[One (M8) General] J from Finland:
I registered to the XDA forum after I read this topic quite all the way from first post to last. I have owned many camera smartphones like Nokia 808 PureView, Nokia 630, 640, Nokia 930 (Icon in USA), HTC One M8 (two units), iPhone 6S and Sony Xperia X Compact and I photograph a lot with smartphone. I don't want to carry DSLR or even point and shoot camera with me all the time and when travelling etc. It's of course a trade off and smartphone is not a DSLR, I get it. But there is a lot between worst smartphone camera and the DSLR. In many case good smartphone camera is the only camera what people carries with them when they are travelling and it has replaced point and shoot cameras many ways even if smartphones lacking in some areas, like zooming.

But the "religion" with HTC One M8 camera - especially three years ago when it was new was something truly amazing. Critics were answered "You use it wrongly", "Use manual settings", "Real photographer don't use automode", " Ultrapixels is not same as megapixels", "It's smartphone - buy a real camera", "who an earth crop a smartphone pictures", "it's smartphone camera and the main and only use of it should be snap shots to social media" etc... The answers to the critisc were contradictory even among themselves. I think the main thing was to defend HTC, not to be objective.

I'm very happy that "4mpx UltraPixel" - weren't success and didin't cause the trend when I look what best smartphones offering us now in year 2017 with 4K video, super quality slow motion, dual cameras with wide-angle lenses, very qood video stabilization - optical or digital and very crisp images with reasonable megapixel amount - and pictures you can crop and still you have also better low-light performance what One M8 delivered.

My opinion is that you should compare smartphone cameras mainly how they take pictures and videos in automode - because yes, it's a smartphone camera and quick photos and videos with best possible quality is most of the consumers “basic level” in high end devices (even now in mid range devices) when we speak about phones camera - everything else comes usually after these, including good manual settings - which is plus, of course.

Then, when HTC One M8 was launched, many wrote that "well, 4 mpx is enough, because people post smartphone pictures mainly to social media and they watch pictures from their smartphone screens". I don't know if Finland is a diffrent thing, but what I have seen many people use 27 inch desktop screens when they are in internet at home and it’s quite normal that they like to show their holiday/travelling pictures and specially videos from 55 inch tv-screen to their family and friends.

Then about HTC One M8 camera plus and cons. Good thing is the audio recording, almost same level of quality than Nokia PureView line was. Iphone 6S with mono sound is still way behind. It is very fast to take a pictures and the software is quite easy to use.

Negative side is that the exposure is way off in automode - too often - and it’s blown the skies like no other smartphone what I earlier have used to take pictures. “Oh use AF, oh use manual mode, change exposure”… No – with my iPhone 6S or even with my Lumia 930 in same kind of conditions the automode did with just pressing the button and taking the picture what HTC One M8 didn’t got done without playing all the manual mode settings. One M8 Pictures in low light are much more grainy than pictures from my iPhone 6S in low light and even my 20mp Lumia 930 (there is comparison in YouTube between M8 and Lumia 930 (Icon) took much better pictures in low light. And of course, I know and I have seen that many people crop their images directly from their smartphones or with their computer. And M8 4 megapixel is no good for that.

Video stabilization is quite bad compared even digital video stabilization in iPhone 6S.

Camera lens scratching issue because the coating was also very negative thing considering how expensive the phone was and how quality-focused HTC One M8 was elsewhere with this phone.

Okay, why I am comparing 3 year old M8 to two or one year old phones (despite Lumia 930)? Because many HTC-fans wrote three years ago go that “One M8 camera is all we need in a smartphone” and told critics or people who were disappointed quality of M8 cameras that “buy a DSLR” like there was anything between them. It’s a logic that doesn’t belong in high-end consumer markets where people ask more and more every year and companies compete to deliver more and more every year.

In same logic: Do you love Boomsound? Just a waste of space – buy real speakers. Do you want latest and fastest Snapdragon because you play games with your smartphone? Buy real gaming console or computer. Do you prefer AMOLED vs. LCD-panel because better colors? Buy 4K 27 inch display if you care colors so much – it’s a smartphone screen. Do you like how M8 feels compared to Galaxy 5? It’s a phone – it’s not a decoration. Okay, you now maybe understand what I want to say here.

Despite all what I wrote, HTC One M8 is great phone – despite the camera. And you people have been posted many nicely taken photos to this topic. But if and when there is this “gap” between smartphone cameras and DSLR, high end smartphones in 2017 are much more close DSLR quality even it’s unlikely that they never can be in same line than DSLR cameras (maybe in some areas like video recording without zoom) – because other manufacturers didn’t went the "HTC One M8 way". At least they are now good option to replace cheaper and mid-priced point and shoot cameras – even if they are not so good in every area like using zoom.

And last, i'm sorry with my english - if there is mistakes in writing, it's not so good.