Is the camera as bad as this forum indicates?

[rcyphermd]

Here is my problem: I tried the verizon s3. Way too many dropped calls. I just got the note 2. Incredible reception and camera, but it is like a brick in my pocket. The Maxx sounds like a good possibility, but the camera complaints have me concerned. Your thoughts?

 

[JE78]

Here is my problem: I tried the verizon s3. Way too many dropped calls. I just got the note 2. Incredible reception and camera, but it is like a brick in my pocket. The Maxx sounds like a good possibility, but the camera complaints have me concerned. Your thoughts?

Depends what you use your camera for. If your outside with natural light you shouldn't worry. The camera focuses fast and snaps pictures quick and the quality is very good. If your inside and with low light and don't use a flash it will be grainy. I came from a Galaxy Nexus and was in love with that camera so this camera quality has taken some getting used to.

I put up with it because other than the camera this is the best phone I've owned. The battery life is something that I have had a problem with since using Android. I got so fed up with it a few years ago I switched back to the iPhone. But the Maxx has handled everything I've thrown at it, I haven't come close to running the battery dead in a day and could probably get 2 days of usage before having to put it on the charger. The build quality, top notch radios make this a no brainier for me.

I guess all you can do is get one and test it out, you have 15 days to decide.

 

[FussBoss]

The camera is fine. I swear some of these people want a replacment for a regular camera and thats not going to happen anytime soon.

 

[Thom]

Depends what you use your camera for. If your outside with natural light you shouldn't worry. The camera focuses fast and snaps pictures quick and the quality is very good. If your inside and with low light and don't use a flash it will be grainy. I came from a Galaxy Nexus and was in love with that camera so this camera quality has taken some getting used to.

I put up with it because other than the camera this is the best phone I've owned. The battery life is something that I have had a problem with since using Android. I got so fed up with it a few years ago I switched back to the iPhone. But the Maxx has handled everything I've thrown at it, I haven't come close to running the battery dead in a day and could probably get 2 days of usage before having to put it on the charger. The build quality, top notch radios make this a no brainier for me.

I guess all you can do is get one and test it out, you have 15 days to decide.

You might want to give Camera Zoom FX a try. I have found that it controls the hardware in my Bionic and X much better than the Camera app.

Since I don't have a Razr HD I'd like to know what you find out.

... Thom

 

[ji001]

just snapped this one. Stock camera. resized, unedited otherwise.

 

[JE78]

just snapped this one. Stock camera. resized, unedited otherwise.

wow, impressive, i can't get mine to look like that

 

[Dreamliner]

People complained about the regular RAZR camera and I thought it was fine...to me, the camera in this phone is noticeably worse.

I use my camera frequently to snap quick picks of items that I list for sale that I don't require tons of detail for, and I've actually had to pull out my actual camera to take the pic because my phone image looked terrible...something my original RAZR had no trouble with.

Whats weird is the image looks fine on the screen before I take the pic, but the image it captures looks awful.

 

[recDNA]

Here is my problem: I tried the verizon s3. Way too many dropped calls. I just got the note 2. Incredible reception and camera, but it is like a brick in my pocket. The Maxx sounds like a good possibility, but the camera complaints have me concerned. Your thoughts?

Camera sucks.

 

[droidros]

I just got my phone and I think the camera is MUCH better than the Droid X. I am trying to send a picture, but I can't figure out how to do anything yet!

WHERE IS THE MENU BUTTON???

 

[PowrDroid]

Camera sucks.

The camera doesn't 'suck.' In adequate lighting situations it works very well. In low light conditions it is unimpressive. I would assume the iPhone5, Galaxy S3, etc. all have similar problems.

Coming from a D2G I was concerned about the camera. I've had my Maxx HD for four days now and have been playing around with the camera in various lighting conditions and settings. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it did on an overcast day (see attached image). Keep in mind the attached photo was compressed to fit on this site. Other than obscuring the license plates no other adjustments were made on the image.

With the camera on 'Auto everything' in low light conditions it produces noisy, grainy pictures. The flash has a range of only about 6 feet. However, if you are in low light conditions by using some of the settings you can get acceptable results. Night time Portrait with flash always on helps. Night time portrait with flash always on and bumping up the exposure helps even more.

Probably the single best thing you can do is, if possible, move closer to the object being photographed to give the flash a fighting chance to illuminate the object. Playing with the exposure is probably the next best thing (don't overdo it.) Unfortunately with the stock camera app you have to reset the exposure after every shot. At least the exposure meter is in one-tenth increments instead of one unit increments, like my D2G.

I read about a trick on another forum that has given good results. Assign the volume rocker to be the shutter switch. With flash set to On and Night portrait On, and finger depressing the Volume rocker, with another finger double tap on the screen in the area you desire to focus, holding your finger down on the second tap for about 3-4 seconds. When you reach the 4th second, release the Volume Rocker (hold the camera steady) which will snap the picture. Experiment a bit up or down with the 4 second duration. End result is that you get more lighting in your photos, improving the overall quality. (Thanks go to SupermanDrew.)

I'm going to wait for Jelly Bean to get to my phone and see if it improves the camera. If not, I'll experiment with non-stock camera apps to see if they can improve low light shots.

 

[PowrDroid]

just snapped this one. Stock camera. resized, unedited otherwise.

Yes, nice shot. That doesn't 'suck'. That's very good.

 

[Methos1979]

"In low light conditions it is unimpressive."

Well put. I would have to agree with this statement. It is very much dependent upon what type of light as well as what you are trying to shoot. I took some relatively low-light photos at work recently and posted them to a similar thread and they came out great. But a couple days later I was trying to get some photos in my garage of a defect on a motorcycle seat and for the life of me I could not get the camera to find the focus point no matter how much I played with angles and flash and what not.

If you have some sharp angles with varied textures with at least a little bit of light (like the shot posted earlier of the keys) you will get a decent photo. There are a couple menu options called Scenes, Modes, and Exposure that will also allow you to try different things to get a good photo in the stock camera program.

Digital photography is an art form unto itself and trying to get good photos with a cell phone has always been a challenge. Does the RHD camera suck? Not at all. Can it be unimpressive? Absolutely. So are many others. There are definitely other cell phones out there with better cameras. If the camera is your absolute number one priority then it might behoove you to check out a different phone. But the RHD Maxx excels in so many other areas it tops the pack in my opinion as the best mobile phone on the market right now.

YMMV.

 

[SayOw]

I've wondered as to what an "acceptable" cellphone camera is for some people...

This is a great cellphone...first. A decent camera second. If you want a great camera, get one, but the likelihood of you getting a great camera with a great cellphone, I think at this time, is unlikely.

I think the camera on the Razr HD is as comparable as it is with other phones in this class. It isn't the best, but it isn't the worst either. The camera has a fair amount of really nice features and overall the picture quality is respectable and I think very good for being taken from a cell phone.

If you are looking for something to improve your poor picture taking, framing, exposure, etc. then there is likely no cellphone camera out there that will do that. I think if people would learn how to take good pictures first then the quality of the camera isn't as big of a deal.

 

[jkmasi]

I've wondered as to what an "acceptable" cellphone camera is for some people...

Have you tried the iPhone 4s, or better still, the iPhone 5 camera? That's what I expect from a smartphone camera. Do I expect it to be the same quality as my DSLR? No, but I expect it to be as good as the camera on other comparable smartphones.

If the camera is as bad as the one on the Razr Maxx (haven't tried the HD line yet), then it's not up to par. The technology is obvioulsy out there. Motorola just doesn't take advantage of it, for some reason.

 

[PowrDroid]

Have you tried the iPhone 4s, or better still, the iPhone 5 camera? That's what I expect from a smartphone camera. Do I expect it to be the same quality as my DSLR? No, but I expect it to be as good as the camera on other comparable smartphones.

OK, I see you have an iPhone and/or an S3. How about you take some shots in low light conditions and post them so we can all see the awesome superiority of the iPhone camera?

 

[t0ked]

Depends on what you are used to. If you are coming from an iphone or S3, you will notice some lackluster quality in the photos taken in lower light. However, I don't think it is a fail at all. I upgraded from an HTC Thunderbolt and the camera is definitely an upgrade.