yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Xperia Z3 General] jonmorris:
Shipping April 2015 would suggest it makes it in the next flagship phone released in the autumn, but until Sony can get into its new 12 month cycle, there's still a chance there will be a new phone in March (MWC) so it could be a case of waiting for the Z5 to get this.

Sony doesn't believe the Z3 can remain the top end phone for a whole year. Perhaps the Z3 Compact can, as there's little competition there, but the Z3 - good as it is - probably needs a spec boost in light of the Note 4 and other high-end flagships from the competition.

I'd imagine the way Sony will do things is to bring out a Z4 in Barcelona (announced March, on sale late March/early April) that has Snapdragon 805 and possibly a higher resolution screen, but same camera, and Cat 6 LTE - and then go for something more radical 'the next best of Sony' for the Z5 and then go for a year before changing. Thus, Snapdragon 810, definitely a higher definition screen if not already done with the Z4, the new camera and any other new tech (e.g. USB Type C connector) to make it look and feel more different than the many relatively minor facelifts from the Z1 to now.

Anyway, I shouldn't say any more as it's a bit off topic now!
[Xperia Z3 General] Venacephalica:
In my opinion Z3 cam produces real good pics if the object is not far away.
[Xperia Z3 General] bb_hershey:
Take a look at the pictures taken by renowned Photographers collaborated with Sony taken using Sony Xperia Z3 and Z3 compact.

http://blogs.sonymobile.com/2014/11/17/introducing-xperia-photo-academy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=introducing-xperia-photo-academy
[Xperia Z3 General] subhani:
The night shots are particularly stunning, with the slow shutter speed. I'm assuming that effect is impossible to achieve without a tripod.

Sent from Z3 using Tapatalk.
[Xperia Z3 General] subhani:
A quick indoor shot at night taken using background defocus. Indoor shots under artificial light is when the Z3 is weakest, and when shooting trees. I shall try some more when outdoors and weather is better... LOL more like never in London.

Sent from Z3 using Tapatalk.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0tan877ntnrv4li/20141118_044242.jpg?dl=0
[Xperia Z3 General] koahhe:
few random pictures

https://www.flickr.com/photos/108197856@N06/sets/72157647041543283/
[Xperia Z3 General] pvcdroid:
What's with all the camera comparisons and trolling?

I'd like to figure out why this thread is the most contentious of all subject matters related to the Z3. Do people really buy phones with the camera being the most important element? If so, I'd rather get one from a manufacturer that makes the majority of the sensors for smartphones, Sony. There are more arm chair experts on photography and cameras on this thread than on DPReview where pro and amateur mirrorless and DSLR discussion occurs. I've never seen anything like it and presume trolls are hard at work trying to denigrate competitive phones they don't own. I have the Z3v and am happy with the photo quality. I'm using Manual mode and either 8mb or 20mb resolution but still won't use the camera that often compared to my dedicated camera.
[Xperia Z3 General] radicans:
Good for you that you are happy with the camera, but I don't understand your reasoning at all. How is it trolling to look at and discuss/compare Z3 photos in a thread called 'Camera tests Z3' ? I missed the note saying you must only write posts where you approve of the Z3 camera.
[Xperia Z3 General] abhinav.tella:
They are not trolling. To each his own, but I think the reason for complaints is the "point and shoot" is not very good on the phone, people like that feature as majority of people (average phone users) are not going to end up using and flicking through manual settings to take pictures, for them it wastes time and the moment. The hardware itself is great though.
[Xperia Z3 General] Mity85:
The only area where the camera performs well are macro shots.

When Sony markets a smartphone as a 20MP with "superior auto" and the results are not even comparable to an 8MP iPhone5, the consumer has cause to be upset. I expected the Z3 to take better pics than my iPhone 5. I was not expecting DSLR performance. There are a lot of people who are loyal to their brands of choice. I absolutely despise these people (whether they be Android or Apple supporters) and I believe that the people "happy" with this camera's performance are in fact loyal to Sony, regardless of how HORRIBLE the camera is.

LOL. Can you ask your friends at Sony to upload the pics in full resolution?
[Xperia Z3 General] dtroup64:
Who really uses full resolution on a 20mp camera? You guys kill me. :)

I'm the Marketing Director at a regional art museum. We have an 8MP Canon that we use to take shots for the Cover of our quarterly printed magazine. We also set it up on a tripod to take proper full resolution shots of our 19th and 20th century American art collection. All other shots we take are for online publication— and all of our social media outlets and our website.

If folks are taking 20mp shots for use in full resolution with a PHONE... uhm... you have to wonder what in hell they are thinking... :)
[Xperia Z3 General] radicans:
For someone used to digital photography, it might be easy to get up on the high horse and dismiss people as being stupid. But I think if you are not a photographer, you can most definitiely be fooled by the marketing hype. After all, they repeat over and over that it's a 20.7MP camera with "the highest resolution" etc etc. Assuming no prior experience with digital cameras, there is absolutely no reason to suspect that it will only deliver less than half of its promise. It's not much different from buying a computer where you pay for 20GB ram, but then you find it only has 8GB that you can actually use.
[Xperia Z3 General] dtroup64:
Truly not calling anyone stupid. Simply pointing out that this is not an issue. Unless you are printing - actually printing - a 30 inch wide photo - that you took on your phone for some reason - you'll never need it. I don't know anyone that creates print photography in such large formats that wouldn't use an actual camera for such a thing.

I could be wrong, as I often am! :)

But if someone in this forum would like to point me in the direction of those making High Resolution Prints at around 30 inches wide that they took with ANY phone, I'd love to ask them why they're not using a camera.

Now if your telling me that a phone camera takes shots that are out of focus, or that are very grainy in low light... these are things that concern me. I currently use my Note 2 camera around the museum on a daily basis - tweeting shots of live events, or posting to our instagram account, or to our facebook page. I would hate to post something that is either blurry, or grainy. That is why I am looking to upgrade from my Note 2 and the ZV3 seems like an optimum choice.

I, for one, was very interested in the renowned photographers' shots and their collaboration with Sony. I have no need to see them at high resolution, 21 MP large. :)
[Xperia Z3 General] radicans:
You are likely to get different opinions on whether or not the Z3 is up to the task for your intended use. The Z3 has serious issues with image processing artifacts, which are more or less visible depending on scenario, with high detail photos taking the worst hit. Don't even try taking a photo in the forest! But if you are only going to post to social media, your photos will be scaled down so much that even I would say it's probably ok. The photos can also have an unappealing magenta color shift which is mostly visible in daylight shots. Furthermore, the photos suffer from color bleeding, meaning the photos tend to look washed out and flat. But again, for less than 2MP this is probably not noticable. The good thing is that it has a very good low light mode.

Personally I would never choose the Z3 if the camera is important. I have plenty of photography experience, analog and digital, and had no big expectations, but even then I was brutally disappointed. The rest of the phone is awesome though, so keeping it for now. The best looking photos on the mainstream android devices at the moment I think is the Note 4, with S5 not far behind, at least for daylight shots. Best thing you can do is probably to borrow some different phones, if you can, and see what works for you. You might love the Z3, who knows :)
[Xperia Z3 General] dtroup64:
Much appreciated.

My upgrade isn't until January 20 anyways, so I'll probably end up waiting until April to see what the Z4 might have up its sleeve... until then, I'll stick with my Canon.
[Xperia Z3 General] radicans:
I see what you mean now :) Don't think anyone uses cam photos for prints bigger than regular "holiday photos", if at all these days.

But there is one application for a "ridiculously high" MP count in a phone camera, it can be used as an artificial zoom lens. The more pixels/details, the more zoom/crop in you can do. A must for portraits, considering the wide angle nature of phone cam lenses. But it turns out there is very little real detail in those 20MP, especially if the processing has kicked in. Also the color bleeding get quite pronounced when zooming in. So unless your target resolution is 3-4 MP, there is not much zoom that realistically can be done.

Of course, one can not have too high expectations on a phone camera, but one can have the expectations for it to be as good as the other phones out there!
[Xperia Z3 General] doministry:
My opinion is different.

I am convinced that actually Z2 with the newest FW and Z3 are one of the best photograpy machines around. There are also Lumias there but they're actually much worse smartphones as a whole. There are tons of proofs on internet including professional photographers and websites.

I personally take many photos as a photo amateur.

And I see that the actual performance available on Xperias is fantastic. The issues some users report here are totally marginal and have no real influence on the photos! And some of them are far from reality. Never really believe whiners!

I mean you know, the photo is always taken by the camera AND the human behind it ;)

So IMHO if you want photography - take Z3.

And if you want proof, jump to the Xperia group on Flickr or my own stream and judge yourself.

Cheers.

P.S.

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/sony_xperia_z3_review/image_quality/
[Xperia Z3 General] dtroup64:
My understanding from reading through this thread is that the blurring and the fuzziness seems to occur at the outer edges of the images. So would not someone be able to take a wider shot than necessary, and then crop as they see fit... removing the blurred excess edges?

This is, in essence, what black and white photographers used to do in the day with contact sheets.
[Xperia Z3 General] radicans:
*must resist posting crop in comparisons* :)

I do agree in that if you only intend to look at the photo on the phone, or on the monitor not bigger than 2MP, then you would be hard pressed to see the processing artifacts. Although the color bleeding still makes the photo look washed out. I will come back soon with photos to show what I mean. Perhaps a minor detail for some, but a big difference in my eyes.

I think the word you are looking for is 'quality-minded' ;) I fully admit that the majority might not have a problem with some of the issues that myself and others complain about, and that's fine of course, but that doesn't mean the issues are not there.
[Xperia Z3 General] subhani:
The thing is, unless you do a side by side comparison of 100% crops, there really is no way to know that it is better or worse. Some things are characteristic of the Z3 so a trained eye would be able to pick it out from just the magenta hue, depending on the scene.

Otherwise, my humble and limited experience of comparing the Z3 to the iPhone 6+ in diff conditions has shown some strengths in favour of the Z3 and others for the ip6+.

In extreme low light, the Z3 wins easy. In general low light the iPhone is better by some margin actually.

In bright daylight outdoor conditions, the Z3 barely edges the iPhone in detail.

My opinion on macro is different. The lens has a hard time getting close enough and maintaining focus. My LG G2 used to be able to get closer.

Regarding the iPhone 5, just yesterday, my iPhone 5 toting friend took interest in my Z3, we were out at night chatting and he was asking me about auto backup on Android. To demonstrate this, I randomly took a photo of my car, pointed and shot by launching the camera using the hardware button at which point he changed the subject and took a photo of the same scene with his ip5. He then compared the shot and it was clearly apparent to him that his was much grainier and washed out.

And so it should be. It's three generations old. But I find it hard to believe that the ip5 is better than the Z3.

Sent from Z3 using Tapatalk.
[Xperia Z3 General] One Twelve:
You have two choices. Sell your z3 and go with whatever pleases you or learn how to take better shots. *****ing & whining is waste of time. Cut your losses and move on.

No, they just don't have as much of an issue about pixel peeping details as some people. They are not in the business of astronomy or microscopy where details mean new discoveries :D

They realise that when they get a device there will be pros & cons and the trick is to workaround the cons and make the best of what you got. The pros outweighing the cons.

Photos threads generally improve after the first three months, the n00b owners are less n00bs and more confident. They know what works and what doesn't and concentrate on making more of what works.

The disgruntled have long gone.

Becomes about photos. This is the general path of any photo thread. Always some people who are inconsolably, desperately unhappy no matter the brand. They need to vent and let off some steam.

Those shots are primarily about composition.The whole not some tiny leaves over on the left. The 'details' go into the background. What is being presented, how is it being presented and does it tell a story is all that matters. The business of photography. Truth be told you could do that with any camera of the same generation if you could see the shot the way they did. Even the m8 with its ZOMG! only 4MP camera.

You could go through a hundred shots but those will be the ones that grabbed your attention and made you look just a little longer. Why ? they took skill. Those are the ones you hang on to as either they were flukes or you had to work them.

funnily enough i did not see a single macro in that exhibit.

I did not find the tutorial bit all that enligtening that is to say the first

lesson

. I learnt much more reading around and asking people here. There is a learning curve and it never stops.
[Xperia Z3 General] radicans:
Ok, so I couldn't resist the crop ins anyway. But I said I would post something that shows what I mean with the washed out looking photos. Here is a side by side with the Lumia1020. I'm not talking about which phone is better here, just want to show what color definition looks like, and how it affects a photo when it's not there.

With the Lumia, you can clearly see the distinction of different colors. With the Z3 it just looks like a dull mess to me. I would say this shows through even at small sizes.

This is from one photo, and it's kinda the worst case scenario. Cityscapes tend to come out good, nature shots tend to come out like this, unless it's macro which usually looks a lot better. If you don't see a problem with the photos above (and I don't mean you should), or if you won't shoot scenes like this, then the Z3 camera will probably work for you.

Full photos:

http://i2.wp.com/fortheloveoftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/wp_20141019_14_57_40_pro.jpg (lumia)

http://i1.wp.com/fortheloveoftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/dsc_0095.jpg (Z3)

Another photo showing the same issues:

http://i2.wp.com/fortheloveoftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/wp_20141019_15_23_28_pro.jpg (lumia)

http://i0.wp.com/fortheloveoftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/dsc_0099.jpg (Z3)
[Xperia Z3 General] danw_oz:
Cool here is a newby, who clearly is an apple fanboy, who has idea what they are talking about, go back to your iphone 5. This camera is clearly not the best, and maybe should be better than it is, but it is still better than most point and shoot cameras and most phones.
[Xperia Z3 General] One Twelve:
Been meaning to post this some time ago. i found the app i was looking for.

Notice how the exifs are overlaid over the shot. You can configure what you want to see and how long it stays up there. Very easy to swipe photos and see what went wrong.

Raw droid

That's the demo but it works. If you don't like the logo also overlaid over your photo then pay up.

Won't show metering or scene modes if you want those go bug the developer. he seems to be on hiatus at the moment.

i wish there were more apps like this.
[Xperia Z3 General] Mity85:
By this logic, the thread will be full of macro shots because that's the only way to work around the cons. And I do need to get over my losses.

Yes, I'm new. Do you know how I found this site? I was itching to get rid of my iPhone 5 and I needed a phone with global LTE bands so I could go back and forth between Europe and the US with one phone so I bought the Z3. I spent the entire first day testing out the camera in various settings. I ended up returning the phone and paying a hefty restocking fee. Do you see why I'm upset? The pics were absolutely awful and it was not due to my incompetence. FYI, I'm no Apple fanboy. My first smartphone was the Samsung Galaxy Infuse and now, because of my experience with the Z3, I'm waiting for the A5. I still maintain that people who are defending the Z3 are doing a disservice to potential buyers. I agree that I'm becoming a troll and I should upload pics.
[Xperia Z3 General] One Twelve:
Green is where luminance lies. High iso implies low light so boost green.

Lumias are infamous for doing this. ever notice green looks a little to green with its shots. When i was examing a note 4 vs lumia 930 comparison the green histograms were almost always higher.

Easy fix in post. add magenta. Too much pink, add green.

---------- Post added at 04:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:18 AM ----------

Check the Z1 & Z2 threads, lots of non-macro shots.

macros are easy to do, lighting is controlled that is why there are more of them.

light is everything, get enough of it and everything looks good.

bad photo does not mean bad camera.

I could use my counters in this thread with any device.

The problem lies with who took the shot first & foremost.

This is some wierd logic.

iphones (5s onwards) offer the best global coverage for global LTE bands. In my country, apple were the first to support the uncommon 4G LTE band we designated. My personal gripe is why cant android do the same. Its starting but apple took the lead.
[Xperia Z3 General] radicans:
Hmm, I don't quite understand. Why would luminance be in the green? And if the luminance is in the green, wouldn't it make more sense to boost the other channels to even out?

Are you referring to the fact that there are twice as many green pixel sites in the sensor, and so the green gets more light?

Here is my hypothesis: In low light scenarios there is often tungsten light (light bulbs), where most of the light is in the redder part of the spectrum. High ISO implies low light, and so a good guess for the camera would be to boost the green to compensate. But following this logic it should also boost blue, which is doesn't so... I don't know.
[Xperia Z3 General] ijeff:
That's uncalled for. It's clearly one of the poorer performers this generation and it's a valid concern when it's an otherwise great smartphone. It most certainly isn't better than most point and shoots; extremely cheap ones, maybe, but not a single decent one.

Being better than a potato for taking photos shouldn't preclude users from being critical of its performance. Especially when there are better shooters in its price category that happen to use Sony sensors.
[Xperia Z3 General] bb_hershey:
You can download the full resolution pictures in the website.
[Xperia Z3 General] danw_oz:
Not really, the guy just spouts out some blanket statement garbage. Plus he should read the topic title, it is not a moan about Sony camera, as far as I can read it says post your pics here, which he didn't either.

Try running ISO800 or higher on a point and shoot, and see what is better.

And I think you are so wrong, because most of the comparisons I have seen comparing the quality of the shots between smart phones, the Nokia is a clear winner, and then there is the rest and Sony is right up there with the rest, very little difference between them if anything in most shooting conditions.

Here are photos from the Xperia Z, Z1 and Z3 https://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-wilson/sets/72157635854728695/ I am pretty happy with the results from a phone, if I wanted better I would use a dedicated camera
[Xperia Z3 General] hanime:
Hold up.
[Xperia Z3 General] doministry:
For the people who exist only to continuously express their dissatisfaction

there is no argument on earth which would change their mind.

And most of them rarely use the camera for any photograpic, artistic purpose.
[Xperia Z3 General] radicans:
I'm impressed! Please tell us how you manage to keep track of and evaluate all these peoples private photos.
[Xperia Z3 General] Mity85:
I don't have a 5s only a 5 - I was thinking about "upgrading" to a 5s now that the 6 came out. The reason why I bought the 5 in the first place was because AT&T was running a trade-in program in Feb/Mar of 2013 and I got the 5 for $100 + tax. You see, I'm not loyal to any brand - I'm a cheapo.

You're right. If you right click and open the images in a new tab, higher res shot opens up but consider how they presented the images.

They've intentionally taken pictures with moving objects so you can't discriminate between a genuinely blurry still shot and one with motion blur. Pay attention to the trees. They've tried to make the shots look artistic but it was only to cover up the camera's poor performance.

To compare with the shot of the bridge above see the following is a shot from an engadget review in slightly better lighting conditions.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/06/sony-xperia-z3-review/

Even with a scaled down image, you can still see how blurry the photo came in. It would've been even worse had they uploaded the full res pic.

And naturally, they provided a low-light shot. One of the two highlights of the camera with the other being macro.

Do you realize that the majority of users will be casual users, not professional photographers? Because I'm not one, I don't have the right to present my POV? On one hand people say that we shouldn't expect DSLR quality performance and on the other that we just aren't taking the photos correctly and need to attend the "Sony Academy." So, Sony should market this phone as the "phone of choice for professionals not expecting DSLR performance." I didn't need to attend a course to take

excellent

photos on my Galaxy or

decent

photos on my iPhone.

I am sorry that I couldn't add value by uploading my personal pics. My backyard is full of trees and the photos would have displayed how bad natural scenery is captured. I made a mistake and relied on reviews by the likes of Engadget and Btekt - these people are in sales. I should've searched for independent reviews instead. I'm glad that I came across this thread and read others' experiences. Hopefully someone else is wiser and is on this forum before choosing to buy the Z3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYpLQ9YoyzY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHPWFw9NSiE
[Xperia Z3 General] xxquicksh0txx:
Instagram. Snapchat. Facebook >> What majority of people will use their phone camera for.

If you disagree you're retarded.
[Xperia Z3 General] hanime:
Haha. This is starting to be like a science vs. religion kind of debate. Some like us are proving the flaws with photos, while others are sworn by the phone. :D

I wish these photographers take photos of the woods or trees around their neighborhood, even during daylight. I'd like to see how well the photos turn out.