K750i 2MP camera - it's rubbish!

[Taz]

Following the huge media interest in the photographic capabilities of the K750i, I was quite looking forward to seeing what the much hyped 2-megapixel camera in the K750i can do. So far i've been sorely disappointed, even after a couple of firmware updates.

Unless you are shooting a picture in bright sunlight, the quality of the JPG is very poor with a huge amount of noise due to low light. This is particularly disappointing as the camera does not have a proper flash (I know it has an LED light).

I've tried many settings but the highest quality setting still produces results that even my oldest Fuji 1.5MP digital camera or even my cheap webcam can easily trounce. The picture is typically dull and very, very grainy when viewed on my monitor. So far the only use i've found for the pictures the camera takes is to send them as MMS messages to another phone as viewing them on the phone's screen is okay as you don't notice the lack of quality.

Pictures in bright sunlight are much better but still poor for a 2MP camera. I was wondering whether others have had the same experience? I realise I'm probably expecting a lot from a camera built into a mobile phone and it's probably a little unfair comparing it to proper cameras but the SE advertising does promise a lot!

By the way, has anyone tried the flash attachment for the K750i?

[autopilot]

It's phone dude! The light on the k750i actually does kind of flash, it gets brighter as you take the photo. It actually helps to have the light on a bit as this reduces red eye. It's by far the best phone camera on the market and i actually get better results than my mothers 2mp Kodak digicam. BTW, don't forget to set i to 'fine'. This is off by default when you get it.

But it's a phone, they work very differently to proper cameras. Why? Because no phone on the market has a fundementally important componant that proper cameras do have - A Shutter. Because of this they wont be as good in low light or with fast moving subjects. But i have taken some incredibly good shots with mine.

But in no way can it replace a proper camera yet, so get a camera too. It will be interesting to see what the new nokia are like, but from what i can tell they wont have shutters yet either.

[Taz]

I'll try some more pictures with the light on. By low light I meant indoor pictures during the day. As I said, outside in the sun is no problem.

I've got several 'proper' cameras as well (including an old classic, the Minolta Dynax 7000i 35mm SLR). My main digicam is a Canon Ixus IIs (3.2MP), with the Fuji 1.5MP as a backup. I guess i'm being a little unfair in the comparison but I really expected normal indoor shots during the day to be a lot better.

I'm really tempted by the add-on flash to see if that improves things but i'll try pics with the light on for now.

The other problem may be that the pics look fine on the K750i's LCD display but when I display them on my 19" TFT they look pants. They do print out okay on my Canon Seplhy CP600 6"x4" photo printer so it could be that just displaying them on a largish screen is beyond the limits of a 2MP camera.

[JimmyBoy]

i was a lil disse******ed by the cam aswell, but as said, its a phone, so i didnt expect it to compare to my dads 2mp camera but yer, the pics are a lil grainy arnt they

wats this 'fine' thing u meant dom? im new to this phone so any lil tips n tricks are much appreiciated

[Taz]

Originally Posted by JimmyBoy

wats this 'fine' thing u meant dom? im new to this phone so any lil tips n tricks are much appreiciated

When you go into camera mode, select Settings-->Picture quality and select Fine. As far as i can tell it simply reduces the compression on the saved JPG so you should see a tiny bit more detail.

[BenW]

Im finding the camera pretty good, seen some amazing pics on another forum taken with it.

This is probably my best photo taken on the phone. Taken full res/fine and resized on pc

[autopilot]

I know what you mean about bad lighting, but some good photos can be taken, so don't write it off just yet. Here a some samples of some i took with my k750i

Check this dude out!

[TooNice]

Couple more pics here: http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=133303

Even the night shots look pretty reasonable (better than I would expect from a phone, and miles better than my P800).

[Funkstar]

Originally Posted by Taz

I'm really tempted by the add-on flash to see if that improves things but i'll try pics with the light on for now.

I picked up the flash accessory when i was passing through Schiphol a couple of weeks ago. Not had a chnace to use it yet though, keep forgetting it when i go out

Although i was playing about with my 750 in the pub on saturday night. tried the night function with actually produced worse shots, i guess it was bright enough for normal shooting. Normal shots were decidedly yellow as you would expect, but the night shots were very contrasty and washed out.

good photos btw dangerous_dom, where is that coast?

n.

[autopilot]

That was near St Davids in Pembrokeshire. The crazy one-man-band was at the big chill festival. The photo does not do him justice, he was incredibly funny. He just limped along looking really sad and playing the music really badly. Well, you had to be there i guess.

[EvilWeevil]

I have to say I've been pretty impressed by the camera on my k750i. I didn't know there was a flash attatchment, I'll look out for one. But generally for photos I stick to my old 2MP Sony. It tends to produce nicer pics, and lighting is less of a problem due to real flash, actual shutter etc.

[Grey M@a]

I would say its the camera in your phone that could be shot, takes good pictures for me, a few of which are in the phonetograhy thread on this forum Never had an issue with it in night mode either. I rarely use it as I have my other camera for good shots, it gets used for the spur of the moment shots.

[scottyman]

on the other hand - I beleve that it's a CMOS (rather than CCD) sensor - so effectively a camera obscura. I'd probably be able to tell if I bothered looking at the spec. most phone cameras are exactly that, they're very cheap to manufacture in bulk, and of "acceptable" image quality.

[BenW]

New ones are meant to be CMOS (Not sure if they're releasing cmos yet though)

What settings are you using for night time images, just night mode?

[autopilot]

Night mode does produce a lot of 'noise', i try and use just day mode even at night when i can. Don't forget you can adjust the brightness and white ballance. Have a play around.

[kempez]

I use this phone and never had a problem with the excellent quality (for a phone damnit!!) pictures that come from it. Can't say i'm dissapointed at all