[Galaxy S 4 General] BarryH_GEG:
There was pre-production, production, and apparently a third version that's been seen on the Sprint One. Any site that took shots with the pre-production units would have known it. There were obvious issues. So the majority were taken with the EAME shipping s/w.

Here's what a site said about the pre-production s/w...

Updated 26/3/13: HTC has clarified that the second unit which we received "has the final commercial firmware, compared to the original unit which was pre-production and had an isolated hardware issue, which resulted in differences between the two sets of photos taken with both devices." According to our understanding, all the commercial sets which will launch in April will come already updated with this firmware. As such, there will be no second camera update for the One, unlike what we previously wrote below.​

http://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/review-htc-ones-camera-tested-updated/conclusion-679

Here's what Android Central said about the Sprint versions camera...

Depending on which review you've read so far -- or, worse, which sound bite -- the HTC One's camera is either the greatest thing since sliced bread, or not getting anywhere near all the hype. I haven't been able to nail myself down on one side or the other. Instead, when someone asks, I simply tell them "Not once have I thought I needed to carry another phone with a different camera alongside the HTC One."

I have pictures that are great. I have pictures that are not so great. The good ones tend to look pretty darn good, and the bad ones tend to be crap that I'll not be showing anyone anyway, same as with any other phone. A lot of that has to do with me as a photographer.

The 4-megapixel resolution -- the HTC One shoots at 2688 by 1520 -- hasn't really bothered me. Most of what I do is online anyway, and there have been a couple instances in which I've used pictures from the HTC One as hero shots here on the site. (This one was a still shot taken from video, actually.)

My biggest complaint, I think, has to do with the dynamic range. When you've got something light (or bright) next to something dark, the whites tend to be blown out. And seeing as how I'm a pretty casual shooter, I'm not going to spend time messing around in the settings to try to get the perfect shot.​

http://www.androidcentral.com/sprint-htc-one-android-central-casual-review

Here's the deal with "updates" playing in to a comparison. They are like the horizon; they'll always be "near." I was told repeatedly that any issues I brought up about the performance of my One X camera were all because "I wasn't on the latest update" or "there's an update coming that'll fix it." Five updates later it performed about 80% the same as when I got it a year earlier. Auto-focus was made better and color balance was improved. Nothing changed with the artifacting, noise, or sharpening algorithms which were my original complaints. Looking at the SGS4 pre/post update I'd still take either set of pics over what I've seen the One produce for reasons we've already discussed. And, again, if HTC's come up with some magical s/w that can turn the detail a 4MP camera can create in to that of a 13MP camera they are wasting their time hawking smartphones.

So I guess people can believe what they will about what updates can and can’t do. But until they appear, it is what it is.