Hi, I am comparing the cams between fp4 and pixel 6a at the moment. While I did this, I found out, that the fp4 stock cam has a function to take a serie of pictures while pushing the button for a longer moment (until 20 pictures?)
The pixel takes sharper pictures of moving objects in bad light conditions although, but with this series-function in fp4 you have a possibility to take a lot of pictures in milliseconds without waiting for the slow focus.
True, and that without a dedicated sensor for auto focus. In my experience the burst mode doesn’t work well on the FP4. Would be great if they used that TOF sensor a bit more.
Calm day, sunshine, ideal conditions, so I went outside with my FP4 and tried to pin down what bothers me about the pictures it takes.
(All pictures taken with the stock camera app)
First, there is clearly a big problem with the wide angle lens (pictures just resized for bandwidth):
The two pictures were taken from the same spot with the exact same settings, just a couple seconds apart (the time to switch lenses).
As you clearly see, for some unfathomable reason the wide angle picture has a much warmer tone. Needless to say the right white balance is the normal lens one.
(BTW, no need to take a picture, in sunny conditions you (at least I) see the difference just by switching lenses, like if the wide angle lens had a filter on. 
)
Now for some bushes (very approximately cropped for convenience and bandwidth):
Both pictures were taken in “Pro” mode, for the first one all settings were left at “Auto”. As you see, it’s slightly overexposed.
Now for the second picture I set the “EV” setting at "-1 ". It looks much closer to what my eyes saw. I guess the right setting would had been -0.5 or some such, but by the time I had imported everything into Darktable it was too late to try.
(Metadata are “1/372 f/1.8 5 mm 112 ISO”, and “1/653 f/1.8 5 mm 112 ISO”)
Food for thought.
Tried this again today, with a slightly overcast sky (no direct sunlight), and the white balance of the wide angle lens is now good!
Nothing changed on my phone since yesterday, I didn’t reboot or anything, so it seems it might be that direct sunlight confuses the wide angle lens white balance system (Why?).
Needs confirmation, if somebody has some time to spare.
Further tests with very contrasted scenes (overcast sky through shady trees and such) seem to indicate the stock camera post-processing has a tendency to needlessly increase contrast, which would lead to bright parts being overexposed. Bad idea…
A way to shoot RAW would be welcome… Note that using HDR might fix that (at least alleviate the worst of it), I didn’t get to experiment with HDR yet. More to come.
Am I the only one with this problem using the high definition mode or whatever it’s called in no the default app?
There is this “rainbow” at the top that just isn’t there when I take the picture with Gcam
No it’s known for a while, no fix yet. It’s listed in the known and reproducible issues for the camera:
Hmm yeah let’s hope it’s fixed when/if Android 12 launches in a few months
I really, really hope so! But FP has proven to push updates with bugs that you can find in 5 minutes by just regularly use the phone. Like this rainbow effect. They didn’t notice this, which can only happen if they don’t do the slightest testing before pushing the update. And it takes ages for them to find a fix or to acknowledge the issue. Which may also mean they don’t even use their own products.
I hope I’m wrong of course and that the Android 12 release will change my opinion and experience with my Fairphone 
If I weren’t frugal as hell and didn’t in general dislike selling stuff I own, I would dump this phone one way or another and go with a Pixel instead. I’m sick and tired of the crappy camera at this point. My girlfriend has a phone for half the price of my FP4 and it has a better camera.
I’m planning on using the FP4 until it stops working entirely, but after that I doubt I’m buying a Fairphone again. I’m hoping that in 5 years Google will have a user replaceable battery which is the primary reason for buying this phone. Make them do it, EU! You can do it!
A picture to illustrate. Stock camera app, all default auto settings.
The sky is overcast, no direct sunlight, the bushes look green (duh). Yet on the picture (resized for bandwidth), the leaves have a definite sheen which isn’t real.
I toyed with all settings, no way to remove that over-enhanced sheen and get the full deep green color they have in reality.
Edited to add: I installed “Open Camera” (Google Play Store), and out of the box, with the default auto settings, it does render those same leaves green (!), not waxy.
Which confirms it’s just the FP camera app which creates this unrealistic enhancement, as demolitionGoat stated further up, the hardware is capable of doing a clean job.
Two pictures, taken one after the other 1. with the stock FP4 camera, and 2. with Open Camera (resized for bandwidth).
Both with the default (automatic) point & click settings. Sky overcast, no direct sunlight. The real scene looked like the Open Camera picture (right one)… One sees clearly the artificial overexposure/contrast the FP4 camera app adds to the picture.
Other test, this time full pictures so you can compare definition and all.
Same auto settings, both pictures taken one after the other. Guess which is which…
It’s not just switching “lenses”. They are two completely different camera sensors. And each sensor can perceive the colors differently, that’s pretty normal. The software white-balancing can do a lot, but as with all white-balancing tasks, there is no “ground truth” the algorithm could stick to, so it’s all just guesswork. Maybe OpenCamera does better guesswork, that’s all. I agree there is still room for improvement for the stock cam, but generally, I wouldn’t expect the exact same color feeling from the two cameras.
Sure, as is the fact that the firmware should correct this, to deliver a raw picture as near to neutral as possible.
Else the lens/sensor is pretty much useless, don’t you agree? What’s the point of a sensor which adds some strange unwanted tint to your pictures?
Sorry, that’s a different issue. Open Camera can’t use the wide angle lens, all my comparative stock/open pictures were shot with the same default “normal” lens, and the point of that comparison was to show that the stock camera app (not the sensor), does some unwarranted and (IMHO) ugly post-processing to the pictures.
Open Camera is only there to show, specifically, that it’s not the sensor which has a problem, it’s the stock camera app’s fault.
A picture is always tinted, because daylight is different over the day and artificial lightning again completely different.
So without post processing, the same picture will look completely different. The sensor is not adding something, but the ambient light.
Sure, that’s what “white balance” is for, to make sure white remains white. FYI I’m from the generation trained on chemical film requiring complex filtering when used under artificial lighting conditions, so I’m well aware of color temperature issues.
That been said, I’m sorry but I fail to see your point. I didn’t say the camera shouldn’t do any post-processing, I just say it shouldn’t take pseudo-artistic initiatives.
Or at least, if they really really can’t control themselves, they should allow the user to switch that fake “contrast enhancement” back off. (That is, if they want to market their camera as being the bee’s knees, which they apparently do. Just my humble opinion.)
Edited to add, because it apparently becomes necessary: I’m not dissing FP, and I’m not a “toys out of the pram” kind of guy. I’m cold and methodical. What I’m doing here is just assessing and listing the things FP should (IMHO) spend some time fixing. I’m not doing this for FP’s eyes, since they (stupidly, IMHO) don’t read this forum, but for the other users to chime in. Something like a public beta test of sorts.
I’ve worked in enough tech startups to know that they can’t and won’t fix issues they are not clearly aware of, and contacting support with a vague rant doesn’t help. They need specifics, step-by-step procedures how to reproduce the issue, and clear descriptions of any issue.
Now that’s my own process, and I’m sorry if while proceeding so I’m stepping on some peoples’ fanboism. Please keep in mind I’m not dissing FP, I’m trying to help them.
First you were talking about different white balance between the two cameras, that’s what I was referring to. Now you are talking about “contrast enhancement”.
Yes, I’m able to talk about many different things… 
It’s a list: First I mentioned the white balance difference between the normal and the wide angle lens. Then, later, I mentioned another, different issue, the fact the camera app adds some heavy-handed cosmetic filter which makes all pictures look overexposed.
I thought I was clear enough?..
I’ve tried both in the past an tried both again following your response, to be honest I don’t see a lot of difference unfortunately.
This resonates so strongly.
Try taking a picture of animals, they move even quicker than people, it’s just ridiculous.
That said today I was trying to take a close up of the fabric of pair of jeans (textile nerd) - it blurred the detail of the weave of the fabric in a itchy way and turned indigo blue to grey - I couldn’t get a decent picture indoors or out. So I’m back to taking pictures with a camera, transferring over wi-fi to phone or laptop to post on social media - I bought a new phone to avid having to do this. so totally fed up.
What’s more I think it’s crazy that one has to think of upgrading the phone in the hope that it may deliver on the specs promised by the previous model - hardly sustainable or ethical.
