Any chances of camera hacks to make it quicker? - Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I love how the HDR+ pictures were in the previews with this phone but none of those articles mentioned how ridiculously slow it is to take the actual picture, you get a beep, then almost a whole second later (a long time if you think about it) the actual shot is taken.

tracerit said:
I love how the HDR+ pictures were in the previews with this phone but none of those articles mentioned how ridiculously slow it is to take the actual picture, you get a beep, then almost a whole second later (a long time if you think about it) the actual shot is taken.
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Yup, takes some time to focus correctly. Google is working on camera fixes reportedly and maybe taking HDR+ will speed up a bit.

Related

Camera - Taking a pic takes so much longer?

Hi all,
Just had a quick search but nothing seems to have been mentioned about this that I can see..
Is it just me or is taking a picture on the Orbit2 a real pain in terms of response and shutter time? you have to keep the button pressed for a good 5-7 seconds on mine before it takes the shot! practically this is utterly crap!
My Orbit 1 took the pic in a fraction of the time, just a small 'delay' in pressing the button and it capturing the image.
Is there any way to speed up the Orbit 2 camera/photo taking response time? I often take pics on the spur of the moment and this 'slowness' has really hampered pic taking for me. I was hoping that a 3MP camera would at least take shots on the quality level of a 2MP camera from a few years back, but even even that's not so - the image quality is about the same as the 2MP quality from the Orbit 1..
anyone else know more or of any tweaks etc ?
Cheers, Dennis! West London UK!
Disable the camera sound and the photos will be captured much quicker! It has been mentioned here many times.
Also, this is the video driver issue playing here. http://www.htcclassaction.org
I noticed tha same issue with camera speed. Switching off the sound does make a vast improvement and you can also take pictures of people without them knowing ;-) ( that's a joke BTW )...
Also setting the button to take the picture on a half press and not full press feels more natural as I seem to have to press the button quite hard to actually take a picture on full press.
Jeff
You should also take into consideration that this camera has autofocus which slows down the snapping of a picture...

XT720 camera quality

Is there any way to improve camera? I had XT720 before a half year, picture quality was a horrible. Now with the custom ROM, brings step to improve quality?
Can someone post pictures from camera?
Thank you
carreaum said:
Is there any way to improve camera? I had XT720 before a half year, picture quality was a horrible. Now with the custom ROM, brings step to improve quality?
Can someone post pictures from camera?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess there have been no major changes to the camera. Actually the stock 2.1 camera is better than on any of the custom ROMS. Camera picture quality depends on the amount of light and the correct settings. I wouldn't describe it as horrible but you sure need to tweak everything to get a good picture.
I've attached some pictures I took recently. The first is using the macro setting. I was fixing my friends les pauls toggle switch and changing the pickups. A few flower and weird pod pictures. And the last one is of my place and the lawn outside. Maybe you guys can comment on the quality.
EDIT: Im on WanHU's rom stock with these photo's.
As per my experience, the phone is great with macro mode shots but when it comes to landscape photography it doesn't provide quality snaps. They are average just like the ones taken with my old Nokia N85 ( 5MP camera)
Here are few samples taken with XT720.
I find the camera performs pretty well here... On ESB (2.1) right now.
I'm going to chime in here and say I get great pictures with this phone - though there is a slight delay - so shooting my son on the run is hard (he's gone when it snaps!). Though I don't always shoot on automatic, and I hold the button to allow it to focus. I do get a lot of red-eye, but software can fix that (though, the software makes my son's eyes black, and they are blue )
I came to ask about the recording aspect and am hi-jacking this newer thread - what about that? I'm now running RusMod 1.9 with the US/Eng patch and am still getting the noise/lines in the recording. Here is an example of a bad one;
Can't post links yet.. check Henzod on Youtube
But I don't always get it...
Can't post links yet.. check Henzod on Youtube - Poncho video
(Don't laugh, it was just a test video lol)
Is there an alternate Camera.apk to install or something else to fix to get this working again?
ImaLamer said:
I'm going to chime in here and say I get great pictures with this phone - though there is a slight delay - so shooting my son on the run is hard (he's gone when it snaps!). Though I don't always shoot on automatic, and I hold the button to allow it to focus. I do get a lot of red-eye, but software can fix that (though, the software makes my son's eyes black, and they are blue )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get shutter lag also, but only really on the first shot when loading up the camera. Once the camera is loaded up properly, snapping pictures is actually surprisingly fast for me.
syrenz said:
I get shutter lag also, but only really on the first shot when loading up the camera. Once the camera is loaded up properly, snapping pictures is actually surprisingly fast for me.
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Click to collapse
I did some research on that. It isnt the camera loading up but the xenon flash charging. If you take pictures in conditions where flash is not required it happens instantly. Apparently the xenon gas has to be at a specific charge for the flash to work
sohrab.naushad said:
I did some research on that. It isnt the camera loading up but the xenon flash charging. If you take pictures in conditions where flash is not required it happens instantly. Apparently the xenon gas has to be at a specific charge for the flash to work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, whatever the case, it's nice once it's charged.
Well, I find the camera useless for taking photos of my daughter because of the lag and that's all I really cared about camera-wise, so I'm not too pleased with the camera performance. It's too slow to capture spontaneous things.
Mioze7Ae said:
Well, I find the camera useless for taking photos of my daughter because of the lag and that's all I really cared about camera-wise, so I'm not too pleased with the camera performance. It's too slow to capture spontaneous things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Takes me 3-5 seconds to snap a pic from another app on ESB generally...
No, what I mean is you press the shutter and the phone contemplates its navel for a few seconds and she's moved already. So you're cajoling her to smile at the camera and she finally does and you hit the trigger and watch as she moves out of frame/closes her eyes whatever before the photo gets taken.
Mioze7Ae said:
No, what I mean is you press the shutter and the phone contemplates its navel for a few seconds and she's moved already. So you're cajoling her to smile at the camera and she finally does and you hit the trigger and watch as she moves out of frame/closes her eyes whatever before the photo gets taken.
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Click to collapse
To an extent I find that's true of most low/mid point & shoot cameras. For quick camera response nothing beats the dSLR with a fast lens but that's not always available.
Mioze7Ae said:
No, what I mean is you press the shutter and the phone contemplates its navel for a few seconds and she's moved already. So you're cajoling her to smile at the camera and she finally does and you hit the trigger and watch as she moves out of frame/closes her eyes whatever before the photo gets taken.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, that does happen sometimes. Once the xenon flash is warmed up, that doesn't usually happen.
3rdstring said:
To an extent I find that's true of most low/mid point & shoot cameras. For quick camera response nothing beats the dSLR with a fast lens but that's not always available.
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This doesn't happen on the Moto Defy either (can tell you out of experience) and that is mid-end phone.
I'm with Mz on this one i bought that @#$ing Moto for the cam and i am alwase missing those fast ones
I tried everything to get the cam faster, i made a litle progress.
Precharging the Xenon is really bad on the batterry so can't do that
#@$%ed we are....
To be fair, the xt720 is a phone first and camera second.
But I do agree, the shutter speed is sloooww
karlxx said:
To be fair, the xt720 is a phone first and camera second.
But I do agree, the shutter speed is sloooww
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Click to collapse
Okay, but it's got a promised 8 MP camera, which actually takes great shots if the subject is still life and a lot of the slowdown is not the xenon flash (though, as noted above, some is, understandably - though xenon was a selling point...) but the software itself. This has been demonstrated over and over with the updates we get to the ROMs - some are better at photos and video, some are worse.
Still - why do my videos look so horrible while there are demo videos on YouTube that look amazing?
I was reading a review the other day and I saw the reviewer mention that getting a better SD card can improve HD video recording (which has often lagged). I saw a comment by Motorola on a youtube video saying the same thing.
I'm sure this has come up before, but I can't remember the conclusion. Does a better SD card provide improvements?
syrenz said:
I was reading a review the other day and I saw the reviewer mention that getting a better SD card can improve HD video recording (which has often lagged). I saw a comment by Motorola on a youtube video saying the same thing.
I'm sure this has come up before, but I can't remember the conclusion. Does a better SD card provide improvements?
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Click to collapse
Yep. A better SD card obviously has a higher Class (like yourself). And as we all know the higher the Class the faster it reads/writes to the card. The faster the r/w the better the quality of fps and output. I have a 32gb Class 10 card and 16gb Class 6 card and to tell you the truth, I really don't see too much of a difference as far as Pix go. Video on the other hand is a whole different ball of wax. I get way better video on the C10. Don't forget the SDcards they come with are garbage, Class 2's. Take a C2 and compare with a C4 or C6 and it is apples to oranges.
I'll try out my class 4 (but only 4gb) SD card soon. If I do notice better camcorder quality maybe I'll have to consider spending a few bucks for a better SD card... Though I don't know about a 32gb class 10. I looked at the prices for something like that in my nearby electronics chain and they charge about $150 for that lol. I might as well save that money for a new phone.

[Q] Better camera app/settings?

So far, I'm pretty happy with this phone but very disappointed with the stock camera app. The camera does pretty well outdoors and in low light, but is terrible in moderate light conditions (i.e. normal indoor conditions.) I just took a bunch of blurry, grainy pictures of my kids with their Easter baskets that all snapped 1/2 a second after I clicked the shutter. The thing that makes me think the camera can do better is that everything looks great on the screen up until I ask it to take a photo, then it refocuses and everything goes to hell. I tried Samsung's sports mode, and that is only marginally better. My wife's new S5 is suffering from the same problem.
Has anyone had better luck with other camera apps or a change in settings? Camera Zoom FX and Google's new camera app don't seem any better. I don't care about effects, HDR, manual photo settings or gimmicks; all I want are sharp, in-focus photos that take without a bunch of lag.
Bazirker said:
So far, I'm pretty happy with this phone but very disappointed with the stock camera app. The camera does pretty well outdoors and in low light, but is terrible in moderate light conditions (i.e. normal indoor conditions.) I just took a bunch of blurry, grainy pictures of my kids with their Easter baskets that all snapped 1/2 a second after I clicked the shutter. The thing that makes me think the camera can do better is that everything looks great on the screen up until I ask it to take a photo, then it refocuses and everything goes to hell. I tried Samsung's sports mode, and that is only marginally better. My wife's new S5 is suffering from the same problem.
Has anyone had better luck with other camera apps or a change in settings? Camera Zoom FX and Google's new camera app don't seem any better. I don't care about effects, HDR, manual photo settings or gimmicks; all I want are sharp, in-focus photos that take without a bunch of lag.
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Click to collapse
Turn picture stabilization off and it gets rid of the picture lag.
But yes, otherwise similar issues.
That's the thing. The HTC M8 wins on indoor/low light pics (if you don't get that purple blob effect), this will on outdoors. That's where the whole MP vs. sensor size come into play as larger sensor means more light but not as sharp vs. more MP means sharper but due to smaller sensor less light thus not always great.
Anyway I've found it takes me about 2 pictures to get one I like with HDR and image stabilization off. With that on that all seem to suck due to the delay. Would have been nice to have some true optical image stabilization too. Samsung just doesn't seem to learn/care though.
We get good HW but they cheap out on the little things that make it better.
Yeah, turning off stabilization, HDR etc helps, but there's still a noticeable lag. The lag bothers me less than the fact that my near-stationary subject is coming out blurry. If the camera would simply capture the exact image that is on-screen at the moment I hit the shutter, I would be thrilled...
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
So here's kinda the problem. And it happens a lot with people taking pictures on your phone.
A phone was not meant to be a camera. It just wasn't. In the early days of low resolution things went faster. When you try to run 16 megabit... things are necessarily going to be harder.
Here's the easiest solution to your problems: Practice taking pictures with the phone. Keep your arms tucked in at your sides, keep the phone closer to your body. Shoot in landscape instead of portrait so your hands are in better position. I use the flip case for this phone which means I can use that as well to have better grip and stability. Take the picture... and keep the camera pointed just where you were taking the picture for at least 1/2 sec after you tap the "shutter release". Shutter lag will only be exacerbated by being too quick to move the phone. Also, you don't have to mash the on screen button, light tap and whatnot. Oh and the 1/3 of a sec focus time is their "fastest" rating. While in truth that is pretty darn decent, it's also the fastest you'll have. Expect a possible 1/2 to 3/4 sec focus time. And make sure you're PICKY about your focus. Do it over and over again if it's not right.
Also, your metering mode will have a big impact on your images. Get used to changing them to suit your subject.
I have 13+ years experience as a photographer. If it weren't absolutely absurd, and say all of my bodies died at the same time... I would be carrying a monopod or tripod for use with my GS5... Stability is the key to image quality. Who cares what you look like when you take the picture, it's the picture that matters.
Oh and one other thing, image blur is exacerbated when objects are either very close, or very far away. One because the contrast elements (edges and such) are easy to distinguish from the rest and when they're blurry... you notice it. The other because detail elements are TINY at that range, down to even 1 pixel width, so any shake makes those disappear entirely into blur.
Just some basic things to do. Honestly if it's a choice between getting the shot with my Nikons... or getting it with my GS5? the Nikons will win every time. But in a pinch, the camera on the GS5 is good enough. Just takes the right hands and the right frame of mind.
Arkanthos2015 said:
So here's kinda the problem. And it happens a lot with people taking pictures on your phone.
A phone was not meant to be a camera. It just wasn't. In the early days of low resolution things went faster. When you try to run 16 megabit... things are necessarily going to be harder.
Here's the easiest solution to your problems: Practice taking pictures with the phone. Keep your arms tucked in at your sides, keep the phone closer to your body. Shoot in landscape instead of portrait so your hands are in better position. I use the flip case for this phone which means I can use that as well to have better grip and stability. Take the picture... and keep the camera pointed just where you were taking the picture for at least 1/2 sec after you tap the "shutter release". Shutter lag will only be exacerbated by being too quick to move the phone. Also, you don't have to mash the on screen button, light tap and whatnot. Oh and the 1/3 of a sec focus time is their "fastest" rating. While in truth that is pretty darn decent, it's also the fastest you'll have. Expect a possible 1/2 to 3/4 sec focus time. And make sure you're PICKY about your focus. Do it over and over again if it's not right.
Also, your metering mode will have a big impact on your images. Get used to changing them to suit your subject.
I have 13+ years experience as a photographer. If it weren't absolutely absurd, and say all of my bodies died at the same time... I would be carrying a monopod or tripod for use with my GS5... Stability is the key to image quality. Who cares what you look like when you take the picture, it's the picture that matters.
Oh and one other thing, image blur is exacerbated when objects are either very close, or very far away. One because the contrast elements (edges and such) are easy to distinguish from the rest and when they're blurry... you notice it. The other because detail elements are TINY at that range, down to even 1 pixel width, so any shake makes those disappear entirely into blur.
Just some basic things to do. Honestly if it's a choice between getting the shot with my Nikons... or getting it with my GS5? the Nikons will win every time. But in a pinch, the camera on the GS5 is good enough. Just takes the right hands and the right frame of mind.
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Click to collapse
Lots of truth to your post in regards to the pointers about technique and settings. I've got an EOS-1Ds I use when I plan to take photos, and you need to know how to use your gear and be practiced if you want to take a decent photo.
However, I disagree when it comes to expectations for smartphone camera performance. I used to have the same attitude you expressed about taking photos with a phone, until I recently backed up and printed some of the photos off my wife's old iPhone 4S. The photos it took were shockingly good, and my disappointment with the Galaxy S5 camera stems from the fact that it is getting severely outperformed by the 3 year old iPhone. If the Apple crowd has been able to rely on their iPhones as a competent point-and-shoot camera for years, I see no reason why my flagship Android phone should be no different.
In other news, I've been playing with different settings and apps all afternoon, and still aren't seeing any improvement in performance. Camera Zoom FX allows for ISO 1600, and that's giving me the best performance so far in terms of reducing lag and image blur. (Of course, the images are quite grainy...boo hiss.)

Anyone found a decent camera app that's not laggy?

Hi Folks,
I visited the fair today with my boy which arrives in the city once a year.
My boy was on the rides and I tried getting a few photos of him with my 20mp Sony Xperia Z3....
By the time the photo was taken, my boy had already gone by....
The camera is soooooooooo disappointing, but has so much potential to be good.
Has anybody discovered a decent camera app yet, that has no shutter lag and one that makes full use of the camera?
If I don't find something by November, I'm going for the Nexus 6 :silly:
@rseHoyle said:
Hi Folks,
I visited the fair today with my boy which arrives in the city once a year.
My boy was on the rides and I tried getting a few photos of him with my 20mp Sony Xperia Z3....
By the time the photo was taken, my boy had already gone by....
The camera is soooooooooo disappointing, but has so much potential to be good.
Has anybody discovered a decent camera app yet, that has no shutter lag and one that makes full use of the camera?
If I don't find something by November, I'm going for the Nexus 6 :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't tried a different app yet, but I may have something else for you. It's the autofocus that delays the photo.
1. Use the camera button
-push it down slightly, it should focus
-once it has found the focus, just keep holding it slightly
push the button completely if you want to take the photo, it should be without a delay now.
You can also use a different type of autofocus... Have to try the different modes for myself.
Also use manual mode, depending on the light conditions and the movement, you want a high shutter speed and if needed a higher iso, which gives you a sharper image while moving.
Damn, someone should write a guide for the camera
Thanks for this info. I'll give it a go
I'm not sure the camera is quick enough to capture moving stuff. I have tried a lot of modes and can't seem to sort it.
With an awful flash too, in sub par lighting, like parties, this is a recipe for absolute disaster. Can't believe Sony didn't sort out the camera flash.
Jonathan-H said:
I'm not sure the camera is quick enough to capture moving stuff. I have tried a lot of modes and can't seem to sort it.
With an awful flash too, in sub par lighting, like parties, this is a recipe for absolute disaster. Can't believe Sony didn't sort out the camera flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sony has the ability to film and during film to make pictures. I do that for fast moving pictures, like filming friends that pass by during marathon's. You can then decide to keep the film and the pictures. If you only want pictures, delete the film afterwards. This way you can start filming in advance and you are sure you are not too late and you have the risk your camera is not ready yet.
Jonathan-H said:
I'm not sure the camera is quick enough to capture moving stuff. I have tried a lot of modes and can't seem to sort it.
With an awful flash too, in sub par lighting, like parties, this is a recipe for absolute disaster. Can't believe Sony didn't sort out the camera flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried it yet, but have you tried the Timeshift burst? I think this is what we should use when trying to capture moving objects.
Yep, that is even better than my idea!
As a general rule, I only use auto on any camera when there is no more than one thing away from perfect conditions:
If it's motion but in great lighting, auto is ok.
If it's dark but the subject is still, auto is ok.
If it's a bit dark AND there is motion, you are gonna need to set up some manual settings or a mode like burst to get a good result. That said, as above, focussing first is essential for moving objects. Find something that is at the same distance as the subject you want, half hold the button to get the focus point, then hold it until the subject comes into frame, then depress fully. This, combined with burst, is the best way for fast movement.
Ok, I was at a scary halloween function last night, and by the time I took photos of scary subjects, they'd gone...
There's no excuse for this camera, it's a mess...
I have a Fuji XT1 camera and I know how photography works, apparently the Xperia Z3 has 20 mega pixels - Maybe it does, but only if you want a grainy shot....It's shocking!
KurtHoyle said:
Ok, I was at a scary halloween function last night, and by the time I took photos of scary subjects, they'd gone...
There's no excuse for this camera, it's a mess...
I have a Fuji XT1 camera and I know how photography works, apparently the Xperia Z3 has 20 mega pixels - Maybe it does, but only if you want a grainy shot....It's shocking!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can you say you understand photography when all you point to is the megapixel count? There is so much more to a good photo than resolution.
The reason I point to the 20 mega pixel is because the photos taken with this camera should be of a good enough standard to print out at a size of 18" x 12" however, the photos look grainy on screen so I'd hate to see how crap they look any bigger.
The camera is shocking, the 4k videos are too so please dont try to defend it. Its very poor!
A Better Camera is a good alternative.

Anyway to take longer shutter speed photo than 5 second?

Im not sure if it is asked before or not. Anyone knows the app that can actually take picture with more than 5 second shutter speed?(maybe 15 or 30 second would be amazing)It is one thing that I actually want to do with the phone camera. The app like Open camera can take longest exposure at 4.1 second and L camera with 5 second. I would love to be able to do the astrophotography with Pixel 2(I know that I should get the actual real camera for astrophotography but I still want to try it especially with Pixel 2 that considered one of the best phone camera right now) Im a little bit disappointed after I buy the phone knowing that it cant do the long exposure that most Chinese phone can do(maybe it is for extending phone life but still...)
https://research.googleblog.com/2017/04/experimental-nighttime-photography-with.html
with this blog released before Pixel 2 get announced make me think that maybe they could include this feature but they dont. The photo looks amazing and I hope they could include it in the future.
I would like to experiment with taking pictures like that too.

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