Database Users

Camera Performance

So I ran some tests - by comparing the Idol3 camera with my 4 year old Panasonic ZS7 P&S camera . What I have noticed that at low ISO - keeping both cameras stationary - the results are pretty close. For indoor pictures, what I have noticed is that the Idol3 flash does not come on easily. But this appears to be a general smartphone thing, because my Galaxy Exhibit camera is doing the same thing. Instead of turning the flash on , the Idol3 is bumping up the ISO to over 2000 ! This results in very grainy pictures.
So one way to ensure better pictures *could* be to follow this rule -- Outdoor - set ISO=100 always . Indoors - set ISO=200 , and set flash to forced.
Also - I noticed that the front camera can go to down to ISO 50 - whereas the back camera only goes down to ISO-100 .
I will do some more tests in the coming weekend. Does anyone know of a camera app that will tell me the shutter speed the camera is going to use *before* taking the picture? That way I can decide whether I need to bump up the ISO to speed up the shutter.

Some samples
Here are some sample pictures - in outdoor sunlit conditions --> https://goo.gl/photos/ckxAPRmKo3PWJTat8
I would like to hear what y'all think.
I have a slight amendment to my earlier suggestion. I noticed that for indoor shots, if I cap ISO to 200, it is slowing down the shutter leading to a shaky, and therefore, blurred picture. A grainy picture is still better than a blurred picture. So I think a better approach would be to force the flash, and then set the shutter to 1/30, and allow it to bump the ISO if it has to. The stock camera app has a manual mode where it allows setting shutter speed.
For outdoor pictures I am using 'A Better Camera' - free version. It allows me to set and save the ISO setting to ISO-100. Also it allows me to pick the auto-focus mode to AF-Lock. I think a lot of blurred pictures are because of focus issues. AF-lock allows you to focus on a specific object, and then lock it so that the phone is not constantly re-focusing. Another trick that can be considered is to use a 2-second timer, to prevent shake due to touching the screen for taking the picture. .
I will try some indoor shots next, as well as the RAW mode and then post when I have them.

Good info

i tried the oppo colorOS camera idk if its a placebo effect but i kinda notices good pictures sadly i cant take 50mp pictures like that phone yet has 13mp camera too using that same sensor it just stitches the best pics zoomed in into one making an illusion of 50mp

stl1859 said:
Here are some sample pictures - in outdoor sunlit conditions --> https://goo.gl/photos/ckxAPRmKo3PWJTat8
I would like to hear what y'all think.
I have a slight amendment to my earlier suggestion. I noticed that for indoor shots, if I cap ISO to 200, it is slowing down the shutter leading to a shaky, and therefore, blurred picture. A grainy picture is still better than a blurred picture. So I think a better approach would be to force the flash, and then set the shutter to 1/30, and allow it to bump the ISO if it has to. The stock camera app has a manual mode where it allows setting shutter speed.
For outdoor pictures I am using 'A Better Camera' - free version. It allows me to set and save the ISO setting to ISO-100. Also it allows me to pick the auto-focus mode to AF-Lock. I think a lot of blurred pictures are because of focus issues. AF-lock allows you to focus on a specific object, and then lock it so that the phone is not constantly re-focusing. Another trick that can be considered is to use a 2-second timer, to prevent shake due to touching the screen for taking the picture. .
I will try some indoor shots next, as well as the RAW mode and then post when I have them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the photos look great. Nice dynamic range and colors.

Have you tried using the manual mode of the stock camera to change the settings?

vk135 said:
Have you tried using the manual mode of the stock camera to change the settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes . The problem with the stock camera app is that it always starts in the auto-mode. It would be nice if it remembered the prior setting, but does not. For someone like me that likes a lot of manual controls ( shutter , aperture, ISO etc. etc. ) , this is a big pain if I have to switch to manual mode every time I take a picture. When in manual mode, it does not save any prior settings. So not only do I have to switch to manual mode, I then have to open another dialog and set the ISO to my liking. That in my opinion is way too cumbersome. In this respect, 'A Better Camera' is slightly better. It allows me to specify which settings it should remember between launches. So I can ask it to always remember the ISO and auto-focus modes. It does appear to have a bug , in that it does not display the modes correctly. So on start-up, it is telling me that it is on ISO-Auto - when I set it to ISO-100 - and when I actually take the picture, I do see that the ISO-100 was picked. Another problem with that app is that it does not allow setting of shutter speed, which the stock camera app does.
So I really haven't found any one camera app that does everything I want . But in doing this research , I am realizing how big of a pain using a smartphone as a camera can be. I really wish Alcatel had a model with no front and back camera and for $50 less ! That would be the perfect device for me

RAW capture
I managed to try out the RAW capture functionality of the camera.
Here is the unprocessed TIFF file, created from a .DNG using dcraw >> https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B960wOI9V0CfWGpmRUxicVpLZDg/view?usp=sharing
Here is a jpeg - taken using the 'A Better Camera' app , of the same scene, at pretty much the same time >> https://goo.gl/photos/xUcHGp5B9triKSNC8
From what I can tell, the image generated from the RAW capture has better color reproduction.

stl1859 said:
I managed to try out the RAW capture functionality of the camera.
Here is the unprocessed TIFF file, created from a .DNG using dcraw >> https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B960wOI9V0CfWGpmRUxicVpLZDg/view?usp=sharing
Here is a jpeg - taken using the 'A Better Camera' app , of the same scene, at pretty much the same time >> https://goo.gl/photos/xUcHGp5B9triKSNC8
From what I can tell, the image generated from the RAW capture has better color reproduction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What camera app are you using to get RAW captures?

Borghi said:
What camera app are you using to get RAW captures?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This one --> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=troop.com.freedcam&hl=en

is there any apps that can take 50mp pictures like the oppo camera? it uses a trick that takes and stitches various photos into one now thats awesome

Took this shot of the moon using the default camera in manual mode. iso 100, 1/1000. Strangely the exif says the aperture is 2.5 not 2.0 like the specs say.

Using the camera is probably the last thing I use my phone for. I would think that someone would have created a camera app where you can change all the settings you want and save that profile then make as many profiles as you want for various situations.

I do not use my phone as a camera either . Actually I am surprised ( at myself ) why I spent so much time testing it out ! Anyway, I found an app called 'Open Camera' - which seems to have almost all the features I was looking for. It allows me to set ISO and AF-lock - and actually saves those settings between launches. It also has a mode where if it is running and you lock the phone, hitting the power button again brings the camera right back . I find that useful because now I can lock the screen between shots - and still get the camera back relatively quickly. Without that I had to leave the screen on, and I was getting a lot of accidental shots. The UI isn't that great looking, but it is functional.
Here is the link >> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.sourceforge.opencamera&hl=en

Shodan5150 said:
Using the camera is probably the last thing I use my phone for. I would think that someone would have created a camera app where you can change all the settings you want and save that profile then make as many profiles as you want for various situations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty sure Camera Zoom FX does what you are talking about. I made it the default camera app. It was free on amazon however at some point or another I purchased it on google play for $0.10. A special promo where a bunch of apps were $0.10 each I think. Anyway might want to check it or camera360 out....opencamera is a nice free open source one (If I remember right).
My primary usage for the camera on my phones is to run the paperkarma app so I can submit junkmail to have my name/address removed from their mailing lists. Has helped to thin the junkmail down over time.

I haven't used the camera too much but I am not disappointed in it so far. For the price, I can't complain. It seems to take the pics fairly quickly which is a good thing.

open camera is also good ive tried it and no problems for me

Has anyone found ANY camera app that allows you to save the pics to the SD card? I've tried a bunch yet they all complain that KK(!) doesn't allow saving to SD card YET the stock camera app does allow it.

ItsDon said:
Has anyone found ANY camera app that allows you to save the pics to the SD card? I've tried a bunch yet they all complain that KK(!) doesn't allow saving to SD card YET the stock camera app does allow it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my case - both 'A Better Camera' and 'Open Camera' were unable to save to the external micro SD. It does not bother me, because it is probably better for the camera to write directly to internal storage , in the interest of speed. I can always move those files using ES File Explorer - or by plugging the phone in.

ISO_HJR
I think I found another trick that can help the picture quality with the Camera. The 'Open Camera' app supports an ISO setting called 'ISO_HJR' - HJR stands for Hand Jitter Reduction, and it is Google's way of bumping up the ISO while keeping the shutter fast, to prevent blur due to shake. I used that to take some picture under overcast conditions today, and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. The exif on the pictures say that the ISO is bumped upwards of 400 - but the picture does not appear to be too grainy . I am not sure what exactly is going on , but this seems like a good option to use.
Also 'Open Camera' allows me to save with a JPEG compression of 100% - This results in 8MB+ files for each picture .

Manual camera mode auto exposure design flaw?

Is it me or does the manual camera mode goes into auto exposure lock (AEL) whenever you manually choose the ISO?
So whenever ISO is changed, shutter speed also needs to be changed manually to get the right exposure. How dumb.
Has anyone noticed this? Hopefully I'm missing something here as this is really bad if it's by design.
Few other gripes:
1. No metering modes? (such as centre weighted, matrix, spot etc)
2. No focus mode? (face detect, fixed centre point, tracking etc)
3. It keeps the previous manual exposure setting even when you exit the camera app. (good & bad. maybe should have a setting to auto-reset)
4. No JPG compression setting.
5. No sharpening level setting.
6. No color setting. (dynamic, natural etc)
Whoever designed this camera app's manual mode certainly isn't that much into photography I reckon.

sounds like how an slr works in manual mode.

larsdennert said:
sounds like how an slr works in manual mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All DSLR's have Program, Aperture & Shutter priority modes as well.
Many phones have full auto exposure even with manual ISO set also.
G4 only has full auto & full manual exposure. Nothing inbetween.

Ummm....sounds like you bought this phone expecting a full DSLR suite of options. It's a smartphone, you won't get ALL those features. It still has far more than any other flagship.
Also, if the AE Lock isn't on when you change the ISO, it's going to auto adjust the exposure, which will mess up your settings, removing the manual aspect.
http://www.cameradebate.com/2015/lg-g4-camera-full-manual-mode-guide/

the_scotsman said:
Ummm....sounds like you bought this phone expecting a full DSLR suite of options. It's a smartphone, you won't get ALL those features. It still has far more than any other flagship.
Also, if the AE Lock isn't on when you change the ISO, it's going to auto adjust the exposure, which will mess up your settings, removing the manual aspect.
http://www.cameradebate.com/2015/lg-g4-camera-full-manual-mode-guide/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to be a photographer, still am but not for money unless I get called for a job at a wedding studio etc.
So yeah, I know my way around photography. Whoever created this advanced manual mode didn't really go far enough IMO. The can, they just didn't.
I just expected the camera app to be at least as smart as previous/current phones that could already do what I stated about the ISO & auto exposure.
Yes, it's great to have full manual mode at least. But that's an extremity that even many pro's do not utilize often. Even more so on a mobile phone. =p
Whole point of changing ISO is to allow either having a varied-noise IQ or faster shutter speed. It's VERY handy when paired with auto-exposure.
e.g. You can "fix" the ISO at 200, and expect it to have low shutter speed but cleaner photos for every shot.
or fix it at its max of ISO 2700 to force the auto exposure to always give me the fastest shutter speed for a given lighting condition.
(Right now, G4 doesn't even use its max ISO of 2700 in auto exposure mode. It's limited to 2000 unless you manually set 2700.)
Heck, even the old Galaxy series, old Symbian Nokia phones had multiple metering modes & auto exposure with manual ISO.

jakiman said:
So whenever ISO is changed, shutter speed also needs to be changed manually to get the right exposure. How dumb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's great to have full manual mode at least. But that's an extremity that even many pro's do not utilize often. Even more so on a mobile phone. =p
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's manual mode - you need to adjust everything yourself. Why is this a bad thing?
It has full auto and full manual. They can't cater for every mode that comes with a DSLR camera.
If it didn't have full manual mode, then people would complain about that too.

the_scotsman said:
It's manual mode - you need to adjust everything yourself. Why is this a bad thing?
It has full auto and full manual. They can't cater for every mode that comes with a DSLR camera.
If it didn't have full manual mode, then people would complain about that too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
99% of the phones don't come with full manual mode for a reason.
On the G4, Simple is too simple and Auto mode is still too simple. Only can control the flash on/off pretty much.
So the only way to even go close to the iPhone's camera app (for EV Comp) is to go to the MANUAL mode.
Now in this mode, it's definitely better than the iPhone or Google Camera app. But to the majority, not by much.
I bought the phone expecting to use the ISO & EV Comp. But now I find that ISO is useless. (I'm sure for many)
Surely, they could have made the camera UI /UX at least work similar to normal cameras?
It's not like they have to really invent the camera UI. Digital cameras beeen around for 15+ years. (My first DSLR was back in 2001 - Canon EOS D30)
Especially more so when LG is boasting so much about its camera.
I just wonder what the camera development team was thinking... =<

jakiman said:
But now I find that ISO is useless. (I'm sure for many)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see why you say ISO is useless? it sounds like you want all the features, but don't want to have to do all the work setting up everything else?

jakiman said:
Is it me or does the manual camera mode goes into auto exposure lock (AEL) whenever you manually choose the ISO?
So whenever ISO is changed, shutter speed also needs to be changed manually to get the right exposure. How dumb.
Has anyone noticed this? Hopefully I'm missing something here as this is really bad if it's by design.
Few other gripes:
1. No metering modes? (such as centre weighted, matrix, spot etc)
2. No focus mode? (face detect, fixed centre point, tracking etc)
3. It keeps the previous manual exposure setting even when you exit the camera app. (good & bad. maybe should have a setting to auto-reset)
4. No JPG compression setting.
5. No sharpening level setting.
6. No color setting. (dynamic, natural etc)
Whoever designed this camera app's manual mode certainly isn't that much into photography I reckon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. This is what manual exposure is for.
2. This is what manual focus is for.
3. Ok? So what?
4. RAW.
5. This is a concern of post-editing
6. This is also a post-editing concern.
If there's anyone who isn't knowledgeable about photography, it would be you.

the_scotsman said:
I don't see why you say ISO is useless? it sounds like you want all the features, but don't want to have to do all the work setting up everything else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How ISO is implemented in G4 is nearly useless for my pattern of usage.
As lens aperture is fixed, the only exposure variable is shutter speed & ISO.
Forcing a user to "always" set both manually for each shot is really unnecessary.
I basically want ISO priority which so many other phones & cameras all do.
Well, considering the G3 didn't even have ISO setting, I guess it's a big step up. =p
It just annoys me that they didn't put more love into it when they could have.

jakiman said:
Is it me or does the manual camera mode goes into auto exposure lock (AEL) whenever you manually choose the ISO?
So whenever ISO is changed, shutter speed also needs to be changed manually to get the right exposure. How dumb.
Has anyone noticed this? Hopefully I'm missing something here as this is really bad if it's by design.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AEL is settable i thought. What happens when you toggle it.
Is exp comp useful ? this should move both.
On the K zoom, when you enter manual mode, both ISO & shutter have to be set. However in program mode, i just use leave ISO & shutter on auto and tweak exp either way. This is the most common use i have. In certain situations its helpful to disassociate iso from shutter in manual.
Few other gripes:
1. No metering modes? (such as centre weighted, matrix, spot etc)
2. No focus mode? (face detect, fixed centre point, tracking etc)
3. It keeps the previous manual exposure setting even when you exit the camera app. (good & bad. maybe should have a setting to auto-reset)
4. No JPG compression setting.
5. No sharpening level setting.
6. No color setting. (dynamic, natural etc)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. default is centre weighted. no options here. Its odd for a rumoured sony sensor as samsung, sony have them. Don't think LG has ever offered metering modes. Missing in the G2/G3. The only modes that are useful are multi and CW. CW gives the clearest shot, multi i find adds a bit of haze but is useful with evening exposure outdoors especially when there is a big difference with sky and foreground. The workaround is to ensure yourself that isn't there ie have the sun behind you rather than off to the side otherwise you end up with silhouettes or blowing out the sky. Spot is niche, macros or when you have full control of lighting. In raw files metering indicated is spot.
2. no but face detect does something in the background. No smile shutter though.
3. reset settings before closing the camera.
4. its set to best, curious why you want this because whenever i'm offered a choice i've always set to superfine at the start and left it at that.
5, 6 you will either have to use raw or in post process the jpegs.
G4 is camera2api compliant, so hopefully 3rd party cameras should work more reliably. Keep an eye out for camera fv-5. Though it will take some work to get it to work with the G4 by the developer.
Whole point of changing ISO is to allow either having a varied-noise IQ or faster shutter speed. It's VERY handy when paired with auto-exposure.
e.g. You can "fix" the ISO at 200, and expect it to have low shutter speed but cleaner photos for every shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree. Have seen variations on this. eg on the m9 setting ISO works as an up to, meaning it won't exceed the setting but will use a lower if possible. This is the only device i've seen that behaves this way. Otherwise. setting an ISO means all shots come with that ISO and that one only. I find setting ISO in this case limited and only when auto gets it wrong and uses a very high ISO. from the numerous G4 samples i've seen the G4 seems to be getting the ISO right in auto. You would only need to tweak it for slow shutter shots.
or fix it at its max of ISO 2700 to force the auto exposure to always give me the fastest shutter speed for a given lighting condition.
(Right now, G4 doesn't even use its max ISO of 2700 in auto exposure mode. It's limited to 2000 unless you manually set 2700.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it not possible to just set the shutter to what you want and let ISO pick what ever ?
Whoever designed this camera app's manual mode certainly isn't that much into photography I reckon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's see what the next firmware update brings. its a good start, hopefully it becomes more user friendly in the future. It was quite a surprise to see a manual interface like this given the predecessor had no manual settings whatsoever. A step back from the G2, even the crippled stock iphone camera allowed more..(!)

One Twelve said:
even the crippled stock iphone camera allowed more..(!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ummm....what?

the_scotsman said:
Ummm....what?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tap-hold- locked exposure on the iphone. Changed its metering as well. the iphone camera to me is a crippled camera because you cant set much on it at all.
the g3 took away options available on the G2. no way to fix anything, AUTO everything.

kyle1867 said:
1. This is what manual exposure is for.
2. This is what manual focus is for.
3. Ok? So what?
4. RAW.
5. This is a concern of post-editing
6. This is also a post-editing concern.
If there's anyone who isn't knowledgeable about photography, it would be you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Auto-exposure is much faster as you know. A good photographer doesn't need to rely on manual exposure.
2. Auto-focus is faster and more accurate (especially with no focus peaking etc) in majority of usage scenarios.
3. If you used it often, then you'll know why it can become annoying. or maybe not.
4. Yes, I do shoot RAW already from day 1. But not everyone else I assume.
5. It would be 1 less thing post edit if the setting was there. This is not a major gripe. Just something which could be nice to have.
6. It would be 1 less thing post edit if the setting was there. This is not a major gripe. Just something which could be nice to have

jakiman said:
2. Auto-focus is faster and more accurate (especially with no focus peaking etc) in majority of usage scenarios.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are times it can misfocus and get the background in focus instead of the subject. So check your shots. it should get it right most of the time but not every time.
3. If you used it often, then you'll know why it can become annoying. or maybe not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Every camera has its quirks. annoying ones. the most intuitive interface i've seen is on the k zoom. you would have thought samsung would have used it in their following flagships. No! the note 4 was a stripped down version and the s6 went in anothe direction.
5. It would be 1 less thing post edit if the setting was there. This is not a major gripe. Just something which could be nice to have.
6. It would be 1 less thing post edit if the setting was there. This is not a major gripe. Just something which could be nice to have
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only devices i know that have this are the m9 where its an issue because it over sharpens by default and you need to set it one notch above no sharpening. And the k zoom. No other device has these tweaks in camera. The lumia users were also griping about its absence.

One Twelve said:
AEL is settable i thought. What happens when you toggle it.
Is exp comp useful ? this should move both.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AEL can be toggled off. But then it goes back into full auto-exposure for both ISO & Shutter.
EV comp is useful as always at least. So this is a big improvement over the previous G3 etc.
One Twelve said:
Agree. Have seen variations on this. eg on the m9 setting ISO works as an up to, meaning it won't exceed the setting but will use a lower if possible. This is the only device i've seen that behaves this way. Otherwise. setting an ISO means all shots come with that ISO and that one only. I find setting ISO in this case limited and only when auto gets it wrong and uses a very high ISO. from the numerous G4 samples i've seen the G4 seems to be getting the ISO right in auto. You would only need to tweak it for slow shutter shots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This G4 is also the only device to act this way of all the cameras & phones I've owned. (too many to count)
Auto ISO is good enough in most scenarios. But yeah, there are times when I do want to fix the ISO only.
One Twelve said:
Is it not possible to just set the shutter to what you want and let ISO pick what ever ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. That's not possible. Soon as you se the shutter, AE-L gets set and so it fixes the ISO also.
When you click on the AE-L to disengage it, it resets both ISO & shutter back to automatic.
One Twelve said:
Let's see what the next firmware update brings. its a good start, hopefully it becomes more user friendly in the future. It was quite a surprise to see a manual interface like this given the predecessor had no manual settings whatsoever. A step back from the G2, even the crippled stock iphone camera allowed more..(!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that it's a great start. I hope LG spends a bit more time on it.

One Twelve said:
Every camera has its quirks. annoying ones. the most intuitive interface i've seen is on the k zoom. you would have thought samsung would have used it in their following flagships. No! the note 4 was a stripped down version and the s6 went in anothe direction.
Only devices i know that have this are the m9 where its an issue because it over sharpens by default and you need to set it one notch above no sharpening. And the k zoom. No other device has these tweaks in camera. The lumia users were also griping about its absence.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it's amazing that the manufacturers actually cripple these camera interfaces when it should by now be very close to digital cameras.
It's the Apple's affect I call it. They made it simple and now every other company is dumbing down their phones also.

jakiman said:
They made it simple and now every other company is dumbing down their phones also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So now you're saying it's been made too simple? But the original issue is, it's not simple enough for you.

Hey guys, I have an old LG G3 mobile, I am fed up with this. I heard about a product calles intelmobi, to install it I have to root my mobile. Sould I do this?

jakiman said:
No. That's not possible. Soon as you se the shutter, AE-L gets set and so it fixes the ISO also.
When you click on the AE-L to disengage it, it resets both ISO & shutter back to automatic..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn it!
When i saw those manual controls i figured you could choose one or more and the rest would take care of themselves
One thing i want to know, is it possible to lock focus. Pick a subject, press shutter to get focus, keep shutter button pressed and recompose, then release the shutter to take the shot.
or does keeping you finger pressed on the shutter button take the shot and nothing more.
That is AE-L without having AE-L on other phones. Quick and works in auto.

ZE500KL stock camera manual mode wider control?

Currently my ZE500KL stock camera app with manual control can only control certain range of camera settings, currently the range is:
iso: 50-800
shutter speed: 32s-1/1000s
it is possible to widen the range of ISO and shutter speed in camera app? lets say iso 3200, shutter speed of 1/2000s. because in auto mode, iso 3200 is possible and shutter speed faster than 1/1000s is also possible (from the exif data of image i've taken), of course the system automatically set it, but it would be nice if we have access to change it manually up to iso 3200 and faster shutter speed, because 1/1000s even with iso 50 is quite bright under the sunlight. i am a fan of manual mode, so if there is any way to mod the camera, please share with us :highfive: i believe im not the only one who need a wider manual control of the camera :victory:
i have tried several camera app with manual control such as Manual Camera but it is not compatible, so im sticking with stock camera.

Post your favorite camera settings (stock cam or other app)

Saw some really great pics in the pics thread. Awesome work but I have not seen much in terms of goto optimum settings G4 owners use. Thought this would be an interesting thread.
Kindly post:
- App you use if other than stock (there are G5 and V10 camera apps and others)
- Manual settings for daytime indoor, outdoor, low light and night time shots
- Or automatic settings that you may prefer to find the right balance of quality for all situations.
- other tweaks/tips
Kindly share so that we can all get the best possible pics out of our G4s.

I use Manual Mode on the V10 camera app:
ISO: 50 (always)
All the other settings, depends on the time of the day (or night ) and if is indoor ou outside, but ISO is always on the min !

Possible Camera2 API bug.

Hello, all!
This is a little specific, but I was hoping that perhaps other LG G6 users could help me test for this problem to figure out whether it's affecting all the phones/firmwares or is specific to mine.
Basically what happens is that in any camera app, except the native one, if you use specific manual settings (so, through the Camera2 API) there's a bug that changes the value on its own. Perhaps the easiest way to check it is using Open Camera:
1) Switch to video mode (camera choice does not matter).
2) Pick the exposure icon, set ISO to 50 and shutter speed to 1/20
3) Start recording video...
4) On my device after 5-10 seconds of recording the screen turns black (or nearly black) as the exposure speed drops to ~1/10000.
Touching the screen to refocus fixes it for a moment, then it jumps back to ~1/10000.
Basically ISO50, shutter range 1/20-1/30 will cause this. I have seen this in any app that allowed manual settings, like Open Camera, ProShot, Hedgecam 2, AZ Camera, Footej camera etc. Some of them turn black, others just crash/freeze. Sounds like an API bug to me.
I'm on Android version 8.0.0, Software version: V20c-EUR-XX installed through OTA.
Would really appreciate if someone could also try this.

My minimum shutter speed is 1/30... This with stock camera........ Stock oreo by OTA v20c.
No problem with recording.

vs0587 said:
My minimum shutter speed is 1/30... This with stock camera........ Stock oreo by OTA v20c.
No problem with recording.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for taking the time to check, but the stock camera works ok. It's the others that have this problem. Like Open Camera or HedgeCam2. The reason I want to use those is they recently added an option to change image processing (noise reduction, edge enhancement) so if you turn those down and film video with them you actually get nice, natural looking video and not the overprocessed watercolor look that the stock camera (and most other apps) provide. And if we go for a "cinematic" 24fps look then the Shutter speed could often be 1/24 or so.
Since I have seen some threads looking for a way to get cleaner video I'll attach two snapshots from a video - one with stock camera (and those crazy cartoon edges) and another from HedgeCam 2.