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Why are some phone pictures so duff ?

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Why are some phone pictures so duff ?

Postby RogerS » 16 Jan 2020, 13:33

This one, for instance ?

Image

Is it because the focus is struggling sometimes depending on what's in the picture composition ?
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Re: Why are some phone pictures so duff ?

Postby 9fingers » 16 Jan 2020, 15:36

Could be the focus having trouble working out just what to focus on or the jpg algorithm making it worse as it tries to compress it. I doubt if you have a raw option but if you have you can see what it is trying to work with.
Not all phone cameras are born equal.
I have a friend who has been sending me pictures of official documents etc and they have been very poor - quite likely to have a budget phone.
In contrast one of my new tenants has sent superb photos of driving licence, passport and marriage certificate but he uses an iphone I think.

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Re: Why are some phone pictures so duff ?

Postby TrimTheKing » 16 Jan 2020, 15:43

There's a lot of different lines and directions in that photo so I imagine the auto focus struggled.
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Re: Why are some phone pictures so duff ?

Postby Andyp » 16 Jan 2020, 16:32

Impatience. Pressing the button before the phone has had time to focus, perhaps.
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Re: Why are some phone pictures so duff ?

Postby RogerS » 16 Jan 2020, 17:03

Andyp wrote:Impatience. Pressing the button before the phone has had time to focus, perhaps.


Good idea but I did wait. I think !
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Re: Why are some phone pictures so duff ?

Postby 9fingers » 16 Jan 2020, 17:30

RogerS wrote:
Andyp wrote:Impatience. Pressing the button before the phone has had time to focus, perhaps.


Good idea but I did wait. I think !


If my iphone is having to work hard at focussing, it will let you press the button at any stage but not take the photo until it is happy with the focus. This means of course that I have to hold the phone still until the shutter noise ocurrs.

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Re: Why are some phone pictures so duff ?

Postby Jimmy Mack » 16 Jan 2020, 22:44

PU glue on the lens....

They're pretty awful in low light... Small lens and compact camera sensor I suspect.

Sometimes it's worth playing with the manual focus, ISO and WB settings... not helpful when you want to point and shoot.



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Re: Why are some phone pictures so duff ?

Postby Robert » 16 Jan 2020, 23:35

It may not have focussed but according to what I see on flickr the biggest difference to pictures in your other posts is the ISO speed.

This blurry one is 640 ISO whereas most previously were 160 ISO. I have a S7 edge and with the camera in 'pro' mode the ISO limit is 800 so 640 is near to as high as it can go. flickr says you are using a S7.

The auto setting will smooth out the noise you get from higher ISO so there are no speckles and therefore no texture or fine detail where there should be.

That said it does look worse that I'd expect.

Main fix is more light. Other thing to try if sticking to auto is to touch the screen where there is something with a good contrast like an edge. It will then show a circle at that position and will focus and measure exposure there only.
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Re: Why are some phone pictures so duff ?

Postby RogerS » 16 Jan 2020, 23:38

Robert wrote:It may not have focussed but according to what I see on flickr the biggest difference to pictures in your other posts is the ISO speed.

This blurry one is 640 ISO whereas most previously were 160 ISO. I have a S7 edge and with the camera in 'pro' mode the ISO limit is 800 so 640 is near to as high as it can go. flickr says you are using a S7.

The auto setting will smooth out the noise you get from higher ISO so there are no speckles and therefore no texture or fine detail where there should be.

That said it does look worse that I'd expect.

Main fix is more light. Other thing to try if sticking to auto is to touch the screen where there is something with a good contrast like an edge. It will then show a circle at that position and will focus and measure exposure there only.


Thanks Robert.....I think I need to get the manual out as I just point and click. You've given me some good pointers to pursue, thanks. I guess I must be in Auto mode.
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Re: Why are some phone pictures so duff ?

Postby Robert » 16 Jan 2020, 23:47

More light is the best option along with checking the lens for finger marks ;)

Do try the touching the screen thing. I use auto nearly all the time and often touch the screen to guide focus.
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