Help camera takes terrible pics......

[fam]

The nexus excels at macro and close ups...and does incredibly well in areas of darkness...but aside from skylines...outdoors its not the greatest thing ever made...but ive taken a lot of blurry crap shots to get to where i am today if it helps

 

[finn5975]

Edit

 

[finn5975]

Please be the judge. I took these pics at random times and in each one, utilized the settings, held a steady hand, tapped to focus, made sure focus executed, and captured the shot. In my opinion there is not a good one in the bunch. Any suggestions? I am very open to constructive criticism and suggestion. I just dont know what else to do. Im not just whipping out my phone and snapping pics without due process before hand. THIS is what I get

 

[Depth Afield]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Really looks like you have goop on your lens. Also, fluorecent lights naturally suck donkey balls for lighting.

The only thing that really bothers me about this camera is the shutter speed. It is supposed to be really fast, but as far as I can tell, this phone sucks at taking photos of subjects that are moving. The Droid X definitely seemed better in this regard. I haven't noticed any difference between auto and action when it comes to reducing blur on a moving subject.

Shutter speed is dependent on available light. Less light, the longer the shutter needs to remain open in order to expose to neutral grey. Higher ISO, quicker exposure, more grain.

Honestly, I am going to have to fall back on the user-error explanation.

 

[Ken7]

If you notice, all of Fam's shots are either outdoors or with outdoor lighting streaming into a room. I get very nice shots under the same conditions.

But, reduce the lighting, shut off streaming lighting from the outside, and that's where the issues begin. I find it almost impossible to take a good indoor shot. You can do a bit better with the flash, but they're still not great.

I would also like a 16:9 option and it surprises me the Nexus doesn't have it. Either way, it's certainly not a deal-breaker, but it would have been nice to have a camera like that on the IPhone.

 

[Ken7]

I also use this quite often (Camera Zoom FX):

https://market.android.com/details?...?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsInNsaWRlLmNhbWVyYVpvb20iXQ..

Very good camera app. I prefer it over the stock app. I also like (Paper Camera):

https://market.android.com/details?...51bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5kYW1hLnBhcGVyY2FtZXJhIl0.

The first one is a full feature camera app, to replace (une instead of) the stock app. Many many bells/whistles on it, too. There are also tons of free add-ons for it apparently (although I haven't downloaded any of them yet.) The second is simply a lot of fun - add effects such as charcoal, watercolor, etc. I always said I could do that in PS, but never did. I use this one more often than I thought, actually (as does my wife.)

I don't see a 16:9 option in that app. I'd like to get an app that allows that.

 

[XFistsClenched]

I'm disappointed because I have had better results with my Droid X

 

[Needsdecaf]

***This was in response to the pic of the Ferrari in the garage...

Was your camera lens dirty and possibly smudged with finger prints etc? Looks like it.
Also did you use auto focus?

Not trying to insult or troll, that's just what my camera pics look like with a dirty lens.

No, it was not dirty. I used auto focus and manual. No zoom. I also tried adjusting the exposure a bit but that was the best.

 

[dgold82]

Oh man. I hate to say it but I have to agree that the camera is terrible for indoor shots with people in them. I had a family party today and took a few of the kids and noticed immediately that it just wasn't going to work out. I love the Gnex and really really wanted the camera to be at least OK for on the fly shots when I don't have my regular camera ready in hand but sadly it's not in the scenario described above.

Not a deal breaker but very disappointed. Outdoor shots, close ups, and non-moving objects indoors are fine.

The other jab in the back for me was that my sister in law pulled out her Iphone4 (not 4S) and her indoor shots just blew my shots away (in terms of focus). She felt comfortable enough to actually keep using throughout the party. Oh well.

 

[fam]

Stock Camera App







HDR Camera app

 

[syntrix]

I am not sure what to think of it all. There are a lot of examples of excellent pictures taken by the Nexus, albeit most seem to be either macro shots or shots where the lighting is excellent. Nonetheless, they look great. But on the flipside, there are just as many examples of bad pics and complaints.

Many seem to put the blame on user error for the bad pics but lets be honest. It isn't like this camera has 100 settings that you can adjust and tweak to get an unmistakably better shot. Its pretty simple really. You hold a steady hand, use the correct white balance and exposure, tap to focus, and shoot. Something tells me there are people capable of, and doing this, while still getting poor pics. Not too poor to post on facebook or share with a friend, but poor compared to other phone cameras (ie. rezound, 4, 4s, SII).

First rule of photography, educate the photog.

You just perfectly said that this camera rocks!

 

[syntrix]

Oh man. I hate to say it but I have to agree that the camera is terrible for indoor shots with people in them. I had a family party today and took a few of the kids and noticed immediately that it just wasn't going to work out.

Should have turned the flash to ON all the time, I got about 100 excellent pics today of the kids!

 

[dgold82]

Should have turned the flash to ON all the time, I got about 100 excellent pics today of the kids!

Good point. Some of the semi decent ones were with the flash but with all the moving kids and people most just came out too blurry. It's like the camera didn't snap the pictures fast enough to keep focus. Sounds weird saying that since it has zero shutter lag. I didn't see the iPhone flash once and the people pictures killed mine.

I did take some pretty awesome outdoor pics and closeups of our food so it wasn't all bad.

I'll try again with force flash next time. Thanks.

 

[finn5975]

First rule of photography, educate the photog.

You just perfectly said that this camera rocks!

Syntrix, i'll be the appreciative student if you care to educate me on the the art of photog

You can see in the pics I posted above the quality I get. I gave the phone to my two friends who photograph for a living. Same results. I'm out of answers.

Fam's pics look great.

 

[Needsdecaf]

I am kind of getting tired of hearing, its not the camera its the photographer. I was playing with the camera settings a lot last night, indoor people shots, mid level lighting. My dad's iPhone 4 took far better shots no matter what I did, WITHOUT any adjustments.

So if you have some practical tips to make this POS work better, great. Otherwise, its getting old.

 

[finn5975]

I am kind of getting tired of hearing, its not the camera its the photographer. I was playing with the camera settings a lot last night, indoor people shots, mid level lighting. My dad's iPhone 4 took far better shots no matter what I did, WITHOUT any adjustments.

So if you have some practical tips to make this POS work better, great. Otherwise, its getting old.

I'm sure glad someone else said it. I made the point to carefully lay out exactly what I did before each picture I took. I made it clear that I focused, refocused, utilized the settings, etc.

I am so open to suggestion that it isn't even funny. And I am fine with everyone who says they get great pics so it must be something I am doing. But I would love to see examples of great pics outside of well lit outdoor settings and macro shots. We have established that those turn out fine.

 

[gapi]

Just for the sake of sick humor, the title should be changed to "People Take Terrible Pics.

 

[fam]

my shots stick to the strong points of the camera...inside party shots are going to look bad unless you use flash....and with flash the best youre going to get is average...indoors its below average to average..this phone gets more attention because there are no other ics phones..if its a deal breaker buy a crapple or wait for htc to release a true ics phone....if you want me to upload bad indoor shots i can if it makes you feel like youre not the only one

 

[finn5975]

my shots stick to the strong points of the camera...inside party shots are going to look bad unless you use flash....and with flash the best youre going to get is average...indoors its below average to average..this phone gets more attention because there are no other ics phones..if its a deal breaker buy a crapple or wait for htc to release a true ics phone....if you want me to upload bad indoor shots i can if it makes you feel like youre not the only one

Honestly, hearing you say that you get bad indoor shots is all i really needed to hear. I'm not trying to troll in any way. In reading posts where all thats stated is how great the camera is, and then the only pics you see are good ones, you are left to question whether you have a faulty camera. All I was truly seeking was whether my camera was on par with how it should be

 

[fam]

lol....ok...as a counterpoint....here are my indoor shots and regular real world shooting of shots I wouldnt normally post...these are the best shots of the time I keep...but arent great...can show you where the camera doesnt do a good job... (ive posted enough good ones I dont feel guilty posting these)

 

[finn5975]

Tell ya what Fam, those pics look great too! Well, you've more than proven that the camera can take excellent pictures. I'd be more than happy with any of the ones you posted.

 

[mntbighker]

I definitely see that unlike my previous Android phones, this one really sucks unless you use it correctly. It is much less idiot proof. And that seems to be all in software. It can take good pics but it will not tolerate just being aimed and shot. In that regard the iPhone is far superior. It CAN take good pics indoors and out if used correctly. And I thought it sucked initially too. The really lame part is, handing to a stranger to snap a pic is not likely to get you a good image. I hope Samsung, Google or a 3rd party step up and turn this into a more point and shoot device.

 

[Ken7]

Stock Camera App







HDR Camera app

Again, these are nice pix but all are outdoors or indoors with lots of outdoor light streaming in. The problem is not these conditions, but true indoor lighting conditions (no bright outdoor lighting coming in) where the results are in the toilet.

 

[Mr. Orange 645]

My problem seems to be after I vies the photo in the gallery. When I take a shot then view the preview in the camera app, it looks great! But as soon as I view the saved copy in the gallery, it has a soft cloudy look to and the colors look washed out. This is on stock 4.0.2 and various custom ROMs 4.0.3. There is something wrong with the way the software processes the shot when its saved.

That makes me think it is a software issue that can be fixed with an OTA. I remember the OG Droid had camera problems until a software update fixed them.

 

[fam]

You guys are too kind...i think a hardware shutter button would have kept the camera shake and blurry shots down...some shots get white hazey areas like u can see where my son is holding the stuffed rudolph...motion with no flash will always be blurry so use flash...red eye app sucks for me...as in doesnt work.