Picsfrom today: Galaxy Nexus & Rezound Cameras

[fam]

Very nice pix! the pizza slice is making me HUNGRY!

Thanks...Chicago deep dish pizza was quite nice!

I dont believe he got a bad phone. Camera will soft focus if you dont select what you want to focus, and the autofocus can take 2-3 seconds if youre paying attention, so if you just go hitting the button it may not be focused yet.

Also, all the photos look much better when they are shrunk down a little, for some reason, viewing actual size shows its "film grain" as one user put it, this camera is going to be awesome for catching moments and internet posts, not so much for anything you are going to try and print unless its a 4x6 or smaller. So, if youre looking for being able to print any photos....this camera\phone isnt for you

 

[sdsubasketball]

Thanks...Chicago deep dish pizza was quite nice!

I dont believe he got a bad phone. Camera will soft focus if you dont select what you want to focus, and the autofocus can take 2-3 seconds if youre paying attention, so if you just go hitting the button it may not be focused yet.

Also, all the photos look much better when they are shrunk down a little, for some reason, viewing actual size shows its "film grain" as one user put it, this camera is going to be awesome for catching moments and internet posts, not so much for anything you are going to try and print unless its a 4x6 or smaller. So, if youre looking for being able to print any photos....this camera\phone isnt for you

Do you think there can be a fix for the grain issue?

 

[fam]

Imo....no. i think better focusing..tad more saturation and a tad more contrast will do wonders in software...but other than a magic camera firmware rewrite...it is what it is

 

[BlueBiker]

I will never believe anyone again who says megapixels don't matter

Megapixels matter, however they aren't the "be all end all" factor that people tend to make them.

Megapixels don't really matter after 5 megapixels.

The OP's posted pictures were all 0.3MP, while the larger and sharper ones by thatguy188 were all 0.75MP, so it's beyond ridiculous to think that a 5MP phone camera doesn't already have wayyyyy more megapixels than are needed for high quality pictures.

Whatever the GNex camera's failings, it has nothing to do with megapixels.

 

[finn5975]

I suppose that it is a moot point by now...but here are a few more shots taken with both phones today. I exchanged my Galaxy Nexus for a new one so I think faulty camera can be eliminated. With that said, I am a bit pleased with how the outdoor shots turned out.

I want to reiterate that in each of the photos I took today, as well as my original set, I absolutely 100% manually focused each picture. If it came out blurry, it is not because I just simply pointed and shot. I fully understand the importance of focusing the subjects.

Also, I did zero, zilch, notta enhancements or alterations of the photos other than necessary resizing. I shot them, loaded them on the computer, and attached to this thread. So while the pics may indeed improve with enhancing....all of my pics are unaltered.

In each set, as before, the top pic was taken with my G-Nex and bottom was taken with my Rezound.




















These final two were taken in low light with flash

 

[fam]

I dunno man, some of your shots are just bad...I dont get it, all I can do is rebuttle it with a few ones I took today






http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v...tion=view&current=2011-12-19_12-34-04_HDR.jpg

 

[JSD_NJ]

Why are the pics so square compared to the Rezound?

 

[finn5975]

I dunno man, some of your shots are just bad...I dont get it, all I can do is rebuttle it with a few ones I took today

It's beyond me bro. I'm not a pro photographer but don't consider myself camera dumb either so I have no clue. I guess I'm left curious if others find your, or my, pics to be more of the norm....for what it's worth. Your pics look fantastic!!

 

[fam]

Why are the pics so square compared to the Rezound?

The rezound shoots a 16 by 9 format like nikon...mine looks closer to the four thirds format.....just a format difference...htc uses better sensors...my wifes old incredible was great...rezound is better...and will be even better with android 4.0

 

[JSD_NJ]

I assumed all phones were shooting in 16:9 now

 

[Vaetix]

Off-topic (Chicago pizza!)

Spoiler

Thanks...Chicago deep dish pizza was quite nice!

I was in Chicago earlier this month. Ate at Lou Malnati's and Gino's East for pizza while there. Sooooo good.

 

[XFistsClenched]

I'm going to try and take some pics tomorrow. I believe my results have been better than Finn's as well.

 

[photogman]

I'm a photographer and I obviously don't rely on my GN phone for my trade, but one thing I can see with your comparisons between the GN and the rezound is right out of the box the rezound is contrastier and more saturated. I believe this is an issue that can be fixed from a default standpoint with a firmware download/newer ICS version. You can get very acceptable pics with the GN right out of the box by adjusting your pics before exposure in the furnished software. But one thing you lose at the expense of contrastier pics with the rezound is a narrower dynamic range which you don't lose currently with the GN. With the rezound, the colors seemed to get "blocked" up somewhat. The same thing can be duplicated in photoshop or lightroom if you use them. From a portraiture standpoint, with which I approach photography, I like the wider dynamic range which represents true color and scene representation rather than over-saturated, too contrasty pics which obviously are what some people would rather see. Overall, I like my phone and I'm growing to like it more each day. My beefs would be the auto brightness setting is way too dim and I'm still a little concerned about how the reception/number of bars issue will ultimately bear out. Other than that, I'm a happy customer and I do like for the sake of purity, a pure google phone that none of the rest of the crop of phones can lay a claim to. My two cents.....

 

[Gordy77]

Is there a way to take 16:9 photos with the galaxy nexus or is this limited due to the 5mp and the hardware involved?

 

[fam]

Not unless its a software app that cuts the top and bottom off the frame...the lens is a four third lens...it sees and shoots in an almost square frame. You can edit photos after the fact by cropping them down.

16x9 is the standard today, but 4/3 is still alive. I have a couple dslr's and I use both formats. Reality is most of us will be throwing this on facebook or some forum and the aspect ratio isnt going to matter.

16x9 (nikon d3000)

lily finished by -FaM-, on Flickr
4/3rds (olympus e-410)

P9269001 by -FaM-, on Flickr

Just a format man... ;-)

 

[BlueBiker]

Is there a way to take 16:9 photos with the galaxy nexus or is this limited due to the 5mp and the hardware involved?

I hope this doesn't sound glib, but if like most people your purpose is to crop an eventual image that's HD resolution (1920 x 1080) or smaller, then it probably doesn't matter whether the original photo is a Rezound's 16:9 (about 3800 x 2100) or a Nexus' 4:3 (about 2600 x 1900).

 

[Lev16]

I'm a photographer and I obviously don't rely on my GN phone for my trade, but one thing I can see with your comparisons between the GN and the rezound is right out of the box the rezound is contrastier and more saturated. I believe this is an issue that can be fixed from a default standpoint with a firmware download/newer ICS version. You can get very acceptable pics with the GN right out of the box by adjusting your pics before exposure in the furnished software. But one thing you lose at the expense of contrastier pics with the rezound is a narrower dynamic range which you don't lose currently with the GN. With the rezound, the colors seemed to get "blocked" up somewhat. The same thing can be duplicated in photoshop or lightroom if you use them. From a portraiture standpoint, with which I approach photography, I like the wider dynamic range which represents true color and scene representation rather than over-saturated, too contrasty pics which obviously are what some people would rather see. Overall, I like my phone and I'm growing to like it more each day. My beefs would be the auto brightness setting is way too dim and I'm still a little concerned about how the reception/number of bars issue will ultimately bear out. Other than that, I'm a happy customer and I do like for the sake of purity, a pure google phone that none of the rest of the crop of phones can lay a claim to. My two cents.....

I think that was well put man. I've been shooting with a Nikon D90 over the past 3 years and using Lightroom to get my photos where I want them. If I'm out shooting quality photog, I will typically go RAW in order to get the most possible dynamic range for post processing and desired effect.

I don't own a GN yet, but I'm planning to receive one for Xmas. Looking at these threads, I'm kind of disappointed with overall outcome from the phone camera. But I would like to make 2 points:

1) People keep taking the some of the most boring pics I've ever seen, and then tossing them up here and say that their phone's camera sucks. Come on now. I could be shooting with a $3000 camera and if the subject is boring, the pics are going to be lame too. Go read some books/websites on how to make your subject matter more appealing, and you will most likely find more satisfaction with your new GN.

2) The stock camera app is kind of blah. I haven't gotten to play much with ICS, but the fun with smartphone photog really stems from all the cool apps there are out there to get desired post processing effects. I'm not out trying to capture super high quality photog with my phone; that's what I have my D90 for. Instead, I get inspired from time to time when I'm out and about, and all I have is the phone in my pocket to capture that. Instead of just taking the stock camera app at face value, I have used Vignette, Pixlr-O-Matic, Retro Cam, Camera Fx, etc. to capture that more contrasty, more saturated, framed look that I'm going for. I've been using my Dinc to do that for the past 1.5 yrs, and I've been really satisfied with the outcome on about 75% of my shots.

With those two points made, I actually wouldn't mind it one bit if the stock camera app produced more saturated, higher contrast pics. As long as I'm not doing portraits, I think this makes my subject look more appealing 95% of the time. I hope that further software updates address this and perhaps add settings for: Landscape, Portraits, Vivid, Auto, etc. I would probably live in the Vivid setting for the vast majority of what I like to shoot.

/rant

 

[fam]

Off-topic (Chicago pizza!)

Spoiler

I was in Chicago earlier this month. Ate at Lou Malnati's and Gino's East for pizza while there. Sooooo good.

When in chicago....giordano's ;-)
Gotta love it. I only go to chicago for comic conventions...im such a nerd.

 

[finn5975]

1) People keep taking the some of the most boring pics I've ever seen, and then tossing them up here and say that their phone's camera sucks. Come on now. I could be shooting with a $3000 camera and if the subject is boring, the pics are going to be lame too. Go read some books/websites on how to make your subject matter more appealing, and you will most likely find more satisfaction with your new GN.

With all do respect, while I may have been taking boring pics to showcase different settings, light exposures etc...photographing the Messiah himself wouldn't change the fact that the pics come out underexposed, blurry, etc. Your feedback is appreciated, but many of these pics are an attempt to show quality of the pictures themselves and not the quality of the subject matter being photographed.

 

[thatguy188]

I said it before and I'll say it again. Buy Vignette -- so much better and the pics are AWESOME compared to the stock camera apo

 

[gwtx2]

I will never believe anyone again who says megapixels don't matter

They don't in this case. On a phone screen, and even on a PC monitor, you really can't tell the difference between 5MP or 14MP, and in some cases 3MP. You gain advantage with higher megapixels when you crop. You gain a disadvantage by having a larger file size. For the Gnex, if photos are important to you, and if you want to crop small areas of a photo or have them printed larger than a 6x9 (photo quality), then you may want a phone with a larger megapixel camera.

Ref: Design215 megapixels comparison and maximum print size charts

 

[billynotnice]

Finn, Thanks for taking the time to create this post. I like you have been torn over this camera deal. A few people in different threads have made comments about people disappointed with the camera like stated above. All I can say to that is that If i were interested in buying a phone, I wouldn't buy a Galaxy Nexus, i'd get the free junker they give you. This "phone" isn't even a phone at all. It's a mobile device. It's a computer, my news paper, my social network, my camera, my grocery list, my video/music player and i could go on for hours, so lets try to be honest... nobody is buying this Galaxy Nexus because it makes on hell of a phone call. That being said I think that being upset over the camera feature is more than reasonable. I'm just pissed because the phone is awesome, but the camera doesn't make the grade. it's like looking at a straight A report card, then seeing a "B". It kinda leaves you feeling like you got screwed a little bit. I've been fighting with myself since I bought this thing about the camera and Its tough because I don't want to return the phone, but on the other hand I don't want to take bad pictures for 2 years either. I have also came from the Droid X which I feel takes much better pictures than the nexus, despite its annoying slow shutter speed. I guess i'll just keep reading and posting and hope that I can talk myself into keeping this phone. Either that or keep checking the android sites for a new phone that will suit me better and go back to the Droid X for a little while longer.

 

[coldfire22x]

has anyone noticed that when you preview the photos from within the camera app, they look decent? but then when you open it up in the gallery or photo studio, it immediately loses all of the brightness/contrast?

i can say i'm very disappointed with the camera app. but i still think i would prefer this phone (for everything else) over the rezound, which was my other contender.

 

[BlueBiker]

I've been fighting with myself since I bought this thing about the camera and Its tough because I don't want to return the phone, but on the other hand I don't want to take bad pictures for 2 years either.

i can say i'm very disappointed with the camera app. but i still think i would prefer this phone (for everything else) over the rezound, which was my other contender.

Have either of you tried Camera Zoom FX? It may make better use of the Nexus' camera hardware than the built-in app.

(Disclaimer: I bought it on the $.10 sale, but haven't had a chance to try it yet on my Rez.)

 

[x25064]

I brought to a Verizon store an Epic Touch 4G that we have left over from a Sprint trial to compare tp the GNex (love the ET4G but Sprint was horribly slow in our area, so wish VZW would release a GS2!)

Taking several pics in the store , the GNex just couldn't come close to the Galaxy S2 Epic Touch. We use the ET4G wi-fi only while waiting for VZW to release a decent phone (use an original Droid when not on Wi-Fi while also waiting for a VZW upgrade).

The best GNex pics came from setting it so Florescent mode while in the store - but still the pics weren't that good at all - just not horrible as they were mostly when using Auto scene mode.

Perhaps if you really tweak the settings and have something to rest the GNex ones to keep it totally still it may take better pics but that's not practical. I don't need a camera in a phone or expect top notch digital dedicated camera quality - but after having the ET4G for a few months - it's a huge letdown to have such a lame camera in the GNex (especially for the next 2 yrs).

The other kills for the GNex - the super weak speaker. The Galaxy S2 speaker isn't great but at least it's decent enough where the GNex speaker is even quieter or as low as the Galaxy S which previously has been the lowest volume speaker I've come across.

Thinking about going with the Rezound, hopeing for ICS via CyanogeMod down the line and / or giving it to my wife when the next decent Verizon device is released (Galaxy III - pls let Verizon get it!) .

I don't replace our dedicated camera with the phone but with a nice camera like the ET4G , it does well for many pics , I can't see even keeping pics long term that are of the GNex quality...... For those that either don't get out much and have nothing to take pictures of or ALWAYS have their dedicated cameras on them - then no prob I guess.....

Same on the speaker for those that keep their phone always on vibrate.

Two easy items that have the GS2 features in the cam and speaker - why couldn't the almighty GNexus feature these simple items??????

or VZW release a GS2 variant??????

Very nerve racking after waiting all year for a new VZW device - 1s the Bionic wait and letdown, now the GNex (plus a phone I LOVE with Sprint but wasn't usable away from Wi-Fi thanks to the Sprint network in our area!).

Frustrating year! Wasted last "NE2" upgrade for nearly a year on VZW and now those early upgrades are gone! ......

1st VZW releases the T-Bolt (a year old Evo with LTE), the delay of the Bionic which ends up being a bust, the GNex with a joke of a camera and speaker.....

Can't believe my top choice is the Rezound... (Razr w/o a replaceable battery isn't an option for me and after the Bionic - blur and the camera, not even interested in the Razr at all).

Anyone know how to hack an ET4G onto VZW? I'd be happy with VZW 3G on an Epic touch with Verizon


Thanks for all for posting camera sample pics!

Eptouch rapes the gnex in every way imaginable. Its unfortunate verizon never relased the rumored "function". I was just in a store playing with one side by side with my nexus, the difference is stark. Id take touchwiz, gingerbread, and vzw bloat for an lte s2 any day of the week.

You should post some videos of the brower and live wallpapers being used on the s2 as conparasion to the gnex, since there seems to be a lot of denial in that department.

Back on topic. The camera on the s2 is flawless. Better then my cybershot. No idea why sammy didnt put it on the gnex.



*go ahead, whine about how much i hate the gnex, i will sit and roll my eyes.