Help Camera clarity

[LolitaMackenzie]

I recently got my S4 and I'm so disappointed with a lot of things. Mainly the camera. Having to hold the screen to keep the clarity sharp in pictures. My question is, front facing camera, to takes it shape but when I view it, it's either blurry or smoothed too much. Can I fix this? I am very reluctant to say I prefer the iPhones camera.

 

[SebaKL]

I recently got my S4 and I'm so disappointed with a lot of things. Mainly the camera. Having to hold the screen to keep the clarity sharp in pictures. My question is, front facing camera, to takes it shape but when I view it, it's either blurry or smoothed too much. Can I fix this? I am very reluctant to say I prefer the iPhones camera.

I'm not a photographer, but I believe, it's all about light. I get very good photos out of my S4, but I make sure I get a lot of good, ambient light. I don't even bother using the phone if the place is not well lit, or in the evening, outdoor.

I will show you an example of my lunch, taken by a window, with strong light coming through.
I'm not very good at photography, but I must say, I'm more satisfied with the S4 photos, than some on my previous compact cameras. Of course, being sensible about the light conditions whenever I try to take a picture.

Front camera. This one was tricky, didn't realized how weird and difficult was to take a photo holding the camera backward. Took me like 20 shots to get it right.

 

[LolitaMackenzie]

Oh I see what you mean and that makes sense too. Thank you for your help.

 

[lotus49]

I think your dessert looks like it might be rather chewy .

I would agree with SebaKL about the importance of light. The lens on smartphones is pretty small and doesn't let a great deal of light through compared to a DSLR so the shutter speed has to be a lot longer to compensate. This makes blurring considerably more likely.

In good light I get surprisingly impressive photos with my S4. In poor light, I either have to use the flash, which never works very well, or make sure the phone is rock steady i.e. not hand held.

I have an iPhone 5 but it's my work phone and I never use the camera so I cannot compare at the moment. I'll try taking some photos with it on Monday and see if there is much to choose between them.

 

[Darnell0216]

Just to add, when Android Central did a story on the cameras of the flagships, the S4 and HTC One were night and day, literally. The S4 excelled at taking daylight and well lit shots while the H1 excelled at low light and night shots. So as long as we're in the light, our pictures will be awesome.

 

[beowulf7]

It's true that outdoor pics w/ the S4 are great, but indoor pics, esp. if lowly lit, are pretty bad.

LOL @ the condom pic.

 

[shmn]

Having to hold the screen to keep the clarity sharp in pictures.

Not sure what this means. Any camera...you need to hold the camera steady when taking the photo...even with high shutter speeds and some sort of image stabilization.

As SebaKL said...it's all about the quantity and quality of the light. Mega pixels really is a useless metric for digital camera quality. The S4 has a 13MP sensor and my Nikon D700 has a 12MP sensor. Which camera is better? Obviously, the D700 is light-years ahead of the S4 in quality. Larger sensor, larger photo-sites.

With that said, in good light, this camera is pretty good. If the light is anything else than good, the camera sucks. Which is standard for any sensor that is so small. That's why the HTC One does better in low light...it uses larger photo-sites (but less of them).

This photo was taken with the S4 using the HDR mode. Not bad for a phone. But if the light was at dusk then the photo would suck using this camera.

You need to understand the limitations of your tools and then learn how to properly use the tools you have to maximize results.

 

[SebaKL]

It's true that outdoor pics w/ the S4 are great, but indoor pics, esp. if lowly lit, are pretty bad.

LOL @ the condom pic.

I was looking for suitable item, and that box seemed perfect
Then, after posting, I realized the OP was a lady, and I felt like
a chauvinistic, sexist pig.

cheers

 

[LolitaMackenzie]

Not sure what this means. Any camera...you need to hold the camera steady when taking the photo...even with high shutter speeds and some sort of image stabilization.

As SebaKL said...it's all about the quantity and quality of the light. Mega pixels really is a useless metric for digital camera quality. The S4 has a 13MP sensor and my Nikon D700 has a 12MP sensor. Which camera is better? Obviously, the D700 is light-years ahead of the S4 in quality. Larger sensor, larger photo-sites.

With that said, in good light, this camera is pretty good. If the light is anything else than good, the camera sucks. Which is standard for any sensor that is so small. That's why the HTC One does better in low light...it uses larger photo-sites (but less of them).

This photo was taken with the S4 using the HDR mode. Not bad for a phone. But if the light was at dusk then the photo would suck using this camera.

You need to understand the limitations of your tools and then learn how to properly use the tools you have to maximize results.

If I take a photo, its clear but doesn't save clear, crisp. However, I have to hold my finger on it to become clear and tap it fast for it to save clear.

Here is example 1. Not holding the finger on the screen: https://www.dropbox.com/sc/fyu8hjr6hklp2ss/SVbTRqxBZz

Example 2: holding my finger on the screen https://www.dropbox.com/sc/v23zbzhrdao2fcv/PyjRAy5hMA

It's true that outdoor pics w/ the S4 are great, but indoor pics, esp. if lowly lit, are pretty bad.

LOL @ the condom pic.

I didn't realise you had to have so much light. I'm so used to the iPhone camera but I found out Samsung has made the iPhones camera for all their phones up to 4s.

I was looking for suitable item, and that box seemed perfect
Then, after posting, I realized the OP was a lady, and I felt like
a chauvinistic, sexist pig.

cheers

That's fine, I knew what you were trying to demonstrate. I'm not easily offend or a famine-nazi

 

[shmn]

Your problem is not 'clarity' but focus. In the first photo where the cat is blurry, you can see that the background is sharp. This is a mis-focused shot. When you say you have to hold your finger on the screen...I assume you mean you press on cat's face so it focuses there.

This is what you should do: point the camera at the subject and once you are steady, a white box will flash over the main focus point and when the camera has achieved focus and is ready for you to shoot, the white box turns green, you press the shutter button and continue to hold the phone steady until the photo appears on the screen. If you move too early, the photo will be blurry due to camera shake.

HOWEVER, I have noticed on numerous occasions that the box turns green and the subject that the box is placed over is not in focus. This is because the focus engine for this camera stinks (as many of Samsung's features are). In that case, press the square, let it re-focus and check that the image is actually in focus. Samsung mostly has problems with mis-focusing close subjects in less than ideal light.

If the box is not focusing on the subject you want, press on the subject and the box will move to that subject and turn green. Check that the focus is correct and then take the photo. If it's not correct, press again.

You don't need to hold your finger on the screen. Once the box turns green, take the photo (while holding camera steady until final photo appears). If the box is red, try again until it turns green. Red usually means not enough light to focus or too close to focus.

Also, in low light situations switch to 'Night' mode.

Hope this helps.

 

[shmn]

I found out Samsung has made the iPhones camera for all their phones up to 4s.

Even if Samsung did make the phone for the earlier iPhones, it's ultimately the firmware (software) that controls that camera that will make or break that camera.

And Apple is very good at integrating hardware and software...something Samsung needs to learn how to do properly. They've nailed the hardware, now they need to learn how to write efficient, user-friendly software that works.

 

[m3incorp]

In the first photo, if that swing the cat in is on is moving and you are up close, it will make getting a good focus a bit harder to do. It is clearly focus as stated before, because everything except the cat is sharp.

 

[Nick33]

My issue isn't clarity, it's noise. Even in well lit conditions, certain things, say a threaded table cloth, there is so much distortion... Dont know if that's normal or not

 

[shmn]

My issue isn't clarity, it's noise. Even in well lit conditions, certain things, say a threaded table cloth, there is so much distortion... Dont know if that's normal or not

What is your ISO set at? Is it noise or moire? Post a sample please.

 

[beowulf7]

I was looking for suitable item, and that box seemed perfect
Then, after posting, I realized the OP was a lady, and I felt like
a chauvinistic, sexist pig.

cheers

At least you didn't show the pic of the product inside the box.

 

[Zola365]

Why is the s2 camera better than the s4? Ridiculous that the focus is so pathetic and taking shots indoors is wack.

So disappointed in the s4 camera.

 

[shmn]

Why is the s2 camera better than the s4? Ridiculous that the focus is so pathetic and taking shots indoors is wack.

So disappointed in the s4 camera.

Did you read and try the suggestions posted above or did you just duplicate your complaint from an earlier thread?

If you are so unhappy, take the phone back or sell it.

 

[Zola365]

Replying to a suggested thread..that ok with you?

 

[jcountryboy86]

This photo was just taken indoors without the lights on.... Beautiful shot... On my s4

 

[valorian]

I don't have clarity issues. Once I get the image on the screen I tap the screen for it to focus, I then tap he icon to take the picture. I also have Anti-shake turned on.

This was taken last weekend at lunch. The restaurant did not have very good lighting.

 

[itsallgood]

As others have said, once you learn how to use the camera, its settings, all of its modes and know the limitations, you can take some awesome pictures/videos. My S4 takes better pictures then my 2 yrs old point and shot Kodak Easy Share Digital Camera. Now I only use my S4 for all my video and pictures.

 

[CyreneK]

How do you access the anti shake setting? Mine is greyed out and I cannot figure out why. Also, what is the difference between the 4:3 and 16:9 ratios?

 

[Hawker]

How do you access the anti shake setting? Mine is greyed out and I cannot figure out why. Also, what is the difference between the 4:3 and 16:9 ratios?

Turn off Auto Night Detection

 

[itsallgood]

How do you access the anti shake setting? Mine is greyed out and I cannot figure out why. Also, what is the difference between the 4:3 and 16:9 ratios?

The difference is in picture size, how much is in the picture after taken. You will notice that there is a number inside a circle, which is the megapixel for that ratio. You can see the camera view box change size, with each selection, to give you a better idea of how the picture will look after taken.