How is the camera?

[rcyphermd]

How is the camera? The reviews on the maxx camera are mediocre. I haven't seen a review for the mini camera.

 

[rabidhunter]

I will let you know when I get mine. What I can tell you is that the same camera is in the four new Motorola phones. I think the people giving the bad reviews of the Ultra are just too picky.

I think that this might be helpful for you (in this video they use the Ultra, but remember the camera remains the same).

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Also, keep in mind that photography is 10% the camera, 30% lighting, 30% having the right distance and focus, 20% placing your subject in the proper frame, 10% personal preference.

Compared to today's cameras, people would say that Ansel Adams' camera was crap. Yet he was a master photographer and his photographs are still legendary. A good photographer can get a great shot regardless of the camera. To me having quick access to the camera is the most important.

 

[Marino1985]

The Mini, Maxx and Ultra all share the EXACT same camera. So the review on the DROID Maxx camera is the same as the ULTRA and MINI.

With that said....I have the Mini, I previously owned the Maxx HD. My new Mini takes nice outdoor shots, indoor shots definitely are better than previous iterations of Motorola. Without flash it will take OK indoor low-light photos but nothing crazy. Overall it is very easy to use, takes pictures super fast, and in everyday situations will take nice pictures. Will it take better pictures then a S4...well features aside, the Mini takes similar if not better photos in certain situations. But If you are looking options in the camera settings then you need to looks else where, Motorola's new camera interface/settings is as simple as it gets.

JG

 

[BoulderAndroidFan]

Many advance reviews and tech columnists have pointed to the cameras on the Moto X, Ultra, Maxx and Mini as a shortcoming to otherwise great phone performance and I have to agree after using my mini for two weeks. I wanted to give it the benefit of doubt, but my own experience with the camera has been very inconsistent. The auto exposure gets thrown off by any highlight in the frame, causing most images to be underexposed. The lens is also very sensitive to any debris or smudges. (Which an Internet reviewer wrote about too) I'm constantly wiping the lens to be perfectly clean, otherwise images turn out very soft. I never had these issues with the camera on my old HTC Incredible 2, which even though was only 8mp (to the Mini's 10mp), photos were much more consistent and good. I hope an update can fix some of these issues. In the meantime, I am getting very good at fixing images with the Photoshop-like adjustments offered in the stock gallery app. Photo capture is a big part of smartphone experiences now and Motorola needs to shed their stigma of having subpar cameras to compete with the iPhones and HTC phones.

 

[BoulderAndroidFan]

Hopefully this is good news for Droid Mini and owners of the Droid lineup from Verizon. A OTA update is rolling out for T-mobile Moto X users to address the camera shortcomings. Since the Droid family shares the same camera/software/processor as the Moto X, I think this will eventually get to us, barring any issues from Verizon:

AnandTech | Moto X Update Dramatically Improves Camera Quality

Critics say it should've been addressed before launch--but at least they knew it was an issue and Motorola is fairly quick to send out a fix.

 

[BoulderAndroidFan]

The recent ota update improves camera photo quality and responsiveness, especially the shake to launch feature. The sensor still tends to expose for highlights, causing underexposed back lighted or areas that have a mix of shadow and highlights.

 

[rabidhunter]

The camera has improved greatly. And in recent Google trend, the camera is now seperate from the core OS. This means that updates to the camera can be done via the Play Store!

 

[BoulderAndroidFan]

Overall--the improvements are greatly appreciated. For some situations, the photos are quite good. Very happy with this phone and the efforts of Motorola and Google to keep improving. Looking forward to Android 4.4 now...

 

[rabidhunter]

Overall--the improvements are greatly appreciated. For some situations, the photos are quite good. Very happy with this phone and the efforts of Motorola and Google to keep improving. Looking forward to Android 4.4 now...

Exactly, more camera update fixes are in store for 4.4 update. Soon, my precious DROID...