Help camera takes terrible pics......

jamisont · Jan 6, 2012

Tim K said:
According to my reverse engineering, its

iPhone
Nexus
-
iPhone
Nexus
-
Nexus
iPhone

And I agree its easy to tell. The iPhone seems to artificially enhance colors. Also, its clear he wasn't being very precise with lining up his shots.

in low light, u gotta open up aperture to get more light (cant with smartphones since its locked), or set shutter speed lower to get more light (slowest shutter speed for GNex is like 1/17s on my test and thats way too fast still) last method is raising ISO but that causes noise on photo.

iphone 4s uses brighter lens (usually more expensive) and sony bsi cmos (better performance in low light), so in day light , outdoor, GNex can perform as well as Iphone 4s but indoor... Gnex doesnt do well unless they give us option to set shutter speed.

Tim K · Jan 6, 2012

adamalter said:
Wow, HATE Apple... as a logical person who appreciates TECHNOLOGY rather than a BRAND, I will just say I HATE fanbois J/K they're funny.

[ranting clarification]
I hate the Apple Computer company. I think that what they are doing with all of their patent litigation is disgusting. They used to be an innovative company leading the way....now they sue anyone who makes anything similar to anything they make. They aren't alone in this, but they are one of the worst offenders in my mind because of where they came from (behind "evil" Microsoft).

They make quality products and have (apparently) great customer service. You pay more, but supposedly its worth it. I don't care though, as I won't support them in any way.

Also, I don't want to play in their walled garden, but I understand it in a business sense and clearly it works for them and for millions of people. Its just not for me.

Also I do hate fanbois and anyone else who mindlessly follows/supports any brand/company/organization etc.

[/rant]

bigjunior45 · Jan 6, 2012

Ya the camera is pretty bad. Its great taking pictures outside in great lighting conditions but once you're indoors in poor lighting, thats where the Nexus goes to crap. I've paid and downloaded two camera apps to help out but was unsuccessful. I ended up returning the Nexus due to the camera, speaker, reception, and signal issues.

Here are some pictures I took with the Nexus. The first picture is the stock camera app with not edits and flash where the second picture has no edits but has flash. Notice the light bleeding all over the place....just looks nasty.

Here I took a picture of my fireplace with my Nexus with the flash on using the stock app and the second is taken with my Razr w/ flash using the stock app.

Nexus - taken using the stock camera w/ flash and no edits

Droid Razr - taken using the stock camera w/ flash and no edits

Lohung · Jan 7, 2012

those are pretty nice.. i think i am getting a little better

AndroidsOfTara · Jan 7, 2012

bigjunior45 said:
Notice the light bleeding all over the place....just looks nasty.

Um... clean your lens.

memillh · Jan 7, 2012

AndroidsOfTara said:
Um... clean your lens.

That's not a lens issue. When I was shooting in that type of lighting with my "borrowed" GN, I got the same results. It's just noise.

bigjunior45 · Jan 7, 2012

AndroidsOfTara said:
Um... clean your lens.

Sorry but the lens wasn't dirty its just a poor camera. The camera takes great pictures during the daylight but in poor lit areas it falls flat.

AndroidsOfTara · Jan 7, 2012

bigjunior45 said:
Sorry but the lens wasn't dirty its just a poor camera. The camera takes great pictures during the daylight but in poor lit areas it falls flat.

I take lots of photos with my Gnex in dimly lit areas without the flash. The ONLY time I ever get that light smearing problem is when my lens is dirty.

I'll agree that the Gnex camera probably isn't as good as what's on the iPhone 4S or the GSII, but it's certainly not a poor camera.

It's light years better than what I had on my OG Droid.

Here's one I took the other day in a dimly lit pub.

jamisont · Jan 7, 2012

finally i found out what sensor GNex has.
Samsung creates two CMOS image sensors with Back Side Illumination (BSI) - Sammy Hub

The S5K4E5 is 1.4 micron 5 megapixel sensor that can not only capture still images but videos in full HD resolution at 60fps. The sensor is also fast that allows to capture the moment as soon as the user clicks the shutter button.

it seems zero shutter lag isnt feature of ICS but that image sensor.
Samsung Imaging Solutions - S5K4E5 - YouTube
this video explains about cameda module+image sensor.

syntrix · Jan 7, 2012

AndroidsOfTara said:
I take lots of photos with my Gnex in dimly lit areas without the flash. The ONLY time I ever get that light smearing problem is when my lens is dirty.

+100000000

It's easy to get smudges on there, very easy.

mblouir · Jan 7, 2012

I haven't had any issues with the camera, either. It's taken some fantastic pictures and I'm more than happy with the quality. Here are a few I've taken....all with stock app and no editing:

And two I took with no lights on in the apartment....just the camera flash.

bigjunior45 said:
Nexus - taken using the stock camera w/ flash and no edits

Droid Razr - taken using the stock camera w/ flash and no edits

The last two are an apples and oranges comparison. Note that you have a super-bright TV in the frame of the GNex picture. That will completely throw your exposure. The TV isn't anywhere close to visible in the Razr picture. That's an unfair comparison between the two.

syntrix · Jan 7, 2012

mblouir said:
I haven't had any issues with the camera, either. It's taken some fantastic pictures and I'm more than happy with the quality. Here are a few I've taken....all with stock app and no editing:

And two I took with no lights on in the apartment....just the camera flash.

The last two are an apples and oranges comparison. Note that you have a super-bright TV in the frame of the GNex picture. That will completely throw your exposure. The TV isn't anywhere close to visible in the Razr picture. That's an unfair comparison between the two.

I've been there on business, recognized the bridge/water right away! Very nice pics!

You don't work for a major company with a presence there, do ya?

bigjunior45 · Jan 7, 2012

AndroidsOfTara said:
I take lots of photos with my Gnex in dimly lit areas without the flash. The ONLY time I ever get that light smearing problem is when my lens is dirty.

I assure you that the lens wasn't dirty, smeared, smudged, etc. That was the first thing I checked when I got these images so I used a q-tip to clean the lens and still got the result I posted on this site.

mblouir said:
The last two are an apples and oranges comparison. Note that you have a super-bright TV in the frame of the GNex picture. That will completely throw your exposure. The TV isn't anywhere close to visible in the Razr picture. That's an unfair comparison between the two.

Heres an update with the tv in the background. Looks the same to me as the past picture without the TV.

Also here's a pic that I took w/ my Nexus in broad daylight but I think the camera lens was dirty (sarcasm) I kid I kid. The Nexus camera shines in some areas and other areas it does not. That's my opinion and there are several other website reviews that would agree with me. But in the end it matters that you enjoy your phone and nobody elses opinion.

chucksings · Jan 7, 2012

Just saw the Iphone 4s commercial where Apple is touting their camera as a head to head competitor to point and shoot cameras. They sure are not shy in comparing their phone with point and shoots

Tim K · Jan 7, 2012

Honestly, I don't see that kind of flaring/halo-ing in any of my low light shots. Admittedly, the GN isn't the best low-light camera in the world, but I don't think its that bad either. Low-light shots are somewhat grainy but I never see bright lights putting off that kind of blurry glare.... and I am trying to make it happen.

Previous shot of my fishtank, dark room.

Shot from a dark room right at a recessed light.

Shot at my desk lamp in a dark room

Shot directly into my desk lamp turned up so the bulb is exposed. Some haloing, but I think that's to be expected.... but I don't see that kind of streaky glare.

Tim K · Jan 7, 2012

Sorry to say, but I have to agree that its A DIRTY LENS!

Here you go.

Clean lens.

Shot from across the house, in the dark, into a room lit by recessed lights.

Same shot, after I wiped my greasy finger across the lens.

Same shot again, wiped finger in a different direction.

Same shot again, wiped finger in yet another direction.

Seeing a trend????

mblouir · Jan 8, 2012

syntrix said:
I've been there on business, recognized the bridge/water right away! Very nice pics!

You don't work for a major company with a presence there, do ya?

Thanks...I love the area! Grew up around here. No not a major company, but we do business all over (mostly transit industry).

bigjunior45 said:
Heres an update with the tv in the background. Looks the same to me as the past picture without the TV.

Thanks for posting that one! I wasn't trying to be a smart-alec, but the first shots weren't as good a comparison. Much better.

Tim K said:
Seeing a trend????

Wow great post. I often find myself touching the camera lens while holding the camera. I also forget to clean it off as much as I do the front....so I'll have to watch that. That's very interesting.

AndroidsOfTara · Jan 8, 2012

bigjunior45 said:
I assure you that the lens wasn't dirty, smeared, smudged, etc. That was the first thing I checked when I got these images so I used a q-tip to clean the lens and still got the result I posted on this site.

I suggest having your phone replaced. You obviously have a defective camera.

jamisont · Jan 8, 2012

Tim K said:
Sorry to say, but I have to agree that its A DIRTY LENS!

Here you go.

Clean lens.

Shot from across the house, in the dark, into a room lit by recessed lights.

Same shot, after I wiped my greasy finger across the lens.

Same shot again, wiped finger in a different direction.

Same shot again, wiped finger in yet another direction.

Seeing a trend????

cant explain better than this.

adamalter · Jan 8, 2012

I'm surprised by the smeared pic examples here. When I was looking for pic comparisons I found this, which I immediately wrote off as being photoshopped thinking it surely didn't take a pic THIS bad:

Taken from this review (which I was too lazy to read lol):
A Long-Time Apple Nerd’s Review of the Galaxy Nexus and First Experience With Android — Shawn Blanc

But if some of you had the same issue maybe it's a legit pic.

ZachMob · Jan 8, 2012

I took many pictures with my Gnex last night in low light to see how well it works as a point and shoot.

Compared to my 3 year old cheap Nikon Coolpix camera, the low light performance of the Gnex is much better without the flash. I was impressed because with the Coolpix, I can't take a decent night shot without flash unless I have a tripod and it still a grainy mess. However I would say the Coolpix is a better camera at night if you are taking photos of people because it has a real flash that can fill the room.

I was able to take good pictures with the Gnex with the flash, but people have to be close to the camera for it to work. If you wanted to take a picture of more than 4 people, then the flash would be inadequate. I managed to take pictures of my wife in a dark club and she said the phone took good pictures of her. It got her seal of approval.

Here are some photos I took using the Camera Zoom FX app:

phantomash · Jan 9, 2012

@ZachMob you should have posted some shots taken with CoolPix as a comparison with the shots from GNex, preferably the same or similar subject

zerocool79346 · Jan 9, 2012

Here's one I took Friday out of a crappy plastic plane window. I'd be hard pressed to say that my Incredible ever took as good a pic as this. All auto everything, hasn't been touched up a bit and the original that isn't compressed by PB is even better.

fam · Jan 9, 2012

<-- perfectly happy with quality of my photos.

Like any camera it has things it does well and things its mentally challenged on. At what point will the whiners just change up for a non defective camera or just get a different kind of phone? I think we have more whiners right now because there are no other ICS phones...once they release more ICS phones, the whiners will go away because right now they think they have no options.

Just kind of getting tired of the crazies.

Tim K · Jan 9, 2012

I think its just easier to complain than to try to solve the problem. And its easier to blame the device, than to accept that maybe its user error or a dirty lens.

And there are probably some people who actually had a defective camera.... it happens. I went through 5 original droids with all different physical defects. With the number of Nexuses (Nexi?) they made, the odds are there are some defective units.

When I was on vacation I took some horrible shots. I went back an figured out I was focusing wrong (and had a misty lens from the salt spray) and now I am happy with the camera. As you can tell from all the shots I have posted here, I believe this camera is very functional but I am quite willing to consider that there may be problems. I'm just unable to find any defects in the camera itself (its not perfect but its far from terrible and is not beneath the phone itself).

Help camera takes terrible pics......

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