Develop Bugs

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?
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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?

Camera Modes - what does HQ actually do ?

As they title said I tied to find out but am at a loss in trying to find out exactly what is happening when we use the HQ mode in the camera app.
In night scenes it seems to produce a better photo but the shutter speed is the same. One plus have not really said what they have changed since the HD to HQ update so wondered if anyone could let me know ? Is it an extra stop in exposure maybe ?

Just watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md3Ow6AEwLU
(HD recently got renamed to HQ)

Mine still says HQ
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using XDA-Developers mobile app

jdawgg21 said:
Mine still says HQ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It used to be hd then they changed it to hq

AcmE85 said:
Just watch this video:
(HD recently got renamed to HQ)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the video but it didn't really answer my question as it was only a comparison.
That video just compared the 2 options of HD (which has slightly changed since they renamed it to HQ) and HDR. It does not explain what kind of post processing happens apart from staying it used a de noise filter. I wonder what "exactly" is happening with exposure, contrast, saturation etc when you use this HQ mode ?
If anyone knows that would be really helpful.

Crap. I read it wrong. I thought it said HQ recently got changed to HD. And does anyone elses HQ lag like crazy?
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using XDA-Developers mobile app

jdawgg21 said:
Crap. I read it wrong. I thought it said HQ recently got changed to HD. And does anyone elses HQ lag like crazy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not suffering any lag on mine however I am not rooted and complete stock ? How about you ?

ipmanwck said:
Not suffering any lag on mine however I am not rooted and complete stock ? How about you ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is rooted and running the Elemental Kernel. So I guess that's probably it.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using XDA-Developers mobile app

@jdawgg21 Nope, that's not it.
When using HQ in lowlight, it automatically reduces shutter-speed even more compared to the already lower speed in auto-mode.
Lower shutter-speed = lower framerate
1/30s = 30fps
1/10 (mostly when using HQ) = 10 fps
When others say they don't see the lag, it must only mean they did not test this in the same lighting conditions as you did.
It "lags" here too and so does it on every device which will use 1/10 or even lower shutter speed which shows you a real-time preview of what the image will approximately look like when taking the shot.

AcmE85 said:
@jdawgg21 Nope, that's not it.
When using HQ in lowlight, it automatically reduces shutter-speed even more compared to the already lower speed in auto-mode.
Lower shutter-speed = lower framerate
1/30s = 30fps
1/10 (mostly when using HQ) = 10 fps
When others say they don't see the lag, it must only mean they did not test this in the same lighting conditions as you did.
It "lags" here too and so does it on every device which will use 1/10 or even lower shutter speed which shows you a real-time preview of what the image will approximately look like when taking the shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finally a sensible answer. Thanks man. I had been asking around and Juan Bagnel said it's probably doing something like a dslr de noise function so what you said makes sense I have only used it indoors with artificial light so probably had no lag but so is what is displayed on the screen if it is leggy is representative of the shutter speed ?

I have heard from a Carl Pei interview that the camera is the reason for the phone having 6gb of ram because it snaps 4 photos at the same time we snap one photo. The phone then automatically chooses the best one photo of those four photos. I reckon that is also a probable answer due to the lag you are experiencing.
Skickat från min ONEPLUS A3003 via Tapatalk

markusviktorius said:
I have heard from a Carl Pei interview that the camera is the reason for the phone having 6gb of ram because it snaps 4 photos at the same time we snap one photo. The phone then automatically chooses the best one photo of those four photos. I reckon that is also a probable answer due to the lag you are experiencing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, this is not the answer for the "lag". Why doesn't it lag in good lighting then?
I already gave the correct explanation for this.
As an example: I don't know if you have experience with the OnePlus One. It also started lagging much heavier in lowlightconditions due to the low shutter-speed.
Eventually, Sultan released his modded camera hal which forced the camera to not go below 1/30s on the shutter-speed.
The result was a perfectly fluid viewfinder regardless of the lighting conditions.
I am only talking about the fluidity of the viewfinder here. (Shutter-speed and video-framerate is a whole different story not to be mixed-up here...)
I've seen this interview too,
but I don't agree with him that it takes the best of these 4, instead I think that it somehow combines them into one.
This often results in more blurry pictures, even in good lighting!
Check this video I did on this issue:
http://www108.zippyshare.com/v/KidtanPE/file.html
As you can already see in the video, all images were taken without HQ or HDR. You can clearly see this when taking a picture and quickly swiping to the gallery.
For an instant, you will see the unprocessed picture which quickly changes as processing is being applied! Sometimes to the worse though :/
This gets more pronounced the more the ISO level goes up on a shot.
I was holding my phone as steady as possible and you can see that the shots which are displayed first look sharp before postprocessing.
So how can this be explained when, as Carl says, "the camera takes the best out of 4 shots"?!?

I first thought that in HQ mode, the camera is doing Dynamic Denoise
Grainy pictures are a thing of the past with Dynamic De-noise, which takes several photos and compares them to reduce noise and improve clarity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source
However GSMA review says that the Denoise function gets activated automatically when there is minimum handshake and is not dependent on modes.
A few other things I have noticed.
1) On 3.1.x the noise suppression was very aggressive, almost like a water paint effect. On 3.2.x, the photos are more natural. Still less noise that normal mode.
2) The minimum shutter speed in HQ mode is 1/10 while without HQ it is 1/17
3) RAW is disabled in HDR as well as HQ modes. This makes me think that the HQ (like HDR) is using multiple snaps to filter noise that is Dynamic denoise. If you quickly switch image preview after clicking a pic, you can see the transition from normal to HQ happening. This is definitely not normal noise reduction.

ungeeked said:
This makes me think that the HQ (like HDR) is using multiple snaps to filter noise that is Dynamic denoise. If you quickly switch image preview after clicking a pic, you can see the transition from normal to HQ happening. This is definitely not normal noise reduction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I said in my post right above yours and it even happens when HQ and HDR are disabled.
Check the linked video. I bet this is what you mean.
I hate this behavior, often faces are smoothed out because of this, even in perfect lighting conditions.

Hi, it seems the HQ mode does not generate RAW file, someone He checked?

manu.mr64 said:
Hi, it seems the HQ mode does not generate RAW file, someone He checked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A raw file is a photographic negative without any processing applied to it.
So even when the app would generate a raw file in HQ mode,
it would not look any different than the raw file created with HQ disabled.
My best bet is that the app is saving its resources for the HQ postprcessing,
thus completely skipping the raw part intentionally.

AcmE85 said:
A raw file is a photographic negative without any processing applied to it.
So even when the app would generate a raw file in HQ mode,
it would not look any different than the raw file created with HQ disabled.
My best bet is that the app is saving its resources for the HQ postprcessing,
thus completely skipping the raw part intentionally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK understand, thank you very much

Camera blurring/anti-aliasing issue?

Something doesn't quite seem right with the camera quality. I've toggled between both lenses and suspect it could be the included camera app. I've briefly tested with Camera ZOOM FX Premium and yield grainier results. I just installed cstark27's Google Camera and will give that a go, but I wanted to see if my results are typical or if my particular device is flawed. Perhaps needless to say: the included photo has no filter. HDR was enabled, however. This is with stock app.

Hiyoto said:
Perhaps needless to say: the included photo has no filter. HDR was enabled, however. This is with stock app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should disable HDR in the first place for indoor footage. In camera ZOOM FX Premium HDR is disabled, what makes you to enable HDR in stock one?

It worked really well with the HTC 10.

Hiyoto said:
It worked really well with the HTC 10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So? Then take app of HTC camera and install it on G7, it'd probably work well too

I can try it, but considering core apps moved to another device tend to need to be modified to function properly (example being GCam), this strikes me as poor advice.
I'm more concerned over why the included app seems to be applying some kind of beautifying filter that makes it lose finer details.

Evidence of attempt.

Core is very limited in how it can be configured.

Hiyoto said:
Core is very limited in how it can be configured.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have HDR set to Auto. This causes applying some kind of beautifying filter that makes it lose finer details. Turn it off

Best Camera App for A2 Lite - Camera2 API required

Google Camera (all versions) running Pie OS has been very hit and miss in the focus problem, and therefore until a developer or OTA update can fix this issue, it is not recommended for pictures that matter. It is inconsistent as to when these issues occur. This being the case, if you are plagued with the Pie update, your camera performance results will not always be good.
After extensive testing with many hundreds of comparative photos taken with many camera apps this is the simple final conclusion:
Note that all these (except the stock app) require Camera2 API. Instructions elsewhere on this site.
For outdoor photos in bright light: Winner Stock A2 Lite camera app with the following settings:
Picture Quality:High, Contrast:Low, Saturation:High, Sharpness:High. These settings tend to take faster photos than HDR with similar results.
Note that all the camera apps work about the same in overall picture quality and only minor emphasis on color variations. While the google Cameras had a better saturation and warmer tone, the HDR artifacts in the sky make the photos only usable at lower screen resolutions. That limits your ability to crop or enlarge to bigger sizes. The stock camera did not exhibit these with HDR on.
For Indoor and low light: Winner in every test was the Pixel 2 camera app (GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk) with HDR off or on depending on light levels. It produced sharp photos with surprisingly good clarity. The stock app was normally muddy and gcam 6+ was too grainy. As a bonus, the portrait mode zooms in (like the gcam 6+, which makes people look less distorted) and there is a motion video option (not tested yet) and lens blur that works better than the 2 lens system of the stock app, but the photos become only 5mp. Like the GCam 6+, HDR for solid color areas (like sky) had the same pattern. Haven't played with all the developer settings yet.
For ultra low light: Winner is the Google Camera 6 (MGC_6.1.013_MiMAX2_V1b_A8.1+fix_Hexagon_failed+blFront.apk) using the night sight feature found under More > Night. The idiosyncrasies of spontaneous app closure when a second shot is desired is annoying, however the results from their algorithm of image stacking is very well done. It also works well to create the smooth water motion for water falls and cascades, but only in dim light.
The gcam 5 app (GCamera_Mod_v.5.1.23_R5Plus_fix_crash.apk), that interestingly the pixel 2 app is based on, did not win in any category.
So I now have 3 camera apps to choose from depending on the photo required. Download an icon app to distinguish the 3 easily. I would imagine these results would be similar on other phones as well.
A note on HDR. None of the phone camera apps do HDR the way it is intended. In normal photography, HDR lightens areas in shadows and darkens blown out bright areas for a more usable photo by combining under exposed, properly exposed and overexposed images that are stacked and aligned. In all the camera apps tested, it makes little difference to shadows and even made shadows darker in the gcam HDR modes. What it does when needed is take multiple underexposed images (each at a faster exposure or lower ISO) and combine to increase (not decrease) contrast for a more vivid (but often artificial) contrast look, while better saturating colors and less noise for hand held images in low light. To do a proper HDR, you need to bracket the exposure and combine in photo shop (PS). There are phone apps that allow exposure bracketing and create the HDR in PS if you really want to get that involved. HDR+ only uses HDR when needed and HDR+ Enhanced the HDR is always on. When no HDR icon is visible, HDR is the HDR+ on when needed (auto mode).
I am currently running pie, and random focus issues have been surfacing for all the gcams. I read a comment that may be an issue with pie vs oreo, although not certain. It seems like Android One users are Google Beta testers. Pies battery life is much worse and no way to see what apps are causing the drain. I suspect it will get fixed in an update. Not for this forum though, there are already many out there for this issue. Main camera is set to Nexus 6P and Front camera a Nexus 5. I read elsewhere that this was optimal, but did not test if the others made any difference. The Nexus phones DO NOT use the same camera (sensor & Lens) on either the Front or Back camera so I am uncertain how much difference the setting actually makes. Most of the other settings were left as installed, although I am still testing to see if any improve the quality. Please chime in if you find any improvements and I will test and update this post. There is always room for improvements.
I would really welcome a more stable google camera build without the focus, night sight and HDR pattern issues. If someone has a line to the developer of these modded apps, please let them know.

Hi, thanks for sharing this. Do you have any specific settings for any of these apps? (Besides HDR)

Which gcam do you use for front selfies? On r5plus mod i get dank front selfies in good lighting but struggles so much on low light so much grain, noise and distortion. Or do you have any specific settings? Thanks

RyanHardy said:
Hi, thanks for sharing this. Do you have any specific settings for any of these apps? (Besides HDR)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will do some more experimentation and update the post when I finish. It is very time consuming for the developer settings do not have easy explanations as to what they do.

bon122728 said:
Which gcam do you use for front selfies? On r5plus mod i get dank front selfies in good lighting but struggles so much on low light so much grain, noise and distortion. Or do you have any specific settings? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pixel 2 for selfies, but HDR must be off for the photo to record. BTW, the flash works, but not sure it is any better then ambient light. Main issue is the 5mp front camera is a bit outdated. Lipstick on a pig is still a pig.

thanks and keep up the good work!
i think test results need to be explained a bit more detailed. for ex. oreo or pie based? you know, it's reported a lot that pie has gcams' losing focus issues (mostly with flash, blurry photos)
and yes, HDR and saturation (or maybe more) settings sharing would be better...

Hi rob1,
there are 6 GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk in this link https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/.
which apk is that?
N6PbsgfixPortrait-GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk
bsgfixPortrait-GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk
bsgfix-GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk
MI8_V1_N6_GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk
OP6_N6_GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk
Arnova's v8.2: GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk
thanks!

dyobetem said:
Hi rob1,
there are 6 GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk in this link https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/.
which apk is that?
N6PbsgfixPortrait-GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk
bsgfixPortrait-GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk
bsgfix-GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk
MI8_V1_N6_GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk
OP6_N6_GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk
Arnova's v8.2: GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Arnova's v8.2: GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.2.apk (Arnova8G2, 2018-08-13, changelog)
Although I am not certain if it is the best. When visiting the rose parade floats, there were random times where focus was an issue. I will experiment further with other versions. Many of the apks that are not compatible will just not start up (black screen or return to home screen). It would be nice to find a more stable version.

I agree except for the stock camera For outdoor photos in bright light... textures are always "muddier" than gcam to me. It can have a more precise light sometimes but it's a price not worth to pay IMO. If someone doesn't want to be bothered I'd suggest to use only the google camera 6 in order to have at hand always the night mode, arnova is generally sharper but you need to fully zoom it to spot the difference... i noticed also that the night mode of camera 6 produces better results than arnova even in mid/low light scenes but not always and not for all the shots... smt i make two shots with arnova and camera 6 night mode and keep the best... pity that camera 6 doesn't allow to be started by double tapping on the power button though.

Are you running Pie or Oreo? Are you having intermittent focus issues with the gcams? Will night sight always allow a second night sight photo without restarting the camera app? Have you looked at a solid blue sky with HDR on any gcam, and is there a pattern there? Thank you.
BTW, all my tests I enlarged the photos to 100% pixel level and more in PS comparing many areas of the photo in unison.

rob.1 said:
Are you running Pie or Oreo? Are you having intermittent focus issues with the gcams? Will night sight always allow a second night sight photo without restarting the camera app? Have you looked at a solid blue sky with HDR on any gcam, and is there a pattern there? Thank you.
BTW, all my tests I enlarged the photos to 100% pixel level and more in PS comparing many areas of the photo in unison.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running Pie, i do have some refocusing (but often it stops) but only in very low light condition. I didn't experience problems on second shots of night mode but smt it quits when i select night mode though. I do remember sometimes to see a pattern but only in night mode and in bright light I think. That was also a reason for not to use always the night mode btw... will do a shot on a deep blu sky when I'll see it but as far as I remember I didn't see this issue with arnova at least

I use one Gcam app called "Gcamera" is only in english and hdr front camera works..but is a older version of gcam and don't have a night mode photo etc, IMHO the best choice is for video on 60fps the xiaomi camera (in Pie update 60fps is enable) , for general video and photo gcam (a lot of optimization and hdr+) , and for selfies gcam with hdr off..waiting for it to work.

Andreagia1994 said:
I use one Gcam app called "Gcamera" is only in english and hdr front camera works..but is a older version of gcam and don't have a night mode photo etc, IMHO the best choice is for video on 60fps the xiaomi camera (in Pie update 60fps is enable) , for general video and photo gcam (a lot of optimization and hdr+) , and for selfies gcam with hdr off..waiting for it to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't test it toroughly but I had the impression the video to be more stabilized and better detailed with arnova than the stock one... moreover I can use H265 to encode it...

btw i do have focusing problems with gcam and pie...

At the moment, the only solution for focus Gcam problem, Is change 4:3 to 16:9 and restart the app...

? i'm always in 16:9 but when I switch it doesn't work anyway...

biasiman said:
? i'm always in 16:9 but when I switch it doesn't work anyway...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to force close the app, after changing the size

it's just terrible any news for update gcam app to handle pie?

This developer's works great for me, no crashes on night sight so far and more customisable
https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/dev-backrider/
Just don't switch to the front camera and photobooth or you have to force stop the camera to be able to save images

Try the bulkin043 V8Y
---------- Post added at 11:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:59 AM ----------
It is optimized for mi a2 but some said everything works except hdr on the front cam
---------- Post added at 11:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:01 AM ----------
https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/dev-bulkin043/
---------- Post added at 11:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:03 AM ----------
On ver 5r the development said he has fix the focus too.

Question alternative "real" camaras software with full access?

So I basically read everywhere the phones camera app is even worse than what you get on other phones (hardware is still great though).
What alternatives are there, and do they have full hardware access and raw export for all cameras without compromising on image quality?
So what a basic photo app should do (I can't believe that I have to ask for something basic like this) is that I want to set a shutter speed it supposed to use. Camera app should do the exposure and adjust ISO and aperture (if there).
Then 2nd important thing (usually first but hey, google lowered the low standards even more), settings should be saved, if I get my cam out of the pocket again I don't want to dial in the settings again. Just remember it like every real camera does.
3rd is a dreamland level of feature (also normal on real cameras): setting a base shutter speed to freeze action have the camera compensate with ISO and aperture till it reaches the upper limit and raising the shutter speed at the lower limit so I don't get overexposure but always have a fast shutterspeed to freeze movement.
So are there apps out there that do this and do they get full sensor access?

It's actually more complicated than just "hardware is great, software is crap". A lot of the technology that makes Pixels one of the best point and shoot cameras on smartphones, is actually in the google camera app (utilizing the Camera2 API). Google has recently developed a new CameraX API. Its first release was about a week ago and has a long way to go.
Unfortunately, Google has removed some of the manual settings over the years, and has moved towards intelligent processing techniques that are done automatically. For example, manual HDR modes have been removed in favor of the auto-processing used in the app.
Unless somebody develops a new app, utilizing the CameraX library extensions, you won't be finding these things you've asked for. Pixels don't have a manual mode like other phones (such has Samsung for example).
There is a new camera app that the devs behind GraphenOS have created, using the new CameraX API. Someone posted information about it recently. There's also a modified gcam mod specifically for Pixels, made by team MWP. It has some features such ISO, focus and exposure sliders (the non-beta version has more features so download that version).
The official google camera app shoots in RAW format. OpenCamera (by Mark Harman) is also a favorite for many enthusiasts. Last week a user forked it to add a few options for the Pixel 6.
So you have 3 or 4 options listed above, plus the different camera apps on the play store (such as Procam X and Manual Camera). But over the years, it seems that the official google camera app, results in the best quality (but we can now include the MWP gcam mod since it has been modified with most recent google camera versions and works with the Pixel 6/6Pro without any bugs).

Alekos said:
Unfortunately, Google has removed some of the manual settings over the years, and has moved towards intelligent processing techniques that are done automatically. For example, manual HDR modes have been removed in favor of the auto-processing used in the app.
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An alarming trend, smartphone camera software has never been the most useful and not its getting even worse.
No amount of AI magic is going to recognize that a now still standing person is going to do something fast the next second that I would like to capture with a shutter speed of 1/1000. Also not going to anticipate the cat jumping and me wanting to get that unblurred.
I don't care about AI processing, photo editing has nothing to do with a camera software in my opinion and should happen after the shot was taken and not during. I'm old, I do my own edits. But I would like to have the full quality sensor readout in a DNG file and no compromises on image quality.

nurps said:
An alarming trend, smartphone cameras have never been the most useful and not its getting even worse.
No amount of AI magic is going to recognize that a now still standing person is going to do something fast the next second that I would like to capture with a shutter speed of 1/1000. Also not going to anticipate the cat jumping and me wanting to get that unblurred.
I don't care about AI processing, photo editing has nothing to do with a camera software in my opinion and should happen after the shot was taken and not during. I'm old, I do my own edits. But I would like to have the full quality sensor readout in a DNG file and no compromises on image quality.
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Similar as you, I am 65 and shooting with Canon DSLR for longer than I can remember, I always want to control everything myself. I am now shooting with an app called "ProShot" on the P6P which you can get for I think $5 from the Play Store. It almost worked like a DSLR or mirrorless. I don't care about the AI, I shoot in raw and edit all the photos in Photoshop after moving them to my computer. I think you can download it as a free trial before you made a decision.

Have you noticed any quality differences between stock and ProShot raws on any of the 3 cameras? I remember ProShot from my S8 days.

nurps said:
Have you noticed any quality differences between stock and ProShot raws on any of the 3 cameras? I remember ProShot from my S8 days.
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For raws, I don't see any difference. Jpeg is different story due to Google's AI. Anyway, download it and give a try and see the results if they are your liking.

I'm still on the level what phone to buy for best camera experience, so I don't own it yet.

nurps said:
I'm still on the level what phone to buy for best camera experience, so I don't own it yet.
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I see! If just based camera hardware, you have a lot choices, Xiaomi, Samsung perhaps better than the pixel. I don't shoot with phone that much. I came from Samsung Galaxy 21 Ultra to the P6P, it is because I need to root the phone to enable I can use call recorder.

IP68 is must, Samsung S22U raws look really awful though, not much detail there, oversharpeing artifacts at raw level.

Wedding photographer here and personally i find it a breath of fresh air to just point and shoot and get something without resorting to raw and messing about in an editing package, swings and roundabouts i guess.
On a side note the aperture of the lenses on a smartphone are that wide you tend to get really fast shutter speeds anyway even with pretty mediocre light, i took a photo the other day, it was a bright'ish day with about 50% cloud and the shutter speed was 1/5814 at f2.2 using the wide angle lens.

nurps said:
Have you noticed any quality differences between stock and ProShot raws on any of the 3 cameras? I remember ProShot from my S8 days.
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I use exclusively ProShot when shooting RAW. RAW files from the Google camera app miss information. That's why the size of its DNG files are smaller (about half) and vary from shot to shot. With RAW this should not be the case. However, ProShot only supports RAW for the default back lens like any other 3rd party app I am aware of. I hope that Google enables 3rd party access to the other 2 back lenses for RAW in the future.
In fact, my default app is now ProShot. The dev is very responsive and addressed several issues I brought up with him.

Thing is If you are going to shoot raw and disown the Google camera app then there is not much point in owning a pixel really. The whole point of a Pixel from a photography point of view is Googles computational photography, without that the camera hardware is pretty average and surpassed by a number of other phone manufacturers.

stbxxl said:
I use exclusively ProShot when shooting RAW. RAW files from the Google camera app miss information. That's why the size of its DNG files are smaller (about half) and vary from shot to shot. With RAW this should not be the case. However, ProShot only supports RAW for the default back lens like any other 3rd party app I am aware of. I hope that Google enables 3rd party access to the other 2 back lenses for RAW in the future.
In fact, my default app is now ProShot. The dev is very responsive and addressed several issues I brought up with him.
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Shooting Raw on Google's camera app is giving you compressed raw files, which when compared to uncompressed raw there's virtually no difference. Unless you mess up the exposure by like 5 stops, you ain't gaining anything more by shooting Raw with a seperate app.... especially on a phone.

Bwyan Benton said:
Shooting Raw on Google's camera app is giving you compressed raw files, which when compared to uncompressed raw there's virtually no difference. Unless you mess up the exposure by like 5 stops, you ain't gaining anything more by shooting Raw with a seperate app.... especially on a phone.
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I have found that the DNG files produced with Google's camera app are missing certain metadata. For example GPS location etc. The DNG file from ProShot has this info. While this is not important to everybody, it is important to me.
Additionally I prefer using ProShot since it has more manual controls, offers a histogram and allows setting separate exposure and focus points. Even when "only" shooting in JPG I find the pictures more pleasing than the ones from Google's camera app which tend to be over processed to some extend as far as I am concerned.

stbxxl said:
I have found that the DNG files produced with Google's camera app are missing certain metadata. For example GPS location etc. The DNG file from ProShot has this info. While this is not important to everybody, it is important to me.
Additionally I prefer using ProShot since it has more manual controls, offers a histogram and allows setting separate exposure and focus points. Even when "only" shooting in JPG I find the pictures more pleasing than the ones from Google's camera app which tend to be over processed to some extend as far as I am concerned.
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When I take photos with my 6 pro and edit the RAW files in Lightroom, my GPS location is still attached after I export the image. Perhaps you should check the settings in Lightroom (if that's what you use) when exporting the photo and see if it's off. I believe by default it is off. I used proshot a lot back in the day, but now I find it totally incomparable to google camera, not to mention buggy AF. But to each their own.

Bwyan Benton said:
When I take photos with my 6 pro and edit the RAW files in Lightroom, my GPS location is still attached after I export the image. Perhaps you should check the settings in Lightroom (if that's what you use) when exporting the photo and see if it's off. I believe by default it is off. I used proshot a lot back in the day, but now I find it totally incomparable to google camera, not to mention buggy AF. But to each their own.
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In my experience, the GPS location is only embedded in the JPG file that comes with the DNG file when using Google's camera app. I checked with several programs including ACDSee Ultimate (I switched from Lightroom years ago because of its better editing tools and no annual subscription). Btw, Google Photos also doesn't show the location of the DNG file but does for the JPG file.

stbxxl said:
In my experience, the GPS location is only embedded in the JPG file that comes with the DNG file when using Google's camera app. I checked with several programs including ACDSee Ultimate (I switched from Lightroom years ago because of its better editing tools and no annual subscription). Btw, Google Photos also doesn't show the location of the DNG file but does for the JPG file.
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Interesting, I'm looking at photos I took just yesterday, dngs and they have the location info attached in Google photos. As well as photos I took a few days ago.

Bwyan Benton said:
Interesting, I'm looking at photos I took just yesterday, dngs and they have the location info attached in Google photos. As well as photos I took a few days ago.
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Interesting indeed. I don't know what's different with my 6 Pro. I have never gotten location info for DNG files. When I use the 19 mm lens for RAW photos (not supported by 3rd party apps) I also copy the JPG file into ACDSee Ultimate and copy and paste its metadata into the DNG file. Not a big deal, but why is this necessary (at least for my setup)?

stbxxl said:
Interesting indeed. I don't know what's different with my 6 Pro. I have never gotten location info for DNG files. When I use the 19 mm lens for RAW photos (not supported by 3rd party apps) I also copy the JPG file into ACDSee Ultimate and copy and paste its metadata into the DNG file. Not a big deal, but why is this necessary (at least for my setup)?
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I just went back to the beginning of Feb looking through photos, not all of them were dngs, but I know which ones were, and they all have my location info attached. I like to have that as well as you, so know you have me double checking and making sure lol. But for me it's all there.

I've always used the google camera app when I'm in a hurry. Otherwise, I use
Camera FV-5