yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Xperia Z2 General] One Twelve:
Its difficult to do, because even when you correct with manual, the next charge will be sample size. gsmarena on the basis of a sample size of 6 photos draws the conclusion that this or that camera is better.

Next problem is its an all auto test. Different subjects with different lighting conditions means the results will be different, if 10 people tried to do this test the results will be different. So reproducing results isn't consistent. Its easy for auto to be tricked, it happens even with the best of cameras. Auto is a recipe for unpredictable quality. Now gsmarena tries to pick subjects that are clear cut that hopefully cause the least confusion for the sensors but then you can say that's not a real life test. For a camera that does not allow manual tweaks like moto x, 5s or g3 then you hope you get a good shot otherwise, hey its just a phone camera, can't ask for more.

The truth is, in the hands of skilled users ones that know their camera and how light works will produce results with little difference when comparing phones of the same generation. But that is not a sexy answer, it does not make you choose one product over another and you have to work at it. Who wants to do that :laugh:

There are some objective statements that can be made based on feature set. Does the camera allow you to correct for a bad photo, yes or no. panorama is easy, samsung i thought was the king but that review told me that g3 is the best at it. HDR is another win for samsung, though this is a matter of taste. Video on samsung is the sharpest provided you don't walk or use some external stability jig.

On test i would like to see is how well can it catch moving subjects indoors in avg light. Maybe a metronome or similar that moves at a constant speed with varying light conditions. Does not need to move fast, say hand wave speed. No such standardised test exists so even if you made one, the basis will be questionable. But i think it could be useful. I don't know if phone cameras are at that point yet, its hard enough to get clear shots of still subjects as it is.
[Xperia Z2 General] Guest69:
Wow, plenty of good and well informed advice and information here, far more than I would expect on a phone forum, but very much appreciated. I guess, to some degree, all photography is subjective - beauty in the eye of the beholder and all that, although the above comments stick to the subject of the technical merits and capabilities of the camera equipment on the phone. Still, I like the way the z2 has the ability to take, at worst, passable photos in any given circumstances, but also gives you the option to use any previous knowledge of photography to enhance the results if you feel the need, or to just mess about while learning more. As I've said before, short of a 10x optical zoom and a huge aperture (!), I am much more than happy with the Z2's camera. Ok, I don't have a g3 or a s5 or (god forbid) an iPhone 5s to compare the results with but hey, that's because I chose the z2. I have no regrets, even if someone can prove to me that another phone can technically outperform it, which over the remaining 20 months of my contract, I am sure will happen.

So people, seeing yourselves as restricted or not by our hardware and software, let's see your pictures, wether it's a quick superior auto, or a 30 minute thought out manual shot!

Ok, I was going to take a picture to add to this post but the camera is too hot! Damn my choice of phone!! :D
[Xperia Z2 General] DrearierJester1:
Sharing ... Be a HERO

Background defocus is really awesome.
[Xperia Z2 General] gadjet:
Great camera
[Xperia Z2 General] NetSkill:
Superior auto 8mp

Manual 2mp - iso 50
[Xperia Z2 General] ipmanwck:
Taken whilst using video camera
[Xperia Z2 General] patrixl:
Some fireworks over the beach. Superior auto.
[Xperia Z2 General] kannanX10:
steadyshot is simply superb

it seems steadyshot feature is much better than OIS+ on G3.....watch the following video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjy7JnAbzjM
[Xperia Z2 General] crzykiller:
That guy must have a defective G3... I had the G2 and the xperia Z2 (have the S5 now because 2 Z2's broke in 2 weeks) and the G2 was much more stable than the Z2
[Xperia Z2 General] iRadio:
Tried a close up today, a little editing with bundled software. Taken on superior auto
[Xperia Z2 General] ipmanwck:
That's about right. The g3 when I had it was not great. I watched some review on you tube which said ois only works whilst taking snaps not video?
[Xperia Z2 General] NetSkill:
Superior Auto
[Xperia Z2 General] pratyush997:
Does Superior Auto mode works fine on 20 mp?

http://repo.xposed.info/module/com.wedy.auto20mp
[Xperia Z2 General] diego9016:
20mpx iso 50. The view from the window in my room
[Xperia Z2 General] FireDragonHD:
Gesendet von meinem D6503 mit Tapatalk
[Xperia Z2 General] Batfink33:
See the pics I posted with it.
[Xperia Z2 General] pratyush997:
Can't find the post :'(
[Xperia Z2 General] Batfink33:
Strange, I can't see it either.

Here they are...

20Mp Superior Auto Xposed Mod

16.9 15Mp Superior Auto
[Xperia Z2 General] Burgscheinkerkdeiktraast:
Well, my 6 years old pics taken with Nokia N95 looks exactly same when resized.

Next time give us full resolution, otherwise it is pointless as every phone is capable to look OK when resized :P
[Xperia Z2 General] One Twelve:
it is, the only competitor in this paramter is the lumia 920. Here is another

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQlPzYHhXT0

---------- Post added at 04:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:02 AM ----------

[/COLOR]

underlined bit is nonsense

Dxo's scores on video stabilisation FYI

Z2

: 66

G2

: 46 (!)

---------- Post added at 04:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:07 AM ----------

G3's OIS+ = G2 2 axis OIS + software stabilisation

2-axis stabilisation isn't very good at stabilising walking.
[Xperia Z2 General] Guest69:
Only just found the "tiny planet" effect in photo editor
[Xperia Z2 General] Faisal Wibowo:
1S Shutter speed and low ISO can be enabled to make outstanding night shots

Hello! I'm new here and I would like to share a trick that you guys may not know. Xperia Z2 (and possibly other xperia phones can do this as well) can enable 1s shutter speed for outstanding night shots.

To do this, the phone must be mounted on a tripod and superior auto (night time) or night scene in the manual mode must be activated. The superior auto mode will detect a tripod (as shown in the attachment)

I wish I could give full size 1s shutter speed samples but there is a 256kb jpeg limit.

Cheers
[Xperia Z2 General] knoxploration:
See later posts in this thread:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2577743

Some reports of it working, some of it not working, and one of it making badly stretched images.
[Xperia Z2 General] Guest69:
Just had my first proper shoot with both my z2 and my NEX, I have to say I'm happier at first glance with the results from the z2.

My wife is better at making wedding cakes than I am at taking photographs.

Actually, I've just compared them on the big screen and the NEX wins. On a smaller screen, the z2 has better colours and balance, and it dealt with backlight better.
[Xperia Z2 General] One Twelve:
I believe the slowest shutter on the Z2 is the same as on the Z1 ie 0.8s

Very interesting, was not aware that SA actually detected the phone was stable. I guess this is why people were never able to get better shots in low light unless they expressly turned on any of the night scene or fireworks modes.

Put them up on flickr, all you then need to do is post the link to the image.
[Xperia Z2 General] Faisal Wibowo:
Damn, I think I need to post 10 times first before I can give any link
[Xperia Z2 General] vincent2167:
Dragonfly (cropped image)
[Xperia Z2 General] rasputin981:
Voice control for Sony camera?

Hey guys,

Sorry if it is a little off topic, but is there any way to control Sony camera with voice, to take a pictures with : shoot, capture, or anything like that? I miss that from my Note 3, and it comes pretty handy in some situations :) I couldn't find it, but maybe some third party app, or so?
[Xperia Z2 General] Guest69:
I wondered the same, having come from the gs3, I found it really useful, although the physical shutter button helps in most situations.
[Xperia Z2 General] :
[IMG="15mp Xposed Cybershot"][/IMG]
[Xperia Z2 General] gadjet:
Superior auto
[Xperia Z2 General] testnumero:
more Z2 pics (it seems to be commercial version) :

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.300602823423766&type=3&l=f6c6f24993
[Xperia Z2 General] Chad_Petree:
It does look like they were taken with a Z2, the guy who posted the photos wrote this "Pas d'amélioration vs Xperia Z, Z1, Z1 Compact... correct en plein jour. Toujours mauvais en basse luminosité selon moi..." Which according to google translate goes like this "No improvement vs Xperia Z, Z1, Z1 Compact ... ok in daylight. Always bad in low light in my ...."
[Xperia Z2 General] chobits:
it's not a commercial site

it says that z2 has no improvement over the previous one and still sucks at low light
[Xperia Z2 General] Chad_Petree:
He meant the consumer version, aka the version who will be sold to customers, final version, no prototypes :cowboy:
[Xperia Z2 General] BoneXDA:
Review Xperia Z2 unit vs. Galaxy S5 vs. G2 Pro vs. HTC One M8

http://www.eprice.com.tw/mobile/talk/124/4899661/1/rv/sony-xperia-z2-review/

What do you guys think? 100% crops to come later here.
[Xperia Z2 General] omersak:
Seems like the Z2 couldn't focus properly in any of the pictures. Soft.

Disappointing.
[Xperia Z2 General] BoneXDA:
Hm, interesting. I was about to say that the Z2 offers the most details (pretty nice noise reduction, nothing too serious), but then looking at full details compared to the Samsung, I too noticed some focus / lens issues. The S5 applies heavier noise reduction, yet appears to be better focused of the two. Both do a pretty good job on white balance, color range and exposure. G Pro 2 has the most color issues, M8 is fairly good but let down by resolution and dynamic range (most clipping of the 4). I'd say it's a toss-up between the Z2 and S5, but the latter may be more reliable at this point in time (mostly due to it's focus mechanism), but Sony has time to work on the SW, and it's already much better than the Z and Z1. Neither is the 1020 of course...
[Xperia Z2 General] Chad_Petree:
The clear winner from me on those pictures was the galaxy s5 :'( .... I would like to see sony give us a HDR+ mode, I still don't understand why we don't have a manual HDR mode on the Z1/Z2 camera :crying:, HDR+ mode on the Nexus 5 does wonders on night pictures :cool:
[Xperia Z2 General] jonmorris:
Given the Z2 has the same camera as the Z1/Z1 Compact, and Sony hasn't got a fantastic track record of improving its camera software (and even seems to go from one extreme to the other, then back with successive updates), I am not entirely surprised that we're seeing better overall results on other products now.

I can only hope that Sony is working on something exceptional for the Z3.

I'm probably going to upgrade to the Z2 but it's mostly for the improved screen and audio. I am not expecting the camera to be any different, and certainly any improvement in software would be given to Z1 users either officially, or unofficially.

But I do always try and use manual mode, so I can usually get good photos. The exception being taking photos of my incredibly active 2 year old son indoors. Nearly every photo is grainy and blurred, no matter what settings are used - so I've come to accept that this is a weakness of the camera.
[Xperia Z2 General] liliha:
Wow I must say I'm a bit underwhelmed at those camera shots, if this is 2014's flagship line up I'm disappointed.. hoping its just me
[Xperia Z2 General] chesterr:
Oh c'mon, this is just the manual mode and the 20MP shots, they weren't using SA. I think if they were using SA then Z2 would've done a good job on focusing.
[Xperia Z2 General] BoneXDA:
Daylight comparison between the One M8, Galaxy S5, Xperia Z2 and G Pro 2

http://www.eprice.com.tw/mobile/talk/124/4899662/1/rv/sony-xperia-z2-review/

This is where the M8 comes up short. While per pixel detail is good, it's just too low resolution. But the real disappointment, at least on this particular comparison, is the Z2, that doesn't produce sharp images. Either it's a focus or a lens issue, but it's consistent. Remember the Z1 tried to contest this with very heavy sharpening - toned down under KitKat - so there's less post-processing here which is good, but nowhere near 20MP worth of detail, which is bad. The G Pro 2 appears to have a better balance, smaller sensor, "just" 13MPs, but a sharper lens.
[Xperia Z2 General] debrandman:
98965969

The Z2 shots were taken with manual mode (4:3), and the others with auto mode (16:9).They clearly try to put down the Z2 in this comparison, thats not fair!
[Xperia Z2 General] BoneXDA:
What? In all cases reviewer chose the highest resolution possible. If a "manual mode" at 20MP produced worse results than a downsampling "superior" algorithm at 8, that would make the 20MP sensor pointless, wouldn't it?
[Xperia Z2 General] omersak:
That's because the Auto mode craps out at only 8mp.

Also, the pictures are horridly processed. Having owned a Z1 previously, it gives it's best results in Manual mode/20.7 mp.
[Xperia Z2 General] debrandman:
Look at the Z2 picture size,its (4:3).On the Z2 you cannot select the highest resolution(20MP) with 4:3, thats available only with 16:9.If they had used superior automode,with 20 MP, Z2 pictures would have been 16:9 and not 4:3 as shown in the comparison.I'm just saying, pictures in superior auto mode would have looked much better...and thats why they used manual mode to take down the Z2.

---------- Post added at 01:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:19 PM ----------

Ohh...my bad, superior auto doesn't work with the highest rez, sorry about that! :o
[Xperia Z2 General] progosu:
IMO, the best all rounder is htc one, I don't like this phone but I have to admit, it takes good pictures in low light and decent pictures in good light. Galaxy S5 takes AMAZING pictures in good light but it sucks big time in low, lack of OIS is the biggest issue here, look at the test in which they were focusing at "RODY", s5 is defenitely the worst there, and htc one is the clear winner. The biggest problem with Z2 is that it takes extremely blurry pictures, look how sharp s5 is, the picture with Captain America's shield shows it perfectly, especially when you are looking at the QR code.
[Xperia Z2 General] doministry:
I think it would be good to wait for commercial version.

Secondly, I truly believe the main aim of these cameras is to give good pictures overally,

not to excell in a bit absurd closeups.

Just my opinion.
[Xperia Z2 General] CarlT:
From Android Geeks: http://www.android.gs/samsung-galaxy-s5-vs-sony-xperia-z-vs-htc-one-m8/
[Xperia Z2 General] Chad_Petree:
I'm dissapointed with the pictures I've seen so far from the Z2, they're extremely noisy, it looks like everything is out of focus, I don't understand :( , for example in this picture , pretty much every single bike looks blurry :/
[Xperia Z2 General] ponello:
QUESTION ABOUT MACROs

Hi, I have a Z1 but I follow this thread very interested.

The macros from Z2 looks much much better than from my Z1. And I wonder why since the camera "eyesight" should be the same.

Do you have a macro scene function in MANUAL MODE (8 MP) ????

Because Z1 does not have.

Macro only switches on automatically in SA mode.

Even if I use A BETTER CAMERA or other camera apps, forcing the macro, I can't obtain good results.
[Xperia Z2 General] doministry:
Yes there is Macro here.

Called "Document" setting.
[Xperia Z2 General] ponello:
Oh thanks ! You use document so....I'll give it a try on a small flower or insects for example !
[Xperia Z2 General] doministry:
Whatever you want.
[Xperia Z2 General] se1000:
No post processing (I swear) the only thing I did was resize!
[Xperia Z2 General] gibbo82:
PIC of my niece & nephew playing in the pool today. I like how the camera has picked up the water splashes

The photos look much better when actually viewing them from my album app compared to these I've just uploaded
[Xperia Z2 General] antti91:
Macros by noob photographer

Some macros I took in my mother's garden. I'm not an experienced photographer and these were taken on the day that I got my phone so I only used Superior Auto mode and wasn't all that familiar with the different settings. They look great and vibrant att least when viewed on the phone with X-Reality turned on.

I really like how the background gets blurred even though I didn't use the background defocus mode.

Phones:

Samsung Galaxy S I9000

Asus Padfone 2

Sony Xperia Z2

____________________________

Android user since mid 2010
[Xperia Z2 General] Meemo23:
All taken on auto mode..
[Xperia Z2 General] kirdroid:
Auto mode and panorama...
[Xperia Z2 General] pepeo123:
hey could someone with a z2 test this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.sourceforge.opencamera

and see if touch to focus works on 4k video?

thanks
[Xperia Z2 General] le_lutin:
When I go into the settings and select 4k it allows me to select the option, but then tells me it's not supported when I try to take a video.

Touch to focus works in normal HD video though.
[Xperia Z2 General] BR4DOKYBrazil:
Maybe is speed of your SD Card ???
[Xperia Z2 General] le_lutin:
Open camera saves the video to the internal memory.
[Xperia Z2 General] pepeo123:
thank you very much for testing it. i hope they fix this in future updates

continuous af in z1 and z2 is pretty anoying, it can ruin videos because of the unconsistent triggering focus, but this fixes the problem
[Xperia Z2 General] DrearierJester1:
Low-lit environment
[Xperia Z2 General] zlocko:
A lot of pictures looks quite nice, but how is camera app focus now, cus i had a lot of problems with auto focus on my old xperia? cheers
[Xperia Z2 General] Amidamaru212:
Well, some photos taken by Superior auto (FW. 314) - just second was taken by Background defocus. :)
[Xperia Z2 General] ArbiterGR:
Another low light shot ;)
[Xperia Z2 General] beni8978:
Spidey,night shot.
[Xperia Z2 General] jaffa1980:
Saw this chap while gardening today! Manual document mode so 8meg until i find xposed to sorry that out too lol
[Xperia Z2 General] Guest69:
Keeping with the bug theme. . .

Superior Auto, slightly cropped
[Xperia Z2 General] doministry:
nice

---------- Post added at 08:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:35 PM ----------

Hmm it's not in focus.
[Xperia Z2 General] gm007:
Sorry duplicated
[Xperia Z2 General] ArbiterGR:
Lake Doxa in Corinthia
[Xperia Z2 General] jaffa1980:
Bow chicka wow woow
[Xperia Z2 General] doministry:
DSC_0671_20140812003800904

by doministry, on Flickr

Night landscape, edited with Pixlr.
[Xperia Z2 General] Black LIsT:
Why Sony don't add options to save image as PNG? It look better than the JPEG.
[Xperia Z2 General] doministry:
Warsaw 1

by doministry, on Flickr

Filtered by Pixlr
[Xperia Z2 General] Jackos:
Warsaw under construction... Sounds familiar :)
[Xperia Z2 General] doministry:
DSC_0519_20140811132932652 by doministry, on Flickr
[Xperia Z2 General] DrearierJester1:
Super detailed low-lit photo
[Xperia Z2 General] gautampw:
Anyone here uses xposed modules to get superior auto at 21/15mp? I was wondering whether it has any negative effects on camera quality
[Xperia Z2 General] doministry:
Not here, no... I use Manual 8mpx mainly...
[Xperia Z2 General] MichaelWT:
Took this a few weeks ago

[IMG="Barbican Exhibition"]http://i.imgur.com/YpZXZdv.jpg[/IMG]
[Xperia Z2 General] jaffa1980:
All mine in here are. Except the flies lol that was 8M
[Xperia Z2 General] voodoochild2008:
Hi all, its no doubt been posted but just wonder has there been a stock photo vs modded photo review, I mean I see there is a mod that allows higher detail and features to be used that Sony locked out.

Thanks
[Xperia Z2 General] doministry:
DSC_0676_20140816130637138 by doministry, on Flickr
[Xperia Z2 General] beni8978:
Valdanos
[Xperia Z2 General] Heisenberg3282:
The Galaxy S5 camera is much better than the Z2 camera isn't it? The S5 pictures are still very good even at 4x Zoom.
[Xperia Z2 General] mariosraptor:
Beach In Marathia Corfu Greece
[Xperia Z2 General] beni8978:
This is a 5x zoomed pic for you ?
[Xperia Z2 General] doministry:
Nope.
[Xperia Z2 General] Heisenberg3282:
Well looking around, most reviews state the S5 camera has better quality and is better in general than the Z2.

Also, the flash light is underpowered on the Z2, post processing could be much better too.

I honestly believe inmy opinion that Sony deliberately hold back the quality of their smartphone cameras due to the fact that they don't want to affect sales of their compact cameras and DSLRs too much.
[Xperia Z2 General] doministry:
Better in general? In what way?

I don't know but I know Z2 in the hands of good reviewers and users is top notch.

And I am not sure S5 can really surpass that. It can be definitely on the same level though.
[Xperia Z2 General] Heisenberg3282:
More detail, better for cropping because of the 16mp resolution, whereas Z2 pics are 8mp, shooting in 20.7mp on the Z2 makes pictures much worse and have less detail.

The S5 also has much better HDR and panorama, more powerful flash, in video the S5 microphone is better and 4k videos are better on the S5 apart from stabilization.
[Xperia Z2 General] doministry:
Some valid points....

BUT Z2 camera is more versatile and AFAIK 8mpx shots look actually equally good if not better than S5.

Cropping is not a main camera's purpose.

The "quality" is not only in detail, never forget that.

The Z2's video has the amazing steady shot mode which makes all of the other videos ridiculous...

The mic I am not sure really either....

As for panorama I agree (marginal thing though), I agree for flash and let's say HDR too...
[Xperia Z2 General] beni8978:
http://www.dxomark.com/Mobiles

79 vs 79 ?
[Xperia Z2 General] 2slowzoom:
Auto Z2 @ Universal Studios
[Xperia Z2 General] Guest69:
Superior Auto, 1st shot underwater.
[Xperia Z2 General] jaffa1980:
Here are two, my son tonight one with manual night portrait more one superior auto.... 3090 is manual

4035 is superior auto
[Xperia Z2 General] hasona:
Some new shots on my photostream, I have compared these positions with my sister's 5S and my friends S5 and I am going to be really honest and say that Z2 is in a completely different league.

[IMG="View"]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5237/14522442921_c88c7a280f_o_d.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG="Flowers"]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3837/14435216183_bfda992c66_o_d.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG="Leaf"]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3838/14544582875_3813055f0a_o_d.jpg[/IMG]
[Xperia Z2 General] Heisenberg3282:
http://connect.dpreview.com/post/2560641839/sony-xperia-z2-camera-review?page=9

Review by a proper camera website, S5 is better than Z2, Z2 has 8 or 9 negatives in the camera section, the S5 only has 5and some of them are not related to the image quality, they rate the video much better on the S5 as well.

A lot less artifacts in the S5 photos and video too, better stronger flash and much better pixel quality and low noise in low light.

---------- Post added at 01:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:40 AM ----------

Also this, http://www.ephotozine.com/article/samsung-galaxy-s5-review-25939 another proper camera website has recently dome an S5 review and praise it and say how good it is with lots of pros and very little cons, only cons are lack of OIS and Optical Zoom.
[Xperia Z2 General] le_lutin:
Please God, let's not let this thread descend into another S5 vs Z2 fight.

Also, do not feed the trolls. They don't deserve your time.
[Xperia Z2 General] MichaelWT:
Here's 2 from me and my not-as-good-as-an-S5 Z2 :p

[IMG="millennium bridge"]http://i.imgur.com/tGXVB5m.jpg[/IMG]
[Xperia Z2 General] iRadio:
Just wanted to say that the 'Millenium Bridge' photo is excellent!

;)

Steve
[Xperia Z2 General] hasona:
You also forget to mention that the S5's macro ability is not so good and for me that is one big CON, as evident by my macro shot(s) above your post compared to this S5 one there is no contest on which one is better
[Xperia Z2 General] adyscorpius:
A butterfly almost 4 inches big...