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The HTC 8XT rear camera is an 8MP shooter that takes good photos, but they won't blow your mind. Colors are accurate, but the photos tend to look a little over sharpened. Overall scenes look slightly washed out, so you'll end up adjusting contrast if you care to share quality photos.
You can adjust the default settings so that photos look a little better, but the files still aren't very good. Even in good lighting conditions, there is noticeable color noise and details look a little smudged.
The light metering system can be a little inconsistent at times. When you're shooting a scene with a high dynamic range, for example, it'll often blow out highlights and over expose a photo in favor of shadow details.
The photo files that come out of the camera probably won't be good enough to print, and it's also obvious when you post photos online that it came from a smartphone camera. Files from the iPhone 5 or Galaxy S3--both of which have 8MP cameras--are much better.
There are two camera apps that come with the smartphone. The first is the default Windows Phone 8 camera, and the other is HTC's own camera software.
The HTC Camera allows you to shoot in rapid burst mode so you can really capture a moment regardless of how fast your subjects are moving. The app also has five live filters to shoot from, which means you can add a little creativity to your shots while seeing what the photo looks like before you press the shutter button.
With the HTC Camera app, you'll also be able to adjust settings like ISO, white balance, contrast, sharpening and more. It gives you the same control and flexibility as the default camera app.
Interestingly, when you go into video mode in the HTC Camera app, we were unable to access the video settings. In the default camera app, you can control filters, contrast, sharpness, video quality and more within video settings.
For photos, you may want to stick with the HTC Camera app since it offers filters and a burst mode that works really well. For video, the default camera app has a large timer and more controls under settings.
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