You know I love my Razr.....

[LoneWolfArcher]

But a coworker was showing me pictures he took on his Samsung Galaxy S. He took the pics with the phone and was showing them to me on the phone.

:icon_eek: Holy cow were those some amazingly high quality photos, and looked so incredible on his screen. Granted I don't use my Razr for photography much, but that was most most impressive.

Is the Nexus that good too? How happy are you with the quality of your Razr?

 

[Sydman]

I know there have been a few comparisons here in the forums and if I remember correctly from all the postings. The bottom line was that the Nexus took pictures faster and gained focus faster, but as far as quality the pictures that the Razr did manage to take were better.

This however could be completely false and if that is the case please I welcome being corrected. I am not that old yet, but the memory does slip from time to time.

 

[benz0]

But a coworker was showing me pictures he took on his Samsung Galaxy S. He took the pics with the phone and was showing them to me on the phone.

:icon_eek: Holy cow were those some amazingly high quality photos, and looked so incredible on his screen. Granted I don't use my Razr for photography much, but that was most most impressive.

Is the Nexus that good too? How happy are you with the quality of your Razr?

Same thing I said too, had multiple Moto phones, to me Samsung and Htc phones are the best in the business for Android

 

[maverick31210]

Same thing I said too, had multiple Moto phones, to me Samsung and Htc phones are the best in the business for Android

I don't know man, I think a lot of this is preference and opinion. I loved, loved, loved my D1...went to HTC and disliked it. Disliked other HTC phones people I know had. I came back to Moto with my RAZR and am liking it a lot.

 

[Zandar]

The camera on the RAZR is as good as anything else out there (barring those oh-so-delectable Carl Zeiss lenses on Nokia phones), but it can tend to take sub-par shots depending on what conditions are like and the skill of the photographer. A skilled photographer makes all the difference in the world; my brother is a pro photographer, and he can take shots from a disposable camera that'll put most people's 5D MkII shots to shame.

That said, there are a few things you can do to make the most of your photos with your RAZR. These two apps are very good to own (not too expensive, and if you like photos on your phone they'll be well worth the couple of bucks you shell out):

HDR Camera+
This app allows you to take true HDR images. HDR stands for "High Dynamic Range;" basically, it'll take 3 shots at different exposure settings and put them all together. It makes for cleaner highs and lows with a very distinct, life-like colour. Here's a picture taken in a lot by my house with the regular camera:


Here's the same area, but taken with HDR Camera+:


You can see that you get a much better range for the photo; both in colour and contrast. Here's another shot taken with the RAZR and HDR Camera+:


Another app worth picking up is this one:

PicSay Pro
There are others like this out there, too. This app allows for some simple, easy editing on the fly. I use it to do things like play with contrast and colours. I find that the RAZR tends to make colours a bit too cool. For instance, I took this shot a few weeks ago:


It's an OK shot, but the colours are a little on the cool side and the exposure/contrast doesn't really pop. Here it is with a little bump in those areas:


Not a huge difference, but noticeable. And very easy and fast to do.

The RAZR takes great shots in good lighting, but it, like all phone cameras (other than those brilliant ones from Nokia), can use a little help. With a few little tweaks, though, the shots really are quite livable.

 

[bls8195]

I use to have the Samsung Galaxy S2 on Sprint and it took amazing pictures. I am pretty happy with my Razr, although I have yet to mess with the camera to terribly much as of yet.

 

[mthorn79]

The camera on the Razr is really just ok, but I'm comparing it to my old Thunderbolt, that thing took high quality photos in good lighting and at night. I took pics with my T-bolt at work at a natural gas facility, people thought I took the company's high dollar camera. I'm really not excited about this camera at all, of course Moto's camera software has never been that great anyway. Love everything else about the Razr though.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[LoneWolfArcher]

The camera on the RAZR is as good as anything else out there (barring those oh-so-delectable Carl Zeiss lenses on Nokia phones), but it can tend to take sub-par shots depending on what conditions are like and the skill of the photographer. A skilled photographer makes all the difference in the world; my brother is a pro photographer, and he can take shots from a disposable camera that'll put most people's 5D MkII shots to shame.

That said, there are a few things you can do to make the most of your photos with your RAZR. These two apps are very good to own (not too expensive, and if you like photos on your phone they'll be well worth the couple of bucks you shell out):

HDR Camera+
This app allows you to take true HDR images. HDR stands for "High Dynamic Range;" basically, it'll take 3 shots at different exposure settings and put them all together. It makes for cleaner highs and lows with a very distinct, life-like colour. Here's a picture taken in a lot by my house with the regular camera:
View attachment 48827

Here's the same area, but taken with HDR Camera+:
View attachment 48828

You can see that you get a much better range for the photo; both in colour and contrast. Here's another shot taken with the RAZR and HDR Camera+:
View attachment 48831

Another app worth picking up is this one:

PicSay Pro
There are others like this out there, too. This app allows for some simple, easy editing on the fly. I use it to do things like play with contrast and colours. I find that the RAZR tends to make colours a bit too cool. For instance, I took this shot a few weeks ago:
View attachment 48829

It's an OK shot, but the colours are a little on the cool side and the exposure/contrast doesn't really pop. Here it is with a little bump in those areas:
View attachment 48830

Not a huge difference, but noticeable. And very easy and fast to do.

The RAZR takes great shots in good lighting, but it, like all phone cameras (other than those brilliant ones from Nokia), can use a little help. With a few little tweaks, though, the shots really are quite livable.

Now that's some quality H2O!! Good work. I will look into those apps.

 

[SallyC]

HDR Camera+
This app allows you to take true HDR images. HDR stands for "High Dynamic Range;" basically, it'll take 3 shots at different exposure settings and put them all together. It makes for cleaner highs and lows with a very distinct, life-like colour. Here's a picture taken in a lot by my house with the regular camera:

Thanks for the tip, Zandar. It turns out HDR Camera+ is 50% off right now ($1.99) but there's also a free, non + version, for those who prefer it.

I compared it to stock camera and Camera Zoom FX and the pictures were noticeably better - brighter colors, better brightness and contrast. It doesn't have some of the options the others have, including zoom and sport mode, but I find I rarely use the modes and I hate the zoom - the picture is never sharp. I'm better off shooting 8mp and then just cropping it myself. I also find I don't do burst modes with my phone. If I want to do some "serious" shooting, I have dedicated full featured, camera which is so good I sold my DSLR. But for quick point & shoot stills using my phone I'm thinking HDR Camera+ will be perfect.

Since it doesn't do video, I also added a shortcut to Mashcord - Quick Camcorder for one touch access to HD video recording. It doesn't give you the low res camera video many camcorder shortcuts do. It also doesn't work on a number of phones, but it works great on a Droid Razr.

 

[shamus]

Just wanted to chime in and assure you not all Samsung phone cameras are the same. I had the Nexus before the Razr and the camera was dreadful.

 

[Zandar]

Thanks for the tip, Zandar. It turns out HDR Camera+ is 50% off right now ($1.99) but there's also a free, non + version, for those who prefer it.

I compared it to stock camera and Camera Zoom FX and the pictures were noticeably better - brighter colors, better brightness and contrast. It doesn't have some of the options the others have, including zoom and sport mode, but I find I rarely use the modes and I hate the zoom - the picture is never sharp. I'm better off shooting 8mp and then just cropping it myself. I also find I don't do burst modes with my phone. If I want to do some "serious" shooting, I have dedicated full featured, camera which is so good I sold my DSLR. But for quick point & shoot stills using my phone I'm thinking HDR Camera+ will be perfect.

Since it doesn't do video, I also added a shortcut to Mashcord - Quick Camcorder for one touch access to HD video recording. It doesn't give you the low res camera video many camcorder shortcuts do. It also doesn't work on a number of phones, but it works great on a Droid Razr.

HDR photos are not good for action shots of any kind (hence why there's no "sport" mode or anything like). The way the tech works is that it takes three, quick shots in sequence at different exposure settings. It then combines the three into one image with exposure elements from each. If you have any movement whatsoever, HDR is not a good technique to use. I wouldn't even use it for portraits as you would need your subject to stay completely motionless for a few seconds or the photo will come out with ghosting (I have a photo with half of my Great Dane in it because she ran into the photo halfway to bark at something or other; can't seem to find it right now). HDR video requires multiple cameras to pull off, to my knowledge.

As for the zoom, you're right on. Our cameras don't have an optical zoom, so it's all software cropping. You really are simply better off taking a full sized shot and then cropping it as you like afterwards.