All OS What kind of phone camera is a "good" camera?

iPwnz

iPwnz

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I've always wanted to know about these for a long time. What kind of camera is considered a good camera? What megapixel size? What sensor? What lens? Etc.
Please note this is only for smartphone cameras. Not P&S/DSLR/etc.
Other questions from my side will follow later.
Feedback from professional photographers who know and understand the hardware is encouraged and much appreciated.

Edit: A video by Gadgets360
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1302914624468127746
 
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There is no fixed answer to that Lol. Any camera which produces an end-image which looks the best, with least blemishes is the best camera. For megapixel size I think 12 MP is more than fine. Sensor obviously should be the used the largest one available, and most importantly with OIS, but mobile phones are still gonna retain tiny sensors anyway, so it's the post processing which will have to make up for the lack of decent camera hardware. Look at Google Pixels. Hands down the best cameraphone available and they keep using a really old sensor over and over again, just because their computational post processing is best in the league. At the same time, iPhones do use the best sensor, yet fails to come up with as good images due to inferior post processing but due to having good hardware their video quality is top notch.
 
iPwnz said:
This is sure to trigger a lot of people and so-called reviewers lol.
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Umm i don't think so? That's pretty much widely accepted by now, even by those intelligent kind who despise stock Android and miui or other chinese skins.
 
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I have been waiting for a pure camera phone that is actually best in all scenarios. Past few years all have been jacks and no masters. Huawei now doesn't get android. Pixels have terrible specs except the camera. Was really expecting a lot from the Samsung 108mp sensor but it turned out to be nothing great.
 
But why? Why not just get a proper DSLR instead? I mean I really don't think you will find one.
Also the opinions regarding "which phone has the best camera?" seem to differ a lot.
I personally am not after the "best" camera but I do want something which does what it's suppose to properly. For eg. The Samsung M's despite having high MP camera and a truckload of lenses they seem to have issues with stabilization in video. Also such huge pixels with no option to record in 60fps/240fps is disappointment nowadays. Even my old Moto G5+ with it's terrible camera has a 60fps mode for video.
 
DSLRs are not practical and phone you have in your pocket. I do have a Sony RX100V thats pretty good but still nothing beats a phone. Not expecting the same quality or only max megapixels but as you said something that works as it should, takes both great day/night shots and has good software optimization.
 
Every phone camera right from the 13-15k phone has an acceptable/good camera IMO. They are more than capable enough for casual photography and video capture. They only feel inferior when we start comparing them with better hardware/software features in the more expensive offerings and that would be true for any type of product out there.
 
thegr8anand said:
I have been waiting for a pure camera phone that is actually best in all scenarios. Past few years all have been jacks and no masters. Huawei now doesn't get android. Pixels have terrible specs except the camera. Was really expecting a lot from the Samsung 108mp sensor but it turned out to be nothing great.
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Just get a Redmi mid ranger. If you want the best of the best in a phone you will have to pay a premium for it.
rdst_1 said:
Every phone camera right from the 13-15k phone has an acceptable/good camera IMO. They are more than capable enough for casual photography and video capture. They only feel inferior when we start comparing them with better hardware/software features in the more expensive offerings and that would be true for any type of product out there.
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Can't agree more.
 
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iPwnz said:
Does anyone here owned any of the old Sony K/C series phones or the Nokia N-series?
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Sony K series yes, k750, k790 etc. C series never used. In nokia N series, N95. I think 95 goes down as the best ever phone I've owned. Legendary stuffs. I really wish i could be able to get an original Nokia phone from the olden days, tried lurking on Ali but all bloody refurb stuffs :(
 
It is the camera which gives photo that looks good when printed on a 'photo paper'. All these glitzy MP numbers fail the moment we actually print a photo into a simple maxi photo. All modern shots look good on a digital screen and look barely ok on a printed form (colours especially are way off). I found old Nokia N-series (N82) perform better than these modern 64MP ones!
 
I used K750i and found, it's was just hype around.. that it's BEST CAMERA Phone at that time....

I found that Samsung Duos was able to catch better pictures/colors than K750i
 
Rockfella said:
Just get a Redmi mid ranger. If you want the best of the best in a phone you will have to pay a premium for it.

Can't agree more.
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Well, if you look for the best camera smartphones in the marked right now, you would come across the likes of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra or iPhone 12 Pro Max. While these are surely the best camera phones one could get, let's get practical here. Not everyone is capable of affording phones priced between 70k to over 1 lac!
Hence, I'd suggest a better value for money phone to you which has dedicated camera enhancements and is a flagship-grade mid-ranger. My recommendation is the recently launched Oppo Reno 5 Pro 5G. If you are familiar with Oppo smartphones, you would know that they focus primarily on the camera aspect and that is exactly what the phone is offering at a mere price of INR 36k.
The 64MP camera setup flaunts features like AI Highlight Video for detailed and bright videos, dual-video mode to make videos using rear and front cameras simultaneously, AI Color Portraits to highlight certain colors in black/white outputs, AI scene enhancement, Night flare portrait to ensure it is best in class for photography. You get a 32-megapixel camera in the front for capturing selfies.
To ensure that other departments don't lag behind, the phone features ColorOS 11.1 based on Android 11 which ensures a smooth user experience and is is powered by octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ SoC.
I hope this meets your requirements and the suggestion is helpful.
 
akshat_210192 said:
Well, if you look for the best camera smartphones in the marked right now, you would come across the likes of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra or iPhone 12 Pro Max. While these are surely the best camera phones one could get, let's get practical here. Not everyone is capable of affording phones priced between 70k to over 1 lac!
Hence, I'd suggest a better value for money phone to you which has dedicated camera enhancements and is a flagship-grade mid-ranger. My recommendation is the recently launched Oppo Reno 5 Pro 5G. If you are familiar with Oppo smartphones, you would know that they focus primarily on the camera aspect and that is exactly what the phone is offering at a mere price of INR 36k.
The 64MP camera setup flaunts features like AI Highlight Video for detailed and bright videos, dual-video mode to make videos using rear and front cameras simultaneously, AI Color Portraits to highlight certain colors in black/white outputs, AI scene enhancement, Night flare portrait to ensure it is best in class for photography. You get a 32-megapixel camera in the front for capturing selfies.
To ensure that other departments don't lag behind, the phone features ColorOS 11.1 based on Android 11 which ensures a smooth user experience and is is powered by octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ SoC.
I hope this meets your requirements and the suggestion is helpful.
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Why does this read like marketing copy?
 
My friend has an outdated Microsoft lumia phone. But the camera and the image processing on that phone is way ahead of it's time.The images have a very natural tone and no overblown colors bullshit.
I will try to share some samples from him
 
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