yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] tylerdurdin:
A carrier approved update.....now we really get to see which carrier is the worst with not releasing updates....this phone is going to be great..lol.

Sent from........Somewhere In Time
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] limeaid:
Why would a firmware update help if the issue is that different phones have different sensors?
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] yokken:
Because it might turn down the aggressive sharpening or back off on the high ISO...
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] limeaid:
Doubtful. The problem isn't the high iso, for sure. I also don't think software sharpening is the problem. All signs points to there being two different hardware sensors with the sony sensor being vastly superior.

My guess is that all GDxxx firmwares are associated with the Sony sensor and the ZDxxxx firmware is for the Samsung sensor. I hope I'm wrong. Cuz if I'm right, all of us in the US with GS3s are screwed.

Has there been a single US GS3 that has been confirmed with GD firmware?
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] F1reEng1neRed:
Shoulda got a HOX. We knew before this phone even came out that the HOX had a better camera.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] rthamilton:
i guess this would mean more to me if i used my phone as a camera
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] limeaid:
No, it doesn't. You clearly haven't read reviews carefully. The HOX's camera SHOULD have been better than the GS3 due to superior optics (f/2.0 aperture), but in real world use, it wasn't due to a variety of reasons.

I actually did have an HOX (Evo LTE) before the GS3 and returned it for a variety of reasons (one of them being the camera quality)
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] F1reEng1neRed:
The title of the OP is low light performance. The HOX's low light is better than the S2 and obviously better than the GS3 if the OP is serious about the S2s being better than the GS3. Besides that, I haven't read a single review saying the GS3s camera is better than the HOX.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Babydollll:
I've got both. (The int'l HOX btw and the TMOUS branded SGSIII) The HOX has a better camera. Period.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] BakaNeko59:
My US version has the GD series. Ordered direct from AT&T and received 6/24.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] shook187:
I have both a GS3 and a Evo LTE on my sprint account and my unbiased opinion is the EVO has the better camera. Im not hrar to argue you so I 'll leave it at that.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] limeaid:
That's not what you said, genius. You said "better camera." Last time, I checked, the two don't mean the same thing And here's one of many reviews:

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_iii_vs_htc_one_x-review-759p5.php

And I'll tell you right now from personal experience, the GS2 camera was better than the One X camera.

---------- Post added 2nd July 2012 at 12:01 AM ---------- Previous post was 1st July 2012 at 11:59 PM ----------

It sure as hell didn't have a better camera than the GS2
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] myredfast:
Here's one. http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Nokia-808-PureView-camera-comparison_id3071
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] limeaid:
How's your low light performance?
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] flak0:
I guess not all GS3 are screwed!

T-mobile blue 16gb
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] tylerdurdin:
Well the GSII is my all time favorite phone ever constructed.....it still holds it weight against all these new phones .....but I will say that the camera is not better than the OneX......if you "prefer" it well that's on you but I think the general consensus is the H1X has the better camera.....especially in low light.

Sent from........Somewhere In Time
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] limeaid:
In low light yes. In all other scenarios, no. The one x does not take high quality pictures period. They are over processed and oversaturated and that is a fact. Numerous reviews have concluded the same thing. As has my own personal experience with both phones.

We don't need to get into a debate about the one x in this thread. This is about the gs3 not performing on par with the gs2 and apparently the early review units...
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] tylerdurdin:
Seriously dude???? Over saturated???? This is Samsungs go to setting.... I don't know if you got a bad phone but I can't agree with you even a little....their is NOTHING authentic about the pics on the GS2 or 3.....they look nice, but not authentic in the slightest.

Sent from........Somewhere In Time
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] limeaid:
Can those of you with GDxxx firmware confirm that you have the plastic casing?

From the original post:

Apparently Samsung ships S3 with two different camera modules, one with metal casing and one with mostly plastic casing. I'm waiting confirmation what firmware the one with metal casing has

Edit: the camera module with metal casing has:

Cam FW Ver: ZDFE02

Phone FW Ver: ZDFE02

you can see the one with METAL CASING here after 6:00 min: http://youtu.be/eo93EF7rVIw?t=5m58s

The one with PLASTIC CASING here 4:10min : http://youtu.be/YfqgEgMYAUc?t=4m16s

---------- Post added at 12:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:35 AM ----------

you just lost ALL credibility

SAMOLED SCREENS are oversaturated. Let me repeat that: the screen, not the camera.

The Samsung CAMERAS do NOT take oversaturated photos. If anything, the colors are a little cold... but definitely more accurate than the One X

The One X oversaturates its photos... JUST LIKE THE IPHONE. If you can't see this, you should not even be expressing an opinion about camera quality.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] tylerdurdin:
I am not talking about the screen genius .....I am talking about the photos I took and posted on Facebook of my sons little league championship....his red jersey is so ridiculously over saturated that it looked newer than the day we got it....along with his trophy that was so golden it was laughable.....so don't replace my credibility with your fanboy agenda.

And BTW my SGS2 has a way more exaggerated reaction to the slightest light change than the OneX. Oh and I know of the cold photos you speak of in certain lighting.

Sent from........Somewhere In Time
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] F1reEng1neRed:
Better camera can be a number of things as it's a very vague statement. You're interpreting it to mean "overall" since you need to find a way out of the corner you backed yourself into. But anyway, let's stay on topic....from the very review you posted...LOL
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] tylerdurdin:
Bad edit
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] F1reEng1neRed:
And as I said in my original post, we knew beforehand that the HOX would be better in that aspect than the GS3. If you're mainly concerned about picture quality, the HOX should've been your #1 choice.

And since we know that the HOX has better hardware, any problems with the camera is probably correctable with a software update. The GS3 on the other hand, if it's shipping with 2 different modules, 1 being good, one not so good, there's not any amount of software that's going to be able to compensate for bad hardware.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] tylerdurdin:
Dude I stand corrected....you win...between your opinion and reviews of preference that agree with your opinion.....a washed out cold photo is better than a over saturated photo....if you experience a over saturated photo it was dumb luck.

So the fact that the OneX shows a rich colored photo that is not completely over the top.....VS. shots from my Samsung that have been way over the top....or the opposite end of the spectrum the winner is still the samsung because cold photos are better......am I right?

Sent from........Somewhere In Time
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] limeaid:
I repeat, how is the HOX relevant to this thread? Stop posting about it.

The HOX does not have better "hardware." It has a faster lens (i.e., f/2.0 aperture vs. f/2.6 in the GS3) That's it. While important, it's not everything.

We're talking about a sensor. The Sony sensor that all GS3s are supposed to have is also supposed to be superior to the HOX sensor, which is probably why many reviewers have declared that the GS3 has a better camera.

If you don't even understand the difference between these things, I would advise you to stop expressing an opinion until you get educated.

---------- Post added at 01:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:14 AM ----------

You're not even making any sense now... move on.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] tylerdurdin:
How is the H1X not relevant when comparing low light photos even if the OP is comparing to the GS2.....overall it comes down to camera quality.

Sent from........Somewhere In Time
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] F1reEng1neRed:
But yet here you are stating that they have 2 different sensors. If all GS3's don't have the Sony sensor, then I guess they aren't better than the HOX, right?

You're talking in circles.

---------- Post added at 07:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:19 PM ----------

Not to mention the reviews he's posting are comparing them. LOL
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] limeaid:
OK, I'm clearly arguing with someone who can't follow basic logical reasoning. That was my bad for not recognizing it earlier.

Point of this thread: We're trying to figure out why the GS3 is not performing in low light as well as it should. Since it's the successor to the GS2, we would expect that it could perform AT LEAST as well. The HOX has NO relevance to that. Understand? The title of this thread isn't, "should I buy an HOX or a GS3?" There are plenty of other threads for that.

Get it? If not, I fear for your children
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] tylerdurdin:
Yeah when we were on topic talking about low light....the photos I was talking about were flukes and I was blind.....but we were able to talk about the "cold" photos taken on beautifully lit sunny days:rolleyes:

Sent from........Somewhere In Time
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] F1reEng1neRed:
My firmware is the same. (AT&T) Got it 6/22
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] limeaid:
My mistake for humoring you and responding to you in the first place. Won't happen again. You too, fire engine.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] tylerdurdin:
Yep

Sent from........Somewhere In Time
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Milk Tea:
Can we try to have less confrontation bumping this topic and hopefully have one of the 3(?) people with camera firmware GDFxxx post a lowlight and normal light picture instead? I imagine it should be as simple as standing by a light switch while facing in the same direction and take 2 photos...
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] limeaid:
^^^This

And apologies to the rest of the forum for my role in the confrontation
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] oscarthegrouch:
This bickering is really annoying. Lower f-stop numbers does not mean a faster lens, it means it lets in more light. Dslr lenses with lower f-stop numbers, less than 2, can be very expensive. You get what you pay for.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Zacisblack:
I have the AT&T version with the ZD firmware version. I hope there isn't a hardware difference because I was really looking forward to having an overall better experience with the camera. Low-light performance on mine is god awful.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] yokken:
Wow this thread blew up. I wonder if I could exchange it for a new one, citing a malfunctioning camera and yellow tint to the screen (on white backgrounds like gmail). I probably could but there's no guarantee I'll get the Sony sensor.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] limeaid:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_speed
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] limeaid:
I'll definitely be exchanging mine if we confirm that the zd firmware is associated with a lower quality sensor
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] karate134:
Im on sprint and received my 16gb blue on 6/21. I have GD version.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] yokken:
Well, looks like AT&T is gonna have phones on July 6th. I might try my luck.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] eyecon82:
the zd version has a metal housing and is made by sony, i think
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] yokken:
The general consensus seems to be that the ZD firmware indicates a Samsung sensor, but it's not been confirmed. I would really love to seem more photos from people...
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] sudermatt:
Any more information on this? I don't have my phone yet but I will definately be checking this out first thing.

Maybe this should be restarted with a different title so we could get more information....

Camera Firmware:

Camera Housing:

Picture Sample:

This would really be a big deal.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] rschauby:
I have the ZD firmware. Here is a pic with indirect indoor lighting.

http://db.tt/cpePJg9V
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] yokken:
What title would catch more peoples' eyes? "CAMERA SUCKS"? Trying not to exaggerate here... and it IS a big deal.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] stevessvt:
I have the zd firmware, here's a close up I took with light coming in from another room.

http://db.tt/JkLisujQ

From far away. Auto iso, auto contrast, anti shake on

http://db.tt/AAQh511N

Iso 400, no auto contrast, anti shake off

http://db.tt/7VQcpvGJ

Using CameraZoomFX-everything default except superfine and 8.0mp

http://db.tt/1i6XOhrD

Using Vignette-everything default except superfine and 8.0mo

http://db.tt/GNADe2lA

I have nothing to contribute otherwise to the thread as I know nothing about photography.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] geauxtigers:
Hmm, obviously it's completely subjective, I have both phones and the EVO's camera takes better shots overall. I have seen reviews swing it both ways, but I have seen more reviews in favor of the HTC camera over the Samsung.

Check out this comparison, I think the photos speak for themselves www . phonearena . com/ reviews / Nokia-808-PureView-camera-comparison_id3071
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Cicatrize:
Not to stir up more crap, but man, I was thinking about sticking with Sprint and get the EVO LTE due to the reputation of the camera (and it's an awesome phone), but after looking through tons of shots from both of these cameras, as well as some on my friend's EVO LTE, I really gotta say that although it's a great cam, there's just much more noise and over-saturated colors on it than on the GSIII, so I'm even more glad I chose the GSIII. Almost everything I've seen out of that camera is spectacular, save for the low light photos, which aren't great, but I've never seen a phone that does it very well.

A lot of people like that kind of stuff though because people tend to prefer things more intense, like louder music, brighter colors, etc, so I'm not sure why there were arguments about it. But myself, I'd like the picture to accurately depict the scene.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] iTbagdUrMac:
I have the elte and the s3 as well. I think the elte's camera is a bit better out of the box, as far as "point and shoot" goes, and the camera button is a plus imo. After using both, the elte's camera is not better enough for me to overlook the other shortcomings of the evo. I like both phones but, I will be keeping the Sammy and returning the HTC.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] oscarthegrouch:
I kinda sorta understand that. When one says speed with a camera, I think shutter speed. TIL
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] oscarthegrouch:
Interesting. Not as clear as I thought it might have been. When I say that I mean with full zoom, whatever magnification that is, with the stock phone browser. I know its optics isn't as good as a point and shoot. To me, it looks like there's some JPEG compression going on. Was the quality setting at best?
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] rschauby:
Settings were at highest resolution and super fine. This is with auto focus, auto ISO, and anti-shake off. Not sure if drop box compresses when you upload.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] stevessvt:
Anyone else try using a different camera app to see if theres a difference in quality?
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] veedub1991:
AT&T rear camera FW ZDFE02
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] hayabusa1300cc:
My s3 is much better in any light vs my s2
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Nankov:
Not sure what you guys are talking about...Just checked my cam GSIII FW and its ZDFE02 so i decided to check with my GSII Here are the pics:

GS3 GS2

GS3 GS2

Edit: I find that the GS2 is brighter with more noise and the GS3 darker with less noise..as of actual detail they are not very different sometimes GS3 wins sometimes GS2 but both by very very little. Also my GS3 is stock and my GS2 Is with Ressurection rmx rom wich might have tweaked camera so i am not sure about normal performance..I tried a pic with flash in the dark room and boy the GS3 blows the GS2 out the water in every single aspect.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Milk Tea:
I consider all 4 of your photos to have very awful lowlight quality...
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Nankov:
Of course they do...dark no flash... but you can see that the S3 is not worse than the S2... and i have the ZD firmware not GD which is said to better..
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Merlyn_3D:
This is disappointing, especially coming from an iPhone 4S. Perhaps Samsung gave all the reviewers the phones with the 'GD' better image sensor so they could get favorable reviews, then didn't care what they shipped their customers.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] mlin:
In side be side comparisons with my iPhone 4s I have been far from disappointed. I was bummed about the image quality until I turned on image stabilization, I made a world of difference.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Success100:
Here's mine. Launch day sprint s3. Takes HORRIBLE photos compared to s2 and evo Lte. I really hope its software related
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] TheJanitor07:
Just checked it. Mine is ZDFE02.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] phyba:
Are u talking about the anti shake option?
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Merlyn_3D:
Mine's a ZDFE02, and side by side taking pictures indoors at night, the iPhone 4S slaughters it. Massive amounts of noise pollute the GS3 photos where the 4S shows only small amounts of noise. Both tested without the flash. It's really quite disappointing.

Which camera do you have?
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] muddflap:
i have the zd firmware

the first picture is from the s3. the other pictures are from my s2 skyrocket. i think the last picture of my cat i used a led flash light instead of the built in flash.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] v8bait:
GD and ZD firmware, whether or not one is samsung and the other is sony, both suffer from low light performance issues. My phone has the ZD version and my girlfriends has the GD version and both phones take identical pictures. If anything, hers has a little less noise, but also less detail at low light. There is no way around that, noise and detail are inversely related with CCD and CMOS image sensors. If anything, it's better to have more noise because you preserve detail. Post process the noise out later to whatever you need with photoshop. I have found the HDR and night mode shots turn out pretty good, for a phone.

Anyways, if there is enough interest I could probably put together a comparison between the Galaxy S2, Galaxy S3 (GD and ZD firmware) and iPhone 4S, but honestly I feel the issue is pretty small.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] yokken:
I realize some people might think it's "good enough" for a phone, or for them personally, but it's hard to feel okay with the camera when I "upgraded" from the SGS2 only to find that the camera is worse. You can see how some people might be upset.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Merlyn_3D:
I think there's value in a comparison if you don't mind. If nothing else, it will be useful for folks who will read this thread in the future.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] yokken:
It's possible that all North American units got the Samsung sensor, and the rest of the world got the Sony sensor? Or at least some people in the rest of the world. Mostly Europe and India. Definitely South Korea, gotta give their home the best.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] v8bait:
Ok, I'll see if I can steal my sister's gs2 and friends iphone tomorrow night and snap some side by side pictures with the new s3's. Maybe I'll bring out my old OG galaxy s to round off the family.

I definitely understand disappointment when purchasing an "upgrade" that performs worse in some aspect, but I'm doubtful that the different firmware/sensors will make as big of a difference as the performance of the gs2 vs 3 cameras overall for low light. Things like the lens and sensor type (ccd, cmos) make the biggest difference imo assuming sensors are comparable (both backlit, same physical size, sensitivity). Guess we shall find out though!
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] LuRock:
Stock cam app definitely is not good in low light performance. If its really an issue for you, download night camera from market. It takes awesome pics in low lighting. I was surprised how good it works, No Joke!! Problem solved!!:D

White Hot! GS3.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] yokken:
Doesn't seem terrible. I'll try it out for a while and report back.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] TheRevolution1:
Mine has the gd firmware and I haven't noticed any issues with the camera.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] jxs1984:
i look forward to this comparision :good:
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] v8bait:
Good news and bad news. Good news is I took a bunch of shots with the GS1/2/3 and iphone4s, bad news is my girl wasn't around so my gs3 (ZD firmware/sensor) is all you get. Also, the GS2 also has two different sensors, I didn't bother checking which one this had. I can check if anybody really cares. I'll start a thread in a bit once I get them all organized. I think you may be surprised
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] monkey28rb:
I took two side by side pictures with my Galaxy s3 and my iPhone 4s. The 4s blows it away. No competition. I am disappointed with the picture quality on it.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] karate134:
Om, here's some random photos from GD firmware.

Im on sprint and I recieved my phone in late june.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] karate134:
Heres a couple more
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Div033:
So I tried to check my Verizon GS3's firmware and dialing *#34971539# doesn't seem to do anything. Is this the only known method for checking camera firmware?
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] d1ez3:
Same here, I don't know how to check on verizon
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Cicatrize:
I have the Verizon one and that's how I checked mine...
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] somethingWild:
I too have this issue.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] eyecon82:
does anyone on sprint have a sony camera?

all of my friends on sprint, and all phones in store, all have zd cameras!
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] 1BadHEMI:
How have you guys been checking this on Sprint? I entered the code and my phone does nothing. Do you have to be on a stock rom?
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] mmark27:
Zdfe02 here as well. Low light performance is garbage compared to sgs2 E4GT
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] ydoucare:
Damn, looks like a noisy mess in low-light compared to the GS2. :(
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] yokken:
Excuse the parties..

Hey guys. I uploaded a few pictures from my now sold Epic 4G Touch to give you a comparison. I think it was way better than my SGS3. It always took the most amazing pictures. I'm never impressed with the SGS3. But you have to make tradeoffs, I guess.

http://imgur.com/a/48S09
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] eastwood1:
Im very disappointed with the VZW S3 camera. Pictures look dark. I hope we do get a update soon to fix this camera problem. After having a S2 ET4G which took amazing pictures i hate seeing these junk pictures the S3 is taking.