Samsung Note 9 makes blurry ("liquified") images

[Alex Starbuck]

HI all!

An iPhone converter here . After thinking about it for weeks, I bit the bullet and bought a Note9 a few days ago. So far I am loving the device, the screen is AMAZING and I spend most of my waking hours in the Google app eco-system, so this switch made sense.

However, one area where it is disappointing is the camera.

I might be doing something wrong but why do the photos enlarged to 100% look so blurry, detail-less and as if they were somehow liquified? Is this normal behaviour?

- here is one photo taken yesterday, full size
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qn9jnCIbf4Tuv-9jbd0569RH9RWupnxU;

- here is a 100% crop of just the hands (no edits) here is a 100% crop of just the hand
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1n7SGJiU0HiO5f9epfmv-B_bRnT6l0F_Q;

- here is also a 100% crop, just the face https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wh_kETTq-x715RFhdKGhdOkT8o5rsEAd

Am I missing something?
Many thanks for the replies!

 

[strikeIII]

Do you have scene optimimizer turned off. I found that it doesn't work very well and get better results with it turned off. Also, Samsung does have some camera improvements they will be pushing out and devices in some countries have already received these updates with reported improvements in the camera processing.

 

[dsignori]

The overall image didn't look too bad to me. The hand was blurry (was it moving?). The face does look a bit odd, I agree. Coming from a Pixel 2 XL, I find the Note 9 camera slightly worse, but still on the whole very reliable in most instances. I do have the occasional issue - but I have been mostly happy with it.

Have you taken many pics yet? If so, are most of them good/fine? Also, as the previous poster noted, you might get slightly better results with the scene optimizer turned off - though I have a hard time noticing much difference.

 

[Richard Stewart79]

Also make sure you have it set to 12 megapixels if you're gonna enlarge it a lot and make sure camera lens is clean

 

[rikken]

Tap to focus might help.

 

[SkydiverTilt]

Same here 10 years iPhone and the Note 9 is my transfer. I have noticed that the camera is exceptional in most situations and incredible in sport situations. However in low light it blurs very easily which is odd considering all the light that comes into the camera.

I'm not sure if I should have the Tracking AF on (default is off) or maybe the optimizer off for night shots.

All bluring is by people BTW, backgrounds and still objects are just fine.

 

[KillerQ]

I know exactly what you mean, and the camera is horrible in anything less than optimally lit conditions, unless you're on a tripod and the subject isn't moving AT ALL.

Coming from a Pixel 2XL, although I like the Note 9 better overall, I do miss how most of the camera shots come out blotchy.

 

[anon(3641385)]

Golly, I don't seem to have any issues with my note 9 camera. I'm on the exynos chip, which may, or may not, be relevant

 

[DamianP]

While the Note 9 isn't perfect, I just came back from a trip with my wife who has an iPhone 8s and she commented how my pics came out better overall. I have a pixel 2xl as well and find it does better under certain circumstances. Handheld example as I was walking.

 

[anon(3641385)]

While the Note 9 isn't perfect, I just came back from a trip with my wife who has an iPhone 8s and she commented how my pics came out better overall. I have a pixel 2xl as well and find it does better under certain circumstances. Handheld example as I was walking.

Beautiful photo

 

[astrbac]

Hmmm.... Thanks all for your responses and your time, much appreciated!

I have some photography background, even worked as a pro in fashion, so I am pretty familiar with the settings and concepts. I have set everything to manual, turned off all optimisations and I understand the motion blur effects. I think it is not the issue here, iut must be the resolution of the photos.

Being accustomed to "regular" cameras with much larger chips and better dedicated optics maybe I am just expecting too much from a nice little camera?

 

[dannejanne]

Hmmm.... Thanks all for your responses and your time, much appreciated!

I have some photography background, even worked as a pro in fashion, so I am pretty familiar with the settings and concepts. I have set everything to manual, turned off all optimisations and I understand the motion blur effects. I think it is not the issue here, iut must be the resolution of the photos.

Being accustomed to "regular" cameras with much larger chips and better dedicated optics maybe I am just expecting too much from a nice little camera?

Yeah don't expect too much from small sensors like camera phones have. It will show defects when zooming in regardless of what phone you have.

The face picture looks like you might have had HDR on auto and it engaged it? If you look at the left edge of the face you will see two edges of the cheek. Meaning two exposures has been taken and mixed together. That will surely make a blurry mess out of skin texture etc. On top of that you could also get some motion blur.