Is the camera on the M8/W8 really that bad?

[EC Translating Services]

So is the camera on the M8/W8 really that bad? Does anybody have any comparing pictures to a Lumia?

Compared my 1520 with the M8 in a phone shop and then outside at a phone show in Taipei and despite the M8 being no slouch i prefer the pics made by the 1520. Richer in detail, sharper, truer colors, better definition. Don't expect bad pictures from the M8, it's still a good camera. But it's not on par with devices like 1520 or 1020 in my opinion. The technology HTC is using doesn't allow for that level of quality IMHO. If there is one or two things i miss each time i use my Android device these are: A) Photocamera (Not just for quality, also the UI in Nokia Camera looks more professional and solid for me); B) Display quality overall.

 

[EC Translating Services]

We have a decent little Canon P&S, optical image stabilization, BSI sensor, 16 (? maybe 12) megapixels, etc. Good little camera. Bought that shortly after our firstborn's 1st birthday. Our older Canon just couldn't keep up indoors, and between my OG Droid and then my Trophy my cell cameras weren't up to snuff either.

Since getting my 928, I barely touch our camera. I can take pictures, do any and all editing or fixing (cropping, rotating, red eye, exposure, shadow/highlight, color, etc), I can share them to social sites or email, upload to Skydrive, etc.

Heck, received a couple photos today from someone of my wife and older son from a wedding this weekend, she took the shots on her P&S, but I ended up cleaning them and resending them onto my wife because it's so second nature. Saves so much time versus sitting down at the computer and having several hundred photos all untouched to work through when I get a chance.

edit: also, I would think that anything with a good distance involved in the shots, would probably be poor candidates for the HTC. Closer shots where cropping will be far more minimal should be a lot better. For someone like my wife, I could see this phone being fine -- she would learn that it takes nice enough photos but isn't a 100% replacement for a "real' camera.

Same feeling here. Since i have had the 1520 i can't use it for work...but it saves me from carrying a Micro 4/3 around for those random streetpics i like to take. And unlike it happened with all my HTC and Samsung devices, i don't miss the Photocamera at all. Pictures are good and i get praises only for those.

Just to be clear, this is the level of my 1520 in terms of pics...in Auto mode (no custom settings at all as there is no time most times). I never managed to get same results with any high end phone before. With the M8 you'd expect similar results for close pics in good light conditions and worse (to much worse) when it comes to take pics of subjects in low light and at a distance (they come up grainy and somewhat blurred)

 

[Beijendorf]

As mentioned both in this thread and by HTC executives, the HTC One "Ultrapixel" cameras are intended for social media sharing, where images are downscaled anyway. The larger pixels are intended to aid you in getting better images regardless of lighting conditions.

If your photographic endeavours go beyond social media, then the 4MP camera will leave you disappointed. Otherwise, it's doing its job with decent quality and an unmatched speed.

 

[KoukiFC3S]

Had the M8 for a couple months. The camera on it is ok, my biggest complaint is that it completely blows out the sky in most pics.

 

[worldspy99]

The camera was one of the reasons why I picked up a iPhone 5s instead of the M8. I had an LG G2 which supposally had a good camera but I found that my Lumia 920 takes better pics (better colors and better at night)

Sent from my Surface Pro 3 using Tapatalk

Any Lumia can take better pictures than the G2.

 

[buxz777]

I also know that a dedicated point and shoot camera isn't a dslr,but is small enough to carry in my shirt pockets and still does a better job at taking pictures as any cellphones camera.

sorry I have to completely disagree , we are now at the point that many phones can replace a high end point and shoot for example the 1020 has a large sensor that is the same size as the ?290 lumix lx7 which is a very highly rated camera http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-L...ag=hawk-future-21&ascsubtag=UUwpUvbUpU2704770 its also worth noting that the 1020 is smaller , lighter , has a great camera ui , bigger screen etc etc

then further down the scale we have phones like the 1520/930/icon/z2/kzoom/n8 which all have sensors that can still compete against point and shoot cameras like the sony hx50 , infact the sensor in the z1/z2/z3 is exactly the same sensor as the one in the ?200 hx50 http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb...ag=hawk-future-21&ascsubtag=UUwpUvbUpU2704770 the 1520s sensor is slightly smaller and aperture slightly worse but it does shoot raw and does offer some great oversampling ;-)

I really grates me when users/fans of devices with crappy cameras say things like ''if I wanted a decent camera id buy a point and shoot camera that would easily beat any phone camera'' because its simply not true and is making excuses for a crappy camera and a crappy choice by the phone manufacturer and because we are now at the point where many phone cameras can beat a ?200 point and shoot camera easily

to get a decent point and shoot camera that will compete/beat a decent flagship camera like the 1020/1520/icon/930 you need a camera like a rx100 or a lumix lx7 and they both cost ?300 , weigh well over 200g , aren't the most pocketable devices in the world , probably need their own case for transportation , needs a separate micro sd card , separate charger , cant make calls , don't pack full world wide sat nav , don't let you surf the web , etc etc ;-)

if you love the htc one camera that's fine mate but a lot of us want the best camera we can get so when we look back in 10 years times we don't think I wish I had my other camera with me , because we had great optics on our phones ;-) you will regret using the htc one in 10/20 years time trust me ;-)

 

[maevinj]

As mentioned both in this thread and by HTC executives, the HTC One "Ultrapixel" cameras are intended for social media sharing, where images are downscaled anyway. The larger pixels are intended to aid you in getting better images regardless of lighting conditions.

If your photographic endeavours go beyond social media, then the 4MP camera will leave you disappointed. Otherwise, it's doing its job with decent quality and an unmatched speed.

You know, it's just really disappointing that HTC would go in that direction for a camera. I was really looking forward to this phone. I guess I'll be going for an iPhone 6 since Microsoft doesn't want to launch high end phones anymore.

 

[TheJoester09]

Even as a social media sharing device, it fails on a certain level. Removing the hardware OIS was a mistake if that's what they are marketing this for because a lot of people like to take pics while they're out at night, at a bar/club, etc. I can't even tell you how many times I've seen a pic on Facebook with the caption "me and so and so out at the club!" and the pic is so dark that you can't see anything! That's pointless. I suppose you could use the flash in those situations, but I don't know how the flash performs on the M8.

 

[AnIdiot]

The camera is okay. People are putting emphasis on the camera but this phone is better than any other WP out there if you used the M8. If feels amazing and on paper it is the most powerful WP out there plus Blink feed and that Dot View Case make up for it. If the only thing you care about is photos then you should get a DSLR.

 

[maevinj]

The camera is okay. People are putting emphasis on the camera but this phone is better than any other WP out there if you used the M8. If feels amazing and on paper it is the most powerful WP out there plus Blink feed and that Dot View Case make up for it. If the only thing you care about is photos then you should get a DSLR.

This sums up my thoughts...

It really grates me when users/fans of devices with crappy cameras say things like ''if I wanted a decent camera id buy a point and shoot camera that would easily beat any phone camera'' because its simply not true and is making excuses for a crappy camera and a crappy choice by the phone manufacturer and because we are now at the point where many phone cameras can beat a ?200 point and shoot camera easily

Also we've already been around the bush about carrying a DSLR with you. It's just not feasible. Now if I'm taking professional photos for somebody, then yes I will break out the DSLR.

 

[buxz777]

The camera is okay. People are putting emphasis on the camera but this phone is better than any other WP out there if you used the M8. If feels amazing and on paper it is the most powerful WP out there plus Blink feed and that Dot View Case make up for it. If the only thing you care about is photos then you should get a DSLR.

how is better then any other windows phone out there? its powerful yes but what utilises that power? the 1020 has a dual core cpu and its doing much more with it then the htc ever will with its snapdragon 801 ;-)

the blink case is nice and if in your opinion it makes up for a useless camera then who am I to argue but id much rather have , oversampling , the ability to crop , better night time shots thanks to ois , better videos thanks to rich recording and ois , a case will never replace them memories that a decent photo can provide in 10 years time

blink feed ive never used so don't/wont comment but I really cant see how these make up for a gimmicky camera that you cant even crop into

there is that line again ''if you care for photos you should get a dslr'' why do people always say that? I have a dslr but the best camera is the one you always have with you and no one carries their dslr with them everywhere they go or on nights out up the pub or to a mates house or party ;-)

 

[Bahamen]

Here's a couple macros for you.

View attachment 76241
View attachment 76243
View attachment 76244

Sorry to say but these shots are pretty disappointing even without zooming or looking more closely...

 

[Bahamen]

I really grates me when users/fans of devices with crappy cameras say things like ''if I wanted a decent camera id buy a point and shoot camera that would easily beat any phone camera'' because its simply not true and is making excuses for a crappy camera and a crappy choice by the phone manufacturer and because we are now at the point where many phone cameras can beat a ?200 point and shoot camera easily.

Fully agree with you. Another pet peeve of mine are those people who say who needs OIS on your phone, if you need to stabilize your camera at night you should use a tripod. These people need to stop making excuses to justify the shortcoming of their phones. For HTC these were all self-inflicted - they had semi-decent cameras before going for that dumb Ultrapixel BS. Then they doubled-down by removing OIS in exchange for dual-cam. It is almost like they are deliberately trying very hard to make worse and worse cameras with each iteration. I wonder how HTC will manage to outdo itself again with the M9 - maybe a 2MP camera? Or take away the flash?

I've been to the Android forums where they shared the M8's pictures. It is quite amazing that many M8 owners think highly of the pictures taken by their camera, when those photos were in fact quite mediocre. These people really should check out the pictures taken with the Lumia devices (1520 or 1020), the difference is huge and you don't even need to zoom/crop to see the Lumia takes way better pictures. There is NO WAY that I would ever switch to the M8, the downgrade in picture quality would be far too much for me to be satisfied with.

 

[Blacklac]

Sorry to say but these shots are pretty disappointing even without zooming or looking more closely...

Yeah, they are either quite compressed or just bad.

 

[TechFreak1]

If your looking for close up detail than UltraPixel is not for you, if you take landscape shots or quick multiple shots then it is a decent performer.

Combination of wide angle lens and the f/2.0 aperature helps, to put that into perspective neither the 1520 or 930 even the 1020 the camera centric phone has a either of those (f/2.4 for both the 1520, 930 and f2.2 for the 1020).

 

[Blacklac]

If your looking for close up detail than UltraPixel is not for you, if you take quick macro shots then it is a decent performer.

Isn't that kind of a contradiction?

 

[ethos83]

While I wouldn't get the W8 because of the camera... I sure hope selfie-fanatics will. The 5MP, wide angle, front-facing camera should help and ultimately keep me from seeing all the noisy (read crappy) photos of duck faces in my feeds.

 

[Durishin]

Here you go...

Nokia Lumia 1020 vs HTC One (Video) | Pocketnow

 

[Durishin]

Ok...

Here's one comparison

Smartphone camera head to head: Lumia 1020 vs HTC One (M8)

Here's another - though it is not the M8
Nokia Lumia 1020 vs HTC One (Video) | Pocketnow

 

[Durishin]

Nokia Lumia 1020 vs HTC One (Video) | Pocketnow