yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[HTC Droid DNA] NOsquid:
Exactly. Phone cameras will always suck compared to a quality Point&Shoot. Smaller sensor, few manual settings, and software made by phone manufacturers, not Canon/Nikon. It's fine for a decent landscape shot or portrait on a sunny day but some people just have ridiculous expectations.

People spend thousands of dollars on camera equipment that works well in low light or for fast action. Maybe the iPhone 5 is marginally better than this, but I've played with my family's new iPhones and IMO the camera is still just a phone camera. If I wanted to take a good picture I'd bring something else.
[HTC Droid DNA] docnok63:
Some comparisons

Some people didn't like my review of the DNA saying that I was too harsh on the 1080p 440ppi display. How could it possibly be worse than the 720p S3 panel? Well, I think these will speak for themselves:

First a short video shot by an iPhone 4S...DNA vs S3 playing Underworld Awakening. It's a bit hard to show how much the S3 dominates because it's a video of video playback, but the most accurate part is when Selene and Michael are kissing. You can see the skin tone is MUCH better:

http://db.tt/Z597Hcuc

Then the friend with the iPhone 4S and I went out and took some shots. He's taller than me, so the angles are a bit off, but you get the idea. 4S is on the left, DNA on the right:

http://db.tt/edmZQvMD

http://db.tt/cBAcLDwo

http://db.tt/9sHcE6yO

http://db.tt/hORDltQq

http://db.tt/G3pabYog

As you can clearly see, the DNA gets smoked when it comes to color and brightness. Either I have a bad panel or sensor or this camera/video playback is just simply inferior right out the box.
[HTC Droid DNA] tdetroit:
Don't forget-I was NOT really holding the camera steady (Tipsy), but my spouse had my S3 and the DNA's pics actually look better in those low-light shots than on the S3. I need to go to the Conservatory and take some daylight shots of all the tropical plants. THAT'S where I usually take my dSLR and even when I took the S3 there, the pics came out great,popping colors, etc.... Let's see how the DNA can handle those.
[HTC Droid DNA] docnok63:
The difference is amazing!!!

I just downloaded the Camera 360 Ultimate from the Play Store and the difference is very, VERY noticeable. EVERY DNA owner needs to switch immediately. It's COMPLETELY a software issue. I'll be testing other camera apps right now, but this was a drastic improvement!!!
[HTC Droid DNA] Mobilemodz:
On my monitor those pictures look absolutely horrible, grainy and pixely. Are you using a stock camera or a 3rd party one?
[HTC Droid DNA] Dri94:
Well no camera will ever be like buying a nikon but getting normal point&shoot quality pics isn't much to ask for, nokias are able to achieve it, seems to be just a part of the phone being skimped on. Nothing to stop me frfom buyin though, they are "good enough"
[HTC Droid DNA] RunNgun42:
Dude, something is definitely wrong with your lens. Half those pictures look flat out BLURRY. There are a bevy of example shots from the DNA, just google some and take a look. I'd upload some of my own if it werent for the fact they're already out there. Those pictures you took look like something my 2001 blackberry pearl took.
[HTC Droid DNA] tdetroit:
Stock
[HTC Droid DNA] docnok63:
I completely agree. I saw the post about Camera 360 Ultimate after I posted my shots. This 3rd party app COMPLETELY fixed these issues. The default camera software absolutely blows. I purchased Camera ZOOM FX a long time ago and installed it. Again, the issues are all gone. Do NOT use the default camera.

I also resolved the video playback issue with the 3rd party app called MX player. Under settings, I checked all the boxes under hardware decoding, changed CPU core limit to 4, changed Color depth to 32-bit, and then after the movie started playing I turned the brightness all the way up. I'm not sure if all those steps are necessary, but it fixed ALL my complaints regarding video playback on the DNA.
[HTC Droid DNA] WilliamStern:
Like I posted before you all need to download Camera 360 from the market. It's night and day versus the stock camera. Plus you get more great features with it. Oh, and did I mention that it's free as well?

Here are a few samples I took today with the app...

Note: Edits were done from within the app as well. These are straight out of camera.

Hope this helps you guys to see what the camera can really do on this fantastic device.
[HTC Droid DNA] androidxen:
Yup, Camera ZOOM FX and MX player are what I use, hope more and more people with concerns regarding media playback and capture explore these two apps.
[HTC Droid DNA] hatyrei:
My first thought's of HTC DNA camera after first use...

is like using a mobile phone with VGA back camera sensor or webcam camera. :(. Seriously what does this HTC Image sense chip do? That they'll always promoting? Fast shutter speeds? Color reproduction is really poor. Will some1 message HTC about this and maybe we can have some tips or fix? :) thanks. I'm thinking of returning this phone on Monday and have Galaxy Note 2 instead... sigh....
[HTC Droid DNA] geoff5093:
That makes two of us, I just can't seem to find a phone suitable to replace my TB :(
[HTC Droid DNA] docnok63:
I agreed with you on all counts up until I installed the two 3rd party apps I mentioned above. They are free and fix 95% of the issues we're seeing with the camera. Thankfully it was just bad software from HTC and not a hardware problem. Grab Camera 360 Ultimate and MX Player from the Play Store and never look back at the default crapware.
[HTC Droid DNA] TheEndHK:
You gonna wait for the DNA mod. There are some stock camera mods around on One X like this one, One XL/AT&T, One S...you can search them easily on XDA, and they all give you huge image quality boost over the original stock cam, cam 360, vignette., etcs. It does fix colour, JPG issues, compression rate.

The same thing does true for SGS3, it also has some great stock cam mods out there one XDA to greatly improve photo/video. First of all, I would like to say the HTC isn't the best in day light, iphone5 and Sony Xperia P/S/T there is. SGS3 is identical with HTC in this area.

While in low night condition, HTC blow them all away with f/2.0, only Lumia 920 image quality could beat HTC but the result from 920 is noticeably slower focus/shuttle speed so it really needs an OIS. I guess the HTC image chip helps the speed and beat 920.

I own a HTC One S with stock cam mod. The quality is like 50% better in photo and 300% better in video.

I'm considering to get the international model of HTC DLX or J-Butterfly because Droid DNA is only for US Verizon carrier and impossible to get it here at Hong Kong or worldwide. Hence, the user bases of Droid DNA will not big, it may not has any cam mod development at all. However, you can try to flash the JB cam mod from One X because they have chance to be the same. Remember to backup your rom/apps before do it, if any errors found you can roll back.
[HTC Droid DNA] geoff5093:
Thanks! I just downloaded it and love it
[HTC Droid DNA] jiwengang:
Do you think he may not tear off the protection plastic? I took first photo with that plastic on after unboxing, then realized it was so stupid because I cursed the camera.
[HTC Droid DNA] Argumentation:
What settings do you use for exposure, saturation, sharpness, ect?
[HTC Droid DNA] impala454:
I downloaded the Camera 360 app and took photos both with it and the stock camera. I honestly can't tell any difference. Is there some settings that should try?
[HTC Droid DNA] impala454:
Here's a quick sample I did in my living room in low light (Christmas tree and computer monitors were the only lights on). The top photo is the stock camera, the middle photo is the Camera 360 app, and the bottom photo is from a Canon Rebel T2i. No special settings on any of them. Obviously the colors on the SLR pic are much better. I just don't see any real significant difference between the stock app and the Camera 360 app.

If you want to see a larger sample, here's the full sized file (though I still cropped down the Canon pic some). Warning, 4.3MB file: http://www.chuckc.net/images/camcompare_large.jpg
[HTC Droid DNA] l7777:
Why people expect quality pictures out of a sensor and lens that is <10 millimeters is a mystery to me. Even point and shoot cameras have bigger sensors and lenses. Both of which are far more important than megapixels when talking image quality. Megapixels only come into play when blowing up an image.

In order to match the quality of a point and shoot camera, the phones would have to be the size of a point and shoot camera. Of course no one wants that.
[HTC Droid DNA] adrynalyne:
The folks complaining about this camera should go try a Gnex ;)
[HTC Droid DNA] bb12489:
Any chance we can use the AOSP camera that has photosphere?
[HTC Droid DNA] the_passenger:
just wait until we get the hacked camera app that doesn't compress the jpegs too much.
[HTC Droid DNA] madzozs:
You can use it, but photosphere wouldn't work. Said it wasn't supported.
[HTC Droid DNA] alchemist316:
So messing around I got the 4.2 KB to work from 4.2 gapps flash package in one x side also cam works shockingly enough but there is a few issues with gapps not working pop up twice and gallery when u first run the cam but it works fine after
[HTC Droid DNA] docnok63:
Can you translate that to English and use some punctuation for clarity please?
[HTC Droid DNA] alchemist316:
For sarcasm and using the same old grammar Nazi crap no lol .

But for a person asking a simple question rather than use smartass remarks yes I would . Jk but yes the gapps flash package in the one x side I flashed it and got the 4.2 cam to work with a few pop ups but the rest of the functions are fine . ;)
[HTC Droid DNA] hatyrei:
Bye...Guys....It's been nice 6 days with HTC DNA

I'm returning my HTC DNA today.. :),. I ordered Nexus 4 16gb yesterday...and I just balanced the cost of having it . Is much worth-ed. Than keeping HTC DNA with Verizon's 4G LTE capped data 2gb!. I'ts just too expensive I guess...even if you bail out...while paying another $350 for ETF. Not worth ed. HTC DNA screen is really impressive...but overall specs & support for updates is kinda sucky. I think it's still kinda young at this stage...

So far...what I don't like in: (Verizon & HTC DNA)

*Battery is draining fast. ( constant web surfing and social networking)

*WiFi issues with 5ghz dual band mode,.( connected but without internet connection,...rebooting phone until it connects,. kinda frustrating)

*Sucky HTC software updates and old Sense+ look,

*Locked boot loader ( too risky for a new phone. lol)

*grainy camera( Image sense chip just for fast shutter speeds?)lol

* expensive monthly price.( add a line $9.99 + $29.99(2gb data)+ $10 tax = $49.98)

* ETF= $ 350

What I really like. :)

*1080p screen is really beautiful ,( I haven't seen a 720p smartphone screen so...I can't compare)

*Beat's Audio....love the sound quality specially when connected to my car .( I feel like a gangsta sometimes...rofl)

*Front facing camera( YES! i'AM vain...:P ,It's kinda grany but I liked it)

*Unlocked networked/sim

That's it... Good Bye guys.! I'm still gonna wait for my Nexus 4 .,. it says 2 weeks. And I'm back with my old HTC Incredible 2 with unli data...upgrade still next year ,. that's why I added the DNA rofl. I realize I can't keep up with the payments. so. LOL. Peace out. <3
[HTC Droid DNA] alchemist316:
I like the nex 4 but the glass on glass thing no no no did we not learn from the iPhone the device is a beauty but I'd get a case.

As far as the difference between 720 and 1080 ull have to see for yourself but in my opinion this is the best screen out there.

Power is odd cause similar specs but DNA out performs despite a higher level screen . in the end its what suits your needs best so good luck :D
[HTC Droid DNA] nrfitchett4:
good luck, nexus 4 has worse battery life than the DNA even though the hardware is similar. Apparently LG still is struggling on the software side.
[HTC Droid DNA] pwhitersxs:
I too am seeing horrible picture quality out of the DNA on the stock camera app. Weird. Going to try Camera360 ultimate and report back. Tried camerazoomFX and that is just as bad as the stock camera app.
[HTC Droid DNA] Success100:
same here. quality blows
[HTC Droid DNA] cstrife999:
Very few laptops have great displays. Trust me on any good display all mobile photos look like crap.
[HTC Droid DNA] Danzoman:
Um isn't the N4 running pure Aosp straight from Google? :confused:
[HTC Droid DNA] cstrife999:
That doesn't mean much for the battery life software side
[HTC Droid DNA] ldi9999:
Bump
[HTC Droid DNA] xxfallacyxx:
images from the stock camera will such on large screens mostly due to the compression. Stock photos, despite being 8mp in "resolution" were compressed to save space on internal storage. Smaller file = less detailed image.

This problem was prevalent on the Rezound as well, and there was a work-around made for that to reduce the image compression from the stock camera software made eventually.
[HTC Droid DNA] jayochs:
here's why:

1.) htc put auto enhance mode on all the time and you can't turn it off.

2.) compression

now, when you root, there will eventually be a camera mod (there already is ported fromt he 1x) and you can turn auto enhance off and turn compression off. it's not the hardware, its the software and whatnot
[HTC Droid DNA] shkamz:
Camera sucks
[HTC Droid DNA] lazarus2297:
man thanks for the super informative post.. i can barely wrap my head around all the insight you provided... :rolleyes:
[HTC Droid DNA] pwhitersxs:
To follow up on my previous post, I eventually got CameraZOOMFX to work great by setting everything to auto and during the night I would enable night shot and that would work. But, you can't disable shutter sound so I went to Camera360 Ultimate. I enabled screen shoot and turned on auto focus. In the settings I turned on hardware compatibility mode. For some reason, it takes way better shots than the stock camera app. Plus you can disable the shutter sound. I usually use the screen shoot function so that way it focuses in on where I tap. That seems to help out too.

Overall I have to say Camera360 Ultimate works very well.
[HTC Droid DNA] WizeGuyDezignz:
Those two words actually explain a lot. I think it's just two words that you don't want to hear so you are bugged by it. While I had the phone I also thought the camera was subpar.
[HTC Droid DNA] intruda119:
+1
[HTC Droid DNA] Sheldor1967:
Don't have DNA, still on Rezound. But I have used a Canon slr for years. Dark shots are simply hard to take... Even with a tripod & one of the best sensors out there. Glad to hear all the feedback, especially about the compression issues. My canon shots are often over 5 megabytes. I think you have to accept that the camera phone is great for what it is. I just took 2000 shots at Disney, during the day. They were great. But forget about night shots...
[HTC Droid DNA] xxfallacyxx:
Please, see the bold text for the explanation as to why other apps take better photos!
[HTC Droid DNA] pwhitersxs:
soooo, what you're trying to say is...it has something to do with...compression? :p

I'm going to compress HTC an email with a compressed picture of my compressed buttocks. :eek:
[HTC Droid DNA] jayochs:
i'm trying camera 360 but ic an't really tell if the images are any better than stock camera. any other settings to look at besides what you talked about?
[HTC Droid DNA] lazarus2297:
i disagree...

there my short post explains a lot too...

I have Canon DSLR and yes compared to my real camera the shots are way over compressed, etc... but IMO the camera is really good.. I have used the samsung SIII, all the motorola's and some previous HTC's (rezound, inc 2) and it is just as good if not better than most of those (way better than the Motorola) It's quick to focus and snaps shots very quickly.. yes indoor shots seem to vary greatly in quality as some times the flash seems to powerful for the subject and other times it seems way underpowered.. but I don't expect that tiny LED flash and tiny camera sensor to be able to match up with my canon DSLR and Speelite flash...

but coming most recently from a the Razr HD (had it almost a month) and before that I had the GS3 for like 4 months.. I feel it's on par with the GS3 if not a little faster, and much faster than the razr HD (although i will say when using the Razr HD outside with proper lighting the shots had less compression artifacts, but it was just slower and harder to get good shots with the Razr HD)

we each have our own opinions.. I was just stating that his post contrary to what you say was not informative at all..
[HTC Droid DNA] jayochs:
So I actually just did some comparison shots with camera zoom fx and stock...so I always shoot at like iso200 or 400...auto is what causes problems on this phone. On 200 in a dark room with only a night stand lamp on stock camera, nothing comes out. However with aftermsrket cameras, at that low ISO, it's not dark at all...it's much less noisy and looks great. here's some comparison shots. Also, on camera zoom, I set the compression to highest quality 100%

First is auto ISO on stock. Then 200 on stock. Then 200 on camera zoom.

ehh the compression by uploading them to xda makse the last pic look worse than it actually is..there's really no noise in that camera zoom fx pic at all.
[HTC Droid DNA] pwhitersxs:
Nice comparison. It is hard to tell what settings actually make it better. I do think that screen shooting works well because it focuses where you tap. I have Camera360 Ultimate set to auto focus as it seemed to work well.
[HTC Droid DNA] jayochs:
i tap where i wanna focus, and then i hit the shutter, but perhaps screen shot would be a better idea for less blur.

also the thing that sucks with camera zoom is that you can't turn the shutter sound off at all :\
[HTC Droid DNA] xxfallacyxx:
try uploading them to a site like imageshack.us and disable image compression/resizing, then post the urls here.
[HTC Droid DNA] jayochs:
usually i do imgur lol i was just in bed posting last night..too lazy. doing it now.

1.) this is the auto ISO shot from the dna camera

http://i.imgur.com/Ziycp.jpg

2.) iso200 on stock dna

http://i.imgur.com/u7CDm.jpg

3.) cam zoom fx on 200ISO

http://i.imgur.com/HCgC4.jpg
[HTC Droid DNA] FlipMarc:
I too have been disappointed with the camera. Since I've been reading this thread, I tried out Camera360. I think I'm going to stick with the stock camera. Why?

Because

I can use the stock camera without unlocking my phone. This is one of the things that I love since I've upgraded from my DroidX. I can just drag the camera icon to the unlock ring and the camera is up and ready to shoot :good:

I found the pictures "better" when I changed the camera settings>Image Adjustments to +1 the Contrast and Sharpness.

Taking pictures is a lot quicker. I hate it when people fumble and take forever when taking a shot.
[HTC Droid DNA] xxfallacyxx:
Would have to say the third is the best, there's still some compression effects when the image is displayed at native resolution, but it's far less than the same photo from the stock camera.
[HTC Droid DNA] pwhitersxs:
You can use camera360 Ultimate from the lockscreen. Just put Camera360 Ultimate in your stock htc launcher dock and it shows up in the lockscreen.

One thing I don't like about camera360 Ultimate is that you can't use the default gallery or quickpic.

Good point about the pictures being quicker. Thats one thing I'm glad that they improved on in Android. Pictures used to take forever!
[HTC Droid DNA] jayochs:
yeah, the stock camera is great for quick pics and the gallery. the galleries on these aftermarket apps SUCK! and when you set it to default gallery in camera fx pro, it only shows that one image, and all you can do is hit details. you can't delete, or swipe to the next photo. so stupid.

but yeah, the third pic looks 10x better than the ones from the stock camera. i put camera zoom fx into my dock so it shows up on my lock screen, and it's not too slow to startup.

i bought camera 360 pro back when i had the eris and the pro version cost money, and it pissed me off that he ended up making it free so i stopped using it..on top of the fact that its interface is clunky and doesn't go into landscape lol...camera zoom is actually pretty good. i bought it once, refunded it, and months later got it half off and then was like "meh" and tried to refund it..whoops, forgot i bought it the first time hahah..so now i've got it and i'm actually gonna use it.
[HTC Droid DNA] pwhitersxs:
Ok, so I did a comparison between my note 2 and my fiances dna (which might as well be mine for how much I play with it) and I have attached both images.Now what really really really helped with the DNA is turning off the wide aspect ratio and putting it back to 4:3 in the stock camera app. The resolution is much better at 4:3 anyway and it helped with the pictures. With 4:3 on the DNA, the pictures don't look much different than my note 2.
[HTC Droid DNA] jayochs:
which is which? lol

also yeah i turned widescreen off right away, bc all it does is crop the top/bottom
[HTC Droid DNA] Verean:
Left is the Note 2 and right is the DNA.
[HTC Droid DNA] pwhitersxs:
Lol what he said. The dna is more white washed is all I see.
[HTC Droid DNA] jayochs:
http://imgur.com/a/E0Obo

there's an album where i show off 3 comparison shots.

notice the second one, the stokc DNA camera, indoor lighting, auto ISO. notice the right side of the PC...see how blotchy and spotty it looks? that's the auto enhance option (i believe) mixed with image compression.

now look at the first, camera zoom fx. iso 200 because ISO auto in that mode gives that same blotchiness to the PC (don't ever use auto ISO, it's just bad on here)

and then finally the stock Htc camera with iso 200 and flash on. looks MUCH better.

thing is, if you turned flash off at iso200 on stock camera, it's a pitch black image..whereas iso200 on camerazoom is still easily visible. so it's def a software issue..htc is crippling a great camera with their software.

what i take from this is that if you wanna take non-flash low light pics indoors, use an aftermarket app like camera zoom fx, with a low ISO..you need a steady hand though because a low iso means it can blur easier.

but if you wanna use flash, use the stock htc camera with iso200 or 400 and flash and it'll come out great.

oh and for the hell of it, i put a pic from the HTC inc last ;) haha and here's the sad thing..on the inc, lowlight pics were sharper and looked a little better at auto ISO...no blotchiness because none of that auto enhance bullcrap that HTC forces us to use. that lowlight pic from a 2+ year old phone isn't that bad, honestly.

i just had some weird results where i actually got a better shot outta the DNA camera at auto ISO compared to camera zoom fx at auto...check last two images of the bed. the last image is iso200 on camerazoom; notice how much less blotchy it looks..how much "smoother" the walls look, with less noise and less blotcy.
[HTC Droid DNA] Hendrickson:
My 2 cents, on the matter. Are all of you are forgetting that your shooting in 6MP 16:9 widescreen by default ??, change it too 4:3 raitio and you will have a FULL 8MP resolution this camera can take.

You got to remember that 16:9 is cropping, and lowering the resolution and therefore quality....

3264 x 1840 = 6MP 16:9

Or

3264 x 2448 = 8MP 4:3

And remember its a tiny sensor so dont expect too much from it. Its no point and shot with a nice lens.

Use this mod here and set the compression to 100% and the file sizes of 4:3 will be over 4mb.... Double the amount of details recorded.
[HTC Droid DNA] jayochs:
Yeah I thought we established that earlier in the thread lol. Widescreen is pointless. I'd flash the mod but I don't wanna root yet.
[HTC Droid DNA] Danzoman:
I see two files there do i flash both of them? I flashed the first one and nothing happened. I'm on ukb BTW.

Via Xoom KILL ROM
[HTC Droid DNA] azndan2:
MR-S?? Awesome!!
[HTC Droid DNA] Hendrickson:
Just the first one, 5.1 and make sure you have system mounted when you flash it.
[HTC Droid DNA] NOsquid:
Cool, thanks!