Related
I've been taking some test shots with the mini pro camera, and I have to say I'm a bit let down.
Turns out the camera is a bit slower than I initially thought, and the pictures come out to be a pixelly mess.
I thought the dithering artifacts where only due to low light scenes, but it turns out I can see there artifacts with well let subjects.
The still frame camera does better than the video, but both suffer. Maybe Sony could do us a favor and have an option to remove in camera noise reduction. This would give us a chance to do better noise reduction in post to try and produce better quality results.
The video also suffers from cadence issues when outdoor light is very bright. I've seen this in dedicate video on stills cameras, it results in choppy video. I'd rather have smoother better quality low resolution video as compared to this dithered choppy mess of video.
Most of these artifacts are masked if you view video on the camera itself, but when you view them on your HDTV they are quite obvious.
Anyone have ideas on turning off the NR, I'd be happy to hear them.
Things you can do to help performance.
Set camera to fixed or infinity focus for faster response.
Use the sports mode for higher ISO shots, faster pics.
Use center weighted focusing.
Another interesting thing to note, I also happen to have the X10 mini pro. Looking at the phones side by side, the x10 has a slightly larger lens. I was a bit surprised at this change. I hope Sony makes an effort to bring better quality photo and video to the smart phones. Heck, they can make it their market differentiator.
Mike
hardware or software?
is it hardware problem or software? can video recording be improved through software upgrade?
irumbustalin said:
is it hardware problem or software? can video recording be improved through software upgrade?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Possibly.
But you also have to realise that this is just a mobile phone, of course it isn't going to be as good as dedicated hardware.
irumbustalin said:
is it hardware problem or software? can video recording be improved through software upgrade?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't say if software is an issue, but I'm certain hardware is an issue.
1 thing they could do from a software POV is to have an option to remove noise reduction. Sony may be not want people to see what the photos look like without NR.
2: It's a physics thing, the lens is tiny and the sensor is even smaller. The sensor technology is another issue. The sensor can only collect so much light, this directly impacts it's a ability to produce better photos. Note that Sony has a higher quality sensor Exmor they decide to reserve for other cameras.
I was hoping the phone could produce video quality to rival something like a flip phone.
3: Keeping the lens clean. It's hard to do this with a phone you constantly hold in your hand without some sort of lens shield. My old W580i hid the lens when it was in the close position. It also had a nice smooth easy to clean lens surface. It was only 2MP, but took excellent photos.
There are a few more things I could play with in my quest for better photos. For one, I should make sure the image stabilizer isn't on when I take well lit photo samples.
One other interesting thing I noted is the maximum shutter speed I've been able to produce. The camera may max out at 1/125 sec. I was a bit surprised, that's kind of slow. I haven't gone to see what my other camera phone can do, but that in itself shows the weakness of the phone.
Several of the shots I took under what I would call bright/normal lighting produced 1/16th shutter speed. This makes it hard to get a blur free photo due to subject movement and camera shake.
I was able to compensate some using sports mode, but that increases the ISO which = more noisy photos.
Mike
Comparison to x10 mini pro
Just had the opportunity to take a look at a few photos my wife has taken with the x10 mini pro. Actually, based on the experience with this phone, I decided to wait for and buy the mini pro 2.
I was happy and at the same time sad to see how much better photos taken with the x10 mini appeared vs. the mini pro 2.
The colors, focus, as well as resolution was better. Also noted that the photo size was larger, near the 1.5M size I expected out of the mini pro 2 photos.
Also noticed the x10 mini is capable of ISO 40.
I compared the panorama type shot, the X10 fared better, but still not great in panorama detail, I guess that's o.k.
Also noticed the x10 camera options are significantly fewer than those on the mini pro 2. That's fine since the photos are of decent quality though it would be nice to have a bit more control over the photo options.
I'm certain Sony could at least do something about the photo compression being used in the Mini Pro 2, it would be nice if the camera could at least equal the x10 mini pro photo capability.
Mike
Hello,
I bought sony Z2 few weeks ago. It's a nice phone, it's very smooth and I'm very pleased. But it overheats, not as much in 4K(which I don't use so no bother for me) but Creative effect just puts too much stress on a battery and the camera very quickly shuts off because temperatures of the battery go over 46 Celzis which is probably a treshold temperature. I hope sony will optimize their code in future firmware updates for Z2. I don't change phones often, this was a step up from first! HTC Desire(more than 4years ago) and I'm hoping to get a few years of from Z2. I did tried a bunch of roms on desire, but Z2 is gonna wait, it is so smooth and ofcourse because of the warranty. If they don't fix the overheating problem, next time I'll try samsung or go back to HTC if they manage to make a decent camera which they never did make in any of their models(purple tint, poor sharpness, whashed colors etc. I'll stop here, don't wanna turn this into a flame thread, just my couple of thoughts)
Also, what's with the HDR in manual mode - it says it takes two pictures, but it takes only one and the picture is the same as the picture I take with HDR mode off. I see no difference... Or maybe I'm doing something wrong with HDR?
MartiniWisdom said:
Also, what's with the HDR in manual mode - it says it takes two pictures, but it takes only one and the picture is the same as the picture I take with HDR mode off. I see no difference... Or maybe I'm doing something wrong with HDR?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will take two pictures and then combine them into a single one. The two pictures have different exposure (one underexposed to get more detail in the shadows, one overexposed to get more detail in the highlights), and when they're combined, the result is a single image with greater dynamic range (that is, the range of brightness from dark to light) than a single photo could've captured. The greater dynamic range will sometimes make them look flat and one-dimensional, but with the right shot it can be a big improvement.
If you want to test it, look for a scene with very wide contrast from shadows to highlights. A good example would be a dimly-lit room with bright daylight outside the window. In a single exposure the room would be dark, the window completely white, or both. With an HDR exposure, you'll see more detail in the room and/or window.
Tnx for the info,I know how HDR works and what it does but I didn't see any difference in photos. I'll try more photos with more shadows in scenes.
At the club, at the bar, or just in your mom's basement, nighttime is when you come out to play. Rate this thread to express how the Huawei Mate 9's camera performs when no or low light is present. A higher rating indicates that the camera sensor "sees" lots of light in dim conditions, and that the resulting photos have minimal noise. A higher rating also indicates that when the flash fires, the resulting photo is evenly-lit without any bright spots.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Black and White Winter shots
Hi, I've been taking some shots with the Monochrome sensor during the white winter in Germany. You can check them out at my blog here:
https://ddienlin.de/en/this and that/Mate-9-Camera.html
So far I'm very happy with the low light performance of the monochrome sensor.
I've also attached a little appetiser
onemandivision said:
Hi, I've been taking some shots with the Monochrome sensor during the white winter in Germany. You can check them out at my blog here:
https://ddienlin.de/en/this and that/Mate-9-Camera.html
So far I'm very happy with the low light performance of the monochrome sensor.
I've also attached a little appetiser
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The low light capability looks quite good. Makes me glad I ordered the Mate 9 although it makes the wait for delivery harder. Please add some more color ones. Is it possible to take both 12 MP and 20 MP colour shots (I guess the 12 MP colour pictures would be post processed using the 20 MP B&W camera to make a 20 MP colour one). Btw, good eye too!
Thanks! Haven't made any good low light shots with colour enabled recently, but there are good ones in this German android forum: http://www.android-hilfe.de/thema/k...-diskussion-frage-huawei-mate-9.802242/page-2
Better than Note5, less noise in the photos
Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk
onemandivision said:
Hi, I've been taking some shots with the Monochrome sensor during the white winter in Germany. You can check them out at my blog here:
https://ddienlin.de/en/this and that/Mate-9-Camera.html
So far I'm very happy with the low light performance of the monochrome sensor.
I've also attached a little appetiser
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, those black and whites look good. Wish the color was as sharp/clear
Was there any significant improvement to the low light capability after the update as reported on some sites?
phynicle said:
Was there any significant improvement to the low light capability after the update as reported on some sites?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, low light on stationary objects are very good. camera lowers iso and goes to a very slow shutter. Great detail but will blur easily on anything moving
I used manual -2 step exposure for stars shot. There is a bit of sharpening added in second version of each photo. Bit of S7 Edge style, but not so much oversharpened. In parking shot I have used shutter speed 1/4 sec. so you have to have steady hand and there's basically 50% chance that your photo may be blured due to hand shake and fast object moving to side from you will get blured as well. But for static scene Mate 9 does admirable job, if you can keep your hands steady. Both quick shots I've took today were taken handheld. Color reproduction is excellent for both shots, true to life.
taphius said:
yeah, low light on stationary objects are very good. camera lowers iso and goes to a very slow shutter. Great detail but will blur easily on anything moving
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the case for every camera in low light situation. Either the ISO value will be high with lot of noise, or low ISO with slow shutter speed which is not good if anything is moving in scene.
I think Mate 9 has excellent picture quality both in daylight and low light. Especially dynamic range is outstanding and much better than in my other device iP7Plus.
sobelixtus said:
That's the case for every camera in low light situation. Either the ISO value will be high with lot of noise, or low ISO with slow shutter speed which is not good if anything is moving in scene.
I think Mate 9 has excellent picture quality both in daylight and low light. Especially dynamic range is outstanding and much better than in my other device iP7Plus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I Mostly agree, with little addition. Almost every MOBILE camera, except Google Pixel which uses approx 2x faster shutter speed compared to other mobile cameras because of HDR+ and thanks to this it reduces a lot of high ISO noise, kind of. It have to, because it lacks OIS. But pixel is a lot more expensive than Mate 9, even base 5.2 inch model and for me personally it looks ugly, those thick bezels, display ratio, relatively small battery, for that kind of money. Then, on avarage DSLR camera with APS-C sensor and F/1.8 50mm lens one can use about 4-6 times faster shutter speed than Mate 9. So basically where you're shooting 1/17 with Mate 9 you can shot 1/100 with mirrorless DSLR and still get bit better quality pictures out of it with more details preserved and better dynamic range.
D1G1TE said:
I Mostly agree, with little addition. Almost every MOBILE camera, except Google Pixel which uses approx 2x faster shutter speed compared to other mobile cameras because of HDR+ and thanks to this it reduces a lot of high ISO noise, kind of. It have to, because it lacks OIS. But pixel is a lot more expensive than Mate 9, even base 5.2 inch model and for me personally it looks ugly, those thick bezels, display ratio, relatively small battery, for that kind of money. Then, on avarage DSLR camera with APS-C sensor and F/1.8 50mm lens one can use about 4-6 times faster shutter speed than Mate 9. So basically where you're shooting 1/17 with Mate 9 you can shot 1/100 with mirrorless DSLR and still get bit better quality pictures out of it with more details preserved and better dynamic range.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course. I am only talking about mobile phone cameras and not even thinking about DSLRs in the same sentence
It is obvious that mobile phone cameras with much smaller sensors cannot compete with DSLR in low light scenario. In good day light both can produce well balanced shots with good dynamic range, but still the edge is on DSLR side
This may be obvious, but a tripod makes a massive difference for low light on this phone.
Coolbananas said:
This may be obvious, but a tripod makes a massive difference for low light on this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but from real life scenario, how many times one carries tripod in his/her pocket? If you're already carrying tripod there's not big deal to carry mirrorless DSLR, Sony has nice low profile lens for example.
I personally have this tripod from Polaroid https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/789591-REG/Polaroid_PLTRI42_42_TRAVEL_TRIPOD.html which is extremely portable and can fit into jacket inner pocket. But it isn't exactly comfortable to wear it all the time with your phone during night.
Some fireworks, using light graffiti, light painting mode. I've found out to be best for fireworks. Handheld.
Camera Bug
Today I had a very annoying bug. Given that it snowed I wanted to do a series of photographs. I tried several ways: Monochrome Photo HDR and Night Photo. Bug occurred when I tried to take pictures in '' Night Photo '' and manifests this: I press the button for shooting, display show the message "processing '' and stuck so for several dozen seconds after the image made black. I closed camera app, I opened it again black picture still. I had to close camera app, delete from ram, wait few seconds and work again. I repeted 3 times same results. Please try it and tell me if your phone do the same. I have B138. Thanks. Sorry for my english.
Dual cameras as huawei mate 9
smartphone with dual cameras as huawei mate 9,you can choose sumvier.
Night Mode with Tripod, compressed via social network apps.
3200 ISO impressive...
From hand or tripod?
And what tripod do you recommend?
Wysłane z mojego SM-N920C przy użyciu Tapatalka
Sony Xperia 5 II:
* standard camera, no tinkering
* pro camera, auto mode
* pro camera, P mode with HDR, no other tinkering
Oneplus 6:
* standard camera
* Marco's GCam 6.1 MJL v3.7 Miniflex, day mode, AWB off, no other tinkering
(Sorry for the un-professionality of the shots and the general mess.)
I'm finding the Xperia 5II camera and pro camera... underwhelming to say the least. I'm sure that pro camera, used by people who are used to more complex non-smartphone cameras can give great photos, but to less camera-savvy people like me the results are... terrible. Coming from a great gcam port that basically performed perfectly right out of the box (big kudos to Marco's amazing work), I find it pretty disappointing to see this.
I can only hope that a good gcam port comes out fast.
(The Xperia otherwise is a pretty darn good phone imho, aside from some minor annoying things that hopefully will be improved/fixed in next updates.)
(x-posted from my thread on r/SonyXperia)
I don't understand why everyone is praising the xperia cameras. They are just not as good as many other phones. I come from an s10 plus and pictures were just better on the s10, especially in low light. My real issue is that there is NO way to take 16:9 video with manual focus (or even tap to focus) on either the simple camera app or the pro: The simple camera doesn't have manual focus and the pro is locked at 21:9 for some reason... This is simple functionality, yet Sony in their all "camera wisdom" couldn't provide it on any of their apps....
I agree that a good (or at least functional) gcam port is our only hope (as is for any xperia device). Sony is full of marketing BS on every xperia release about their cameras and somehow they always manage to be underwhelming and a few generations behind.
palamosteliaro said:
I don't understand why everyone is praising the xperia cameras. They are just not as good as many other phones. I come from an s10 plus and pictures were just better on the s10, especially in low light. My real issue is that there is NO way to take 16:9 video with manual focus (or even tap to focus) on either the simple camera app or the pro: The simple camera doesn't have manual focus and the pro is locked at 21:9 for some reason... This is simple functionality, yet Sony in their all "camera wisdom" couldn't provide it on any of their apps....
I agree that a good (or at least functional) gcam port is our only hope (as is for any xperia device). Sony is full of marketing BS on every xperia release about their cameras and somehow they always manage to be underwhelming and a few generations behind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like them because the colors are almost accurate and not blown up....
But everyone to their own i guess
yekollu said:
I like them because the colors are almost accurate and not blown up....
But everyone to their own i guess
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't talking about colors, colors are subjective and everyone has different taste. Noise however, isn't. You can zoom on both pictures and see that the 5 ii has more noise and "blurriness" compared to the oneplus. And this has been a tradition with xperia phones as long as I remember. Always a few generations behind on image clarity. I don't think anyone likes noise on their pictures... Professional reviews are misleading, since they are usually done in good (or even professional) lighting on a stand, so they are not representative of real life. If you are not a ...tourist, most of your pictures will be indoors and/or in random lighting scenarios with auto settings, on your hand, for a fast and easy picture. Xperia phones produce the worst results in those real life scenarios every time. If you want to take pictures on a stand, after tinkering with settings for the best results, you should be using a DSLR not a phone imo.
KiraV said:
Sony Xperia 5 II:
* standard camera, no tinkering
* pro camera, auto mode
* pro camera, P mode with HDR, no other tinkering
Oneplus 6:
* standard camera
* Marco's GCam 6.1 MJL v3.7 Miniflex, day mode, AWB off, no other tinkering
(Sorry for the un-professionality of the shots and the general mess.)
I'm finding the Xperia 5II camera and pro camera... underwhelming to say the least. I'm sure that pro camera, used by people who are used to more complex non-smartphone cameras can give great photos, but to less camera-savvy people like me the results are... terrible. Coming from a great gcam port that basically performed perfectly right out of the box (big kudos to Marco's amazing work), I find it pretty disappointing to see this.
I can only hope that a good gcam port comes out fast.
(The Xperia otherwise is a pretty darn good phone imho, aside from some minor annoying things that hopefully will be improved/fixed in next updates.)
(x-posted from my thread on r/SonyXperia)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've just compared both standard photos.
IMHO
* Xperia colors are more natural (more red/blue, OnePlus has more green)
* I can see more noise on OnePlus and more sharp edges, seems a bit artificial
* Xperia photo is less sharp/more soft, especially in the background. Not sure but it may be related with bigger sensor and lower DoF
Are both photos were taken on the same day/the same time ? The posters in background are different
I have both the 7pro and the 5ii and the 5ii is way more satisfying with photos for me, my experience is completely the opposite. I will say the biggest downside is consistency with the sony camera, but when it takes a great shot it is significantly more satisfying than a lucky 7pro shot and it should be since the sensor is better.
palamosteliaro said:
I wasn't talking about colors, colors are subjective and everyone has different taste. Noise however, isn't. You can zoom on both pictures and see that the 5 ii has more noise and "blurriness" compared to the oneplus. And this has been a tradition with xperia phones as long as I remember. Always a few generations behind on image clarity. I don't think anyone likes noise on their pictures... Professional reviews are misleading, since they are usually done in good (or even professional) lighting on a stand, so they are not representative of real life. If you are not a ...tourist, most of your pictures will be indoors and/or in random lighting scenarios with auto settings, on your hand, for a fast and easy picture. Xperia phones produce the worst results in those real life scenarios every time. If you want to take pictures on a stand, after tinkering with settings for the best results, you should be using a DSLR not a phone imo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what photos you've been looking at but the Xperia is completely smooth compared to the OnePlus. Yes, the Xperia is also a bit softer because of the shallower DoF and because of less aggressive sharpening which Sony is known to do. But based on those photos I'd take the Sony any day.
I have to say that coming from OnePlus 6 into Sony Xperia 5 II I totally agree that the camera in standard mode the OnePlus performs better.. but the manual mode in the Sony Xperia if you know about photography it definitely out performs the OnePlus 6.. I'll recommend reducing the brightness in the standard mode and you will see a better quality pic in the Sony Xperia.
zwirek75 said:
I've just compared both standard photos.
IMHO
* Xperia colors are more natural (more red/blue, OnePlus has more green)
* I can see more noise on OnePlus and more sharp edges, seems a bit artificial
* Xperia photo is less sharp/more soft, especially in the background. Not sure but it may be related with bigger sensor and lower DoF
Are both photos were taken on the same day/the same time ? The posters in background are different
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same day, same time, around 10 minutes difference I think? What's the difference you're seeing? The Xperia makes everything much more pink-ish, if that's what you're referring to. Imho from how the light was irl the gcam got the most accurate colours, my room does have a kinda "washed out" light when it's cloudy and the lights are off.
Also why would I lie? I got accused of lying and about the irl colors on the Xperia reddit thread ("do you have green light? " when these were made without turning the light on...), now you're saying the background looks different... What would I even gain by lying, I'm not a pro, I don't get money, I'm not even a reviewer, just a rando posting a simple comparison of what I saw and instead I got insulted and accused of lying... for simply stating my opinion? Wtf. I just wanted to make a comparison before selling my old OP6, that's all. I did the comparison, I sold the op6, I'm happy with the Xperia, I'm just disappointed by the camera. Simple camera app is too simple, the Pro one is too complex and even after days of watching tutorials I can manage to get decent pictures only outdoors with a good light... which might be great for a photographer - but if I was a photographer I would use an actual camera tbh -, but for normal real life situations in which you don't have time to configure everything (especially if you want to take pictures of animals - i.e. my cats) and the light 90% of the times is not perfect... the Xperia performed worse imho.
EDIT: btw here's your proof. Luckily I sent the pics via Bluetooth to the new phone before selling the old one.
luis.manuel.cb said:
I have to say that coming from OnePlus 6 into Sony Xperia 5 II I totally agree that the camera in standard mode the OnePlus performs better.. but the manual mode in the Sony Xperia if you know about photography it definitely out performs the OnePlus 6.. I'll recommend reducing the brightness in the standard mode and you will see a better quality pic in the Sony Xperia.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't even noticed that I could reduce the brightness in standard mode, now I feel really dumb. Still, I would replace any day standard camera app with Marco's GCam...
KiraV said:
Same day, same time, around 10 minutes difference I think? What's the difference you're seeing? The Xperia makes everything much more pink-ish, if that's what you're referring to. Imho from how the light was irl the gcam got the most accurate colours, my room does have a kinda "washed out" light when it's cloudy and the lights are off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apologies, I just took these background pictures as different, but its the same picture presuming different time.
My mistake.
As an avid photographer with a nice collection of bodies and lenses, I will say that I'm pleased with the pictures from the 5 II. I picked one up a few weeks ago to replace my P30 Pro. I definitely get better pictures from the Pro app than the Standard camera app. But, since I have a Sony ILC, I like the familiar interface, and you can learn to get good pictures from it quickly.
KiraV said:
Sony Xperia 5 II:
* standard camera, no tinkering
* pro camera, auto mode
* pro camera, P mode with HDR, no other tinkering
Oneplus 6:
* standard camera
* Marco's GCam 6.1 MJL v3.7 Miniflex, day mode, AWB off, no other tinkering
(Sorry for the un-professionality of the shots and the general mess.)
I'm finding the Xperia 5II camera and pro camera... underwhelming to say the least. I'm sure that pro camera, used by people who are used to more complex non-smartphone cameras can give great photos, but to less camera-savvy people like me the results are... terrible. Coming from a great gcam port that basically performed perfectly right out of the box (big kudos to Marco's amazing work), I find it pretty disappointing to see this.
I can only hope that a good gcam port comes out fast.
(The Xperia otherwise is a pretty darn good phone imho, aside from some minor annoying things that hopefully will be improved/fixed in next updates.)
(x-posted from my thread on r/SonyXperia)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm coming from an OP6 and couldn't agree with you more. The 5ii auto focus on objects less than 6ft away is unbelievably bad. The detail in the 5ii pics are underwhelming compared to the OP6 GCAM.
I've decided to take my OP6 with me when I know I'm going to be taking pics.
Though it's off topic I totally regret getting the 5ii and could happily go back to my OP6. Gonna sell 5ii and get the next OnePlus when it comes out.
cdkg said:
I'm coming from an OP6 and couldn't agree with you more. The 5ii auto focus on objects less than 6ft away is unbelievably bad. The detail in the 5ii pics are underwhelming compared to the OP6 GCAM.
I've decided to take my OP6 with me when I know I'm going to be taking pics.
Though it's off topic I totally regret getting the 5ii and could happily go back to my OP6. Gonna sell 5ii and get the next OnePlus when it comes out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you are not pro camera user. If you had any Sony DSLR you would know. Everything is in manual mode, not auto mode. The same situation is on Sony phones. I have XPERIA 1 II and after many updates photos from Camera app auto mode is much better, but still not good as iPhone 12 Pro Max auto mode. When I use Program Auto or Manual Exposure in Photo Pro and adjust setting result is different. Photos are much better taken with XPERIA 1 II. So, why did you buy XPERIA 5 II if you are not pro camera user? Sony philosophy is if you want to take full advantage from sensor and camera, use Photo Pro app : Auto mode for social networks, Program Auto if you are begginer, Shutter Priority for fast moving objects and Manual Exposure if you are camera pro user. Memory Recall is just for most used settings values and modes.
I've actually been pleased with low light photo quality of the standard camera app. Very close to my P30 Pro.
Unfortunately I completely agree that OP somehow delivers better photos than overhyped, much more expensive Xperia 5 II. I've got my Xperia 5 II just few days ago (didn't see the warning "For Pro Photographers only" on the box or anywhere else). Compared to my "old" Pixel 4, I'm disappointed so far. I clearly see that Pixel makes better pictures with zero efforts in all situations regardless of shakeness of my hands and photo skills. Certainly Xperia has focusing issues in some situations. I struggled to focus on objects with Xperia whereas I didn't with Pixel 4 at the same time. Xperia photos look soft / less sharp, blurry in not ideal conditions, hit or miss experience damn to often, horrible selfie camera etc. Going to spend some time with this phone (one month or so), give Xperia a chance to shine and then decide what to do. Thankfully I didn't sell my Pixel 4 yet...
It's all subjective, but to me the Xperia wins here. To my eyes the exposure is better, the white balance is better, the colors are more natural and overall it has a more realistic rendition (not overly sharpened). And the subtle bokeh its larger sensor gets is just icing on the cake.
Sony goes for naturalistic processing which I appreciate. People used to Samsung's bold processing might be let down initially.
u bought a phone has camera,not a camera which calls
A. With the plethora of resources I don't know why anyone would buy a Sony Xperia and be surprised at what they get. I wasn't. I looked at a lot of YouTube videos about Sony Xperias.
B. "U bought a phone has camera, not a camera which calls." I think I understand what you're saying but I'm not sure you're qualified to say what anyone bought except yourself. I was late to phones because I'm quite deaf and don't do phone calls but I'm also old and got tired of toting cameras and lens. I had a Pixel that took great photos and then a Huawei P30 that also took great photos but I was missing taking photos. I'm sure the phone was having fun but I wasn't. Their "pro" mode sucked. For example, in pro mode, their little white icons disappeared when I was taking photos on the white sand of the beach at Huatulco or the white stone pavement in Oaxaca. Now, I enjoy taking photos again with my Xperia.
C. If you want AI to take photos for you, don't get a Sony Xperia. If you actually enjoy photography, you might enjoy having a Sony Xperia. This is a Sony Xperia forum so I don't mind posting my opinion but I am in no way denigrating those who enjoy iPhones or Pixels or Pocos. Choices are great.
patrickt said:
A. With the plethora of resources I don't know why anyone would buy a Sony Xperia and be surprised at what they get. I wasn't. I looked at a lot of YouTube videos about Sony Xperias.
B. "U bought a phone has camera, not a camera which calls." I think I understand what you're saying but I'm not sure you're qualified to say what anyone bought except yourself. I was late to phones because I'm quite deaf and don't do phone calls but I'm also old and got tired of toting cameras and lens. I had a Pixel that took great photos and then a Huawei P30 that also took great photos but I was missing taking photos. I'm sure the phone was having fun but I wasn't. Their "pro" mode sucked. For example, in pro mode, their little white icons disappeared when I was taking photos on the white sand of the beach at Huatulco or the white stone pavement in Oaxaca. Now, I enjoy taking photos again with my Xperia.
C. If you want AI to take photos for you, don't get a Sony Xperia. If you actually enjoy photography, you might enjoy having a Sony Xperia. This is a Sony Xperia forum so I don't mind posting my opinion but I am in no way denigrating those who enjoy iPhones or Pixels or Pocos. Choices are great.
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i was surperised that someone really reply like i offend anyone.However, i am more pro sony than oneplus(even i had oneplus 1). Now i am holding Xperia5ii which i am satisfied the most in any android phone(sizewise Iphone12&13mini is better).
i personally buy this phone for its size which onehand controls fine.But more than that I prefer unlock the bootloader and put aosp roms instead of offical that drains the battery fast and laggy some how. So i may not buy this phone for the photos but can anyone buy this phone for other reasons?i dont think i am qualified to say the reason what anyone buys neither you are. But i think forum is a free place for any ideas and any opinions i assume. Good day with ur xperia although we love xperia for different reasons.
Hi.
Like some that bought this phone I found the out of box experience on the camera a bit underwhelming and the pro app very confusing, after a bit of reading and searching and fiddling I've got it setup so I'm very happy with the results. It's not a low light or HDR monster like some camera systems but you can get some pretty nice results easily if the settings are tamed back a bit. So I thought I'd share what works for me.
Over the last few years I've had OnePlus 7t pro, LG V50, Xiaomi K20 Pro / Poco F1, HTC U12+/ HTC 10 and had a reasonable GCam on all of them and going to the Sony system was a bit of a culture shock, but the small form factor, flagship specs, SD card and 3.5mm socket are what I wanted.
BTW, I am not a Photographer or an expert by any means so if I've got anything wrong I'm happy to correct, or if anyone has more Tips and Tricks please post to this thread.
To start.
Use the Pro app AUTO mode for most pictures. It gives more consistent results than the standard camera app and can easily be set as the default.
Go to the basic camera app settings, scroll down to Launch with camera key and set to Photography Pro, this means when you hold the shutter button it'll start the Pro app by default not the Basic app.
Double click the power button and you can set the Camera app as default, that way both apps are easily accessible with the screen off, useful for video.
Make sure the Case you use allows for the 2 step shutter button, the first case I had made the button really stiff so 99% of the time I was just clicking for a shot not locking the settings with a half press.
Open up the Pro app and press the Disp option until you have the Histogram and viewfinder showing. There's plenty of Youtube videos explaining what a histogram is and how it works, it's no guarantee of a great picture but it will be an indication of a bad one.
Don't get too bogged down in all the options, I spent weeks tweaking Exposure/ISO/Shutter speeds without really understanding what I was up to and if you do understand all those options I guess this guide isn't for you!
My settings for consistent results, check out the screenshot in this link
Xperia 5 II XQ-AS52/XQ-AS62/XQ-AS72 | Help Guide | Launching Photo Pro (Photography Pro)
Drive Mode - Single Shooting
Focus Mode - Continuous AF
Focus Area - Centre
Face/Eye AF - On
JPEG
Aspect Ratio - 4:3 (12mp)
With those settings you can point, preload by half a click and get a reasonable shot most of the time. With the fancy auto multi focus wide settings I was always getting blurred pictures of my dog when he's running around due to the camera trying to focus on him then picking a random object in the frame so by the time I clicked for the picture it was a mess.
When you have a half click loaded, move the centre box around and see what the preview and Histogram is showing, if there's a hard line hitting the top at either the left or right hand side it's either too dark or too light. By moving the centre of the image slightly the camera should adjust the exposure slightly to stop the clipping.
The only other setting I tend to play with is S, click the AUTO button and scroll down to S mode. This allows changing of the shutter speed. This way you can capture faster moving objects in good light or slow down the capture speed in bad light. Here's where the Histogram is useful because if you set the Shutter too high, bright sky will clip and a bright blue sky will be white or you'll end up with a dark fuzzy picture. It's not worth going above 320 or below 80 unless it's in exceptional conditions.
I've attached some recent samples below.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for the detailed writeup. You're more on your way to be a photographer than you give yourself credit for...
Thanks! I learned more from this than reading a truly terrible book about the subject
I always use PhotoPro-Auto.
asvaberg said:
Thanks! I learned more from this than reading a truly terrible book about the subject
I always use PhotoPro-Auto.
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That's a great picture.
And you're welcome, I'm a bit tired of seeing posts saying how bad the camera is on this little phone. It does require a bit more work than a point and click phone but it's so worth it.
Nice reading and I also agree: this phone has a good camera and we just need to understand it.
IMHO the colour calibration seems to be very good.
Even in "point-and-shoot" mode with the default camera I usually get good results.
(true, I already got some surprises with light reflections at night)
After reading this post, I took the phone and turned all lights out in my inner room where I was.
Pointed to my Buddha friend and done. No much thinking. The whole process between grabbing the phone, turning lights out, taking the picture and coming back to my laptop to write this took less than 90 sec.
PS: I don't master any photography technique, and therefore I rely on the device setup and common sense.
I agree with the color calibration. It's very close to my Sony A7RIV when I've taken comparison pictures...at least comparing RAW files in Lightroom. One of my biggest frustrations with the P30 Pro was the colors of the RAW files are very off using the main sensor, and no software can easily fix it. The 5 II files are easy to work with and give good results.
Enjoyed the OP but I use the Program Mode. I live in the tropics in a mountain value and I use the EV control a lot. The rest of my settings are usually the same as given in the OP.
Here is a link to a YouTube video from a photographer who makes it quite clear that the camera system on the Xperia 5 II is not a "professional grade" system but has a place for people who enjoy producing photos.
I just wanted to add that every digital camera I've bought, stand-alone or phone, since 1998 has been defective....for 10 days to two weeks. Once I'd used it for a few hundred photos and read manuals and tutorials the cameras improved markedly.