Xperia Z: Horrible Grainy Photos

[Amy Sullivan]

No matter what setting I use, when I try zooming in on something to take a photo it always turns out horrible. Grainy, blurry (no matter how still the camera is) and just awful. I wanted pictures of my daughter during a choir concert and couldn't get anything useable where I could actually SEE her in the photo.

Is there any way to get these pictures to turn out better? Is there something wrong with the camera on my Xperia?

 

[UJ95x]

No matter what setting I use, when I try zooming in on something to take a photo it always turns out horrible. Grainy, blurry (no matter how still the camera is) and just awful. I wanted pictures of my daughter during a choir concert and couldn't get anything useable where I could actually SEE her in the photo.

Is there any way to get these pictures to turn out better? Is there something wrong with the camera on my Xperia?

Welcome to Android Central
How much are you trying to zoom in? Smartphones don't have the best cameras, and zooming in makes the pictures look distorted because of the low megapixel count. Usually around 2x zoom looks good, but after that the images start to pixelate

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[Amy Sullivan]

Welcome to Android Central
How much are you trying to zoom in? Smartphones don't have the best cameras, and zooming in makes the pictures look distorted because of the low megapixel count. Usually around 2x zoom looks good, but after that the images start to pixelate

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

I try to zoom in using my fingers to enlarge something at a distance, not sure how much of a zoom it is actually. I'm just very, very disappointed in the camera on this phone which was it's selling point. I should have stuck with the Galaxy S4 that I wanted. I had an S3 and it took fantastic pictures, zoomed or not.

 

[UJ95x]

I try to zoom in using my fingers to enlarge something at a distance, not sure how much of a zoom it is actually. I'm just very, very disappointed in the camera on this phone which was it's selling point. I should have stuck with the Galaxy S4 that I wanted. I had an S3 and it took fantastic pictures, zoomed or not.

It was a selling point for a good reason. The camera on the Xperia Z line is probably the best on Android.
Have you tried any third party apps? It might be a software issue caused by the stock camera app

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[Amy Sullivan]

It was a selling point for a good reason. The camera on the Xperia Z line is probably the best on Android.
Have you tried any third party apps? It might be a software issue caused by the stock camera app

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

I haven't yet. If it's a software issue, it's affecting my daughter's phone as well (also an Xperia Z).
What 3rd party apps would you recommend?

 

[UJ95x]

I haven't yet. If it's a software issue, it's affecting my daughter's phone as well (also an Xperia Z).
What 3rd party apps would you recommend?

Shot Control is pretty good if you like to tweak the camera settings as much as possible.
Camera JB+ is good, but it's $1.99.
Focal is also a good option

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[Amy Sullivan]

Shot Control is pretty good if you like to tweak the camera settings as much as possible.
Camera JB+ is good, but it's $1.99.
Focal is also a good option

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

Thank you!

 

[UJ95x]

Thank you!

No problem. Let me know if they help at all

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[B. Diddy]

It's also worth checking what resolution your camera is set to. If it's set to a relatively low resolution, then using the digital zoom will definitely lead to graininess.

I find that it works a little better to take a picture at 1X zoom, then crop it using a photo editor later. That would give you some finer control as well.

 

[Jamie m2]

Also make sure your ISO is set low . The higher the ISO the more grainy the final image is.