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GT-i9505g - Quite possibly the worst modern smartphone camera

Medion

Medion

Android Expert
My last four phones have been;
  • Nokia E71 (OEM unlocked)
  • HTC Droid Incredible (Verizon, and I was a ROM developer)
  • Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-i9100 (OEM unlocked)
  • Samsung Galaxy S4 GPe GT-i9505G (OEM unlocked)

So, I've had a nice range of smartphone cameras. For video, the S4 GPe beats all of the previous phones. For still images with no motion, the S4 again wins. But if there is so much as a breeze, everything blurs horribly. I took a photo of my son eating his birthday cake, and his hand was a flesh-colored blur-ish blob.

Normally, I'd chalk it up to shaky hands. But, my Incredible, and especially my S2 took noticeably clearer photos when motion was involved. Ultimately, given how well photos look on a Touchwiz S4, I'd chalk this up to Google's camera software. Seems perhaps the Nexus 4's camera deficiencies may be more software than hardware.

If I were the type to really care about the camera on my phone, I would have avoided this device. As it is, I'm hoping that the stock camera included in Kitkat offers some serious improvements. Stock Android has come a long way, but Google's camera software is still among the worst out there.
 
Sorry to hear that. Have any recommendedations for a comparable phone that has a decent to good camera, is unlocked, allows root and has a similar price point?

The reports on the camera is one of the things that keeps me dithering about on the Google S4.
 
You can buy almost any phone unlocked these days. You're not limited to what Google sells. If you meant stock Android, the best compromise may be the unlocked Moto X, which has an above average to good camera, with a stock-like feel.

Find a phone that you like from playing in carrier stores, and then find out if it has an unlocked/developer edition.
 
Most phone cameras are a bit rubbish at capturing action shots even when using the action modes, especially when the lighting is anything less than perfect.

There are a few exceptions to that but they come with compromises.

But yes, the stock camera app is horrible. It's far to basic and the interface is terrible. Depending when you put your finger the icons can even appear off the screen, it's scary that it's made by Google. :hmmmm2:
 
Petrah said:
I used the Party Mode in the second shot. Most aquarists without a decent camera know how difficult it is to get a good shot of your display tank without the fish being a blur.

Without Party Mode:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7065872/forum/IMG_20131126_182125.jpg

With Party Mode:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7065872/forum/IMG_20131126_182248.jpg

Considering it's a phone camera, that's not too bad I think!
Click to expand...

Wow, that's a huge difference. :D

Will definitely be giving party mode a try.
 
Shocky said:
Most phone cameras are a bit rubbish at capturing action shots even when using the action modes, especially when the lighting is anything less than perfect.

There are a few exceptions to that but they come with compromises.

But yes, the stock camera app is horrible. It's far to basic and the interface is terrible. Depending when you put your finger the icons can even appear off the screen, it's scary that it's made by Google. :hmmmm2:
Click to expand...

My Touchwiz S2 takes better shots than my GPE S4 due to the digital image stabilization. It's a huge deal and Google should have incorporated it.
 
I've only put the camera through marginal paces with the 4.2.2 update. Shutter seems quicker when flash isn't used, so it's much improved in that regard. However, the shutter still lags when the flash is used and may actually be worse than before in this regard. I cannot take a low-light photo with serious blur. Disabling the flash adds to graininess, as always.
 
I was comparing shots taken by my former Galaxy S2 to my S4 GPe, and it's becoming blatantly clear to me what's going on here. Keep in mind that I'm not a photography nerd, but my wife is a professional photographer. Still, when she tries to explain these things to me, I kind of gloss over, my eyes roll to the back of my head, etc.

So this probably is not a 100% accurate explanation, but I'll still give it my best shot. When taking a picture, the camera has to find a balance between ISO (light sensitivity?) and exposure time (how long the aperture is open to take the shot?).

With ISO, the lower the number, the darker the image will be. If you have an app that allows for manual ISO settings, you wouldn't want ISO 100 inside of a dark room. The exposure time is typically listed in fractions of a second (1/15, 1/100, etc.). The higher the denominator (2nd number), the faster the shot. It comes down to the simple fact that faster shots have less blur. Outdoor shots will typically offer you more light, and therefore, shorter exposure times, which means less blur.

Using the camera's auto settings (you don't have much option here with the stock camera), means that the camera will try to balance ISO and exposure time to give the best possible image. Comparing my S2 to my S4 GPe, the S4 tries REALLY hard to favor image quality. On my shots with 4.2/4.3. installed, pretty much all of my shots indoors were taken with an exposure of 1/15. Since 4.4.1, 1/17 seems to be the slowest taken. That will still blur like mad. I apparently haven't taken any real outdoor shots with this camera, whereas I used to with my S2. That's why I'm noticing such a difference.

Still, I did have a lot of indoor shots with the S2, so I can compare that. Again, with the S4, EVERY shot had either 1/15 exposure (Android 4.2-4.4), or 1/17 (4.4.1+). With the S2, I'm seeing a few 1/13 and 1/17. I did take numerous shots, so there was a 1/23 in a dark-ish room, a 1/33 inside Target, and a 1/50 in a well-lit area.

I'm going to try to take more outdoor shots with my S4. Even this might not be a fair comparison because my outdoor shots with the S2 were in Louisiana in the summer (what's a cloud?), while I now living near Seattle (what's the sun?). So for now, everything that I've said is moot. I will simply close with; this camera sucks horribly for indoor shots.
 
I am the, "cuckoo in the nest", inasmuch as I am running the latest Google Edition, KitKat, firmware, ported to the Galaxy S4, GT-i9505, phone.

First and foremost, I must say how happy I am with the GT-i9505G firmware, overall. Without all the Samsung bloatware it zips along and is extremely battery friendly. However, I must agree, wholeheartedly with Medion, when he states in post #1, "Quite possibly the worst modern smartphone camera". Having owned a few Nexus devices, from the Nexus One onwards, I do not blame Google Android for this shortcoming as, after all, the firmware is merely a basic template for individual manufacturers to adapt to their devices and cameras.

In an effort to rectify the shortcomings offered by the stock Google Edition camera, I have installed, free from the Play Store, A Better Camera. This app addresses most of the problems that I have encountered and is, IMHO, the closest to the Samsung camera on International devices...

"All-purpose, full featured camera for Android:
* HDR: vivid colors and rich detail, photos looking like taken with a DSLR and processed with Pro software
* Panorama: up to 360 degrees, up to 100 MPix
* Unwanted objects removal: remove objects from the photo with a tap
* Night mode: capture sharp and noise-free photos in any illumination
* Group portrait: make everyone smile, fuse faces from series of photos into one
* Video recording + time lapse
* Pre-shot: capture what happened before you tap the button
* Sequence shot: capture the evolution of the dynamic scene
* Burst and expo-bracketing: Pro functions in your mobile camera
* Self-timer
* Zoom
+ full access to all Camera controls, settings and functions"

It also has a very handy quick settings widget, A Better Camera Widget, to allow easy access via your home screen.

I would recommend anyone who is dissatisfied with the stock camera, to give this a go.

Download, free from the Play Store, A Better Camera

Download, free from the Play Store, A Better Camera Widget


(As a side note... because I am rooted, I have installed the Xposed framework, which runs on all S4, Qualcomm, models and am using the Pictures2SD module that allows me to automatically save photos/videos to my removable SD card.)
 
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