Blurry Imaging on 1020

[shove117]

So when I first got this phone it took great pictures. Then every now and then it started to make everything blurry no matter what I did to the settings. It seems like it takes pictures of close up things okay but anything else is hit or miss (more miss than anything). I use the pro cam app (The update today did not fix any of this). Just wondering if anyone can help me out on this as I just recently got the phone (Oct 7th or so).

 

[luk3ja]

are you sure you haven't set the focus to macro or changed it manual and not put it back to auto? and do you make sure to half press the shutter to allow it to focus before fully pressing it down to take the shot?

 

[shove117]

are you sure you haven't set the focus to macro or changed it manual and not put it back to auto? and do you make sure to half press the shutter to allow it to focus before fully pressing it down to take the shot?

yeah all the settings are auto. I've even reset the settings a few times in all the camera related apps. The half press does nothing. Before I even take the picture it is way too blurry in the preview. If I get to my computer I'll upload some pictures if needed. But I really can't figure this out .

 

[ALex Susky]

I hope you got a new one... Did you try shaking it and seeing if you could hear a rattle?

 

[jholso]

Had this issue too, I tweeted Nokia Care. They had me uninstall all camera apps to see if it was one of them messing with it. That didn't work, then they had me soft reset, that did not work. After that they had me use Nokia Care Suite to download a new image and reload the phone. This has seemed to work. Its definitely a software issue, just not sure why or what caused it. But for me it seems to be better now.

 

[rQvsnaps]

Had this issue too, I tweeted Nokia Care. They had me uninstall all camera apps to see if it was one of them messing with it. That didn't work, then they had me soft reset, that did not work. After that they had me use Nokia Care Suite to download a new image and reload the phone. This has seemed to work. Its definitely a software issue, just not sure why or what caused it. But for me it seems to be better now.

Can you give a bit more detail on the "reload phone" part?

I have the same-ish problem, tried hard resets to no avail.. Right now my pictures are a mess compared to my s4 shots, a very small focus area is ok, all backgrounds are a blurry mess.

 

[hope4wp]

Can you give us an example image?

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Tapatalk

 

[Live2Deliver]

Did you remove the protective plastic covering the camera?

 

[rQvsnaps]

Did you remove the protective plastic covering the camera?��

Lol.. Yep A long time ago, got the phone in november.
I'll shoot some comparison shots with the S4 and post pictures tomorrow.

 

[Ed Boland]

My 1020's pics are absolutely perfect.. did you get the Nokia Black update?

 

[rQvsnaps]

My 1020's pics are absolutely perfect.. did you get the Nokia Black update?

Yeah got it a few weeks ago.

 

[rQvsnaps]

Guess I'm starting to understand..
Just saw some review pictures between the galaxy s4 zoom and lumia 1020, sure enough when focusing on details the 1020 wins by FAR - however, looking at backgrounds the 1020 pictures are way out of focus which is exactly the same as what I experience...

Some examples showing precisely what I am experiencing:
Camera Sample - GSMArena.com
Camera Sample - GSMArena.com

Making close up detail shots (and low light shots......) my old S4 stands no chance comparing to my 1020, but making pictures of scenery I'm sad to say I prefer my S4.
Feels like I'm being limited to only shoot portraits instead of shooting a "whole" picture.
I've played with every manual setting available in nokia camera to no avail so I'm guessing thats how it is by design, anyone have a nice techical explanation for me?

By the way I am not trying to bash the 1020 camera here, it's amazing - but I should have probably just spent more time reading about it before jumping on the wp wagon. Tbh I dont really miss android..... But I only made this jump because of the camera which doesnt really live up to my expectations.

 

[Crasstoe]

The 1020 has a shallower depth of field by design, which is why the background is more out of focus than on the S4. This means the subject is more clear to the eye when you take the snap. Infinity focus on the 1020 is vastly superior IMO to the S4, but the "in focus" area starts much further away from the camera.

The way round this is to compose the shot with your feet. Stand further away, and use the PureView zoom to get the desired size. By standing further from the subject and background, more of the background will be in focus.

 

[rQvsnaps]

The 1020 has a shallower depth of field by design, which is why the background is more out of focus than on the S4. This means the subject is more clear to the eye when you take the snap. Infinity focus on the 1020 is vastly superior IMO to the S4, but the "in focus" area starts much further away from the camera.

The way round this is to compose the shot with your feet. Stand further away, and use the PureView zoom to get the desired size. By standing further from the subject and background, more of the background will be in focus.

Yes I tried that approach too taking shots from anywhere between 1 and 100 meters away. Going further away seems to throw the entire picture out of focus, but not really noticable until transferred to my computer.. The shots look "good" on the 1020 display.

One example from yesterday with infinity focus, the trees in the background are roughly 200 metres away:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3785/12167729523_6bbcfddca3_o.jpg

Vegetation on S4 seems much sharper on my s4, the only example I could dig up is this:
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2868/12167863353_11ca291386_o.jpg

I'll try making some side by side comparisons today which should show the difference under the same lighting and scene conditions.

 

[Crasstoe]

Are you shooting jpg on the phone?



The black update softened the photos, you can always add a little sharpness post process?

The thing the 1020 has that cant be matched is things like exposure control. Look how much better the sky looks on the 1020 photo, and none of the colours are washed out.


Sent from my RM-875_eu_euro1_211 using Tapatalk

 

[rQvsnaps]

Are you shooting jpg on the phone?



The black update softened the photos, you can always add a little sharpness post process?

The thing the 1020 has that cant be matched is things like exposure control. Look how much better the sky looks on the 1020 photo, and none of the colours are washed out.


Sent from my RM-875_eu_euro1_211 using Tapatalk

Im usually shooting raw and edit later in lightroom, tried adding sharpess during postprocessing but its far from enough to fix the blurry details (in the focus area..).
About the sky, and especially in low light conditions - its miles ahead of the s4.

My problem is when looking at 1020 sample pictures like this one:
http://press.nokia.com/wp-content/uploads/mediaplugin/photo/nokia-lumia-1020-pro-highres-14.jpg
My 1020 is no where close to the sharpness of those, so I'm thinking it might have a defective camera. I tried reproducing shots like that since November thinking the black update will probably fix it, but nope nothing changed.

Anyway, I'm in contact with nokia care about it..
If only I had a second lumia 1020 to compare..

 

[Bahamen]

Yes I tried that approach too taking shots from anywhere between 1 and 100 meters away. Going further away seems to throw the entire picture out of focus, but not really noticable until transferred to my computer.. The shots look "good" on the 1020 display.

One example from yesterday with infinity focus, the trees in the background are roughly 200 metres away:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3785/12167729523_6bbcfddca3_o.jpg

Vegetation on S4 seems much sharper on my s4, the only example I could dig up is this:
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2868/12167863353_11ca291386_o.jpg

I'll try making some side by side comparisons today which should show the difference under the same lighting and scene conditions.

Looking at your 2 sample pictures, I honestly fail to see how the S4 image is better compared to the 1020. And bear in mind, both images are being compared at pixel level in full resolution. At 41MP, your 1020 can zoom in much further than possible on any other phone. Therefore, the 1020's advantage is having tons more detail than the S4. But when you choose the 5MP mode, the image quality improves tremendously (although you lose the ability to zoom in) with greater sharpness and less noise. If you compare the 1020's 5MP image, it will flat out beat any other cameraphones in sharpness. Not so in full 41MP, but then again you can see much further at full res.

ps: One exception is the corner/side part of the image which is generally much softer than the center.

 

[Crasstoe]

I would suggest shooting JPG (I am yet to find a decent application to convert from RAW) as I find it does a better job than Lightroom.

The Nokia shots were all in PERFECT light with tripods. You would need lots of sun light and a tripod, and then the ISO speed cracked really low and manual focus.

If you look at how harsh the shadows are I would take a guess and say around mid day sun for this shot when the sun is at it's most direct.

Given the wide angle nature of the 1020 lens you will get blur the further from the center you go, that can't be helped.

 

[Mantraxalos]

Yes I have the same issue. So many blurry shots its awful. I have the black update as well. I am not interested in a hard reset or reloading the rom.

 

[Ixia]

Yep, I've been really disappointed by the softness of landscape shots, I was seduced by all those marketing shots of the Grand Canyon etc. I miss my N8 and often wonder if I should have stuck with Symbian and gone for the 808, in fact was looking at 808s the other day on Ebay.