yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[G2 General] beezar:
While I understand your frustration with the stock camera as it is rather disappointing that LG put such crap software on very capable camera hardware, you might as well make the best of the situation as you are stuck with the phone.

The "software some dude wrote in his basement" is excellent and improves things quite a lot. Making the camera mod has taken countless hours, so dismissing it is your loss. Rooting is ridiculously easy on this phone, as well as unroothing. Unrooting leaves no traces that you rooted your phone in the first place so losing warranty and the fact that your phone is for work would not be issues (not that I'm advocating this...).

If your work doesn't allow you to root, that likely means you got your phone for free from your work in the first place, so you are more than welcome to go buy yourself a different phone to take better pictures.

Again, stock LG camera is quite bad with low-light situations and moving objects, but complaining does nothing to improve your situation.
[G2 General] Dustin7892:
That "basement software" makes this camera easily better than my actual camera. First time I've actually enjoyed a front facing camera as well. (Makes you...prettier?). As far as slow goes, it was until the mod was done. Just look at the mod as a third party app, cause realistically it sort of is since its almost completely re-written. DSLR's use different lenses, we use different mods/apps ;)
[G2 General] Billy Madison:
But it is way better than those cameras in SGS3 and likes in the same low-light and moving situations
[G2 General] Chairmansaab:
Frame rate is horrible , 15fps@720p in low light, seriously where is 60fps ? My Galaxy S2 can do 30fps@1080p in low light with much better quality. Is this software or hardware problem because Stills photos on G2 are way way better than my S2's stills. Almost like SLR :D
[G2 General] kryogenik:
I'm not seeing any improvement with xdabbeb's mod in terms of autofocus or shutter speed (though the mod itself is genius and a must have). The only way I can live with this camera is by using manual focus. Everything else in anything but super conditions is always, always blurry. These pics in this thread are largely the same.

My S3 takes way better shots, and not by a small margin. By a BIG one.

The other major problem is the noise reduction overkill. The oil painting effect is 100% ugh..
[G2 General] kolembo:
Had the same problems until the KitKat update.

Now it's good!

Quality of the photos is excellent too.
[G2 General] djoni_gitara:
hah the first sentence is so truth.

That was my first thought when I was picking this phone: "nah the software is so ugly but the hardware is nice, nevermind... who care about the stock software, there is xda we will make a smartphone out of you" :)

If there was no chance by some rule for me to root or flash custom rom I would never bought this device for sure.

Then I bought device, came home, unpacked the box, switched on, checked battery level, transfered all required files (root, recovery, custom rom...) and the party started :)

Was on stock for a five minutes or maybe less :)
[G2 General] Incep:
Post of the year.
[G2 General] Johnsu:
Rofl. You seem rather bitter. Granted, the camera leaves a lot to be desired, but if all of those phones you listed in your original post were better, why did you bother upgrading at all? Moreover, "I shouldn't have to install software that some dude wrote in his basement" is rather stupid. You're on a website where 90% of the posts are about computer related coding and you insult us by calling us essentially basement dwellers. Careful now, your ignorance is showing. My phone does just fine with stuff moving. I have taken pictures of cars speeding down the highway, and they have come out just fine. Furthermore, your account is well over 3 years old, and you've made 8 posts, and all of them are regarding help from "Some dude in his basement".

Also, for giggles, if you're being robbed, and taking pictures instead of either calling the cops, or trying to stop them, you might want to reconsider your priorities.
[G2 General] howhi50:
+1 from a user coming from an S3, iPhone 4s, and HTC Amaze. Both of which had pretty above average cameras. My G2 is right up there with them if not better.

My favorite camera phone has to be an old Sony Ericsson K750i with only 2mp camera but was way ahead of its time. I believe the G2 shares there optics from Sony, who I believe puts there lenses in most iPhone's... Which we all know have above average photo quality.

So what's all the fuss with the G2? Is everyone's camera not good enough. I have 5 on my family plan and not one complaint from any one. All of which actively use there cameras for its purpose (to take photos). Same goes for friends and colleagues that I know who have this device.

Yes it would be nice to have the option for UHD recording and those awesome slomo shots. But I don't need that and if I change my mind there's someone who has made a mod "from there basement" who can remedy this for me.
[G2 General] sebastianlow:
For me, I think the G2 camera is one of the best android shooters around. Only complain I have is the slower than average focus speed. The time to capture another image after an image is taken is also on the slower side but its not something that I notice until I was told.
[G2 General] Johnsu:
Yeah, the focus speed could be a bit faster, especially when I want to take a shot of our black kittens, and they move frequently.
[G2 General] joeynox:
the camera is flat out terrible in anything other than a flash or bright daylight. the focusing is a joke even with the mods. its really a shame that the iphone( hate it) still has the best all around functioning camera. it takes great pics and is super fast. Nokias are the best in low light. LG's camera software is atrocious and they should be shot with paintballs.I hate that i cant take a good picture with this phone in dim light even with the flash because the screen gets blurry and that light sources wash out the lens . highly disappointed with the camera overall
[G2 General] BackDaws:
Whats the lg g3 like camera wise? Isit still plauged by the same problems?
[G2 General] lowjinyik:
The G3 uses the same sensor with laser auto focus and ab additional Z axis for OIS.
[G2 General] joeliotta:
Man I hope so because I really like this phone but rely on my phone to take pictures of the family.
[G2 General] s1mpd1ddy:
I have the same issues in low light and with moving objects. My buddy with a g2 has the same problems as well.

The speed of taking a photo in low light is so bad when compared to my iPhone 5s which is almost instant. The quality of the pics are on same level with the g2 being a bit better but the pain of taking a good low light pic gives the iPhone a win.

Hopefully an update can fix this
[G2 General] p51d007:
For the time being, people need to think of a smart phone as a PHONE, with a "convenience" camera, ie: you need a quick snapshot of something.

The sensor inside smartphones, is a PINHOLE camera sensor. With the stupidity of the average human thinking more is better, device makers are packing more and more sensors, into a finite area. When you do that, the pixels have to shrink, to pack in more sensors. This introduces crosstalk, noise, ghosting and all sorts of issues. The signal to noise ratio increases, with the decreased amount of light striking the sensors.

Instead of improving an 8megapixel sensor, they want to pack in 12, 14, 16 megapixels or more. A "good" 8MP sensor can produce a pretty

good photo, at 8" x 10" (20.3cm x 25.4cm). Now, in this day & age, who really prints photos? I bet 99% are sent to facebook, instagram and

the like, so over 8mp is just a waste, UNLESS you are into cropping. That is the real advantage of the Nokia 41MP sensor on the back of their smartphone. ZOOMING into a small part of the photo, to enlarge a certain area. To capture a good photo, you need a sensor that has a large

gammut, a good signal to noise ratio, shutter speed and the f-stop set correctly. Until the miniaturization of GLASS OPTICS gets to the point where they can put a 10-15 element lens on a smartphone, in so so lighting conditions, you are going to be hard pressed to capture anything moving faster than a turtle. It isn't possible. You can download a camera app that has a shutter speed, ISO rang etc, and if the sensor in

your phone has the dynamic range, it can help a little, but, if you REALLY are trying to capture memories, do yourself a favor and spring for

a dedicated camera, and use the smartphone for one of those, "hey, look at this" type photos.

On my smartphone, a Galaxy Note 1, it has an 8mp sensor. I use camera FV-5, just because the controls mimic my dSLR controls in the way they look on screen. I use mine, pretty much for snapping things for work, mostly problems on the machinery I do repair work on, but for family photos, "priceless" memories, I stick to my trusty Nikon dSLR. My smartphone was purchased off contract 2 years ago for 570 dollars.

I think the camera body alone was more than that, and the lens I use, heck, one of them was well over 1,000.00

Glass can't be replaced by "sapphire", plastic & pinhole sensors...it just ain't gonna work.
[G2 General] ZigZagJoe:
TL;DR: Use sports mode. If desperate, try forcing ISO to 800.

Did some more testing of the camera. Sports mode does indeed bias towards faster shutter speeds - usually seems to pick ISO 400 where normal/auto would have used a shutter speed two stops slower and ISO 100. If sports mode is not cutting it, set ISO 800 and hope. If you don't get it at ISO 800, you won't get it with the default camera app. Some third party apps (I tried FV-5) allow you to specify ISO 1600, but image quality will be even worse. Really, just get a real camera out or get into better lighting.

Something else I have to mention is if you are using the modified camera app, if the guy did indeed manage to modify the actual amplification levels, what he did will reduce performance in regards to capturing moving objects as it will force a slower shutter speed - not entirely sure that guy knows what he is monkeying with.

My personal theory on the slow focus in low light is its being caused by the camera dropping below 1/30th of a second shutter speeds in favor of getting a proper exposure to be able focus precisely. If this is the case, forcing it to underexpose to get a smooth preview and faster focus could result in it being unable to focus.

There is a workaround for that, though, and focusing on moving objects: use the manual focus feature LG was so kind to include and set it to infinity focus. As long as you are about 3 feet or more from the object being photographed, everything will be in focus and there will be no shutter lag.

Seems like some people in here are (maybe?) talking about shutter lag rather than motion blur. Would help they clarified which is the case, and if it's actual shutter lag (slow to capture photo) or slow focus before taking photo.
[G2 General] fr4nk1yn:
Telling us how it's a cellphone isn't helpful or making anyone feel better about the horrible camera.

The Droid DNA takes great photos under just about any situation. The GNex takes photos without blur.

There's no reason for this camera to be as bad as it is unless in perfect lighting.

I'm thinking they relied on the OIS too much and lowered lowered the shutter speed.

They've seem to hit a perfect storm of ISO and shutter speed and we're going down with the boat.
[G2 General] ZigZagJoe:
Yes, that's what I said in both my posts.... due to the presence of IS, it will bias towards slower shutter speeds in order to improve image quality with static subjects. If you want to force faster shutter speeds, use Sports mode or worst-case force ISO 800.

The G2 isn't any different than any other camera in when it comes to exposure - If it can't use a suitable shutter speed to avoid motion blur, then the DNA or Nexus won't be able to either. Same sensor size, similar lens apertures. No radical new technology here. It sounds like you're trying to take a picture that by rights you either need a DSLR-class sensor or xenon flash to do. Whining about it won't change anything.
[G2 General] GeknGekn:
Haters gonna hate! Just got the G2 and read through the xda g2 section, tried the camera and thought mää not bad not good average. I also owned a Hella lot of phones and even the first camera phone the Ericsson T610 ? that one truly sucked. But as a experienced xda member I just have one thing to say READ THROUGH THE FREAKING FORUM THERE ARE A HIDDEN GEM POST HIDDEN INSIDE!
[G2 General] garywojdan81:
I can say, after a couple days on this phone, that I don't have much issue with the camera at all, but I'm not looking for studio quality either. I'm still in the learning curve.
[G2 General] zaki67:
Actually the camera on the S4 used to drive me crazy (not that the s4 was a bad phone )I am very happy with the LG camera.
[G2 General] jondrix22:
Same problem here...

Using international G2 (D802), not able to take moving subjects indoor (without using flash of course). (clid, animals, eyes....)

It's quite obvious that the shutter is too slow, hoping that OIS is going the job....

Using sports mode or manual focus did not help me BUT

Apparently in Auto Intelligence, taking several pictures of the same thing give different level of ISO, going a lot higher than the 800...

None of you tried the mod proposed by :: Jishnu Sur http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2471900 ???

I am not rooted yet, so I can't test....retur would be highly appreciated...
[G2 General] tiguy99:
Software issue bro. Update should be coming soon
[G2 General] crawlgsx:
YES! THE G2 AND N5 have the slowest cell phone camera I have ever owned, it is awful. Taking pictures of moving objects I find to be impossible.
[G2 General] doronbh:
Guys,

Firstly, I am pretty fed up with comments of the likes of "this is only a smartphone camera" , "this is not an SLR" , "a smartphone camera isn't meant for that".... I mean, I don't see anyone complaining that his smartphone's camera takes bad pictures IN COMPARISON to his DSLR/SLR/Pocket camera.

I am working in a HW/SW company in the telecom market.

I have seen ALL of the devices the world has to offer. I have had 5 smartphones in the past 10 months alone.

And I can get picky too. I take a device I like and I review it for myself, then decide to get it or not.

So..... I have experience.

I had the HTC One before my G2.

Great device overall. Great camera overall.

I would say this - I will be willing to give up a few MPs for a fast shutter speed.

If you really think about it, it is better 90% of the time to actually CAPTURE the damn moment then to have an unusable, washy, un-focused "picture".

I don't have a single decent picture of my daughter crawling about !!

The G2's camera in a nutshell:

- SLOWEST shutter speed to be introduced in the past year

- Very slow AF

- Worst experience I have had as of late when shooting moving objects

- Great software menu

- Amazing scenery picture capabilities

D.
[G2 General] tacosrdelicioso:
Lol, again, mines perfectly fast
[G2 General] jspradling7:
I like the camera for outside pictures too. But indoors is a different story even with flash.
[G2 General] Bigralphn:
Here is a photo with fv 5. It is in a dark basement t. Lighting is indirect. There is a bulb about 15 feet to my left. Color temperature is low as the basement is slightly tinted orange. Everything here is on auto mode. I did not touch anything except to turn flash on. I was swirling my foot to simulate movement like a child playing. Perhaps not as fast as one sprinting. While it is not perfect it did a far better job than my Nexus would have or my wife's HTC and her S4.

I am sure pros can pick it apart.

---------- Post added at 04:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:04 PM ----------

Here is a photo with fv 5. It is in a dark basement t. Lighting is indirect. There is a bulb about 15 feet to my left. Color temperature is low as the basement is slightly tinted orange. Everything here is on auto mode. I did not touch anything except to turn flash on. I was swirling my foot to simulate movement like a child playing. Perhaps not as fast as one sprinting. While it is not perfect it did a far better job than my Nexus would have or my wife's HTC and her S4.

I am sure pros can pick it apart.

---------- Post added at 04:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:05 PM ----------

I will add that when trying to do so with the stock camera app results were less satisfying. They were washed out or slightly blurry. The one above was on the first try. I am sure there will be camera fixes. Every phone I have had has gotten some kind of camera fix. I am not sure if it will be what some want though, or what the tradeoff may be off they're is one. Obvious this was tested prior to release. Who knows to what extent.
[G2 General] Bigralphn:
I shot if the TV in a low light room. I will try to get the dog playing tonight. I am not saying this is the best lowlight camera. I have to wonder if there are variances in quality between phones. I hope they do update to make you guys happy but I am satisfied.

---------- Post added at 06:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 PM ----------

And if you are wondering about the boxes and vacuum, the dog tried to hide behind the TV when it storms.
[G2 General] kayrune:
I did the same test in well lit office enviroment, swirling my foot. Even in sports mode foot was blurred. That is slow shutter. But also another problem, often even if I pre-focus, when I push the button to capture, the movement of the phone cause the camera to focus again. The Autofocus is not only slow, but way to sensitive. This is also seen when filming, the autofocus is working all the time on slight movement in and out of focus. I put on flash and took a 100 page magazine, flipping through the pages to see if it could snap the pages moving, but I was at last page long before picture was taken. Camera is DAMN slow unless outdoor in sunlight.

LG !! The hell with 4.4 - fix the damn camera first !! The amount of focus LG put on camera capabilites in their advertisement this should be fixed long ago.
[G2 General] doronbh:
Couldn't agree more.

Exactly what I am thinking.

If anyone thinks this camera is fast, go snap a shot with an iPhone or an HTC One.

In a smartphone, it is imperative to have a fast shutter speed, absolutely a must.
[G2 General] tizonly1:
My camera is unbelievably slow. I think it's defective.

Also, when shooting video, when I shoot 1080 at 30p, it shoots at 24fps.

When I shoot 60p, it records at 15 fps.

Anyone else getting such ridiculously horrible results when shooting video, or do I have a defective unit?
[G2 General] woof123:
Shoot video where?If you are trying to record video inside or in low light situation then its expected..To get the maximum you need to be outside and in daylight.
[G2 General] tizonly1:
That's to be expected? No it isn't.

If I go into settings, and set it at 60fps, it needs to shoot at 60fps. Seeing as how that's what I asked for, the camera should just bump the ISO to compensate and get the proper exposure.

It makes exactly zero sense that, when shooting in the exact same lighting, if I select 60p, it shoots slower than if I select 30p.

I'm no absolute expert, but in my (pretty decent) understanding of video exposure, asking for a higher frame rate, if the camera doesn't have an ISO setting high enough to compensate, and assuming it sets the shutter speed, relative to the desired frame rate to keep a 180° shutter, it still makes zero sense to drop the frame rate to 15p, when in the exact same lighting, the camera shows me it can shoot at 24p, at least.

LG should just bump the ISO, and if that still isn't enough, then there needs to be an algorithm to find the highest frame rate possible given the lighting, while maintaining a 180° shutter. Dropping the frame rate, how they do it makes no sense whatsoever.

This phone takes worse indoor video than my Galaxy S2 did two years ago.
[G2 General] freebee269:
i have a nokia lumia 920 and had a nokia lumia 1020 before coming back to android with my at&t g2. i came back to android because of all the initial positive reports about this camera. i thought finally i can come back to android and i'll be able to get a camera that can perform in low light like the lumia phones can and also with OIS that is a must have for me now. after playing with the phone for almost 2 weeks, the camera has disappointed me. it is not any better at 13mp than my lumia 920 at 8mp. the OIS tech in it is not better than the lumia 920 or 1020. those phones do keep the camera module more steady than my g2. i tested this by mounting my lumia 920 and my g2 on the front of my bike and going for a ride. the difference is very noticeable. also, at auto settings my lumia 920 just gets things right automatically better than my g2 whether its alot of light or low light. the point of having a phone with a good camera is for when i'm out and want to take a spur of the moment pic. i dont have time to mess with the manual settings, that defeats the purpose of it being spur of the moment. i want the auto settings to get it right most of the time. on my g2 it doesnt if the lighting is not adequate enough. now in high lighted area's it's a champ. but in any other settings that's not being outside, it starts to go downhill. i'm not writing this to bash my g2. i like the phone alot. everything else about it is state of the art. but when comparing the camera to another oem that is really good with cell phone camera's, it still has a ways to go.
[G2 General] ZigZagJoe:
Slow AF in low light is known and may not be entirely fixed as the alternative is not being able to focus at all.

Now, shutter speed, this can go 2 ways. If you mean time from button press to picture capture [shutter lag], are you talking about time taken to focus or camera taking a while to actually take the shot after press and focus is locked? OR, are you talking about low shutter speeds? As if you are, then you're whining for the sake of whining. Try sports mode or setting ISO to 800. If you can't get a picture of whatever it is under those conditions, then you won't get it with another cell phone camera, unless it's one of the nokia ones with a xenon flash. It should go without saying that you should be prefocused (or using manual focus).

Also, if you'd take time off from venting you'd realize we're not talking image quality, we're talking hardware capability. A DSLR has the option of using built in flash or pushing ISO to the moon to get faster shutter speeds, even a compact can do higher ISOs and has a flash. Cell phones can't crank sensitivity (ISO) and they don't have a real flash. You're going to have problems. Kids indoor are a nightmare for real cameras, cell phone won't do any better.

You can't give up MP for shutter speed. Fewer pixels will result in less noise (and less detail), but it won't result in faster shutter speeds. Just doesn't work like that - camera physics will be the same no matter what camera you're using.
[G2 General] fr4nk1yn:
Let's examine that statement with visual proof.

None of these photos were post processed. They were taken with the DNA and tell me a SLR would be remarkably better, (and then I'll call B.S.). The photo of the shop was taken near midnight with nothing but lights from the street lamp outside.

Regardless of whatever on paper specs or excuses, our camera, and the n5 which apparently had the same problems, should be better.

If HTC could do this a year and a half ago LG should be able to do better now.

We have a firmware, since no app does better, or software problem.

Ignoring it doesn't make it go away.

And anyone trying to take spontaneous family photos is going to be pissed.