What's Wrong w/ This Picture? S7 vs Pixel 2 XL

[dc52ltr]

Wouldn't it be an idea to return the phone for a replacement just in case it's faulty in some way... I think you have 14 days?

 

[Knightmayre90]

I did feel when I switched from my S7 to the 2XL that the S7 took better photos too. the thing is, Samsung over expose and add colour where colour doesn't exist. this gives a warmer looking picture. give it time and you'll see the Pixel is better. it picks up the more realistic colours in a photo and once you get used to it, the clarity is super clear. I compared to my friends S8 the other day and the Pixel won hands down in low light, picking up details that I couldn't see with my eyes. it's possible you have a slightly faulty camera but I doubt it. give it time to let your eyes adjust I reckon.

 

[Morty2264]

Low light in a restaurant

... This makes me very hungry.

 

[GSDer]

... This makes me very hungry.

And makes me think someone ruined a perfectly good bowl of soup with shrimp and some other yucky seafood...

 

[Mike Dee]

And makes me think someone ruined a perfectly good bowl of soup with shrimp and some other yucky seafood...

You don't have to eat it

 

[monicakm]

I did feel when I switched from my S7 to the 2XL that the S7 took better photos too. the thing is, Samsung over expose and add colour where colour doesn't exist. this gives a warmer looking picture. give it time and you'll see the Pixel is better. it picks up the more realistic colours in a photo and once you get used to it, the clarity is super clear. I compared to my friends S8 the other day and the Pixel won hands down in low light, picking up details that I couldn't see with my eyes. it's possible you have a slightly faulty camera but I doubt it. give it time to let your eyes adjust I reckon.

Thank you! I've had Samsung flagship phones for 6 years. I know they're famous/infamous for punchy saturated colors and that the Pixel 2 would render more lifelike colors. Depending on the subject, I liked the saturated photos and if I didn't, I was able to reduce it within the camera software. Easy fix. Believe me, I was NOT expecting some of the results I've seen so far with the Pixel. That's why I've been taking the same shots with the S7...so I could compare. I've considered I might have a faulty camera. That would be a most welcome scenario! Unless all these low light examples in this thread are being pp'ed for noise removal (and I don't believe anyone would do that) it sure seems like I DO have a faulty camera.

As for keeping the S7. I'm not going to keep it. I'll be either staying with the Pixel 2 or trading it for the S9+. Every time I think about the fact I can't trigger the shutter button on this phone by voice, I can't imagine NOT having that feature and shift towards the S9+

As for what was I hoping to gleam from this forum, one of two things. For someone to tell me what I was doing wrong and/or tell me where I could find the advanced camera settings or that I had a defective phone. And no, telling me to not use a flash indoors wasn't what I was looking for. The flash didn't create the noise/softness and the colors were still WAY off without the flash. Turning off HDR+ helped with the color.

 

[Ca_lvn]

Certain places it'll Shines, others it will fail

 

[Mike Dee]

Thank you! I've had Samsung flagship phones for 6 years. I know they're famous/infamous for punchy saturated colors and that the Pixel 2 would render more lifelike colors. Depending on the subject, I liked the saturated photos and if I didn't, I was able to reduce it within the camera software. Easy fix. Believe me, I was NOT expecting some of the results I've seen so far with the Pixel. That's why I've been taking the same shots with the S7...so I could compare. I've considered I might have a faulty camera. That would be a most welcome scenario! Unless all these low light examples in this thread are being pp'ed for noise removal (and I don't believe anyone would do that) it sure seems like I DO have a faulty camera.

As for keeping the S7. I'm not going to keep it. I'll be either staying with the Pixel 2 or trading it for the S9+. Every time I think about the fact I can't trigger the shutter button on this phone by voice, I can't imagine NOT having that feature and shift towards the S9+

As for what was I hoping to gleam from this forum, one of two things. For someone to tell me what I was doing wrong and/or tell me where I could find the advanced camera settings or that I had a defective phone. And no, telling me to not use a flash indoors wasn't what I was looking for. The flash didn't create the noise/softness and the colors were still WAY off without the flash. Turning off HDR+ helped with the color.

There are no real manual settings on this phone except for white balance which can severely impact color on occasion if left in auto.

 

[monicakm]

In case any of you are interested...you CAN take a picture with your Pixel using voice command. This article was written in Oct 2016. It's not quite as convenient as Samsung's but I'll certainly use it! It's already in your phone, no 3rd party app.
http://https://www.androidheadlines.com/2016/10/google-camera-4-2-can-snap-a-photo-using-a-voice-command.html

 

[TraderGary]

In case any of you are interested...you CAN take a picture with your Pixel using voice command. This article was written in Oct 2016. It's not quite as convenient as Samsung's but I'll certainly use it! It's already in your phone, no 3rd party app.
http://https://www.androidheadlines.com/2016/10/google-camera-4-2-can-snap-a-photo-using-a-voice-command.html

The link is not working for me.

 

[TraderGary]

Well, that was simple enough.
OK Google, take a picture
OK Google, take a selfie

 

[monicakm]

Well, that was simple enough.
OK Google, take a picture
OK Google, take a selfie

I know. Wonder why no one replying on this thread knew about it It's not as simple as "shoot" or "smile" or "cheese" that instantly snaps a picture unless it's the front facing camera (you get a count down) but it's a whole lot better than nothing One issue down and another pops up....slooooow charging. I see it's not just me (sigh)

 

[Mike Dee]

I know. Wonder why no one replying on this thread knew about it It's not as simple as "shoot" or "smile" or "cheese" that instantly snaps a picture unless it's the front facing camera (you get a count down) but it's a whole lot better than nothing One issue down and another pops up....slooooow charging. I see it's not just me (sigh)

I knew about it....just don't use it and forgot to comment on it.

 

[monicakm]

I've made up my mind to go back to Samsung. Too many things I miss about the entire phone, not just the camera. I think I'll be more than happy with the camera and I know I'll be glad to have the manual adjustments back. The 1.5 aperture can't help but give me better low light pictures/videos. Thanks for all your input and picture examples.

 

[KP8819]

My shots don't come out with that much noise.

I'm sorry to ask a stupid question but am not a huge camera/pic guy & see it a lot. What exactly is noise in a picture? I googled it & just take it as a grainy photo but it has to be more than that or is this the case? Does it have to do with pixel density?

I've made up my mind to go back to Samsung. Too many things I miss about the entire phone, not just the camera. I think I'll be more than happy with the camera and I know I'll be glad to have the manual adjustments back. The 1.5 aperture can't help but give me better low light pictures/videos. Thanks for all your input and picture examples.

Again, I'm not a Photo guru but I feel the S9 takes good photos... The S9+ is supposed to be better but I don't miss the extra zoom lens. Good luck

 

[LeoRex]

I have thousands of pictures to compare the S7 to the 6P (I had the latter, wife the former) and I can very confidently say that the 6P, overall, had a superior camera... the S7 had a really bad habit of over processing images and clobbering detail to reduce noise, especially in lower light. Google tends to leave in noise, especially when getting rid of it would start to decrease fine details.

Looking at the pic, the flash is messing things up a bit because if the reflection of that bit at the top... Pixel might have a wider field of view. Flash is evil in most cases.

That isn't too say that in some conditions other cameras do better...

That's why when I evaluate a camera, I take tons of shots in a bunch of conditions.

 

[DreeTheGodd25]

Something is seriously wrong with you if you felt the S7 picture was better. it was horrible! And it kind of seems like you're just a Samsung loyalist so why bother with the pixel anyways? It's the best camera on a phone period, and I had the good awful S7 and a S8 and to me the cameras are overrated especially the front camera, but whatever