http://www.camerafv5.com/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=slide.cameraZoom&hl=en
These two apps are amazing if you want more control of your camera.
I have been a pro photographer for years and shoot with a pro quality Canon DSLR.
Lately I have almost never felt like dragging that camera around with me, but like most people these days I ALWAYS have my phone with me.
I used to carry a tiny point and shoot Canon with me along with my phone but that's a PITA also. None of my previous phones really thrilled me with their camera performance (including the two Rezounds I still have) but the camera in my N2 has been giving me super results with these two apps.
CameraZoom FX is a little easier to use as it doesn't have a bar of controls across the bottom of the screen that you need to keep your fingers away from. FV-5 does have more features however (the controls are basically a clone of a DSLR) and it has one feature that no other camera app has. It has the ability to save as a png which is a RAW file with no jpeg compression.
PNGs take longer to save/view and are bigger files but give a higher quality image than a compressed jpeg.
CameraZoom has a feature that I use occasionally that will take a picture with a voice command. Set it on that and then say smile and a few seconds later it shoots the image. Here is a pic I took with CameraZoom inside using available light. I printed an 8"x10" print from this and nobody can believe it came from a phone.
http://s361.beta.photobucket.com/user/jmorton10_photo/media/Camera-ZOOM_zpsbafd9ff2.jpg.html
I did a bunch more testing this morning after another poster said that the anti-shake feature drastically reduced image quality.
I never used that feature, I learned years ago to hold a camera dead still myself but I was curious about that claim.
Turns out, the poster was exactly right. The images I took using as basically suck.
They are MUCH grainier than the exact same shot without that feature turned on.
I believe voice commands are available with s-voice and the stock camera.
billku said:
I believe voice commands are available with s-voice and the stock camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't realize that, I stumbled across the feature in CameraZoom while looking for something else.
There are so many cool options in these two apps that some are bound to duplicate the stock app features, but these two apps make all these options MUCH easier to get to and to use.
EDIT: I just looked through the options/settings in the stock TW camera app and didn't see any option for voice activation.
It may still be there and I overlooked it, but this just reinforces what I knew all along, all the options in these other apps are easily available with one fast click. You don't have to dig through menus of stuff trying to find or enable/disable a feature.
jmorton10 said:
http://www.camerafv5.com/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=slide.cameraZoom&hl=en
These two apps are amazing if you want more control of your camera.
I have been a pro photographer for years and shoot with a pro quality Canon DSLR.
Lately I have almost never felt like dragging that camera around with me, but like most people these days I ALWAYS have my phone with me.
I used to carry a tiny point and shoot Canon with me along with my phone but that's a PITA also. None of my previous phones really thrilled me with their camera performance (including the two Rezounds I still have) but the camera in my N2 has been giving me super results with these two apps.
CameraZoom FX is a little easier to use as it doesn't have a bar of controls across the bottom of the screen that you need to keep your fingers away from. FV-5 does have more features however (the controls are basically a clone of a DSLR) and it has one feature that no other camera app has. It has the ability to save as a png which is a RAW file with no jpeg compression.
PNGs take longer to save/view and are bigger files but give a higher quality image than a compressed jpeg.
CameraZoom has a feature that I use occasionally that will take a picture with a voice command. Set it on that and then say smile and a few seconds later it shoots the image. Here is a pic I took with CameraZoom inside using available light. I printed an 8"x10" print from this and nobody can believe it came from a phone.
http://s361.beta.photobucket.com/user/jmorton10_photo/media/Camera-ZOOM_zpsbafd9ff2.jpg.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Camera FV-5 over the stock camera just because of the quality of pics it takes.
I too find the N2 camera to be quite good and I just purchased FV5 to see how far I can take it. I haven't spent very much time with it yet however.
One thing I love about my DSLR is that I can set separate buttons for focus and exposure. Any way to do that with FV5?
webleeper said:
I use Camera FV-5 over the stock camera just because of the quality of pics it takes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree 100%.
I'm not saying you can't take a good pic with the stock camera app, but it's much easier and a lot more fun using an app like FV-5.
It definitely beats the stock app quality wise if you save as a png file which is not even an option with the stock camera (I'm not sure why not)
johnnyvol said:
I too find the N2 camera to be quite good and I just purchased FV5 to see how far I can take it. I haven't spent very much time with it yet however.
One thing I love about my DSLR is that I can set separate buttons for focus and exposure. Any way to do that with FV5?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly how you're saying, but you can lock both the AF and the exposure so you can recompose and keep the exposure or AF point.
If you read through all the options/help docs etc on the site I posted it will explain all the options pretty well actually.
http://www.camerafv5.com/tutorials/camera_manual.php
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...zdGFydmluZ21pbmQuYW5kcm9pZC5zaG90Y29udHJvbCJd
This is another good app.
The preview screen is smaller, but it gives you access to all the settings from one screen.
jmorton10 said:
Not exactly how you're saying, but you can lock both the AF and the exposure so you can recompose and keep the exposure or AF point.
If you read through all the options/help docs etc on the site I posted it will explain all the options pretty well actually.
http://www.camerafv5.com/tutorials/camera_manual.php
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exposure lock, that's it. I was having a brain fart. Thanks for the link!
WOW, talk about good service. I was using the shot control app I posted and realized the ISO setting did not work.
I sent the developer an email about it and 20 minutes later I got this response:
On Jan 9, 2013 3:46 PM, "Peter Daly" <[email protected]> wrote:
Samsung has chosen to not make ISO visible for third party developers on your device, so I must guess at how it is controlled, and hard code that method that works on your device.* You are the first to contact me about the Verizon variation of the Note 2.
Please install the attached version, and let me know if it seems that ISO is working correctly.* Based on what I know of the other versions of that device, I give this a 75% chance of working.
Thank you for any help, and thank you for contacting me.
Pete
Attached was a new version of the app and it works perfectly.
That's great. At your recommendation i purchased FV5 and i'm very impressed so far.
tdrussell said:
That's great. At your recommendation i purchased FV5 and i'm very impressed so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea me too.
FV-5 is my favorite, I find it's the closest thing to DSLR controls.
jmorton10 said:
WOW, talk about good service. I was using the shot control app I posted and realized the ISO setting did not work.
I sent the developer an email about it and 20 minutes later I got this response:
On Jan 9, 2013 3:46 PM, "Peter Daly" <[email protected]> wrote:
Samsung has chosen to not make ISO visible for third party developers on your device, so I must guess at how it is controlled, and hard code that method that works on your device.* You are the first to contact me about the Verizon variation of the Note 2.
Please install the attached version, and let me know if it seems that ISO is working correctly.* Based on what I know of the other versions of that device, I give this a 75% chance of working.
Thank you for any help, and thank you for contacting me.
Pete
Attached was a new version of the app and it works perfectly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait so let me get this straight...
ONLY the Verizon Galaxy Note 2 has something special about making it harder for the app to access the ISO settings? Did I read that right?
Related
I see a lot of people developing their own flavor of gingerbread for the Evo 3D and that's awesome. But I don't see much improving other aspects of the phone that could be universal... like the camera.
I'm a photographer/video producer so this sort of thing is important to me and I don't want to carry my big camera everywhere. We all know the biggest issue with the camera is the green-tinted pictures taken with the flash. I don't even see a white balance setting for the flash available to choose manually.
I had read that there were a lot of other features promised but removed from this phone's camera such as scene modes (though I could care less about this).
Another issue I've read about and noticed is the jpg compression used for the camera. It's good for the small screen and web, but too heavily compressed for anything else.
Then there's an issue of when you half-press the shutter button, it focuses (good) then press all the way it re-focuses. The proper way this should work is focus on half press, snap photo without another focus on the full press.
The shutter lag is awful too, but I guess it's pretty much the norm as far as phones go.
Of course I have a wishlist of things to be added *cough new mytouch camera cough* but someone needs to figure out this green flash problem first...
gk1984 said:
I see a lot of people developing their own flavor of gingerbread for the Evo 3D and that's awesome. But I don't see much improving other aspects of the phone that could be universal... like the camera.
I'm a photographer/video producer so this sort of thing is important to me and I don't want to carry my big camera everywhere. We all know the biggest issue with the camera is the green-tinted pictures taken with the flash. I don't even see a white balance setting for the flash available to choose manually.
I had read that there were a lot of other features promised but removed from this phone's camera such as scene modes (though I could care less about this).
Another issue I've read about and noticed is the jpg compression used for the camera. It's good for the small screen and web, but too heavily compressed for anything else.
Then there's an issue of when you half-press the shutter button, it focuses (good) then press all the way it re-focuses. The proper way this should work is focus on half press, snap photo without another focus on the full press.
The shutter lag is awful too, but I guess it's pretty much the norm as far as phones go.
Of course I have a wishlist of things to be added *cough new mytouch camera cough* but someone needs to figure out this green flash problem first...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have very little professional photography experience and def don't have the eye to pick up on the color differences as they appear very subtle to me.
are there any camera apps in the market which implement some of the features you've listed?
as far as modifying the htc camera apk file, it is not open sourced so all work will have to be done through reverse engineering.
the compression setting was mentioned a few days ago in a thread here and i did research it in the AOSP version of the camera apk which is open sourced. i was able to find the line with the compression setting and it should be fairly simple to modifying the settings panel to provide an option for the user to adjust this. all the info is in my post on that thread.
if you wanted to post up your wish list of camera features, or contact some of the camera app devs in the market with your feature list, given you have a professional photography background, i would think they would be open to your suggestions.
Thanks for the reply. I didn't realize it would take so much reverse engineering there. And yes, some photos with the flash are harder to tell the off white balance, but I stopped using the flash and never taking night pics with this phone... Day time photos are awesome if not for the compression.
I haven't had much luck in finding any camera apps yet, hasn't occurred to me really. But I do love HDR Pro for the hdr pics - if anyone's interested in experimenting with that (takes a couple pics in dif exposures then combines them for a more natural and detailed photo)
I guess I'll have to wait to see if HTC does anything more with it or search for an alternative. Thanks though.
It's a phone. You'll never get true professional quality photos from a phone no matter what app you use. As a photographer you know that...f-stops, aperture, lenses and all the other stuff that photographers talk about can't really be changed on a phone's camera. To really get professional quality photos and video, even though phone cameras have gotten very good, you need to use the right equipment.
ranger61878 said:
It's a phone. You'll never get true professional quality photos from a phone no matter what app you use. As a photographer you know that...f-stops, aperture, lenses and all the other stuff that photographers talk about can't really be changed on a phone's camera. To really get professional quality photos and video, even though phone cameras have gotten very good, you need to use the right equipment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right but that's not my complaint. As I stated, my biggest gripe is the green tinted photos with the flash and compression. There are features I'd like to see from the latest mytouch camera (native hdr, no shutter lag - which is done with a constant image stream or something like that, etc)
you can have some things improved with the software side of things, but yes, hardware is a limitation and I'm not expecting this to replace a professional camera.
gk1984 said:
Thanks for the reply. I didn't realize it would take so much reverse engineering there. And yes, some photos with the flash are harder to tell the off white balance, but I stopped using the flash and never taking night pics with this phone... Day time photos are awesome if not for the compression.
I haven't had much luck in finding any camera apps yet, hasn't occurred to me really. But I do love HDR Pro for the hdr pics - if anyone's interested in experimenting with that (takes a couple pics in dif exposures then combines them for a more natural and detailed photo)
I guess I'll have to wait to see if HTC does anything more with it or search for an alternative. Thanks though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used HDR pro. I've also used Vignette which was my favorite camera app on the EVO 4G. It works on the 3D but of course you can only take 2D pictures with any of the third party cameras...so far.
On the HTC website/forum they do acknowledge the issues with the camera and say they are working on an update to correct them. I guess we'll see if that ever comes to fruition.
The one thing holding me back from flashing cm10 is the fact that I lose the TW camera. The HDR function in it works _so_ well.
I've tried a few free versions of various HDR apps and they all suck compared to the TW one.
Does anyone have experience with any of the ones on the market and can maybe share their settings?
HDR/MDR
I don't consider any mobile camera good. Any cheapest point-n-shoot will punch it in face. If u got SGS3 for camera - u r wrong.
I heard Photoshop can do HDR - so look into that. Also PlayMarket is a good source of information.
I disagree. The camera on this phone is more than adequate, and HDR is impressive
Sent from the current Heavy Weight champ GALAXY SIII
bravomail said:
I don't consider any mobile camera good. Any cheapest point-n-shoot will punch it in face. If u got SGS3 for camera - u r wrong.
I heard Photoshop can do HDR - so look into that. Also PlayMarket is a good source of information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
meh, camera is great for my neeeds.
as for ps doing hdr, you need an hdr image first for ps to be able to manipulate the exposure and b/w settings.
what is PlayMarket? Something that reviews playstore apps?
bravomail said:
I don't consider any mobile camera good. Any cheapest point-n-shoot will punch it in face.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have anything to back that up, or is it just your POV?
Check out vignette. I'm pretty sure it has an HDR function in it.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
bravomail said:
I don't consider any mobile camera good. Any cheapest point-n-shoot will punch it in face. If u got SGS3 for camera - u r wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any recent cheap point in shoot will do better in terms of IQ.
Having said that even cell phone cameras vary in quality and if you use them then you'd be silly not to take that into account if it is important to you, even if you've got another camera that is better.... nothing wrong with buying the S3 for the camera. Not sure how that would be "wrong".
the camera was like 70% of my interest in getting the S3. I have a nikon d7000 DSLR and know that the cell camera will never be able to get close to that beast but sometimes I don't want to lug around my dslr and having a cell that can take great pictures is a huge plus especially if you don't want to carry a point and shoot and a cell phone at the same time.
JFigure said:
The one thing holding me back from flashing cm10 is the fact that I lose the TW camera. The HDR function in it works _so_ well.
I've tried a few free versions of various HDR apps and they all suck compared to the TW one.
Does anyone have experience with any of the ones on the market and can maybe share their settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had previously used PRO HDR on the OG EVO, and it worked great. The EVO 3D didn't support HDR apps at all. The GS3 has a great built-in HDR option, and tried PRO HDR again - the native one is better!
So for now I'm sticking with the stock camera (I'm rooted, but running stock until CM10 has a semi-stable build..).
JFigure said:
The one thing holding me back from flashing cm10 is the fact that I lose the TW camera. The HDR function in it works _so_ well.
I've tried a few free versions of various HDR apps and they all suck compared to the TW one.
Does anyone have experience with any of the ones on the market and can maybe share their settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get Camera360! I love this camera, its free and so many effects and you can actually choose between a couple different HDR modes.
Oh god the camera is bad, all I ask for is a decent camera that can snap pictures of words on maybe a whiteboard from a distance when I'm in a meeting and god does the image look horrible when I zoom is, there is no detail at all sort of like an over sharpening of a blur image. God even the nexus 4 has a much clearer image than this although that's plagued by its far I share of focusing bugs
beerope said:
Oh god the camera is bad, all I ask for is a decent camera that can snap pictures of words on maybe a whiteboard from a distance when I'm in a meeting and god does the image look horrible when I zoom is, there is no detail at all sort of like an over sharpening of a blur image. God even the nexus 4 has a much clearer image than this although that's plagued by its far I share of focusing bugs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate. Don't despair. Just load a 3rd party camera app. I'm going between Camera Zoom FX and Camera FV-5 at the moment. I think FV-5 is going to be my choice.
There's not much wrong with the optics on the Ultra just too much native compression from Sony's own app.
So with a better app I'm seeing much better results.
beerope said:
Oh god the camera is bad, all I ask for is a decent camera that can snap pictures of words on maybe a whiteboard from a distance when I'm in a meeting and god does the image look horrible when I zoom is, there is no detail at all sort of like an over sharpening of a blur image. God even the nexus 4 has a much clearer image than this although that's plagued by its far I share of focusing bugs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah @pfatty is on the money!
check out my thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2481316
You'll need to test others if you think there is something else better out there.
Good luck.
I am using focal and finding that quite decent
hamdogg said:
yeah @pfatty is on the money!
check out my thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2481316
You'll need to test others if you think there is something else better out there.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pfatty said:
Hey mate. Don't despair. Just load a 3rd party camera app. I'm going between Camera Zoom FX and Camera FV-5 at the moment. I think FV-5 is going to be my choice.
There's not much wrong with the optics on the Ultra just too much native compression from Sony's own app.
So with a better app I'm seeing much better results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me, ive tried. They look more or less the same, ive tried it all. The paid verions for fx, fv5, focal, motox camera, ics camera+ and hdr camera. They all look more or less the same, the details seems to be like a chalk painting when zoomed in. Even in the thread, the leaves edges seems to be like chalk smudge, i just need a fix that will let me take a goddamn picture of my office notes on a projected screen ahh
after root i threw in the gallery app from aosp and it included the camera app too. works fine. lets me to those photospheres too
beerope said:
Trust me, ive tried. They look more or less the same, ive tried it all. The paid verions for fx, fv5, focal, motox camera, ics camera+ and hdr camera. They all look more or less the same, the details seems to be like a chalk painting when zoomed in. Even in the thread, the leaves edges seems to be like chalk smudge, i just need a fix that will let me take a goddamn picture of my office notes on a projected screen ahh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Beerope.
I'm with you on this.
I get the feeling that camera apps on google market still use the same sony provided codecs for compression when using a stock rom.
Sony ZU codecs and camera force a file size of under 2mb which is why the definition when zoomed in is so crap...
I have a theory that if you use a rom like CM10.x or AOSP that the picture quality will be greatly improved when using third party camera apps or even the native camera apps as those roms are using the standard android codecs.
This will also be evident in the file sizes generated by those camera apps.
Unfortunately I cant test as I need my phone for work purposes (so it remains on stock) at the moment and haven't got time to experiment with custom roms yet.
I'm currently on 510 and refuse to got to 526 or 532 due to the weird SODs I keep reading about.
My previous ZU had 526 and had so many problems with random screen clicking.
My current ZU is on 510 and I've had no problems at all - rock solid no random clicking but obviously the picture quality from the camera sucks...
---------- Post added at 01:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:03 AM ----------
Also we may be able to improve the quality by using methods similar to those described in this thread...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1030603
Obviously we'd need to identify the relevant files first.
qazzi76 said:
Hi Beerope.
I'm with you on this.
I get the feeling that camera apps on google market still use the same sony provided codecs for compression when using a stock rom.
Sony ZU codecs and camera force a file size of under 2mb which is why the definition when zoomed in is so crap...
I have a theory that if you use a rom like CM10.x or AOSP that the picture quality will be greatly improved when using third party camera apps or even the native camera apps as those roms are using the standard android codecs.
This will also be evident in the file sizes generated by those camera apps.
Unfortunately I cant test as I need my phone for work purposes (so it remains on stock) at the moment and haven't got time to experiment with custom roms yet.
I'm currently on 510 and refuse to got to 526 or 532 due to the weird SODs I keep reading about.
My previous ZU had 526 and had so many problems with random screen clicking.
My current ZU is on 510 and I've had no problems at all - rock solid no random clicking but obviously the picture quality from the camera sucks...
---------- Post added at 01:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:03 AM ----------
Also we may be able to improve the quality by using methods similar to those described in this thread...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1030603
Obviously we'd need to identify the relevant files first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM10.2 (flavours) are a little better. The file size is an issue as image artifacts are greatly reduced. It is a problem Sony needs to sort out. 3rd part apps can only improve so much. its up to firmware.
beerope said:
Oh god the camera is bad, all I ask for is a decent camera that can snap pictures of words on maybe a whiteboard from a distance when I'm in a meeting and god does the image look horrible when I zoom is, there is no detail at all sort of like an over sharpening of a blur image. God even the nexus 4 has a much clearer image than this although that's plagued by its far I share of focusing bugs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Would you load some sample shots? I'd like to buy this device, but it seems like the camera isn't very good.
Thanks!
ntdatter said:
Hi,
Would you load some sample shots? I'd like to buy this device, but it seems like the camera isn't very good.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2481316
pfatty said:
Hey mate. Don't despair. Just load a 3rd party camera app. I'm going between Camera Zoom FX and Camera FV-5 at the moment. I think FV-5 is going to be my choice.
There's not much wrong with the optics on the Ultra just too much native compression from Sony's own app.
So with a better app I'm seeing much better results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just purchased Fv-5 but I didn't support video
Sent from my C6802 using Tapatalk 4
Hey guys, I'm returning from a recent trip to iPhoneland and I'm looking for the camera app that's closest to keeping up with the iPhone's camera.
I'm running cm11 and so far the best I've found is this one here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2540030
This one takes a lot better pictures than the stock cm or the google camera from the play store, but it still lags behind the iPhone.
it's not about the camera app, it's about the hardware...
No camera app on LG G2 can match iPhone and/or Nokia just because of the camera hardware (sensor, lens,...) which is not that good on LG
To explore full benefits of LG camera hardware, you'll have to move to one of stock based roms and then try i.e. Xdabbeb camera...
60nine said:
it's not about the camera app, it's about the hardware...
No camera app on LG G2 can match iPhone and/or Nokia just because of the camera hardware (sensor, lens,...) which is not that good on LG
To explore full benefits of LG camera hardware, you'll have to move to one of stock based roms and then try i.e. Xdabbeb camera...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright that's what I was kind of afraid of. I know that there is a limit to how good the camera is going to be but I was hoping I hadn't found it yet. There is a significant variation between the different camera apps I have tried. It's too bad we can't use the camera to its full potential on aosp based roms.
I would strongly disagree with what 60nine just said, but that's just me. The main issue is the stock "camera" app is kinda crappy and does way too much processing on the image data from the sensor. It's not the best image sensor that's ever been made, no, of course not, but it is quite a nice one especially with the OIS as part of the hardware.
Having said that, I personally use Mi2raw nowadays which allows me to capture pure raw image data from the G2 sensor and dumps it as a DNG (Adobe Digital Negative) file which I then transfer over to my laptop for editing/post processing using Photoshop.
If you want some examples of what the G2's camera is capable of, look here:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/[email protected]/pool/
You can find more info about Mi2raw (available on the Google Play Market, it's free) in the main thread for it and yes there's more pics too:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g2/general/app-mi2raw-enables-capturing-real-raw-t2837089
Again, we're not dealing with the best image sensor ever made but I've been damned happy with the results I've been getting with my G2 because of Mi2raw (I just got this G2 like 3 weeks ago).
As far as other apps, I use Aviary (it was free a few days ago, with every single filter they had for free too so I grabbed it all and backed it up safely), PerfectlyClear which gave away their Android app for free last week (it's not too bad, actually), and Photoshop Express (which can load the DNG files directly on the G2 directly from Mi2raw for quick viewing).
There's also XCam LG which adds a lot of functionality to the G2 including giving it 4K video recording capability (just make sure to read the details in the thread):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2548974
XCam LG has a settings app to tweak it further located on the Play Market as well, it's worth the price if you need it.
For me personally I just use Mi2raw for most every picture I snap these days then do editing/PP work when I get back home, it's what works best for me at this time.
Hope this helps...
Try Cymera. It's free and has good editing tools. Drawbacks are that it takes a bit to load and is not too stable. It's the only camera app that focuses correctly and has a proper white balance!!!! The resolution is small 1 Megapixel?, but the image is sharper and better than any 13megapixel shot from other camera apps or stock.
Otherwise just take the stock LG camera app as a daily driver.
br0adband said:
I would strongly disagree with what 60nine just said, but that's just me. The main issue is the stock "camera" app is kinda crappy and does way too much processing on the image data from the sensor. It's not the best image sensor that's ever been made, no, of course not, but it is quite a nice one especially with the OIS as part of the hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why would you disagree if its known that iPhone and Nokia use way better sensor and lenses? (and i'm not an iphone fanboy, far from that )
i didn't say that LG hardware is crap - i'm just saying that it's no match to those two... or to say it better - "close but no cigar"
Nokia & iPhone give much better low light images than LG (partly due to better sensor, partly due to smaller f-stop lens number which lets more light onto the sensor)
for comparison
LG G2 has F/2.4 lens < iphone/nokia use F/2.2 lens (smaller the f-stop, more light comes in)
Having said that, I personally use Mi2raw nowadays which allows me to capture pure raw image data from the G2 sensor and dumps it as a DNG (Adobe Digital Negative) file which I then transfer over to my laptop for editing/post processing using Photoshop.
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Click to collapse
i didn't mention mi2raw app on purpose because it's not for everyone... and since i'm a photo hobbyist and DSLR owner, it gives me a bit of real camera world in a mobile device...
and what i like about mi2raw (besides its raw capability) is that the photos taken with that app don't look "painted" or "blurred" because of too much noise reduction that other camera apps produce
mi2raw would be too complicated to use for an average user... but hey - it's free, and everyone can try it and see
everything else you wrote - i second...
+ Snapseed is an image app worth mentioning especially with its ambiance setting that gives an image a nice "bump" in every way if it's used correctly...
personally i'm currently "stuck" with mi2raw, xdabbeb's XCam (because of those extra options you mentioned) and google camera (because it's the best for panorama/sphere images)
cheers...
In my opinion the best camera so far has been the one with CloudyG3 ROM
Sent from my LG-D805 using XDA Free mobile app
br0adband said:
Hope this helps...
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Thanks for the Mi2RAW suggestion, I'll check that out. I work with raws from my dslr but I don't know how badly I really need to have all my phone pictures shot as raw. I'll see how it goes
marchina said:
In my opinion the best camera so far has been the one with CloudyG3 ROM
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which is basically a stock cam app that uses xdabbeb's advanced binaries (so it's pretty much the same as XCam, but Xcam gets updated by xdabbeb every now and then)
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StevenInMichigan said:
Thanks for the Mi2RAW suggestion, I'll check that out. I work with raws from my dslr but I don't know how badly I really need to have all my phone pictures shot as raw. I'll see how it goes
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sometimes you just want that bit of extra image customization that raw offers
since you have dslr as well, you know what i'm on about
60nine said:
which is basically a stock cam app that uses xdabbeb's advanced binaries (so it's pretty much the same as XCam, but Xcam gets updated by xdabbeb every now and then)
---------- Post added at 06:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:31 PM ----------
sometimes you just want that bit of extra image customization that raw offers
since you have dslr as well, you know what i'm on about
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I did not know that thanks
Sent from my LG-D805 using XDA Free mobile app
"a Better Camera" app is what I use on non stock Roms and it's very good. LG camera hardware is not that good? You make me laugh... Can IPhone camera record 4k?Does it have ois?
The only thing that iPhone is better at is the image processing. That's it. (period).
I use the G2's stock camera app on AICP. It's okay, but the images look washed out compared to my Optimus G.
Sent From Capsule Corp.
60nine said:
it's not about the camera app, it's about the hardware...
No camera app on LG G2 can match iPhone and/or Nokia just because of the camera hardware (sensor, lens,...) which is not that good on LG
To explore full benefits of LG camera hardware, you'll have to move to one of stock based roms and then try i.e. Xdabbeb camera...
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Bulsh*t of the month/year? :fingers-crossed: Only way to reveal the potencial of any and I mean ANY camera HW is to shoot RAW only! You can say Lg stock camera is bad and I will agree but not talk about HW whenn you didnt see pure RAW data. Just look at the samples I shot with the best android camera for photo enthusiasts: Mi2raw camera which is capable of capturing pure DNG files without freaky Lg jpeg engine, which is IMHO the worst I ever seen. I took indoor photos on ISO400-800 so dont blame the small sensor of more noise, no such a small sensor will perform any better. Still great results in todays mobile photography. Even Xdabbed camera which is great contribution cannot match results from RAW data and personal approach for photography. One minute for one photo and the results are uncomparable.
Anyone tried porting the Pixelmaster camera app from the various Asus Zenfones? It takes really incredible low light photos by reducing resolution to 2 megapixels and it is awesome (the only reason I fell envious of my brother's otherwise mediocre zenfone 5). Check here too, someone had plans of porting but not sure what happened to him since... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2712403
jimakos29 said:
Anyone tried porting the Pixelmaster camera app from the various Asus Zenfones? It takes really incredible low light photos by reducing resolution to 2 megapixels and it is awesome (the only reason I fell envious of my brother's otherwise mediocre zenfone 5). Check here too, someone had plans of porting but not sure what happened to him since... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2712403
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Why should I want 2Mpx photos from 13Mpx camera? From 13Mox->2Mpx I will do awesome photos too! 2Mpx=fullHD , 2160p=4K got it? Rather show us those amazing photos
kultus said:
Why should I want 2Mpx photos from 13Mpx camera? From 13Mox->2Mpx I will do awesome photos too! 2Mpx=fullHD , 2160p=4K got it? Rather show us those amazing photos
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again. it takes normal pics at full resolution, then there is a night mode which takes very very nice pics in dark situations at full resolution (better than almost any other phone out there) and then there is a special night mode that reduces pic resolution to 2 megapixels, but boy those night pics are the best I have ever seen.... Check this for example. and no worries about zenfone 5 camera being 8 megapixels. the zenfone 6 has 13 and same software...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_TPqwDYStI
so you still live in a world where more megapixels mean better images?
i.e. see why HTC went for lower mpx in its flagship devices...
about my "bullsh*t of the year"... do some reading and know some basics of the digital photography...
i never said that LG G2 camera is bad, read my post again & read hardware tech specs of the other devices...
i like the mi2raw app very much (see my posts there in the app thread) - it's the best thing that happened to this device considering the camera/photo...
and i think LG G2 camera hardware can do much more - especially on the strange "painted like" image compression effect which i hate so much...
i'd say - LG G2 is close, but no cigar
kultus said:
Bulsh*t of the month/year? :fingers-crossed: Only way to reveal the potencial of any and I mean ANY camera HW is to shoot RAW only! You can say Lg stock camera is bad and I will agree but not talk about HW whenn you didnt see pure RAW data. Just look at the samples I shot with the best android camera for photo enthusiasts: Mi2raw camera which is capable of capturing pure DNG files without freaky Lg jpeg engine, which is IMHO the worst I ever seen. I took indoor photos on ISO400-800 so dont blame the small sensor of more noise, no such a small sensor will perform any better. Still great results in todays mobile photography. Even Xdabbed camera which is great contribution cannot match results from RAW data and personal approach for photography. One minute for one photo and the results are uncomparable.
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Because of RAW the G2 is one of the top android cameras, that is true. However, the flagship Lumia devices also shoot RAW.
Yes I know, iphone can shoot RAW too, so android is behind somehow...
60nine: Ive read everything you've written, thats why I had to react. I know a lot about photography, HW a more, so Im OK. Thanks. And about pixels, even 8Mpx iphone camera is worse than 16Mpx SGN4 camera so give me a break...HTCs cameras are the worst from the biggest flagship manufacturers. HTCs cameras lags of detail and lost every shootout with competition. And I will tell you something, you will need at least 2160p for viewing on upcoming 4K display devices...so now the pixels matters. I know that more pixels suffers from dynamic range and more noise, but it will be hidden in more Mpx photo with good postprocess. So if you find comparison between IP6 and LG G2 in RAW at same settings and same scene and IP6 will be better, youll have my respect and appologies.
Sent from my LG-D802 using XDA Free mobile app
i won't bother answering to a person who thinks more mpx means better images (on a same sized sensor), so cheers...
raw is not for an average users anyway
The camera's manual mode is darn good. After som shooting, I can see that. It's especially good for stills.
BUT that auto mode is average to not good. I hear some chatter that this camera is for content creators --- those who don't want just auto mode.
I guess the question is --- why can't we have it both ways? What am I missing? Why can't auto jpegs be processed well (pixel-like, for those want it), along with a great manual features? My ILC can do both --- and it's only got one sensor. So, what gives here? I'm just not sure why we need to compromise.
Put simply, there are some situations where I want to shoot manual and some that I just want to shoot in P&S mode.
The best picture isn't always technically the best one, but rather what can be caught in focus in the frame. Seems reasonable to me.
You can use Google Camera for HDR+ Auto Mode. It also generate Raw files for post-processing if jpeg is not good enough.
Link for you: https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/
For example: photo with more colors is hdr+ auto mode. Other is raw with snapseed.
Which port do you recommend??? Thanks much.
coldbeverage said:
The camera's manual mode is darn good. After som shooting, I can see that. It's especially good for stills.
BUT that auto mode is average to not good. I hear some chatter that this camera is for content creators --- those who don't want just auto mode.
I guess the question is --- why can't we have it both ways? What am I missing? Why can't auto jpegs be processed well (pixel-like, for those want it), along with a great manual features? My ILC can do both --- and it's only got one sensor. So, what gives here? I'm just not sure why we need to compromise.
Put simply, there are some situations where I want to shoot manual and some that I just want to shoot in P&S mode.
The best picture isn't always technically the best one, but rather what can be caught in focus in the frame. Seems reasonable to me.
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Your ILC is a dedicated camera. Everything in it is designed for one job and one job only, to produce the best image possible with the processing chips and jpg engines all dedicated to this end. That's all it does, that whole box. A cellphone is a jack of all trades and there's a saying about jack of all trades, master of none. At no point would I ever put a current cellphone up against a current dedicated camera for imaging. The camera will win every time. Cellphones have encouraged an attitude of good enough when in reality, we know it isn't. To be certain, cellphones these days do a lot better than the first DSLRs and definitely better than my first digital camera.
Problem is that a cellphone is literally everything crammed into one tiny space. Music player, computer, internet modem, phone, television screen, video camera, and camera.... er, make that cameras. All of that screaming for limited space and resources, battery and processors. A dedicated camera is one sensor and it is usually much larger than any cellphone camera sensor. That one sensor usually has room to breath, literally, to help keep it from overheating and not stress the hardware. Cellphones don't get that luxury. A dedicated camera has dedicated AF systems, often times an entirely dedicated set of sensors just for that. Metering is also an entirely separate area of development and testing.
So while we have been lulled into thinking cellphones are great cameras, in reality, they aren't. There's still a lot of times that it is best to have a dedicated camera.
Right, agreed, but it seems to often come down to a software issue in the cameras. Have full manual controls for manual purposes and have good auto processing. Or, am I still missing the point? I could be very wrong here.
coldbeverage said:
Right, agreed, but it seems to often come down to a software issue in the cameras. Have full manual controls for manual purposes and have good auto processing. Or, am I still missing the point? I could be very wrong here.
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Again, software will be the same problem. For a dedicated camera company, you have an entire company coming up with the engines and algo's going into the camera. Versus a cellphone company having to split their development between a lot of teams but they're going to be pretty small and at best, just able to tweak previous versions of software for their small corner of the device. The company I work for does software for a lot of various things a pharmacy might want to do. We have around 4 devs per team to pull off all the things in a pharmacy. Whereas there are some companies out there that do just one of the things we do and dedicate a much larger team to it. (Up to 100 people working on one piece of software vs our overall team of maybe 10.) That's the difference between a cellphone and a dedicated camera.
coldbeverage said:
Which port do you recommend??? Thanks much.
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Latest stable port in my link. You have to test some settings to get the best result. Also I hear that Oreo version has improved camera.
starrynighthn said:
Latest stable port in my link. You have to test some settings to get the best result. Also I hear that Oreo version has improved camera.
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Thanks. A couple of them work. Any advice on settings? I found some, but curious if you got something better.
CHH2 said:
Again, software will be the same problem. For a dedicated camera company, you have an entire company coming up with the engines and algo's going into the camera. Versus a cellphone company having to split their development between a lot of teams but they're going to be pretty small and at best, just able to tweak previous versions of software for their small corner of the device. The company I work for does software for a lot of various things a pharmacy might want to do. We have around 4 devs per team to pull off all the things in a pharmacy. Whereas there are some companies out there that do just one of the things we do and dedicate a much larger team to it. (Up to 100 people working on one piece of software vs our overall team of maybe 10.) That's the difference between a cellphone and a dedicated camera.
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I'm actually curious if there's any way to adjust LG's Auto settings. I think from what I've heard, the most common issues are that the photos come out over-exposed and over-processed and smoothed out. Is there any way to go into the LG's software and tone down the exposure brightness and smoothing a bit? I'm sure I'm oversimplifying it but I wonder if there is some sort of setting values we can change so that way everything else remains the same.