[Galaxy S 4 General] BarryH_GEG:
I was curious if it worked this way; it's hard to tell from reviews and the manual. So basically there is no distinct Sequence Shot, Always Smile, and Object Removal mode per se. Those things become available after the fact for any Zoe's taken. And if you intend to use those things you must take a Zoe. True? It actually makes sense why HTC's done it that way. Since they've gone to the trouble of creating Zoe (20 stills/3 seconds of video) for the purpose of creating vignettes, and it's already capturing multiple frames, adding other "modes" that also create multiple frames would just make the camera app heavier and consume more device memory (available RAM is already 300MB below the SGS4).

The "point-and-shoot" argument would make more sense if Zoe was more discreet, behaved like the standard camera mode, and didn't hobble features in the process. Basically, to use Sequence Shot, Object Removal, or Always Smile you're giving up zoom and low light performance the latter people believe is one of the One's biggest competitive advantages. Taking a Zoe invokes a process and perhaps people don't want to capture 20 stills and 3 seconds of video and have it saved as a "scene" in the gallery just to use those three features, And then have to post-edit their results and have to deal with additional off device manipulation complexity.

Here are some examples of where I'd most likely use the three modes that are attached to Zoe on the One but discreet on the SGS4:

Action Sequence

My niece is a Division 1 softball pitcher. With the SGS4 I'd have the camera in Drama mode waiting for her to set up a pitch. At the moment she began to wind up, I'd hit the shutter and the camera would capture the full scene to the point the ball leaves her hand. I'd then be presented with a single pic in JPG format I could share anywhere including right from the camera after the pic is captured. I’d also most likely be zoomed in because I’d be a pretty fair distance away. How would that work on the One?

Object Removal

I could see this used on family vacations which could involve theme parks, cruise ships, Vegas, etc. If I wanted to get a photo of my niece and Dumbo at Disneyland there would be slews of people walking in the background. On the SGS4 I'd put the camera in Eraser mode, line up the shot I wanted, and hit the shutter. I'd be presented with the result in the form of a single pic with the objects removed to save or share. How would that work on the One?

Best Face

Almost all "Best Face" pictures are staged with groups of friends or family looking at the camera. If people were moving you couldn't replace their faces with the "best" from another shot if you're suddenly looking at the side of their head. With the SGS4 I could see this being used to have a stranger I stopped take a group photo. I'd put the camera in "Best Face" mode, hand it to the stranger, and tell him to press the shutter. I'd then cobble together the best result by swapping faces and save it as a single photo. How would that work on the One?

The pro of tying features to Zoe is it gives people a lot of additional after-the-fact editing options without having to invoke them. The downside is you have to use Zoe to access certain functions and it's not as easy as "point-and-shoot" because there's a delay until the shutter turns green, limitations are applied to what you can do with the camera, and there's post editing work involved. The pros of the SGS4's approach is you pretty much pick the right tool for the job and it just works - all pics are taken the same way and managed the same way after the fact. The con would be, I guess to your point, that you have to know what you want to do before setting up a shot.

---------- Post added at 08:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:37 AM ----------

Here's the thing I find strange. There's no question the One outperforms pretty much any Android device at shots bordering on "darkness." But there's a thin line between capturing a shot and it being usable. The One clearly outperform the XZ in this particular shot. Does anyone think the shot taken by the One is any way usable? The One will do better at capturing what available light there is but it's not a night vision device. ;)

And in theory, as long as you're not using Zoe, in low light the One should capture action better. But I haven't seen any low light action shots for the SGS4 to really draw a comparison yet. And low light fans can't ding the SGS4 (yet) for something we haven't seen it do. And it's still going to come down to degrees. If the One's 25% better than the SGS4 in low light action shots how many low light pictures will people take that need the additional 25% better performance?. And what are they willing to give up in return? The sentiment that I'm taking away from the latter parts of this thread are that based on the SGS4's additional detail and better well-lit performance a lot of people are willing to foresake some low/no light performance. In the end, it still comes down to buying what makes you happy.