Absolutely disappointed with the camera

jayochs · Apr 11, 2014

is anyone else? i came from a G2 hoping for a much better camera, as I preferred the GS4 camera to my G2...yeah, well I get my GS5, and i'm sitting here looking at the pics i've taken, and good god they're awful. they just look horrible compared to what the G2 shoots.
and low light? FORGET IT. if you can even get it to focus without the flash on (which it won't, at all, after numerous attempts of me trying with even lights on behind me) it's going to look like garbage anyway.

now i'm sitting here wondering if I should return it or not. I spent full price on the damn thing (after selling a GS4 and a Gnex) and i'm really wondering if it's even worth it to keep because i was honestly expecting a good camera, especially from all of the raving about it i've seen.

Jeremiah_1988 · Apr 11, 2014

Camera looks great here

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jayochs · Apr 11, 2014

terrible. it can't even focus on something with lighting in the room...and the outdoors pic? is this phone for real?

krazie1 · Apr 11, 2014

There were some reviews about the galaxy s 5 camera, the reviewers seemed to not like the camera.

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JBeXX · Apr 11, 2014

Maybe stating the obvious, but did you remove the plastic film over the lens?

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jayochs · Apr 12, 2014

JBeXX said:
Maybe stating the obvious, but did you remove the plastic film over the lens?

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yep, first thing i did. if ya notice, the plastic doesn't cover the sensor itself..only the outer portion.

oh well, i gave up on the S5. on top of build quality issues (the creaking/shifting body that Samsung is known for..) and that crappy camera, I just went and returned it tonight. had to pay a $35 restocking fee, but whatever. got my $600 back.

wish you guys the best!

tdrussell · Apr 12, 2014

jayochs said:
yep, first thing i did. if ya notice, the plastic doesn't cover the sensor itself..only the outer portion.

oh well, i gave up on the S5. on top of build quality issues (the creaking/shifting body that Samsung is known for..) and that crappy camera, I just went and returned it tonight. had to pay a $35 restocking fee, but whatever. got my $600 back.

wish you guys the best!

You got a dud. That's too bad. it happens. My pictures are nothing like yours.

Untitled by Mechatricity, on Flickr

openwheelracing · Apr 12, 2014

S5 has abandoned Sony sensors right? That would explain OP. Maybe new Samsung sensors are just not as good as Sony's. We all know megapixel is secondary anyway....

EVOme · Apr 12, 2014

My cam is fine...I posted a pic in other thread. You got a bad phone. Exchange it. Those pics you posted aren't good.

Demiurge7 · Apr 12, 2014

I'm happy with the cam as well. Haven't tried any outdoor shots yet but it looks at least as good as my s4 so far. I like the new options and cleaner access. Just snapped this on a whim...

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jntdroid · Apr 12, 2014

I'll second this. Not near as bad as Jayochs, but not any better than the S4, and worse, IMHO, in bright outdoor shots where the S4 was incredible. Medium to low-light is improved only because you can see the images more - but if you don't use stabilization mode, they're horribly noisy. If you do use stabilization mode, they look better, but then a LOT of your indoor shots, even if they're not low light, will end up asking you to hold still for 3-4 seconds.

And I don't know about y'all, but my camera is relatively slow to load. Keeping in mind I'm comparing to a 5S and M8. So far the laggier camera experience and not-as-great-as-they-said-it-would-be images have me liking the M8's camera more... it's just so darn fast, and consistent and focusable and can take medium-lit shots quickly.

Edit: full disclaimer... I'm a nitpicky phone camera snob!

bsweetness · Apr 12, 2014

Put me down as another who is disappointed in the camera. Outdoor shots are great for me, but indoor shots are extremely lackluster. Even with stability on, they're disappointing. The indoor capabilities of the iPhone 5S blow this one out of the water. Given the pixel size, I didn't expect it to be better at indoor shots than the 5S or the M8, but I was definitely hoping that it would be better than it is.

I'm going to give it a few more days, but this is potentially a deal breaker for me. That's very disappointing, especially since there's very little else that I dislike about the phone.

jntdroid · Apr 12, 2014

bsweetness said:
Put me down as another who is disappointed in the camera. Outdoor shots are great for me, but indoor shots are extremely lackluster. Even with stability on, they're disappointing. The indoor capabilities of the iPhone 5S blow this one out of the water. Given the pixel size, I didn't expect it to be better at indoor shots than the 5S or the M8, but I was definitely hoping that it would be better than it is.

I'm going to give it a few more days, but this is potentially a deal breaker for me. That's very disappointing, especially since there's very little else that I dislike about the phone.

Yep, same here. Though others have said their camera loads up quite fast - my experience is it's pretty laggy moving in and out of it. But I also love just about everything else about it, so if I can get used to the camera, or maybe figure out what I'm missing (if anything??), it'll be good. If not, it'll be the M8 for me likely... though I don't like how slippery / heavy it is.

I hate to say it (ok I don't really hate it), but after all of the devices I've used, I still feel like the 5S is still the best all around mobile camera experience when you combine the usability with image quality. The M8 is on par when it comes to speed and usability - heck it might even be faster. But image quality is still better on the 5S.

And good to see you b! I've been pretty forum-inactive for awhile...

bsweetness · Apr 12, 2014

jntdroid said:
Yep, same here. Though others have said their camera loads up quite fast - my experience is it's pretty laggy moving in and out of it. But I also love just about everything else about it, so if I can get used to the camera, or maybe figure out what I'm missing (if anything??), it'll be good. If not, it'll be the M8 for me likely... though I don't like how slippery / heavy it is.

I doubt you're missing anything. I've gone through every setting and tried a host of things to get better pictures out of it to no avail. I spent quite a bit of time yesterday taking the exact same shots with the S5, Note 3, and iPhone 5S. Outdoors during the day, the S5 reigned supreme, with both the Note 3 and 5S close behind. Outdoors at night, the 5S was the clear winner with the S5 and the Note 3 providing similar results (with the S5 coming out slightly ahead between the two). Indoors, the 5S came out on top again in every lighting situation, both without a flash and with a flash. The S5 was slightly better than the Note 3 indoors, but really not by much.

Given that the overall image quality between the S5 and the Note 3 isn't a huge difference, I'm leaning towards returning the S5 and just keeping the Note 3 for now.

jntdroid said:
I hate to say it (ok I don't really hate it), but after all of the devices I've used, I still feel like the 5S is still the best all around mobile camera experience when you combine the usability with image quality. The M8 is on par when it comes to speed and usability - heck it might even be faster. But image quality is still better on the 5S.

Agreed. The 5S that I use for work is just solid all around when it comes to the camera, providing really great shots in almost all lighting conditions. The only phone I've used that's better is the Lumia 1040, but it doesn't have the speed that the 5S does. Apple really nailed the camera for the 5S.

The S5 has officially been approved as a device we can use for work, so I was hoping to replace both my Note 3 and my 5S with it and only have to carry one device for personal and business use. But so far, the camera on the S5 makes that impossible.

jntdroid said:
And good to see you b! I've been pretty forum-inactive for awhile...

Yeah. I've been out of the country for work for an extended period, often in places with little to no internet service. I'm back in the States for a little bit, so I'll be popping up a little more often.

jagrave · Apr 12, 2014

Anyone know why it's so bad? I don't understand how some are getting great pics and others are getting not so good. I'm in the not so good group. Some pics I feel like my rezound takes just as good. Lol

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jntdroid · Apr 12, 2014

jagrave said:
Anyone know why it's so bad? I don't understand how some are getting great pics and others are getting not so good. I'm in the not so good group. Some pics I feel like my rezound takes just as good. Lol

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It can take great pics, don't get me wrong - though even when it's great, I'm not convinced it's better than the S4.

I think it's a combination of a new sensor, a new "style" of auto-focus, and post-processing issues.

bsweetness · Apr 12, 2014

jntdroid said:
It can take great pics, don't get me wrong - though even when it's great, I'm not convinced it's better than the S4.

I think it's a combination of a new sensor, a new "style" of auto-focus, and post-processing issues.

I think that's one of the biggest problems. Even in well-lit situations, sometimes things - like people and animals - can come out looking like an oil painting. That's one of the biggest problems with indoor shots as well. Turning off the stabilization helps a little with that, but not as much as one would think. I've tried all of the major third-party camera apps, and none of them give much better results. For indoor shots, the sensor just isn't big enough to let in the amount of light that's needed to take an above average picture.

I think some of the discrepancies in what various people are reporting with the quality comes down to photo quality preferences, what different people are used to with the phones in their cameras, and at times a more discerning eye for quality. The S5 camera is certainly no slouch, and I'd place it above pretty much all other Android phones right now as far as being an all around shooter (there are others that do certain things better, but not everything), but it's not the big step forward that I really wanted it to be.

I'm going to be returning it and going back to my Note 3 for the time being.

jagrave · Apr 12, 2014

bsweetness said:
I think that's one of the biggest problems. Even in well-lit situations, sometimes things - like people and animals - can come out looking like an oil painting. That's one of the biggest problems with indoor shots as well. Turning off the stabilization helps a little with that, but not as much as one would think. I've tried all of the major third-party camera apps, and none of them give much better results. For indoor shots, the sensor just isn't big enough to let in the amount of light that's needed to take an above average picture.

I think some of the discrepancies in what various people are reporting with the quality comes down to photo quality preferences, what different people are used to with the phones in their cameras, and at times a more discerning eye for quality. The S5 camera is certainly no slouch, and I'd place it above pretty much all other Android phones right now as far as being an all around shooter (there are others that do certain things better, but not everything), but it's not the big step forward that I really wanted it to be.

I'm going to be returning it and going back to my Note 3 for the time being.

What about the note 3 do you like better? And how does the note 3 camera compare?

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bsweetness · Apr 12, 2014

jagrave said:
What about the note 3 do you like better? And how does the note 3 camera compare?

I typed up a little summary of the comparison I did between the cameras a few posts up.

bsweetness said:
I doubt you're missing anything. I've gone through every setting and tried a host of things to get better pictures out of it to no avail. I spent quite a bit of time yesterday taking the exact same shots with the S5, Note 3, and iPhone 5S. Outdoors during the day, the S5 reigned supreme, with both the Note 3 and 5S close behind. Outdoors at night, the 5S was the clear winner with the S5 and the Note 3 providing similar results (with the S5 coming out slightly ahead between the two). Indoors, the 5S came out on top again in every lighting situation, both without a flash and with a flash. The S5 was slightly better than the Note 3 indoors, but really not by much.

Given that the overall image quality between the S5 and the Note 3 isn't a huge difference, I'm leaning towards returning the S5 and just keeping the Note 3 for now.

In short, the S5 is an improvement, but not a big one. The differences were pretty marginal in most cases.

As for what I like better about the Note 3 it really comes down to two things - the size of the screen and the S-Pen.

n2ishun · Apr 12, 2014

jayochs said:
if ya notice, the plastic doesn't cover the sensor itself..only the outer portion.

Ahem.....it most certainly DOES cover the entire lense.

Best find a girl with a sharp fingernail and pay her to scrape it off for you.

!edit!

BTW, mine is fast, and sharp, and works nearly as well as my Canon camera.

Absolutely disappointed with the camera

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