Help Shutter open too long?

[Cowabunga]

Is anyone else experiencing blurry pictures? Outdoors it's perfect, but indoors it seems to struggle. Not even low light scenarios, but well to decently lit restaurants, etc. I'm loving this phone (my first Android), but am missing the consisetent camera I got with my old 4S. I really don't want to go back to iOS at all, so I'm hoping this can be fixed in a software update. I'm assuming the shutter is just not opening and closing quick enough, and it's causing the blur.

Camera is the most important part of a phone to me. The fact that I can't take clear pictures of people without being absolutely still is crazy. My best pictures from my iPhone are pictures of my girlfriend and I that I asked strangers walking by to take for me. They're not going to be holding their breath taking absolutely still shots, and I'm going to be really upset if I view the pictures when I get the phone back and it's blurry. I've taken photos while walking with this phone that have come out clear, but am so sick of iOS!

 

[Szadzik]

That is how Auto works. Set it yourself and it will be different.

 

[Cowabunga]

You can set the shutter speed?

 

[lotus49]

A lot of people don't seem to appreciate how much brighter it is outside even on a dull day than in a "well lit" room.

Any camera will struggle indoors without a flash unless it has a very fast (and horribly expensive) lens, so check the settings in Auto mode and make sure that the flash is either on or automatic. That should sort the problem out but don't expect decent photographs indoors with a phone - you need a proper flash gun and a DSLR for that.

 

[lotus49]

You can set the shutter speed?

No, but the slow shutter speed is inevitable indoors if you aren't using the flash. As Szadzik says, that's how Auto mode works. You cannot change the aperture on a phone camera so lengthening the exposure is all the phone can do if it's dark.

 

[Cowabunga]

A lot of people don't seem to appreciate how much brighter it is outside even on a dull day than in a "well lit" room.

Any camera will struggle indoors without a flash unless it has a very fast (and horribly expensive) lens, so check the settings in Auto mode and make sure that the flash is either on or automatic. That should sort the problem out but don't expect decent photographs indoors with a phone - you need a proper flash gun and a DSLR for that.

My photos with both iPhone 4S and the GS4 are dark indoors without being well lit, however, I notice much more blur with the GS4 despite it not even being that dark in the room. Here are some examples from the other night.

ImageBam

ImageBam

 

[Cowabunga]

A lot of people don't seem to appreciate how much brighter it is outside even on a dull day than in a "well lit" room.

Any camera will struggle indoors without a flash unless it has a very fast (and horribly expensive) lens, so check the settings in Auto mode and make sure that the flash is either on or automatic. That should sort the problem out but don't expect decent photographs indoors with a phone - you need a proper flash gun and a DSLR for that.

I saw you mentioned in my battery question thread you have both S4 and iPhone 5. Do you notice any difference with the camera's performance in indoor situations (or even outdoors) as far as blur goes? Maybe it's in my head.

 

[lotus49]

It definitely looks like the camera didn't flash so try turning the flash on. It will definitely help.

I have never seen a decent photograph taken indoors with a camera that was all that good. The lenses are tiny compared to a real camera.

It is possible that the sensor on the iPhone has a higher ISO rating than the S4 but that will just result in more noise. The fact is that phone cameras are pretty poor no matter how many terapixels the manufacturers might boast.

When it gets dark tonight, I'll try comparing photos taken with my iPhone 5 and S4 and see how they measure up against each other.

 

[Cowabunga]

It definitely looks like the camera didn't flash so try turning the flash on. It will definitely help.

I have never seen a decent photograph taken indoors with a camera that was all that good. The lenses are tiny compared to a real camera.

It is possible that the sensor on the iPhone has a higher ISO rating than the S4 but that will just result in more noise. The fact is that phone cameras are pretty poor no matter how many terapixels the manufacturers might boast.

When it gets dark tonight, I'll try comparing photos taken with my iPhone 5 and S4 and see how they measure up against each other.

Awesome, thanks! I'm in the trial period on the S4, and I use my camera phone as my main camera when vacationing, so I ask to be sure I'm making the right choice in which phone to keep.

And you're correct, I didn't use flash in those pictures. It didn't dawn on me that the shutter will open/close quicker with the flash. Learned something new, thanks.

 

[Cowabunga]

This one was indoors but bright. I thought something like this I wouldn't need flash, but you can see my dog's head is pretty blurry (granted he was moving a bit). I should have tested this one out with iPhone as well. Would you recommend flash with this situation as well, judging by the amount of daylight? It might be the case.

ImageBam

 

[lotus49]

In any situation, there are three factors that come into play.

Firstly you have the aperture size. On a DSLR this will depend on which lens you use (and as I said above, fast lenses that allow a lot of light through are very expensive) and how you set the aperture. On a phone you have no choice about this as you cannot change either the lens or the aperture.

Secondly you have the shutter speed. A bigger aperture means a shorter shutter speed and vice versa but on a phone, this is all you can change without using the flash. It may look bright in a room to you but it's still pretty dark compared to outside. The sun is much brighter even on a dull day than most people realise.

Thirdly you have the amount of light. Using the flash means more light and therefore a shorter shutter speed to get the same amount of light onto the sensor.

You will usually need to use the flash indoors unless the subject is pretty much still and is very well lit.

 

[Cowabunga]

I'm learning something today, this is great. Thanks for the info, lotus!

 

[jj14x]

I saw you mentioned in my battery question thread you have both S4 and iPhone 5. Do you notice any difference with the camera's performance in indoor situations (or even outdoors) as far as blur goes? Maybe it's in my head.

Here's a review of the S4 vs iPhone 5 camera - with different lighting scenarios
Samsung's Galaxy S4 Camera Versus the Competition

They summarized it with "As for our newcomers, the Galaxy S4 takes solid, sharp photos in most conditions, and it was at least a contender for the top spot in several of the tests. Unfortunately it's terrible in low-light"