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S3 camera low-light and video-audio quality

B

BrendenMack

Lurker
I've seen a professional review saying the video quality of the S3 is lower than the Galaxy Note! Unfortunately they did not elaborate. Anyone have some experience comparing them?

And there are several posts saying the audio when recording video is very poor.

Finally, can anyone comment on the low-light (without flash) capability of the S3? I'm specifically interested in taking indoor (artificial light) photos - hopefully with not too much grain showing or blurring.

Brenden
 
indoor photos are too grainy and i can see every single pixel if i zoom it little bit (not all). but yesterday i tried an outdoor picture..woh its superb.
 
Low Light characteristics are poor. Without flash, there is much noise. The flash is the cold light (close to outdoor color temperature). The camera does not seem to take into account the cold light. Indoor pictures are too blue, especially at short distances (where the flash is strong). I've compared HTC One S. It is much better both with and without flash. In good light the camera is fantastic!
 
I can see the grains even if I take the picture in really good light. I am not happy with the camera. Yeah, from a phone camera perspective the day light pictures are good. However they don't come close to a picture taken by a good quality camera. Photos taken in HDR mode are distinctly better. It requires you to hold the camera very steady.

I am yet to test the video. It seems good on the phone. Must watch it on HD TV to pass a judgement. BTW, you will need an expensive "**special**" USB to HDMI cable. The normal cables (reasonably priced) work on all other devices including S2, but they don't work on S3. Call it Samsung business suck-the-customer strategy.

The audio quality in general is not great. It's ok. You won't sweat.
But you'll sweat big time on the music player volume and the Kies software. They suck to the core. If you plan to use this phone as a music player as well, then think before you buy this expensive thingy.
 
rafian said:
If you plan to use this phone as a music player as well, then think before you buy this expensive thingy.
Click to expand...

I have to take objection to your summary of the S3's audio capabilities.

More than likely supercurio will eventually bring his Voodoo project to the S3 which will make optimal use of the device's high end Wolfson audio.

But regardless of whether this comes about, the S3 is capable of USB Audio. Yes, you can connect a high end external DAC to the phone, and power high end headphones, with zero loss of quality coming out of the phone.

Rather than 'sucking', the S3 has probably the most awesome audio potential of any mobile device on the market.

EDIT: I'm talking about the International S3 variant. I'm not sure which audio chip the other phones use. But the USB audio should be available to all variants.
 
At this point in time I am perplexed. I "rented" the S3 on Sprint and after days of photos in well lit, dim lit, outdoors, indoors, etc....I easily felt it took better pictures than my 4S. I was just blown away!!!

Then I got my Verizon version....

Not sure what the difference could be, but it is evident. My indoor pictures in low to medium light are full of noise, grainy....to the point where I looked to see if I was holding my old Galaxy Nexus. Outdoor pictures were better, but nowhere near those taken with the Sprint version. I have heard there are multiple versions of the camera sensor. Not sure if that is coming into play here or not. Either way....very disappointed :(
 
i saw it mentioned, but not officially, Samsung substituted the sensor due to demand.

I've had a S2 and Note (ATT), I paid full price hoping for a better camera. Even just a slight improvement. I am happy with the lack of shudder lag, but the camera isnt great. I see very little improvement from the Note. I think even the SGS2 was better in some environments. Being wider POV, I've seen more edge distortion in my S3 pics. Yes, its still a good camera and I'm nitpicking here... but I expected alot of improvement based on pre-release information. I just dont think we got the Sony sensor that iFixit found. but I cant prove that.

Also, it hunts alot and doesnt seem to acquire focus as well, as sure sign that its low light capability is weaker.

I've not used the video yet enough to compare yet.
 
i just did a side by side, the Note focuses faster indoors. I didnt compare the pics themselves, only the preview, but the note looked grainer on the screen. Could be because of the larger screen.
 
Davoid,
I would like to leverage on the USB audio feature. Basically I use my S3 as a music player (like iPod) as well. How do I go about having a portable external DAC? Does that mean I need to carry one more gadget with a DAC and its own battery?
 
rafian said:
Davoid,
I would like to leverage on the USB audio feature. Basically I use my S3 as a music player (like iPod) as well. How do I go about having a portable external DAC? Does that mean I need to carry one more gadget with a DAC and its own battery?
Click to expand...

Yes, you would carry another gadget - but one that could drive high end headphones that need more power. Check out this blog post for more info:

AndroidNZ: Galaxy S III: USB audio, is it really working?

It says that at the moment some external DACs aren't working with the S3 but others are. I would research around before pulling the trigger on a particular DAC/amp in terms of compatibility.

DEFINITELY read the comments below the blog, as users have confirmed successes and failures with different DACs.

Interestingly, developer Supercurio has apparently hinted that after he is through working on his driver project for the S3's Wolfson audio chip, the output straight from the S3 could be better than that from an external Fiio E17 DAC/amp.

:)
 
I'm truly puzzled by the notion that the camera is sub-par. I've got the VZW 16gig version and find the picture quality to be great.

I had the opportunity to snap some pics in various lighting conditions yesterday, and am extremely pleased. I was able to catch a butterfly in motion (good light, no flash), a puffer fish swimming in a large tank (dark aquarium lighting w/wo flash), and my daughter (outdoors no flash/aquarium w/flash). The pics are all very crisp and clear.
 
I used to have a Sony Ericsson Satio and a Nokia N8, both with 12 megapixel cameras and the camera is not quite as good as them but I think it is great in low light situations. I took a video of a mate singing karaoke in a dark pub lit by only artificial disco type lights and it was great quality, which is more than I can say for his singing.
 
I feel like my gfs AT&T S3 takes better quality pictures than my Verizon s3. I can't be the only one that feels this way, amirite?
 
My Sprint version does great. It actually does great even on zoom, when most digital zooms leave a photo a big blurry, grainy mess.

I have also heard about the different camera sensors, and I've seen most photo quality complaints from Verizon versions, if that helps.
 
I'm not a pro photographer so the pics from my phone look good to me I have no complaints but the audio on the video recordings suck big time everything sound thin and tinny! nothing but highs! that's a major disappointment. I had a Evo Lte before my S3 and i was surprised how much better the EVO's video recording audio was. I videoed me driving playing the same song with both phones and the Evo all the bass of the song where as the S3 sounded like it was in a tin can....Not happy with that at all.

Here is the vid from the Evo Lte (never uploaded the one from the S3 sound was just to bad)
http://youtu.be/uYEADj5lGmA
 
As posted in another thread, I notice the stock camera app has the issues, but pics taken with FXCamera look fine. Have not tried any others.
 
ajbrickyard said:
I'm not a pro photographer so the pics from my phone look good to me I have no complaints but the audio on the video recordings suck big time everything sound thin and tinny! nothing but highs! that's a major disappointment. I had a Evo Lte before my S3 and i was surprised how much better the EVO's video recording audio was. I videoed me driving playing the same song with both phones and the Evo all the bass of the song where as the S3 sounded like it was in a tin can....Not happy with that at all.

Here is the vid from the Evo Lte (never uploaded the one from the S3 sound was just to bad)
EVO LTE(video sample) Driving to work - YouTube
Click to expand...

Here's a video comparing music files played on the external speakers of the SG3 and on the HTC One X. In this test the SG3 wins. It is a audio capable device. Hopefully the recording audio can get worked out soon.


HTC One X Beats vs Galaxy S3 Loudspeaker Audio Comparison - YouTube
 
My girl just bought the HTC EVO 4G LTE and she claims the volume is to low for her. Now One X and EVO LTE is pretty much the same phone. I can honestly say after going to Sprint and doing a comparison between the S3 and EVOLTE the Samsung S3 is much louder.
 
Bnice said:
My girl just bought the HTC EVO 4G LTE and she claims the volume is to low for her. Now One X and EVO LTE is pretty much the same phone. I can honestly say after going to Sprint and doing a comparison between the S3 and EVOLTE the Samsung S3 is much louder.
Click to expand...

My cousin has the one X and I have the s3. I have beats audio installed on mine and on a side by side mine sounded better
 
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