The 8x Camera and the one setting I found to make all the difference

[pdch]

So I have been a pretty happy 8x customer for over a week, and have used the phone extensively. I am one of those phone users that tends to take a LOT of pics on my phone, so was excited to get a phone with a better camera (coming from a Pre3). At first, I was a little disappointed with the photos taken by the camera, so I started playing with the settings. What I found was that, at least on my 8x, the phone does a poor job of selecting the correct whitebalance when set to auto. I have started manually setting the whitebalance before taking pictures and have found that the pics are MUCH better with more accurate colors and detail. Unfortunately, there are only 5 options (auto, cloudy, daylight, incandescent, and fluorescent). Believe it or not, choosing the appropriate setting makes all the difference in the world. There is even a pretty big difference when choosing between incandescent and fluorescent light when choosing the correct setting.

The one hang up I have found is when in low light conditions. So far, choosing the right setting when in darker rooms has been an exercise of trial and error, with everything except the daylight setting working in different situations. Even in these conditions, auto does not seem to work.

Anyway, just thought I would share this. Are others seeing similar problems when using the auto setting, or is this just a problem with my handset?

 

[corsica]

could you provide some comparison shots?

 

[pdch]

could you provide some comparison shots?

I will take some as soon as I can and post them up. I thought about posting this AFTER deleting all of the not-so-good looking shots taken with the auto setting on. I immediately delete shots I don't like by habit.

If you have an 8x, try it for yourself and let me know how your manually adjusted shots compare to the auto. I am curious to know if it is just my set or if they all have this problem.

 

[Coffee]

agreed, especially on indoor shots. Fluorescent gives me a warmer shot, while incandescent is a cooler, less realistic coloration. Auto-select isn't bad but if you have time, you should definitely try out the different white balances before taking the shot.

 

[OutlawFirebird]

any other settings your using?

 

[-Scienide-]

I'd agree with this. On the first day I had the phone I took some photos of my son running about. The photos on auto were washed out and over white. Then I tweaked the white balance and got some great photos. I might have them here somewhere. Let me look...

On Auto:



I took this before with a different setting. Can't remember what but it came out much better.

 

[shinygerbil]

I've actually found the colours to be slightly oversaturated - but if I set the saturation to "lower" rather than "normal" it looks a little undersaturated. Ideally I'd like a setting somewhere inbetween - though I guess this can be fixed with post-processing.