Has anybody noticed that the video recorder for the Droid sucks indoors and in low light? I have tried all of the light settings with no luck. My iPhone 3gs was much better in those situations. Anybody have any tips for taking indoor/low light video or know of any apps that improve video recording?
Droid Video Recorder
- Thread starter cwp1979
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Jokool_7777
Member
No suggestions. Im having the same issue. What I'm hoping is that they will follow the example set by the Storm and make it so that when you record video in low light, the flash will act as a light.
If they can fix that...the phone will be perfect and I've had an iPhone. At this point Im still happier with this than I was with the iPhone.
If they can fix that...the phone will be perfect and I've had an iPhone. At this point Im still happier with this than I was with the iPhone.
hazydave
Member
A Photo & Video Guy's Opinion on DROID camera
Video in low-light is a problem. Plain and simple. Always, with nearly any camera. I have one professional HDV camcorder and several quite decent consumer models, with 1/3" and 1/2.5" CMOS sensors, with f1.8 lenses, and they're no prize in low-light, at least compared to standard-def low-light champions like the Sony VX2100.. which in turn fail compared to DSLRs with video on those huge APS or 35mm standard sensors.
You can't expect the tiny 1/4" sensor in the DROID (possibly the Kodak KAC-05020) and that tiny f2.8 lens to be all that effective in low light. Consider also, that low-light is where you pay for the megapixels. All else being equal, a 2Mpixel camera works better in low light than a 5Mpixel camera, thanks simply to larger pixels (more photon per sensor means less noise). Most consumer camcorders suffer exactly the same problem... tiny sensors (often 1/6", occasionally smaller still) and high pixel count to fool consumers into thinking the camcorder will also do decent stills (it won't).
Of course, another thing to consider... the DROID isn't your camera, and never will be. The camera is just another tool, like the web cam in most laptops these days. It's great because you always have it (in fact, far as I'm concerned, Best Phone Camera Ever, both in quality and the fast there's an actual shuttter button right where there should be a shutter button)... but I'm really damning it with faint praise... I don't believe any phone camera stands up to a properly executed digital still camera for stills. Video, on the other hand... the DROID does actually shoot better video than some of the low-end standard-def consumer models, many of which don't have even an honest 720x480 on those 1/6" or even 1/8" sensors.
There are definitely software issues that will improve things. First one (already announced for next month's bug fix) is the auto-focus. This is a bit wonky now, but should easily be improved (I have a Panasonic DMC-TZ5 which got a nice boost in quality of autofocus, particularly in videos, from just such an upgrade).
There seems to be very little noise reduction image processing done. I can do this in Photoshop, so it's no biggie, but this is kind of S.O.P. for modern digital cameras, I'm kind of surprised the current camera app leaves it out, or just does such a poor job.
Also, very likely some kind of bug in the camera app. I took a bunch of photos as the Philadelphia Heart Walk yesterday, just to try things out. The quality was pretty consistent, but one was just nuts... all kinds of weird noise. Sure looks like a malfunction. So that might also see improvement.
It'll also be interesting to see what other enhancements are possible, either via the stock camera app or 3rd party improved camera apps. I can think of half a dozen or more things you could add into a camera app to make it really cool... where do I get that SDK
Video in low-light is a problem. Plain and simple. Always, with nearly any camera. I have one professional HDV camcorder and several quite decent consumer models, with 1/3" and 1/2.5" CMOS sensors, with f1.8 lenses, and they're no prize in low-light, at least compared to standard-def low-light champions like the Sony VX2100.. which in turn fail compared to DSLRs with video on those huge APS or 35mm standard sensors.
You can't expect the tiny 1/4" sensor in the DROID (possibly the Kodak KAC-05020) and that tiny f2.8 lens to be all that effective in low light. Consider also, that low-light is where you pay for the megapixels. All else being equal, a 2Mpixel camera works better in low light than a 5Mpixel camera, thanks simply to larger pixels (more photon per sensor means less noise). Most consumer camcorders suffer exactly the same problem... tiny sensors (often 1/6", occasionally smaller still) and high pixel count to fool consumers into thinking the camcorder will also do decent stills (it won't).
Of course, another thing to consider... the DROID isn't your camera, and never will be. The camera is just another tool, like the web cam in most laptops these days. It's great because you always have it (in fact, far as I'm concerned, Best Phone Camera Ever, both in quality and the fast there's an actual shuttter button right where there should be a shutter button)... but I'm really damning it with faint praise... I don't believe any phone camera stands up to a properly executed digital still camera for stills. Video, on the other hand... the DROID does actually shoot better video than some of the low-end standard-def consumer models, many of which don't have even an honest 720x480 on those 1/6" or even 1/8" sensors.
There are definitely software issues that will improve things. First one (already announced for next month's bug fix) is the auto-focus. This is a bit wonky now, but should easily be improved (I have a Panasonic DMC-TZ5 which got a nice boost in quality of autofocus, particularly in videos, from just such an upgrade).
There seems to be very little noise reduction image processing done. I can do this in Photoshop, so it's no biggie, but this is kind of S.O.P. for modern digital cameras, I'm kind of surprised the current camera app leaves it out, or just does such a poor job.
Also, very likely some kind of bug in the camera app. I took a bunch of photos as the Philadelphia Heart Walk yesterday, just to try things out. The quality was pretty consistent, but one was just nuts... all kinds of weird noise. Sure looks like a malfunction. So that might also see improvement.
It'll also be interesting to see what other enhancements are possible, either via the stock camera app or 3rd party improved camera apps. I can think of half a dozen or more things you could add into a camera app to make it really cool... where do I get that SDK
IndyCross
New Member
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Here's a little trick that works in smaller rooms or at night. I downloaded an LED flashlight widget that continues to run in the background. Then, when I switch over to use the video camera, the LED just stays on. It does put an extra drain on the battery, but it works pretty good for me.
smokiedabong
Member
The camera sucks . I was trying to take a video in low-light conditions and the only thing that the Droid was able to record were some white spots . We had a bunch of cell phones and even the 4 year old crappy flip-phone 1 MP took bright , distinguishable videos . Anybody found a application for the camera that works better than the default one for video ?
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