Official Idol 4S Picture & Video thread

[darrell reimer]

No to quibble... OK maybe I am quibbling.

Can you repeat using the same framing?

The Idol 4S is held just a but higher up the side of the wall. You can see the light source under the cabinet above impinging on the lens...


Not so with the ATIV SE where the top of the frame is down just a bit...


In my experience just that small amount of tilt away from a strong light source can make a big difference with the same camera. In such lighting situations I have seen the white balance change greatly on screen and in the final pics with just a small change in tilt.

You have good eyes spotting that! I can't repeat the picture; all of those veggies are in my coconut-curry soup now!!

 

[darrell reimer]

Okay, here's a quick overcast video using the standard camera app, all auto settings except for focus being set to infinity (no HDR).
If you haven't done so already, I think you should reinstall using WDRT. If that doesn't correct your problem, I think it must be hardware related.


https://youtu.be/WaoRQC5VcZg

Interesting. I don't see any of the 'flashing back and forth' exposure action that i get on my phone. Are you touching the screen on a specific spot at the beginning of the shot to set the exposure? Or are you just opening the app and shooting?

The OS build i'm running is 14393.726

 

[editguy]

Interesting. I don't see any of the 'flashing back and forth' exposure action that i get on my phone. Are you touching the screen on a specific spot at the beginning of the shot to set the exposure? Or are you just opening the app and shooting?

The OS build i'm running is 14393.726

All I did was open the standard app, set the focus to infinity and then I started shooting. I left everything else on auto and I didn't turn on HDR. And, no, I'm not touching the screen. I even used the camera button to start and stop recording.

My OS build is 14393.693, but I'm running the T-Mobile version and yours is unlocked, correct? I would recommend using the WDRT, but I'm not sure if they have a build for the unlocked phones yet? Maybe someone else that knows can chime in. And, as I said, if that doesn't work there has to be a hardware problem with yours. I feel like it's probably some sort of corruption in the software, though. Mine has never performed (or, rather, not performed!) like yours. That would definitely be frustrating. I think if yours started working at the level of mine it could probably meet your needs?

 

[darrell reimer]

All I did was open the standard app, set the focus to infinity and then I started shooting. I left everything else on auto and I didn't turn on HDR. And, no, I'm not touching the screen. I even used the camera button to start and stop recording.

My OS build is 14393.693, but I'm running the T-Mobile version and yours is unlocked, correct? I would recommend using the WDRT, but I'm not sure if they have a build for the unlocked phones yet? Maybe someone else that knows can chime in. And, as I said, if that doesn't work there has to be a hardware problem with yours. I feel like it's probably some sort of corruption in the software, though. Mine has never performed (or, rather, not performed!) like yours. That would definitely be frustrating. I think if yours started working at the level of mine it could probably meet your needs?

Yes - i'm running an unlocked phone purchased from the Microsoft store.
I think i may have found part of my camera problem. On all of my previous phones, when i'd set up to take a pic, i'd tap the screen on the image i was trying to capture to help with the focus and exposure. When i do this on the IDOL, this is when things start going all wonky, and the camera starts fighting itself for the proper exposure. If i just open the camera and shot, the exposure issues don't seem to crop up. The problem is, my pic is not always in focus if i don't tap on the screen. I'll keep playing around with it.
Thanks so much for all the time and effort you've put in helping me!

 

[Sedp23]

Yes - i'm running an unlocked phone purchased from the Microsoft store.
I think i may have found part of my camera problem. On all of my previous phones, when i'd set up to take a pic, i'd tap the screen on the image i was trying to capture to help with the focus and exposure. When i do this on the IDOL, this is when things start going all wonky, and the camera starts fighting itself for the proper exposure. If i just open the camera and shot, the exposure issues don't seem to crop up. The problem is, my pic is not always in focus if i don't tap on the screen. I'll keep playing around with it.
Thanks so much for all the time and effort you've put in helping me!

When I touch the screen it tries to focus but it seems like the focus on the idol is slower than other phones I've used

Sent from Idol 4s

 

[editguy]

Yes - i'm running an unlocked phone purchased from the Microsoft store.
I think i may have found part of my camera problem. On all of my previous phones, when i'd set up to take a pic, i'd tap the screen on the image i was trying to capture to help with the focus and exposure. When i do this on the IDOL, this is when things start going all wonky, and the camera starts fighting itself for the proper exposure. If i just open the camera and shot, the exposure issues don't seem to crop up. The problem is, my pic is not always in focus if i don't tap on the screen. I'll keep playing around with it.
Thanks so much for all the time and effort you've put in helping me!

Try setting the focus to infinity after you open the app. See if that does anything for you. Once you set it (as long as you don't close the camera app) it will stay (even if the phone goes to sleep). I think the focus is one of the things that could benefit from a firmware update, but setting it to infinity ∞ seems to do the trick for me.

 

[anon(50597)]

You all are amazing trying all these things out to help make the camera better. It's entertaining to watch even though I'm not a big picture guy.

Sent from my Alcatel Idol 4S

 

[editguy]

You all are amazing trying all these things out to help make the camera better. It's entertaining to watch even though I'm not a big picture guy.

Sent from my Alcatel Idol 4S

When it comes to phone cameras, normally I play around with it when I first get it to see what it's capable of. After that, I just use it for casual snapshots and almost never for video. When I want to purposely take pics, I take "real" cameras with me. Phone cameras have improved tremendously, but they still have a ways to go to match even a good P&S, and they have a long ways to go to compare to a DSLR (I'm not sure that will ever be possible). That said, a good photographer can get some tremendous results from a cell phone camera. Where they fall down (for me anyway) is that it's more "fiddly" getting manual settings on a camera app than it is on a real camera. Also, I like to have cameras with real view finders, not just LCD's. It's much easier setting focus and other manual settings with a view finder. There's a reason why news camera persons don't use flip out screens for run and gun news.

 

[fatclue_98]

You all are amazing trying all these things out to help make the camera better. It's entertaining to watch even though I'm not a big picture guy.

Sent from my Alcatel Idol 4S

Considering it's the only "bad" onboard feature, yeah it drives me nuts that it doesn't perform to its capabilities.

Sent from my Motion Computing Slate via mTalk

 

[darrell reimer]

Confession time...sorry guys, but going to 'the dark side' for a few days. I picked this up off of Amazon; it's the 'International' version; it's $120 cheaper than the IDOL 4S; $160 cheaper than the 'regular' 950 XL in the Canadian Microsoft store. The instructions are all in German, and the charger plug is for Europe, but i've got to see if the camera is better than the IDOL. I'll take it up skiing on Tuesday and let you know...

 

[editguy]

Confession time...sorry guys, but going to 'the dark side' for a few days. I picked this up off of Amazon; it's the 'International' version; it's $120 cheaper than the IDOL 4S; $160 cheaper than the 'regular' 950 XL in the Canadian Microsoft store. The instructions are all in German, and the charger plug is for Europe, but i've got to see if the camera is better than the IDOL. I'll take it up skiing on Tuesday and let you know...

950XL? You don't even need to test it to know that the camera will be better than the Idol. That's a given, unless there's something wrong with the phone. I expect it will serve the purpose that you need it for much better than the Idol. It has better firmware and software (even if the sensors are equal?) and you should be able to use it full auto the way you want and need it to be. And I wouldn't call it the dark side. :smile:

 

[fatclue_98]

And I wouldn't call it the dark side.

That would be the little green robot.

 

[darrell reimer]

950XL? You don't even need to test it to know that the camera will be better than the Idol. That's a given, unless there's something wrong with the phone. I expect it will serve the purpose that you need it for much better than the Idol. It has better firmware and software (even if the sensors are equal?) and you should be able to use it full auto the way you want and need it to be. And I wouldn't call it the dark side. :smile:

Thanks for all your input editguy. You and fatclue have been a great help. So....i felt terrible putting my IDOL back into the box to begin its' journey back to where it came from. Compared to the 950 XL i just got, the 4S feels so much more 'premium' and solid; the glass screen tapered edges are beautiful; the curved corners of the phone are so much smoother than the 950's 'blocky' feel. The phone just feels so great to hold! Compared to the IDOL build quality, the 950 now feels more like something from Toys 'R' Us.
But - i have to say, i noticed the better camera almost immediately. The Lumia camera is awesome!! And, the XL runs really snappy! I hope the battery life is as good as the IDOL; i'm still syncing up all my apps/pics/music etc., so the phone is running hot and using plenty of battery. Once it settles down, i'll get a better idea of battery life.
Anyway, let me know if there are any upgrades to the IDOL 4S camera; i would not hesitate to give it another try; it's a super device!

 

[editguy]

I hope the battery life is as good as the IDOL; i'm still syncing up all my apps/pics/music etc., so the phone is running hot and using plenty of battery. Once it settles down, i'll get a better idea of battery life.
Anyway, let me know if there are any upgrades to the IDOL 4S camera; i would not hesitate to give it another try; it's a super device!

Will do. I would say, though, that what you've gained in camera you will lose in battery life. Life is full of tradeoffs. But what you have now will meet your camera needs better than the Idol. I still have hopes that (barring a firmware upgrade) Alcatel will have a version 2 of the Idol that will make it the perfect phone that it's so close to being. I guess I'm just an optimist. :smile:

 

[nate0]

My OS build is 14393.693, but I'm running the T-Mobile version and yours is unlocked, correct? I would recommend using the WDRT, but I'm not sure if they have a build for the unlocked phones yet? Maybe someone else that knows can chime in.

No FW/FFU for the unlocked NA model yet. A while ago I did notice that the FW version for the unlocked model is different than the T-Mobile one but that is typical for differing variants.

 

[mark233]

Camera in Auto...no post editing. It was very windy and I had to hold the phone with one hand while leaning over the rail :amaze:
View attachment WP_20170304_12_41_06_Pro.jpg

 

[anon(50597)]

Will do. I would say, though, that what you've gained in camera you will lose in battery life. Life is full of tradeoffs. But what you have now will meet your camera needs better than the Idol. I still have hopes that (barring a firmware upgrade) Alcatel will have a version 2 of the Idol that will make it the perfect phone that it's so close to being. I guess I'm just an optimist. :smile:

Maybe we need to let them know this. I'm going to start posting comments about this phone on Twitter, in hopes they get the message.

Sent from mTalk on my SP4

 

[RumoredNow]

Side by side auto-settings with forced HDR...


Windows Camera


Camera360 Sight

 

[fatclue_98]

Side by side auto-settings with forced HDR...


Windows Camera
View attachment 134231

Camera360 Sight
View attachment 134232

The 360 looks a shade darker, which was more accurate?

 

[RumoredNow]

The 360 looks a shade darker, which was more accurate?

LOL kinda in the middle.