[Xperia Z3 General] Chefproll:
So let me explain...

Your Z3's camera is capable of shooting 20.7 MP shots, right ?

Would you buy a Z3 if it's rear camera would be capable of shooting 0.5 MP photos, only ? Of course not, right ?

And would you agree that you want to use the full resolution of your Z3's camera instead of just utilizing 1/40 of it's capacity ? Of course, right ?

But you posted pictures reduced to 0,5 MP.

Even a 2 MP camera would deliver the same quality, even the Samsung S4's FRONT camera provides the same, if not better quality.

Real differences, benefits and drawbacks show their faces if you check photos using their native resolution, only.

With reducing the pictures to 0.5 MP you render them all equal, differences are just caused by different color rendering, EV handling and the quality of the compression algorithms used for shrinking the pics. There's NOTHING left if it comes to details, zoomability, camera sensor's capacities regarding the resolutions the camera hardware was built for.

That's why I call that useless.

If I buy a Smartphone with a 20.7 MP camera, I expect a Smartphone with a 20.7 MP camera. Not any 35 mm performances.

I expect a smartphone camera better than a 13 MP camera, better than a 12 MP camera (like the one of Nokia's ancient N8).

I did a lot of comparisons

Result: I got a Smartphone with a 20.7 MP camera which is INFERIOR to the S4's 13 MP camera, and even inferior to the ancient N8's 12 MP camera.

That's what shots in full resolution reveal.

And I guess that's a fact many of us know.

And that's the reason why we fear doing a real comparison. That's why we love posting thumbnail-sized pictures and claiming: There ! What a great quality !

Because we don't wish to face reality.

Reality is: The Z3's camera hardware IS good, better than most of the competition.

But Sony cripples the hardware with it's inferior software.

So speak up, make yourself heard - instead of hiding behind nicely looking thumbnail-sized shots.

If we all continue our "praise Sony for nothing" way, Sony will give a sh... on improving the software. If nobody speaks up, there's just no reason for changing anything.

So PLEASE post pictures in their original resolution. Even if you don't like the outcome of a real-world comparison.

That's the only way of making things better. ;)

Peace. :)

---

Here's a simple test for all of you to try...

Get out on a real sunny day, use the manual mode, use 20.7 MP, reduce the EV to -1 (Sony's algorithms tend to overexpose pictures taken under bright sunlight), switch off the image stabilizer. Shoot a picture of a green landscape; a garden, a park, anything showing flowers, grass and leaves - shades of green.

Transfer the photo to your PC, use a capable image viewer for displaying - I prefer "FastStone", good and free. Choose the NATIVE resolution, 1:1. With Faststone, you simply hit the "/" key on your number block.

Now have a look at the grass. Now have a look at leaves. Now especially have a look at the very left and right borders of the photo.

You'll notice it's all blurred, defocused, with the blur getting to the extreme at the left edge of the picture - at the areas where the better wide angle of the Z3 compared to the Z2 should show it's strengths. It's the opposite, showing the weaknesses.

Obviously, Sony gave a sh... on adapting the inferior camera software to the new hardware capabilities of our Z3.

Compression and antialiasing algorithms are subzero, pictures are overly sharpened, wide angle areas are just a blurred slurry.

These are the weaknesses all thumbnail-sized pictures cleverly conceal: You've got a 20.7 MP camera delivering a 10 MP quality. Sorry, but that's the naked truth.

Face it, speak up, make yourself heard in Japan.

Or continue behaving like a typical Apple fanboy, claiming everything is SOOOOO great.

----

Update: Just to give you an idea... The photos were taken with CLEAN lenses, using a tripod. Picture contents are a bit different because I had to compensate for the broader wide angle feature of the Z3, so I had to move to capture the same image section.

Yes, 20.7 MP with the Z3, 13 MP with the S4. I can send you the original pictures if you give me your eMail address.

[IMG="Comparison - Z3 vs. S4"]http://waagerecht.com/photos/Z3-S4.jpg[/IMG]