yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[ZenFone 2 General] Allesa:
For the past week I've been playing around with my 2gb ram zf2 ze551ml. On paper this phone should perform well with its f 2.0 lens and 13mp sensor. However, in most cases it doesn't perform as it should.

I mainly use my phone to take pictures at night, with medium to low light conditions. TBH im a little disappointed with the camera in those situations.

My gripes :

1. Noise noise noise. Even on bright low iso shots. However if you don't pixel-peep you'll be alright in good lighting.

2. Using nightmode increases luminance and color noise strangely enough

3. Can't seem to figure out how to balance group portrait shots using flash. Almost everytime pictures turn too yellowish and too much contrast. Highlights often blown.

4. Anyone knows the "sweet spot" for setting optimizations manually?
[ZenFone 2 General] Hudrator:
Can't see the problems some people have.

Not to mention we are talking about a phone camera but more over we are talking about an device, which costs in its best configuration around 350€... More then 300€ less then some devices it's compared with.

My opinion: a good camera for quick shots and social media. And you really getting a quiet good quality for your money. Maybe Asus will give us some improvements through updates. But still it's good
[ZenFone 2 General] Allesa:
Almost all of its camera problems should be software related, image processing algorithm tuning can fix it. For example the night mode. It should turn on more aggressive color noise reduction (the pink magenta noise), not just reducing slowing down Shutter speed and reducing iso.

I don't have much previous experience with Asus except for their zf4, so I don't know how good they ate with software updates.

Obviously it is unfair to compare zf2 with phones like s6, ip6, or note 4, however we can compare pic quality with last year's budget minded phones like oneplus one or xiaomi mi4.
[ZenFone 2 General] lefantome:
To improve the image quality disable the automatic improvement/elaboration of the images from the camera options
[ZenFone 2 General] m0ngstr0us:
Why have that feature at the first place when in the end everything has to be turned off. Lol.

Let's cross fingers an update would solve all these problems. :)
[ZenFone 2 General] kanagawaben:
I like the depth of field mode. It's a bit hit and miss, and you need to keep steady, but when it works it produces SLR-like images. Here's one:
[ZenFone 2 General] kanagawaben:
I don't get the super resolution mode though - all the pictures I have tried to take with that look exactly the same as usual ones of the same subject!?
[ZenFone 2 General] Quantify:
See attached..super res is a bit better.
[ZenFone 2 General] SiriusCybernetik:
Is that your house?
[ZenFone 2 General] DanielKennethRego:
Zenfone 2 owners, how bad is the video recording on the phone?

The GSMArena review bashed the video recording really hard, said it looked like upscaled 480p.

http://www.gsmarena.com/asus_zenfone_2_ze551ml-review-1240p8.php

How do you guys feel about that?
[ZenFone 2 General] Aceofzeroz:
Ah yes, GSMArena and their *ahem* "review" of the Zenfone 2's camera and everything else should be taken with a grain of salt, imo. I watched the 1080p video sample and I don't see where they got such an insult from, it looks decent at that res.

It's quite sad how people would consider their "review" more credible than others. But it doesn't matter since we, who already have the device, know that the camera is very good once you update your software and play around with the camera settings.:)

Trying to make a review right out of the box is very damaging if you don't emphasize the fact that majority of software downfalls can be fixed in updates. Anyway, taking anything GSMArena reviews seriously is damaging, I only use them for specs reference (which sometimes have errors too).:p

Sent from the Ace's Tapatalk 4
[ZenFone 2 General] DanielKennethRego:
Can you guys put up some video camera samples, too?

Personally, I found the 1080p video sample in the GSMArena review quite poor. I watched the straight, unedited file, too.

---------- Post added at 11:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:02 AM ----------

Just saw these two, in GSMArena's video comparison tool. This looks rather horrid, unfortunately.

http://www.gsmarena.com/vidcmp.php3?idType=1&idPhone1=6917&idPhone3=6763&idCamera2=300282

http://www.gsmarena.com/vidcmp.php3?idType=3&idPhone1=6917&idPhone3=6763&idCamera2=300282
[ZenFone 2 General] revanchdg:
Hey bro after the latest firmware update the camera is improved??? Are the images over saturated?? And optimization should be turned off or to manual to get best shots?? And finally as told by gsmarena after zooming photos look like watercolors, is that fixed???
[ZenFone 2 General] Xcaliber:
Unfortunately, not yet. There is a lot of noise still, but I believe it is a HUGE software issue. I base this on my experience with different modes/settings. For example, when you change the mode to Depth of Field, and if you take it right, the pictures come out FANTASTIC! Then when I switch back to Normal mode, take the same picture, it looks horribly grainy. This can only mean 1 thing .... it is not the ACTUAL camera, instead, it is the SOFTWARE.

Good news is, once Asus releases Unlocked bootloader, we should be seeing many ROMs come out. Almost all will replace the camera app or improve it, so we will get much less noise.
[ZenFone 2 General] penfold:
All the full size samples i have seen from this phone the noise is horrific at full resolution, not to mention the lack of detail. Sure when you shrink the image down to 800x600 you won't see the noise or the lack detail, but at full size ....omg!

There is a simple way to test if it's the camera itself or the software ....if someone could take some pics with a third party app like snap (paid) or open camera (free) we could see if the results are any better.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.sourceforge.opencamera
[ZenFone 2 General] Nikolay Petrov:
Shooted in Dayligh Auto mode
[ZenFone 2 General] Quantify:
Dramatic difference! Will post pictures later but it is night and day difference.
[ZenFone 2 General] penfold:
thanks, please post full size pics of the results
[ZenFone 2 General] DanielKennethRego:
That sounds very promising, [MENTION=369353]Quantify[/MENTION]! Looking forward to your samples and comparisons. A-B comparisons between 'stock' software and the software you found better results with would be great!

Also, ZF2 users, please comment about the quality of video recording? It's already at a bit of a disadvantage because it tops out at 1080p @ 30 FPS, but what really got me worried was the quality of the raw video sample in the GSMArena review.
[ZenFone 2 General] jdaclutch:
here are some ab comparisons,on full auto mode, stock vs open cam, quality about the same, hopefully the next firmware update going to fix the battery and camera problem. These are taken with stock camera app
[ZenFone 2 General] jdaclutch:
here are the one taken with open camera
[ZenFone 2 General] penfold:
thanks but these were either not taken or posted at full resolution so it's hard to tell
[ZenFone 2 General] kanagawaben:
Yes, thanks, but neither seem very clear.
[ZenFone 2 General] Chinaphonearena:
EDIT: After spending more time with the Zenfone 2, the images seem quite good. My initial impression came from a shot I took with the Asus camera. Google camera seems to give better results.
[ZenFone 2 General] sorrow777:
Here is one I took. https://i.imgur.com/KyrLPkm.jpg
[ZenFone 2 General] dineshdotcom2000:
Will Asus Zenfone 2 4gb ram version be able to plays 2k video??
[ZenFone 2 General] fr4nkr0c:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/81473125/P_20150503_090603_DF.jpg

#ze551ml automatic!
[ZenFone 2 General] Chinaphonearena:
Nightshot:

Mr. Meow Meow aka Buttersnaps aka Nahmistuh aka Scooper aka Mingming with Google Camera blur mode:

Scenery/dynamic range test:

No effects applied or adjustments made except for Mr. Meow Meow (Google Camera blur and shadows adjustment). All other shots 100% unedited. All shots taken with Google Camera.

Full gallery on Facebook with 100% crops:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1773325819558594?view=permalink&id=1840534029504439

Full 13mp with 100% crops (50mb)

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/w70w7r1a65840/Zenfone_2
[ZenFone 2 General] marcolo76:
HDR
[ZenFone 2 General] SiriusCybernetik:
Artificial light shoot through a glass box
[ZenFone 2 General] Hudrator:
Maybe someone can make a guide how to achieve so beautiful pix. All I get I grainey and a little bit washed out
[ZenFone 2 General] whynottoday:
Same for me
[ZenFone 2 General] SiriusCybernetik:
To be honest, I do nothing special. Usually when there are pics to be taken, there is no time to play around with settings.

---------- Post added at 07:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:22 AM ----------

So most of my shots are full-auto.
[ZenFone 2 General] abhirup780:
HDR mode in the Pixemaster camera is really good. I am really impressed. But somehow Google camera is not working a good job.. Even in HDR mode. Camera FV 5 is doing very good in Auto mode but Manual mode seems to be better in the default app.
[ZenFone 2 General] revanchdg:
Bro samples with Google camera looks really good.. now what you say about the camera comparing with other phones like oneplus one or any others u have tested?? Please reply bro.... and does the flash makes pics yellowish??
[ZenFone 2 General] dkimmortal:
I find for indoor settings, ISO 200 with 1/15 sen. is what gives me the best results.

Auto mod does 400 ISO and it kinda brightens it a bit and makes it blurry a bit. Whatever the case, ASUS needs to give us some good software optimization because currently its pretty bad! Auto mode is not usable i feel.
[ZenFone 2 General] Reviewers:
The camera on the phone is absolutely phenomenal... I'm surprised.
[ZenFone 2 General] togekk:
I tried 4k videos with MX Player H/W+ mode , and yes.

But you'll have problem with seeking.
[ZenFone 2 General] Litoven:
HDR auto

View attachment 3316590

Should have checked hires first as it looks it moved on the HDR capture but it doesnt look that bad, if I would have kept it steady I think it would came out great, only did this shot as I was in a hurry.
[ZenFone 2 General] joni1981:
Amazing pictures! Cannot compare it to my THL T200
[ZenFone 2 General] lowfellow:
Does anyone have any comment on the capture speed? Watching youtube reviews I've been a little put off by that slow-seeming "circle wipe" shutter animation. I've seen that you can switch off the animation in the options, but is the capture speed still slow? What about if you use Google Camera etc instead? I strongly prefer a "blink of an eye" capture speed.
[ZenFone 2 General] luisoman2000:
low light pictures are really disappointing, lots of noise and grainy at best. hope they fix this in further updates

View attachment 3320495View attachment 3320496View attachment 3320497
[ZenFone 2 General] Chinaphonearena:
Exactly.

If you're taking any sort of action shots, or light light shots, or pixelpeeping and expecting great results, then this camera isn't for you. No phone camera I've seen does well in these situations. Even most stand-alone 1/2.3" cameras don't do well with low-light shooting. The sensors are simply too small. Also remember there's no image stabilization, so slightest hand movements will cause blur.

It has very little to do with software, so don't get your hopes up. You need to step up into minimum of 1/1.7" or 1" sensor to be taking decent low-light images.

For a $200-400 phone, the camera is fine and it's difficult to expect more. You *might* have luck with action shots in good lightning if manually setting ISO to 1/200 or faster.

---------- Post added at 08:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:50 PM ----------

Thanks for your comment, man. I haven't tested one plus one, but I have many similar shots from Elephone, THL and from Canon G7X stand-alone w/1" sensor. I think at normal social viewing sizes and even when cropping in significantly, shots in good light come out very good with Asus Zenfone 2.

Keep in mind that most of the 100% crops in these sets came from 5-6MP, not from 13MP as with Zenfone 2 crops.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/56505616@N00/sets

From Zenfone 2:

Full gallery on Facebook with 100% crops:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1773325819558594?view=permalink&id=1840534029504439

Full 13mp with 100% crops (50mb)

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/w70w7r1a65840/Zenfone_2
[ZenFone 2 General] luisoman2000:
the night mode sure is impressive though, I understand that the sensors are tiny and all that, but I've had phones that showed a lot less noise on pictures with flash.

anyway, auto no flash, it was almost midnight.

Night mode, amazing the amount of light captured.

auto with flash.
[ZenFone 2 General] Chinaphonearena:
Great tip, man. Use night mode. Seems obvious, but often forgotten. These shots look fine to me.
[ZenFone 2 General] kanagawaben:
Just had a play with low light mode vs auto no flash (flashes on phones are utterly useless if you ask me, and the Zenfone's is no exception). Low light mode is a winner I reckon, lives up to the Asus tag line "see what others can't", in fact it sees what my eyes could barely see. Like having night vision :) Not perfect by any means, but will get you a photo in situations where you'd normally get none.
[ZenFone 2 General] MrKoji:
Earlier at McDonald's. ?
[ZenFone 2 General] luisoman2000:
took these after the update, one with hdr, the other on auto.

auto mode

hdr
[ZenFone 2 General] tweak17emon:
http://www.reddit.com/r/zenfone2photos/

https://imgrush.com/KAFmr0SlkS2a.png

https://imgrush.com/xSot9evkNywG.png

Imgur compresses images to 1MB, and the zenfone2 takes pictures above 2MB in size. Id suggest everyone try imgrush when showing off photos.
[ZenFone 2 General] Quantify:
Three of these were shot with optimization off. One has optimization on. See if you can figure out which one. https://drive.google.com/folder/d/0...aWXo1VmxTRkE0clNFZkhqN1g3UWdEa3JtRm81R0E/edit
[ZenFone 2 General] J33v1n:
Any of you guys know wether slow motion will come to zenfone 2? Is it even possible? Or is it hardware limited.
[ZenFone 2 General] ilos:
this is not an advertising xD

https://imgrush.com/cNVVQpxxe1eB.jpg
[ZenFone 2 General] tweak17emon:
https://imgrush.com/VczdaqJ8PdAJ.jpg

What settings are you guys using?
[ZenFone 2 General] nathan118:
Wow...looks good! Might not be S6 quality....but it's close enough for me!
[ZenFone 2 General] tweak17emon:
thanks! ive got a bunch posted on www.reddit.com/r/zenfone2photos. i'm trying to build that subreddit up similar to how the OPO has a subreddit for photos.
[ZenFone 2 General] nathan118:
Yeah, I saw you over there! :) I'll contribute as soon as I get my phone today.
[ZenFone 2 General] luisoman2000:
I think camera quality has improved in the last update.

auto no flash

auto with flash

low light mode no flash
[ZenFone 2 General] TOT_tomdora:
Took about a dozen photos around the house today, but these two are by far my favorites. Gonna walk around today and take more pictures!
[ZenFone 2 General] DanielKennethRego:
I'm interested in this, which one was it?

In your opinion, optimisation ON is now better than optimisation OFF? The general consensus the last time I read this thread was the opposite. If so, that's great news on the improvement.
[ZenFone 2 General] rseiler:
Is the electronic stabilization that useless? And what about with video?
[ZenFone 2 General] intheparkman:
Taken with low light mode 2m
[ZenFone 2 General] bayern_tig:
Just curious, do you guys take pictures with the 10MP or 13MP setting ? 13Mp is obviously better but the 4:3 aspect ratio is not pretty to look at when you're browsing through the pics on your phone.
[ZenFone 2 General] TOT_tomdora:
I use the 4:3 aspect ratio because it makes for good viewing on any screen, and is easy to work with. Also, you have a large frame.
[ZenFone 2 General] alexkta:
picture of my e cig with default settings
[ZenFone 2 General] gontie:
Taken previous week with default picture app but with the "Optimisation Disabled"

Link [IMG="Picture"]http://www75.zippyshare.com/i/iFmG8nME/4904/P_20150524_163748.jpg[/IMG]

You can download file here : http://www75.zippyshare.com/i/iFmG8nME/4839/P_20150524_163748.jpg
[ZenFone 2 General] jose makalolot:
Low light.

Sent from my phone.
[ZenFone 2 General] tweak17emon:
[IMG="after soccer"]https://imgrush.com/cL63Tl2eElC5.jpg[/IMG]
[ZenFone 2 General] peekay2n:
ISO 200, 1/13sec, macro focus mode. No edit.

Pic is noisy (look at the text edge). But pretty impressed given the phone's price!
[ZenFone 2 General] ey3pod:
Chicken
[ZenFone 2 General] XneofuX:
Here are some pictures with the following settings:

8MP HDR, Auto (both fine)

10MP HDR, Auto (both standard)

13MP HDR, Auto (both fine)

https://imgrush.com/1529ac2bcda6

I don't know why it's not saving the descriptions ... let's see if someone can figure out which is which. Even i can only hardly tell the difference between 8MP and 13MP.

Well, i just noticed that i had Optimization on auto ... so no clue where it was on or off.

I'm actually pretty pleased with the camera in this phone. It's not a DSLR, but nobody should have expected that.
[ZenFone 2 General] coolguy949:
Camera is better than I expected. Low light could be better and I wish focusing was a tad faster. Otherwise it's not a bad camera at all.

Came across this post on the web today: http://www.thephoblographer.com/2015/06/04/review-asus-zenfone-2-camera/#.VXCGls9VhBe

Some good sample images.
[ZenFone 2 General] peekay2n:
No edits / filters. Straight out of the phone.

Leaf was clicked against the sun.

Macro mode, manual exposure. ISO 200, 1/250s

View attachment 3348458
[ZenFone 2 General] piwos:
Pretty impressive phone camera, second shot is HDR.
[ZenFone 2 General] legolgel:
At six flags
[ZenFone 2 General] DanielKennethRego:
Excellent shot! Out of curiousity, optimisation on or off?
[ZenFone 2 General] peekay2n:
Umm.. Where do I find that out? I just set image quality to fine. And used the manual mode.
[ZenFone 2 General] DanielKennethRego:
It's in the settings dialog (the gear icon at the top-left of the screen).
[ZenFone 2 General] peekay2n:
I see a "detail enhancement" option there, and it's set to 0.

If that's what you mean.

There's "optimisation" in auto mode. Not available in manual mode.
[ZenFone 2 General] DanielKennethRego:
Right, my mistake!

Also, by 'macro mode', I assume you meant the focus slider all the way to the extreme left, in manual mode?
[ZenFone 2 General] peekay2n:
Yes. That! :)

And custom values for ISO and exposure.
[ZenFone 2 General] luisoman2000:
View attachment 3350406

auto mode
[ZenFone 2 General] preetshardoc:
Great shots

These are some nice shots..... and great house & volkswagen too.

(I just realized for the first time that there is no LIKE :good: button for posts here :confused:)

Damn Facebook for spoiling us all.......

I too love my Zenfone 2 camera.... except the flash...it kind of gives a yellow tinge to photos indoor...... first I thought it was the settings...which I tried to change....then I complained a lot....no one seemed to care and now I have learnt to live with it
[ZenFone 2 General] peekay2n:
Try the 2.18 build. I had the same problem with 2.17. Now it is how it should be!
[ZenFone 2 General] tweak17emon:
you guys need to post more in https://www.reddit.com/r/zenfone2photos/ just sayin.

https://imgrush.com/nsq1GnagGbr_.jpeg

Edited with Snapseed
[ZenFone 2 General] HaiDM:
Hey guys

For anyone who want to have the best picture quality available from the phone, I suggest to use Open Camera . This app has less image compression than the default camera app (at 100% quality jpeg, the pictures taken are about 6MB compare to 3.5MB frome default camera app) , and excellent HDR mode.
[ZenFone 2 General] kanagawaben:
Couple more examples of the low-light mode vs auto.
[ZenFone 2 General] peekay2n:
Sunset, straight out of the phone

ISO 50, 1/60sec.
[ZenFone 2 General] danang0274:
Using otomatic mode
[ZenFone 2 General] HaiDM:
Some macro shots
[ZenFone 2 General] spiritcrusher33:
Little bit of editing after taking the pics. But still takes nice shots.
[ZenFone 2 General] 2slowzoom:
Camera is better than I expected.
[ZenFone 2 General] Gustapo:
The last pic reminds me of my stay in Tokyo. Such a beautiful place. :good:
[ZenFone 2 General] kanagawaben:
I think the camera does well in well-lit outdoor scenes, although some colours (especially greens, such as grass) seem a bit unrealistically overblown on auto. Compare these, two auto, two hdr. I think the green of the flowers looks like my iphone's HDR on the auto shots.
[ZenFone 2 General] kanagawaben:
Here's a photo of my dog. Just because :)
[ZenFone 2 General] godgib:
Florida Rain at 80 mph through the window
[ZenFone 2 General] DanielKennethRego:
At my last gig.
[ZenFone 2 General] Archmage1809:
Super-resolution

ASUS Zenfone 2 Super-resolution mode testing https://www.flickr.com/photos/128216692@N08/, on Flickr

In super resolution mode, it's higher megapixel than my DSLR :lol: But megapixel isn't the most important factor :lol:
[ZenFone 2 General] Frakatchoo:
Full Zoom + Super-Resolution
[ZenFone 2 General] kamranyusuf:
Check this one out
[ZenFone 2 General] veeman:
That's a great shot. You should share it on www.reddit.com/r/shotonandroid

That subreddit needs some Zenfone 2 love
[ZenFone 2 General] Doadi:
Shot from my window view, i like zencamera

(Zenfone2 ze551ml rooted)
[ZenFone 2 General] Capataz:
Some photos from Japan. :)
[ZenFone 2 General] nickgalaxy:
How would you overall rate the performance of the camera in comparison to galaxy S3.
[ZenFone 2 General] kanagawaben:
Nice, the big Gundam in Odaiba.
[ZenFone 2 General] kanagawaben:
A good sunset
[ZenFone 2 General] zainthesnipe:
what mode did you put it in?
[ZenFone 2 General] bobhoil:
Took this using the depth of field mode.
[ZenFone 2 General] n_god:
2 more from me [emoji16] [emoji16] [emoji16]

ASUS_Z00AD cihazımdan Tapatalk kullanılarak gönderildi
[ZenFone 2 General] Buk-Lau:
that rx 78 :cool:
[ZenFone 2 General] penpen72:
Pickles

I gotta say...I like my ZenFone 2 way more than I did the LG g4. This thing just works and camera isn't quite as good but dang near close.
[ZenFone 2 General] penpen72:
Pickles

My cat. Auto everything.
[ZenFone 2 General] dakunclear:
One is in HDR mode the other is auto
[ZenFone 2 General] hichaam:
Using auto mode
[ZenFone 2 General] kanagawaben:
I have to say - wtf!? That's freaky! :)
[ZenFone 2 General] hichaam:
Oh, yes, I found it on a small park near my house [emoji2]

Envoyé de mon ASUS_Z00AD en utilisant Tapatalk
[ZenFone 2 General] kanagawaben:
I assume HDR is the second one. It really does a good job of evening out the exposure so the shaded bits (especially the wall) can be much more visible. Very impressive.
[ZenFone 2 General] adrian13th:
Auto mode daylight ?
[ZenFone 2 General] dakunclear:
I love HDR on this phone
[ZenFone 2 General] SquallDNA:
during my field work

I'd like to share this...
[ZenFone 2 General] ElmirBuljubasic:
[IMG="Auto mode"]http://i.imgur.com/Z2dnJdd.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG="Manual mode (Colors are more realistic)"]http://i.imgur.com/h047ktP.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG="Night mode"]http://i.imgur.com/p454zv5.jpg[/IMG]
[ZenFone 2 General] kiridhruv:
Guide a zenfone 2 newbiee pl.

I am newbiee for asus zenfone 2 ( 4gb RAM) and my pics are coming noisy not as baeutiful as mentioned above.

Help me out by listing what changes should i do to get amazing picks like yours.

Please give your little time to reply me.

I will send you many thanks :good:
[ZenFone 2 General] luisoman2000:
low light mode
[ZenFone 2 General] Frankenberrie:
Old forge ny
[ZenFone 2 General] dimitrakhs1:
There you go...have some pictures!

I just love taking pictures with this phone!Oops!The second image was uploaded upside-down,don't know why,sorry!
[ZenFone 2 General] Maynard46:
how about you guys post the settings you are using for these pics? I use HDR most of the time and as you can see in the pics below there is almost like a ridged or jagged look. Like to much sharpness maybe, or to much light? 16:9 10mp - with everything on the default settings.

thoughts?