V20 vs G5...

[Greedog]

I've had a G5 for almost two years. I don't care what the reviews said I was amazed with the G5... Especially the cameras.
I had the itch to upgrade to the V20 for several reasons. 1) The quad DAC. 2) Manual camera controls for both stills and video.
Of course I still have my trusty G5 and glad I hung onto it. I'm fairly happy with the V20 except the G5 seems to take better pictures and videos. It's most likely caused by my lack of knowledge on how to use the manual settings. I can snap an awesome pic straight off with the G5. And I still haven't figured out how to get any really good videos using the V20.

Any and all advice as to how I can up my game here would be really appreciated. Although I bought the V20 recently at a good price point that's not the main reason I bought it.

If I don't figure out how to take better video and pics I may just go back to the older phone. Very happy with the DAC though but honestly just getting better sound ain't enough.

HELP!

 

[RaRa85]

I've had a G5 for almost two years. I don't care what the reviews said I was amazed with the G5... Especially the cameras.
I had the itch to upgrade to the V20 for several reasons. 1) The quad DAC. 2) Manual camera controls for both stills and video.
Of course I still have my trusty G5 and glad I hung onto it. I'm fairly happy with the V20 except the G5 seems to take better pictures and videos. It's most likely caused by my lack of knowledge on how to use the manual settings. I can snap an awesome pic straight off with the G5. And I still haven't figured out how to get any really good videos using the V20.

Any and all advice as to how I can up my game here would be really appreciated. Although I bought the V20 recently at a good price point that's not the main reason I bought it.

If I don't figure out how to take better video and pics I may just go back to the older phone. Very happy with the DAC though but honestly just getting better sound ain't enough.

HELP!

Hello I would direct you to the V20 pictures/videos thread as there are many discussions there about the V20's capabilities. Also I have shared a few tips and settings there myself on how I achieved certain shots. It's a nice little community there. But manual mode will surely be your friend in a lot of situations. Also I would suggest installing the Google camera API as it really drastically enhances photos in auto and HDR+ modes.

 

[gustav30]

I think it comes down to the sensors used in the two phones as they are different. The G5 uses same sensor that was in the G4 and V10. I have the V10 and do find at times that it takes better photos than my V20. However, the V20 sensor to me has much better focus ability. The sensor in the V20 besides having laser autofocus, also has phase detection autofocus as well as contrast autofocus.

 

[Greedog]

Hello I would direct you to the V20 pictures/videos thread as there are many discussions there about the V20's capabilities. Also I have shared a few tips and settings there myself on how I achieved certain shots. It's a nice little community there. But manual mode will surely be your friend in a lot of situations. Also I would suggest installing the Google camera API as it really drastically enhances photos in auto and HDR+ modes.

OK! The pictures/video thread where? On this site? As a thread in the LG Android phone forum where I posted this thread? I'm not following you. So... Go ahead and direct me. I didn't see much in the V20 thread concerning pictures/videos. That's why I posted.
I'm not trying to be cute. I've just not found where you mean.

Thanks for your help.

 

[RaRa85]

OK! The pictures/video thread where? On this site? As a thread in the LG Android phone forum where I posted this thread? I'm not following you. So... Go ahead and direct me. I didn't see much in the V20 thread concerning pictures/videos. That's why I posted.
I'm not trying to be cute. I've just not found where you mean.

Thanks for your help.

You're welcome. I'm sorry I forgot to provide links. I'll update this reply soon.

Edit: here's the link for the V20 pictures and video thread. https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...&share_tid=736912&share_fid=4950&share_type=t

LG V20 - Camera shots! Show us your pictures

And check out this video to download the link to the Google API.
https://youtu.be/BftJe5ZCd-M

Here's the thread discussing the Google Camera API's effect on the V20.
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...&share_tid=851805&share_fid=4950&share_type=t

Pixel 2 camera app with HDR+ on V20 looks great!

 

[Greedog]

You're welcome. I'm sorry I forgot to provide links. I'll update this reply soon.

Edit: here's the link for the V20 pictures and video thread. https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...&share_tid=736912&share_fid=4950&share_type=t

LG V20 - Camera shots! Show us your pictures

And check out this video to download the link to the Google API.
https://youtu.be/BftJe5ZCd-M

Here's the thread discussing the Google Camera API's effect on the V20.
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...&share_tid=851805&share_fid=4950&share_type=t

Pixel 2 camera app with HDR+ on V20 looks great!

Thanks for posting the links. I already loaded the Google Camera app. I haven't really tried it yet. You mentioned a discussion forum. Like I said, I'm getting better results from the G5 camera so far. I'm trying to figure out what I can do to get better results from the V20. I though newer phone, newer sensors, better results. Plus, I thought having more manual control I would be able to get better shots but the manual controls have just highlighted how little I know about photography. I guess it'll come in time. Still.. Any help would be appreciated.
Your link takes me to great pictures posted by others. I want to figure out how to get those results.

Thanks again.

 

[RaRa85]

Thanks for posting the links. I already loaded the Google Camera app. I haven't really tried it yet. You mentioned a discussion forum. Like I said, I'm getting better results from the G5 camera so far. I'm trying to figure out what I can do to get better results from the V20. I though newer phone, newer sensors, better results. Plus, I thought having more manual control I would be able to get better shots but the manual controls have just highlighted how little I know about photography. I guess it'll come in time. Still.. Any help would be appreciated.
Your link takes me to great pictures posted by others. I want to figure out how to get those results.

Thanks again.

Yeah some of the explanations are buried kinda deep in the forums so you may have to look through but great results are very possible as you'll see. Just get out and mess with all the settings and you'll have the hang of it in no time.

 

[recDNA]

Yeah some of the explanations are buried kinda deep in the forums so you may have to look through but great results are very possible as you'll see. Just get out and mess with all the settings and you'll have the hang of it in no time.

I wonder if there is a free app with significantly better auto mode? There is no way I will take the time to learn the best manual settings.

 

[RaRa85]

I wonder if there is a free app with significantly better auto mode? There is no way I will take the time to learn the best manual settings.

Well the Google Camera API is free and is excellent in auto and magical in HDR+ mode.

 

[recDNA]

Well the Google Camera API is free and is excellent in auto and magical in HDR+ mode.

Yes it sounds great but I only use apps in the Playstore.

 

[Mooncatt]

For a point and shoot camera, yeah, the V20 lacks a little bit. One of the bigger downfalls is the aggressive noise reduction in auto mode. It can help low light images look better, but going overboard with it results in a watercolor type effect. That's what happens with the V20, and it isn't something you can adjust.

Manual mode bypasses the noise reduction, especially if you save as RAW (more on that later). When in manual mode, one thing to notice is the AE-L (Auto Exposure Lock) button. When off, the app will work more or less like auto mode. So if all else fails, tap it off and get a shot as if in auto mode. The other button to notice is the EV button, which stands for Exposure Value, and is only available when the AE-L button is off.

With AE-L off, the camera decides how to set the exposure. 0.0 on the EV slider is neutral exposure. If you increase it, that will tell the camera you want the image brighter by a certain number of stops (a unit of measure for light in photography). Decreasing the exposure will make the image darker, but can be handy to get a faster shutter and/or lower ISO that gives you a more crisp image that you can brighten up later in editing.

When you start manually adjusting ISO and the shutter speed (the "S" button), the AE-L button lights up and the EV button greys out.

ISO is the sensor's sensitivity to light. Increasing this will give you a brighter image, but at the expense of increased image noise. At 400, it can start to become noticeable.

When you speed up the shutter, you can freeze action, but it results in a darker image. Lowering the shutter helps in low light by giving you a brighter image, but you'll get motion blur either from a moving subject, and/or shaking the camera. If camera shake becomes an issue for you, look into getting a phone mount for a tripod.

You'll want to balance ISO and shutter speed to get the overall best exposure with minimal image degradation. What you'll notice is that now the greyed out EV button will change the reading as you change your settings and scene. Ideally, you'll want your settings to give you a result at 0.0. This will help you learn to better expose your photos. Keep in mind this only guides you to taking neutrally bright photos. If you want to make a brighter or darker photo for effect, then feel free to have values above or below zero.

The focus mode is usually fine on auto, but you can manually adjust and lock it if needed. Using the Focus Peaking option will highlight the areas in focus in green, to help you see if your subject is focused. White Balance our also usually fine on auto. About the only time I manually adjust this is if there are multiple types of lighting around me that confuse the app (I.e. Warm colored incandescent lighting mixed with cool white LED lighting). Then I would adjust so the live view looks as close to the actual color as possible.

Now for RAW. If you don't want to edit at all, then don't even bother. RAW files are like a raw steak. You can cook it yourself at home, or order one at a restaurant. They give you all of the sensor data, but are like bringing the steak home to cook it. Right out of the camera, they may not look that great, and this is normal. You have to edit these into a final image, but you get full control over how the file is processed. Just like learning to cook a steak, it takes time and practice to learn editing. Saving as jpeg in the camera is like going to a restaurant. You can set some parameters, but the app will do all the editing for you on the fly and just give you the final result much like the chef cooking the steak for you and only having the finished product brought to your table. One is not inherently better or worse than the other, as it depends on your skill and what you want to do.

 

[Greedog]

For a point and shoot camera, yeah, the V20 lacks a little bit. One of the bigger downfalls is the aggressive noise reduction in auto mode. It can help low light images look better, but going overboard with it results in a watercolor type effect. That's what happens with the V20, and it isn't something you can adjust.

Manual mode bypasses the noise reduction, especially if you save as RAW (more on that later). When in manual mode, one thing to notice is the AE-L (Auto Exposure Lock) button. When off, the app will work more or less like auto mode. So if all else fails, tap it off and get a shot as if in auto mode. The other button to notice is the EV button, which stands for Exposure Value, and is only available when the AE-L button is off.

With AE-L off, the camera decides how to set the exposure. 0.0 on the EV slider is neutral exposure. If you increase it, that will tell the camera you want the image brighter by a certain number of stops (a unit of measure for light in photography). Decreasing the exposure will make the image darker, but can be handy to get a faster shutter and/or lower ISO that gives you a more crisp image that you can brighten up later in editing.

When you start manually adjusting ISO and the shutter speed (the "S" button), the AE-L button lights up and the EV button greys out.

ISO is the sensor's sensitivity to light. Increasing this will give you a brighter image, but at the expense of increased image noise. At 400, it can start to become noticeable.

When you speed up the shutter, you can freeze action, but it results in a darker image. Lowering the shutter helps in low light by giving you a brighter image, but you'll get motion blur either from a moving subject, and/or shaking the camera. If camera shake becomes an issue for you, look into getting a phone mount for a tripod.

You'll want to balance ISO and shutter speed to get the overall best exposure with minimal image degradation. What you'll notice is that now the greyed out EV button will change the reading as you change your settings and scene. Ideally, you'll want your settings to give you a result at 0.0. This will help you learn to better expose your photos. Keep in mind this only guides you to taking neutrally bright photos. If you want to make a brighter or darker photo for effect, then feel free to have values above or below zero.

The focus mode is usually fine on auto, but you can manually adjust and lock it if needed. Using the Focus Peaking option will highlight the areas in focus in green, to help you see if your subject is focused. White Balance our also usually fine on auto. About the only time I manually adjust this is if there are multiple types of lighting around me that confuse the app (I.e. Warm colored incandescent lighting mixed with cool white LED lighting). Then I would adjust so the live view looks as close to the actual color as possible.

Now for RAW. If you don't want to edit at all, then don't even bother. RAW files are like a raw steak. You can cook it yourself at home, or order one at a restaurant. They give you all of the sensor data, but are like bringing the steak home to cook it. Right out of the camera, they may not look that great, and this is normal. You have to edit these into a final image, but you get full control over how the file is processed. Just like learning to cook a steak, it takes time and practice to learn editing. Saving as jpeg in the camera is like going to a restaurant. You can set some parameters, but the app will do all the editing for you on the fly and just give you the final result much like the chef cooking the steak for you and only having the finished product brought to your table. One is not inherently better or worse than the other, as it depends on your skill and what you want to do.

Really helpful stuff. Especially the info on the AE-L. Thanks. Do you personally use RAW and edit pics yourself? The reason I'm asking is to get it in my head that I didn't make a mistake buying this phone for the camera. That I just have to take some time and learn a few things. Which will probably make me a better photographer... I hope.
If so.. What do you use to edit?

 

[Mooncatt]

Really helpful stuff. Especially the info on the AE-L. Thanks. Do you personally use RAW and edit pics yourself? The reason I'm asking is to get it in my head that I didn't make a mistake buying this phone for the camera. That I just have to take some time and learn a few things. Which will probably make me a better photographer... I hope.
If so.. What do you use to edit?

I save RAW+jpeg. Usually the jpeg is fine for personal use, but this gives me the RAW file as well just in case.

For photo editors, I have several I use depending on my needs. For some reason, most editors don't read the RAW file correctly and only give you something like a 1MP image to work with. Even the stock gallery app shows this. The file itself is full resolution, and this seems to be a problem unique to the V20, as other phones read the RAW files fine on any app designed to read them.

So for RAW edits, I use Snapseed because it'll read the RAW file correctly. I use this for minor adjustments to things like exposure, white balance, highlights, and shadow adjustments. This gives me a good starting point with a full resolution jpeg.

I use Photoshop Express for more in depth and fine tuned edits. It can technically read RAW files, but gives you the low resolution bug on the V20. So I only use this one for editing jpeg's or if I import RAW files from my DSLR (yes, it can read multiple RAW file types). I've found that accurate color retention is a bit better on this than with Snapseed. I can also use this for noise reduction if the default jpeg was too aggressive with it. By processing the RAW in Snapseed, I can bypass the default noise reduction and fine tune it in Photoshop Express.

I also use one simply called Photo Editor. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iudesk.android.photo.editor I use this one for batch editing, adding in text, making a collage, and formatting for printing.

If you want to edit on a computer, the big name programs are Lightroom for RAW files and Photoshop for jpegs. If you want a free option, RAW Therapee is similar to Lightroom, and GIMP is similar to Photoshop. All the apps I listed above are also free.

 

[Greedog]

I save RAW+jpeg. Usually the jpeg is fine for personal use, but this gives me the RAW file as well just in case.

For photo editors, I have several I use depending on my needs. For some reason, most editors don't read the RAW file correctly and only give you something like a 1MP image to work with. Even the stock gallery app shows this. The file itself is full resolution, and this seems to be a problem unique to the V20, as other phones read the RAW files fine on any app designed to read them.

So for RAW edits, I use Snapseed because it'll read the RAW file correctly. I use this for minor adjustments to things like exposure, white balance, highlights, and shadow adjustments. This gives me a good starting point with a full resolution jpeg.

I use Photoshop Express for more in depth and fine tuned edits. It technically read RAW files, but gives you the low resolution bug on the V20. So I only use this one for editing jpeg's or if I import RAW files from my DSLR (yes, it can read multiple RAW file types). I've found that accurate color retention is a bit better on this than with Snapseed. I can also use this for noise reduction if the default jpeg was too aggressive with it. By processing the RAW in Snapseed, I can bypass the default noise reduction and fine tune it in Photoshop Express.

I also use one simply called Photo Editor. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iudesk.android.photo.editor I use this one for batch editing, adding in text, making a collage, and formatting for printing.

If you want to edit on a computer, the big name programs are Lightroom for RAW files and Photoshop for jpegs. If you want a free option, RAW Therapee is similar to Lightroom, and GIMP is similar to Photoshop. All the apps I listed above are also free.

It seems like you are serious about what you do. I've been goofing around with the Google camera app and Wow! What a difference straight off. That AL-E tip was very helpful as well. Thanks so much.

Any video tips?

 

[flyingkytez]

I've had a G5 for almost two years. I don't care what the reviews said I was amazed with the G5... Especially the cameras.
I had the itch to upgrade to the V20 for several reasons. 1) The quad DAC. 2) Manual camera controls for both stills and video.
Of course I still have my trusty G5 and glad I hung onto it. I'm fairly happy with the V20 except the G5 seems to take better pictures and videos. It's most likely caused by my lack of knowledge on how to use the manual settings. I can snap an awesome pic straight off with the G5. And I still haven't figured out how to get any really good videos using the V20.

Any and all advice as to how I can up my game here would be really appreciated. Although I bought the V20 recently at a good price point that's not the main reason I bought it.

If I don't figure out how to take better video and pics I may just go back to the older phone. Very happy with the DAC though but honestly just getting better sound ain't enough.

HELP!

Download and install the Pixel 2 Camera App .apk from the link here:

https://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2017/09/08/hdr/

Guarantee your pictures will look much better. The stock LG camera app is a little outdated, Google's software is much better. My photos look stunning using the app, video recordings looks pretty good too. It's just the selfie camera isn't good on it. Try using the "blur effect" on the Google camera... you'll get a DSLR bokeh effect which looks pretty awesome.

Also download Google's photo editing app called Snapseed and then use the auto adjust feature and it'll correct the brightness and color. I still believe the V20 takes amazing photos, much better than a Galaxy S7 and its weak 12MP sensor. Plus the front + rear wide angle cameras are a treat. I admit the stock LG camera app is a little crappy, you'll enjoy the Pixel 2 Camera app much better.

 

[Mooncatt]

It seems like you are serious about what you do. I've been goofing around with the Google camera app and Wow! What a difference straight off. That AL-E tip was very helpful as well. Thanks so much.

Any video tips?

Not really serious, just a very interested amateur. Lol

I've tried the Google camera app, but it isn't my cup of tea because I don't take many HDR shots. I would challenge the claim that the V20 stock app is outdated. Almost nothing touches it when it comes to manual controls, which is where the app shines the most. If you only want to point and shoot, then in that case I would agree there are better options. It all depends on what you want to do.

For example, I love light painting, and that is something you can only do with manual controls. This image, for example, was taken with the V20 stock app and no editing.

I don't really do a ton with video, but the concepts are about the same. If you record 30fps, then keep in mind you can not have a shutter speed longer than 1/30". If you shoot 60fps, then you're limited to a max 1/60" shutter speed. So for video work, you will have to rely on ISO more. The good news is ISO noise isn't as apparent in video.

The only other big difference is the also controls. The graph will help you fine tune things, but I'm not familiar with the different levels off hand. I'll have to look that up later for you when I have more free time, but I'm pretty sure there's a help file in the app settings that you can use to read up on them.

 

[flyingkytez]

Not really serious, just a very interested amateur. Lol

I've tried the Google camera app, but it isn't my cup of tea because I don't take many HDR shots. I would challenge the claim that the V20 stock app is outdated. Almost nothing touches it when it comes to manual controls, which is where the app shines the most. If you only want to point and shoot, then in that case I would agree there are better options. It all depends on what you want to do.

For example, I love light painting, and that is something you can only do with manual controls. This image, for example, was taken with the V20 stock app and no editing.

I don't really do a ton with video, but the concepts are about the same. If you record 30fps, then keep in mind you can not have a shutter speed longer than 1/30". If you shoot 60fps, then you're limited to a max 1/60" shutter speed. So for video work, you will have to rely on ISO more. The good news is ISO noise isn't as apparent in video.

The only other big difference is the also controls. The graph will help you fine tune things, but I'm not familiar with the different levels off hand. I'll have to look that up later for you when I have more free time, but I'm pretty sure there's a help file in the app settings that you can use to read up on them.View attachment 276901

I still haven't tried that light trail thing! The manual controls are definitely better, but the Google camera just looks more pleasing to the eye and it does it automatically. There's basically a color boost and brightness adjustment, of course you can do it with an app too.

 

[Chromium 4]

Here's a little trick I learned a while ago. Set your camera to manual but keep the settings on auto. You can see as you move the camera that the various settings will change to compensate for the varying conditions. I found that often the manual or pro mode will usually take better pictures than the camera's auto setting.