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?
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?

Alternative/Best Camera app for op3?

Are Camera apps other than stock that offer same or better quality/focus for crisper images? Just wondering.
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A camera with a much better auto focus is what I am looking for also
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

What's the problem with your AF?
Mine works better than on any other phone I've had..

ptoner said:
A camera with a much better auto focus is what I am looking for also
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree, is there one? I saw someone who used Open Camera for "pro" Pictures but i havent tested it out yet.
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Apart from specific features and camera2api compatibility,
I did not find a single app yet which can compete with the stock camera app
in terms of general processing quality.
Sure, sometimes the stock app tends to overprocess images, but I guess they can further tweak this with future updates.
( check this video on this matter: http://www108.zippyshare.com/v/KidtanPE/file.html )
I often noticed that faces tend to be overly processed and thus result smoothed-out. This without using HQ or HDR which is bad!
Judging by this issue, it might be better to enable raw or use another app in specific situations.
In terms of white balance abd focus accuracy, they are all more or less the same.

AcmE85 said:
Sure, sometimes the stock app tends to overprocess images, but I guess they can further tweak this with future updates.
( check this video on this matter: http://www108.zippyshare.com/v/KidtanPE/file.html )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That link is virus as ****.
General balances can be edited but Focus cant. Would be great with an app that locks on a Little better when tapping the screen for Focus.
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markusviktorius said:
That link is virus as ****.
...
Would be great with an app that locks on a Little better when tapping the screen for Focus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for any inconvenience produced by this link. I am using an adblocker on my OP3 and my PC so I don't have any issues with zippyshare.
Regarding focus, when using the stock camera app you can lock focus by long pressing on a subject.
Personally I don't have focus issues. My only issue is the processing you can see in my video.
It might actually be the reason why some think that pictures are not correctly focused.
They appear sharp at first, but get blurry after processing has been applied.
I can upload somewhere else if you want. Just tell me a hoster.

AcmE85 said:
Sorry for any inconvenience produced by this link. I am using an adblocker on my OP3 and my PC so I don't have any issues with zippyshare.
Regarding focus, when using the stock camera app you can lock focus by long pressing on a subject.
Personally I don't have focus issues. My only issue is the processing you can see in my video.
It might actually be the reason why some think that pictures are not correctly focused.
They appear sharp at first, but get blurry after processing has been applied.
I can upload somewhere else if you want. Just tell me a hoster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, didnt think you did that on purpose. How about uploading to Youtube? Or any other Place, does not really matter. Oh, i honestly did not know.
I just know that i am too lazy for using the manual tweaks to get perfection?
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markusviktorius said:
How about uploading to Youtube? Or any other Place, does not really matter. Oh, i honestly did not know.
I just know that i am too lazy for using the manual tweaks to get perfection��
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There you go
This is a serious issue OnePlus needs to address and probably the reason many think they have focus issues.

AcmE85 said:
There you go
This is a serious issue OnePlus needs to address and probably the reason many think they have focus issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Mine does that too but it flickers 3 Times instead of your 1 time.
Yours get blurry the first time and so does mine, but mine moves back and forth one more time before settling with a pic that is as Good or almost as Good as the first pic shown.
Edit: actually now when i look at it it doesnt flicker in Good lighting, just in semi-poor to poor lighting for some reason..
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Yes, it differs with the lighting. It may sound strange but I was actually happier with the OPO in some situations
because it offered more consistency compared to the OP3 (in daylight).
Off course, the overall quality is much better on the OP3, especially in lowlight, but sometimes you won't know what the postprocessing will actually do with the final image,
mostly with slightly moving subjects (I am not talking about motion blur due to slow shutter-speed!).
I already did some pictures from people which appeared great at first inside the gallery, but then got destroyed by postprocessing!

AcmE85 said:
Yes, it differs with the lighting. It may sound strange but I was actually happier with the OPO in some situations
because it offered more consistency compared to the OP3 (in daylight).
Off course, the overall quality is much better on the OP3, especially in lowlight, but sometimes you won't know what the postprocessing will actually do with the final image,
mostly with slightly moving subjects (I am not talking about motion blur due to slow shutter-speed!).
I already did some pictures from people which appeared great at first inside the gallery, but then got destroyed by postprocessing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have obviously tested other apps such as Open camera and confirmed that the problem stays the same regardless of the app used?
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markusviktorius said:
You have obviously tested other apps such as Open camera and confirmed that the problem stays the same regardless of the app used?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, the OOS Camera App is the only app with this issue because it uses proprietary postprocessing to filter out noise, which is not available for other camera apps.
Other apps use the same "basic" postprocessing which is nearly identical in good lighting, or much worse in bad lighting compared to the OOS Camera.
Google Camera https://abload.de/img/img_20160723_001912tkqmo.jpg
Stock Camera https://abload.de/img/img_20160723_001920t9q4y.jpg
Google Camera https://abload.de/img/img_20160723_002156l7rpb.jpg
Stock Camera https://abload.de/img/img_20160723_002205h1q8y.jpg
In lowlight, no apps beats the OOS camera.
In daylight and depending on the subject you will often get more details with third-party apps, but more noise.
But I need to do more testing, especially when taking pictures of people to really see the differences.
In terms of focusing I did not see a difference. I might test Open Camera later.

For flawless quality, just enable DNG RAW file save and process images yourself. DNG files offer vastly superior dynamic range because the 31 MB files contain all red, green and blue subpixel data, unprocessed.
For wider range of manual controls, I recommend AZ Camera, it has full manual controls for video as well. I also like A Better Camera, I use it's HDR mode which has far superior (albeit grainy) multi-shot processing. Manual Camera is always an option, I just prefer AZ Camera because of video settings and I like AZ Screen recorder.
At the end of the day, stock app image quality is not that bad, though HDR is more denoised since oxygen OS 3.2.2.

It's clear that you can get the most out of a raw file, especially when using additional denoising algorithms on a PC.
This doesn't mean that this is a solution for everyone and we can't discuss this any further.
Some people just want to take their devices and snap the best possible photos without too much of an effort.
I took my fair share of raw photos, but often just don't want to.
In comparison with the OPO for example, the gap between the processed jpeg and the developed dng is not too far away on the OP3.
The OP3's processing still has much room for improvement in auto-mode though, as you can see in my YouTube video.
After some testing I can say that the perfect app highly depends on the lighting conditions.
... I will add more to this post later.

AcmE85 said:
Sorry for any inconvenience produced by this link. I am using an adblocker on my OP3 and my PC so I don't have any issues with zippyshare.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What Ad-Blocker are you using? I have ADP on Chrome but I still got a new window pop-up from that link (AV blocked link). And ADP on my OP3 frickin blocks all internet traffic sometimes, welp most of the times. So on OP3 i only have Ad-Away .. but it's pretty useless.

Adaway on OP3 and uBlock Origin on my PC running Chrome Beta 52.
ABP is slowing down Chrome compared to uBlock.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/uBlock-vs.-ABP:-efficiency-compared
/off-topic
Camera comparison
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/w3q0it8lgu6hsvl/AABAuFOsk6MKGs7Nn6uMpFXOa?dl=0
For best quality, download the whole package and watch on your PC.
Keep in mind that the Windows 10 standard photos app is a blurry mess and they still did not fix this issue!!!!
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...fea-889b-48e4-8368-1a2d2922dd0c?page=1&auth=1
Use the old picture viewer for example
OxygenOS Camera vs. Google Camera vs. Open Camera (camera2api enabled)
Running on OxygenOS 3.2.2
All pictures were taken handheld on auto-mode, no HQ or HDR or any additional modes enabled.
All with autofocus. All pictures were the first and only shots I did in this situations. I did not have to correct focal points or anything, just aim, snap & done.
What I can say so far is that in daylight (Photos 1, 2 and 5) there is almost no difference when comparing them on the OP3 screen.
Only noticeably difference are plain colored objects. There is still some minimal noise left with Open Camera and Google Camera.
The OOS Camera filters most of it without losing any details.
I have included one photo taken with Open Camera with camera2api disabled and it looks like there is no denoise filter enabled at all.
The exception to the rule is the photo showing Yoda (Photo 3).
At first glance there is no difference. When comparing at 100% crop you can see that the OOS Camera loses some slight details due to postprocessing.
On photo 4 I tried to darken the room. There is one photo which shows the proper lighting in that scene, by manually decreasing the exposure with OOS camera.
The improved postprocessing by the OOS Camera clearly wins here hands down. What can be observed is that all apps increase the exposure.
Weirdly, all have the same shutter-speed (1/17s), but although having the by far least amount of noise, the OOS camera uses a 6400 ISO, the other two a 3200 ISO!
I am pretty sure there is something wrong with exif data on the OOS Camera.
Photo 6 shows the Dark Tower^^
OOS Camera wins again. Once again 6400 vs 3200 ISO.
Photo 7 shows the same results as the first daylight shots.
Photo 8 was taken with artificial lighting. The results are equal to photo 4.
Basically the pictures and processing are identical on the Google Camera and Open Camera.
I had more apps installed, but earlier shots were showing the same results, so I did not include them into this comparison.
The OOS Camera basically wins every time in lowlight.
Daylight pictures are hard to judge as it tends to make them quite clean with its denoising (see Yoda!)
Google and Open Camera show a slightly more noise, but one could argue that they are preserving more detail.
As I already mentioned earlier, the OOS Camera sometimes goes way too far when there is slight movement involved in the scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbn9Lj6F6EM
that includes peoples faces in perfect lighting. I will continue shooting with Google Camera in these occasions to compare
the behaviour to the OOS Camera.
In terms of focus speed and accuracy, all apps performed the same.
I was using CM13 for a day, the day before it got official nightlies, and can say that camera quality
is identical to what you get with Google Camera on Oxygen OS.
Unfortunately this means that when you are going to do lowlight shots, you will get worse results.
I really hope we will get a fully working OOS camera port in the future.
Until then I am forced to stay on OxygenOS.
edit: Before I get any of these posts to just use manual mode or raw, or... this is not the goal of this comparison ok

AcmE85 said:
Yes, it differs with the lighting. It may sound strange but I was actually happier with the OPO in some situations
because it offered more consistency compared to the OP3 (in daylight).
Off course, the overall quality is much better on the OP3, especially in lowlight, but sometimes you won't know what the postprocessing will actually do with the final image,
mostly with slightly moving subjects (I am not talking about motion blur due to slow shutter-speed!).
I already did some pictures from people which appeared great at first inside the gallery, but then got destroyed by postprocessing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This solved my issue:
https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/...-post-processing.470510/page-14#post-16614706

camera FV-5

Google camera with hdr

Which camera is best?

Im little disappointed with op3 camera. I think opo camera is better than op3.
I want to know which camera is best for op3. The camera which comes by default sucks in quality..
Fv-5 camera from playstore is getting FC.
I'm on Freedom os.

Hate to break it to you but as far as I know, stock camera is best.

I am on stock ROM (have not updated to the 16-Aug update fearing I will loose VoLTE) and camera performance is decent in broad daylight however low light shots are not so good and full of noise.
As an alternative, I use Manual Camera (for Auto & Manual modes) however, I miss HDR which is only available on stock.

Camera is great. Maybe there is something wrong with your handset. There is another thread on xda regarding the pboto quality and people have posted so many amazing pics. Low light is average in automatic mode but in manual even low light is awesome.
Sent from my OnePlus 3 using XDA Labs
---------- Post added at 06:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 AM ----------
marcopolo said:
I am on stock ROM (have not updated to the 16-Aug update fearing I will loose VoLTE) and camera performance is decent in broad daylight however low light shots are not so good and full of noise.
As an alternative, I use Manual Camera (for Auto & Manual modes) however, I miss HDR which is only available on stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried the manual mode in low light? Keep the iso at about 400 and try using slow shutter speed depending on how steady your hands are. You'll definitely get a lot better result and very less noise. Also you can take a picture in raw and tone down the noise on photoshop. The automatic mode sucks.
Sent from my OnePlus 3 using XDA Labs

bonham1988 said:
Camera is great. Maybe there is something wrong with your handset. There is another thread on xda regarding the pboto quality and people have posted so many amazing pics. Low light is average in automatic mode but in manual even low light is awesome.
Sent from my OnePlus 3 using XDA Labs
---------- Post added at 06:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 AM ----------
Have you tried the manual mode in low light? Keep the iso at about 400 and try using slow shutter speed depending on how steady your hands are. You'll definitely get a lot better result and very less noise. Also you can take a picture in raw and tone down the noise on photoshop. The automatic mode sucks.
Sent from my OnePlus 3 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried in the stock camera however results are not so good however, manual camera fixes everything (with customized shutter speed, EV & ISO mixture.

marcopolo said:
Tried in the stock camera however results are not so good however, manual camera fixes everything (with customized shutter speed, EV & ISO mixture.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had pretty good results with the stock camera but yes manual camera is indeed one of the finest apps out there. Simple and great app. I would love if oneplus could do some rework on their camera app and make the automatic mode a bit better as not everyone knows and wants to shoot in manual mode.
Sent from my OnePlus 3 using XDA Labs

HDR+ on vs HDR+ Enhanced?

When searching for this, the explanations make it more confusing. Can anybody help?
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using XDA-Developers Legacy app

+1

HDR+ is basically the old HDR auto mode. It may or may not use HDR depending on conditions.
The HDR+ Enhanced mode is now the HDR on mode. It will always use HDR.

brkshr said:
HDR+ is basically the old HDR auto mode. It may or may not use HDR depending on conditions.
The HDR+ Enhanced mode is now the HDR on mode. It will always use HDR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, man
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using XDA-Developers Legacy app

This isn't correct. The HDR plus on is the always on mode that is default. It constantly takes underexposed photos and combines them to create better color and dynamic range. The HDR enhanced is the classic HDR that's on most phones that takes a underexposed, regular and over exposed photo and combines them for a bigger effect. This takes longer and is effected by movement very easily.

dakalter said:
This isn't correct. The HDR plus on is the always on mode that is default. It constantly takes underexposed photos and combines them to create better color and dynamic range. The HDR enhanced is the classic HDR that's on most phones that takes a underexposed, regular and over exposed photo and combines them for a bigger effect. This takes longer and is effected by movement very easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So which one would you say is better to take photos on? Sorry, I am a noob when it comes to photography

The default is good for most situations and is the one Google works to improve the most. It's very fast at that setting as well.

I'm not even seeing HDR options in my camera. Isn't it normally at the top?
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biggiestuff said:
I'm not even seeing HDR options in my camera. Isn't it normally at the top?
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a toggle somewhere in the camera settings that will make it appear at the top
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Okay, just revisiting this thread now that 8.1 is out and visual core is enabled. Am I right to think HDR+Enhanced is the one to leave it on? Should be faster than ever now with the dedicated co-processor. Dunno? That is what I have it set to now. Thoughts?

dakalter said:
This isn't correct. The HDR plus on is the always on mode that is default. It constantly takes underexposed photos and combines them to create better color and dynamic range. The HDR enhanced is the classic HDR that's on most phones that takes a underexposed, regular and over exposed photo and combines them for a bigger effect. This takes longer and is effected by movement very easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not my understanding
Sorry everyone, but HDR+ Enhanced is nothing special. Google just renamed the strings to better reflect how HDR+ works in the Google Camera app.
<string name="hdr_auto_desc">HDR+ on</string>
<string name="hdr_on_desc">HDR+ enhanced</string>
<string name="hdr_plus_auto_desc">HDR Plus on</string>
<string name="hdr_plus_on_desc">HDR Plus enhanced</string>
As you can see in the above strings, taken from an APK teardown of the latest Google Camera app, what was previously known as HDR+ Auto is now HDR+ On and what was once known as HDR+ On is now HDR+ Enhanced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.xda-developers.com/download-google-camera-motion-photo/

brkshr said:
This is not my understanding
https://www.xda-developers.com/download-google-camera-motion-photo/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, dakalter is right. HDR+ constantly takes underexposed photos which get combined, and HDR+ Enhanced takes under, regular, and over-exposed photos which are combined. I can't find the link, but this info comes directly from Google.

v12xke said:
Okay, just revisiting this thread now that 8.1 is out and visual core is enabled. Am I right to think HDR+Enhanced is the one to leave it on? Should be faster than ever now with the dedicated co-processor. Dunno? That is what I have it set to now. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using enhanced, I don't notice any speed difference. I'm on the 8.1 DP2.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using XDA-Developers Legacy app

v12xke said:
Okay, just revisiting this thread now that 8.1 is out and visual core is enabled. Am I right to think HDR+Enhanced is the one to leave it on? Should be faster than ever now with the dedicated co-processor. Dunno? That is what I have it set to now. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Visual core is not going to impact photos taken by the stock camera app. MAYBE processing speed, but not capture speed or results. It's only meant to bring the greatness of the camera to other apps.

beezar said:
No, dakalter is right. HDR+ constantly takes underexposed photos which get combined, and HDR+ Enhanced takes under, regular, and over-exposed photos which are combined. I can't find the link, but this info comes directly from Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. I'll look into it more. thanks

i assume one is for full Auto and the other is for forced HDR + google's optimizations for like landscapes? can anyone confirm?

v12xke said:
Okay, just revisiting this thread now that 8.1 is out and visual core is enabled. Am I right to think HDR+Enhanced is the one to leave it on? Should be faster than ever now with the dedicated co-processor. Dunno? That is what I have it set to now. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stock camera doesn't use the visual core yet, so you won't notice any improvements.
Google either needs to update the camera app for this to work, or someone needs to release a modded camera app that looks towards the visual core instead of the 835 ISP.

Why the visual core is not enabled by default on 8.1?why do we have to enable it in dev option?

gm007 said:
Why the visual core is not enabled by default on 8.1?why do we have to enable it in dev option?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The visual core is enabled but Google has said that the default camera app will not benefit from it.
---------- Post added at 09:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:32 AM ----------
This is a nice explanation from a Google expert in case anyone is still confused: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/forum/AAAAb4-OgUsm-vlRaL8w_Y/?hl=by
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Something else worth noting is that turning HDR+ Enhanced on disables Motion Photos, while just HDR+ allows Motion Photos.

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
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It is optimized for mi a2 but some said everything works except hdr on the front cam
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https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/dev-bulkin043/
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On ver 5r the development said he has fix the focus too.