yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 5 General] eman3316@optonline.net:
Yup, my N4 camera captured better pictures then my N5. I find myself deleting almost every picture I take of my son because it is a blur fest. If Google does not fix this then I would have preferred if they just kept the N4 camera in place because at least that camera was able to capture the moment!

This is the one thing that is getting more frustrating every day I use the phone. I am not even sure if a 3rd party app has the ability to fix a shutter lag problem and if that would be strictly dependent on Google to fix it.
[Nexus 5 General] TheDudeAbides:
I'm unable to deposit checks through my mobile banking app. The camera does not focus the check and it gets denied.

Agreed, camera app needs some work.
[Nexus 5 General] krylon360:
Oh, that's where all those deposits came from :-p
[Nexus 5 General] Fidelator:
Does anyone have an iPhone 5S to compare the camera quality? I currently own a N4 and probably will upgrade soon but I seriously do not want a camera that's remotely as bad as this one, the iPhone too has a 8MP sensor and I like the results it provides if the camera on the N5 is as good as that one then I don't see a point in complaining.

I know how bad the AOSP camera is, I want to know about the quality.
[Nexus 5 General] Chad_Petree:
I agree on the part of the screen being wide screen but the viewfinder is 4:3 , I like 16:9 ,I mean pretty much every laptop and TV screen now is 16:9 so why not have 16:9 that fill up the screen ?
[Nexus 5 General] schleppy:
After a support email and phone call to Google Play, they are sending me a replacement Nexus 5. They had me factory reset the phone to make sure it wasn't software related. I did the reset, no change. I called them and they arranged an advanced replacement.

I'm really hoping the next one has a better camera in it.
[Nexus 5 General] eman3316@optonline.net:
I don't get it? What is wrong with your phone? Unless factory resetting it will magically add new software for the camera I would say your camera is working like everyone elses, crappy!
[Nexus 5 General] Dirk:
Did you transfer any of the 'blurry' pictures onto your PC to view them first, or did you look at the preview and then delete immediately? If you had transferred them first i think you would have found that they were actually in focus.

One of the biggest issues the camera has is the preview itself. It's not accurately reflecting the actual image taken. The picture is good, the preview is bad!

Try it and see.
[Nexus 5 General] schleppy:
My phone literally could not take a photo without it being blurry. It also rarely got a focus lock. I've seen photos from other N5s that looked substantially better than mine. I honestly think mine is a dud.

As far as the factory reset, I have no idea why they had me bother. Probably standard procedure for any problems with Android phones. Extremely annoying though.
[Nexus 5 General] eman3316@optonline.net:
I looked at them in the gallery but when I say not focused I mean not even close. Anyone with young kids will definitely know what I am talking about. You start to take the picture when they are where you want them to be and by the time the picture snapd they are 3 feet from when you started. So all you see is the blurry trail. I mean there is nothing to even think about in knowing if the picture might look good on a computer.
[Nexus 5 General] schleppy:
Yep, I looked at all of them on multiple machines. Total blurry crap :(

I've also had HDR+ off the whole time. Same bad pics with it on or off.
[Nexus 5 General] summer_love:
Are you guys with blurry kids using HDR? Because my boys call that ghost mode. When it's off there's no problem.
[Nexus 5 General] flintdragon:
I thought my N5 camera seemed ok for my usage until the other day when I went to a night football game. I tried to take a picture of the bright jumbotron (set against the dark night background) and the N5 could not focus on the screen even remotely close. I thought it was just a bad environment to take a picture but then my two friends, one with a S3, another with a galaxy nexus, whipped out their phones and focused without an issue. :(
[Nexus 5 General] eman3316@optonline.net:
Wouldn't even attempt that one for a second. My phone will never see HDR mode.

---------- Post added at 02:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:10 PM ----------

When the GNEX has an up on any other phone when it comes to the camera you know there is something terribly wrong going on.
[Nexus 5 General] MojoCP:
I know I'm just piling on at this point, but the camera is just terrible for me. It wont focus on my subject 50% of the time, whether it's 5 feet away or 50. In fact, sometimes I'll tap and tap and FINALLY it will focus correctly, only for the camera to autofocus yet AGAIN before taking the pic and go blurry.

And I dont mean it focuses on the wrong thing - absolutely EVERY edge on the screen is blurry. It's as if it defaults to extreme close-up zoom whenever it's confused, which is often.

I also dont understand the incredible lag from snap to capture time, even with HDR+ off.

I'm already missing my HTC One S camera.
[Nexus 5 General] LaurenceGough:
The focus on the Nexus 5 is crap, although the actual hardware quality is very good, but you may have to take a number of shots trying to get autofocus to work before getting one with the correct part in focus.

Also on a number of occasions it fails to focus at all even if the AF area is high in contrast.
[Nexus 5 General] samagon:
Ugh. failed reply.

I think there are two separate issues.

1. Poor, slow, or no focus.

2. Slow shutter execution.

The focus issue might not be software. And it seems only some have the problem which lends to it being hardware.

The shutter execution is probably all software because outside of people saying that they can deal with it, no one seems to be immune.
[Nexus 5 General] schleppy:
I totally agree on this one. The fact that Google is replacing my phone for the focus issue makes me think that they aren't confident that will be "updated away".
[Nexus 5 General] eman3316@optonline.net:
I am not sure how bad your current phone is but I wouldn't be to confident that your next phone will be any better. Unless you are taking pictures of non moving items with a still hand and your pictures are still coming out blurry? Those should at least look good.

Can you post a picture taken with you phone. And dont blur it on pupose. ;)
[Nexus 5 General] schleppy:
Every photo I have tried to take has been me sitting in a chair, steady hand. All of them are blurry crap. Even video lacks any real detail. The attached photo I even braced against the wall to try and capture the photo. My GNex had no trouble with the same shot.

If the new phone comes and it's the same, then I will wait for a software update that will hopefully fix it. If that doesn't happen I'm going to return it and get something else.
[Nexus 5 General] eman3316@optonline.net:
What if you click on the screen to focus the picture, then snap it? What if you even backed up a little bit for that picture as it might not know what to focus on?

Do you know anyone else with an N5?
[Nexus 5 General] fooznugget:
When focus is right, it takes pretty good pictures, but this phone has the worst autofocus of any phone I've had so far. I seem to have better luck when taking pictures of subjects that are far away, but it's completely missing focus in probably half of my shots.
[Nexus 5 General] spadeace9:
This helped alot

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2516061
[Nexus 5 General] eman3316@optonline.net:
Would love to not have to root my phone but if if all else fails and Goolge doesn't come through I just might have to.

Does it really improve focus and shutter speed?
[Nexus 5 General] razholio:
no, yer not. I don't have my N5 yet, but have tried the camera out on 3 other N5's here at the office. What I originally thought was pretty good and fast focus I imagine could feel slow and inaccurate to others given their perspective (quality of past phone cameras). I suspect that there are variations between samples as well as variations in subject matter that all lead to varying experiences. It's a shame that what could have been a productive discussion about the different experience people have had with the N5 camera instead devolved into an intolerance of opinions as one poor guy admitted *he* 'had no problems' with it.

It took me weeks to come to grips with the fact that some people were perfectly happy with a retina-raping 800x600 pentile SAMOLED nightmare (yes, years ago) while I instead looked longingly at the display on the iphone4... while they eventually came around and admitted they could 'tell the difference', the visual abortion of those SAMOLED screens just wasn't so bad for them, and they never saw any 'problem'.
[Nexus 5 General] samagon:
How close are people to their subject when trying to focus? From what I've found 18-24" seems to be minimum focus distance. It may even be a little farther.
[Nexus 5 General] LaurenceGough:
Take a look at this sample shot I took the other day - nothing special but it shows you when focus is correct, which takes a few tries it is very good.

These shots have no editing - but they have been compressed slightly to upload to the web.
[Nexus 5 General] cas8180:
I often take pictures of my puppy with my s4 and my n5 and from the actual usage the shutter speed seems about the same on both phones
[Nexus 5 General] cfm530:
Just got my N5 yesterday and my only complaint is that there is a considerable lag between when the shutter is pressed and when the phone actually takes the picture... annoying if you're trying to take a picture of something that can move.

I am coming from an iPhone though so maybe this is an Android thing? Regardless I hope it is something that Google can fix as part of their next update, this phone is awesome otherwise.
[Nexus 5 General] krylon360:
There are several kernel and framework patches for the camera on CAF right now. Will have to build and see if it fixes the issues.

Several other patches for data, WiFi, and wake-locks.
[Nexus 5 General] eman3316@optonline.net:
Not familiar with what CAF is. So does that mean these are patches that Google will be using in their updates? I would love to know for certain that Google is acknowledging that the camera needs a fix and is currently working on it.

Right now we just have some rumors from a website.

---------- Post added at 09:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:45 PM ----------

This is a Nexus 5 thing. Android devices are more then capable of snapping pictures without lag.
[Nexus 5 General] krylon360:
CAF is Code Aurora Forums. Its Qualcomm's code/patch site.
[Nexus 5 General] schleppy:
My replacement Nexus 5 came today. The camera works 100% better than the last one. The new one can actually focus and take a nice crisp photo. Glad that's sorted.

Now hopefully they can fix the laggy shutter+focus with software.
[Nexus 5 General] Rado_vr6:
May be off topic, but anyone else having portrait picture issues? When I take a picture in portrait as opposed to landscape, the pictures show up properly in the gallery, but upon sending them or viewing on the computer, they get rotated and display improperly to the receiving party.
[Nexus 5 General] Moostafa29:
I'm having something sorta similar. Anytime I take a photo in portrait, the photos come out okay. However in landscape, the photos will be rotated 90, 180, and even 270 degrees. It's really weird, and annoying too.
[Nexus 5 General] caribouxda:
Those do more harm than good.
[Nexus 5 General] cydonian74:
Has anybody else tried loading this onto their N5?

http://www.teamapk.co/2013/11/06/google-camera-20001-apk-android-44-kitkat-download/

I loaded it out of interest and its somehow, I feel, updated the software because the camera focuses MUCH faster now. Virtually no lag at all. Worth trying IMO.
[Nexus 5 General] mengy007:
I loaded this too and I can confirm that the camera is much faster. The time from pressing the shutter button to the picture being taken and stored is much much faster now. Haven't tested much more other than that.
[Nexus 5 General] AcmE85:
This is the exact same version and build apk which is already shipped with 4.4 KitKat on the Nexus 5.
[Nexus 5 General] eman3316@optonline.net:
So this looks to over write your regular camera app. If it makes anything worse how would you get back to stock, especially if you aren't rooted and can just flash a backup.
[Nexus 5 General] AcmE85:
Simple "revert Update" option in Settings/Apps
[Nexus 5 General] cydonian74:
Is it possible that some didn't ship with this version? Some people have probs with speed of focusing and others not. It's fixed my problem so far, so I don't know?
[Nexus 5 General] ogboot:
If it may be the same version have you guys tried clearing data & cache from the camera app?
[Nexus 5 General] eman3316@optonline.net:
Thanks, So installed the .apk and took some pictures. Then uninstalled it and took some pictures to compare. Everything felt the same to me. I noticed no difference from one to the other.
[Nexus 5 General] jonmorris:
If there was ever a good example of the placebo effect, it must be installing the same camera app over the existing one and being convinced it has solved all of the problems!
[Nexus 5 General] cydonian74:
Well, the placebo effect is definitely snapping my very active 8 month old boy now where before EVERY active shot blurred. So I don't know; clearly I'm delusional. Anyways, I'll take the placebo effect.
[Nexus 5 General] eman3316@optonline.net:
Here is an interesting article on what we might see in future camera software updates from Google.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013...a-new-android-camera-api-supports-camera-raw/
[Nexus 5 General] uh60james:
Very interesting, looking forward to seeing what comes of this.
[Nexus 5 General] Xtremjeepn:
HATE the camera.

Read the whole thread hoping to find a solution to the crappy Nexus 5 Camera experience. Had an S3 and thought the camera worked great. Filled up nearly 30g of storage with just photos I used it so much. Never had a problem getting good shots. (Just for full disclousure, I've been paid many times for my photography and have been published in about 50 magazines/books etc....just saying I'm not a total hack behind the lens:cyclops:)

Not the case with the Nexus 5. I miss nearly every moment due to the lag and then when it does take a picture its blury. I've tried every setting, taping to focus, etc. It just won't capture the day to day real life "moments" (ironically the single thing Google is trying to market it for in their ads:eek:) I'm confident that it will take great "still life" photos.....unfortunately I have friends, dogs, kiddo and a wife....and am into sports that move;) I don't expect DSLR quality, but I do expect "hey look at what we did" on Facebook and texts quality....and it doesn't perform.

I know I'm just telling you guys something you already know. But since this thread lacked photo comparisons I figured I take a quick one. Just for the hell of it I picked up my wife's iPhone5 (not 5S) and without changing anything on it I butted the edge of it up against the edge of my Nexus and took a quick set of pictures of my Aussie puppy walking across the kitchen. Did this as a quickie "whip out the camera and take a memorable moment shots" test. To replicate how many people *really* use their phones. When I opened both camera apps the IPhone5 was in focus and the Nexus 5 totally blurry, it couldn't even find something to focus on. So the first step was to tap on the screen to pic a focus point. (Aussie). Then as he walked across the room I tapped each shutter button at exactly the same time and the same number of times.

In this case neither camera got a great shot. It's night time, inside, etc. BUT.......if you wanted to get a quick photo of something to share with friends or family the Nexus doesn't even keep up with the basics.

The iPhone5 took 7 photos and the Nexus 5 took 5.

Here is the first photo that the iPhone5 took. Not great by any means, blurry, but it did take a photo where the Nexus 5 did NOT!!

Here is the second photo the iPhone 5 took. Again, nothing special. I will let you guys judge the comparisons.

First photo out of the Nexus 5 (second tap). Notice that not only is it insanely blurry, but the iPhone5 actually got off 2 photos before the first one of the Nexus 5.

Iphone5 3rd shot.

Nexus 5 2nd.

I won't bore you guys with all 13 photos here. The theme is basically the same, last years iphone takes shots WAY faster and more "usable" on the fly in not perfect lighting.

Here are the last two shots from each.

iphone5

Nexus 5
[Nexus 5 General] Nitemare3219:
Keep playing with the camera app. You will find ways to make it work in its difficult state. The only time objects should be blurry are if it is not focused (you can make it focus if you have to), the object is moving at a decent pace and the shutter time is high due to the setting you are in, or YOU are moving the phone making it blur. I have taken some great shots with this camera. The only pitfall I have found is moving objects in a lot of cases. Sometimes they come out good... sometimes.
[Nexus 5 General] Xtremjeepn:
Never had these issues with my other 4 Android devices and I've taken over 8,000 photos with them. ;) It's not "me", its the phone:good:
[Nexus 5 General] jonmorris:
In good lighting, the Nexus 5 copes with movement pretty well. So those shots (as advertised) at a wedding will probably be okay.

But it's pretty useless as is in poorer conditions. It simply decides to do a longer exposure every single time, so even if you can get focus and lock it, you'll get those blurred results.

It needs a camera update, and not just tweaks but some new modes (or an improved auto mode) because behind that crappy camera app lies a really good sensor as I discovered by using Camera 360, which does give a bit more control.
[Nexus 5 General] 5H00T4:
Man I am really miffed about the camera as well.

I also don't like the lack of communication on Googles side.

Either it is a software issue, than come out and say it will be fixed plus give a timeframe.

If it is not, then let me replace my faulty phone.

We need to get some major outlets to report on this, or some kind of twitter storm.

I don't know.

Something.:(
[Nexus 5 General] willgare:
Im very disappointed with the N5 camera, its just as bad as the N4 IMO - but lets hope Google can fix it in this alleged update!
[Nexus 5 General] ravenwood27:
But but...wth is the OIS for then if we can't move abit after pressing the shutter ?

I find then when i press the shutter and shake my hands abit...pic gets blurred....I am still trying to find out when the OIS kicks in...I don't think it works at all in picture mode..only in video.
[Nexus 5 General] tsubus:
As said by many others, quality is just fine with me, photo sphere allows for amazing pics. Auto-focus is slow, that's the one thing I hope Google improves.
[Nexus 5 General] krabman:
Its not just smoke and mirrors. As some of you have no doubt read there is reference in the code to a much more advanced camera module (some of the specs are mentioned) that was pulled due to being unready by the drop dead date and they cobbled in what you have here. To my mind it seems likely something is coming but the question would be when.
[Nexus 5 General] matthew5025:
OIS works in both picture and video. Either you're shaking quite alot, or your phone's OIS isn't working correctly
[Nexus 5 General] ravenwood27:
So how can we test when OIS is working or not, what is the threshold for shakin ?
[Nexus 5 General] jonmorris:
On my Lumia 1020, when you're taking a photo in either fantastic light or using the Xenon flash, you can REALLY shake it around. In fact, Nokia demonstrate this many times, and it's quite amazing. I mean literally shake it as fast as you can without flinging the phone out of your hand.

The N5 seems to do quite well in good light (I got a fair few pictures of my son on swings and they were all pin sharp) but in low light forget it, and obviously the LED lamp - bright as it is - isn't that good. As such, movement (either the subject, or yourself) means your photo will probably be a disappointment.
[Nexus 5 General] matthew5025:
You should be able to see the camera sensor move when you shake your phone mildly
[Nexus 5 General] DaanJordaan:
Zoom all the way in and shake your phone ever so slightly, you'll notice that the viewfinder kind of floats the image.
[Nexus 5 General] Chad_Petree:
I think Google doesn't want to commit to a date , if it takes longer than expected then people would be even more disappointed so they're remaining silent for the time being :/ which is just as bad in my opinion hahaha :'( , just say were working on it and it's coming ! No estimated time needed !
[Nexus 5 General] RussianBear:
Like when they said Google play music will be available for ios in the coming weeks back in June. It just dropped last week lol
[Nexus 5 General] darwinosx:
The camera is inexcusably bad and everyone at The Verge except Nilay uses Android phones. You'll have to find a better excuse.
[Nexus 5 General] jonmorris:
The camera isn't that bad. It's bad in certain conditions - very bad even... but the sensor is fine and once the software is fixed, it will be just fine.

Sure, it's annoying to have to wait, but I certainly wouldn't deliberately buy something else because of it.
[Nexus 5 General] victorinoxs:
When I first saw the review by The Verge, I was thinking he must be biased......then I got my hands on the Nexus 5....I realized the review was actually very fair and spot on!!! Damn the camera software is a mess!! Besides the shutter lag and focusing issues, what's with the 16:9 viewfinder???? Who the xxxx designed this UI?! a 16:9 viewfinder for 4:3 photos???? why?????!!!!!!

Also, it only takes 2mp pictures while recording videos.....what's going on???? Even N4 or Galaxy Nexus can take full-res photos while recording videos...

It is seriously the worst camera experience I've had for a long time....
[Nexus 5 General] Leong428:
I'm a big Nexus fan and actually upgraded from the N4 just for the camera and some extra storage space. I have to agree, in the right conditions the hardware really pushes out amazing shots, but getting there takes time. On top of that the horrendous viewfinder makes it a pain to frame shots accurately as well.
[Nexus 5 General] Chad_Petree:
I like the 16:9 I just wish the photos would be 16:9 , a 16:9 viewfinder to take 4:3 ,now that it's plain stupid ! :banghead:
[Nexus 5 General] cas8180:
With the new Ads that have been posted on YouTube glorifying the camera. I would definitely think Google would want to save face and release a fix soon for our plaguing issues.
[Nexus 5 General] Venomous Viper 119:
I'm sure Google will have an eye over what people are talking about all over the web. There'll definitely be a camera fix. Regarding the battery, you need to deal with it using optimal settings, undervolting, trying different kernels, etc.
[Nexus 5 General] eman3316@optonline.net:
Google confirms that RAW and Burst Mode are coming, but they don't address the problem that every reviewer and person on he web is complaining about, the terrible shutter speed and focus? You would think they would say something. They have to have clue what people are saying, right?

http://www.androidcentral.com/googl...and-native-burst-mode-shooting-coming-android
[Nexus 5 General] krabman:
As I said there was reference in the code to the new module that is coming out, it clearly states that the camera was pulled due to failure to make the drop dead date and the current software was then cobbled in. I'm fairly hopeful that we will see improved camera performance on the basics as well because this one feels like the not optimized camera you would expect for something folded in at the last minute. Makes me wonder because they had to see what we have as a clearly better option which impies that the new module discussed was in a worse state. And that it needed some real work which takes time.

My guess or perhaps hope is a better word would be having pulled it and taken this beating on the camera performance they want to make sure when they do push the new module it works well to avoid another round of bad publicity.