Why isn't the Lumia 1020 camera living up to the hype?

[Windows Central Question]

Lumia 1020 camera issues

I am using the 1020 for a couple of weeks now . I saw a lot of videos on youtube about the zoom and crop capabilities and was pretty impressed , but after using it actually and zooming into the high resolution images , I find they are barely usable . Certainly not as good as the official Nokia videos show them to be , zooming into text on the tags on clothes , number plates of cars parked faraway etc . I'm using the 38mp +5 mp format . The camera is good I find it not as good as it is made out to be . I also did a comparison with a colleague's Note 3 camera ( 13 mp ) and the photos after zooming were similar . In fact in some details in the Note 3 photos were better . This was rather embarrassing .
Also after updating the camera app on 15th Mov 2014 ( not sure which update it is hence the date ) , the high resolution images cannot be viewed without the gridlines . is there a way to remove the gridlines?

 

[gpobernardo]

Re: Lumia 1020 camera issues

I am using the 1020 for a couple of weeks now . I saw a lot of videos on youtube about the zoom and crop capabilities and was pretty impressed , but after using it actually and zooming into the high resolution images , I find they are barely usable . Certainly not as good as the official Nokia videos show them to be , zooming into text on the tags on clothes , number plates of cars parked faraway etc . I'm using the 38mp +5 mp format . The camera is good I find it not as good as it is made out to be . I also did a comparison with a colleague's Note 3 camera ( 13 mp ) and the photos after zooming were similar . In fact in some details in the Note 3 photos were better . This was rather embarrassing .
Also after updating the camera app on 15th Mov 2014 ( not sure which update it is hence the date ) , the high resolution images cannot be viewed without the gridlines . is there a way to remove the gridlines?

Can you upload samples of your zoomed-in photos here? I have an L1020 and I have been using the enlarge and zoom capabilities of the camera with better results than in other phones (like the Sony Z2 with its 20MP camera or the iPhone 5s). For example, I could clearly read the license plate of a car that is parked over 50 meters from me (farther than this and some can still be read, depending on how stable my hands are).

As for the grid lines, this will only appear when you go to Photo Hub then tap Open in Lumia Camera (or Nokia Camera) - this prompts you to "reframe" the image. If you don't want to reframe the image and just view it, open your Lumia Camera (or Nokia Camera), then tap on the photos icon on the upper right or left corner (depending on your phone orientation). You would be able to view the photos here at full resolution.