Galaxy Nexus camera discussion

[bigvinny]

I'm guessing some of fabled Nokia high-end phone uses 1/2.3" sensor with awesome optics... for the rest of us, those pictures end up in fb, imgur, reddit, and some other random craps anyways. I'm not crying over "regressing" from 8MP of DINC to 5MP of Galaxy Nexus.

 

[Pureblood]

Overall I am very satisfied with the camera. Especially since I am coming from a droid X. One thing that bothers me though i this.

When you take a picture and the preview pops up and looks bright and vibrant...then, tap on the picture to take you into the gallery to view it. All of the sudden the picture loses about 25% of its vividness. Has anyone else noticed this. The picture preview looks great and then you view it in the gallery and it doesn't look as good.

Anyone know what causes this?

 

[Roroco]

So much misinformation in this thread. I am a semi-pro photographer and I have thousands invested in glass and bodies. Here are just the facts:

- The most important aspect of a camera is the glass. That is not up to dispute. Quality glass produces sharper images, with true colors, better contrast, and they also can resolve to higher pixel sensors.

- Cheap optics just can't resolve past certain MPs. So if you have a lens that can only resolve to 5MPs, adding more pixels to the camera is more harmful then helpful.

- The sensor size can effect the quality of low light performance. The bigger the actual size of the sensor, the more light hits it, the better *theoretically* it is at taking low light pictures from a focusing and shutter speed view.

- MPs have little to do with low light performance. On the same physical size sensor, less pixels should mean larger pixels and better low light performance, that is not always the case. Good quality pixels are more important and there are a lot of factors to it.

- Low Light performance - given the same physical sensor size - is mosly dependent on aperture. The wider the hole in the lens gets relative to is length, the more light it lets in, the better low light performance it has.

All that said, the GNex has a decent camera on it. The zero shutter lag is huge... But, it is still a cell phone camera. Yes the iPhone camera is slightly better, but most people would be able to tell. I wouldn't use any as a primary camera to shoot important events, but they are all great for candid shots and they are the camera you have with you always.

Photography is a lot about numbers and physics... But don't make it so to the point that you are not shooting.

hope this helps.

 

[speede541]

Photography is a lot about numbers and physics... But don't make it so to the point that you are not shooting.

hope this helps.

It does help; nice summary.

And also, photography is a lot about timing and a lot about getting "just that right shot" -- some might call it luck, others might call it taking a lot of photos (and then there are those who simply chalk it up to experience).

Thankfully this camera is a quick shooter, because that helps on both counts.

 

[speede541]

Overall I am very satisfied with the camera. Especially since I am coming from a droid X. One thing that bothers me though i this.

When you take a picture and the preview pops up and looks bright and vibrant...then, tap on the picture to take you into the gallery to view it. All of the sudden the picture loses about 25% of its vividness. Has anyone else noticed this. The picture preview looks great and then you view it in the gallery and it doesn't look as good.

Anyone know what causes this?

The preview screens often punch up the image for better visibility, and aren't resolving the full resolution of the sensor until the shutter release is pressed.

 

[jhrIII]

I went by yesterday to look at the Nexus and compare it to my Charge, (took several shots of the Nexus display card from about 4-5 feet away with each). Quick and slick, yes. But when I went to compare the camera's quality, (of which the Charge has the best I've seen on a camera phone), I came to realize that they are making it A BETTER CAMERA FOR A PHONE. I could tap it 10 times in 7 seconds and get 10 pics, (impressive), and it had much better low light capabilities, but detail was much fuzzier. I have tinkered with photography since a kid, (dad was a pro), and I know putting more pixels in the same area created more walls between the pixels thus allowing less light to enter each pixel.

My point is that until they can fit a bigger sensor and lens in a phone, a phone will never compete with a decent pocket camera. So if you want decent resolution AND low light capabilities, keep the pocket camera. I'm almost certain that Samsung found that MOST consumers want a camera phone to take better shots indoors or at night, and that MOST, (not all), consumers are not attempting to capture the hair on aunt Bertha's upper lip with it. Many of you are looking for the phone to completely replace your pocket camera with little or no drawbacks and it won't happen anytime soon.

 

[Lock-N-Load]

A 5mp camera in a flagship device at the end of 2011 is a joke no matter how you try to justify it. Hell, the RAZR has what, an 8 MP and can do all the Nexus can do - panoramic and fast shutter speedss (which was so touted by the Nexus). The average guy does not care about the mp mumbo jumbo tech speak you can throw out to explain a puny camera choice. It is about size and the Nexus is weak at best.

 

[syntrix]

A 5mp camera in a flagship device at the end of 2011 is a joke no matter how you try to justify it. Hell, the RAZR has what, an 8 MP and can do all the Nexus can do - panoramic and fast shutter speedss (which was so touted by the Nexus). The average guy does not care about the mp mumbo jumbo tech speak you can throw out to explain a puny camera choice. It is about size and the Nexus is weak at best.

It's about quality, not size.

You took the marketing war bait on megapixels where you perceive "more is better".

I would rather have the quality of the SGN over other phones. Even with those other phones, the first thing I did was set their 8MP down to 5MP.

SGN is the sharpest out of all phones at the end of 2011

Galaxy Nexus camera: better than you may have heard (gallery) | ZDNet

 

[Dex]

In the world of duckfaces and mirror photos, I'm not sure this matters. If your pic is larger than 1200x720, then it is picture you should be taking with a serious camera. There is a reason I still have a point and shoot....

 

[Deleted User]

Overall I am very satisfied with the camera. Especially since I am coming from a droid X. One thing that bothers me though i this.

When you take a picture and the preview pops up and looks bright and vibrant...then, tap on the picture to take you into the gallery to view it. All of the sudden the picture loses about 25% of its vividness. Has anyone else noticed this. The picture preview looks great and then you view it in the gallery and it doesn't look as good.

Anyone know what causes this?

I am seeing the same thing...:-(

 

[beeps]

When you take a picture and the preview pops up and looks bright and vibrant...then, tap on the picture to take you into the gallery to view it. All of the sudden the picture loses about 25% of its vividness. Has anyone else noticed this. The picture preview looks great and then you view it in the gallery and it doesn't look as good.

Anyone know what causes this?

This was bothering me as well. They looked great in preview and then all washed out in the gallery.

What's happening is the screen is going to full brightness temporarily when previewing the image and then reverts back to the dimmer setting when you view it in the gallery. Watch the navigation buttons, they will get brighter and dimmer too. If you ramp your screen up to full bright, you won't notice this happening.

 

[eddie33081]

Moved Post.

 

[Slug]

It seems that this thread is mis-titled as this has to do with a debate over megapixels and camera IQ instead of the Galaxy Nexus in general.

I titled it quite carefully. It is a discussion thread for the Galaxy Nexus camera, spun off from the "First Impressions" topic.

 

[eddie33081]

I titled it quite carefully. It is a discussion thread for the Galaxy Nexus camera, spun off from the "First Impressions" topic.

My post was moved to another thread. I was referring to his beginning post which is a 5MP camera being inferior to one with 8MP. That thread was titled as a Galaxy Nexus Camera Thread.

Now my post is moved here and is not relevant.

 

[zerocool79346]

I am seeing the same thing...:-(

I think that it is likely a software problem within the gallery. If you would, would you download another gallery app from the market and see what happens? I could be wrong but I bet not, someone posted that the Nexus S had the same issues.

 

[irishjoeyo]

Not to call you out but you really don't have even an elementary understanding of digital camera technology. You should really do some research instead of clinging to these half baked tidbits of understanding you have and using it to argue.

Even an elementary understanding? I like how all you do is criticize without contributing anything whatsoever to the conversation.

Even in the point and shoot world, there are good cameras with XMP resolution, and there are bad cameras with the same resolution. Just because you didn't like the comparison didn't mean it wasn't still valid.

Resolution isn't everything when the data collected by all those extra pixels might be garbage. And I see you entirely ignored the comment about the iPhone4's 5MP camera.

I never claimed that resolution was "everything". If you want to be considered legitimate in a discussion, then don't make such unsubstantiated inferences. And yes, I ignored the iPhone4s's 5MP camera comment. One person's statement that it was "one of the best" is completely meaningless.

You sir could not be any more wrong. Megapixels do mean something, but to be honest, anything over 5MP is overkill. In fact, the more megapixels you put on the same size image sensor, the worse the quality gets. You start picking up more noise. Megapixels are a marketing gimik and nothing more. Any money spent by a developer/manufacturer to put anything larger than a 5MP sensor in a phone is simply money wasted. That money should be spent on enhancing the optics that are in the camera. A 5MP camera can EASILY produce a QUALITY 24" x 24" print. Now tell me, do you actually plan on taking a picture with your phone and blowing it up to art gallery sized proportions? No. I'd be willing to bet that 95% of the pictures taken with phones never see anything beyond a 1024x1024 resolution image uploaded to Facebook...if that much. That is 1MP. To be honest, anything over 2MP in a phone is overkill, but 5MP is pretty standard for point and shoot now, so that's why they're 5MP. Anything beyond that is simply money wasted.

The very fact that you agree that "megapixels do mean something" completely contradicts your statement immediately preceding it that states that I "could not be any more wrong".

I understand that megapixels are not everything, and I have stated that from the beginning. But it seems that several people here on this forum are so irrationally and emotionally attached to their precious little devices that they overlook that significant little fact. My main point is that I've seen others in this forum state things like, "megapixels mean nothing". That is a factually incorrect statement. I'll say this again, and I hope that it's more clear this time, although I'm not sure it will be since people seem to be blinded by their puppy love for an electronic device and ignoring my actual statements.

Megapixels do mean something and they are significant. Are the everything? No. Let me repeat that so people don't continue misinterpreting my statements: NO. Of course the lens and other factors contribute to the quality of the image. I also understand that not all 5MP cameras are made equal, not all 8MP are made equal, etc. But I can say that, with consistency, of the hundreds of cameras I've used and have seen the images generated from and viewed them all on the same monitor and computer, there is a very strong correlation between megapixels and picture quality. That is not to say that that is always the case (so don't misinterpret that, although I'm sure some people will), but there is definitely a strong correlation from my experience. I also understand that correlation is not causation, so don't jump down my throat on that, either.

One last thing that several of you have obviously ignored: the post that I made about choosing a phone. I explicitly stated that I was not out to change anyone's preferences and that if you like the phone, then that is great. I meant that and I still mean it sincerely. At the end of the day, everything comes down to personal preference and that is really all that matters. I am not and, contrary to what others have incorrectly stated, have not "bashed" the GNex. Pointing out this spec or that spec that I may not be satisfied with is not "bashing". Saying that the phone "sucks" or that it's "junk" or anything along those lines is "bashing". But I didn't say any of those things or anything like them; I simply pointed out one reason why I wasn't interested in buying it. So before you decide to quote or reply to my comments, take a deep breath and emotionally detach yourself.

Nope, not remotely. Unless by "better" you mean "viewable larger". All the image resolution dictates is the size of that image at a given dpi. Of far more importance is how well a sensor resolves the detail it receives through the lens, and that's not dependent on number of photo sites (the 'pixels' on a digital sensor) but more on the quality of the sensor. In fact, too many sites packed closely together can actually be detrimental to IQ as you start to run into diffraction and other issues such as chromatic aberration (fringing).

Thank you for responding without emotion and with civility. I appreciate that.

 

[ttaylor0024]

Went hunting today with the GNex for the first time, so I had some time to take a few shots. Honestly, I don't know what you guys are complaining about when it comes to camera quality. Sure, its not perfect, but it doesn't need to be, it's a phone. Anyway, here are a few shots I took with it, i'll let you be the judge.

Picture 1: A lever connecting a chain for my tree stand around the tree. No zoom, focused on the middle.

Picture 2: The same thing, except I zoomed in 100%.

^not the greatest, no, but this was 100% zoom about 5" away from the lever.

Picture 3: Kansas Sky

Picture 4: Panoramic image of my entire field of view from the tree stand. Not the greatest, but thats what happens when the wind is blowing. Still pretty cool though.

Picture 5: Zoomed in picture of a cedar tree.

Picture 6: My look down as I sit in the stand. I think it automatically focuses in the middle, which would be why its kind of blurry on the edges.

Picture 7: Picture of a branch. I focused on the right side of the picture, which is why its clearer than the rest.

Picture 8: My look north as I sit in the stand.

Picture 9: VERY close up shot of a branch. Focused near the top of the picture.

Picture 10: I set the phone down on my camo pants, and took a picture with the camera auto-focus straight. As you can see, I think it tries to focus on the middle first and fore-most unless you manually focus it.

Picture 11: This I took when walking out. One thing I noticed is that when you focus at night, the flash doesn't come on, thus leading to this blurry picture. When I took this, I could hear the camera trying to focus as the flash went on, but the zero shutter lag caught it too soon.

All in all, I think this camera is great. It's 10000000x better than the camera of the OG Droid. Again, I will let you be the judge here, but remember; this is a phone, not a $1000+ DSLR Camera.

 

[fam]

my shots from today...overall impressed by the nexus..i bought the 4s for the wife and I think it does a little better job....but not by much...if the nex was 8mp I think it would be close to identical