Pictures & Videos -- How's the Camera Quality?

[SoundsGood]

Hey guys,

I'm accustomed to pretty darn good quality in the pictures and videos I take with my iPhone.

If I switch to a Galaxy Note 2, will I be disappointed with the quality of the pics and or videos?

Good quality pictures and videos are very important to me, so please be honest.

Thanks!

 

[1812dave]

bright light with defaults. great.

flash images in dim light, with defaults--AWFUL. results are blue and overexposed. but there is a solution: use the Party/Indoor mode to change the color balance/exposure to a far better result.

dim lighting, non-flash--GRAINY, unless you use the HDR mode, which works VERY, VERY well.

I'm an advanced amateur photog, so I notice all the flaws.

Video recording, as with just about every DSLR, compact, and cell phone camera, is full of the jello effect when you pan at anything other than a glacial speed.

There is no actual image stabilization--just an increase in shutter speed with "anti-shake" turned on. It's mildly helpful, at best.

Overall, the results are light years ahead of the POS camera in the Bionic and other current Motos such as the Razr line.

 

[DAS]

I would say if your PRIMARY need in a smartphone is picture and video quality then the Note 2 may not be for you.

Don't get me wrong, the pics and vids taken on this device are very good, but even in Samsung's ads they don't highlight the image quality of the device, but rather focus more on convenience features that other smartphones lack.

Here are a few pics, taken at night during the Chinese Light Festival. Each picture was taken with the device, but the Note 2 is not all about pictures and videos. It's primary claim to fame is the wacom technology of the s-pen, the large screen for viewing content and multi-tasking, and extensive convenience features offered in Touchwiz.



Sent from my SPH-L900 using Android Central Forums

 

[SoundsGood]

I would say if your PRIMARY need in a smartphone is picture and video quality then the Note 2 may not be for you.

Well, it's not my *primary* need, but it's important. I'd feel pretty bad if I switched from my iPhone to the Note 2 and discovered that many of my pics (and videos) looked worse than they did on my iPhone.

 

[Johnly]

I have to chime in here. If you have a "primary" need for excellent videos or pics, don?t go with a cell phone period. I find the note 2 camera to be like the sgs3 camera. Good for a cell phone for pics and vids, great for facebook/G+/forums, but not so great for family slide shows on your big screen or blowing up pics. In that case, get a real camera lol. That said, diving into the settings and learning what to enable for certain environments can get you great lengths in getting decent shots/videos with the note 2.

 

[SoundsGood]

I have to chime in here. If you have a "primary" need for excellent videos or pics, don?t go with a cell phone period.

Oh, I don't need them to be excellent. I just want them to be *at least* as good as what I'm currently used to getting with my iPhone. I want equal or better quality, just not worse.

 

[Johnly]

Oh, I don't need them to be excellent. I just want them to be *at least* as good as what I'm currently used to getting with my iPhone. I want equal or better quality, just not worse.

I have had a iPhone for years. I find Androids high end offerings to give great pics and videos. You can beam that. Like I say, no iPhone/droid will ever out shoot a real camera, so if that is the goal, then get a real camera. You can beam that to your crew. Or emal/text if only a iPhone.

 

[DAS]

Based on your comments, it appears that a mobile device that doesn't have picture and video quality "equal to or better" than the iPhone would be a deal breaker for you? If that's the case I would suggest you not buy the Note 2, because while I, and others, can give you our assessment that the two devices both have pros and cons, no one but you can determine if the image quality is to your liking.

Whether I think the image quality on the Note 2 is equal or better than the iPhone would only be my opinion. If you ask 10 people, each with their own biases and experiences, they will give you their opinion. In the end, to determine if the Note 2 meets your requirements you'll need to get your hands on one and determine for yourself. To me, the image quality is superb (see pics above taking at night in low light), but again that's my opinion. Your eye may be trained to see detail that I overlook, and so your idea of superb is much different than mine.

So take the time to visit a store, or contact a friend who may already own one, and take some shots yourself. That way you get an objective opinion based on what only you are looking for, and can decide from there. I wish you the best in your search.

 

[jodyberry]

As a video editor, I am very impressed with the quality of the photos and videos the Note 2 creates.

No, it's not near the quality of a true still or video camera, but for what it is, it's not bad at all.

As a fun test I decided to import a few videos I shot on the Note 2 into our edit system. Considering the lens is the size of a BB, it was surprisingly clean!

And even though the video file is heavily compressed, there were very few artifacts. And I'm also impressed how clean the slo-mo is as well. With decent lighting, it produces some decent footage.


That being said, I would probably never use this footage in a production unless I absolutely had to. But these days, video quality is almost a moot point since it's the content, NOT the quality that seems to matter (look at half the videos on YouTube!!).

 

[SoundsGood]

I dragged my family into an AT&T store last night. My wife laughed when she saw the Note 2 ("it's HUGE!").

Anyway... I decided to do a real-life camera test. I pulled out my iPhone from my pocket and took about 5 or 6 quick shots of people in the store. Then I grabbed the Note 2 and took the same shots. When my wife and I compared the pictures we immediately noticed that all but one of the Note 2 shots were blurry, like slight motion blur. None of the iPhone pics had this problem. They may not have been award winning pictures, but they were usable (noise, yes -- blurry, no).

I guess that's all I'm looking for. "Usable" shots that are not blurry, without having to fiddle with any settings.

By the way, I also took a few shots with the Lumina 920. All of those shots were usable too.

I think at this point I might just wait for the Galaxy S4. I'd rather get something NOW, but oh well.

 

[weber022676]

You're exactly right. There's always a slight motion blur that my wife's I phone doesn't have or my former evo 4G lte didn't either.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Android Central Forums

 

[jodyberry]

I think I read somewhere that the note 2 has some ridiculously slow shutter speed in most modes. Quite useless in low light!

Sent from my Samung "Brick"

 

[DAS]

I dragged my family into an AT&T store last night. My wife laughed when she saw the Note 2 ("it's HUGE!").

Anyway... I decided to do a real-life camera test. I pulled out my iPhone from my pocket and took about 5 or 6 quick shots of people in the store. Then I grabbed the Note 2 and took the same shots. When my wife and I compared the pictures we immediately noticed that all but one of the Note 2 shots were blurry, like slight motion blur. None of the iPhone pics had this problem. They may not have been award winning pictures, but they were usable (noise, yes -- blurry, no).

I guess that's all I'm looking for. "Usable" shots that are not blurry, without having to fiddle with any settings.

By the way, I also took a few shots with the Lumina 920. All of those shots were usable too.

I think at this point I might just wait for the Galaxy S4. I'd rather get something NOW, but oh well.

The good thing is you have your answer, and since this issue was indeed a "primary" factor and thus a deal breaker for getting the Note2, you made your decision.

I have found the quality of pictures very good in my experience, but then again, taking pictures with my phone is not a priority.

At least you were able to make your own judgement and comparisons, and regardless of what others say or think you now have your experience to go on



Sent from my SPH-L900 using Android Central Forums

 

[VRV]

I took several pictures with my Note 2 for the New Year Party, it came out blurry and out of focus even though on the screen it looked focused. I was reading about Note 2 pictures quality and many others had same issues. I need a usable camera on my phone and my 1st gen Atrix had better camera and I am not kidding. All settings are default and Android version is 4.1.2. If Samsung doesn't fix this, I am returning it and getting a Lumia 920.