Been using the S21 Ultra for a couple of days testing the camera and what I am seeing is that the standard "jpg" auto corrected pictures are fine; unless you zoom in to crop. However, all the pictures I've taken in Pro (raw) mode are horrible, my S9+ takes better pictures. Not only are they very dark compared to the actual setting, but they are very soft; i.e. not sharp at all and upon zooming (pixel peak) into the images they are very grainy even those taken up close and in daylight. That said, the corresponding .jpg take with the .dng seems to be sharper; due to in-camera processing. But I would assume this phone should be able to take much more in focus pictures for the price.
For how much Samsung praised the new sensor and camera system I can say I'm not impressed.
Anyone else seeing issues with the camera and images?
I have S21 Ultra and I can confirm that my touch focus issue in Pro mode is now fixed with the newest software update that comes with the Security patch update dated Feb 1. (The OTA update was offered to me today 15 Feb)
I got the base S21 with 256G and I tested out the camera today, but pretty much any zoom is grainy as heck on any of the back 3 cameras. I had an S9 prior and it took much better pictures while zoomed in. I'm unsure of the cause and am simply searching for any answers currently; whether it's an unsteady hand, a software issue that needs patching, or a setting I havent found yet.
Can you please test something for me and confirm if you have the same as my problem?
Just use touch focus in standard mode and you will notice it's working fine with close objects (about 3-4 inches / 8-10cm away) but once you switch to Pro mode you will notice that the same thing that worked fine in standard mode is now out of focus, that happens on most close objects.
The problem is that my S21 Ultra doesn't focus properly to some close objects when Pro mode is active, it's fine in normal mode. It must be a software issue as it works fine with normal mode. I tried all the usual suspects (resseting, rebooting, playing with all Pro options) to no avail. Anyone else can confirm this problem if you have the S21 Ultra? Just use touch focus in normal mode and you will notice it's working fine with close objects but once you switch to Pro mode you will notice that the touched point to the close object (about 3-4 inches / 7-10cm) often is out of focus.
I haven't tried it myself yet, but which lens are you using in pro mode? If I remember right the S21 uses the angle camera lens for close up shots. If you could switch to that lens in pro mode then it should work better...... at least if I recall the lens correctly.
In pro mode I am using the main 108MP camera (default wide 1.0x). That same camera works fine in standard mode and 1.0x
What's weird is that the problem doesn't happen with all objects, with certain objects it works perfectly fine. In standard mode it works all the time with any object. I also noticed in pro mode it doesn't neccessarily happen with close objects, also far away ones sometimes. I think the camera app needs updating as I found another topic with similar issue regarding the pro mode: https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Galaxy-S21/Grainy-dark-and-soft-focus-pictures-in-Pro-mode/m-p/1...
I am sure this can be fixed with an update as it's not a hardware problem from what I can see, at least regarding my issue.
I have the same issues on my S21 Ultra. Outside, bright days? pretty good. But colorful sunsets? horrible! Like it was shot with a $200 phone. I'm reaching the end, Samsung. How many high end phones in a row have had serious camera issues? Does no one at Samsung ever shoot photos with these cameras before they are released??? It seems NOT. Honestly, I feel suckered (again!) for going for the highest end Ultra.
