topic Re: Camera quality in XPERIA archive

Camera quality

P3anuts — Wed, 27 May 2015 19:18:49 GMT

I got my Z3 a few weeks ago but unfortunately I am very disapointed with the camera quality. Almost every photo I take, both wiht auto and manual mode is very blurry. If I take a photo at the same time with my Nexus 5 that picture has a much higher image quality than the picture taken with the Z3.

I have uploaded an example picture here which I think is way to blurry, I held the phone steady and the lighting was good.

Am I using the camera wrong or is there something wrong with my phone? Is anyone else experiencing the same problems?

The lens is clean when I took the photos.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oaqgacaeeqddz0s/DSC_000002.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jool5lwic4ozlss/DSC_0028.JPG?dl=0

Re: Camera quality

Uliwooly — Wed, 27 May 2015 19:36:42 GMT

@P3anuts

Upload the pictures to box or dropbox andpost the link here.

Check for scratches on the camera lens, also are you using the zoom to take the pictures?

Any protective case and/or film?

Re: Camera quality

P3anuts — Wed, 27 May 2015 19:58:39 GMT

I added dropbox links instead, thanks for the tip.

I have the Z3 Compact protective film that comes in the box, it is not covering the camera lens. I have also cleaned the lens and there are no visible scratches to it.

I am also not using the zoom when these pictures where taken.

Re: Camera quality

SergioPL1 — Wed, 27 May 2015 20:07:44 GMT

Hi.

Please make sure that phone is in I-Auto or M mode. Then try to hold shutter button to half. It should focus on object, then press it fully to take a picture.

This is sample picture from my Z3 Compact:

http://1drv.ms/1AuqDCS

Re: Camera quality

P3anuts — Wed, 27 May 2015 20:12:43 GMT

Thanks, that is the kind of quality I expect from the Z3 Compact. I do as you say, hold down the button halfway to let it focus and then take the picture. Did you use auto-mode to take that image?

I get slightly better quality in M-mode but Auto is very bad for me.

Re: Camera quality

Uliwooly — Wed, 27 May 2015 20:16:01 GMT

@P3anuts

Which camera settings are you using under Manual?

Re: Camera quality

P3anuts — Wed, 27 May 2015 20:21:44 GMT

I have tried different settings for focus and image quality. ISO was set to auto. The result was more or less the same.

Re: Camera quality

SergioPL1 — Wed, 27 May 2015 21:39:52 GMT

This pic was taken in M mode ISO 50 or 100 and +2 EV exposure correction. It took it from the bus, through glass, while bus was moving.

Re: Camera quality

P3anuts — Thu, 28 May 2015 09:13:36 GMT

I took some more photos and I feel something must be wrong with my Camera. Compared to the Nexus 5 with only 8 Mp camera the Z3 photos look very blurry. What do you think?

Auto mode

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h29trxwa8hdhq2f/auto.JPG?dl=0

Closeup

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s51b28zjbbx3mp5/DSC_0020.JPG?dl=0

Front camera

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qo7wj74b1535j4t/front.JPG?dl=0

Iso50

https://www.dropbox.com/s/01bspqks7ozh26g/iso50.JPG?dl=0

Iso100

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vf6ec47v61b4yzk/iso100.JPG?dl=0

Nexus5

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k9d7jvpja59w4ba/Nexus5.jpg?dl=0

Re: Camera quality

Uliwooly — Thu, 28 May 2015 16:28:48 GMT

@P3anuts

Contact your local Xperia Support

http://support.sonymobile.com/global-en/contactUs/

Re: Camera quality

P3anuts — Thu, 28 May 2015 16:33:08 GMT

I will. But do you agree with me that the pictures are to blurry?

Re: Camera quality

Uliwooly — Thu, 28 May 2015 16:53:55 GMT

@P3anuts

Some of them look blurry, and I've seen other users with such issues, and they exposed their phones to water and it wasn't clear if they left a flap open or if it was a hardware issue, either or , contact Sony.

Re: Camera quality

P3anuts — Thu, 28 May 2015 17:54:57 GMT

Thanks for your advice, I will contact Sony. My phone has not been exposed to water as far as I know and I have only had it for 1 month.

Re: Camera quality

Uliwooly — Thu, 28 May 2015 18:20:08 GMT

@P3anuts

Keep us updated

Re: Camera quality

SergioPL1 — Thu, 28 May 2015 19:21:41 GMT

@P3anuts front camera picture looks normal.

I don't know what to tell you about rear camera. Picture on DSC_0020 looks more or less normal. Picture of a house definietly looks blurry. If you are sure that is not focusing problem caused by some hand movement contact Sony. Something may be wrong with lenses.

Re: Camera quality

P3anuts — Thu, 28 May 2015 20:22:50 GMT

I will keep you updated, will try to contact Sony tomorrow. Thanks for all you help.

Re: Camera quality

P3anuts — Fri, 29 May 2015 08:54:20 GMT

I contacted Sony Support today and they could not help me more over the phone. They suggested that I should send the phone for repair which I will do when I get back from vacation.

I hope that they will find something wrong with it and not just send it back and say that it is fine. Has anyone of you had any experience with issues similar to this? The camera works, but it is not as good as it should be. It can be a quite subjective opinion on wether it is ok or not,

Thanks again for all your help.

/Pontus

Re: Camera quality

MyAliasIsGary — Fri, 29 May 2015 20:28:49 GMT

@P3anuts wrote:
I contacted Sony Support today and they could not help me more over the phone. They suggested that I should send the phone for repair which I will do when I get back from vacation.
I hope that they will find something wrong with it and not just send it back and say that it is fine. Has anyone of you had any experience with issues similar to this? The camera works, but it is not as good as it should be. It can be a quite subjective opinion on wether it is ok or not,
Thanks again for all your help.
/Pontus

hi P3anuts

I've been very disappointed with the inconsistency of the z3 compact camera, so much so I've moved to another camera app, which IMO works better than the Sony one.

When i say inconsistency, I'm talking about when using both manual and auto mode. I literally just can't rely on pointing and clicking to get tolerable results. Also, I dislike the Sony post-processing, which seems to make images 'grainy' or blocky when you view a high res image at 1:1

If you check out this earlier forum thread on the matter, have a look at the 2nd set of images (the tree comparison between the samsung and the z3 compact). This is what I mean by blockiness:

/t5/Xperia-Z3-Compact/Camera-flaws/m-p/874139#M1792

I don't mean to imply you don't know how to take a photo but I've found there to the shutter lag with the phone - it's dead easy to get blurry photos because I didn't keep the camera still for long enough (that's even taking shots during the day i.e. no long exposure for low light situations).

In fact, I feel obligated to check every photo I take for blur.

What you could do is try a different camera app to see if you get blurry images with them as well. Perhaps also rest the camera on a surface to eliminate possible camera shake?

I currently use the OpenCamera app, which is free on google play. I reckon I get better (more dependable) focusing with it, although you still have to be careful about keeping the camera still. The images just 'seem' better too. Also, you can control the quality of the .jpg file you create, which is neat.

Let us know how you get on with a different app.

Btw from what I understand/have read, the camera sensor in the phone is decent enough, so if we ignore the fact that we don't have decent optics (compared to a camera), we should be getting ok photos out of the z3 compact (considering it is a phone) yet I've certainly struggled to do this.

Cheers,

Gazza

Re: Camera quality

P3anuts — Sat, 30 May 2015 20:15:57 GMT

Hi Gazza

Thank you very much for you reply, lots of interesting reading in the other thread! I was also starting to wonder if I moved the phone while taking photos but I held is as steady as I did with other phones I have had. (Nexus 4, 5, Galaxy S3, etc).

I also tried the OpenCamera app and first impressions are that it produces better images. I have only been able to test it indoors due to rain but I will try it outside tomorrow.

My wife has a Z3 (not compact) and as far as I understand they have the same camera. Shuld I expect the same image quality with these two phones? At the moment the Z3 photos look much better than my Z3 Compact.

/Pontus

Re: Camera quality

SergioPL1 — Sun, 31 May 2015 11:51:17 GMT

Photos from Z3 and Z3C should look similar.