yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy Camera General] apprentice:
Galaxy K Zoom

So, I got the Galaxy K Zoom yesterday and my first impressions are WOW! It has far exceeded my expectations in many ways.

The build quality is really good, it feels solid and it looks really nice (I have the black one). I thought the screen might be sub standard being only 720p but it really is sharp and bright and although super AMOLED the colours are not saturated at all. They have got the balance right in my opinion and the size is right too. It doesn't feel particularly bulky or heavy and the casing is grippy.

I didn't have a lot of time but I did a quick comparison test with photographs taken from it in the same spot with my Galaxy S4 Zoom and the Galaxy Camera. I have to say the shots on the K Zoom at 10x optical were on a par with the Galaxy Camera and better than the S4 Zoom. I also tried 20x zoom that's 10 optical +10x digital and the results were far better than I expected, actually they were great. Low light level shots came out better than the Galaxy Camera as did the video recording.

There are tons of scene modes and not forgetting the excellent AF/AE mode – This lets you choose separate parts of the picture to act as exposure metering and focus points. The only thing missing oddly enough is the tilt shift (or selective focus) as seen on the S5, I am not sure why that wasn't included. I also thought there was mean't to be an LED flash in addition to the Xenon, for video use but that's missing and there's no notification LED. But no great loss.

But overall, it a massive improvement over the S4 Zoom and it's definitely good enough to replace the Galaxy Camera. It's pocketable, has full mobile phone function, better screen, battery life, interface and Android Kit-Kat on board. Missing only a tripod mount (I bought a JOBY grip tight to solve this) and that extra 10x zoom.

I have only been using it for a day but I am bowled over. I have no regrets replacing the Galaxy Camera with this baby.
[Galaxy Camera General] mickeywdw1254:
Photos? Of the phone/camera and from the camera?
[Galaxy Camera General] cantenna:
Fore 21x optical zoom to 10x seems like a poor trade off for enhanced features else where. Anyways I'm glad most of the market share your opinion because it enabled me to pick up the galaxy camera 2 for 200 bucks cheaper! :)
[Galaxy Camera General] apprentice:
I am planning on going somewhere this weekend to take a load of pictures, providing it stops raining! Will upload when I get time.
[Galaxy Camera General] Winstrol:
Did you get root and CWM recowery for Galaxy K Zoom?
[Galaxy Camera General] apprentice:
No not yet, I will give it a few weeks firstly in case any OTA upgrades come along (likely as it is a new device) and secondly when a suitable root method is found. There's little information on rooting this at the moment.
[Galaxy Camera General] ashouhdy:
dude give us some low light pics and indoor pics ... also is the device snappy or lags ?! i want to swap my note3 i hate its camera .. would u swap it :) n9005 black :))
[Galaxy Camera General] 10amla:
That sounds like a good idea in waiting a bit. I made a request of Chainfire for an autoCF-root for the GalCam2.
[Galaxy Camera General] apprentice:
Haha, I already own a Note 3 - its camera isn't bad in my opinion but the K zoom is miles ahead of course!

The KZ is not showing any lag so far, battery life is incredible. I spoke to another owner who said he got 700 pics taken in one day before battery died. Now that's awesome. I will post some pics here soon.
[Galaxy Camera General] ashouhdy:
Note3 cam is very unrealistic its acceptable only under strong sunlight ... It has a very bad dynamic range too.. With a very high contrast ratio. Not to mention rediculous low light images even with flash on the images are so grainy and the least movement makes it blurry.

I have s4 zoom too .. But stupidity I blowed air into the cam to remove dust it sadly stucked in between the lens and makes visible gray dots all over the image not to mention how laggy it becomes after installing viber facebook twitter and whatsapp

Am ready to swap with the Kzoom when its released in my country.
[Galaxy Camera General] ashouhdy:
Man where is your photos !!!

---------- Post added at 01:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:05 AM ----------

Still 3 weeks to be delivered to me :(
[Galaxy Camera General] VeEuzUKY:
I bought my K Zoom today in Hong Kong.. this thing is amazing. I would say NEXT version Samsung will nail it and make it perfect.. but this is a huge improvement over all the previous variants of Samsung's camera/phone combined.. can't compare. The only thing this needs to be perfect in my opinion, aside from snappier processing because this "6 core thing" is all hype and few punch, is a smaller zoom because 10x is not necessary and too bulky, and a larger sensor.. from the few snapshots I've taken today low light performance is still just soso. But I must say under good lighting conditions the image quality is fantastic and the optical quality of the zoom lens itself is extremely good. I will try to upload some photos later or tomorrow.. And needless to say I am eager for recovery and root as this has some serious limitations till then and endless bloatware that needs out..
[Galaxy Camera General] apprentice:
See here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinfabl100/sets/72157644532639249/
[Galaxy Camera General] ashouhdy:
am in

the dynamic range is beautifull and very wide. although sharpness is a little soft at maximum zoom.
[Galaxy Camera General] VeEuzUKY:
Root root root.. that's what we need now.. and a recovery..
[Galaxy Camera General] apprentice:
+1
[Galaxy Camera General] 10amla:
Is the bootloader locked on K-zoom? Could ChainFire help with a CF-auto-root? I asked for a CF-auto-root for the GalCam2.
[Galaxy Camera General] hasan_abeer:
Also +1
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
Knox

Hello Folks!

I'm Livio, i'm writing from Italy!

i followed this forum for along time and thanks to You i know almost everything needed, about my phones. i'm owner of a S2, S3, S4 and a S4Zoom (each one with its own root and recovery, except S4Zoom that is without recovery). i'd like to change my s4 zoom for a K Zoom...so i'm here to ask about this smartphone.

Is it under Knox protection like S4? probably Knox will be present like a software in app menù but is it still present in Download Mode (Knox Warranty status)?
[Galaxy Camera General] apprentice:
There is no Knox on this device.
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
I saw, looking at the various reviews that appeared on youtube, that the "knox" app is not present but I wanted a confirmation; thank you very much for the info! Out of curiosity, can you upload a photo of the "Download mode" of the smartphone? thanks in advance! Another question i'd like to make you is about the presence of "Dual Shot" in this smartphone (like S4 does) . is it possible take a picture like that? again, thank you!
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
the phone arrived to me Yesterday. dual shot is not present, there's no Knox (like Apprentice said). I'm searching for a root method...but without successes :(
[Galaxy Camera General] ashouhdy:
does it worth upgrading from s4zoom to it ... whats ur impression
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
Well, I'll tell you my opinion:

if you're looking for a camera upgrade, a more powerful and modern camera, a better camera

than S4Zoom... absolutely not, hold tight your S4 Zoom. there are differences between the options and the "shutter mode" of the two smartphones but nothing that worth the buying....i tried to shot the same object in the same situation and position. With KZ (K Zoom) photos are more clear BUT ONLY when you see it on a pc AND ONLY when you use magnification....in a few words: no noticeable differencies. i'll tell you that ergonomics is geater with S4Z (S4 Zoom) and that the zoom of S4Z is more cool (because persons see you moving hand to enlarge or make smaller the scene...)

if you're looking for a better phone side

, for a fastest phone with no lag, a larger screen with chance to write in a better way (depending from the size of your fingers), a more accurate touch (in case of gaming)...then absolutely yes, change your S4Z. KZ has all of this.

if you'd like to know something in particular, let me know!
[Galaxy Camera General] ashouhdy:
thanks for ur reply

actually i am looking for ergonomics as u said

better pocket ability .. slimmer ... as it will be my main phone for atleast k zoom2 appears :)

one more thing .. the slimmer xenon flash .. is it weaker? i take lots of pics at the beach and lots of them with the sun behind.. on the s4zoom i rely on the strong fill flash to light up portraits and faces
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
the flash is slightly better, barely louder, barely powerful.

the result is that (in complete darkness), the whites barely stand out more. other colors remain similar and can give an impression of "more natural color" (not necessarily the most aesthetically pleasing). i'm testing KZ and S4Z in "auto" mode. I have not had the opportunity to take pictures backlight so far. the attached files are an example. it's a photo taken to a simple wall with a particular of the door and the radiator. you can see colors and white!
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
if you are looking for "pocket ability" i can attach you three photos. KZ is more thinner than S4Z so it's more portable. it can more easily fit in your pocket.
[Galaxy Camera General] ashouhdy:
from ur pics it yes worth to upgrade .. its about half the s4zoom size .. i dont care about reviews numbers about thickness your pics show thats its really half the s4zoom size.

the flash is much better! u had me .. just confirmed my order for the k zoom.

thats my flickr set for the s4zoom

https://www.flickr.com/gp/77173783@N00/055250

u will find many other albums for other photos taken with other flagshis
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
your photos are beautiful! i like them.
[Galaxy Camera General] ashouhdy:
am satisfied with s4zoom camera quality ... cant wait to hold the Mobile version of it (kz) :)
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
any news about rooting and/or recovery, guys?
[Galaxy Camera General] apprentice:
Yes! I had the S4 Zoom and the K Zoom I have now is a worthy upgrade as it is better in every way, especially the form factor, screen size and shooting modes. I have no regrets.
[Galaxy Camera General] ashouhdy:
thanks for confirmation :) am currently waiting for my k zoom to be shipped... another 10 days to go !
[Galaxy Camera General] JamesRep:
no shipping to us

I feel your pain :(
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
I tried

KingoRoot 1.2.1 and 1.2.2: won't work

SuperOneClick 2.3.3: won't work

Towelroot: won't work

what do you suggest?
[Galaxy Camera General] ashouhdy:
i have a diff. opinion .. its better ro unroot to recieve the OTA updates. as this phone will never get any develpment !
[Galaxy Camera General] apprentice:
Thanks for your efforts so far, I admit I was not willing to risk any untested rooting method but if you are successful be sure to let me know ;) In the meantime I am checking daily for anything that might bring the good news we are waiting for.
[Galaxy Camera General] apprentice:
You can still update to any future OTA release after rooting via ODIN from downloadable updates from Sammobile. What I miss the most about a non rooted device is Titanium Backup, SD card fixing and Ad blocking. I am not too bothered about ROM development.
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
I do not care for the development of alternative rom...enough for me the original!

my desire is to mod the phone with root for uninstalling factory apps (to get more space) or do backups with Titanium or, most important, use Cerberus.

in any case, if there was a major update, it can be always done with Odin.
[Galaxy Camera General] ashouhdy:
any1 got this case ?

http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/mobile-devices/smartphones/smartphone-accessories/EF-PC115BBEGWW

its amazing
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
i'll wait for a cover with a protection for lens and zoom. now i'm using a cover for S4Zoom. is very comfortable because it does not even move when I use the zoom.
[Galaxy Camera General] Tr4sHCr4fT:
any of the UK-store buyers could post the size and weight of box it were shipped?
[Galaxy Camera General] Xdenwarrior:
Nice!! any idea where i can get this case shipped to Canada? My galaxy k zoom is dusting here without a case. Also would be nice to see the front of the phone with the case on ;)
[Galaxy Camera General] apprentice:
The box including the phone and accessories is 345g in weight

Dimensions of box is 143 x 78 x 62 mm (H x W x D)

Don't forget to thank me if this was useful ;)
[Galaxy Camera General] kevin_23:
the k zoom have only 0,5 of more ram... not the double.. the s4 zoom have ois and xenon ... [emoji1]

Enviado desde mi SM-C101 mediante Tapatalk
[Galaxy Camera General] thomkat:
Towelroot V1. and V2. doesn´t work on the K Zoom.

Sad.:rolleyes:
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
I wrote to Geohot sending him a logcat....waiting.....

Inviato dal mio SM-C115 utilizzando Tapatalk
[Galaxy Camera General] d3viou5:
Sucessful Root of Galaxy K Zoom

BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!

If anyone is interested, I have sucessfully Rooted my Galaxy K using this tutorial for the Note 3 Neo:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2777693

It uses CF-Auto-Root, and as I figured the Galaxy K and Note 3 Neo share the same processor it might be worth a try.

I have noticed no Ill effects so far, and everything works as expected. As there doesn't seem to be a forum for the K I didn't know where else to post this.

Just remember I am not responsible for your device if this goes tits up.....

Enjoy!
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
thanks you!!!!!!

i will give it a look!

for now i tested Towelroot V3 without success.

i'm going to test your method!

---------- Post added at 01:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 PM ----------

BOOOOOOOOOM, rooted!!!!!!!

your method works great!!!!!!!!!!

you're the main man ;)

ps: when Odin says "reset", the phone will shutdown and take more time to reboot. it's normal. it will take 30-40 seconds to reboot after the Odin action! it will install SuperSu, also. great; now i have full ownership on my phone. thanks to ddevey
[Galaxy Camera General] d3viou5:
Folder Mount

Dont forget if you are using Folder Mount to free up space you will need to set Write Access to the External SD card. I found the easiest way was to install this:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nextapp.sdfix

and reboot.
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
Thans for your suggestion! I already have done it for S5 (and Titanium backup) so i know the problem! Root works like a charm and so Titanium, Link2sd, Autorun Manager and Xposed did. Only thing that will not work is an option of WanamExposed: eliminate boot sound. It will not work! It's not so important to me....WanamExposed was made for other smartphones, so no problem!

Anyway...thanks again!!!!!!
[Galaxy Camera General] Tr4sHCr4fT:
you guys deserve my honest bow!
[Galaxy Camera General] Winstrol:
YEEEEEAA! I got it! Rooting work! Congratulate you guys!
[Galaxy Camera General] apprentice:
I love you man!
[Galaxy Camera General] timduru:
Hmm I wouldn't recommend that.

from what I understand of CF Auto Root, it flashes a modified cache.img & recovery.img based from the device's to modify the /system partition, then reflashes the device's recovery.img that was provided by users in the thread.

So if you use CF Auto root from the Note3 you most likely end up with the Note3 recovery/ kernel.

You might want to ask ChainFire about that for confirmation, but I think there's a reason that chainfire is asking for users to post the original device's boot.img & recovery.img in his thread

(I did that for the K Zoom a couple of days ago)

To root, I've modified the original stock KZoom boot.img & system.img to add :

- Root + SuperSu apk

- busybox

- sysrw/sysro

- addblocker (/etc/hosts)

- init.d support

Just flash this through odin AP: (unzip it first)

http://downloads.timduru.org/android/kzoom/stock/Tim_KZoom_RootV1_XEF-C115XXU1BNF1.zip

What you need:

- Computer with Odin working (Tested with V3.09)*

- rom file from above.

How to root:

- Unzip the file on the computer with odin ( you get a .tar.md5 file)

- Shutdown mobile

- Start mobile in odin mode*

(push *together: volume down + home + power, * when confirmation screen appears, push *vol up to confirm)

- Launch Odin

- Connect phone by USB *(Odin will display *"Added", if it works and com port should be listed)

- In Odin options you only need Autoreboot checked

- Click on AP choose the *.tar.md5 unzipped previously

- Wait that odin checks the file (can take a few seconds and odin can freeze during that time, just wait)

- Click on Start

Odin will flash the boot & system images and reboot

*

*

Note that this is based on the XEF (france ) firmware version.

I don't think there are much differences between languages in the system and boot partition, but can't be 100% sure.

If that doesn't work I could also see about just doing an automodification of the /system partition in place to deploy root through only flashing a modifed boot.img, that way it would retain the original /system

At worse if something fails you should be able to simply reflash the boot.img and system.img from official firmware for your country through odin.

But as usual, use at your own risk ;)
[Galaxy Camera General] apprentice:
I am not sure what the implications are of having a recovery and kernel from the Note 3 in place. Maybe you can advise? In the meantime any help you can give in bringing a better root solution to the K Zoom would be very welcome.

It's a shame we still don't have a dedicated forum for this device yet.
[Galaxy Camera General] timduru:
Difficult to say, but a bit risky considering the hardware is different on the KZoom and Note3.

cpu is not all that is in the kernel.

They might also have changed / fixed hardware specific features / issues in the KZoom's kernel.

Can't know precisely unless you compare kernel's sources and config.

I'm still downloading samsung's kzoom sources , but it's slow.

Yeah a dedicated forum would be nice.

For a better root solution, I've posted one right above ;)
[Galaxy Camera General] apprentice:
Ah, what I meant was ... when you said If that doesn't work you could also see about just doing an automodification of the /system partition in place to deploy root through only flashing a modifed boot.img, that way it would retain the original /system

That would be a more comfortable solution for me. But thanks for your efforts so far :)
[Galaxy Camera General] timduru:
Ah okie yep :)

good thing is that it would also make the zip much smaller without the system.img ;)

I can see about that this weekend I think.

Could be good if a few courageous ones would test the current zip I posted too though :D
[Galaxy Camera General] d3viou5:
I'm no expert on this, and I think its partly blind luck, but 24 hour in and its working flawlessly.

The tutorial i followed is for the note 3 NEO not the note 3. The note 3 has a different cpu, but the neo is spec for spec the same.

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note_3_neo-5961.php

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_k_zoom-6210.php

Apart from the camera, storage and screen size. None of which seems to be affected by rooting using this method.

In thoery, if either of these methods go wrong, we can recover using stock firmare and Odin anyway. Right?

Can anyone on an unrooted K confirm their kernel version? Im on 3.4.39-1522600. Everything else in the about screen is still listed as C115.
[Galaxy Camera General] kicmi:
here unrooted, kernel version 3.4.39-1837070
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
Rooted, 3.4.39-1837070

Sent from my rooted, deodexed, zipaligned, busyboxed, Knox free Galaxy S5 Zoom with stock kernel and Xposed-modded stock ROM.
[Galaxy Camera General] thomkat:
Hi.

My Kernel-Version is 3.4.39-1837070

Regards, Thomas
[Galaxy Camera General] timduru:
Digging through the files, it should only affect the recovery I'd say.

So as long as you don't use it it should be fine.

To be safer I'd say that you should reflash the official kzoom recovery with odin,

in case the Note3 Neo recovery that got flashed doesn't have the same partition layout or something else incompatible.
[Galaxy Camera General] m_kurmi:
Cannot ROOT ......

I followed the steps as note 3 neo to root my K zoom. But after all steps and PASS msg in Odin, SuperSU was not installed. Also status of my phone changed to custom.

Let me know if anybody faced this problem and have got any solution.
[Galaxy Camera General] timduru:
KZoom PermanentRoot boot.img

Here it is : http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2797146

That one only contains the boot.img.

It will root automatically the current /system in place without flashing a new system image.
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
Check if you have root! SuperSU is a good app to control root access but it's not strictly necessary. You can have root without SuperSU. if you read "custom" probably you have root. SuperSU can be downloaded and installed like a simple apk, if you need it.

Sent from my rooted, deodexed, zipaligned, busyboxed, Knox free Galaxy S5 Zoom with stock kernel and Xposed-modded stock ROM.
[Galaxy Camera General] m_kurmi:
Wifi Password disappears after restart....

I have rooted my K zoom with the above above files. Root is successful, but wifi passwords I set disappears when I restart my phone.

Please give any fix for this problem.
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
If you re-write the passwords, will it work?

Sent from my rooted, deodexed, zipaligned, busyboxed, Knox-free Galaxy S5 Zoom with stock kernel and Xposed-modded stock ROM.
[Galaxy Camera General] m_kurmi:
WiFi passwords disappear after restart...

Wifi works on entering the password. But on every restart of device I have to enter the password to connect to Wifi. The file wpa_supplicant.conf is not getting saved, hence on every restart default file gets loaded. May be something missing in init.rc
[Galaxy Camera General] livio80:
I do not know i to help you! I can tell you that, if you can't fix it, you can always reflash Samsung original ROM and re-apply the root!

If you want "turning back", pay attention because, when you reflash original rom image, the counter will be always set on "custom". Reflash original ROM will not change the status of the phone. If you need to reset it to "original" you have to use Triangle Away.

Sent from my rooted, deodexed, zipaligned, busyboxed, Knox-free Galaxy S5 Zoom with stock kernel and Xposed-modded stock ROM.
[Galaxy Camera General] m_kurmi:
Thanks...But I think Timduru can solve this, as I have used his boot.img for flashing. After some analysis I found that following is missing in init.rc

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# give system access to wpa_supplicant.conf for backup and restore

mkdir /data/misc/wifi 0770 wifi wifi

chmod 0660 /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf

mkdir /data/local 0751 root root

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I feel this may be the cause of password not getting saved.

And yes....if nothing works then I have to move back to original ROM.
[Galaxy Camera General] timduru:
No it's not missing.

samsung has a dedicated init.wifi.rc file and it contains that.

Edit:

I think I've found the issue, it's caused by samsung's secure storage that doesn't want to store the passwords because it sees a custom kernel img.

Flash version 3:http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=53750523&postcount=7

Download: http://downloads.timduru.org/android/kzoom/root/Tim_KZoom_KatAutoRootV3.zip

To make sure it works, after flashing let it boot fully once, then reboot (you might have to reenter your wifi password the 1st time you flash)