Z3C --> Z5C Upgrade (Camera Q's) - Xperia Z5 Compact Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi
I have a Z3C, wondering whether to upgrade to the Z5C. Specifically, are the following issues with Z3C camera better/solved:
1) Camera startup time from phone off to photo taken using shutter button to power up device. My Z3C can take 5secs plus
2) Camera crash issues - mainly when device is on stamina mode 'unfortunately the camera has stopped' fixed on Z5C?
3) Seriously noisy images even in good light on superior auto when viewing 100% crop is Z5C any better?
4) Do we still suffer from excessive post-processing of images on Z5C ?
Camera quality issues on Z3C would be my only real reasons for upgrading.
Nigel

Same here.

Flash a camera mod and ur camera will become much better,
I flashed camera mod v8 on my z1 and my camera is much better than z2, s4, s5
Samsung only better at low light because they have very strong flash
Thats all i have to compare it with, but you can guess, s5 camera is better than z3

Gamer4Life said:
Flash a camera mod and ur camera will become much better,
I flashed camera mod v8 on my z1 and my camera is much better than z2, s4, s5
Samsung only better at low light because they have very strong flash
Thats all i have to compare it with, but you can guess, s5 camera is better than z3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, Samsung better at low light because using F/1.9 instead of 2.0 that sony uses... LOL :good:
Sony have still not learnt.

cheetah2k said:
No, Samsung better at low light because using F/1.9 instead of 2.0 that sony uses... LOL :good:
Sony have still not learnt.
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Click to collapse
without flash, samsung photos come out very dark, but with xperia z1+ photos come out brighter than real life

cheetah2k said:
No, Samsung better at low light because using F/1.9 instead of 2.0 that sony uses... LOL :good:
Sony have still not learnt.
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Click to collapse
... A 0.1 aperture difference is marginal.

Gamer4Life said:
without flash, samsung photos come out very dark, but with xperia z1+ photos come out brighter than real life
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Click to collapse
I disagree.
I hardly use a flash with my S6 and Note 5 and the photos are simply brilliant...
I owned the Z1, Z2, Z3 and Z3C and they always suffered heavy pixilation.
The Z series cams are excellent in daylight though. I am keen to see how much Sony have improved with the Z5 series sensors

Its all the post processing that degrades the photo quality from sony camera phones. Amazes me that the competition often gets better results from the same sony-made sensors!
Sent from my SGP621 using Tapatalk

Related

Amazing Camera Quality!!!

Eventhough this video is in 720p but still the focus and the clarity is just amazingg... This time Sony came with something very innovative and creative...
I just love the cameraa... Hats off to Sony..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDhcXuOND58&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Absolutely agree mate, clarity is fantastic!
Sent from my LT26i using xda premium
Huge improvement over the X10. Loving my S!
Yes the camera in this phone is freaking amazing! The pictures it takes are looking very nice!
Korumera said:
Yes the camera in this phone is freaking amazing! The pictures it takes are looking very nice!
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Click to collapse
Yep indeed
Any tips how to get decent low light camera shoots. Every camera shoot I take it becomes blurry.
Turn image stabiliser on and in low light use one of the night modes. Only disadvantage is you can take steady pictures (nobody moves and you don't move camera). But people have to bear in mind, it is camera phone, not proper digital camera, where you have 10 other options to use, like shutter timing.
This video was taken in auto mode..
jamrock47 said:
Any tips how to get decent low light camera shoots. Every camera shoot I take it becomes blurry.
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Click to collapse
agree, that's why I chosen to bought XPS. xD
Camera is good no doubt but coming from xperia Arc , I expected more. Image quality is nearly identical to Arc and looses up against '8MP' Iphone 4S camera in terms of sharpness and colours from the pics I saw over the internet. I do not understand why are they not proving Xenon flash. It would have made camera even more useful. Somehow I feel Sony is not trying its best. Potential is there to make a perfect phone but Sony fails to deliver the killing punch. And this is coming from Sony lover
1235sam said:
Camera is good no doubt but coming from xperia Arc , I expected more. Image quality is nearly identical to Arc and looses up against '8MP' Iphone 4S camera in terms of sharpness and colours from the pics I saw over the internet. I do not understand why are they not proving Xenon flash. It would have made camera even more useful. Somehow I feel Sony is not trying its best. Potential is there to make a perfect phone but Sony fails to deliver the killing punch. And this is coming from Sony lover
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had a similar experience between the C902(5MP) to X10(8MP) where the resolution went up the actual picture quality is equal or lower.

Shootout: Sony Xperia Z1 vs Nokia Lumia 1020 vs LG G2 vs Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom

First very thorough camera shootout between the three phones and Camera Phone (Samsung Zoom)
http://connect.dpreview.com/post/44...1-vs-nokia1020-vs-lgg2-vs-samsunggalaxys4zoom
oneguyks said:
First very thorough camera shootout between the three phones and Camera Phone (Samsung Zoom)
http://connect.dpreview.com/post/44...1-vs-nokia1020-vs-lgg2-vs-samsunggalaxys4zoom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. I must be blind but in the first set of shots the g2 captures better details than the nokia. The nokia has better color reproduction, though.
Also the images are all at different distances...
Overall it looks like the zoom is the best picture taker. While the lg can come off as soft its still a capable shooter that could get better with software updates...
And that's where support comes in, my experience with LG support is sketchy at best... The camera has great potential but could really use some (software) tweaking. QUestion is if LG will live up to that task...
Hella tough to pick a winner from the review above btw, they all have something to say for them
They may very well be at a slight difference in distance from subject, compounded by the lens differences. Its never a simple matter to get a camera comparison to be equal in all respects. This isnt trying to compare 50mm prime lens on the same test body after all.
The results are as you might expect. The nokia sony and samsung devices are more dedicated to camera performance and those companies have more expertise in that arena.
If we are lucky there will be some improvement to the camera from LG or rom tweaks, but in any case the g2 camera takes fine pictures for a smartphone. This review is what I expected based on specs and track records of the companies.
They should have put S4 i9505 instead of zoom
Darkestred said:
Also the images are all at different distances......
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Images are not taken at different distances. Some phones have wider focal length lens so they will have wider field of view. Also, camera with more MP will look to be zoomed in more as obviously they have more mega pixels!
This has nothing to do with distances.
oneguyks said:
Images are not taken at different distances. Some phones have wider focal length lens so they will have wider field of view. Also, camera with more MP will look to be zoomed in more as obviously they have more mega pixels!
This has nothing to do with distances.
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Click to collapse
Upon further inspection that could be a big portion of the 2nd set of shots but if that is the case I would have thought the nokia would look completely different on their far shots but it nearly matches up with each phone.
I have Z1 and a S4 Zoom and. So disappointed in my Xperia z1, the S4 Zoom wins by a mile when it comes to camera quality and outcome of pictures even though Sony boasts the Xperia z1 has 20.7mp on it. Don't believe the hype. S4 Zoom IMO has the best camera for a smartphone.
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
B[]GDAWG said:
I have Z1 and a S4 Zoom and. So disappointed in my Xperia z1, the S4 Zoom wins by a mile when it comes to camera quality and outcome of pictures even though Sony boasts the Xperia z1 has 20.7mp on it. Don't believe the hype. S4 Zoom IMO has the best camera for a smartphone.
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's because the s4 zoom is really a camera with an Android OS. It's a horrendous smart phone. All the rest are fantastic smart phones with cameras having a decent consideration. The s4 zoom is actually kind of stupid, it gets smoked by a ton of phones and its camera gets smoked by tons of cheaper point and shoots with a ton more features at a lower price point.
Sent from my LG-G2 using Tapatalk 2
LG G2 better in many ways.:good:
Magadaga said:
LG G2 better in many ways.:good:
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Click to collapse
Yeah, well nope. Nokias have the best cameras IMHO. To be honest, I'm slightly disappointed in G2's camera. It's good and all, but it's been hyped a lot, so I expected something better. I don't complain though, these are smartphones after all.
Anyway, doesn't somebody know how could one play with the camera settings? Like tweaking and stuff, like xdabbeb's camera mod. I can't really figure out which files store the preferences and such.
oneguyks said:
First very thorough camera shootout between the three phones and Camera Phone (Samsung Zoom)
http://connect.dpreview.com/post/44...1-vs-nokia1020-vs-lgg2-vs-samsunggalaxys4zoom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What a crap are the pictures taken by cellphones, horrible. This give you an idea how Nokia sponsors DPREVIEW. The color reproduction of Nokia and Samsung are totally off, horrible. The best of 4 is Sony with it faster lenses and color reproduction similar to LG, better skin tones with Sony and LG by long compared to Samsung and Nokia, the Nokia colors are the worse. LG has a very heavy noise reduction because its really small sensor, the smallest of the 4.
The G2 night escene shoot was bad mettered.
Last word, is incredible that the people that did the image size test in DPREVIEW was so bad done. They should have resized the images to the smallest resolution for the comparison.
---------- Post added at 01:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:03 PM ----------
B[]GDAWG said:
S4 Zoom IMO has the best camera for a smartphone.
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Click to collapse
I'm not agree with you, has very bad colors, slower lens and don't expect any descent picture (I can not say quality because you can not get quality out of a smartphone) with a zoom of 24-240, you wont even find a professional lens with that focal length difference.

[Q][CAMERA] Xperia Z2 Camera

Hi Guys,
I recently switched from Xperia Z1 to Z2 and m really disappointed with the Camera performance. Ideally Z1 and Z2 camera should give me same result but somehow my Z2's pictures arn't cmng good.
I am talking about night/low light shots, even my Z1 is giving me better result than Z2 !!! Is my set faulty or everybody is facing this issue?
Second thing, when I am selection anything more than 8MP, in manual mode - the option of scene selection gets disabled? Why???
15.5 and 20.7 mp disable scenes and hdr. Wasn't the same in z1?
Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk
duk3r said:
15.5 and 20.7 mp disable scenes and hdr. Wasn't the same in z1?
Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agree, but how about Image Quality - my Z1 giving better results than Z2?
xperiax10.awesome said:
agree, but how about Image Quality - my Z1 giving better results than Z2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're the only one I think with this problem. Most agree that image quality is considerably improved from z1 especially lowlight. Not sure what else to stay.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app
zodiac100 said:
You're the only one I think with this problem. Most agree that image quality is considerably improved from z1 especially lowlight. Not sure what else to stay.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude - check this thread below and compare the pictures, m not JUST saying - I have both Z1 and Z2 to compare !!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2673226
xperiax10.awesome said:
Dude - check this thread below and compare the pictures, m not JUST saying - I have both Z1 and Z2 to compare !!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2673226
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too have both phones. The Z2 is a definite improvement in IQ compared to the Z1, low light shots are way better! you must have a duff device as MOST agree that the camera is definitely one area it excels over the Z1 for sure.
But camera module of z1 and 2 are still the same correct? If thats the case then I believe there are some massive update to the software. Hope it will come to Z1 eventually. I did notice the file size seems to be bigger than z2, so maybe shots are less compressed now.
Maybe you have a bad device? I'm sure there is some variance to these components.
se1000 said:
Maybe you have a bad device? I'm sure there is some variance to these components.
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Click to collapse
can I ask Sony to replace it? How will I justify???
xperiax10.awesome said:
Hi Guys,
I recently switched from Xperia Z1 to Z2 and m really disappointed with the Camera performance. Ideally Z1 and Z2 camera should give me same result but somehow my Z2's pictures arn't cmng good.
I am talking about night/low light shots, even my Z1 is giving me better result than Z2 !!! Is my set faulty or everybody is facing this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too switched from Z1 to Z2. IMO, image quality on the Z2 is much better than Z1 in night / low light / indoor shots. In daylight shots however the Z1 shots are sharper (maybe due to different processing), Z2 shots (daylight) tend to be softer especially towards the edges / distant objects, but have less noise than Z1. Overall, I think Z2 camera is better but needs some tweaking around for daylight shots.
BTW, I'm on second Z2 (first one had touchscreen issues) and both had similar camera results vs Z1 (which was also replaced thrice before).
xperiax10.awesome said:
can I ask Sony to replace it? How will I justify???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would all depend on how you bought the device and what your local return policies look like.
se1000 said:
That would all depend on how you bought the device and what your local return policies look like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will chk tomorrow with Sony Singapore.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

[Q] what's up with the primary cam?

Hi all,
What's up with the z2 primary cam? I've got a nexus 5, an lg g2, a galaxy s3 here at home aside from the z2. The camera pics seem to be comparable to the nexus 5 or g2? I was expecting a lot better being all the branding and the megapixels at its disposal... The images seem to be drawn on sandpaper( grainy on zooming) I don't get why... being the hardware is present am I the only one with this issue or is this a software thing that needs to be fixed? Any cam mods that solve this? Cybershot mod or the xposed mod?
Thanks a ton in advance, I'm worried I'm the only one with the grainy images...
mokaigutti said:
Hi all,
What's up with the z2 primary cam? I've got a nexus 5, an lg g2, a galaxy s3 here at home aside from the z2. The camera pics seem to be comparable to the nexus 5 or g2? I was expecting a lot better being all the branding and the megapixels at its disposal... The images seem to be drawn on sandpaper( grainy on zooming) I don't get why... being the hardware is present am I the only one with this issue or is this a software thing that needs to be fixed? Any cam mods that solve this? Cybershot mod or the xposed mod?
Thanks a ton in advance, I'm worried I'm the only one with the grainy images...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was similarly surprised when looking at the photos that I take with my Z2... However, I think it's understandable. In Superior Auto mode, the resolution is only 8MP, so that could be why your images are looking similar to that of the N5 and G2... If you switch to manual mode and up the resolution to the full 20MP, the pictures are quite clearly much higher quality. You can zoom in after taking the photo and not lose much if any clarity. As for the graininess, you have to remember that they're fitting 20700000 pixels into an area of about 1cm^2, so they're going to be tiny pixels. This means not much light will reach them. Hence why HTC have gone for a 4MP main camera, but with much bigger, more light absorbing pixels to focus on getting the minimal amount of grain, whilst sacrificing some resolution (on the M8). So in short, there's nothing wrong with the camera, the reason it's grainy is because it's ultra sensitive to low light conditions. To get amazing high resolution images with the Z2, you'll need a well lit, well balanced environment. It's a good camera, but it is designed for great photos, and that means perfect environments are required. If you leave it on Superior Auto, it will take photos that are just fine and hold up to scrutiny against those of the Nexus 5 and LG G2, they just can't hold up to all the branding and advertising that Sony have been giving, since you are unlikely to get the perfect picture taking environment in every day usage. I suggest putting the camera on Manual mode and fiddling with the in depth settings when lining up a shot. Don't push it all the way up to 20MP as you lose the ability to do HDR or Stabilisation, but at 15MP with the correct exposure and ISO settings, the photos can look incredible.
Hope that cleared things up, and sorry if it answered none of your questions x'D
Most of the time superior auto produces just as good quality as 20mp manual, and no its an insult to compare camera to g2 or nexus5, its way better
Agree with what u said but the superior auto I find takes better snaps than the max resolution in most cases. And the reason why I'm disappointed is that it is indeed comparable to the other two, which indeed is an insult!
So everybody gets the grainy images on zooming then? And is this fixable via a firmware or software update?
Put up some originals so we can see what you mean.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5whd6h9620kemdu/DSC_0036.JPG untouched pic here... Is this the best I can get? ( I have 3 more similar shots, this is the best one of the bunch)
feis said:
Most of the time superior auto produces just as good quality as 20mp manual, and no its an insult to compare camera to g2 or nexus5, its way better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The G2 with the camera mod available to it produced incredible photos and when I got my z2 I didn't really notice a difference other than the extreme amount of postprocessing that sometimes makes photos look like absolute crap... I just wished there was a way to remove all the processing of the image so we can tweak it ourselves
mokaigutti said:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5whd6h9620kemdu/DSC_0036.JPG untouched pic here... Is this the best I can get? ( I have 3 more similar shots, this is the best one of the bunch)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try to get slightly better with manual and iso 50, yours was iso 84 but the difference will only show up in zooming.
If you're not zooming in a 3.5MP photo will be sharper still.
---------- Post added at 04:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:40 AM ----------
mokaigutti said:
I've got a nexus 5, an lg g2, a galaxy s3 here at home aside from the z2. The camera pics seem to be comparable to the nexus 5 or g2? I was expecting a lot better being all the branding and the megapixels at its disposal...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a similar photo from those cameras. It's best to take a shot of a similar subject, same angle and lighting conditions and let's see what you are comparing with.
s3 & n5 are 8mp so are comparable. The g2 makes 13MP so you should reduce it to the same resolution as what you are comparing with.
mokaigutti said:
The images seem to be drawn on sandpaper( grainy on zooming) I don't get why... being the hardware is present am I the only one with this issue or is this a software thing that needs to be fixed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see a lot of grain in this picture with iso 84, zoomed in at 100%. Grain starts at 400-800 and beyond.
When the light goes down the others will struggle to keep up. They won't match video of z2 with the s3 coming the closest but stabilisation on the z2 will beat it. Z2 is a general purpose camera.
But those cameras have f2.4 or a half stop smaller apertures so this means more of the background will be in focus behind where you focus with the z2. This is the tradeoff for better bokeh and low light in video. But it only applies if you focus on a subject that is close.
mokaigutti said:
Thanks a ton in advance, I'm worried I'm the only one with the grainy images...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you put up a 20MP photo, try to take it with the on screen button instead of camera button as this reduces camera shake. Let's see how good your lens is.
xperia z1 ad z2 have poor processing algorithms. since the release of xperia z1 sony improved the image quality, but still needs improvements.
the grain in the pictures is NOT because of the tiny pixels, the xperia z2 has 1.175u pixels, larger than the 1.12u pixels in galaxy s5 and s4 for example, and both of them doesnt suffer from that level of grain and noise. if you take into consideration that sony has a bigger pixel, bigger sensor and resolution, wider aperture lens (can capture more light) than any other android smartphone and produces pictures comparable with an iphone 5 or gs4 with 1/3.2 sensor and f2.2 camera its a big shame for sony.
at 20mp you will have even more noise and grain. when shooting at 8Mp, the phone downsample the image utilizing the better pixels to provide a better picture (similar to what nokia does with its pureview lumia 1020 41Mp camera). shooting in manual mode is better for properly adjusting exposure, white balance and ISO, but the processing itself is the same, so apart from those parameters, nothing else will change
you can see the advantages of the big sensor and wide aperture lens in very low light videos for example. it produces much brighter and lower noise videos than others competitors, but the imaging from sony is terribly inconsistent. there is grain, noise and alias everywhere and and blur smeared inconsistently in pictures. and you can easily notice it in any picture taken with z1/z1c/z2. videos also suffers with lots of aliasing
with android L and the new and much improved camera API, lets hope from better camera firmwares from sony, and with DNG support, at least 3rd party camera apps will support it. then maybe we will have good quality pictures without the terrible post processing from sony
I guess the post processing is the problem. If I flash aosp or aokp the Google camera will use the stock processing right? And not sony's? Will that be better?
I'll try with the manual mode enabled and play with the iso as suggested as well.
And the 21mp are marginally worse than the superior auto so there isn't a point in uploading that... Ill upload pics from the 3 phones with a similar subject as suggested by today or tomorrow at the latest!
Thanks a ton for the feedback guys!
pepeo123 said:
xperia z1 ad z2 have poor processing algorithms. since the release of xperia z1 sony improved the image quality, but still needs improvements.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
File sizes of z2 are larger than z1 so there is less processing in z2. The numerous complaints i saw with z1 picture quality are very few with z2 largely because auto in z2 does a better job. What does auto do better in z2 ? the same thing people did in manual with z1, use the lowest iso possible.
pepeo123 said:
but the imaging from sony is terribly inconsistent. there is grain, noise and alias everywhere and and blur smeared inconsistently in pictures.
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Click to collapse
If you want consistent then you have to go with manual. No two ways about it.
Then you need to have a pretty good idea of how the sensor works in varying light conditions. You need to take loads of pictures to better understand which settings give the best picture depending on light. This is the same with any camera for that matter, assuming these others even allow some sort of manual intervention to begin with. With the g3 or moto x there is nothing, iphone is only marginally better in allowing exposure setting.
Don't want to do that ? then you will be taking 2 or 3 shots to get it right.
pepeo123 said:
if you take into consideration that sony has a bigger pixel, bigger sensor and resolution, wider aperture lens (can capture more light) than any other android smartphone and produces pictures comparable with an iphone 5 or gs4 with 1/3.2 sensor and f2.2 camera its a big shame for sony.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try comparing a 20MP pic with the smaller resolutions of the others and see how much more you can zoom. There may be more artifiacts in some situations but details will be better preserved. An 8mp iphone 5 cannot have the same details as a 20MP from the z2. In the same way as 13MP from the g2/s4 or 16MP from the s5 will have more detail than a 8mp auto from z2.
---------- Post added at 05:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:43 PM ----------
mokaigutti said:
I guess the post processing is the problem. If I flash aosp or aokp the Google camera will use the stock processing right? And not sony's? Will that be better?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doubtful. Or put it this way. i've yet to see someone make this claim in the z2 photo thread. For the simple reason that 3rd party apps cannot access iso setting in the camera libs. best camera app you can use is stock. The xposed mod allows to take auto in 20mp instead of 8mp. This i've seen to actually work. if you need it.
Whatever complaints people have about processing its better in the z2 than it is in the z1 when it came out. The only time i've seen the z1 do better is when there were lens issues with the reviewer's z2.
mokaigutti said:
And the 21mp are marginally worse than the superior auto so there isn't a point in uploading that...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to check if the lens is ok. I've seen samples where 20MP are not as sharp with some models as others. See the pictures from this post.. Or even from an earlier post here.
Download the pictures from both posts and do a 1:1 compare, there is a subtle but noticeable difference between the two. This is a hardware defect and causes a softer than otherwise photo. You only see it in 20mp, 8mp will mask it.
What is the manufacturing date of your model ? should be in the format 14wxy, you will find it printed on a sticker under the micro-sd tray.
mokaigutti said:
Ill upload pics from the 3 phones with a similar subject as suggested by today or tomorrow at the latest!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah let's see the difference.
bear in mind that doing this sort of comparison on a sample size of a few pictures is tricky at best. Yes, in some instances some photos may be better, but what does it mean. You'd have to take many photos to draw a conclusion that this or that model is better than another, that too only in certain situations. Koreans tend to do more sharpening in their photos & videos which is perceived by some to be better. Debatable.
One Twelve said:
File sizes of z2 are larger than z1 so there is less processing in z2. The numerous complaints i saw with z1 picture quality are very few with z2 largely because auto in z2 does a better job. What does auto do better in z2 ? the same thing people did in manual with z1, use the lowest iso possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes the z2 pics are indeed larger (some are actualy 2x larger) probably mostly because lower compression. there is also processing changes too like you said, but both of them still badly processed. http://blog.gsmarena.com/sony-xperia-z2-vs-z1-camera-comparison/
One Twelve said:
If you want consistent then you have to go with manual. No two ways about it.
Then you need to have a pretty good idea of how the sensor works in varying light conditions. You need to take loads of pictures to better understand which settings give the best picture depending on light. This is the same with any camera for that matter, assuming these others even allow some sort of manual intervention to begin with. With the g3 or moto x there is nothing, iphone is only marginally better in allowing exposure setting.
Don't want to do that ? then you will be taking 2 or 3 shots to get it right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when i mean inconsistent, i dont mean that the camera is inconsistent trough various pictures(wich is, in superior auto, like you said, but can be solved shooting in manual adjusting correctly the parameters if you have enough knowledge in the equipment you are using, like you said too), i mean inconsistency in the picture itself. the picture is not uniform, it has random blured areas like if the lens was astigmatic or myopic giving the impression of a defocuesed image in some random areas (im not talking about the defective lens gsmarena unit)
http://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=3&idPhone1=4238&idPhone3=6144&idCamera2=30013
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/ca...ng-Galaxy-S5,LG-G3/phones/8323,8202,8347?st=2
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/camera/Sony-Xperia-Z2,Samsung-Galaxy-S5,LG-G3/phones/8323,8202,8347
One Twelve said:
Try comparing a 20MP pic with the smaller resolutions of the others and see how much more you can zoom. There may be more artifiacts in some situations but details will be better preserved. An 8mp iphone 5 cannot have the same details as a 20MP from the z2. In the same way as 13MP from the g2/s4 or 16MP from the s5 will have more detail than a 8mp auto from z2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes at 20mp you will have much more deatil thanks to the much larger resolution, but when i mean it was a big shame, i mean that at 8mp, the xperia z2 has comparable if not worse pictures in some cases than iphone 5 or lg g3, gs5, etc even with all those hardware advantages of it. and this is again caused by the processing. lots of grain, noise, alias, blur, too high contrast, etc, etc, etc (yes noise can be reduced using lower iso in manual, but when i mean more noise, i mean more noise in the same iso settings as the competitors)
an interesting thing to note is that if you compare raw pictures of the nokia 1020 with the jpeg ones from it for example, there is a HUGE diference between them, and nokia is know from doing really good processing in cameras in general. so this makes me think how much extra performance can be achieved from the z seris with it great hardware
I'm just worried this could be a hardware issue, mine is a 14W21 phone. I'm gonna do some extensive photo sessions and if they don't work out maybe try a replacement
pepeo123 said:
yes the z2 pics are indeed larger (some are actualy 2x larger) probably mostly because lower compression. there is also processing changes too like you said, but both of them still badly processed. http://blog.gsmarena.com/sony-xperia-z2-vs-z1-camera-comparison/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, i checked the 20MP manual mode shots at 100% and can say the z2 shot is visibly better than the z1 if you look at the balcony railings left of centre and building detail right of centre.
gsmarenas z2's lens does not have any issues that i can notice. I don't know if the z1 lens is ok though.
pepeo123 said:
when i mean inconsistent, i dont mean that the camera is inconsistent trough various pictures(wich is, in superior auto, like you said, but can be solved shooting in manual adjusting correctly the parameters if you have enough knowledge in the equipment you are using, like you said too), i mean inconsistency in the picture itself. the picture is not uniform, it has random blured areas like if the lens was astigmatic or myopic giving the impression of a defocuesed image in some random areas (im not talking about the defective lens gsmarena unit)
http://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=3&idPhone1=4238&idPhone3=6144&idCamera2=30013
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/ca...ng-Galaxy-S5,LG-G3/phones/8323,8202,8347?st=2
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/camera/Sony-Xperia-Z2,Samsung-Galaxy-S5,LG-G3/phones/8323,8202,8347
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, i see the underlined bit at 20MP with the z2 , but check out the SA of the iso chart from gsmareana (phonearena did not have SA images to compare)
http://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=1&idPhone1=6033&idPhone3=6144&idCamera2=30013
Much clearer to see the chart in SA than 20MP isn't it. Note that you see same blur with 20MP here too.
I added z1 into comparison in phonearena's chart, can you see the difference between z1 & z2.
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/ca...ony-Xperia-Z1/phones/8323,8202,8347,8000?st=2
z1 is less blurred but the compression is much more than z2. If you try to reduce the size of the image in phonearena, the z2 image remains blurred but if you look at the SA, its much more clear as shown in gsmarena.
pepeo123 said:
yes at 20mp you will have much more deatil thanks to the much larger resolution, but when i mean it was a big shame, i mean that at 8mp, the xperia z2 has comparable if not worse pictures in some cases than iphone 5 or lg g3, gs5, etc even with all those hardware advantages of it. and this is again caused by the processing. lots of grain, noise, alias, blur, too high contrast, etc, etc, etc (yes noise can be reduced using lower iso in manual, but when i mean more noise, i mean more noise in the same iso settings as the competitors)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Underlined bit is somewhat true in good light, but not in low light.
Why the pictures look better, requires explanation of what better means. Did you see DxO's tests. compare z1, 5s, s5 & z2 on 7 parameters for still photo. Exposure, ontrast & Noise is very well controlled in the Z2. Artifacts is the only parameter where the Z2 trails the others. To notice that you will have to zoom into edges to see it. Not very apparent without zooming.
Exposure and contrast
---------------------
90 Apple iPhone 5s
88 Sony Xperia Z2
88 Samsung Galaxy S5
85 Sony Xperia Z1
80 LG G2
Colour
------
82 Apple iPhone 5S
82 Samsung Galaxy S5
80 Apple iPhone 5
77 Sony Xperia Z1
76 LG G2
74 Sony Xperia Z2
Autofocus
---------
84 Sony Xperia Z2
81 Apple iPhone 5S
74 LG G2
73 Sony Xperia Z1
69 Samsung Galaxy S5
Texture
-------
83 Sony Xperia Z2
78 Samsung Galaxy S5
69 LG G2
66 Sony Xperia Z1
59 Apple iPhone 5S
Noise
-----
84 Sony Xperia Z2
84 Sony Xperia Z1
83 LG G2
78 Samsung Galaxy S5
70 Apple iPhone 5S
Artifacts
---------
91 Apple iPhone 5S
89 LG G2
83 Samsung Galaxy S5
74 Sony Xperia Z1
68 Sony Xperia Z2
Flash
-----
85 Sony Xperia Z2
84 Sony Xperia Z1
83 Apple iPhone 5S
82 Samsung Galaxy S5
72 LG G2
DxOMark Still Photo (overall rank)
-------------------- -
81 Nokia 808 PureView
81 Sony Xperia Z2
80 Samsung Galaxy S5
78 Apple iPhone 5S
77 Sony Xperia Z1
77 LG G2
These are the differences observed after analysis of over 400 photos.
pepeo123 said:
an interesting thing to note is that if you compare raw pictures of the nokia 1020 with the jpeg ones from it for example, there is a HUGE diference between them, and nokia is know from doing really good processing in cameras in general. so this makes me think how much extra performance can be achieved from the z seris with it great hardware
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is something we will only find out when android L comes out. having said that the oppo find 7a can output raw images from its 13MP sensor, and its a sony one to boot. Lumia 1520 can already output RAW.
The question that remains to be answered is, what is the shot to shot turnaround with RAW in a mobile phone. Without dedicated image processors that specialise in it things will be slow.
---------- Post added at 05:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:06 AM ----------
mokaigutti said:
I'm just worried this could be a hardware issue, mine is a 14W21 phone. I'm gonna do some extensive photo sessions and if they don't work out maybe try a replacement
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So that is not an earlier build. i don't see anything to worry about given what little you have posted so far.
One Twelve said:
ok, i checked the 20MP manual mode shots at 100% and can say the z2 shot is visibly better than the z1 if you look at the balcony railings left of centre and building detail right of centre.
gsmarenas z2's lens does not have any issues that i can notice. I don't know if the z1 lens is ok though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes z2 is superior, i dont know right now since this review was done in older firmware and both z1 and z2 received some firmware upgrades and z1 is even in 4.4.4. the good new for z1 owners is that its possible to port the camera apk. for z1 like they did with the 4k mod, and therefore things will be the same
One Twelve said:
Yes, i see the underlined bit at 20MP with the z2 , but check out the SA of the iso chart from gsmareana (phonearena did not have SA images to compare)
http://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=1&idPhone1=6033&idPhone3=6144&idCamera2=30013
Much clearer to see the chart in SA than 20MP isn't it. Note that you see same blur with 20MP here too.
I added z1 into comparison in phonearena's chart, can you see the difference between z1 & z2.
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/ca...ony-Xperia-Z1/phones/8323,8202,8347,8000?st=2
z1 is less blurred but the compression is much more than z2. If you try to reduce the size of the image in phonearena, the z2 image remains blurred but if you look at the SA, its much more clear as shown in gsmarena.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exactly, regarding the blurred areas, SA is better than 20mp downsampled to 8MP, and this could mean 2 things. either sony is using diferent processing, or the downsample algorithm is doing its job right. or maybe both. either way, this shows that sony has work to do
One Twelve said:
Underlined bit is somewhat true in good light, but not in low light.
Why the pictures look better, requires explanation of what better means. Did you see DxO's tests. compare z1, 5s, s5 & z2 on 7 parameters for still photo. Exposure, ontrast & Noise is very well controlled in the Z2. Artifacts is the only parameter where the Z2 trails the others. To notice that you will have to zoom into edges to see it. Not very apparent without zooming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes in low light the phone really shows its big sensor and wide aperture lens advantage, pictures are brighter and capture more, while others have darker pictures and less detailed, although the focus in low light is terrible, something that is possible to be corrected using manual mode. low light videos z2 crushes its oponents too, other phones look like they are in a darker place lol
One Twelve said:
This is something we will only find out when android L comes out. having said that the oppo find 7a can output raw images from its 13MP sensor, and its a sony one to boot. Lumia 1520 can already output RAW.
The question that remains to be answered is, what is the shot to shot turnaround with RAW in a mobile phone. Without dedicated image processors that specialise in it things will be slow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, oppo, lumia 1020 and lumia 1520 can output raw and use sony sensors
maybe taking raw pictures is even faster, since it just takes the picture but doesnt process nothing else like it would do with JPEG,or maybe it could take longer because since its a large file, saving would take a little bit longer but? i really have no knowledge in what i am talking about here, so this is purely an speculation made by me
I was being dumb by comparing the images on the respective phone displays... On transferring them to my laptop the z2 has visibly better images overall, especially low light this is the good news... The bad news is the presence of graininess on full zoom. This is normal? (spoilt solid by previous phones, Sony satio, Nokia n8, and the best one n82)
mokaigutti said:
I was being dumb by comparing the images on the respective phone displays... On transferring them to my laptop the z2 has visibly better images overall, especially low light this is the good news... The bad news is the presence of graininess on full zoom. This is normal? (spoilt solid by previous phones, Sony satio, Nokia n8, and the best one n82)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Full zoom graininess? You realize there isn't a single phone that isn't completely grainy at full zoom right? Literally not one.... Because the zoom is digital vs optical.
TechSavvy2 said:
Full zoom graininess? You realize there isn't a single phone that isn't completely grainy at full zoom right? Literally not one.... Because the zoom is digital vs optical.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I didn't mean zooming in during the shot, I meant after the shot is taken... In the album app. I just feel spoilt after seeing the first page of the"post your z2 snaps here" post.
mokaigutti said:
I was being dumb by comparing the images on the respective phone displays... On transferring them to my laptop the z2 has visibly better images overall, especially low light this is the good news...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The opposite can also apply, photos can look good on the z2 screen and when transferred over to a laptop appear dull or washed out. Simple reason is photo was taken in too much light ie sun light. The wider aperture and bsi sensor means chances of over exposure are more than with other cameras that do not do as well in low light or have narrower apertures. So you will have to use -EV if colours do not appear natural or alternatively take photos in softer light rather than harsh light. You have to understand how light works to get the best photos with any camera.
So ensure bravia engine is switched off in the Z2 otherwise you might think photos are better than they actually are. can always correct things in post but its less work if you get it more or less right at the outset.
mokaigutti said:
The bad news is the presence of graininess on full zoom. This is normal? (spoilt solid by previous phones, Sony satio, Nokia n8, and the best one n82)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What frame of reference are you using to say it is grainy ? What are you comparing it with.
You started this topic on that basis and have yet to substantiate it. So post photos of the same subject from other models.
I'm stuck at work and haven't been home in a while, the moment I am ill post some similar pics to compare with. I say grainy as in the images seem to be oversharpened. I'll upload some pics in a few minutes so it's a little easy to understand

Camera this year is better than expected (with brief review)

I have owned both Z3 Compact and Z5 Compact. I remember the Z3c camera being utterly crap while Z5c being acceptable but less than satisfactory. Have to say that the camera on X Compact is on par with "modern" standards. Daylight Images is sharp (if not a little bit over sharped), saturated and without color cast. Sony has indeed made steps from the two predecessors.
Night photos is still a little bit smeared. However, the pictures are bright and rich in tones. It produces way way better night pictures than my iPhone SE. The dark purple vignette in Z5c is also corrected.
However, I suggest again not to trust the superior auto and HDR processing in Xc. HDR photos and "backlight corrected" scene mode produce over processed photos which are oversaturated and unrealistic (I'm sure u will not like them). Using manual mode usually yield better results.
two more surprise: 1. when half pressed the shutter, the image on screen becomes sharper and free from vignette. Sony must have done a hell lot of post processing to improve image quality. 2. The image quality when zoomed in under 8MP is not bad. Maybe some sort of oversampling technology is used. For example: this picture with 2x zoom mimicking a 50mm focal length.
Please refer to photo samples in my album (shot in Glasgow, UK), and please share ideas and more photos shot by Xc.
P.S: SOT is over 6 hours under heavy usage. 10-15% less than Z3c and 20% better than Z5c. Everything is snappy and the screen is absolutely beautiful (nearly indistinguishable from AMOLED).
Thank you for the sample photos. Your review of the device seems pretty accurate. Sony still has trouble with soft details and excess noise, but the over-all color reproduction and daytime exposure is much improved over the Z3C. I can't take a daytime shot with my Z3C without it looking washed out and over-exposed. Manual mode helps, but its too tedious for something that should be so simple.
Hi @ all,
2 Important questions, related to 2 design flaw of previous compact phone (yes, i've own z1 compact, z3 compact, z5 compact):
1) Does the camera external lens is STILL made by plastic (blurred and scratched just after some days in all compact sony phones) or finally the decided to switch to glass as EVERY phone maker?
2) Does the camera support raw api? You can try just by installing "manual camera" from play store, and try to shot raw photo.
Thanks in advance,
WZ
Wing_Zero85 said:
Hi @ all,
2 Important questions, related to 2 design flaw of previous compact phone (yes, i've own z1 compact, z3 compact, z5 compact):
1) Does the camera external lens is STILL made by plastic (blurred and scratched just after some days in all compact sony phones) or finally the decided to switch to glass as EVERY phone maker?
2) Does the camera support raw api? You can try just by installing "manual camera" from play store, and try to shot raw photo.
Thanks in advance,
WZ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I have responded in your original post. Hope those help.
qwsdert4 said:
I have owned both Z3 Compact and Z5 Compact. I remember the Z3c camera being utterly crap while Z5c being acceptable but less than satisfactory. Have to say that the camera on X Compact is on par with "modern" standards. Daylight Images is sharp (if not a little bit over sharped), saturated and without color cast. Sony has indeed made steps from the two predecessors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, the Z3c and Z5c camera is much better now with mod but you'll need root.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony-themes-apps/sonyz5-family-unlocked-xz-xc-camera-t3463148
For the Z5c, we ported the XC cam to Z5c with 23MP scene mode unlocked.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony-themes-apps/mod-cyberian-camera-t3267271
You can use this one on Z3c.
TheEndHK said:
Actually, the Z3c and Z5c camera is much better now with mod but you'll need root.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony-themes-apps/sonyz5-family-unlocked-xz-xc-camera-t3463148
For the Z5c, we ported the XC cam to Z5c with 23MP scene mode unlocked.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony-themes-apps/mod-cyberian-camera-t3267271
You can use this one on Z3c.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder how the z5compact with either of the above mods compares to the x compact out of the box camera. From what I understand we have root on the z5c but it will take quite some time before we get it for the x compact, I'm afraid.
charliebigpot said:
I wonder how the z5compact with either of the above mods compares to the x compact out of the box camera. From what I understand we have root on the z5c but it will take quite some time before we get it for the x compact, I'm afraid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
XC should better with IR sensor and laser focus assisted plus a more updated camera driver in system. However, the mod cam got 23MP unlocked in scn mode when shooting with scene I'm afraid Z5c even more better now.
It will real take a while for XC not only about rooting but you'll also need to wait for the DRM patch available for XC to fully get back the quality of camera after bootloader unlocked. We've been waited for four months on Z5/Z5c/Z5p last time, not sure about XC/XZ.
TheEndHK said:
XC should better with IR sensor and laser focus assisted plus a more updated camera driver in system. However, the mod cam got 23MP unlocked in scn mode when shooting with scene I'm afraid Z5c even more better now.
It will real take a while for XC not only about rooting but you'll also need to wait for the DRM patch available for XC to fully get back the quality of camera after bootloader unlocked. We've been waited for four months on Z5/Z5c/Z5p last time, not sure about XC/XZ.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right - to me it seems that support for the Sony phones is gradually fading, I had a z3compact, I've been following the z5c forums and maybe it's just me, but it seems as if it's getting more complicated to root/exploit, hence less developers are interested.
I'm really torn between buying the Z5c (just because of the mods) or the XC.. price doesn't really matter, since it's only about 50$.
charliebigpot said:
Right - to me it seems that support for the Sony phones is gradually fading, I had a z3compact, I've been following the z5c forums and maybe it's just me, but it seems as if it's getting more complicated to root/exploit, hence less developers are interested.
I'm really torn between buying the Z5c (just because of the mods) or the XC.. price doesn't really matter, since it's only about 50$.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The development is there though can't compare to Z1c/Z3c. Z5c got one custom rom(xpower) which is working good and two custom stock kernels( AndroPlus and OM5Z), Z5c also got some thermal patches to fix the heat issue. Not to mention it got TA partiton backup no avoid warranty with root.
XC hardware is better(other than no water resistance and gpu slower) but it will real take a long time for DRM patch and TA backup. At this time, Z5c is much more mature bcoz XC just born out. I'll recommend Z5c in this year with better support and cheaper price. For the user who don't root no doubt to get XC.
I'm thinking to up to XC next year when DRM, TA, cam mod all ready. I won't consider XC now bcoz without DRM the camera at low light is bad, no point to get a camera worse than Z5c, root is almost a must to me.
The Sony sales is decreased so the development is slow now.
TheEndHK said:
The development is there though can't compare to Z1c/Z3c. Z5c got one custom rom(xpower) which is working good and two custom stock kernels( AndroPlus and OM5Z), Z5c also got some thermal patches to fix the heat issue. Not to mention it got TA partiton backup no avoid warranty with root.
XC hardware is better(other than no water resistance and gpu slower) but it will real take a long time for DRM patch and TA backup. At this time, Z5c is much more mature bcoz XC just born out. I'll recommend Z5c in this year with better support and cheaper price. For the user who don't root no doubt to get XC.
I'm thinking to up to XC next year when DRM, TA, cam mod all ready. I won't consider XC now bcoz without DRM the camera at low light is bad, no point to get a camera worse than Z5c, root is almost a must to me.
The Sony sales is decreased so the development is slow now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At this point I'm even wondering if it's not worth buying a Z3C, I don't think that there was a big difference between the z5c and z3c from a hardware perspective and the mods seem to work on both. I think the only advantage of the z5c was the better water proofing.
charliebigpot said:
At this point I'm even wondering if it's not worth buying a Z3C, I don't think that there was a big difference between the z5c and z3c from a hardware perspective and the mods seem to work on both. I think the only advantage of the z5c was the better water proofing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Buying a Z3c? Do you mean XC? If you are speaking to Z3c, the different is still large enough there. The Z3c camera focus is very bad, Z5c performed much much better in this area with phase detection focus added. The Z5c screen and speaker also a bit better.
TheEndHK said:
Buying a Z3c? Do you mean XC? If you are speaking to Z3c, the different is still large enough there. The Z3c camera focus is very bad, Z5c performed much much better in this area with phase detection focus added. The Z5c screen and speaker also a bit better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did mean the Z3c but it's unbelievable that where I live there's almost no price difference between the z3c and z5c. I think I'll wait until more people bought the XC and then we'll see - cheers for your pov!
charliebigpot said:
I did mean the Z3c but it's unbelievable that where I live there's almost no price difference between the z3c and z5c. I think I'll wait until more people bought the XC and then we'll see - cheers for your pov!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Z3c .....
1. camera focus real bad
2. white balance is bad even worse than z1c
3. many have touch screen issues after 1 year
4. no android 7.0 from sony
5. front cam 2MP
I don't see any reason to get z3c again, either z5c or xc will blow it.
TheEndHK said:
Z3c .....
1. camera focus real bad
2. white balance is bad even worse than z1c
3. many have touch screen issues after 1 year
4. no android 7.0 from sony
5. front cam 2MP
I don't see any reason to get z3c again, either z5c or xc will blow it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is quickly getting off topic, but there are some tradeoffs that you didn't mention:
The Z3C has:
1. Better battery life
2. Less heat issues (camera app doesn't shut down as often)
3. Personally, I think is the better looking phone
But back to the photo quality. It appears that Sony makes tiny improvements with each phone release, but none of them are enough to truly compete with Samsung and Apple. Even LG and One Plus have better cameras the past couple of years. I wish Sony would finally utilize Optical Image Stabilization so we can take better pictures. It's nice to have, but I don't need cinema quality videos from my cell phone. I'm not a movie creator, but if I was, I'd probably use a proper video recorder.
PuffDaddy_d said:
This is quickly getting off topic, but there are some tradeoffs that you didn't mention:
The Z3C has:
1. Better battery life
2. Less heat issues (camera app doesn't shut down as often)
3. Personally, I think is the better looking phone
But back to the photo quality. It appears that Sony makes tiny improvements with each phone release, but none of them are enough to truly compete with Samsung and Apple. Even LG and One Plus have better cameras the past couple of years. I wish Sony would finally utilize Optical Image Stabilization so we can take better pictures. It's nice to have, but I don't need cinema quality videos from my cell phone. I'm not a movie creator, but if I was, I'd probably use a proper video recorder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A bit(long) off-topic to XC now.
I've to disagree all. It's not easy to distinguish which is better nowadays in 2016, they've all got pros and cons. In the real old day, Samsung and Apple were overall much better. I've owned Z1c, Z5c, S6(sold), G3 and my friends got G5, IP6 and IP6s plus.
Z3c got excellent battery with KK, on LP/MM the battery performance decreased that had been confirmed by so many guys on net. They are pretty much identical now or Z3c leads at a small margin. Z5c does heat, the best firmware is .224 in my experiences but since charliebigpot mentioned he will root the phone, heating isn't a big problem to him bcoz we got some thermal mods working good though the phone still hot. Z1c with metal bump got best looking, Z3c and Z5c are at identical level.
In Andorid, Samsung win hands down during at focus, camera speed, photo/video artifacts handing and OIS but the white balance(heavy yellow cast) and auto exposure(always over or lower exposure) is the worst I've ever seen. The true is I never use S6 to take any serious photo but S6 is good as a camera phone or post to facebook/Internet, most people prefer Samsung bcoz they are using in this way, just shot some casual photo.
LG got best color and quality and functions. LG is the best now but Samsung somewhats better on focus and OIS. Apple stable overall and very easy to use but Sony and LG indeed got better color. The conclusion is Samsung and Apple are the fastest, more predicable so most guys prefer them for daily live photo but that doesn't mean they are best, they are just the best casual camera.
The Z5c focus is way better than my Z1c like 3x faster and accurate, not a tiny improvement.
Is it just me or the pictures with this phone are incredibly grainy? I have the impression the processing software tries to over-sharpen the photos, so in the end they look full of digital artifacts and very grainy... This is also due to the fact that in auto mode the ISO level is always very high! So it is way better to use the manual mode. However, this does not completely solve the issue... and shooting with the app "open camera" delivered better results for me.. I am considering to return the phone, because a good camera is important for me, but I'm really uncertain because I love the phone in any other respect...
vispinet said:
Is it just me or the pictures with this phone are incredibly grainy? I have the impression the processing software tries to over-sharpen the photos, so in the end they look full of digital artifacts and very grainy... This is also due to the fact that in auto mode the ISO level is always very high! So it is way better to use the manual mode. However, this does not completely solve the issue... and shooting with the app "open camera" delivered better results for me.. I am considering to return the phone, because a good camera is important for me, but I'm really uncertain because I love the phone in any other respect...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edit:, I attach 2 photos:, one shot in manual mode (0016) and one in auto mode (0017). The one shot in manual mode is for me more realistic (the room was not that bright as in the other one, where you also see the parts of the wall closest to the light are over-exposed). However, zoom in at the door edges, they are soft and blurry. I have never seen an issue like this. Is my device defective or is the Sony camera so crappy. Maybe my expectations are too high because I come from. Lumia 930... Please advise because I'm considering returning the phone...
vispinet said:
Edit:, I attach 2 photos:, one shot in manual mode (0016) and one in auto mode (0017). The one shot in manual mode is for me more realistic (the room was not that bright as in the other one, where you also see the parts of the wall closest to the light are over-exposed). However, zoom in at the door edges, they are soft and blurry. I have never seen an issue like this. Is my device defective or is the Sony camera so crappy. Maybe my expectations are too high because I come from. Lumia 930... Please advise because I'm considering returning the phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like your hand shook in the darker image. But yes, the Auto Mode will always prioritize cranking up ISO in low light photos, and the noise reduction is hyper aggressive, resulting in soft looking images. This is how Sony programs all of its phone cameras. I would never buy a Sony phone for its camera alone; otherwise, you will be disappointed. It's not a terrible phone, it just doesn't look as good or work as fast as other point and shoot cameras.
Don't get me wrong, in the end I don't find the camera to be so average... Actually I wish photos looked softer.. I think the phone over-sharpens everything and probably that is the cause of all the grains you see especially in the dark areas... E.g. I took a pic of my girlfriend in a restaurant. My hand shook and was expecting to see a blurry image. What I saw was grains all over... It's like the phone tries to sharpen things at all costs. In these cases I would prefer to see a blurry image so that I notice right away that the photo is not good and I have a chance to re-take it.. Like this you only see it when you zoom a bit (even to real size) and the photo looks terrible...
Maybe this is just camera app issue?

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