Old and new camera photo comparison + new module general discussion

I think whether it was a good idea or not will depend on what they do next. Will they support both models (FP3 and FP3+) for another 4-5 years with updates?
Will they upgrade camera software, and will the update be for both camera modules or only the new ones?

1 Like

Also, we have to look at the bigger picture. While the upgrade may be minor for existing FP3 users, they certainly gained a lot of good press in various reviews and websites. They need to gain traction as a company and sell phones, and for existing FP3 users this will be good as well- more money for the company will mean better support.

I just hope they will support the FP3 for a long time, otherwise the whole idea would be a little moot. Definitely wouldn’t want to see a new phone being introduced every 2 years…

Personally, I’d gladly pay for an upgraded camera app, perhaps they could offer a paid upgrade like this so they can devote more resources for this or have an external company design the camera app?

5 Likes

No, I won’t pay for an upgraded camera app. I already paid for FP3, then two upgraded cams with return of old modules.

So far I’m using GCam software, which seems to be an improvement also for the old cam modules.

The front cam (and audio) might be considered as a major improvement, but it’s of question if the rear cam is more than a very minor upgrade.

4 Likes

Hello,
The data of a photo taken in low light:

  • on the right with the new camera
  • on the left with the old one.
    The photo is taken at the same time, we have 2 FP3s at home.

3 Likes

Hello there everybody from the Fairphone community!

I have got my Fairphone 3+ some days ago, and I like it very much. The thing I don’t really like is the camera. It is very disappointing to wait for the improved modules just to end up with something like this. Somehow blursed and sharpened at the same time, black spaces full of colourful fragments. I have tried different apps, different sizes, different settings, but nothing seems to help. May some of you folks give me advice?


Most of my pictures look good when not zoomed in. I can live with this though. This shot here (like many others) doesn’t look good at all. Not even on a small display. I’d feel embarrassed to send this to someone.

I would be happy to get photos like @Arne-Jaeger or @UlM have shown in this thread. Mine are crappy overall.

Another strange thing is, regardless of the chosen camera app, and even when selecting the SD card as storage, all of the pictures go to the phone memory. Which makes the SD card a little bit useless though.

Oh, and I have my phone from e.foundation, in the case that matters.

Still, it’s a great phone. I don’t want to rant, but that camera thing is really annoying. Especially after headily deciding to keep this sustainable phone like forever.

Thank you in advance.

Nemo

2 Likes

Welcome to the forum!
I moved your post here as the other topic was about the old camera module, this one is about the new one.

Did you try this google camera port, it has been reported to give very good results:

It does. It means you won’t get the improvements FP are planning to release soon (end of the year) for the camera software that should increase photo quality quite a bit, and the future ones they are still working on that should bring a very significant increase.

Even without the latest software updates, an /e/-phone should not provide such poor results. The image shows a lot of noise with a large grain size, which normally suggests that it would’ve been taken with a low resolution or high zoom level in poor lighting.

Is there any protective plastic from the shipment still covering the camera lens, or any visible damage to the glass?

2 Likes

Thanks for the fast answers. And thanks for moving the post. That woud mean the photos from the other thread were taken with the old camera. Which confuses me even more, because I don’t even reach that quality. There are some fairly good ones in this thread though.

I have now, but the app crashes the moment I accept or decline the permission for location.

Well, and I thought all the important improvements should have been done by releasing the new version of the phone.

This sentence gives me hope, but I still have to figure out what the problem may be. The image I posted was highest resolution with no zoom level in acceptable lighting (resized without quality loss on desktop).


Looks fine for me.

One week left to decide if to keep the phone or not.

I´m using the 7.4.104.314953318, I think it´s the Nikita_GCam (NGCam_7.4.104-V1.6.apk). I tested the V1.7, but that wasn´t stable on my FP3. The Cam-Apps I´m using are the ProShot and the Nikita. I tested the OpenCamera, too but that wasn´t mine. And some other free Cam-Apps, too.

1 Like

Are there any updates for better image processing on the camera? Just curious.

5 Likes

That is what I would like to know myself. Software upgrade vs hardware upgrade to me is the greenest way which is where 2020 phones rule the day while FP advertises 48MP upgrade that does nothing, very old-fashioned thinking to say the least. FP has to have a strong software department, it is not negotiable anymore I think. With that said the camera on the phone does the job as does the device itself, but the whole package is simply not attractive. It is always a good time for a new strategy.

2 Likes

Just installed

NGCam_8.1.101-v1.0 (Nikita, 2021-02-19, configs)

So much better than the stock camera app :slight_smile: in terms of lack of graining.

Out of curiosity, has anyone performed experiments with old v new hardware using a camera app with better image processing than either FP3 stock or Open Camera (such as Google Camera ports)? I have a feeling that the differences will probably come out more here.

Aside:
I think in an ideal world, there would be an open source Android camera with fast image processing that is better than the FP3 stock camera app, so that we know exactly what we are comparing, but I think we may be able to settle this

Edit: Looks like compression on upload is taking the banding that I see on my phone display out of the image, although more high frequency noise is visible in the stock camera photo… Could it also be a function of how the phone displays the image? One example of an issue I’ve found with stock FP3 camera app (with both old and new 3+ hardware): strange banding in certain images, which is not present in the preview:


Comparison Pic with Google camera:

Not to say that it isn’t good enough for many purposes, check out this picture taken in Antelope Island State Park, UT:

3 Likes

Di you have the original, or FP3+ module?

Dear @formerFP.Com.Manager, it’s been a year since you posted this. Any news at all?

Apologies missed your query FP3+

@formerFP.Com.Manager any news to share on this topic ?:slightly_smiling_face:. Would also like to know if some of the software work you’re doing on fairphone 4 camera app will benefit Fairphone 3 :thinking:.

@formerFP.Com.Manager still curious about the camera software. Will we see some improvements with the coming android 11 update?

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.