yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jntdroid:
I'll second this. Not near as bad as Jayochs, but not any better than the S4, and worse, IMHO, in bright outdoor shots where the S4 was incredible. Medium to low-light is improved only because you can see the images more - but if you don't use stabilization mode, they're horribly noisy. If you do use stabilization mode, they look better, but then a LOT of your indoor shots, even if they're not low light, will end up asking you to hold still for 3-4 seconds.

And I don't know about y'all, but my camera is relatively slow to load. Keeping in mind I'm comparing to a 5S and M8. So far the laggier camera experience and not-as-great-as-they-said-it-would-be images have me liking the M8's camera more... it's just so darn fast, and consistent and focusable and can take medium-lit shots quickly.

Edit: full disclaimer... I'm a nitpicky phone camera snob! :)
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bsweetness:
Put me down as another who is disappointed in the camera. Outdoor shots are great for me, but indoor shots are extremely lackluster. Even with stability on, they're disappointing. The indoor capabilities of the iPhone 5S blow this one out of the water. Given the pixel size, I didn't expect it to be better at indoor shots than the 5S or the M8, but I was definitely hoping that it would be better than it is.

I'm going to give it a few more days, but this is potentially a deal breaker for me. That's very disappointing, especially since there's very little else that I dislike about the phone.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jntdroid:
Yep, same here. Though others have said their camera loads up quite fast - my experience is it's pretty laggy moving in and out of it. But I also love just about everything else about it, so if I can get used to the camera, or maybe figure out what I'm missing (if anything??), it'll be good. If not, it'll be the M8 for me likely... though I don't like how slippery / heavy it is.

I hate to say it (ok I don't really hate it), but after all of the devices I've used, I still feel like the 5S is still the best all around mobile camera experience when you combine the usability with image quality. The M8 is on par when it comes to speed and usability - heck it might even be faster. But image quality is still better on the 5S.

And good to see you b! I've been pretty forum-inactive for awhile...
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bsweetness:
I doubt you're missing anything. I've gone through every setting and tried a host of things to get better pictures out of it to no avail. I spent quite a bit of time yesterday taking the exact same shots with the S5, Note 3, and iPhone 5S. Outdoors during the day, the S5 reigned supreme, with both the Note 3 and 5S close behind. Outdoors at night, the 5S was the clear winner with the S5 and the Note 3 providing similar results (with the S5 coming out slightly ahead between the two). Indoors, the 5S came out on top again in every lighting situation, both without a flash and with a flash. The S5 was slightly better than the Note 3 indoors, but really not by much.

Given that the overall image quality between the S5 and the Note 3 isn't a huge difference, I'm leaning towards returning the S5 and just keeping the Note 3 for now.

Agreed. The 5S that I use for work is just solid all around when it comes to the camera, providing really great shots in almost all lighting conditions. The only phone I've used that's better is the Lumia 1040, but it doesn't have the speed that the 5S does. Apple really nailed the camera for the 5S.

The S5 has officially been approved as a device we can use for work, so I was hoping to replace both my Note 3 and my 5S with it and only have to carry one device for personal and business use. But so far, the camera on the S5 makes that impossible. :(

Yeah. I've been out of the country for work for an extended period, often in places with little to no internet service. I'm back in the States for a little bit, so I'll be popping up a little more often. :)
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jagrave:
Anyone know why it's so bad? I don't understand how some are getting great pics and others are getting not so good. I'm in the not so good group. Some pics I feel like my rezound takes just as good. Lol
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jntdroid:
It can take great pics, don't get me wrong - though even when it's great, I'm not convinced it's better than the S4.

I think it's a combination of a new sensor, a new "style" of auto-focus, and post-processing issues.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bsweetness:
I think that's one of the biggest problems. Even in well-lit situations, sometimes things - like people and animals - can come out looking like an oil painting. That's one of the biggest problems with indoor shots as well. Turning off the stabilization helps a little with that, but not as much as one would think. I've tried all of the major third-party camera apps, and none of them give much better results. For indoor shots, the sensor just isn't big enough to let in the amount of light that's needed to take an above average picture.

I think some of the discrepancies in what various people are reporting with the quality comes down to photo quality preferences, what different people are used to with the phones in their cameras, and at times a more discerning eye for quality. The S5 camera is certainly no slouch, and I'd place it above pretty much all other Android phones right now as far as being an all around shooter (there are others that do certain things better, but not everything), but it's not the big step forward that I really wanted it to be.

I'm going to be returning it and going back to my Note 3 for the time being.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jagrave:
What about the note 3 do you like better? And how does the note 3 camera compare?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bsweetness:
I typed up a little summary of the comparison I did between the cameras a few posts up. :)

In short, the S5 is an improvement, but not a big one. The differences were pretty marginal in most cases.

As for what I like better about the Note 3 it really comes down to two things - the size of the screen and the S-Pen.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] n2ishun:
Ahem.....it most certainly DOES cover the entire lense.

Best find a girl with a sharp fingernail and pay her to scrape it off for you.

!edit!

BTW, mine is fast, and sharp, and works nearly as well as my Canon camera.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bsweetness:
Mine didn't cover the entire lens. There was a cut out in the middle leaving the sensor clear.

I triple checked when I was unboxing it, because in the past with Samsung devices, the entire thing has been covered. Not so on my S5. There was definitely a cut out in the middle of the plastic on mine.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] n2ishun:
Best put on the reading glasses and scrape.....it's there, this is YOUR problem.

I had some trouble removing mine since it is very difficult to get under the edge of it....sharp fingernails are the trick.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jntdroid:
My s5 had a "donut" piece of plastic on the lens, as bsweetness is describing... As has every Samsung phone I've owned the past 2 years. Maybe it's a carrier thing?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bsweetness:
Again, there was/is nothing there in the middle of the plastic. There was a hole cut out of the middle. I don't know how else to say it in order to get you to understand. Like jntdroid said, maybe it's a carrier thing, or maybe it's different from different production runs. My black Verizon S5 had a cut out in the middle of the plastic that was over the lens, leaving it open for the sensor.

The hole in the middle was open with no plastic. It wasn't there and it isn't there.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jagrave:
Could most of these problems be fixed with software updates? If so, how likely is that to happen?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EVOme:
People will never be happy.....
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jntdroid:
Isn't it a given that these are all first world problems? :)
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] n2ishun:
<snip to remove.....uhh....stuff!>

Hmm....Verizon Galaxy S5 forum......check!

Hmm.....Phone was released yesterday so chances of a different run.....zero!

Hmm.....Mine is even the "Charcoal black" unit as you say yours is.....no unusual packaging for differing colors possible!

There is a full plastic covering on the camera lense.

Deal with it.

It is very clear and very difficult to remove.

I even took a pic in the parking lot just after I picked up the phone..... before I realized there was plastic on it.

Guess what ?

the pic looks just like yours.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Lodaserves:
No problem at the camera all the pictures taken by this phone unit are all great.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bsweetness:
You're really coming across quite childish in your responses, which only undermines any point you're trying to make. Multiple people have said that theirs was like mine with a hole in the middle. In fact, you're the only one in this thread saying yours didn't have a hole in the middle. And other people elsewhere on the forum are reporting that theirs had a hole in the middle as well:

And how do you know the picture looks just like mine? I never posted a picture.

Mine was not completely covered with plastic. There was a hole in the middle of the plastic. I removed that plastic, and there was nothing left where the hole was. Absolutely nothing. Nothing you say is going to change that.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mexiken:
FWIW, my pre ordered Charcoal Black device has the plastic with the lens piece cut out.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dondavis007:
There is a few in depth reviews that mention the oil painting effect and the slow and not so accurate focus in mot so well litt situations.

All Samsungs I had has had the plastic covering the lens as protection, I don't think the trouble is this cover. That said, if not taken off it will probably focus the light in the same strange way that some clear plastic covers do and ruin the picture, depending on situation.

Sent from a mobile Gadget...
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] highwaybandit:
Yeah mine didn't take very good pictures either. after reading I started scrapping the lens and there was a piece of film once I took it off pictures are a hell of a lot better.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] user_121:
Z1 camera is good
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fillyo:
I am happy with camera, shots seem great. This was at the zoo through the glass, it was overcast
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jntdroid:
In addition to the one that came on it with a hole in the middle? Or is that the one you're referring to?

---------- Post added at 10:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:38 AM ----------

I don't know, if I zoom in at all on that, it looks blurry. Maybe it's just on my phone though.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] highwaybandit:
No it covered the whole camera lens no hole cut out just scrape the edge with the back plate off and it comes off pretty easy
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] admiral70:
I notice with stabilization on my pics are blurry when zoomed in. The camera is better than my note 2 camera. I wonder on HDR do you have to hold still after snapping pic like I did on note 2?

Still playing with it but do like it over my note 2.

I had full plastic over lens.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] tangoboyz:
Camera

So I got mine on Friday and I think the camera is much better than my S4. The focus seems to respond much better. I had to do a lot of manual focusing with my S4 and when I was trying to move the phone to catch a moving target it it was very hard. My S5 MUCH better at this. Pictures are focusing and aren't blurred like on my S4.

Just my .02...
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jntdroid:
Weird, I can't imagine there's another cover underneath the one that came on mine (with the hole in the middle). Unless it's stuck on there so good and so tight it's hardly visible or removable...
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] brazcub:
That's a bummer.

I love my GS5. I upgraded from a GS4. The new camera is awesome. Very impressed with the 0.3 s focus. Love picture quality and the HDR mode is awesome. I hated taking a picture and having to go look at it to see if it was ok with HRD. Now the GS5 shows what the picture is going to look like before you take it and there's no processing time.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bsweetness:
There's absolutely nothing underneath the one with the cutout on mine. No more plastic at all.

It seems that some have a hole and some don't. Why that is, I don't exactly know.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fillyo:
It's not the original size, forum scaled it down. I did take some pictures of my family at the zoo and they look incredible, I am happy.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dondavis007:
Z1 camera us actually not do good, the hardware is probably duper but Sonys software is not. My opinion as an owner of a compact.

Sent from a mobile Gadget...
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] kurofox23?:
Love the camera. Leagues better than the g2. I had almost thrown my g2 against a wall the camera was pissing me off so much! Love E auto focus, and been having fun with selective focus.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BeefJerky9:
Let me try to clarify since the other person seems to be having trouble explaining. In addition to the large piece of plastic covering the back (with the cutout for the camera), there is another small piece of plastic on the lens itself. It is a square piece the same size as the lens, and can be easy to miss. I didn't initially notice it either, but once I did, it took a bit of trying with my fingernail to get under it and pull it off. Once I did, the pictures that the camera took were noticeably improved.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EVOme:
I took this today with my S5. I love this thing!!!!
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] barondebxl:
Maybe OP for got to remove the plastic from the lens?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sdsubball23:
After reading through a chunk of this thread, I'm unable to tell whether this camera is good or not, or at least as good as/better than the m8 and iPhone 5S or not.

Is there a better consensus on this issue? I'm interested in buying this phone and I'll be coming from a HTC Rezound of 2+ years. I would like to get a phone that beats out the iPhone 5S.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Okie John:
My Galaxy S5 arrives tmw night says UPS

I have read a lot of the reviews by the different magazine reviewers. Nearly all of them were satisfied with the camera. I was looking at the HTC M8 as an option to buy. But, I have been using my Samsung Verizon Galaxy S Fascinate since it was released 3 years ago. Mostly satisfied, but irked by the limited amount of memory it has 385 mB. Try to do more than one thing at a time and it would lock up. Pull the battery and restart.

I wanted the Note 3 because of the Stylus pen and free hand writing in the notepad. But, the G5 is said to have the better camera, and that did it for me. The Fascinate's camera does a pretty damn good all around job, but not so hot indoors. Low light is nearly all black. The flash is not worth while for me, it causes the photos to wash out.

Thanks for the hints on making sure the plastic is removed from the camera lens. Will make triple sure that is removed. How did you guys get one of these things so quick? I preordered mine and it was delivered to UPS on Friday...

I live in a very rural area in northern Oklahoma. The local Best Buy is a couple hours drive away... not going to happen.

Glad to be part of this forum, anxious to see more comments and tips on how to get the best from the GS5.

I'm a moderator on a Goldwing forum and appreciate the effort it takes to manage these forums.

~John
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] n2ishun:
Let me guess....

Fayetteville Ar ?

That's where I got mine, only a simple hour drive thru the *wooly-boogers* of the Ozarks.

If a twisting, winding, death threatening drive is what you crave.....well yea, the Pig Trail (hwy23) is that.

Somebody, beam me back to SoCal :þ
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EVOme:
Indoors with low light, nothing beats the iPhone. When indoors and need a flash, Samsung takes excellent photos! Outdoors, during the middle of the day, I think they all take great pics.

I went to a kids party last weekend with the M8 and was taking shots and I wasn't happy with them at all.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] barondebxl:
First of all welcome to XDA!

Well I don't have my S5 yet, but usually there's always a plastic cover over the camera lens and it can affect the pictures taken.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bsweetness:
Thanks for the civil response.

That said, most all of us in this thread know about the small piece of plastic directly on the lens (apart from the large piece covering the back of the phone). Where the difference is that on some, that small piece of plastic on the lens had a small hole in the middle that didn't cover the sensor of the camera. It covered most of the lens, but not the very middle. Others are saying that it was a solid piece of plastic that didn't have a hole in it. That's where the disagreement was coming from. No one is disputing the small piece of plastic directly on the lens (Samsung has been doing this for a long time), but rather if that piece of plastic has a hole in the middle or not. On mine (and on several others) there was a hole in the middle. Others have reported not having a hole in the middle. Historically with Samsung devices, there hasn't been a hole in the middle.

It's really a silly thing for people to be arguing about honestly.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jagrave:
Just wanted to say like yours, mine had a hole in the middle. After a bunch of kind of bad pics I read about the plastic on the lens. Sure enough I had one, but the plastic had a hole in the middle.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hudsoncouto:
Got my GS5. Took a lot of pictures, trying every single possible tweak and mode (and plastic camera cover). Stumbled onto this thread:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2694621&page=74

NONE of my pictures look as good, not by a long shot. Returned GS5 and got myself an M8. Couldn't be happier.

Yeah, a lot of other things helped make that decision too. But I honestly think (and nost reviewers too, it seems) that the M8 is a better overall phone. Pains me a bit to say it, as I had a GS3 and GS4 before it, as well as the M7, but I put my money on the GS5 because of the ugly HTC logo in front of the M8, and because GS5 is water resistant. But apart from being slightly taller, there is not a single thing I can think of against the M8, compared to the GS5. Both phones are a powerhouse, and nearly identical in specs, but the One is overall a better package IHMO. Better build, speaker and camera, even though it got some negative heat at launch.

Anyway, just my 2c

EDIT: and about the water resistance/durability, those two videos also helped me making up my mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhwvXTVQoPM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fzr7ULAiEk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP2S5yDZ3cY
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BeefJerky9:
Thanks for the clarification; it seems that detail got lost somewhere amongst the quarrel. It is odd how some have the hole and some don't; so much for consistency from Samsung.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] chumboy:
Hahahahaha.....I'm such an idiot.

been 2 days and I still had the clear film over the lens!

hahahahaha.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Hobson318:
i think one thing you are missing is that there 2 pieces of plastic. one with the hole and right under it, one that covers the whole lens. so if you remove one thinking you are good, you might not ever look for the other. one is put on during manufacture of the camera module and the other is during build of the phone. some might not see the one with the hole in it because it came off during unboxing and removal of other plastic and general getting in to install the battery and such.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jntdroid:
By "one with the hole" - are you referring to the small piece that's the size of the lens and has a hole in it? And then you're saying there's another underneath that that's also the same size, but with no hole?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Hobson318:
Yes. Beefjerky9 in post 46 confirms second piece of plastic. The solid one (no hole) is put on to protect the lens between manufacture and installation. Was like that on my s3 and other phones too.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jntdroid:
Man I don't know. I pulled off the one with the hole in it day 1, and that's it so far. If there's something on my lens now, I don't think it's meant to come off... or at least I'd be scared to try any harder.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Hobson318:
you could have just gotten a crappy sensor too. it happens when you try to mass produce in a hurry to make deadlines.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bsweetness:
I'm not missing anything. I'm not sure how to make myself any more clear than I already have. On my phone, there was only one piece of plastic cover the camera module (and I'm not talking about the piece of plastic that covered the entire back of the phone - no one here is - just the small square on the camera itself), and that small piece of plastic on the camera had a tiny hole in the middle the size of the sensor. There was and is absolutely no more plastic underneath this on my device.

So, on the back of my phone, I had:

- 1 big piece of plastic covering the backside of the phone.

- 1 small piece of plastic covering only the camera that had a small hole in the middle of it the size of the sensor.

There was nothing else under that small piece of plastic.

---------- Post added at 02:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:07 PM ----------

No he didn't. Read his post, my post that he quoted, and my response.

There's only one piece of plastic directly on the lens. Some people are reporting that it has a tiny hole in the middle, others are saying it's solid. Again, we're not talking about the piece of plastic that covers most of the back of the phone, just the small square piece of plastic on the camera module. There's only one of those, not two.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] das7982:
Camera is perfect here
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] das7982:
Just went out and snapped 2 pictures. Camera couldn't be more perfect! !! I would return your GS5 or get into better lighting
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jagrave:
Could someone please, please go here(https://www.flickr.com/photos/123410766@N06/with/13883152465) and check out my photos. They're all from my S5. Almost all of them don't look good when viewed on my computer. They look decent on my phone screen until I zoom in at all. Either I'm being to critical, the camera stinks, or I have a bad camera. So could I get some feed back on if I need to exchange it or not? Thanks everyone!
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] das7982:
Remember. ... This-is-a-phone. Allow this to sink in for a minute...... okay ready? This-is-a-phone .... if you need a camera.... Go-buy-a-..... you guessed it....-camera.

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