Xperia Arc Camera Image Quality

[#1]

Hi folks,

It may come as a shock, but I have to say that I'm genuinely dissappointed with the native image quality from my new 8mp Xperia Arc

I've had plenty of camera phones, but I have never witnessed such over-sharpening and over-compression in my jpegs !

I recently took 50-60 images in bright sunny conditions with intermittent cloud (availing of low ISO) and even at it's ISO 80 setting, the jpegs are being compressed and over-sharpened within an inch of their life.

• How can the average file size from an 8mp sensor (3264x2448 pixels) be a miserably small 1.4mb ? I've had 6mp sensors producing, at a minimum, 1.9mb sized files.
• If you can select 2mb, 6mb and 8mb resolution sizes, why can't Xperia Arc users select a desired quality / compression level ? I'm thinking low, medium, fine, super-fine.
• Similarly why can't Xperia Arc users select the sharpness level : low, medium, high ?

Surely budding Xperia Arc photographers would much rather have a) image quality and b) sharpness settings over the current nice-to-have options like Metering (which is not neccessary if you simply use your Exposure Value option) ?

I'm aware that various photo editing android apps exist (and I have run a number of them through their paces), but by all accounts they're simply piggy backing the native output jpegs.

Am I missing something here - are image quality & sharpness options too much to ask from a flagship 8mp snapper ??

Regards,
Paul

[#2]

Ok, I'll just make do with the native app and camera zoomfx for burst photos then.

[#3]

This is really a shame to have such a good camera and such a poor image compression.

Problem was reported a long time ago and still nothing done by SE. Come on guys, people are buying your phones also for the quality and support. So show us you can do something.

And just for information, I use camera zoomfx and quality is better but not the best we should get with that camera.

[#4]

Oh dear. I bought the Xperia because I wanted to get my phone from the camera experts, as I always liked my Cybershot cameras. What a bad decision. I don't care much abot the phone and internet capabilities, I wanted the good camera.

This thread is about a year old, and there does not seem to be any progress??

[#5]

Yes, it's really a shame for Sony to put a good camera hardware and an atrocious software that is not capable of utilizing camera's true potential. The photos look good only when seen in the phone itself, on PC they get pixelated on even a little zoom, i mean, what is up with the software producing 700 KB sized pics at 8MP. A 2MP camera can give such sized images.

SONY, WE HAVE ENOUGH SPACE ON OUR MEMORY CARD, SO PLEASE DON'T TRY GIVING US A SOFTWARE WITH SO MUCH COMPRESSION.WE SPENT ENOUGH AMOUNT BUYING THIS PHONE, WE DESERVE A GOOD CAMERA APP.

YOU ARE AN EXCELLENT COMPANY, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO PRODUCE A GOOD APPLICATION.

If it is a problem related to ASIC, please let us know, so that we can crush our hopes and manage with this APP only, if not, please include an improvised App in your next firmware update.

Thanks

[#6]

Hi all,

Just tried 'Camera ICS" app, this app is for Android Ice Cream Sandwich but I tried on "Gingerbread" only. It is producing better images compared to the default Camera app. Please have a try and reply if it is satisfactory for you all.

Thanks

[#7]

I have not realized that there is an issue about Arc's camera before stumbling upon this thread...

OK, I have a Canon 10 MP DSLR with some lenses.

I used to have a 2MP Nokia E61i.

I travel a lot for official purpose.

And the Arc effectively retired my DSLR! - It's lighter, much lighter, and satisfies my photography needs.

Mostly I use the pics for keeping track of my trips, and most of them to be uploaded to Facebook. Therefore, most of them are compressed down to 1600x900 or less before uploading...

And also love the abundant image editing apps on Google Play Store.

And I am happy that after taking more than 1000 pics, I still have loads of space on my standard 8GB SD Card.

I don't know if I am an average user, but I am satisfied with the camera.

And if I have to choose whether the camera will eat 1.5MB or 4MB per picture taken.....

I will go for the 1.5MB.

With 1.5MB I will have a very good image quality compared with a 1.5MB/file of any other cameraphones...

But, I will not reject if I have an option to capture a 4MB picture, if there is a significant improvement of details.

But once again, it did not cross my mind before reading this thread that there is an issue...

That's what I think.

[#8]

What can i say, Ignorance is bliss?

[nirseth37]

Bimal... your reply was harsh, almost rude!

I have had the SE Arc for over a year now after having had a 12mp SE Satio previously, and yes, I was (and remain) disappointed with overall quality of the camera. My Satio was an ideal companion when I didn't have my DSLR with me, however, never expecting the phone to capture high quality results but was happy. When I moved to the Arc, I took a step down in quality, but over the past year I know when to use and not use the Arc- in bright natural light conditions I can crop my images to over a 1/4 of the original and it still produces very acceptable results for a postcard sized photobook. For my 46" Bravia, of course it's not great, whereas the 720p video is very good! I use a combination of the standard app and the paid CameraZoomFX...

Out of curiosity I tried Camera ICS on my SE Arc and found the UI cluttered especially as I do not like the fact that the live image does not use the whole of the screen (on my wife's SE Ray, it would be too small to be useable). I took 6 images (8mp (4:3) and 6mp (16:9) with the standard app, CameraZoomFX and Camera ICS (with JPEG quality set at Ultra) and have to report that ICS is no better. In fact the resulting file sizes in all 3 apps are almost identical (even with ICS set at Ultra), which only confirms that the SE firmware processing is over riding any 3rd party app setting.

I have realised the limitations of the Arc and can live with them, as "ses" does too and am happy. Remember a mobile primary aim is not to be a camera but to be a phone. Comparisons to even reasonable dedicated digital cameras are pointless especially with the lack of real zoom... the Arc's photo problem will not be solved even with the ICS upgrade (I have a "good" 1GB ICS tablet, and have realised that ICS has many issues and is likely to be disappointing for current Xperias, eg. not releasing resources (aka memory) when an app is not used). Android is good, however, with each version it's evolving too fast (especially for developers) without maturing... so at the moment, I'm sticking with 2.3.4 and my camera apps I have, Camera ICS is now uninstalled!

[uliwooly-wooly]

@Bilma1331 lets keep this forum friendly, no harsh words/comments.

@Bilma1331 & @Nirmy, the quality of pictures doesn't get any better with the new Xperias (unless you look at the pictures on your phone then they are AMAZING)

check this thread

Xperia S picture quality, the pictures look amazing on the S's screen but washed out on a regular LCD/LED or HD TV/Screen

http://talk.sonymobile.com/thread/36192

[#11]

I apologise for my rude reply, was a little frustrated with the app and people comparing phone camera with DSLR instead of comparing with other phone cameras.

Btw, I have upgraded my LT15i to ICS and loving it, very smooth till now and camera pics are sized around 2 MB at 6MP, haven't checked if the details are retained with the increased size.