Sprint HTC Hero camera review

I heard from a lot of people who were frustrated by the camera coverage (or lack of it) from other Hero reviewers, so here’s what I hope is an in-depth review. The first video is me walking through the camera software. Below it are sample photos and videos from Hero. Other than switching video resolutions to show each of the available options, I left all settings at the defaults (auto).

I am not a professional photographer, so I am simply presenting you with the experience and results rather than critiquing them. As a layman, the only observation I want to make about the end product is that indoor photos tend to be blurry. In the sunlight, where the shutter speed is much quicker, it is easy enough to get a clear pic. Still, of every four photos I took, one was useless.

My review:




Photo Samples (Click descriptive text below each for full size. All are jpg compressed):

daylightsmall
daylight

rainbowsmall
cloudy and dark

dusksmall
dusk, through the windshield

cloudysmall
cloudy, with motion

colorsmall
variations in color and light

catsmall
indoors, with motion (after 3 blurry throwaways)

indoorstillsmall
indoors, still

Video Samples

High light, high rez:



High light, med rez:



High light, low rez:



Med light, high rez:



Med light, med rez:



Med light, low rez:



Low light, high rez:



Low light, med rez:



Low light, low rez:

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I find that the camera is good but not terribly amazing. For one thing, the pictures are prone to be very blurry.. and if you're in a dark room, the pictures are very dark.. But it is still okay overall though! :)

For a PHONE, the camera is perfectly fine. If you are looking for awesome photos, use a CAMERA. Nobody is gonna be stupid enough to have something important, like their wedding pictures or something, taken on a camera phone anyway; the photographer will have probably have a medium or large-format camera for that. For posting stuff on your Facebook page or whatever, this camera is more than adequate.

Very customizable phone. Seems pretty quick. Can upload TV shows or movie fast. Great Sound Quality.

Very customizable phone. Seems pretty quick. Can upload TV shows or movie fast. Great Sound Quality.

Very customizable phone. Seems pretty quick. Can upload TV shows or movie fast. Great Sound Quality.

Thanks for the review. One thing to try is turning the autofocus off for video, in my testing it made the video a lot smoother.

On the production model rolling the trackball up and down zooms. Tapping the screen focuses on that area (like the iPhone 3GS).

Thanks a ton for all the work you've put into these videos, they are all very informative! I recently picked up my HTC Hero on Sprint and I love it. While the camcorder leaves a little to be desired, I think still shots on this phone are very nice. Lighting *will* make or break a picture/recording on this phone, but this isn't any Sony Cybershot, and tbh it's not meant to be. Still very impressed with the quality photos this phone takes in good lighting.

Thanks for the review. One thing to try is turning the autofocus off for video, in my testing it made the video a lot smoother.

On the production model rolling the trackball up and down zooms. Tapping the screen focuses on that area (like the iPhone 3GS).

Thanks a ton for all the work you've put into these videos, they are all very informative! I recently picked up my HTC Hero on Sprint and I love it. While the camcorder leaves a little to be desired, I think still shots on this phone are very nice. Lighting *will* make or break a picture/recording on this phone, but this isn't any Sony Cybershot, and tbh it's not meant to be. Still very impressed with the quality photos this phone takes in good lighting.