I find the Google camera app on the Pixel to be absolutely atrocious. The amount of sharpening and post processing that is being done is out of control, particularly on human faces... even in portrait mode. From what I can tell the only way around that are third party camera apps. What is a good one that provides manual controls and DNG shooting without the AI crap?
Update: ended up buying ProCam. As a long time slr user I find it completely intuitive but can understand how it can be intimidating for a first time user.
Open camera and Hedge Cam - These two are top quality open source camera apps. But only if you are willing to spend bit of time on understanding and experimenting with all the customization. They are completely manual. You need to turn on Camera API 2 to enable all the features.
Use the stock camera app for the usual point & shoots and use those serious apps for some serious captures and videos where you are willing to spend time in editing them in the computer or even in the phone.
If I'm taking a photo with people's faces in it, I do it by shooting in video mode, then selecting the best shot in Adobe Premiere. Thus, the resulting image has less contrast and color saturation than an image taken in photo mode.
Well, if I record a video that I want to archive like a video, so I make some adjustments there too. This is because even video taken with the stock camera app has too high contrast and color saturation. So they I apply the following effects to all the videos, the first effect is an effect called luma corrector, in which in the tab tonal range - highlights, I set the level contrast to -8 and then in the tab tonal range - Shadows I also set the level contrast to -8. This will increase the dynamic range, because I will extract some more image information from the dark shadows and from too much bright highlights.
And then they I apply a second effect to soften the intensity of the colors, which I do in an effect called lumetri color
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Saturation, where I also set the level saturation value to 95.
Related
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Many more camera settings as external apps. Choose, take a snap and save to Gallery. SDK8 required.
Updated to v1.1:
tap-to-focus
Lens Picker
Scene mode:
Auto, Macro, Sport, Night, NightPortrait, Backlit
White Balance preset:
Auto, Cloudy, Daylight, Flesh, Fluorescent, Tungsten, Candlelight
ISO:
Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200
Exposure compensation:
from -12 to +12
Exposure time:
1/2000s, 1/1000s, 1/500s, 1/250s, 1.125s, 1/60s, 1/30s, 1/15s, 1/8s, 1/4s, 1/2s
Auto Focus range:
Macro, Normal, Full, Hyperfocal, Infinity
Focus illumination mode:
Off, Auto, On
Capture resolution:
3264x2448, 3552x2000, 2592x1936, 2592x1456, 2048x1536, 640x480
This is quite amazing! It's definitely one of the apps I've been looking for after seeing how limited the camera settings are (even in comparison to my old Samsung Focus).
With the Lumia 920's fantastic camera and Zeiss lens, I've even considered using it as a B-cam in projects.
I was wondering about two things for future versions of this...
- Maybe have the options either transparent or to the side over the display so you can see what you're changing.
- Add options for video recording. Maybe even a few more shutter speeds if that's possible with the hardware/software. 1/48th shutter speed could be cool for a natural film like effect.
Do we know if the camera is capable of any other frame rates?
Be honest, I have been found this app on german windows phone forum (I believe) and installed it to share capability with you.
It's a Nokia Developer project which can be found here : http://projects.developer.nokia.com/cameraexplorer
There is also the source code if you want to edit it.
Hi, how do you put this xap on your WP8?
Thanks
Windows 8 64bit->SDK 8
Can we install it using this method?
App crashes on an HTC 8X
Works on an emulator though. Will try to debug.
ok,but how to?
developer registriation (AppHub) Windowd 8 64bit - > SDK8 -> Application Deployment
I've got a Samsung Omnia 7 with a custom rom, but a WP7 device. There is a camera app that can put more settings, like scenes, in my device? This app have been perfect if it had been for WP7! There are similar apps? Thank you >.<
New version added
Black and white photos have a degree of detail and contrast that confers them a unique, moody intensity. However, a carefully-composed, artistic photo is easily ruined by background objects, which can distract the viewer. Good photographers sometimes manage to use creative camera angles to keep some of this "background noise" out of shot, but such techniques only get you so far.
For example, I originally intended for the photo below to center on the removal men at work, but they were drowned out by other objects in the foreground and background.
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I took the following photo at a low angle to try to give the teddy bear a "larger-than-life" look, but once again background objects stole the show and detracted from the desired effect.
When I place my photos side by side with some of the slick, glossy photos my friends share with me, I'm too ashamed to even contemplate posting them on social media services such as Instagram and Facebook.
However, more recently, I discovered a clever trick on the HUAWEI P10/P10 Plus that can be used to blur out background objects and make the subject more prominent. This technique produces absorbing, arty shots that are guaranteed to garner you more "likes" on social media. Moreover, no fancy camera angles are necessary; simply take your phone, find an interesting subject, and point and shoot.
When you take ordinary black and white photos, usually both the foreground and background are in focus, so there is no obvious subject or theme. However, by combining the black and white and wide aperture shooting modes on the HUAWEI P10/P10 Plus, you can blur out the background and place emphasis on a particular object or person.
If you look closely at the images below, you will observe that the photo on the left is overexposed and has a cluttered background. The photo on the right, on the other hand, was taken with the HUAWEI P10/P10 Plus and effectively combines the black and white and wide aperture shooting modes to reduce background interference and create a more dramatic contrast. This is particularly noticeable in the "Cloud Park" lettering, which has a much clearer outline.
After learning and applying this technique, and with a bit of practice, my black and white photos now look infinitely better, to the point that I can proudly post them on social media for my friends to see. To achieve similar results yourself, simply follow the four steps that are set out in the animated graphic below.
By combining these two shooting modes on the HUAWEI P10/P10 Plus, you can produce photos with that timeless black and white look, while enjoying all of the speed and convenience that modern technology can offer.
Hey there geeks! Today I wanna share with you the results of my long so-called research in the field of camera applications for the galaxy. I have tested SO MUCH options besides the built-in app and after several months of comparisons, I can say with confidence that I found the best of them. Of course, this is not a GCam port that is not supported on our device. However, this is so far the only application with the correct HDR, which I use on an every day basis. So, let's start the comparison.
There is always a standard camera on the left, and SnapCamera on the right. In both cases, HDR is turned on. There is no post processing.
Photo 1. Backlight sunlight.
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It seems that the standard camera wins here, however, pay attention to the leaves of the tree. A standard camera tries to snatch parts from an underexposed area and gives a touch of artificial and a plane picture. SnapCamera maintains balance and space for further processing.
Photo 2. Crops, focus point on the carpet.
Pay attention to the light behind the tulle. Comments aren't needed I guess.
Photo 3. Exposition of reflections, focus point on the phone keys.
A good example when a standard application could not save the dynamic range and overexposed the sources of reflected light. However, SnapCamera did just fine with this.
Photo 4. Random object.
In general, there are almost no differences, but SnapCamera produces more balanced colors with larger dynamic range (look at the illuminated area of the carpet).
Photo 5. Shot on the front camera.
Here is totally up to your taste. The standard application uses built-in algorithms for selfies — it gives photos warm tones, smoothes the skin and tries to compensate for the lack of details by highlighting some areas. If you need a quick photo for instagram - use the standard application. But personally, I like the result with SnapCamera — the photo is clearer, has much more information and is closer to life.
My HDR settings:
And guys (!) I didn't try to take these pictures as pieces of art, it's just a matter of demonstration.
Verdict
Until Samsung improves algorithms for budget cameras, SnapCamera is the best alternative on a dayly basis.
(But we do not give up hope that someone will still port gcam)
Sorry I'm new here so I can't insert side links to download
Unfortunately in my experience snapcamera is not so good in lower light conditions, the shots are grainy. Be nice to get 64bit ROMs so we can use gcam, which wins hands down on my past devices.
Recently I got an Xperia 5 Mk. II because I wanted a cheap, well built cameraphone, and largely it delivered. The Photo Pro software is the best I've ever used on a phone, but the RAW output seems to be not really that raw. First off, I couldn't disable lens distortion correction on the wide angle lens, which should be disabled by default when shooting RAW. Moreover, JPEGs come out with the natural fisheye distortion, RAWs come out filtered.
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On the other hand, while shooting RAW with the third party Firstlight camera app, DNGs come out exactly how they should be. But it's a buggy third party app and the autofocus is borderline unusable, especially compared to the native app.
Much the same way, another issue i came across, which also plagues the 5 III, 1 II and 1 III (although NOT the IV gen, as I've seen so far) is the telephoto RAWs. They seem to be infested with this 1px wide grid across the whole image, especially on the highlights. At first I thought it was the bad ISOCELL sensor, but again, tried with Firstlight and photos came out flawless.
(5 III and 1 III RAW samples taken from www.photographyblog.com; all images are contrast enhanced)
Worst thing about this grid problem is that it seems to translate to JPEGs as well, but in RAW it is absolutely intolerable.
And not only that, both these issues seem to persist across multiple versions of the app. I did try from 1.1 to 1.3, which is the latest one supported by my unit.
My theory about this is that these filters could be pulled out of the APK, for which i just don't have the brains to get around. I did decompile the app and found some tiny bits of glsl and some vague "pre-output correction" calls in the DNG builder that do confirm my suspicions, but i really have no clue how to navigate around this stuff any further and, well, make RAW raw again. For a phone series that prides itself on having an accurate and natural looking camera, this certainly takes a lot away from it.
What is the best way to take an action shot with the S23 Ultra? I am not an avid photographer but do want to take decent not-blurry pics from kids sports activities. Is it possible without going into RAW mode and changing exposure settings? Back in the day, my Note 8 had a "sports" mode that was easy to use though haven't seen it in a while. But I do see a "food" mode that I'll never use...
The "motion photo" setting is useful; it can only be viewed and edited with Samsung Gallery app though. The phone allows you to make gifs too.
This is on my N10+/Pie, presumably the S23U still has these options.
There's also burst mode.
Live tracking as well which may or may not be useful. Set up is rather convoluted as certain options are only available at certain resolutions, fps or with other options. Guides for other older models may be helpful if the S23U guides aren't providing enough information. Many of the features date back years.
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A combination of burst mode and live tracking is definitely your best option.
I would still recommend looking into gcam using this gcam and config :
Post in thread 'Working GCAM for S23 Ultra' https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/working-gcam-for-s23-ultra.4550019/post-88277895
That version will offer face focus tracking by default which is great for kids action shots. You can also enabling focus tracking if you often need to take pictures of your kids without seeing their faces but otherwise, you want to leave focus tracking disabled so it better tracks faces. Picture quality for the time being will be better than stock cam.
In the end though, even under good light conditions, smartphones won't do miracles for action shots as their focus system isn't that fast. But I'm sure with stock or gcam you can manage some decent shots