Nothing Phone (3) - Camera Test

Alex_TechSpace

Hey, people!
Yesterday, I took my Phone (3) for a walk in the mountains so I could test it in dynamic lighting conditions, before diving deep into reviewing it. I want your honest opinion - what do you think of the cameras?

Rob ⚡️

Alex_TechSpace Great scenes to test dynamic range!

Smii

Alex_TechSpace
Looks really good! Were these shot on the “normal” camera mode? Any HDR, UltraXDR and so on?

Given how many updates have come through so far that have had camera improvements, it would be really interesting to know which software version these were shot on?
I’m still quite far behind in the staged rollouts.

Alex_TechSpace

Smii Yep, I totally forgot to mention - HDR and UltraXDR - ON
I’ve basically updated everything and it runs on the latest soft.

Smii

Alex_TechSpace Would you mind sharing your Android version from Settings -> About Phone -> Software Info?
Only reason I’m curious is that I am “on the latest available software” but it’s Metroid-V3.5-250808-1022-EEA and there’s definitely a September version out.

CMF1_hacker

Smii yeah, there’s been a few update. Not sure how you and I are always at the end of update cycle.

Alex_TechSpace

Smii It’s the Metroid-V3.5-250829-1700-EEA

Smii

Alex_TechSpace You’ve got the next new update with the Stretch preset to come too, then!

Alex_TechSpace

That seems too dramatic for my taste 😃

Anonymous784

Reminds me of 3a stock camera - HDR way too inconsistent. Usually far too dark

GCam at least fixes that issue

Alex_TechSpace

Anonymous784 I get the same feeling for now

Anonymous784

These aren’t particularly great photos, but give an idea between stock and GCam. It is possible that fiddling with settings for ages with every photo and editing them after could fix it, but I don’t have time usually and just want to point and shoot.

Stock - everything dark for no real reason including a tree that has turned almost black (was a bright day)

GCam - everything nice and visible - colours actually look close to reality as I compared them at the time

I think I heard the latest Phone 3 update you’re missing fixes their weird HDR over-processing - hopefully the 3a gets it otherwise I’ll probably be reluctantly selling my 3a. Love everything about it except the inconsistent camera and the shutter lag. I don’t like being forced to us a hacky GCam to take photos as half the features don’t work, and video is worse

Smii

Anonymous784 Interestingly I’d say that of those two images, I prefer A - the exposure isn’t quite right but it’s a more faithful exposure than the HDR effect in B. What about if you use stock + 0.3-0.7EV adjustment? (I find the stock camera overexposes more than anything and pretty much permanently run it - 1.0EV.

Regarding GCam, the one on the Play Store has an absolutely outrageous subscription model - is that the app you’re using?

Anonymous784

Smii fair enough, just it looks nothing like reality.

I use https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/dev-shamim/f/dl28/

Ultimately I bought the wrong phone then… Nothing seems more geared to weird/artsy stuff rather than photos you’d want to keep forever like family photos etc

Stock has shutter lag with movement so EV adjustment doesn’t matter anyway.

Maybe time to just get a Pixel and enjoy taking photos 🥲

CMF1_hacker

Smii same. A trumps B in my opinion. B looks quire artificial. I usually run my dSLRs at -0.3 to -0.7 EV all the time. I’ve come to the conclusion that if I want to point-and-shoot for speed with two young children around, that I have UXDR off, HDR for videos OFF and auto HDR for photos and PHOTO mode. (Also, I did receive the NP3 on 11 JUL and it’s only been very sunny for Northern and Western Europe and this perception might change in Autumn/Winter). If I have time, I switch to EXPERT mode and like on my dSLRs adjust SS and F-stop to arrive at what I want (that’s how I usually shoot with them and with a -0.3 to -0.7 EV adjustment).

There is a younger generation that has grown up on social media and I find when I shoot with a mobile in apps (like FB, IG and WA) the default is usually way to vivd and over exposed (like B above). Perhaps, most of the younger generation is simply used to this. It might be sad (my opinion) but it is the way it is with these whippersnappers.

Smii

Anonymous784 fair enough, just it looks nothing like reality.

This is something that genuinely fascinates me about photography nowadays. We’ve all got so used to the way that phones process images to look good on phone screens that it affects our collective view on what a photograph should look like.

On a bright sunny day, actually the top exposure is closer to reality. HDR’s multiple exposures is inherently not reality as it’s built up as a composite image from multiple exposures.

As for the shutter delay - yes, I find this too with the NP3. It can be an enormous pain - but shooting in Expert mode full time seems to resolve the issue with minimal impact on usability.

Anonymous784

Smii But I’m telling you the 2nd image was closer to reality… I was there.

The grass wasn’t that dark… I could see green in the tree etc. The British Flag wasn’t black, but actually red and blue…

Anonymous784

CMF1_hacker A looks absolutely nothing like reality though.

Hence I said I bought the wrong phone. I want photos to look real… genuine skin tone, colours, etc

Nothing is great for some overexposed shadowy artsy photo of a bin bag, but wanting to take genuine photos is a bad experience

CMF1_hacker

Anonymous784 I’m suggesting that I don’t believe you based on my experience with the CMF1 and NP3. I don’t have anything against you, and I haven’t used the NP1, NP2, NP2a, NP3a, NP3apro or the CE versions, but my experience is different than yours and I trust myself given that I’ve taken more than 120k snaps with various devices. Perhaps my eyes perceive light difference as well as I approach 50.

edit: looking at A and B again on several devices, I have a very hard believing that the grass was that green (as depicted in B) IRL anywhere in the UK. It looks like a new-build astro-turf rear garden 🙂