Cameras and picture quality - Droid Incredible Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey all, I've wondered this for a while - Does the quality of pictures change depending on the version of Android/what camera app you are using? Or is that entirely hardware dependent?
For instance - I am using Pure's 3.0 ROM, which is awesome, and the camera quality is the same as I would expect from any GB ROM. But would something like ICS employ some new tricks via post processing or something that would result in better pictures?
Just curious.

Anyone?
Sent from my Incredible using XDA

I don't believe the ROM will have any effect on your image quality. The only thing that would change the picture quality would be a camera app such as HDR Camera.

I haven't done any scientific testing. But I have found the CM camera to be a little better than the stock Sense camera, but without as many features like face detection. However it also has a "deblur" ISO setting that allows the auto ISO to extend past 400, up to 800 without having to set it yourself. Auto ISO in Sense only seems to go to 400 without you having to manually set it in the camera settings. Otherwise it's more dependent on the sensor (ISO performance, BSI), lens, and the aperture (depth of field, better low light performance). I would love to have the camera out of the One S/X or even the iPhone 4S. But the Incredible's isn't bad for when it was made.

Related

Good camera apps?

Hi, have been using stock sgs camera. Its okay.. but was wondering if there's a better camera app out there.
When I had my HTC magic, camera 360 really improved the quality of the photos.
But when I compare the photos I took on my sgs from the stock camera app vs camera 360, I kinda prefer the stock camera colours.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Have you tried Vignette.It has loads of different settings.
I've only tried the demo version of vignette. And that does not allow the 5mpx resolutions to be used. Besides the array of settings, does vignette actually improve the quality of the photos taken? Thanks.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
The full version of Vignette does indeed take better quality images, but it takes significantly more time to process the photos.
i just tried vignette and the quality was near enough the same .. refunded it cos it wasnt worth the money
the camera is the only thing i dont like about this phone
Have you tried the Photoshop app? Its not exactly a camera application but it has lots of settings for touching photos up afterwards. Maybe one of the filters will give you the effect you require
I too would pay for a real pro app. Something that will take higher res panorama shots and something with a real HDR function. By real I mean not a simulation and not tone mapping from the gallery pics. There's a app for the iDevices that works wonders on the iP4. Tried everything so far, still waiting.
Try: camera 360 pro
kalki said:
Try: camera 360 pro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
360 pro simulates HDR and simulates a lot of other stuff, we need a app that actually takes better shots etc. At least that's my experience with it.
The camera apps on the android market are really sub-par.
I don't use the camera much to begin with, but an app as good as Hipstamatic or Camera Pro like on the iPhone would be great.
Vignette has an ugly interface and has average picture quality, and Retro Camera has horrible picture quality.

AOSP camera very grainy for Inc2

I love using AOSP roms because they're blazing fast and smooth. No Sense rom that I've tried so far can match the speed. However, the camera on the AOSP rom takes very grainy pictures no matter what I try. Sense rom cameras take very good pics, so it must be a software issue.
I've already tried using a few different camera apps like camera360 and zoomfx. No dice. I've even tried the camera from MIUI rom. I guess there's something about the AOSP framework that affects the camera.
Is there a fix for this? I've searched and others have had this problem, but there wasn't a definite solution. Just thought I'd ask again here.
armchairbear said:
I love using AOSP roms because they're blazing fast and smooth. No Sense rom that I've tried so far can match the speed. However, the camera on the AOSP rom takes very grainy pictures no matter what I try. Sense rom cameras take very good pics, so it must be a software issue.
I've already tried using a few different camera apps like camera360 and zoomfx. No dice. I've even tried the camera from MIUI rom. I guess there's something about the AOSP framework that affects the camera.
Is there a fix for this? I've searched and others have had this problem, but there wasn't a definite solution. Just thought I'd ask again here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try messing with the settings of the miui cam
Sent from my Incredible 2 using xda premium
armchairbear said:
I love using AOSP roms because they're blazing fast and smooth. No Sense rom that I've tried so far can match the speed. However, the camera on the AOSP rom takes very grainy pictures no matter what I try. Sense rom cameras take very good pics, so it must be a software issue.
I've already tried using a few different camera apps like camera360 and zoomfx. No dice. I've even tried the camera from MIUI rom. I guess there's something about the AOSP framework that affects the camera.
Is there a fix for this? I've searched and others have had this problem, but there wasn't a definite solution. Just thought I'd ask again here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera on my miui takes amazing pictures I know this because my fiance is a graphic designer for ups and we have printed lots of pics from my miui phone and she always tells me you can have the best camera on the world but if you don't have a good printer you wont get the best quality pictures. It all depends on the output of the printer I'm not saying that you don't have a good printer I'm just saying I have seen the quality of the pics taking by my phone printed at her job and I most said they are amazing and they are huge I'm talking portrait size
Sent from my Incredible 2 using XDA App
My understanding is the MIUI camera can be installed on AOSP roms, though I have never been able myself. But this would be the best "fix" for the cruddy AOSP cams out there.
Just saying, ROMs like Zeus and GingerBang Sense are just as fast as AOSP in my opinion.
armchairbear said:
I love using AOSP roms because they're blazing fast and smooth. No Sense rom that I've tried so far can match the speed. However, the camera on the AOSP rom takes very grainy pictures no matter what I try. Sense rom cameras take very good pics, so it must be a software issue.
I've already tried using a few different camera apps like camera360 and zoomfx. No dice. I've even tried the camera from MIUI rom. I guess there's something about the AOSP framework that affects the camera.
Is there a fix for this? I've searched and others have had this problem, but there wasn't a definite solution. Just thought I'd ask again here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. For the most part during good light situations, I can get a decent picture using AOSP or MIUI, but if the lighting isn't 100% optimal the pictures don't really turn out that well. Over all the sense software/driver integration does give me better pictures as well. Especially when I view them in full screen on my computer. I've messed around with the settings too, but I just believe that there is optimization in sense because of HTC owning both the software & the drivers for the phone. As funny as it sounds, the better camera quality is the one thing that really keeps me coming back to Sense. I love the camera interface in MIUI, but after a bit, i always come back.
AgalychnisCallidryas said:
Just saying, ROMs like Zeus and GingerBang Sense are just as fast as AOSP in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still feel aosp is faster than those, but i do agree the difference is not enough leave sense if you need the best camera performance or love the launcher and widgets combination which are awesome. I think many run aosp though because of the combination of mods/themes available and we feel special when we explain to others that we are running "pure" android.
Sent from my Incredible 2 using Tapatalk
AgalychnisCallidryas said:
Just saying, ROMs like Zeus and GingerBang Sense are just as fast as AOSP in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I heard the same from others but I think I'm gonna try this theory for myself
Sent from my Incredible 2 using XDA App
Bringing up this old thread.
I just did some quick testing with the AOSP camera (Aeroevan's CM7.2 kang). I'm using the MIUI camera, but have noticed the same effect no matter what camera app I use (default, CameraZOOM).
It appears that the grainy effect on the pictures is due to the ISO setting failing to adjust with changes in settings. I took a few pics with ISO set to Auto, 100, and 1250, and they all came out identical (same amount of grain, etc).
If the ISO was being adjusted correctly, the ISO 100 pic should have had significantly less noise (grain) than the ISO 1250 one.
As my best guess, it would appear that the AOSP rom's camera driver is incomplete / buggy, as changing the ISO in settings does not change the actual ISO of the camera/picture.
I also noticed that the ISO data is being reported incorrectly in the picture file details. The pic I took @ "ISO 1250" (according to camera settings) is reported as being "ISO-129" in the EXIF data.
I've uploaded a full size pic just for example:
Pic of Chicago
I would think that this picture, taken in broad daylight, should have nearly no noise whatsoever, yet it has quite a bit.
Any feedback on this? Or is this as good as it gets for this camera?
EDIT: Upon further investigation (viewing original resolution pics taken by the ADR6350 on Flickr), it seems that nearly everyone's pics, when viewed at full size, are rather grainy, no matter the light level. Perhaps this camera just isn't very good.
EDIT #2: Here's a pic of a similar scene from an iPhone 4 - there's just no comparison in terms of overall quality (not trying to bash the DINC2, I'm just a bit disappointed with what I'm seeing).
EDIT #3: A pic from an Incredible S. Little noise, even in low light. WTF
dirkdigles said:
Bringing up this old thread.
I just did some quick testing with the AOSP camera (Aeroevan's CM7.2 kang). I'm using the MIUI camera, but have noticed the same effect no matter what camera app I use (default, CameraZOOM).
It appears that the grainy effect on the pictures is due to the ISO setting failing to adjust with changes in settings. I took a few pics with ISO set to Auto, 100, and 1250, and they all came out identical (same amount of grain, etc).
If the ISO was being adjusted correctly, the ISO 100 pic should have had significantly less noise (grain) than the ISO 1250 one.
As my best guess, it would appear that the AOSP rom's camera driver is incomplete / buggy, as changing the ISO in settings does not change the actual ISO of the camera/picture.
I also noticed that the ISO data is being reported incorrectly in the picture file details. The pic I took @ "ISO 1250" (according to camera settings) is reported as being "ISO-129" in the EXIF data.
I've uploaded a full size pic just for example:
Pic of Chicago
I would think that this picture, taken in broad daylight, should have nearly no noise whatsoever, yet it has quite a bit.
Any feedback on this? Or is this as good as it gets for this camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel this is true for all AOSP .. the camera feels incomplete at best... It doesn't even focus properly when recording video.. if you start recording, don't get any closer or farther away!!! It won't focus.. Our phone has the capability to take wonderful pictures as long as you stick with Sense.. AOSP will ruin any chance of taking a decent picture with our hardware.. I've tested roms side-by-side and AOSP is at the bottom of the barrel in this category for me..
The Sense camera is significantly better that any AOSP camera in my opinion. I would love to have the time to shoot a photo with AOSP then NAND back to Sense and shoot the same photo to compare.
If no one else does this, I will as soon as I have a good opportunity. Pictures should be posted for comparinson.
TheAtheistReverend said:
The Sense camera is significantly better that any AOSP camera in my opinion. I would love to have the time to shoot a photo with AOSP then NAND back to Sense and shoot the same photo to compare.
If no one else does this, I will as soon as I have a good opportunity. Pictures should be posted for comparinson.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please do! I'll try the same; I currently have TSM's vanilla installed in a bootmanager slot.
Update: I just booted into TSM Vanilla to give the camera a quick look. I took a few pics indoors, and changed the ISO for each one. It looks like it's having the same issue! Both pics I took (one @ ISO 100 and the other @ ISO 1250 per the camera settings) came out looking the same, and the EXIF info said they had the exact same ISO.
PS - I linked a couple other pics for comparison in my reply a few posts up. One from an IncS and the other from an ip4
Example 1, Phone = Incredible 2, Fully Enlarged
Example 2, Phone = Incredible 2, Fully Enlarged
These examples seem a bit less noisy ... it's obviously not as good as a dedicated digital camera, but a crapload better than what I'm getting now !!
I love the vintage effects on sense 3.5 roms. I would have to spend 20 minutes in Photoshop to reproduce that.
http://db.tt/ZxhpK8C2
Here's one I just took outside with camera 360 at 8mp on miui
Sent from my Incredible 2 using XDA App
ericsdeadinside said:
http://db.tt/ZxhpK8C2
Here's one I just took outside with camera 360 at 8mp on miui
Sent from my Incredible 2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not bad - do you have some sort of post-processing or color effects enabled? The colors in that pic are bizarre.
Yeah that is on the Vintage setting.
Here's one with no effects
http://db.tt/x5DUhdT4
Sent from my Incredible 2 using XDA App
ericsdeadinside said:
Here's one with no effects
http://db.tt/x5DUhdT4
Sent from my Incredible 2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks pretty good. Definitely better than what I'm getting.
I just saved your pic file and looked at the properties - for some reason, your file reads as having horizontal & vertical resolution of 96dpi, whereas mine says 72dpi. I wonder if this has to do with the issue ??
Are you using camera 360?
Sent from my Incredible 2 using XDA App
For my pic I was using the MIUI cam (but I'm running CM7.2). Seems that CameraZOOMfx and the default android camera have the same result for me.
It's almost as if the camera is taking a picture at a lower resolution (like 4MP) and extrapolating (interpolating?) it out to the 8MP picture size (a possible explanation for the the 8MP pictures seeming a lot less sharp than they should be).

AOSP vs Sense Camera

Does AOSP Camera kill quality? I like CM but I like also good pictures quality...
Sent from the best combination ever - HTC One X Tegra 3 with CM10
I've never found AOSP to kill quality, the only difference if the ratio of the image compared with Sense.
It's not as good as the Sense camera as it doesn't make use of the image sense chip. Sense version is optimised.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
I think the panorama function is better in the aosp camera
Colours and details are often much less prominent in the AOSP camera. I've done my own comparisons and the Sense camera has better white balance in photos, though details remain mostly the same. Some AOSP ROMs have very grainy camera quality though. When it comes to video, Sense ROMs record MUCH better footage with more accurate colours and much more detail, frame rates remain similar though. To capture photos with better colours when using the AOSP camera, you often need to manually change the white balance as the "auto" setting isn't very effective for getting realistic looking shots.
The Sense camera is also faster at opening up and at shooting and processing panorama photos. The Sense camera also has far better touch (and auto) focus, the AOSP camera is often difficult to focus for close ups but the Sense camera almost always focuses correctly. Additionally, the AOSP camera has somewhat fixed focus for video recording, where auto focus still sort of works but you can't touch the screen to focus because this takes photos during recording (this is how this feature was implemented on the AOSP camera). So basically, while recording video, you have to hope the phone knows what you're trying to focus on, especially if you want to take photos while recording. On the AOSP camera, taking photos while recording also has impacts on the frame rate at times.
The AOSP camera also can take a long time to switch between photo, video or panorama (depending on the ROM you're using). Burst fire is also a joke on AOSP ROMs, put simply, it doesn't work. You can take photos faster by tapping on the shoot button really quickly.
The most critical thing for me is the start up and focus time of the AOSP camera that makes you lose the moment where you needed to take that photo while something awesome was happening. I have some fairly stupid friends, who do very funny things, which i will often record hahaha, so it's quite disappointing when i miss that moment with AOSP ROMs. I've never really missed "that moment" on a Sense ROM though.
These are just my opinions though, i hope someone can find this post useful!

Best replacement camera app for LGG4?

Has anyone tried any replacement camera apps for the LGG4? Don't get me wrong, I like the stock camera but I do think it lacks a little in features (in auto mode). I tried 'Open Camera' and I really like the extra features but It only has 4x zoom instead of the 8x the stock camera handles. I also don't know if any 3rd party camera apps take full advantage of the G4's laser focus and color spectrum analyzer? Another feature that I like in 'Open Camera' is the ability to select scenes such as back light, indoors, macro and candle light. I know the G4 stock app has automatic scene selection but I like a little more control.
So what do you guys think? The big thing is if any 3rd party apps take full advantage of the G4's hardware? If so, what are some feature packed camera apps?
ProShot for me. Little slow to focus but with ISO 50 and NR off the daylight shots are just amazing.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riseupgames.proshot2
Odoslané z LG-H815 pomocou Tapatalku
Has it some filters to preview a shot before take it? that's the only thing I miss from the stock camera, the ability to use filters before taking pictures, because sometimes don't have time or mood to postprocess. Thanks!
RocketFoot said:
Has anyone tried any replacement camera apps for the LGG4? Don't get me wrong, I like the stock camera but I do think it lacks a little in features (in auto mode). I tried 'Open Camera' and I really like the extra features but It only has 4x zoom instead of the 8x the stock camera handles. I also don't know if any 3rd party camera apps take full advantage of the G4's laser focus and color spectrum analyzer? Another feature that I like in 'Open Camera' is the ability to select scenes such as back light, indoors, macro and candle light. I know the G4 stock app has automatic scene selection but I like a little more control.
So what do you guys think? The big thing is if any 3rd party apps take full advantage of the G4's hardware? If so, what are some feature packed camera apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I woulden't be over concerned by the low zoom capabilities of Open camera. Zoom only degrades the quality and sharpness of the picture anyway... If you really have to use it, i woulden't recommend you go beyond 4x. Other thing, no 3rd party camera app can fully utilize all of the G4's features and capabilities. It's simply not possible, as of yet anyway. So, my advice to you and everyone else is, use the default camera app as it is quite powerfull if you know how to manage the manual settings .
Here is a link that explains in detail the manual mode:
Link
Dude, stock app is best. Learn how to use manual.
NocturnalDroid said:
Dude, stock app is best. Learn how to use manual.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can use the manual camera ok but only for planed shots...takes too much time to catch random shots! Feature rich auto mode is what I am wishing for!
RocketFoot said:
I can use the manual camera ok but only for planed shots...takes too much time to catch random shots! Feature rich auto mode is what I am wishing for!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm yes, good point. Lol. I used camera360 once, that was good.
Try AZ Camera, NR is a lot better than stock and manual control is still possible.
t68kv said:
Try AZ Camera, NR is a lot better than stock and manual control is still possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone seen a camera app that has a fancy animated facial recognition reticle like the Galaxy Edge Plus/Note 5's have? It actually moves across the screen and targets a detected face in the scene. I know that it is completely gingerbread, but it would be a pretty cool feature!
wayne_sk said:
ProShot for me. Little slow to focus but with ISO 50 and NR off the daylight shots are just amazing.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riseupgames.proshot2
Odoslané z LG-H815 pomocou Tapatalku
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found that there's a free demo for this at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riseupgames.proshot_free
Which is nice to try it out. Very restrictive demo, allowing only 2 full res shots. I'm keen to try out the low ISO with the NR off you mention (as I've yet to see a photo at this handset level beat the G4 in a decent lit outdoor shot), but my handset went hot as hell whilst running the demo, possibly showing its using all the available processer power but a bit unsettling for potential longer usage.
:edit: unistalled and let handset cool down. Reinstalled and handset ran uncomfortably hot again. Shame, but thanks for the recommendation.
Hi, just got an LG G4 today and tried a few camera apps. Stock is great and since it has a manual raw mode, no need for 3rd party apps imho.
ProShot is nice and does show a low res preview of dngs in its viewer (useful to send them to PS Express for instance); BUT I have noticed that it does only goes to 0,6s in manual exposure (while stock goes to 30s). So for (ocasional) dng viewing I will use Slingshot Portfolio and for the processing, PS Express, much friendlier than Photomate (which yields slightly sharper pics, but with much worse color balance...)
Snap HDR Camera has an interesting low light mode that merges multiple exposures to increase detail / lower noise, BUT then again you can use manual long exposures in the stock app, which in dark conditions will give better results.
For panos I prefer Google's camera interface and options .
Anyway, those are my quick impressions.
You made my day! Thank you!
This one (especially ability to switch off NR) gives me the best from the G4
Tweaking sharpness and NR should be native and available in Stock camera app in manual mode
Shame on you LG!
wayne_sk said:
ProShot for me. Little slow to focus but with ISO 50 and NR off the daylight shots are just amazing.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riseupgames.proshot2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dawabz94 said:
You made my day! Thank you!
This one (especially ability to switch off NR) gives me the best from the G4
Tweaking sharpness and NR should be native and available in Stock camera app in manual mode
Shame on you LG!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, just tried, and ProShot's no NR setting is amazing! Thanks
Kemby13 said:
no 3rd party camera app can fully utilize all of the G4's features and capabilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey Kemby13,
what exactly do you think can proshot or camera fv-5 or other camera apps not utilize from the hardware?
I'm considering buying the LG G4 but have similar thoughts as the thread starter. I'm comfortable with manual modes on cameras and shoot/edit raw with my DSLR but I'm looking for more or better auto modes than the stock camera app can offer. Also lots of reviews show that the auto mode of the G4 is not as good as images taken in auto mode with other smartphones (I'm not speaking of what the LG camera is capable of once it is used in manual mode). I thought that maybe other apps give better images in auto modes than the stock app (plus more options/scene modes). I often find myself in situations where I don't have the time to setup in manual mode but would like to tell the app to at least use a fast shutter speed (sports mode) etc.
my second concern is because I love custom roms. and even though there are hardly any out there for the G4 I'd still try the few available ones and would need a good camera app. Proshot etc will work on any rom (yes, the shutter speed is reduced to max. 0,7).
But what else would I be losing?
To the thread starter: have you reached a solution? I'd be very curious to know.
Thx and greetz,
vercetti.
Proshot doesn't have HDR that I can find. I don't recall if Camera FV-5 does but I prefer the custom modes of Proshot to FV-5.
I would settle for an app that can take pictures using flash in half the time that mine currently does.
I am waiting for Almalence's Better Camera to support camera api2 on the LG G4, so we can test its SUPER mode on our phone, similar to Google Camera's HDR+. I wonder how it would compare to LG's own Night mode.
According to the developper, it's planned and in alpha stage.
Did you guys find any app that can get to 30" shutter speed? It seems like I can only get that with the stock app.
Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk
hi there, updates on this? i think proshot now is optimized to lg g4. anyone confirm?
How about now? Still no updates?

SNAP Camera settings guide?

Hi there.
Anyone know of a guide for the optimal configuration of SNAP camera for the LG G3?
Thx
I just use the default settings, sometimes i change the exposure or contrast but overall i enjoy the pictures taken with Snap camera. Although I do find the HDR a bit too slow and the Snap gallery is rather a feature I never use.
I've used Snap camera as my main camera app on various roms (AICP, cm, euphoria,...) and performance is equal on every rom. It's a decent replacement for the lg camera on aosp roms but the stock camera and image processing stays the best option for taking pictures on the G3
frandroid-v95 said:
I just use the default settings, sometimes i change the exposure or contrast but overall i enjoy the pictures taken with Snap camera. Although I do find the HDR a bit too slow and the Snap gallery is rather a feature I never use.
I've used Snap camera as my main camera app on various roms (AICP, cm, euphoria,...) and performance is equal on every rom. It's a decent replacement for the lg camera on aosp roms but the stock camera and image processing stays the best option for taking pictures on the G3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool. Thx for the info. I'm not a photography nut, but wanted to configure it as best possible. AOSP features mean more to me than photo quality. I'm happy with SNAPs quality overall. Just wanted to see if I had it correctly configured.

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