So I downloaded the latest version of google camera port on my HTC 10 and was not really impressed with the. recommended settings quality. I read in different posts that it produces really good looking HDR+ low light shots. So I decided to make this post and ask if anybody who is using the app has any knowledge of what settings to use to get good low light picture quality, or if I should just stick to the HTC app for HTC roms. Thank you all in advance.
I use version 3.4b with the attached settings. For ultra low-light I use HDR+, which is a bit noisy, but bright and colorful. For mid lights I'll use no HDR+ or auto, and for high lights I use Auto HDR+.
ok so, I installed the lastest apk, I'm following this project since the first release
it never worked well on low light,too much noise, but I think that this version could be tweakable to give back good results
does anyone understand how settings work? what a setting does to processing?
do you recommend something for any reason?
Hi,
I can't find it anymore but someone said that there is more motion blur on the pixel 3 than the pixel 2 b/c the default shutter speeds are much slower now.
Is this true? One thing I really liked about the pixel 2 is that it was the only smartphone that was very resistant to motion blur by default, even at the expense of higher iso.
Seeing so much motion blur on the pixel 3. After using the pixel 2 for a year , I am positive that what you say is true in the few days I have been taking pictures on the pixel 3. I am hoping this is not inherent to the hardware because this one aspect has made me think of switching back to the pixel 2
harijay said:
Seeing so much motion blur on the pixel 3. After using the pixel 2 for a year , I am positive that what you say is true in the few days I have been taking pictures on the pixel 3. I am hoping this is not inherent to the hardware because this one aspect has made me think of switching back to the pixel 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or you could just use OpenCamera app and have a fully manually controllable camera (well, apart from the iris which is fixed). Iso 400 (for some reason the actual value is 395) gives in my not so brightly lit office shutter speeds of around 1/500s for a correctly exposed picture and produces a negligible amount of noise. Iso 800 still is very, very good. And even Iso 1600 is still absolutely usable, but may require a little post processing for larger prints.
Anyone with both phones can easily test this. Shoot the same scene and look at the metadata to see the shutter speeds. Could well be the 3 camera app was modified to reduce noise with a slower shutter speed but increased motion blur. There are always compromises.
This is absolutely true. The Pixel 1 and Pixel 2 had extremely fast shutter speeds. I snap multiple photos in a go on Pixel 1 and 2 as it was so quick, and never any blur.
Top shot and various other "features" on the pixel 3 really let it down.
is there anyway to set a default minimum shutter speed, basically a shutter priority mode?
alpinista82 said:
Or you could just use OpenCamera app and have a fully manually controllable camera (well, apart from the iris which is fixed). Iso 400 (for some reason the actual value is 395) gives in my not so brightly lit office shutter speeds of around 1/500s for a correctly exposed picture and produces a negligible amount of noise. Iso 800 still is very, very good. And even Iso 1600 is still absolutely usable, but may require a little post processing for larger prints.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you buy a phone for 1000$+ you expect everything goes right by default
---------- Post added at 12:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:02 PM ----------
samnada said:
Anyone with both phones can easily test this. Shoot the same scene and look at the metadata to see the shutter speeds. Could well be the 3 camera app was modified to reduce noise with a slower shutter speed but increased motion blur. There are always compromises.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can test with a moded gcam app if the problem is really software
Download in celsoazevedo web page cstark moded gcam app (p3v8) and make a comparision with that camera and stock
I am using it on my pixel 2xl , shutter speed is the same as stock
DMart9406 said:
If you buy a phone for 1000$+ you expect everything goes right by default
---------- Post added at 12:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:02 PM ----------
You can test with a moded gcam app if the problem is really software
Download in celsoazevedo web page cstark moded gcam app (p3v8) and make a comparision with that camera and stock
I am using it on my pixel 2xl , shutter speed is the same as stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no "right" in default photo settings, it's a matter of trying to choose settings that give the best results for the most users. That's why manual controls exist. A faster shutter speed to minimize blur isn't right or wrong, it's a trade-off. I would have preferred manual control options to be included but they chose simple over more complicated, and there are plenty of apps available to fill that gap.
How does using a 3rd party app prove whether the Pixel 2 had a faster default shutter speed than the 3?
samnada said:
There is no "right" in default photo settings, it's a matter of trying to choose settings that give the best results for the most users. That's why manual controls exist. A faster shutter speed to minimize blur isn't right or wrong, it's a trade-off. I would have preferred manual control options to be included but they chose simple over more complicated, and there are plenty of apps available to fill that gap.
How does using a 3rd party app prove whether the Pixel 2 had a faster default shutter speed than the 3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just trying , as moded gcam app has same shutter speed than stock pixel 2 , if you try it on pixel 3 , then you know if the problem ks the strock camera app software or it is something about hardware
DMart9406 said:
Just trying , as moded gcam app has same shutter speed than stock pixel 2 , if you try it on pixel 3 , then you know if the problem ks the strock camera app software or it is something about hardware
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, sorry, I get it, that could work.
I'm totally not happy with the xiaomi stock camera app. The over sharpening is simply insane and turns any photo in some ugly oil painting mess.
In my note 5 pro, I could adjust sharpness, contrast and saturation. In the note 8T it seems xiaomi removed this option, and set sharpness to the max.
I'd like to keep using this app, because of the wide lens and 48MP mode, instead of installing some half working gcam port, or using open camera that only works with the main sensor.
So I had an idea that I can't verify yet (150hours to go before I can unlock and root):
- in the note 5 pro, the config file for the stock camera has the options for sharpness. I was wondering if adding or modifying this option in the same config file in the note 8t would work?
- the config file is in /data/user/0/com.android.camera/shared_prefs/camera_settings_global.xml
- the option for lowest sharpness is <string name="pref_qc_camera_sharpness_key">0</string>
Could anyone with a rooted MIUI check if that is working?
Unlocked and rooted the 8T.
Now way to adjust sharpness with the settings files. Tried all I could. Nothing worked.
Some gcam ports kinda work, but there is always something that doesn't work.
And the root killed netflix, google pay and my banking apps.
Was considering custom roms, but there is also always something not working.
In the end, I just relocked the phone, and reset it. Trying to figure out that thing is not worth the aggravation.
Time to buy another phone with an out of the box camera working.
Hi guys, I have a problem regarding Pixel 6Pro photo image size. not sure if any of you might have already noticed.
Image size of my previous Pixel 4XL is generally around 3-4MB. However the image size of Pixel 6 Pro is generally around 2-3MB. Photos taken from both phones are in 4:3 with full resolutions in Google Camera settings.
One more interesting discovery is, once I make any tiny adjustment in edit mode (e.g. increase brightness by 1), the photo size is immediately boosted up to 8-10MB from a photo having original size of around 3MB. Also, I found that the image is not very detailed when I take a steady picture of flower under great weather, when compared to iPhone 13 Pro. Lots of details of the flowers are lost.
I personally expect and indeed prefer having the larger image size right after capturing, as it might theoretically include finer image details.
Hi @junocaj. You can always enable JPG+RAW saving in Advanced Settings, although from my understanding, working with RAW files really requires a lot of professional work, as by default it won't look as good as the JPG (or other image formats - not that there's a choice for other formats with the Google Camera app).
You can also try a different camera app and see if you like the results better, although the Google Camera app will likely have new features from time to time that gives it some advantages. It all depends on what you, as a user, want the most out of your camera app.
@roirraW "edor" ehT . Yeah, I understand that can enable JPG+RAW for professional photo editing.
just that I am a little confused on why the image size of a 3MB picture can be boosted up to 8-10MB right after a super minor editing. It appears to me that the picture size is originally 8-10MB, just that for some reason it is compressed down to 3MB, even I have set the resolution to be full resolution in settings.
Ain't sure if the details of the picture is erased by such compression by the AI. The reason I raised this observation was that one day I used iPhone 13Pro to take a picture at the same spot together with P6P, iPhone output a jpg of around 10MB directly, and lots of details is maintained, while the picture of P6P is around 2-3MB.
@junocaj As to the smaller size of the original file, it could be a change in the JPEG compression they use. Sometimes only lowering the JPEG compression value by a little bit results in a much smaller size while still looking good. Also, the AI possibility as you mention - i.e. maybe on the P6P the Google Camera app is able to routinely save JPEGs at the same compression setting as on previous Pixels but with AI work is still able to reduce the size.
There are several possibilities for the change in size. The new file could be including the editing steps you took - so that you can restore the original. It could also be keeping the edited file in a less compressed state for some reason.
All that above is just speculation on my part.
Sizes of image files definitely aren't the final determination in quality, either. Even a PNG file (not talking about on the phone) can be optimized and take up a lot less space while losing zero data compared to the original file.
I have noticed this too. The P6pros pictures are heavily compressed. I have pictures from my Nexus 6p and pixel 2 that are larger size with fewer artifacts.
One way was to use a Gcam mod that has jpeg picture size selection. At 100% quality the jpegs are 8-13MB. This really does help with details.
86rickard said:
I have noticed this too. The P6pros pictures are heavily compressed. I have pictures from my Nexus 6p and pixel 2 that are larger size with fewer artifacts.
One way was to use a Gcam mod that has jpeg picture size selection. At 100% quality the jpegs are 8-13MB. This really does help with details.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@86rickard would you mind sharing where could I get this gcam mod?
I'm guessing Google have set the compression around 80%, mine are always 2.5MB to 4.5MB dependant on how many colours are in the image, very similar to the size they were from my Pixel 5 which given the image is all but the same size isn't a surprise.
I have never understood why all the phone makers cant just include a compression slider and let the user choose. Re-editing a compressed photo and resaving it and it being significantly bigger is par for the course, that's nothing new.
All that said i cant say my photos are absolutely terrible or full of artefacts even after Google Photos has compressed them even further.
junocaj said:
@86rickard would you mind sharing where could I get this gcam mod?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MWP GCam APKs - Google Camera Port
Modified Google Camera app by MWP.
www.celsoazevedo.com
MrBelter said:
I'm guessing Google have set the compression around 80%, mine are always 2.5MB to 4.5MB dependant on how many colours are in the image, very similar to the size they were from my Pixel 5 which given the image is all but the same size isn't a surprise.
I have never understood why all the phone makers cant just include a compression slider and let the user choose. Re-editing a compressed photo and resaving it and it being significantly bigger is par for the course, that's nothing new.
All that said i cant say my photos are absolutely terrible or full of artefacts even after Google Photos has compressed them even further.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Playing with the gcam mod above its about 30-50%. Depending on the details in the image. It looks like the camera app is choosing a compression rate based on details too.
Needless to say in low light, noise reduction and jpeg compression make for a poor image.
@86rickard Great! thanks very much!
Found that the latest version that have the JPG quality option is the Gcam_8.3.252_V2.0_MWP one. Perfect to have the uncompressed output! I will try it out more comparing this mod against the stock gcam, lovely.
86rickard said:
MWP GCam APKs - Google Camera Port
Modified Google Camera app by MWP.
www.celsoazevedo.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
junocaj said:
@86rickard Great! thanks very much!
Found that the latest version that have the JPG quality option is the Gcam_8.3.252_V2.0_MWP one. Perfect to have the uncompressed output! I will try it out more comparing this mod against the stock gcam, lovely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the MWP Pixel gcam mod is great (use the first non-beta in the list)
You can force higher quality and HDR+ enhanced (and also change the custom libs option to MWP_xHDR in Mod Settings). this mod is a gamechanger for the 6 series.
I wonder how long it will be before they start sending cease and desist letters to distributors of these hacked versions of gcam like they did for utube?
Another option besides these that will work for a lot of people, is to use alternate camera software. GrapheneOS Camera, for example, works very well. Its not as "feature rich" as gcam maybe, but the default compression is less, and you can override the default by specifying a jpeg quality level.
my p6 pro is my first pixel. i noticed something that might answer your question. when you save a photo after editing it, the default is to save with the ability to revert to original. if you select save as a copy, the original data is not included in the file.
96carboard said:
I wonder how long it will be before they start sending cease and desist letters to distributors of these hacked versions of gcam like they did for utube?
Another option besides these that will work for a lot of people, is to use alternate camera software. GrapheneOS Camera, for example, works very well. Its not as "feature rich" as gcam maybe, but the default compression is less, and you can override the default by specifying a jpeg quality level.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I think the issue with YouTube was the lack of ads Google was losing money on. There are no ads in Gcam but stupid stuff happens and one will never know what a big tech company may do in the future
Alekos said:
the MWP Pixel gcam mod is great (use the first non-beta in the list)
You can force higher quality and HDR+ enhanced (and also change the custom libs option to MWP_xHDR in Mod Settings). this mod is a gamechanger for the 6 series.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried iso and exposure adjustments but it seems that its not working.
86rickard said:
Playing with the gcam mod above its about 30-50%. Depending on the details in the image. It looks like the camera app is choosing a compression rate based on details too.
Needless to say in low light, noise reduction and jpeg compression make for a poor image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's low light for you, unless you are letting the phone do its stacking magic sensor noise as the ISO increases will get worse and worse which then makes everything else a problem. Upping the ISO on a digital camera isn't like it was with film, all you are doing is pushing the exposure which then brings any noise and artefacts to in to view, you aren't making anything more sensitive and it isn't doing anything you couldn't do with the exposure slider in an editing package.
I am sure Google will tweak it in the months to come but i'd sure like the option to lower compression in the standard app or better still save night shots as a PNG so there is no banding in the image, maybe it is time to bite the bullet and introduce HEIC.
86rickard said:
MWP GCam APKs - Google Camera Port
Modified Google Camera app by MWP.
www.celsoazevedo.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a great Camera Mod. I'm not the photographer some of you are, but the options oin this are really nice.
Mangtas_666 said:
I tried iso and exposure adjustments but it seems that its not working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HDR+ enhanced has to be enabled. The ISO/exposure adjustment won't work on ZSL (zero shutter lag) aka HDR+. Should work in Night Sight mode as well.
jericho246 said:
HDR+ enhanced has to be enabled. The ISO/exposure adjustment won't work on ZSL (zero shutter lag) aka HDR+. Should work in Night Sight mode as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info Jericho246 i appreciate it.
junocaj said:
Hi guys, I have a problem regarding Pixel 6Pro photo image size. not sure if any of you might have already noticed.
Image size of my previous Pixel 4XL is generally around 3-4MB. However the image size of Pixel 6 Pro is generally around 2-3MB. Photos taken from both phones are in 4:3 with full resolutions in Google Camera settings.
One more interesting discovery is, once I make any tiny adjustment in edit mode (e.g. increase brightness by 1), the photo size is immediately boosted up to 8-10MB from a photo having original size of around 3MB. Also, I found that the image is not very detailed when I take a steady picture of flower under great weather, when compared to iPhone 13 Pro. Lots of details of the flowers are lost.
I personally expect and indeed prefer having the larger image size right after capturing, as it might theoretically include finer image details.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How in the world did you get a photo from pixel 6 pro over 1 MB in size... I took a beautiful full rainbow shot, which looks nice, but when I downloaded it it was only 116 kb in size. Way to small for my tastes. 1036 x 780. Very disappointed and can't find any settings except for higher resolution which is selected.