yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] jult:
The Note 9 camera app (SamsungCamera8.apk) is not great for taking pictures of things that are hard to see and get to with a larger lense, behind closets, deep in engine bays, under cars, behind computers, shopping lists, really small print etc. The Note 4 app was good for that, precisely *because* it allowed me to pinch in 4MP deeper than the Note 9, with no jpeg loss. I only use a cell phone camera to take photographs in those occasions when I see something I absolutely must capture but don't have a big lense handy.

I don't see why they decided on 2 rear lenses. Why not use that space to create 1 larger lense? It's mostly the size of the lense that limits its quality and sensitivity.

The camera app in the Note 9 is unfinished garbage, fonts that you don't even see, missing config, no preset states, and way too sensitive for clicking the wrong thing and thereby ruining that moment you wanted to capture.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] PsiPhiDan:
I see. Well, to answer your question, sadly it's because everyone wants these bokeh photos that are all the rage. Every phone has dual cameras now, basically because of that trend. I'm with you - give me a superior single lens over two. I never use that blurring stupid stuff.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] PsiPhiDan:
I know. It said it is "one of the highest rated", if you were directing that towards me. DXo Mark gave it a 103, placing it in 2nd or 3rd best ever.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] waseryeas:
These are all things you can set .
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] julymo:
it's awesome
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] jult:
del
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Limeybastard:
Not impressed with the camera to be honest. I take some pics of my dog , and when zooming in slightly the pictures seem slightly blurry. You can easily tell by the coat and hair of the dog. Not a deal breaker for me but thought I'd mention it .
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] jult:
Yep, it's a 4 megapixels sensor downgrade from the Note 4. Insane.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] worldsoutro:
It seems like everyone phone gets a thread where people complain about the camera. Even people complain about the pixel 2
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] mariojp:
I'm glad it's not just me. My note 9 tends to over sharpen everything. Doesn't depend on the lighting condition. What I have noticed is if you shoot in pro mode with raw image capture settings turned on, the oversharpen is eliminated.

I am truly pissed at Samsung with how they've implemented the 2X zoom capabilities. As a photographer, this is something I was looking towards. I understand the 2X optical lens doesn't activate under low light conditions. Today when I was outside trying to capture a purple flower in hot a** sunlight, I attempted to get close to the flower using the 2X zoom mode. The freaking camera would not activate it, but instead was activating 2X digital zoom. (Not 2X optical zoom) Come on now, its freaking day time in broad daylight and you're telling me this phone is not getting enough light? This alone makes me want to trade in my note 9.

I wish there was a mod to activate the second lens, no matter what.

I've been comparing photos from my note 4, iPhone 6S and note 9. Most shots, my note 4 offers better quality with images that aren't oversharpened. (In daylight) Even my iphone 6S had better quality on particular photos because again, the note 9 was applying too much of that sharpening filter. What the hell, samsung!?!
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Paninno12:
For sure this is worrying.

Can you post a picture to show the difference?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Majin101:
Yeah I dislike the note 9 photo quality. Something about it is weird or just off.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] NICEGYPT:
I just dislike the selfie camera. too blurry
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] mariojp:
I cant even get 960 fps super slow motion to work properly using manual mode. It doesn't record the section that I am trying to put into slow motion. It either puts the sections in slow motion I aim for before or after it. Anyone else having trouble with super slow notion on manual mode?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] PRO>KOMP.<:
I made some comparison between Galaxy Note 9 and iPhone 7, results can check here:

[YOUTUBE]PuIHucGHHeY[/YOUTUBE]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuIHucGHHeY
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Gunde:
Completely agree. You don't have to zoom in for this. Even outdoor shots in bright daylight (ideal conditions) are over-sharpened and smoothed, completely destroying detail and turning the shots into something like a painting. Disappointing.

Are everyone who praises this camera just looking at full image on the phone screen? Go look at 100% on a monitor. I still haven't seen a good picture from this phone.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] rockbastard:
Has anybody seen any significant improvement after the latest firmware?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] TonyWoo:
Not exactly

HDR seems to have improved especially in outdoor cloudy shots. Picks up details in the sky better. However I'm still unhappy with mine. I'm finding it nigh on impossible to get a decent shot of our dogs unless they're completely motionless. Even turning a head results in a blurry shot. Zooming in on a larger screen with what appear to be good photos shows they aren't really that good either. I was getting better photos from the iPhone X. Really disappointing.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] RedDevils88:
Is this normal?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Limeybastard:
Looks like a dirty lens.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] retrofred:
Took this yesterday. Wanna say it's the best shot like this I've gotten from the Note line. The details are very clear and clean.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] wease:
Went hiking with the wife
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] SAO:
Sorry, but don't they seem blurry? they do to me. That's my biggest issue with this phone coming from a p20p.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] wease:
I can see what your saying, when looking closely at the picture, but I'm not that picky about it, to me, still a beautiful picture
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] buxz777:
im disappointed they dont use more software multiple exposures etc , all that hardware power and they arent doing much with it ffs
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] matlear:
HDR panoramic
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Limeybastard:
The cat hairs also look blurry.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] teegunn:
I also am disappointed with the Note 9 camera. I feel like my Note 8 takes better pictures in all conditions. Even my wife's old S8 (she now has a Note 9 also) takes better pics. This has to be a software issue, I can't believe they would put inferior camera hardware in this phone.

There is something odd about how Samsung is using software processing for pics taken with the Note 9. Maybe there is a way to turn off whatever those software settings are, but I have not been able to find them. Indoor shots seem darkened, even in good lighting. Colors seem muted. The pictures are not as sharp as my Note 8 takes.

I expected an improved, even if only slightly, camera from my Note 8. Don't think that's the case. Hope it is a fixable software issue, not inferior hardware.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] gnomish:
Has anyone here returned or sold their Note 9 due to these Camera issues? I am getting close.. It's a very important aspect to a phone these days. To feel as if I'm going backwards three generations in low light quality is just not acceptable. Also, no, I am not expecting Pixel quality, but this does need to be fixed!
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Majin101:
Are you on the most up to date software? Like build ARJ? Those have a camera update/fix.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] mariojp:
I've gotten to the point where I'm trying not to complain about the camera quality. I'm just trying to work with what I have. I've been doing lots of testing with the camera. From my experience, I say:

-Turn off HDR when shooting people. It makes their face look a bit smudged or fake. I recommend shooting in pro with the raw photo editing turned on. Just edit the raw photos using photoshop Express.

-If you're gonna shoot with the 2X zoom option, make sure you're outside in daylight. Otherwise it will deactivate and use digital zoom instead. You won't know the difference or even know it switched until you later view the photos and see the degraded when you zoom in on the photo.

-2X zoon doesn't apply to video recording whatsoever.

I will upload some photos I have shot. I can only get nice shots outside in daylight. I pretty much am close to refusing to shoot indoors if I want a nice quality photo.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] gnomish:
Unfortunately no. On T-Mobile USA, this is not released yet even to install manually with Odin. Do you have it? What is your review?

I agree with everything you've said here and that is NOT acceptable for a phone at this price point. Can't even get good shots in Pro mode and I know my way around that mode from DSLRs.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Majin101:
Yeah I'm on the ARJI5, photos are definitely better for me. I'll try to take a pic tonight.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] mariojp:
A few I shot:

https://imgur.com/gallery/cEqfM3V
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] gnomish:
Just to show what I know all other owner's already realize..

The camera is great in the day and blurry mess at night:

https://imgur.com/a/bRbretC
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Limeybastard:
Especially when it comes to fury friends.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] alfin97:
Live Focus Quality

In Auto mode, I feel it captures decent photos, especially in outdoor lighting condition. The thing I'm not really satisfied with is the indoor shots, especially the live focus. Live focus under indoor lighting condition sucks. It takes tiresome efforts to get the face detected, photo is noisy, background separation is horrible most of the time, far from realistic.

I tried the google camera port, people claim that it shots better portraits. Mine just isn't working just after I change the setting to Pixel 2 XL. Does anyone has a complete guide for the exynos version?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] TMcurry:
Note 9 lens flare

Hye guys, why my camera have this lens flare?how to fix it?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] TonyGzl92:
Ok here's a thing a noticed. Sorry if anyone had discovered it before but here it goes:

Do not leave HDR always on, set it to automatic.

I've noticed that when you leave it always on it tends to darken the dark areas specially in tricky lightning situations. Trust me I've done some tests and yeah, I guess this time around the AI does something because when the HDR kicks in it results in a much better photo that if you leave it on always. I'm on H6 September security patch BTW.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] WaxysDargle:
My only real complaint with this camera is that low-light pics seriously lack detail. They get that smearing effect that i'm used to seeing on Oneplus devices. The colors are also wayyyyy off in low-light. every once and a while it gets it right, but that's the exception and not the rule.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1O5scTGyGgL8TWN2P0lqPkywIdzFXgzS8vA - example of the lack of detail

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1uTl6PtSJjmWb_WPrBn05wyYZXG9OiA7GeA - example of color issue (my room is not yellow)

Snapped a few pics and a short clip of this critter in my yard yesterday... auto mode and 2x zoom. i'm impressed.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Okj5Ymo3zttKF8sFyBF-nKu-EsUSmY7XAg

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VXKxJHrig3uodczH3QuMycrULD0rHCuHQA

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vV5-Eq24AXz5XB54oLNp3CJce49Zw3d7vQ

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wAx8C_xp5QMlJ58LQK77z-MyQQClTFNmqQ

Also caught a vid of this little desk critter's antics. I thought the camera handled the focusing rather well, all things considered.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NgyheAOydvD8tOTS48no9eQRwxyDI1HAsA

Overall a very good camera. The variable aperture feels like a gimmick now that i've had my hands on this phone for a while, but overall I have very few complaints. If Sammy would fix the low-light color inaccuracy I would call this the perfect camera for me.

---------- Post added at 10:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:51 AM ----------

whoa, that's really bad. i haven't had a single shot that looked that poorly. you may have an issue there. exynos or snapdragon?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] stefanmaximum2:
i think that's easy way for samsung to fix this issue in night orange/yellow hue scene optimizer can recognize that's dark or something like that and can change color tempteture
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] kamkase:
Very clear ,,,,,,
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] illetyus:
New Photos::

https://vgy.me/DM2Qc5.jpg

https://vgy.me/wwf991.jpg

https://vgy.me/CnrYu5.jpg

https://vgy.me/qujfqm.jpg

https://vgy.me/VyMDeK.jpg

https://vgy.me/0IgpuF.jpg

https://vgy.me/a79w9S.jpg

https://vgy.me/DMzwxa.jpg

https://vgy.me/cOwvl3.jpg

https://vgy.me/XczByt.jpg
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] guidzilla:
Takes nice photos if everything is standing perfectly still.. Capturing action shots is very difficult with the slow shutter speeds.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Denis32770:
Thanks for information
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] dnsp:
Very disappointed with the camera quality. My iPhone 6S Plus takes way better photos. The Note's photos look fake, overexposed and smudged. Is this a joke, Samsung??
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] gamekill:
Side note: I come from a Huawei Mate 10, and while the Note 9 as a device itself is really pretty great and I am happy with my purchase (awesome screen, s pen, the build itself is great, the system feels smooth, etc), the camera on the Mate 10 was still a bit better in my opinion.. especially monochrome photos are super detailed and impressive.

The Note 9's camera is not bad by all means, and here are some photos I took with mine. But as some people noticed, darker scenes tend to get a yellow tint and that is annoying and honestly, kind of stupid on Samsung's part not to fix that, seeing as they feature lots of other "AI features". I hope a fix comes out soon.

I disagree on darker scenes losing detail, I think that is hit and miss because I got some pretty detailed close up shots on low light..

Overall I am pretty happy. I changed phones because the bluetooth audio lags badly on Mate 10, even though there's no 3.5mm audio output so you are kinda forced to go bluetooth. And that alone makes for a pretty negative overall experience. The bluetooth audio latency on the Note 9 is much much better.. not to mention being able to connect to two bluetooth pairs of earphones at the same time so two people on a train or bus can be happily oblivious of surrounding noise.

My Note 9 pics:
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] woodsman:
N9 camera is for sure a mixed bag.

In order to test the N9 camera I set up a test, comparing it to Note 5, Note 8 and Oneplus 6.

I took pics indoors in a room with only artificial lighting and pics outdoors in full daylight.

Then I analyzed same three sections/points of the pics and compared primarily how much detail it held.

Giving it scores 1-5

INDOORS

N5 4+3+3=10

N8 5+4+5=14

N9 3.5+3+3.5=10

O6 3+4+2.5=9.5

OUTDOORS

N5 4+4+4=12

N8 3.5+3+3=9.5

N9 4.5+4+4=12.5

O6 4.5+4+4.5= 13

This is only my non scientific personal test but I think it reveals what is already mentioned in this thread : outdoors, in good lighting, the N9 is great, but if you take a lot of pics indoors, well it is not so good.

According to DoxMark the N9 performs great in very dark situations, but how often do you need that?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] seifhd:
Very clear, every photo is crispy
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] intrancer:
del

---------- Post added at 08:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:47 AM ----------

wow! this is exactly how i feel..

I've been going through threads and forums thinking it was only me... haven't been though all this thread but i hope this is resolved.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Jpas1:
I feel like the shutter speed on this phone is very limiting to which pictures look great. When everything is still, I get amazing pictures, but when I'm trying to take a picture of my kids that goes out the window!
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] intrancer:
i used my iPhone x and note 9 took a picture at the same time of my boy playing indoors, the iPhone snapped the picture without any motion blur where else the note 9 had slightly better exposure but had smoothing and lots of motion blur.

i didn't test in Pro mode, with all settings on auto.

does anyone know if i can i set the note to load up pro mode as a default instead of auto?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Jpas1:
That's a good point. Maybe I should mess around with pro mode some more.

As far as your question, I don't know of a way, but would also be interested in knowing.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] lastfugi1979:
Don't think the Camera quality has lived up the hype.. I get lot of noise in the low light photos, live focus and slow-mo modes. Really feels like cheap camera. Have seen best photos from OnePlus 6, Vivo, Huawei.. then seem better than Note 9 camera.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Cristiano Matos:
I have a pixel 2 xl and note 9 gives me more true colors. In overall pixel 2 xl has more software optimizations inside but in my opinion note 9 delivers more realistic shots. Pixel 2 xl capture more detail in first sight but comparing photos of both we can cleanly see more definition in note shots
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] ShaKki:
I'm having trouble with my Note 9... i have really annoying lens flares (i read the note 8 had that problem) when i point towars street lights or the moon (look at the pictures) is there any fix for it? anyone else with that problem??
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Jpas1:
I think this is a great point. It seems that we are being more limited by the processing of the Samsung camera app than the hardware itself. I saw a port of Gcam being worked on, but seems like it's still pretty buggy. Hope we have more options in the future.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] intrancer:
I did a test from the Note 9 promode and auto mode indoor in decent lighting conditions i set Promode at ISO 400, 1/90 to reduce motion blur :

https://www.mfkmedia.uk/Samples/Note9Test/

Unfortunately I couldn't upload the DNG file to the page but i have provided a link on the page to allow you to download the original.

Hope this helps.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Limeybastard:
Oh, so that's what those dots are on my images. Thanks.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] birau1982:
Hello. I have the same problem, any solution?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] ShaKki:
Sadly not, i decided to return the phone and go back to Huawei. This is just unacceptable for me. Apparently it's the same for the S9+ because Samsung decided to not de-reflect the camera.. its reflections inside the camera lens.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] birau1982:
And...the Hauwei have this problem?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Cristiano Matos:
I'm often returning to Samsung, since my Note 8, S9 plus and now Note 9 because quality of photos.

I had 3 pixels 2 xl and one p20 pro. Imho Samsung camera delivers more realistic photos than all others that I had tested. Colors are better reproduced and sharpness is better as well. Photos are more rock solid on Samsung. Pixel sometimes processes to much and didn't exposure the main subject well
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] birau1982:
Do you have some flare on the camera when you take a photo of a light?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] renanrigamonte:
Anyone here with galaxy note 9 can help me with a stuff?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Cristiano Matos:
I guess a can try
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Cristiano Matos:
Camera continue to surprising me

Quality is awesome even compared with my Pixel 3. In fact I think Note 9 wins in overall
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] renanrigamonte:
I send you a privavte message, I think u speak portuguese that's right?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Medevac1:
Beautiful. Where where were these taken?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Cristiano Matos:
Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] harrysenpai:
Samsung is famous for good image sensors in its flagship smartphones. The Galaxy Note 9 is no exception, and Samsung also expands the feature set: The Note 9 can recognize scenes automatically and apply appropriate settings. It can also recognize and notify you when people are smiling or when the camera lens is dirty. There are also AR effects, which can be added to a certain part of an image, such as a face. The Note 9 also features animated emojis similar to the Apple iPhone X!
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Gil Smash:
Did you copy that from a review?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] austingaberial11993:
Photo Quality

:) Very crisp images on auto mode.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Sporttster:
Very disappointed in this camera. Most photos with even the slightest motion turn out blurry. Have checked pro mode for shutter speed and nothing. Seriously, Samsung?!?? NO shutter speed adjustment?? That would help immensely. This is why we need root-to get a camera that would work right. Any ideas on camera ports, whatever to fix this? I don't know what phone to go to if this doesn't get fixed because the Pixels have no phone jack or sd card slot. This needs fixed.

---------- Post added 4th January 2019 at 12:12 AM ---------- Previous post was 3rd January 2019 at 11:44 PM ----------

Blurry with the slightest motion. Needs a shutter speed adjustment badly!
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Medevac1:
If your stock camera is not up to par try porting one of the Google Pixel camera software mods.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] mademan420:
Start here:good: https://xdaforums.com/galaxy-note-9/themes/google-camera-snapdragon-note9-t3835123 This post will lead you to the GCAM port that works with the SD Version of the Note 9.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] paul_59:
Pro mode on my Exynos Note 9 allows full control of shutter speed, see second from left button.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] Mountaneer:
Before Note 9 I owned HTC U11. I love everything about Note, but camera on HTC ...

Wish there was working camera mod of HTC U11 for Note 9.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] cornel.atomei:
Here is some of my low light comparisons with the mate 20 pro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPPoQG5JQIg&t=14s and with the sony xperia xz2 premium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmAYy-Y-nyA
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] rmanzo77:
Ive noticed the same thing as well on the note 9. Seems like the camera took a dip, coming from the note 8. Also, I've noticed in certain lighting conditions, colors are not as accurate compared to an iPhone or previous galaxy devices, such as note 8
[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review] a1atif:
may be an unrelated question. have anyone noticed Photo Quality difference after upgrading to Pie?