel shot is on the right - Ultra center - pro on the left.

https://youtu.be/giYZRi0iN5s

Yeah I posted this video earlier and it confirms exactly what I was talking about when it comes to taking photos of people. Like I said I love everything else about the device and takes great photos until you get indoors and taking pics of people. The Pixel 4 just so happened to be the secondary device I was carrying and it can at least keep up with kids and take better details in shots of people. The color tones in the Pixel did get better with the March update and the Ultra is definitely still better with colora but I can always adjust color in post unlike with the Ultra I can't fix blurry blotchy messes in post.

 

[strikeIII]

How do you turn HDR+ on?

I believe they are referring to the HDR+ options in the gcam app.

 

[Peter Scooze]

Yeah, my Pixel 4xl is just hot garbage. 7 hours SOT with only adaptive battery and using it as is out of the box. The anti-pixel hardware argument is old and needs a rest. That aside if Samsung fixed the camera I'd have a hard time trying anything else for a year until the next Samsung models because I really dig their hardware.

I was nothing but a pixel user. I was ok with the hardware but always hoped for more. I was ok with the 4-5 hr sot with the 4xl because I'm always near a charger. I just got tired of all the bugs in thier software. There'd fix one thing and break something else. The assistant would never work when i needed it to. Thier camera software is amazing but video is trash. I'm not a big camera or vid guy so i didn't care. Since they're all about the software experience their software should be crisp 100% of the time with minimal issues. That's not the case so i just got tired. Their resale value is crap too. In October my wife got$350 for her old s8 from sammy and i got a cool $100 for my pixel 2 xl for the 4xl. Once sammy offered$600 for my 4xl i couldn't resist. Yes the ultra camera software needs work but this phone is great and I'm glad i switched. Hopefully google gets their act together and makes a real phone down the road. Then i may go back. No phone is perfect unfortunately. If Google could up their specs to meet sammy i think they could make the perfect phone though.

 

[Peter Scooze]

How do you turn HDR+ on?

In the settings once u go into the camera app