yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] Sadman Khan:
Locked bootloader yes. I used Superior Auto and decreased the brightness to a very low level. That's it
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] TheEndHK:
That's what I hate on S6/S7, there is so yellow and over warm. Z5 WB got much better. I won't get S7 until S8 fix it.

http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_g5_vs_samsung_galaxy_s7_edge_mwc_2016-review-1403p2.php

the Samsung put a warm yellow cast over everything.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] TheEndHK:
I did a quick test on MM camera but have no time yesterday, just a rush review here. Will do more testing later.

1. JPG algorithm improved, when you zoom in the image it reversed a bit more details and not as painting as was before, smaller amount of post-processing noises. Still not as good as Samsung or Iphone but better now.

2. 4K focus issue during real low light should fixed but auto exposure seems easier to over exposure when dealing at indoor environment with highlight. I need more time testing.

3. Camera API2 implemented without RAW support. Try SnapCamera HDR or Manual Camera, manual shutter speed or manual focus should work but not entirely stable yet, the API2 is still an experimental feature.

Still missing:

1. No burst shooting photo yet.

2. 4K Steadyshot off still cut the Fov while it does gives me back Fov in FHD when Steadyshot disabled. Bcoz I don't like the huge fov dropped(almost cut in half angle) in 4K so actually I prefer to recording with Steadyshot off sometimes when I needed more angle.

3. Scene mode only available in 8MP but Xperia M5 does offer scene in full resolution of 21.5MP.

4. 3rd party camera only 8.3MP photo mode max supported.

Other than the camera, the phone is real faster with smaller heat generated and battery improved. I still don't satisfied with the camera though it is a bit more usable now and the phone in general use is quite good now. I will probably still wait for the next big update with Stamina mode added and check if the camera will be improved again. If this is the final update of camera, I will consider to sell it out.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] mele80:
What do you mean by burst shooting? Different than timeshift burst what we now have?
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] thesebastian:
I've noticed this too! I mean, there is a huge difference between Sony camera and other flagship cameras in this. But at least they improved a bit the details captured by the camera!

I hope they keep improving this in next updates.

And yes...they need to start focusing in more than 8MP camera.

Sent from my E5823
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] Sadman Khan:
Turn off X-Reality and the details will seem MUCH better. The sharpening caused by X reality destroys the detail
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] thesebastian:
I never used it.

The only thing/feature I use from Sony is the Camera app. Because I can't replace it with other camera because the standard API is not polished like the one used by the Sony camera and I see 8MP photos a bit better in Sony camera. And because of 1080@60fps videos with standard steady shot

Anyway X reality doesn't affect the PC's monitor.

Sent from my E5823
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] Sadman Khan:
Didn't know it was on PC monitor hahaha
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] thesebastian:
Yeah no problem. Is that sometimes I do the comparison in a PC monitor since it's easier to see the details in a big screen.

Sent from my E5823
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] supercakefish:
I have loads of low-light comparison shots to show you guys. Our beloved Z5 Compact vs S6 edge vs S7. I'll upload them tonight, I've just finished work.

I can say that during the day, the Z5 Compact camera does really well vs Samsung phones. But at night, it struggles to keep up.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] TheEndHK:
JPG algorithm is better now so 200~400iso photo at low-light been improved(not sure about higher iso not tested yet) but I'm going to roll back .152 at this time, somehow I found .152 got best auto exposure combination photo/video and 4K focus is acceptable in that build(.200 4K focus is a hit or miss). On MM, the 4K focus is real better but AE under indoor highlight easy to over exposure which made the result get worst and the 4K quality doesn't improved, still can't match my Z1c with 4K mod.

I think the next major camera upgrade will be arrived only after X released in summer, we shared the same camera. If wait until June/July probably sell it out now and wait the next compact later this year should be a more smart decision. I will still hold Z5c for a bit more time but not sure how long I'm willing to keep. For the S6, I'm selling it out now and just got a LG G3 for fun, the MM on G3 is great and much better than Z5c to be honest.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] bubimir13:
Frankly, i'm not selling, im satisfied more or less...
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] bubimir13:
Nice review, but update it to newest 6.0 update and i think you won't be dissapointed, at least i am not ;)
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] TheEndHK:
The full resolution isn't optimal, it always like to prefer center focus in first place. If you shoot at 8MP it usually got a much better result. It is just the same on my previous of Z1c. So, that's why Sony always only suggest people to use 8MP bcoz they have no budget to write driver for max resolution......

S6/G4 is 28mm lens but S7 used 26mm now and G5 seems to be even picked 24~25mm but I don't think they have serious corner soft issue.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] Enrico2828:
Hello, did you have time to upload yet? I am really curious to see exactly the same (low light) scenery Z5 compact vs s7 side by side. When I see shots of S7 in low light I think they are good, but not blowing me away. I am wondering how it appeals in contrast to Z5 compact.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] supercakefish:
Full size images (over 20 different images from Z5C, S6 & S7): https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=9D224292E8241A33!23829&authkey=!AKUntqxGtEqmuzc&ithint=folder,

Here's some quick taster pics:

Z5 Compact:

S7:

Z5 Compact:

S7:

Z5 Compact:

S7:

Z5 Compact:

S7:
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] mele80:
Difference is quite huge
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] Enrico2828:
Thanks a lot for all the pictures. I am also suprised how much a difference there is .. Makes me really re-think the S7 again. If just I could handle the size..
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] mmceorange:
Same for me, though I don't mind the size of the S7 so much, I think I would get used to it.. as opposed to the Z2 I tried for a few days.

On the other hand, I was just reading about how locked-down the S7 is and will probably be a long while before root is possible.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] civicsr2cool:
S7 mini should be coming hopefully. Although I doubt it will be very compact..
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] thesebastian:
[MENTION=4643872]supercakefish[/MENTION]

Z5C camera capture no details. It's really average. The good thing is that you have a very long angle (you can capture a huge landscape or building from a short distance).

I know that you don't agree with this, but I made the same comparison between Z5C and Nexus 5 (2013) and I got much better details in the N5 camera. (Specially in short distance photos).

I'm really fine with the Z5C (now with MM smoothness). I can't go back to 1080p. 720p is fantastic, battery life is unaffected in games and graphic apps. YouTube at 720p, less DPI = less bandwidth and a really compact size.

But yes, I can't stand Z5C camera, so as soon as there is a new small Nexus or Motorola (because of the AOSP) compact phone with 720p, I'll switch!

For the time being, Z5C it's the only option. The S7 is still a big phone.

Regarding the updates, Sony's improved a bit the details in MM compared to LL (in the Stock camera app). But they still need a huge improvement in the camera firmware. Specially in the camera 2 API, if you use the camera with 3rd party cameras using Android api, photos are much worse.

For me, there are no news for the Z5 camera quality....I caught the camera quality the day I bought it, looks average to me.

PS: Nice pics and thanks for posting real (full resolution) photos, best way to compare cameras is in a PC monitor using the real photos.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] TheEndHK:
Same idea. MM improved quality but not much. I think Sony implemented a too heavy noise reduction method since LP(some Sony fan boy complaint Samsung got strong NR on Z5 board but indeed it's Sony not Samsung, in my degrees of view), outdoor details I think is quite good but indoor anything above like 160iso, my z1c still performed better now. FHD or 4k recording, z1c is better as well indoor. Clearly, the Sony post-processing smush the details with his NR at low light.

They will need to rewrite the whole NR start from scratch, so i think it won't happen in a short time. I'm considering to it out later too.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] EQ2000:
Looks like you are using HDR for the S7 but no HDR for the Z5c. HDR will make low contrast areas much brighter and should increase detail and/or reduce noise due to multi-frame composition for final image. The Z5 though looks there like using to much NR in low contrast areas and the S7 post-proccessing is quite atrocious giving borderline "Bad CRT chromatic aberration look" from the over-sharpening and gritty look from to much clarity and texture detail filters.

Like this (S7).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinfabl100/25837956126/sizes/o/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinfabl100/25743187832/sizes/o/
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] supercakefish:
Superior Auto automatically chose Backlight Scene for many of the shots - I think that mode uses HDR?

There's no way to manually force HDR to always be on with the Z5C on Superior Auto mode. That's a limitation of Sony's camera app.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] David Horn:
This thread makes interesting reading. I bought the Z5C after a Sony demo in my local shopping centre, where they challenged you to beat the shots taken with a Z5 in an almost pitch dark room with your own phone (Lumia 930 for me). The pictures produced by the Z5 were, frankly, stunning and I couldn't get close even with a long exposure on the Lumia.

I'm now beginning to wonder if the whole thing was rigged and the phones were set up to show a different picture taken earlier with more light. Or possibly the NFC in the phone triggered an extra light source inside the box - which is how I'd do it.

[If you never saw one of the promos, they basically had a small window which you held the camera to and took a picture. If you looked through the window it was pitch dark, so it was a real test of low light performance.]
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] Sadman Khan:
That's the ISO 12800 at play there. It really works though. Can help you take pictures where even you cannot see with the naked eye. But that really doesn't help much in the usual low light scenarios
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] EQ2000:
Something along those lines but backlight mode ramps up the ISO upto twice as high as HDR mode in manual for example. In SA might even be higher due to digital stabilisation being forced on. Manual is the best way to go as digital stabilisation turns off after first use permanently. I think it aint supposed to be on in manual just a bug.

However the Z5 photos are to dark to have HDR. For example the castle one has scene mode "Standard" in exif which means HDR was never used nor any other scene mode else it would be present in exif data as "XXXX" mode.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] thesebastian:
IMO, Z5 HDR is useless. So for me it's better to compare the Z5 camera without using it.

In the contrary, "HDR+" in the Nexus 5 was pretty awesome. 95% of my photos with that phone have HDR+. A bit slow in KK and LL but became pretty fast in MM hammerhead firmware. Details with HDR+ are amazing.

Sent from my E5823
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] EQ2000:
HDR+ is usseless if scene aint static since it is to sensible unless shutter speed is fast.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] thesebastian:
Yes I agree with that. But I was referring to static pictures. In static pictures I think that Z5 camera performs worse with HDR than without it.

Sent from my E5823
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] supercakefish:
My comparison was with both phones on auto. I could repeat the comparison with manual mode on both phones. Maybe I will if I get the time :)

I've got more auto mode shots in the meantime. Including low light macro shots of flowers moving in the wind - so really pushing the limits of these cameras! I'll upload soon.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] wooolfgang:
I've compared shots with the z5c and my dad's g4 and the z5c lags behind the g4, but not by much. The z5c gets beaten on low light photos but in good daylight the difference between the two is negligible. And I find the z5 produces better color reproduction. Shame that it really isn't great when taking low light pictures but overall, I'm satisfied with the camera and it isn't a train wreck as most people show it to be.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] memtronic:
I had Sony since first smartphones. Now i've balanced between S7 and Z5, and I've chosen the S7. I just took several pictures indoor(light from one 20w Ikea CFL bulb - not LED) with S7 and wife's Z5c. Same conditions. Way better pictures from S7. Almost noiseless, and full details. Z5c is a small upgrade on quality from Z3c(which i had before the S7), a little more sharp and more contrast. But handling the noise - the same. Pictures tend to lose details, as the light is lower with grainy texture in shadows.

As for S7 - it's just unbelievable. It takes pictures faster than Z5c, and in low light the autofocus is even faster on S7. I didn't thought that the difference is so big. Regarding HDR on Sony - is there on Superior Auto, but it triggers randomly, God knows when. And the software implementation is very soft, not like a real HDR which is supposed to be more aggressive, more punchy.

I always thought that Sony have amazing hardware, but poor software. Now i know for sure; the S7 have Sony imaging sensor. But the implementation is on a level that Sony will reach in more than a year at least.

Miss the Sony dialer, and audio settings, but in other ways S7 is way ahead. I have to get used to Samsung touchwiz interface.

And i like Samsung's integrated browser with AdBlockPlus plugin :) Popups and annoying commercials just killed Chrome from my Z3c.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] RiTCHiE007:
And you forgot about the amazing RAW support he s7 has! But i kinda think the same about sony as you and hardware is awesome but software is just weak.

Slow updates, bad manual camera settings, no RAW, to much noise in lowligfht etc and even on ps4 the software is still missing big things like online friend notice.

But only thing holding me back to buy a s7 is the size. I really love the z5c size and s7 still seems pretty big and kinda want a phone with a full metal body so guess ill wait for round 2 of the high ends this year.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] Phidye:
Personally, I found no one at Sony is the time it takes for the camera between takes pictures and especially the starting time of it. I do not understand why it takes so long as it is much faster on HTC, Samsung, iPhone ...

I think one should not expect more with possible update and that's a shame. :(
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] supercakefish:
I have taken landscape pictures in daylight and the S7 was noticeably sharper when both were scaled up on my laptop display.

Sorry, this is just my personal experience. If Z5C had a better camera I would have kept it as camera was the primary reason why I switched.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] thesebastian:
When we are talking about "sharpness and details" in the photos. There's no need to grab a Galaxy S7. Just grab an old Nexus 5 with HDR+ you'll capture much more details at any light (but specially at medium light).

That's why I hate Z5 camera since the first day. I don't care about FoV, angle, colors, speed, etc (better stuff in Z5 camera) Just the damn photo sharpness and details when you see the photo at real size in a monitor.

But well...it's the only hi end compact. And battery life is amazing. That's why I keep it.

Sent from my E5823
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] EQ2000:
Yes sharper but ugly. Massive amount of white halos from oversharpening, aberration, destroyed color accuracy due to the excessive post-processing that goes for the gritty fool-average-joe-that-cant-tell-difference-between-a-potato-and-a-dslr which results in an image that looks like it came from a cheap digital camera. It looks like a 4MP photo upscaled to 12MP due to mainly the grityness and aberration artifact problem. Even the Z1 outclasses it easily. :cool:
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] frankm87:
Hi [MENTION=4864772]thesebastian[/MENTION],

I was reading the posts in this thread and I have a question regarding your comments here: why didn't you go for a Z1C or Z3C, instead of the Z5C?

You want a very compact smartphone.

What disturbs you seems to be the lack of details of the Z5 camera (and side blur I guess, as this leads to even less details on the pictures' sides).

The Z1C camera for instance has plenty of details and the performance is comparable to the Z5 otherwise. Z1C/Z3C's can even use the Z5 camera mod.

The Z1C is even slightly more compact than the Z5C.

The only big difference is the newer processor, that many, many people just don't care about.

So, really, why?

Just curious.

Regards
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] thesebastian:
Because of the pending months of Sony support (software updates). (Mainly because of this).

I didn't like Z3 camera ( And I thought that Z5 was going to be a total improvement. I failed this bet ).

The fingerprint sensor

And the charging plug

Sent from my E5823
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] civicsr2cool:
For me the deal breakers were z1c no LTE and z3c side charging. Z5c was my first real option and it's very disappointing as well.

---------- Post added at 09:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:56 AM ----------

Fingerprint sensor and bottom charging were an immediate selling point for me as well.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] frankm87:
The Z1C does have LTE.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] civicsr2cool:
Not very many stateside bands. Only T-Mobile worked which isn't even in half my state lol but this is a camera thread.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] manilu001:
few night shoots

few day shoots

i think this phone have really great camera

Poslano sa mog E5823 koristeći Tapatalk
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] Proday:
[MENTION=2969160]manilu001[/MENTION] are that cranes in backgroung on first image? Which city is that?

Btw gr8 pictures.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] manilu001:
it's Pula in Croatia, thx

whole show here :)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3dEWGo8UwfU

Poslano sa mog E5823 koristeći Tapatalk
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] khanjui:
Any news about RAW support from Sony?
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] bubimir13:
No, sadly.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] Bastidgeson:
I bought this phone new last week, mainly because there's nothing out there as good on paper.

I've come from LG something > Samsung S2 > Nexus 4 > Samsung S4 mini > z5c

I'm devastated how poor the camera software is, it's really awful. Oversharp, aggressive smoothing, poor shadow details. I could cry how laughably bad the panoramas stitch. If sammy ever do another mini, I'm ditching this phone.

Visit imgur and add c5AyYsn.jpg to your link to view my phone's first attempt.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] TheEndHK:
Not entirely true. I was a S6 user, Samsung also got over-sharpen issue(even a bit more than Sony) and speaking to AWB and AE they are much worse. But you're right the stock Z5c apk is just too bad and in some conditions my Z1c even better. If you got root you can use mod cam from XP/XC which greatly increase the quality of our camera.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] mele80:
This one?

http://xdaforums.com/crossdevice-dev/sony-themes-apps/sonyz5-family-unlocked-xz-xc-camera-t3463148
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] nicosea:
You forgot to mention the super annoying lag you have just right after you press the botton / touch the screen to take the pictures: impossible to take a picture of a baby or anyone or anything moving. After you "click"the phone re-focus and take almost a second to take the picture...

I have never seen anything like that in phones of different brands.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] Proday:
Well you can always buy galaxy alpha...small, fast, great camera and not expencive anymore....only problem is terrable battery life but powerbanks are now 10$
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] jomkingal:
My camera has been blurred these past few days, most probably because of the Alcohol I use to clean my phone, or some oil, which messed up the olephobic coating on the camera lens. I tried using Toothpaste to clean off the Olephobic coating, and now it's crystal clear. Now I'm only worried about scratches or further damage to the lens since it doesn't have any protection left. Any advice or recommendations for protecting the lens? Thanks guys~
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] mele80:
Considering that lens is plastic i would not use toothpaste. Not sure if there is some camera lens covers available for xperia phones.

But maybe at least its best to use some cover or thicker glass protector for back

Ps. I dont understand why Sony uses plastic in outer camera lens. Should glass be better?
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] jomkingal:
Yeah, like while wiping the lens with toothpaste, It feels like I scratched the lens a lot with the grainy texture of the toothpaste. I might try to look for those lens protector sometime. It really makes me uneasy since the lens doesn't have any protection anymore, and it has several visible scratches already. xD Anyway, didn't notice that they used plastic there, it really feels like glass. This is just my opinion but if it's plastic they used, then I think that plastic would be better for durability, since it would be more flexible to withstand pressure, considering that you could submerge the phone underwater with its IP68 rating.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] mele80:
https://youtu.be/gVPa8sNY1Xw

This is for z5 premium, but should be same for z5c
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] TheEndHK:
http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=68767869&postcount=12

read this
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] bener:
Those shots all look great! Could you tell me the settings you are using for these? I can't get my photos to look like that...
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] kevjs1982:
What would you suggest to clean a Z5C / plastic lens with? The right hand side of my photos is now blurrey and I've been quoted £65 for a replacement back :crying:
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] mele80:
Not sure. Non-oem back covers costs under 10€, maybe you can change it urself. But perhaps you can try toothpaste first.

Basically heatgun or hairdryer and praying tools should be enough to take back cover out
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] Superrman:
if iknoe this phone got plastic lens i won't be it probably (everytime i put my phone by mistake with keychin its miniheart attack( so far i got my phone 18months and no straches ) hope it stays this way
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] robbo3:
I took a picture of some text on a piece of paper and you can clearly see the blur on the left. Someone with the blur issue should try it and post the picture as I can't because I don't have enough posts yet.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] gadjet:
Hard to see issue..

Took this photo of my pc screen and I am struggling to see blur issue.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] milesg:
Because the very top left is a dark area off the monitor it's difficult to tell, but the rest looks fine to me.

As an aside, ALL camera lenses "go soft" at the edges to some extent. Sometimes this is hidden when the full image captured by the sensor is cropped before it's rendered.

I think some people are also mistaking depth of field / the focus being on a central object closer to the camera for the problem.
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] robbo3:
I have just taken a video and i cannot see any blur in the areas that i can see on the photo's, would this mean it's a problem with the camera app, as it would happen on the videos aswell if it was a misaligned lens right?
[Xperia Z5 Compact General] gadjet:
Overcast but still OK?

Today overcast..

https://goo.gl/photos/u4RGwJtbCQXxvohk6