Is the Droid X camera really this bad?

[smokiedabong]

Motorola isn't actually building the components , as with any electronics , they are build by various manufacturers around the world . I think Motorola didn't manage to get a good contract with a manufacturer for it's camera modules . A material and manufacturing cost teardown for the Droid reveals a production cost of 187$ per unit , with 14$ for the camera module . Other phones with better cameras get their camera module for under 14$ , for example the iPhone 4 camera module is 9.75$ .

 

[pilot25]

Whatever...The buck stops at Moto and their cameras suck. they can tout whatever MP they want but the fact is the cameras are pretty useless. It Apple can do it what the hell is Moto's problem?

 

[just4747]

I don't understand this with amount of megapixels and everything, how does this happen? Something's going on...it seems like out-of-focus, motion blurred, smudged, and lower quality all put together lol...WTF???? There's no way a 5 mp vs. 8 mp could have so much more sharpness and clarity unless the sensor was terrible.

Droid first, then iPhone underneath:

 

[fiskadoro]

I thought the Droid X was supposed to have some kind of image stabilization too? I was wondering whether this had been switched on/off (if it's able to be toggled). Also a little disappointed with the general softness and lack of detail from these pics. I'm not expecting miracles from a cell phone camera by any means, but my little Incredible usually captures color and detail quite well despite blowing out the highlights sometimes.

 

[stacyadell]

the comparison is based on default automatic settings for both phones, the Droid X defaults to 6 mega pixels not 8, so the article does not give an accurate comparison using the X's true capabilities. I thought they issued an update and retook pictures with the X set to 8 mega pixels?

 

[jcardona1]

dont confuse megapixels with image quality. megapixels have little to do with how sharp a picture will be. it has to do with the mechanical features of the camera. at the sizes we are viewing these pictures, megapixels dont count for squat.

i took this with my 6mp camera. granted it was a DSLR, but just trying to show you that megapixels are nothing but a marketing gimmick

 

[Jaxidian]

In regards to the above-posted pictures of the leaves: Look at the focal point! The Droid X is focused on an entirely different point than the iPhone. That would have a TON to do with the blurriness! You must make sure it focuses on the main part of the picture and not just a single point that is only 1% of the photo!

The Droid X focuses on the very tip of the purple? (I'm color-blind so give me a break if I get the color wrong!) leaf which is the absolute closest object in the photo, so it's obvious that everything further away will start to go out of focus. The iPhone focuses on the green leaves that are about middle-of-the-way, and you'll notice that the tip of the purple leaf is actually blurry. So these two photos of the leaves are in no way comparable for comparison simply because the person who took the pictures focused on two entirely different distances!!

 

[jcardona1]

In regards to the above-posted pictures of the leaves: Look at the focal point! The Droid X is focused on an entirely different point than the iPhone. That would have a TON to do with the blurriness! You must make sure it focuses on the main part of the picture and not just a single point that is only 1% of the photo!

The Droid X focuses on the very tip of the purple? (I'm color-blind so give me a break if I get the color wrong!) leaf which is the absolute closest object in the photo, so it's obvious that everything further away will start to go out of focus. The iPhone focuses on the green leaves that are about middle-of-the-way, and you'll notice that the tip of the purple leaf is actually blurry. So these two photos of the leaves are in no way comparable for comparison simply because the person who took the pictures focused on two entirely different distances!!

that's irrelevant. the lenses on both cameras have similar aperture values. so regardless of where they focuses, they should have similar depths of field. there is NO part of the droid's picture that is in focus like the iphone's.

there are no excuses you can make here. the iphone clearly took a superior shot. even with significant amounts of post processing, you cant make the droids pic looks as good as the iphone. there is no clarity whatsoever in that image

 

[RolandDeschain]

that's irrelevant. the lenses on both cameras have similar aperture values. so regardless of where they focuses, they should have similar depths of field. there is NO part of the droid's picture that is in focus like the iphone's.

there are no excuses you can make here. the iphone clearly took a superior shot. even with significant amounts of post processing, you cant make the droids pic looks as good as the iphone. there is no clarity whatsoever in that image

I don't know that I'd call it irrelevant. Whoever took that Droid X photo didn't focus on any part of the plant that I can see. There is no excuse for poor "source imagery" like that. Again, I'm in agreement with you in that I think the iPhone has a better sensor, but a completely blurred Droid X pic is hardly even worth posting/comparing against. I really wish I could do some "real" comparisons with both devices.

 

[jcardona1]

that's irrelevant. the lenses on both cameras have similar aperture values. so regardless of where they focuses, they should have similar depths of field. there is NO part of the droid's picture that is in focus like the iphone's.

there are no excuses you can make here. the iphone clearly took a superior shot. even with significant amounts of post processing, you cant make the droids pic looks as good as the iphone. there is no clarity whatsoever in that image

I don't know that I'd call it irrelevant. Whoever took that Droid X photo didn't focus on any part of the plant that I can see. There is no excuse for poor "source imagery" like that. Again, I'm in agreement with you in that I think the iPhone has a better sensor, but a completely blurred Droid X pic is hardly even worth posting/comparing against. I really wish I could do some "real" comparisons with both devices.

well given that both cameras use autofocus lenses, it is irrelevant in a way. that camera should have focused on something, and at least some part of the image should be focused, typically the whatever is closest to the lens.

unless of course this is a deliberate attempt to take a bad pic from the droid. we already know what the iphone is capable of, we just need to see some real pics of the droid taken by real people to see if its really that bad

 

[Jaxidian]

The Droid X photo is focused on something, it's just a very small something that you're overlooking. If you look at the very tip of the purple leaf, you can see in-focus fibers coming off of it. Go look at the iPhone photo in the same spot and you'll see those fibers are blurred. The point here is that the Droid X is blurred on the out-of-focus stuff but not on the in-focus stuff. It just so happens that in this photo, the user did not take care to make sure that the auto-focus was focusing on the same things in both pictures.

 

[jcardona1]

i know what youre saying, but even that section you circled is not sharp, it's still blurry.

however, if you understand aperture values and depth of field, you'll know that it shouldnt matter because the f-stop of both lenses is similar and should give similar depths of field. unless they have manual settings where you could control your aperture and shutter speed, both cameras should give an image that results in similar focal plane, regardless of where the picture is focused.

 

[jcardona1]

or how about i edit the droid pic, maybe the iphone had the same thing done

iphone

droid - edited

 

[Jaxidian]

The Droid X is most certainly MUCH more in focus at that point than the iPhone is. While you are correct about similar fields of depth, you're not considering how those fields of depth change depending on where your focus is. If you're as familiar with cameras as I assume you are, you also understand that as you focus closer and closer, that field of depth decreases much more significantly. It works exactly like it does with your eyes. Go look at something 10' away - stuff that are 8' away are pretty much in focus too. However, if you look at something 10" away, things only 14" away are very much out of focus. And in these photos, the Droid X is focused closer to the camera than the iPhone is. As such, the Droid X photos will go blurry much faster than the iPhone photos will. If they're focused on the same spot, then let's talk your argument. But I'm not even going to argue with you about it because I have no argument about it.

As a morbid analogy, you're worried about a stubbed toe while I'm worried that the foot that the toe is attached to is severed from the leg! It doesn't really matter whether the toe is stubbed or not, that's not the most significant problem!

Okay, a less morbid analogy. Go find somebody who has comparable eyesight to you (simulating the similar lenses that you're claiming). You hold your finger 10" away from your face and have them hold their finger 12" from their face. You know who will have objects that are 14" away more in focus? This is the exact same thing!

 

[jcardona1]

yes, youre correct about all that. BUT!!!! the droid is in fact NOT focused closer than the iphone pic. the droid captures more of the scene which translates into being farther away and having a greater depth of field, which should mean more should be in focus.

the iphone is actually closer to the leaves, but it's still sharper overall. the iphone was also held at a slightly different angle. i tried to outline the iphone's view with the red lines as best i could. i think its pretty close though.

iphone

droid