Zenfone 9 Photo thread!

[Mattias_ASUS]

Zenfone 9 is here and as many of you probably have seen, we got some pretty impressive cameras this time around!
So I propose a thread with some of our best pictures, the pics I will upload are taken by normal average people and without any enhancements.

The picture above was taken with the camera's Light trail mode by a waterfall.

[Danishblunt]

Pitek

Yes you're right, but Sony Xperia 1 and 5 IV aren't perfect. Before I bought Asus, I read a lot of about new Sony. Snap 8gen makes them really hot and then finish record - 4k 60fps only 15 minutes.

In Asus I recorded sometimes 1,5h in 4k and nothing happen, maybe a little warm but not in dangerous level.

We need here one thing, improve and optimize software and Zenfone will be perfect phone. I'm very disappointed why Asus ignore our requests.

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It has been fixed long ago. It was an issue on launch. Unlike ASUS, sony actually fixes sht. You can check the subreddit of the xperia users, they will gladly confirm as well.
Also the sony still does get warm but thats because it records in 4k HDR 10bit 120FPS. No throttling tho, so you can record as long as you want,
Regular 4k works just as well as the zenfone, if not better.

[Honza]

Yea. The asus ignorance of complains about camera is quite ridiculous. They react fast to almost every topic but camera.

[trailofsevens]

scopulo

If someone was still deciding if Zenfone 9 is yes or no phone - for me it was yes, but not for the full price (flagship price with midrange photo sensor, so I bought it in Black Friday). Plus yes, but with GCam (as the ASUS guys are almost magically ignoring all the complaints about oversharpening and unnatural colors). Anyways, this is subjective, some people like the stock app photos more, you can decide below by yourself.

Besides the camera approach for me, it is the most loveable phone on the market, if you like smaller phones and not keeping up with the mainstream curved screens, underdisplay slow scanners and too many too bad sensors, Zenfone 9 is something to look at for sure.

Regarding the camera, here are some comparisons between stock and GCam app. GCam is closer to colors I've seen with my eyes, not oversharpened and night photos are not trying to show every light beam, have many details, but stay 'nighty' with high dynamig range.

Stock:

GCam:

Stock (automatic) night:

GCam (automatic) night:

Stock against the sun:

GCam against the sun:

Stock interior/greenery:

GCam interior/greenery:

Stock close-up (let's call it macro) with wide cam's autofocus:

GCam close-up (let's call it macro) with wide cam's autofocus:

Regarding the video, I like ASUS stock app more. It is too sharp maybe as well, but it is not that punchy in the videos. Besides that, ASUS stock cam seems to filter surroundings sounds better, If it is good or bad is also subjective, but I like hearing the sound of what I am pointing at.

The video is default/automatic setup and stock video is five times bigger than GCam video (not sure why, both are FullHD).

Stock video:

https://us.v-cdn.net/6031231/uploads/JCOFAZEXDPX2/v-20221127-005957-es3.mp4

GCam video:

https://us.v-cdn.net/6031231/uploads/01Y01LZOZQDA/vid-20221127-010034.mp4

PS: I use this Wichaya's mod with the Zenfone 9 config that the link contains (I cannot post links):

https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/f/configs-wichaya-04/

PS2: Shoutout to this guy, thanks to his video I decided to buy the Zenfone even if I didn't like the stock photos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nupkELMJck4

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Just highlighting this post as a great example of the over processing. Then additionally the sun/sky shot looks very bad in the ASUS camera app, I'm not sure what it's trying to do, but the falloff from the sun to sky with gcam is much more desirable and natural in every way. The ASUS camera app seems to be doing something weird with the dynamic range/tone curve to get such a harsh edge on the sun like that?
At this point, copying gcam as much as possible would solve most issues in getting a natural look similar to what we see with our eyes. Pixel's just nail this really well with white balance, dynamic range and the exposure in general.
In regards to the added contrast/sharpening, I understand that many casual users may prefer this look but it'd be excellent to have it as a slider to reduce/turn it off entirely (it could even be "on" by default too so casual users get punchy/processed photos)

[TopSnek]

Great Post, another problem I've noticed is that the auto mode on the stock app seems to love using really slow Shutter Speeds. I was used to how reliable my S10E camera was and thought the Zenfone would perform similarly, but I keep on getting extremely blurry pictures of barely moving targets.

It's a shame, the sensor, although midrange, works wonders on the Pixel, so I was expecting it to perform similarly on this phone but have been dissapointed.

[Xtechi]

Two close up shots in auto mode