Regarding the Droid 3 Camera Quality

[vertigoelectric]

I'm up for getting a new phone, and to help me make my decision, I read an in-depth Droid X2 vs Droid 3 review by phonearena.

The Droid 3 surpassed the X2 on almost every level, but not in camera quality. Apparently the X2 was far superior with sharper details and fuller colors. The Droid 3 camera seemed to produce a bleak image. This was the case for both video and still photo shots.

This is frustrating for me, since the high quality camera was one of the top most important features for me.

So now the question. Before I go out and buy it myself, is there anybody that can help me confirm whether or not these 'bleak' camera results can be remedied by a 3rd party camera app? For example, the "LG Camera" (LG in this case has NOTHING to do with the company) app provides a lot of camera customization and MIGHT help with the color and clarity issue, but without being able to test it, I don't know.

I guess I'm not entirely sure what I'm asking... except that maybe someone can help me learn more about the capabilities of the Droid 3 camera vs the Droid X2 camera.

 

[Liderc]

Not that I think this is a worthy response to the faulty camera software in the D3, there is a camera APP called camera360 that apparently will fix the white balance on the Droid 3 which causes it to take blue photos.

They apparently use Fluorescence mode to fix the issue.

This also leads us to believe that there's the possibility of a future software update correcting the problem as well.

Thread to read about the apps used to correct the issue: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-3/163350-camera-fixed-using-different-camera-app.html

 

[vertigoelectric]

Not that I think this is a worthy response to the faulty camera software in the D3, there is a camera APP called camera360 that apparently will fix the white balance on the Droid 3 which causes it to take blue photos.

They apparently use Fluorescence mode to fix the issue.

This also leads us to believe that there's the possibility of a future software update correcting the problem as well.

Thread to read about the apps used to correct the issue: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-3/163350-camera-fixed-using-different-camera-app.html

Thanks for the quick response. What you brought up was what I meant to say. I wanted to know if it was an issue that can be fixed with software... because if it's a hardware issue, then there's no hope, pretty much.

Overall, I still think the Droid 3 is the choice for me, but I am still a bit iffy on it because of the camera.

As far is images turning out BLUE, that's much worse than simply having less clarity and color. I don't want my pictures BLUE. Is it like every picture is in tungsten mode?

 

[Liderc]

Here's a pretty drastic comparison that's located in the thread I linked you. Confirming the hardware is definitely capable.


Droid 3 without camera app:

Droid 3 with camera360 APP Fluorescence mode activated:

 

[SR20S13]

idk if its me, but with the 6mp fit to screen option it makes the pictures alot more blue, while the 8mp option makes it less blue. And this is with the stock camera app.

 

[TyrantII]

The camera itself is really good, but the firmware/drivers controlling it have messed up the WB settings. They're not sampling or setting them correctly.

Hence why using a 3rd party app and manually setting it fixes them.

Still, heard there's also some issues with HD Video (flickering/black screen and auto-focus issues). Again, those seem to point towards buggy / faulty camera firmware.

I think the lesson here is Moto needs to focus less on Motoblur & social app bloatware, and more on making sure their core features of their hardware are coded correctly.

 

[SR20S13]

The camera itself is really good, but the firmware/drivers controlling it have messed up the WB settings. They're not sampling or setting them correctly.

Hence why using a 3rd party app and manually setting it fixes them.

Still, heard there's also some issues with HD Video (flickering/black screen and auto-focus issues). Again, those seem to point towards buggy / faulty camera firmware.

I think the lesson here is Moto needs to focus less on Motoblur & social app bloatware, and more on making sure their core features of their hardware are coded correctly.

aka the droid1, that didn't have any of that bloatware, and it ran flawlessly and it was its most popular android phone ever (the RAZR was there most popular phone ever haha, i'm pretty sure it was the most popular phone ever period everyone had one at some point haha)

 

[Liderc]

Well the Original Droid's camera wasn't very good. Takes terrible pictures in the dark.

The difference is the D3 looks like it has a capable camera, it just has faulty software.

 

[SR20S13]

ummmm i know, I got the OG when it came out, i've been around this game awhile haha

 

[Liderc]

I too have had the Droid since day 1, but you were suggesting that the OG ran flawlessly when it was released, which it didn't.

Since we're discussing cameras, I was pointing out that the camera hardware was bad and it's software was also poor when released. Many people, including myself, used a camera app to correct a lot of the OG's software issues as well, like taking forever to take a picture(shutter timing issue).

The D3 appears to have a quality camera, it just needs a software update, or one can use the current fix of using an aftermarket camera app to correct the white balance issue.

 

[vertigoelectric]

Wow, guys. Thanks for all the info. I didn't mean to ignore the thread. I just didn't know you had all responded.

Well I certainly am encouraged about the camera! Those comparison shots are VERY helpful! The 2nd shot looks just fine!

I was a little disappointed to find out that you only get 6mp in wide/full screen, but to be honest, what high-end cameras generally take wide screen photos anyway? I don't think that will be an issue.


Well I've had the opportunity to go get the Droid 3 for a few days now, but I've been putting it off until I know for SURE it's what I want. I'm kinda unhappy that it hasn't been unlocked/rooted yet, but at the rate the root devs are working, they'll find a way pretty quickly.

Y'know, I might just go pick up this camera today.

Oh, another question. Does it have a manual focus setting? I suppose I could just go look that up myself though...