New samsung Galaxy s3 but shocking camera

tipsy

tipsy

tipsy

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23 Feb 2004
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Greenside/Tyne & wear
I've just upgraded from an s2 and although the camera had its issues with shutter lag the pictures were far superior in low light. I've tried messing with the settings on teh s3 and in low light teh pics are far to grainy and look like they have been taken at 1.3mp rather than the 8mp.

The outdoor shots look great but not everyone takes pics outside all of the time so was wondering has anyone else had experience of this as I'm tempted to take it back and get a new s3 as there has to be something wrong.
 
It uses a f2.4 aperture compared to say for example HOX or Lumia which use a f2.0 aperture which allows more light in technically these should be better for low light conditions.
 
I'm not at home at the mo but will sort it later, low light I mean a photo in a room with a lamp on, even when using the flash its still grainy. As I said my old s2 was far better so I'm just totally stumped now :( shame as the phone itself is great. If teh room is full iluminated its good also but where it shines over the s2 is the outdoor shots.
 
According to the exif data from mine, the lens aperture is actually f2.6. Just done a few test shots off mine and they aren't too bad, but it really depends on how dark it is.

This is just ambient light from my monitor with the forum blue colour. 1/17sec ISO 200
Dark.jpg


This is the monitor again but with a white page 1/17sec ISO 200
Ambient.jpg


This is with the forum displayed but my desk lamp on. 1/15sec ISO 100
DeskLamp.jpg


I think they are very good for a phone, but they could be a hell of a lot better. I don't rely on auto iso though as it just ramps it up to 800/1600 too often and it ends up a noisy mess. I don't like to exceed 200 and tend to keep it set on 100.
 
they look far better than mine tbh so I guess something is up. will sort them when I get in from work, what are you using to upload teh pics?
 
I never even thought about messing with the ISO.... TBH I am a point and shoot user. Maybe I should be doing some reading on ISO and White Balance but can someone put a quick cheat sheet together for the following and what they do in relation to the Samsung S3 options (in plain English if poss :))


ISO -
White Balance -
Exposure Value -
Metering (Matrix/Centre weighted etc)-

Much appreciated :)
 
Richie said:
I never even thought about messing with the ISO.... TBH I am a point and shoot user. Maybe I should be doing some reading on ISO and White Balance but can someone put a quick cheat sheet together for the following and what they do in relation to the Samsung S3 options (in plain English if poss :))


ISO -
White Balance -
Exposure Value -
Metering (Matrix/Centre weighted etc)-

Much appreciated :)
Click to expand...

Best read some general articles, have a read of these:

http://photo.tutsplus.com/articles/hardware/camera-exposure-modes-explained/

http://photographylife.com/what-is-iso-in-photography

http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/23/engadget-primed-camera-metering-explained

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/white-balance.htm

Probably easier if you come back and ask questions is the Photography & Video forum. :)
 
Keeping the ISO low will help to reduce the noise problems but the camera cannot use shutter speeds lower than 1/17sec so there is a point where you have no choice but to either switch over to auto iso or raise it a bit. You'll know when as the image on screen will be mostly black no matter what you try.

Adjusting the exposure value will help where the cameras metering gets confused by a mostly bright/dark scene. This slider allows you to offset the exposure to compensate.

Wouldn't bother fiddling with white balance unless you need to as this will adjust the colour tone of the image. (warm to cold) It is supposed to get pure grey (white) without tinting it with colour. (making the image neutral) You can use white balance for effect but it's something that can easily be adjusted later with software.

Metering just sets how the camera decides to expose the image. Matrix uses the whole frame and works out an average point. Centre weighted is the same but concentrated in the central portion of the image. Spot metering is used for very small areas. Might be selectable when you tap the screen to choose where to focus. (the only thing that i think they missed out that the iphone has is press and hold on screen to properly lock the AF and exposure)

Some very useful info available here.
 
I leave ISO on auto, never really had a problem shooting in low light? I just use HDR mode or adjust white balance if need be.
 
Cheers for the help. I to have noticed my indoor shots being grainy and had never considered that ISO could help this so I will give it a shot :)
 
well the camera was definately broken so I got a new phone :) its much better and its also cleared up some other annoying focus issue, vodafone said it was the camera sensor causing the issue and it appears to be very common.
 
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