yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Luis2k33-XDA:
I have tested this phone camera with other flagship camera too, as S9, IPhoneX and i can tell you that the P20 Pro in the rear setup camera works better, also in DXOMARK you can see it in TOP-1, with 109 points, also here another user all telling you that he has the Note9 and IPhoneX and the P20 Pro do a finest job, so whats the point? or your device is not working good or you are waiting the same results as with a DSLR. I watched a lof of flagships' camera review i.e. Pixel 3XL vs P20 Pro, and you can see how P20 Pro do finest job, basically because 3 eyes works better than 1, maybe Huawei is not the best at software i am not here to defend no one, only to use common sense, but the P20 Pro works nice, if you have the Europe version aka C432 i readed that the updates sometimes make worst the camera setup, i have not this version so i cant speak about it, in the version i am using, the camera software at the moment works fine. Also you can go to this thread https://xdaforums.com/huawei-p20-pro/how-to/photos-huawei-p20-pro-share-fantastic-t3774488 and you can see the marvelous pictures the people are taken with this phone,

Best
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] szunyog007:
You are right regarding the camera, is worst after the latest firmware updates. Probably after the .128 firmware, the camera got worst. On a different forum, there are many people complaining about that issue and few of them already downgraded the firmware to the .128 C432. There is a comparison between the .161 C432 latest firmware and the .128 C432. I can give you a link to the web page and you can use a translator to understand what is going on and see on your eyes the difference. From the .152 firmware the 4d predictive focus not working and the night mode got worst, and make blurry photos with fewer details. Even in the official Android Pie firmware the camera not working properly what also you can see, but true with the A9 firmware there are just a couple of photos but you can judge.

So the links:

https://www.huafan.cz/discussion/6925/nocni-fotky#latest

https://www.huafan.cz/discussion/6962/huawei-p20-pro-s-oficialnim-androidem-9-0-pie#latest

If you click on the bigger photos then it is opening in a new window in full size.

I'm just waiting for the USB C to USB adapter and this week I'm going to downgrade my phone to the .128 firmware.

Hope this help.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] t.kijas:
I must agree with szunyog007, despite what has been advertised, (amazing night pictures with reasonable amount of detail and not too oversharping), the updates totally worsened the postprocessing, creating smudges, deleted even small amount of noise in cost of creating an oil painting. That's something totally terrible. This phone has good camera hardware, nice lenses and really big sensor, but fails at postprocessing, so although we can discuss whether it is or it is not ok compared to DLSR, the point is that it WAS really powerful and now, because of updates & postprocessing updates it IS NOT.

---------- Post added at 07:02 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:57 AM ----------

My advice is to contact their live chat support to let them know something is wrong, terribly wrong and users know about it.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] buxz777:
i wander if they broke it because the mate 20 pro camera isnt as good without the monochrome sensor ;)
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] szunyog007:
I have contacted support via live chat many times about that issue but still nothing. But now if you want contact support via live chat you have to wait at least 30 mins or more when somebody speak to you,it is a joke. Exactly what you said about the oil painting and postprocessing I totally agree with you. My old P9 took better pictures than this phone with the actual firmware. I really hope this issue is going to be solved in the future A9 updates but now at the moment in the A9 the picture quality is still not the best.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] p20pro_user:
Video recording outdoors is almost useless!!

I'm really disappointed with the camera for video recording.

I've turned off master AI and stopped it from going insanely over saturated with blues and greens, but on video recording I cannot find a way to stop it from constantly readjusting the Exposure/aperture. Especially if you're filming any bright sky the image is constantly popping up and down as the camera tries to find the right level.

The videos are sometimes unwatchable! Even in Pro mode this still happens.

Any ideas?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] dlads:
Has anyone noticed the OIS in emui 9.1 has got a lot worse? No matter what resolution / FPS you choose? It's just not as stable as 8.1

Stills seem to have actually got better

Quick snap on the way to work today. Never usually get the chance to stop on Waterloo bridge but they had road works so I took the opportunity.

Not a bad shot IMHO
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] :
You can use Open Camera to lock the exposure. After installing, open the app, go to settings and check "Use Camera2 API". When recording, press the lock icon in the upper left, this will lock the exposure.

You also have the ability to manually change ISO and shutter speed.

Advice: For best results on P20 PRO, use 2160x1080 with stabilization on, video bitrate set to 80mbps, fps @ 25, shutter speed @ 1/50, video flat log set to "fine".
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] cheeze.keyk:
which is better when it comes to camera? Mate 10 Pro or the P20 Pro?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] sniper20:
Pointless question. Not even close.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] oziriss:
Totally agree with you! And an year later they didn`t fix the night-mode problem. I truly can`t get over it. Have you managed to find a fix about it?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] sniper20:
The camera in p20 pro is simply out of this world. I had tested iPhone and pixel previously..... Simply no match. Pro mode is fantastic and totaly full of options as a camera app.

Sent from my Huawei P20 PRO
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] sniper20:
Just fantastic...

Sent from my Huawei P20 PRO
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] dlads:
I'm not disappointed.. the only problem for me is that 60fps lags when I press record. It's horrible..all others work fine.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] arg0:
Indeed, landscape, stills and night shots are awesome. Not 100% convinced by slight over-sharpening of greenery.

I would like to see pictures of human subjects (anonymized if you wish) taken with the rear cam, possibly with beauty level turned to 0 to be able to judge skin texture. Thanks.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] otonieru:
Skin is ruined on selfie cam. :eek: I hate that as well. On rear camera, it never a problem. Since you can shoot using different mode, while on front cam, there's no option to shoot in pro etc
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] arg0:
I've seen a picture taken with the front cam with beauty level set to zero and it was actually very good with just a bit of skin smoothing. That picture was taken with build 128.

I guess Allesa's picture were taken with a pre-120 build, because the quality of selfies, from what other users say, improved dramatically with build 120.

Is it possible to shoot in RAW+JPG with the front cam?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] tsiglas:
My only disappointment with camera is that there is so many negative posts about this CAMERA for an excellent camera phone like this... not only here on xda but in other forums too.

I came from S9+ to P20 pro... I can't say that I know a lot of things about how to use a camera...

With all my phones I'm always using Auto mode just find target and shoot.

I can say that in every situation I prefer the photos from p20 pro... I love the over sharpinnes in daylight... Yes I know it isn't so natural but it's more beautiful...

The only thing that I really don't like for emotional reasons is the small size of the pictures... With s9+ I was usually takin pictures with more than 3mb and with p20 pro the same pictures doesn't comes more than 1,8mb

With all these negative posts I have start to think of change my phone with S9+ again
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] athris:
i am thinking the same too. However, there's 2 things keep me away from getting s9+ again. First, the battery life is just no way close to p20 pro, second i really hate samsung super soft image in indoor soft lighting condition(Colors are completely off, detail is the worst compare to other flagship).
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] arg0:
There are also a lot of people that are very happy with the camera, see here (https://xdaforums.com/huawei-p20-pro/how-to/photos-huawei-p20-pro-share-fantastic-t3774488) and elsewhere.

My understanding is that the image quality improved massively with the latest updates (especially the front cam; the AI got less aggressive, too). So I'd not be hurried to get back to S9+...
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Allesa:
Actually those aren't selfies.. My 6months old daughter can't take selfies just yet haha..

Those were taken by me using main camera.

Let me be clear. For photos of OBJECTS, LANDSCAPE, or anything in GOOD LIGHTING condition, p20 pro is an absolute beast.

However, SPECIFICALLY, indoor photos of people in indoor lighting condition, destroys skin detail, unless ur using the night mode. However, it is very hard to ask my 6months old daughter to be still for 4 seconds.

FYI, I updated to 128. Same result. Ill post another samples later.

PS: I still don't understand why so few (almost none) post people photos on xda sample pictures threads, not just this phone in particular but all phones lol
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] photoxd:
Here's another member's photos of people:

https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=76917875&postcount=626

Unfortunately not indoor.

Indoor examples but from 3rd party website:

http://st1.bgr.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/huawei-p20-pro-true-portrait-sample.jpg

https://www.gizguide.com/2018/04/huawei-p20-pro-cameras.html
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Allesa:
Notice at those indoor samples from the web, the person in photo have a window right in front of his/ face lol.. And it's not at night
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] sniper20:
Very well indeed.

As a matter of fact, I've read this dxo review ( https://www.dxomark.com/huawei-p20-pro-camera-review-innovative-technologies-outstanding-results/ ) and from personal experience with the phone, (I'm heavy landscape and artistic a mature photographer) I totally agree. I'm so happy with my choice. (this is my personal point of view based on my experiences and priorities /needs)

Sent from my Huawei P20 PRO
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] arg0:
Many thanks for posting the images of your daugher, which first convinced me that the problem was not only real, but dramatic.

As she grows up you'll see that you need even shorter exposure times, that's why I'm so concerned with quality of these types of image. With my 3-years old sometimes I think I need 1/1000 s or shorter :D

Obviously, I was not referring to your images when referring to the other images I've seen, but to pictures sent to me by user gavinfabl privately (see this thread: https://xdaforums.com/huawei-p20-pro/how-to/photos-huawei-p20-pro-share-fantastic-t3774488/page62 ). They were great selfies, but taken outdoor with plenty of light.

Sad to hear the problem is still present with build 128...

If you're willing to experiment, could you please post versions of a same picture taken with 1) AI on (full auto), 2) AI off (full auto), 3) AI off and beauty level set to zero, and 4) manual mode?

Thanks a million!
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] arg0:
Thanks. At least in one case they write the selfie was taken with "beauty sauce" so I have some hope that, by turning it off, at least some detail of the skin will not be concealed.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] otonieru:
well, actually,

as long as its taken with a good daylight, the front cam do a very good job in taking selfie. skin can be considered natural. see photo attached (ignore my face).

but when it comes to indoor, not even sure what the heck huawei did with their processing algorithm. I can say its purely software, because you can try, when in camera app, open front cam, and swipe the home button for multitask, for a blink of eye, you will see that the preview of the front cam changed, from a natural looking skin tone and color to an overly done/smoothened one. Mean, the cam was actually able to take a natural shot, but in seconds it detect the light is low, or the face is present, it change the whole image color, tone, etc
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] photoxd:
Yes, but to me, the indoor samples actually make sense. Light is one of the most important aspects of good photography. When taking indoor photos, the photographer should move around to get the best light available. To expect great photos with awful lighting, and have the camera does all the work and the photographer none, we probably are not there yet but hope the phone cameras are getting us somewhat closer.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Allesa:
If you read my original post, I was comparing with pixel 2 xl. Pixel 2 xl can handle skin detail on indoor, night, indoor lighting.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] arg0:
If you're willing to experiment and share, could you please post versions of a same indoor portrait taken with 1) AI on (full auto), 2) AI off (full auto), 3) AI off and

beauty level set to zero

, and 4) manual mode?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] gd6noob:
If your shooting with the AI mode on, then your doing it wrong.. ALL the reviews, if you bother to watch them suggests turning off the AI mode and it will give you some of the most amazing shots...
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Allesa:
I will find the time to do it for you Bro.

Anyone have seen this https://youtu.be/7O40VobH7NU
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] otonieru:
there's no AI mode for front cam, only "portrait" mode.

in that mode, there's option for background blur, and beautify.

also there is no Pro mode or manual mode for front cam. only standard photo mode.

so by the time you open front cam, phone will automatically trigger "portrait" mode. if you dont want beautify, you need to switch back to normal photo mode.

unfortunately, i indeed feel that there's certain degree of beautification applied even on normal mode.

anyway, here's some samples that you request. this is inside my room at office, with standard tube fluorescent light at ceiling. And here we got backlight situation.

i probably might need to do it again at dusk, to see how it differ
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] gavinfabl:
Pictures of people aren't posted generally as this isn't instagram or Facebook and people value their privacy.

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

If anyone wants to see people pics taken with the P20 Pro, just head over to instagram and search on hastag huaweip20pro.

My Flickr P20 Pro album is now over 500 pics. Privately, I have tons of people pics too. I also just dont get threads like this. If you dont like the phone, stop moaning and move on. I have owned every smartphone to date, and none get close to this phone for photos. Even 1080p 30fps video is excellent.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] arg0:
Personally, I appreciate threads like this. I like to read positive and negative reviews before any major purchase, and this thread provides a nice counterbalance to threads where only the best pictures are posted.

I am regularly shooting moving subjects in non-uniformly lit indoors and without flash, so performance of the P20 Pro in this respect is important to me.

I also appreciate the phone's strengths, and that I will be able to leave my DSLR at home more often without regretting it.

The P20 Pro has a huge sensor (at least for today's standards, I understand the days of camera humps like in the Nokia 808 are gone), so plenty of potential, currently hampered by processing algorithms of dubious usefulness that cannot be completely disabled. So I hope Huawei will listen and change the software. Otherwise, I suppose that third party camera apps could also help, unless the processing is done at lower level.

Is it possible to shoot in RAW+JPG on the P20 Pro and, if so, to what degree are the RAW images processed? I know this sounds weird, but I've read the RAW images are distortion-corrected.

---------- Post added at 07:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:48 AM ----------

In fact, I was referring to pictures taken with the rear camera.

Anyway, thanks for posting and labelling the front cam pictures. They are still valuable to understand how much the pictures are processed.

I also feel that there is some beautification even in normal mode in your pictures. But it's subtle, I think I could live with that.

BTW, it's amazing how well the portrait is exposed, despite the backlight.

---------- Post added at 08:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:56 AM ----------

Thanks. Yes I'd seen the video. But unless I missed it the author does not say what camera version he uses, nor whether he was on auto mode and beautification was on or off.

I understand that skin is over-processed by default by the camera software.

This is why I'd like to see similar shots but where portrait mode is off and beautification is set to zero. If this gives acceptable skin texture (to my eyes), I'll buy the phone, otherwise I may compromise differently and get a Pixel 2.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Allesa:
I have p20 pro and HAPPY to use the camera on everything else other that people pics at night. Not even arguing the OVERALL camera quality.

I personally like threads like these. I'm hopeful that someone who have a say in Huawei read these, and fix something that their flagship phone is lacking (highly doubtful). Or maybe release the next phone with this in their mind at least. Because I know the hardware is capable. But the processing needs work.

Oh yes, and I owned/seeded by brands almost every flagship phones to date too mate.

And no I'm not moving on, the phone is great for anything else other than one particular situation. Got this one even for free so...
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] gm007:
They are going to improve the camera ,this for the chinese firmware but it will come to other regions.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] arg0:
Can you save camera settings so that it will always lauch with AI=off and beauty level=0 (for the rear camera(s)) or do you have to set this manually each time you start the camera app?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] gm007:
I have c185b128 and yes it save, doesn't the settings save for you?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] arg0:
Thanks.

I don't have a P20 Pro yet, but I'm planning to buy one (see my signature). That's why I want to know more about the camera.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] gavinfabl:
Whilst I don’t mind differing opinions as that’s healthy, unfortunately threads like these get hijacked by people and deliberately.

It’s not exclusively on this phones section, it happens with every manufacturer, that’s all.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] gm007:
They have enabled turbo gpu for Chinese firmware, wondering why we are not getting the same updates at the same time ,chinese are always ahead.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] subhani:
In the last image, as taken by the P20 Pro, what settings did you use to shoot it? It is the one that most closely resembles the Pixel in detail retention and with no beautification/excessive smoothing.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Allesa:
That's the wonderful 5sec night mode
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] tsiglas:
I'm on L29 432 131 EU firmware....I have notice a little improvement in back camera with AI OFF I think the image in sunlight is more natural. Unfortunately with AI ON I think it isn't as good as it was in 128 update.

4D scanner doesn't work any more and I don't know why they mess up with it.

Photos in low light conditions isn't so good in details, light and clearness as it was with 128 firmware... Maybe it has to do with 4D scanner that it's not working....

Selfie camera is improved from beautification but I think that lose alot of details

What are your thoughts about camera on 131 update?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] gd6noob:
I wish the quality for the SloMo gets better...
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] all the pugs:
I doubt the quality of the SloMo will get better as a lot of the SloMo frames are interpolated. The video mode is really messed up on the P20 Pro.

However, I think the 131 update was a huge improvement. Not sure if the 4d focus is really not working or if the orange squares are just missing. In any way, it's a bit harder to work with it when you're not seeing where the focus goes. The screen is too small to judge without the focus points highlighted.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] otonieru:
4D focus working fine on .150
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] all the pugs:
So they fixed it, nice to know, thanks.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] viper98:
I probably wouldn't be disappointed if I wasn't promised the best camera to ever grace a cell phone.

But shots like this really make me question reviewer's opinions of it.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] all the pugs:
What's exactly wrong with it? :)
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] viper98:
It looks like someone turned the sharpness up to 100 on a tv

I will say, the camera experience is better after getting the 111 update today. I don' t know if there's any actual improvements to image quality, but the ability to use 1/2/3x in aperture mode, and the improved 960fps auto recording is nice.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] all the pugs:
Yeah the sharpness is exaggerated, but it's been worse before the recent upgrades. Other than oversharpening and oversaturation, I think the camera is quite good.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] viper98:
I don't disagree the hardware is there. The software is what needs all the work.

This new update is quite nice though. Being able to choose different spots for focus and for light metering is great.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] all the pugs:
This feature was available from beginning on european devices :)
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] subhani:
This looks like an awesome shot