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Nexus 5 is the best camera phone you will ever own, and heres why.

Right, so with a bold statement like "the nexus 5 is the best camera you have ever owned" you probably think i'm completely crazy. But I would like to try and see if I can explain why I made such a statement in the first place. With many of you mentioning how the camera doesn't measure up to other phones on the market and comments discrediting it all over the forum I though I needed to point out a few things.
1) The image stabilization is amazing. Literally stunning. Having recently been to see Bring me the horizon I decided to use the phone to take a few photos and some video of the gig. Now while the nexus 5 may not be the only phone on the market with good OIS it is most definitely one of the best. Have a look at some of the videos below, all were filmed completely hand held, and while the audio may be poor (ill get to this later) it is still a very good image considering the conditions.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/evPUs6pIeW0
http://www.youtube.com/embed/K2u-gR-XLVc
2) Low light performance is amazing too. Many people have compared this to the photos from the HTC One, and iPhone 5 saying that the Nexus 5 doesn't bring out enough light in certain areas and that the colours are off, but if you look at it properly and check the colours you find that the Nexus 5 produces much sharper, less over saturated and less hazy night time shots. Some people like the over-saturated look but honestly from the point of view of a photographer, your better to take a 'flat' image from the phone and edit it than try and edit a poor image from the HTC One. Of course I will admit the Lumia 1020 blows any other phone out of the water, but its hardly a fair fight..
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Although the G2 appears brighter in this image, the nexus 5 still wins on colour accuracy, that is however subject to opinion.
3) The Nexus 5 is aimed with amateur photographers in mind. The little ring around the back camera, yep that glass bit. Its magnetic which makes for very easy mounting of mobile extension lenses, this coupled with the very powerful new image editing tool in the gallery seems to hint that Google want to help you get more out of your photos. More importantly the editor is now non destructive, meaning you can undo all changes and get your original image back very easily. :good:
4) Nexus 5 images are a editors dream (when it comes to smartphones anyway). As mentioned above the Nexus 5 creates almost reference style images it makes editing, colour correction, exposure correction amazing and camera software updates on the way and a few improved camera apps in the play store, it can out put some very detailed near RAW quality images which a a joy to edit, not some of the over processed rubbish the iphone 5 and HTC output.
5) The aperture, while only being f2.4 it is still a reasonably wide aperture which means that it can do lovely close ups and in good lighting conditions its better than most point and shoot cameras. The camera is very sharp when compared to many other and while some people may say that the videos and photos in low light can get a little grainy but I think its at an acceptable level.
Sound quality, now although above I said the sound quality was poor, under normal conditions it performs very well, the problem in my videos was that I was at Brixton O2 and they have a 9000w audio system (for comparison your average disco is around 2500w) and this is made worse by me being stood three meters away from the subs.
Shutter lag, something I forgot when first writing this, is completely software based, many of the free camera apps on the play store fix this issue and I am sure goggle will fix this with an update soon!
So what im really trying to say is...
The Nexus 5 is the phone Google are branding as a way to keep memories, right from the first ad its has been sold as the phone to document life with and I think it really does a good job of that, yes the photos aren't DSLR standard but thats not what its about, its about making sure you get the shot, that memory captured to keep with you. I think the real ethos of the nexus 5 is the phone for life, and in that sense I think it does an amazing job.
But really the most important thing to remember is that
The best camera in the world is the one that you have on you at the time!​

You didn't address the long focus times and terrible shutter lag. Thanks for your effort but you are not convincing me of anything. You should also change your title to reflect if taking pictures of non moving objects only because anything that moves won't stay still long enough for the N5 to focus and actually snap the picture.
Your title also does not reflect your statement below either:
Of course I will admit the Lumia 1020 blows any other phone out of the water, but its hardly a fair fight..

-Reserved-
Please, post your opinions along with your own photos and videos taken with the nexus 5
User Photos
afraaa said:
i also wonder how ppl complaining ... in low light its awesome .. pictures are talking here and other review sites look here and see how nexus 5 beats iphone 5s s !!
it alos awesome on focus picturing : see for yourself and then you will ocnvinced
http://narenji.ir/sites/default/files/uploaded/pw/2528/2013/11/Google-Nexus-5-narenji-20131105.jpg
http://narenji.ir/sites/default/files/uploaded/pw/2528/2013/11/Apple-iPhone-5s-narenji-20131105.jpg
and also its about colors .nexus 5 has better natural colors :
http://narenji.ir/sites/default/files/uploaded/pw/2528/2013/11/Google-Nexus-5-narenji-20131105_0.jpg
http://narenji.ir/sites/default/fil...013/11/Apple-iPhone-5s-narenji-20131105_0.jpg
http://narenji.ir/sites/default/files/uploaded/pw/2528/2013/11/Google-Nexus-5-narenji-20131105_3.jpg
http://narenji.ir/sites/default/fil...013/11/Apple-iPhone-5s-narenji-20131105_3.jpg
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[email protected] said:
You didn't address the long focus times and terrible shutter lag.
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Shutter lag, something I forgot when first writing this, is completely software based, many of the free camera apps on the play store fix this issue and I am sure goggle will fix this with an update soon!
thanks for reminding me
I would also say thats not true, moving objects are not a huge problem its the focusing which again is only a massive problem if your taking photos of something very fast moving like sports, I also think this is easily fixed with software updates

Oli1122 said:
Shutter lag, something I forgot when first writing this, is completely software based, many of the free camera apps on the play store fix this issue and I am sure goggle will fix this with an update soon!
thanks for reminding me
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I am yet to find a 3rd party app that fixes the issue. So far they all have some kind of issue of their own.
Until we see a fix from Google this is how the camera is acting today and any review or opinion should based on current usage and not in the hopes of an update. No one knows when Google will fix this if they can fix it at all.

[email protected] said:
I am yet to find a 3rd party app that fixes the issue. So far they all have some kind of issue of their own.
Until we see a fix from Google this is how the camera is acting today and any review or opinion should based on current usage and not in the hopes of an update. No one knows when Google will fix this if they can fix it at all.
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Google are working on a fix to come out soon apparently but until then ive been using the Moto X camera apk much faster and generally much better. Another solution is to record a video and then tap the screen for instant photos. Once done just delete the video
nfl46 said:
I'm not sure why I started laughing while reading the OP's post. I thought they were being sarcastic, but they are really serious.:highfive:
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Yep, im serious

Oli1122 said:
Shutter lag, something I forgot when first writing this, is completely software based, many of the free camera apps on the play store fix this issue and I am sure goggle will fix this with an update soon!
thanks for reminding me
I would also say thats not true, moving objects are not a huge problem its the focusing which again is only a massive problem if your taking photos of something very fast moving like sports, I also think this is easily fixed with software updates
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If you think the camera only has problems capturing fast moving things like sports you did not really use your camera enough to write up your opinion article here. lol
Not saying the camera can't be fixed with software, I am just saying you can't review the camera based on an if Google updates it. When Google updates it, you can then update your review to reflect the update. Until then your review should be a tell all of the camera today for people who might be deciding on the N5 not what might be later on.
If you can't tell I am extremely annoyed at the camera on the N5 and Google for releasing it like this. lol

I've been using the MotoX APK and getting great quality pictures, very little lag and overall a much better experience. If I need HDR then I will use the stock camera. Focus time and lag shouldn't matter in HDR anyway since it's not moving.

[email protected] said:
If you think the camera only has problems capturing fast moving things like sports you did not really use your camera enough to write up your opinion article here. lol
Not saying the camera can't be fixed with software, I am just saying you can't review the camera based on an if Google updates it. When Google updates it, you can then update your review to reflect the update. Until then your review should tell all of the camera today for people who might be deciding on the N5.
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My review is based on what ive experienced with it so far with the stock camera app and im not guessing at what Google will fix or wont fix, ive used the camera in very different conditions and only found a problem with very fast moving subjects, but its not a massive problem and can be solved with other camera apps that are available now for free. I don't see your problem?

Oli1122 said:
My review is based on what ive experienced with it so far with the stock camera app and im not guessing at what Google will fix or wont fix, ive used the camera in very different conditions and only found a problem with very fast moving subjects, but its not a massive problem and can be solved with other camera apps that are available now for free. I don't see your problem?
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Please tell me what camera apps will help me right now because currently I cannot get any picture of my kid on my phone because he does not like to pose like a flower or a building. I am always willing to listen and have tried a few apps on the Play Store that need to be updated for the N5.

[email protected] said:
Please tell me what camera apps will help me right now because currently I cannot get any picture of my kid on my phone because he does not like to pose like a flower or a building. I am always willing to listen and have tried a few apps on the Play Store that need to be updated for the N5.
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Like I said try the MotoX apk, does a much better job than the stock one in most everything but video and HDR+
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2380199

Oli1122 said:
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Based on the samples the camera does seem very capable (albeit with high level of inconsistency), but it's dynamic range is subpar. Look how much clipping is going on, nothing burned out on the 5S photo while mustache fella's body is clipped all over the place. I guess that's more of a lens issue than sensor, but I do not like that in normal condition (non HDR) you rarely see a photo without clipping.

Certainly is the best in it's price range. I don't expect the best camera in a 350€ phone, but it's very good for what I need it. If I need to take quality pictures, I have my nikon dslr, which blows any phone out of the water anyway.

BoneXDA said:
Based on the samples the camera does seem very capable (albeit with high level of inconsistency), but it's dynamic range is subpar. Look how much clipping is going on, nothing burned out on the 5S photo while mustache fella's body is clipped all over the place. I guess that's more of a lens issue than sensor, but I do not like that in normal condition (non HDR) you rarely see a photo without clipping.
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Yes, you make very good points, I also think its good that it has good dynamic range and optics rather than amazing colours as you can edit those in post. You cant change physical factors like lenses in post. :good:

BoneXDA said:
Based on the samples the camera does seem very capable (albeit with high level of inconsistency), but it's dynamic range is subpar. Look how much clipping is going on, nothing burned out on the 5S photo while mustache fella's body is clipped all over the place. I guess that's more of a lens issue than sensor, but I do not like that in normal condition (non HDR) you rarely see a photo without clipping.
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Exactly, if you look at the N5 versus the others you will notice on both Finn and Jake there are overexposed, blown out portions you don't find on the others. This was a problem with the HTC One as well in my testing.
I am just hopeful Google releases a real fix, not some BS excuse for a camera fix. Having come from the HTC One I am happy with the overall quality of the N5's camera with the following caveats - most photos have to be shot in HDR+ and forget about pics of moving kids. I've actually been doing what was suggested earlier - take video and then quick tap the screen to take many single frames, keep the best. The one issue is if you do want to keep the video it stutters everywhere you took a photo - what the hell is with that!?
To the OP - I applaud your courage to buck the trend and make this review. Everyone's opinion counts!

Oli1122 said:
Yes, you make very good points, I also think its good that it has good dynamic range and optics rather than amazing colours as you can edit those in post. You cant change physical factors like lenses in post. :good:
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lol, you didn't address any points brought up in the post you quoted. The dynamic range of the Nexus 5 SUCKS, waaaaaaaay to many highlights blown out, and you can't fix all of it in PP from my experiences.
And for action shots, FORGET ABOUT IT, its a nightmare in frustration. Too slow to load, too slow to focus, unbelievable shutter lag. By the time the picture is taken, the moment is long gone. Unlike other people who say the camera is fine, I don't just take pictures of inanimate objects.
Face it, the only reason you made this post is that you're justifying to yourself that the camera is good

Oli1122 said:
Like I said try the MotoX apk, does a much better job than the stock one in most everything but video and HDR+
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2380199
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So this camera seems to only take pictures in 1920x1080 (2MP) and is only about 300KB in size. Is there a way to change these settings?
That can also be why the shutter might seem quicker?

flippingout said:
Exactly, if you look at the N5 versus the others you will notice on both Finn and Jake there are overexposed, blown out portions you don't find on the others. This was a problem with the HTC One as well in my testing.
I am just hopeful Google releases a real fix, not some BS excuse for a camera fix. Having come from the HTC One I am happy with the overall quality of the N5's camera with the following caveats - most photos have to be shot in HDR+ and forget about pics of moving kids. I've actually been doing what was suggested earlier - take video and then quick tap the screen to take many single frames, keep the best. The one issue is if you do want to keep the video it stutters everywhere you took a photo - what the hell is with that!?
To the OP - I applaud your courage to buck the trend and make this review. Everyone's opinion counts!
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Thank you. Im trying to change the way people view it. I think we go in to these camera comparisons looking for the wrong thing. After all these are mobile phones not DSLRs so if you want amazing photography go buy a camera, I just think the Nexus 5 has several tactical advantages that make it slightly better for documenting life than many others, the few miner problems appear to be basic software stuff.

walie said:
lol, you didn't address any points brought up in the post you quoted. The dynamic range of the Nexus 5 SUCKS, waaaaaaaay to many highlights blown out, and you can't fix all of it in PP from my experiences.
And for action shots, FORGET ABOUT IT, its a nightmare in frustration. Too slow to load, too slow to focus, unbelievable shutter lag. By the time the picture is taken, the moment is long gone. Unlike other people who say the camera is fine, I don't just take pictures of inanimate objects.
Face it, the only reason you made this post is that you're justifying to yourself that the camera is good
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No, im more than happy with my purchase, much more than happy. My phone is for android and the occasional photo, if i want to take pictures I use my 5D III, im not stupid. Im simply making this because I believe Google have the right idea.

Oli1122 said:
Thank you. Im trying to change the way people view it. I think we go in to these camera comparisons looking for the wrong thing. After all these are mobile phones not DSLRs so if you want amazing photography go buy a camera, I just think the Nexus 5 has several tactical advantages that make it slightly better for documenting life than many others, the few miner problems appear to be basic software stuff.
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You are claiming the Nexus 5 is the best camera phone we will ever own. No one here is expecting DSLR quality but if I am going to snap a picture when I am out, at this point I am grabbing my wifes HTC One and snapping away.
Maybe after a software update my mind will change but for now, the camera is to slow. Not saying the pictures are bad, it is just waaaaaaay to slow for my needs.
If I want DLSR quality photo's I will use my Nikon but I do want to be able to capture pictures with my phone other then flowers.

[Q] Camera Focus

I do have the camera update installed. I have tried other camera apps including Camera Zoom and Shot Control.
Is anyone else having ridiculous problems with focusing--usually in macro situations? It's very frustrating and, frankly, embarrassing that the camera focuses so poorly. I often have to move the focus reticle around multiple times, reframe my shot, or just give up on trying to capture a focus in most macro situations (such as when I want to grab focus on an object real close and have the background blur out). I had no problems with this on my Gnex.
I just bought my Moto X over the Thanksgiving holiday and didn't know what the camera was like before the camera update, but I couldn't imagine it being worse than what I'm experiencing with it right now.
Here are two example photos of a gnome sitting a respectable 4-6" away from my camera. I found that if I moved the focus reticle onto the blue sleeve, it captured focus very well. However, if I tried to focus on the face or just brought the camera up to the gnome in a "real life situation", it wouldn't focus even after multiple movements of the focus reticle.

Then put the focus on the blue arm part. Problem solved.

natezire71 said:
Then put the focus on the blue arm part. Problem solved.
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Lol.
Sendt fra min Nexus 7 med Tapatalk 4

I tested the camera outside of my room and it's fine. Thanks for the tip. Plus there is the new camera update.

mrsonsai said:
I tested the camera outside of my room and it's fine. Thanks for the tip. Plus there is the new camera update.
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What's the trick to get it to focus on close objects in other apps? I cannot get barcodes to scan in the Amazon app because they are out of focus when they are close enough to be big enough.

poorgrad said:
What's the trick to get it to focus on close objects in other apps? I cannot get barcodes to scan in the Amazon app because they are out of focus when they are close enough to be big enough.
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honestly I'm not sure. It just sort of seemed to work when I used it outside of my bedroom. Maybe try it in a different light?

Camera focus
I also tested the camera outside of my room and it's working fine.:good:

I've had a number of issues with focusing as well, especially in macro. You can try turning on the manual focus control and having it focus on your subject which seems to help in most cases. However I have had a number of times where the camera just won't focus at all unless I move it to another point and then back to the original photo. It hasn't happened a ton but I have had it happen enough to notice it.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

termleech said:
I've had a number of issues with focusing as well, especially in macro. You can try turning on the manual focus control and having it focus on your subject which seems to help in most cases. However I have had a number of times where the camera just won't focus at all unless I move it to another point and then back to the original photo. It hasn't happened a ton but I have had it happen enough to notice it.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
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I have this same problem as well. I have a republic wireless one that didnt get the kit kat update yet, and i'm dying for the big camera update in the hopes that it will save me.
the only good thing about an iphone is the flawless camera. otherwise, my moto x just plain rules.

Decided to do a micro-focus comparison vs my S2, here's a sample of both focusing as close as they can on my computer monitor. The best image from each was selected:
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"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
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"lightbox_share": "Share",
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I'll let you guess which is which.
I know it's not apples-to-apples (this isn't the same type of problem) but the camera definitely has some serious issues.

mrsonsai said:
I do have the camera update installed. I have tried other camera apps including Camera Zoom and Shot Control.
Is anyone else having ridiculous problems with focusing--usually in macro situations? It's very frustrating and, frankly, embarrassing that the camera focuses so poorly. I often have to move the focus reticle around multiple times, reframe my shot, or just give up on trying to capture a focus in most macro situations (such as when I want to grab focus on an object real close and have the background blur out). I had no problems with this on my Gnex.
I just bought my Moto X over the Thanksgiving holiday and didn't know what the camera was like before the camera update, but I couldn't imagine it being worse than what I'm experiencing with it right now.
Here are two example photos of a gnome sitting a respectable 4-6" away from my camera. I found that if I moved the focus reticle onto the blue sleeve, it captured focus very well. However, if I tried to focus on the face or just brought the camera up to the gnome in a "real life situation", it wouldn't focus even after multiple movements of the focus reticle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download the app "Camera JB+" from the Play Store and all your problems are solved. I think it's 1.99.
Speaking of the horrible camera on this phone does anyone get bad flash glares in their photos while using flash?? I swear this phone would be perfect if it at least had a gs3 quality camera.

Auto focus uses contrast measurement between lines of the sample area. If the area you're trying to focus on has little contrast, especially in low light, it will have a difficult time trying to focus.

Eckyx said:
Decided to do a micro-focus comparison vs my S2, here's a sample of both focusing as close as they can on my computer monitor. The best image from each was selected:
I'll let you guess which is which.
I know it's not apples-to-apples (this isn't the same type of problem) but the camera definitely has some serious issues.
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Click to collapse
I have an s2...And now a Moto x...not sure about you...But my x's camera blows my s2 away really.
Sent from my Moto X cell phone telephone.....

kj2112 said:
I have an s2...And now a Moto x...not sure about you...But my x's camera blows my s2 away really.
Sent from my Moto X cell phone telephone.....
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Click to collapse
Check out this thread I posted a bit ago, did a comparison between the cameras side-by-side:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2550110

Eckyx said:
Check out this thread I posted a bit ago, did a comparison between the cameras side-by-side:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2550110
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That's your phones....And your picture taking techniques.....right?
I'm using fv-5, not stock app....And again...my Moto x blows my s2 away. My wife agrees.
Does it compare to my cheap 150 dollar Sony camera's pictures....nope. And no phone will.
Sent from my Moto X cell phone telephone.....
---------- Post added at 03:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:03 PM ----------
Check the pictures thread to see what people have taken. Probably people who have spent time working on their technique with this phone....But some great pics in there.
Sent from my Moto X cell phone telephone.....

kj2112 said:
I have an s2...And now a Moto x...not sure about you...But my x's camera blows my s2 away really.
Sent from my Moto X cell phone telephone.....
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Click to collapse
kj2112 said:
That's your phones....And your picture taking techniques.....right?
I'm using fv-5, not stock app....And again...my Moto x blows my s2 away. My wife agrees.
Does it compare to my cheap 150 dollar Sony camera's pictures....nope. And no phone will.
Sent from my Moto X cell phone telephone.....
---------- Post added at 03:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:03 PM ----------
Check the pictures thread to see what people have taken. Probably people who have spent time working on their technique with this phone....But some great pics in there.
Sent from my Moto X cell phone telephone.....
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Click to collapse
Yes, I'm using the latest update to the stock camera on the Moto X, and the stock camera app on the S2, both using stock settings. I retook pictures several times to prevent blurry shots. The Moto is definitely better indoors but outdoor performance is equal at best to the older module used in the S2. I'd be happy to purchase FV-5 and do a comparison using that if you'd like - what kind of technique am I supposed to have with a cellphone camera that has basically no controls or options? It's not like a DSLR - pretty much as point-and-shoot as you can get.

Eckyx said:
Yes, I'm using the latest update to the stock camera on the Moto X, and the stock camera app on the S2, both using stock settings. I retook pictures several times to prevent blurry shots. The Moto is definitely better indoors but outdoor performance is equal at best to the older module used in the S2. I'd be happy to purchase FV-5 and do a comparison using that if you'd like - what kind of technique am I supposed to have with a cellphone camera that has basically no controls or options? It's not like a DSLR - pretty much as point-and-shoot as you can get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fv-5 let's you control everything...or just point and shoot too. Yes....it takes time to learn what to change and when....But it can do much more than stock. Someone who is into photography on a real camera....not a phone....would probably learn quick how to get the most out of our crappy phone cameras with fv-5.
Or a similar app....that's just the one I read about and bought.
Sent from my Moto X cell phone telephone.....

Nexus 6P Manual Camera recommendations

If you would like to see a video review of the app just let me know.
PROSHOT REVIEW​
So I just wanna update and say that I bought all the above apps trying them out for an hour or so. I refunded them all and decided on ProShot! Below are my pros and cons of using ProShot, I'm only reviewing this one because it's the one I stuck with and liked the most ​
PROS
Very Beautiful UI, the buttons respond immediately to my presses and most with subtle but nice animations.
Settings are very organized, The Manual camera features are all feel accessible without feeling overwhelming or cluttering the User interface.
Hidden Manual Focal Length, It comes in handy since the Nexus 6P doesn't always know how to lock onto the focus properly
Custom Settings Presets, haven't used it yet but you can have 2 presets for your custom settings.
Easily Crop Photos, the settings lives at the top of the screen change between different aspect ratios (which I use often)
The work space, I mentioned before the wonderful UI but you also get a amount of space to work with because of all of the transparent elements in the User Interface.
Special features, Exposure bracketing, timelapse, and a cool one (Light Painting) light painting is still in beta and is extremely buggy but once it shifts out of beta I could see it being my favorite feature!​
Cons
The Auto Focus, tapping the screen to auto focus does not work currently in manual mode
Manual Exposure, I believe the dev posted hear saying it was a google bug but right now the feature simply does not work.
The Gallery, there's a gallery button in the corner but the images are very slow to load. Use your personal gallery app.
Updates, The app is a little slow to receive updates. I would love for Light Paint to come out of beta.​
Final Thoughts
The app is pretty amazing and very polished. One of the most polished of all the Manual Camera Apps I have tested. It has enough features to keep you satisfied in the mean time while waiting for the updates to come. I mentioned has a beautiful transparent UI which allows your much more working space than other apps. The special features are fun to tinker with and with time lapse you and video recording you don't have to download a separate app to do those things.​
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[[[OP]]]
Was super excited with the Camera2 API back in the Nexus 5 days
Now that I have a Nexus 6P, what are the best Manual Camera apps? I'm mostly lean towards UI & features but the question is, what do you guys recommend for manual camera picture taking goodness?
Thanks!​

Proshots
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Camera FV-5, really good app! You should try it!

I like proshot, haven't used fv5 in a while
Sent from my angler using XDA Labs

ProShot is complete and has a friendly UI. I prefer it because I can adjust everything with a couple of tap. However you can try the demo

I`m not that pro about photos and sensors...
If I use proshot the HDR+ will be turn on always?

cattel said:
I`m not that pro about photos and sensors...
If I use proshot the HDR+ will be turn on always?
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Click to collapse
Hi! I'm the dev of ProShot. HDR+ is not available yet, and HDR only works on certain devices (mostly Samsung and Motorola from what I've seen). I'm working on my own version of HDR, but don't have a solid timeline on when it will be ready.

edee1337 said:
Hi! I'm the dev of ProShot. HDR+ is not available yet, and HDR only works on certain devices (mostly Samsung and Motorola from what I've seen). I'm working on my own version of HDR, but don't have a solid timeline on when it will be ready.
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Click to collapse
Thank You very much! I was really wondering about that!
I will keep it with proshot! Just wish that this feature was included!

edee1337 said:
Hi! I'm the dev of ProShot. HDR+ is not available yet, and HDR only works on certain devices (mostly Samsung and Motorola from what I've seen). I'm working on my own version of HDR, but don't have a solid timeline on when it will be ready.
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Kudos bro, an amazing app. I have been recommending this to everyone.

Used the pay version of manual camera last night here were some of the results! No edits
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Proshot. If you have kids running around it's the best. Proshot is the only one I've found that can do shutter priority. Every other camera2 compatible app I've seen forces manual iso with manual shutter (full manual mode). Proshot can do manual shutter with auto iso. I think it's a hack bc it doesn't always hit the set shutter speed perfectly but it works well and gets close. Decent interface too.

nsmal24 said:
Proshot. If you have kids running around it's the best. Proshot is the only one I've found that can do shutter priority. Every other camera2 compatible app I've seen forces manual iso with manual shutter (full manual mode). Proshot can do manual shutter with auto iso. I think it's a hack bc it doesn't always hit the set shutter speed perfectly but it works well and gets close. Decent interface too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep it is a hack Glad you like it, I wasn't going to launch ProShot without it.

frezd91 said:
ProShot is complete and has a friendly UI. I prefer it because I can adjust everything with a couple of tap. However you can try the demo
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Click to collapse
does the demo version have all features enabled? cuz camera fv-5 has a lite version which put everything behind a paywall, meaning you couldn't test it out.

dex2grigg said:
Used the pay version of manual camera last night here were some of the results! No edits
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
they shots look decent, did you leave the default settings or not? (like aperture, exposure, exposure bracketing, etc.)

edee1337 said:
Yep it is a hack Glad you like it, I wasn't going to launch ProShot without it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
could you explain what about the auto ISO feature doesn't always work? also will it become a usable feature? honestly I'm just searching for a camera app but they all require you to pay before you try.

drago10029 said:
could you explain what about the auto ISO feature doesn't always work? also will it become a usable feature? honestly I'm just searching for a camera app but they all require you to pay before you try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean it doesn't always work? If the shutter is a few ticks above or below the selected value it's likely a rounding error in the displayed EXIF. Say you choose 1/25 but it appears as 1/24. The actual value is probably 1/24.999.
Alternatively, say you choose a shutter speed like 1/2000. These phones aren't precise and the image sensor might expose the scene for 1/1997s. That value is stored in the EXIF not as a fraction, but as nanoseconds: 500751ns. ProShot's camera roll then tries to convert that value back to some human-readable fraction, and through some guesswork and approximation might display 1/1989s.
Hope that clears it up!

Can you please explain what setting are you using in proshot to get the best results when the subject is moving fast like kids or dogs?

drago10029 said:
does the demo version have all features enabled? cuz camera fv-5 has a lite version which put everything behind a paywall, meaning you couldn't test it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some limits on the demo version; you can use full manual controls but the pics are watermarked. I wish I didn't have to do this, but man piracy is really bad on Android. The app took almost a year of my life from me so it's sad to see so many people stealing.
The current demo is a bit out of date and buggy. I'll be releasing a new version tomorrow fixing a lot of lingering issues (as well as bug fixes for the main app).
---------- Post added at 01:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:05 AM ----------
Nabfy said:
Can you please explain what setting are you using in proshot to get the best results when the subject is moving fast like kids or dogs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's going to depending on your lighting, but throwing ProShot in either Manual, C1, or C2 with ISO set to AUTO and a shutter between 1/60-1/100 will do a great job of freezing motion so you won't get blurry faces. If you're indoors in a dimly lit space dropping to 1/30 is probably the lowest I'd go, though you will get some blur then. And always keep flash off

edee1337 said:
What do you mean it doesn't always work? If the shutter is a few ticks above or below the selected value it's likely a rounding error in the displayed EXIF. Say you choose 1/25 but it appears as 1/24. The actual value is probably 1/24.999.
Alternatively, say you choose a shutter speed like 1/2000. These phones aren't precise and the image sensor might expose the scene for 1/1997s. That value is stored in the EXIF not as a fraction, but as nanoseconds: 500751ns. ProShot's camera roll then tries to convert that value back to some human-readable fraction, and through some guesswork and approximation might display 1/1989s.
Hope that clears it up!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
someone named nsmal, above said the auto iso feature didn't work properly, was he referring to what you just explained or something different? and thanks for the explanation, and i understand piracy is an issue definitely, I'm just concerned with buying a app that didn't suit me but I will def take the watermarked version for a run tomorrow since you say it's full featured
Also, MUCH MUCH RESPECT for not abusing the permissions! even the ones at that bottom no one really checks, much appreciation :good::good::victory:

drago10029 said:
someone named nsmal, above said the auto iso feature didn't work properly, was he referring to what you just explained or something different? and thanks for the explanation, and i understand piracy is an issue definitely, I'm just concerned with buying a app that didn't suit me but I will def take the watermarked version for a run tomorrow since you say it's full featured
Also, MUCH MUCH RESPECT for not abusing the permissions! even the ones at that bottom no one really checks, much appreciation :good::good::victory:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably what I explained, the rounding errors can be confusing haha. The demo update will probably go live late Tuesday night (USA time) so I'd say hold off til Wednesday to get the best impression :good:
I tried to keep the permissions as minimal as possible, but I might add analytics soon (simple data points like does anyone use the Light Painting mode? [to help guide my dev priorities]). That will require internet, so I'm trying to figure out the best way to add that in a way that doesn't make people upset :angel:

Photo quality

Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the Razer Phone 2 come out. A higher rating indicates that photos offer rich color (without over-saturating), sharp detail (with all subjects in-focus), and appropriate exposure (with even lighting).
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

i found the stock camera app to be pretty poor coming from a pixel 2 like it was almost dealbreaking. I also have an essential phone that needed a google cam port to be usable. So i went to the gcam repo and spent a good hour trying all the versions from arnova, cstark etc. and i found that the only one that actually works is from BSG for the Mi 8 and the quality is night and day. i posted on reddit about it. https://www.reddit.com/r/razerphone/comments/9rv2ed/google_cam_port_quality_vs_stock_app_vs_pixel_2/

meh
There is no 60 frames-per-second 1080p video nor is there 16 by 9 aspect ratio for photos they are also blurry, the zoom is okay though I guess.

https://imgur.com/gallery/5tkoGjG
Picture taken with it, does an amazing job at medium-low lighting

Razer's photo app does pretty good, minus not having slow motion, beating all my previous phones in clarity, quality and ability to take photos of an always moving 2 year old with very minimal, if any, motion blur, and in low light without flash and no visible grainyness. But to boost your cameras performance, Gcam works wonders (slow motion still does not work) Beware of file sizes of videos, though... An 8 minute 4k video of my daughter was a whopping 2.5gb... and when you take photos at the same time you're recording, they come out much darker than just taking a photo by itself. Photo quality is outstanding, taking bright, clear photos in low light with no motion blur what so ever, and with no visible grainyness or loss of color accuracy. People with high end iPhones and Samsung devices were amazed at the photo quality of the Razer 2 compared to their phones...so a big plus for this phone. I have NO idea what people we're talking about when they said the camera was crap... As far as the photo album app, I think the one that comes with the phone totally sucks, it's the Google albums app, which for me is over complicated, I have no idea how to browse it, or organize it, or create folders, or move them to folders...so, I downloaded a very simple, easy to use gallery app that fits all my needs. VERY simple to understand, I can move things around, create new folders, etc. If you're interested in it, here's the link.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro
It reminds me of the simpler album apps that came with earlier versions of Android Galaxy phones, which is what I'm used to.
EDIT- 10/16/19
Finally found a camera app that makes full use of the camera. Gcam
Version 6.2.030. greatly increased clarity, amazing low light performance, night mode, multiple resolutions to choose from, hdr, hdr+, 4k video, bokke effect in portrait mode, which makes a HUGE improvement in photo dramatic effect when taking pictures of people, and most importantly, to me at least, VERIFIED WORKING SLOW MOTION AND TIME LAPSE... Which for some STUPID REASON Razer has OMITTED from even their latest software update, posted only a couple days ago. Link below for the gcam mod.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rAgBKJ9ZixrsfP2_29HHJabm-2g9etLY/view?usp=drivesdk
I cannot recommend you use this gcam mod enough! It's EXACTLY what this phone was missing all along
Not my work, BTW. Simply pointing a link at someone else's work.

mmfnsmith said:
Razer's photo app does pretty good, minus not having slow motion, beating all my previous phones in clarity, quality and ability to take photos of an always moving 2 year old with very minimal, if any, motion blur, and in low light without flash and no visible grainyness. But to boost your cameras performance, Gcam works wonders (slow motion still does not work) Beware of file sizes of videos, though... An 8 minute 4k video of my daughter was a whopping 2.5gb... and when you take photos at the same time you're recording, they come out much darker than just taking a photo by itself. Photo quality is outstanding, taking bright, clear photos in low light with no motion blur what so ever, and with no visible grainyness or loss of color accuracy. People with high end iPhones and Samsung devices were amazed at the photo quality of the Razer 2 compared to their phones...so a big plus for this phone. I have NO idea what people we're talking about when they said the camera was crap... The only problem I have is audio quality issues. Sounds like they have a background noise suppression setting turned on by default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p9wTQKDUWFDrOMX2zAofWl7G2ULpTdRn/view?usp=drivesdk

I'm pretty blown away with this camera, especially in very low light. I downloaded the gcam app. And just wow!
This is a picture in my hobby room with just the light from my computer monitor no other lights or flash
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Warrior1988 said:
Try this. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p9wTQKDUWFDrOMX2zAofWl7G2ULpTdRn/view?usp=drivesdk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man, I tried this app you linked to and here are some comparison shots.
In our play room with low light currently.
Stock camera app
You linked camera app
Sent from my Phone 2 using Tapatalk

Hey, a Razer Phone 2-specific version of GCam was uploaded to https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/ the other day. I downloaded it, and it's so much faster than the MI8 version. It's bloody quick. No more loading ring when I'm taking a picture. Just a flash as the picture is taken.

The quality is "okay" but not that good
I hope they'll do better in the future .
Mini Militia App Lock

cs88 said:
i found the stock camera app to be pretty poor coming from a pixel 2 like it was almost dealbreaking. I also have an essential phone that needed a google cam port to be usable. So i went to the gcam repo and spent a good hour trying all the versions from arnova, cstark etc. and i found that the only one that actually works is from BSG for the Mi 8 and the quality is night and day. i posted on reddit about it. https://www.reddit.com/r/razerphone/comments/9rv2ed/google_cam_port_quality_vs_stock_app_vs_pixel_2/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you like the Razer 2 w/gcam compared to the Pixel 2?

I just installed the RP 2 gcam from the link and only saw a lowlight/indoors performance difference while indoors. Once I went outside there was a bit of a split decision. On one hand the dynamic range of gcam was a lot better and maintained clear details in the image. There were a couple of occassions where the stock camera app took a more appealing picture. Most of the pics while outside in good natural light were almost identical; only zooming in all the way and searching would you see the difference. Again, that goes back to the dynamic range and how the apps process the images once you take the picture. At some point we need to stop splitting hairs on the most minor detail that really isn't discernable unless you zoom in 300% an search vice when you look at the normal zoom image. I have noticed however, the RP2 does over process more often than not, leading to it softening the image way too much causing a slight blur in the details. But other times it takes really good pictures.

I just uninstalled the gcam app now. I don't know what happened but was using the camera a few hours after installing and testing it out and I noticed major artifacts, color distortion and image distortion when I am looking at the screen and moving the phone around to different subjects. I also notice it having a real hard time adjusting the exposure and balance. The removal of the gcam app hasn't seemed to fix anything. I may have to reset the phone to get it functioning again.

lamamafia said:
There is no 60 frames-per-second 1080p video nor is there 16 by 9 aspect ratio for photos they are also blurry, the zoom is okay though I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not bad...

I just got the phone, and knew going into it the camera was going to be bad (doubly bad considering I was coming from an LG V20!). What I didn't expect was just how bad HDR is on the stock app. It's rather laughable. The first image is a normal photo on the telephoto lens. The second photo is an HDR shot on the same lens. I plan to play around with Gcam, but HDR will never see the light of day on my stock app. Lol

Not as good as my motorola z2 force. Really, very bad! I can only play games now. . . . Maybe gaming phones can only play games.

Themes / Apps / Mods Samsung Expert Raw app

FYI, just noticed the release of the Expert Raw app by Samsung, supporting all lenses for the S21 Ultra. Editing can be done through Adobe Lighthouse for Samsung.
The app is release in South Korea, but als available through mirror sites.
More info here

thanks.

Manual controls over the telephoto lenses are awesome. However sadly "RAW" here is used loosely since there's built in noise reduction that cannot be adjusted.
Top is "Expert RAW" DNG to JPG with just adjusting brightness. No noise reduction is applied and yet there is very little detail. Bottom picture is just stock camera night mode. More noise, but also more detail.
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I'm testing Expert RAW now and mus confirm, noise reduction exist even on DNG file. You suggest to use other app?

I'll test it tonight

Right after downgrading to 11 I saw this post. Back to 12... Again and, yes, it's True. This is NOT pure RAW. I posted 3 photos down here so you can see what's going on. I apologize in advance for this long post but I wanted to show the actual view on the user's screen.
1st: Expert raw actually takes a RAW photo (notice the high chroma noise) but immediately processes it, to reduce the noise as seen with the yellow progress circle in the lower part of the screen.
2nd: after processing, the photo looks like this
3rd: after opening the photo in Photoshop Express, it looks like this:
To the untrained eye, this looks like such a great, clean image. But this is clearly, not RAW and it is not what users asked for.
Honestly, Samsung is frustrating. They give you the feeling that they are listening to their customers. We ask them for oranges and they give us watermellons. My theory is that they absolutely know they have mediocre sensors in their flagships and do not want to risk their image by letting you see the RAW capability of their camera.

Randi03 said:
To the untrained eye, this looks like such a great, clean image. But this is clearly, not RAW and it is not what users asked for.
Honestly, Samsung is frustrating. They give you the feeling that they are listening to their customers. We ask them for oranges and they give us watermellons. My theory is that they absolutely know they have mediocre sensors in their flagships and do not want to risk their image by letting you see the RAW capability of their camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sad but True. Higher ISO level = more agressive processing.
This example with some lightroom touches from x10 tele captured on ISO 50 but on tripod gimbal with 1/15s time.
Glad that they gave us full control at all, that's the most important thing, but they also had to give something back.

More examples with little lightroom postpro. All lenses and this time all captured from hand. Expert RAW creates multiple ammount of photos to some kind of HDR RAW. Anyway theare are much better than photos from standard camera app. Less processing but still exist.

Randi03 said:
Right after downgrading to 11 I saw this post. Back to 12... Again and, yes, it's True. This is NOT pure RAW. I posted 3 photos down here so you can see what's going on. I apologize in advance for this long post but I wanted to show the actual view on the user's screen.
1st: Expert raw actually takes a RAW photo (notice the high chroma noise) but immediately processes it, to reduce the noise as seen with the yellow progress circle in the lower part of the screen. View attachment 54668372nd: after processing, the photo looks like this
View attachment 5466841
3rd: after opening the photo in Photoshop Express, it looks like this:
View attachment 5466843
To the untrained eye, this looks like such a great, clean image. But this is clearly, not RAW and it is not what users asked for.
Honestly, Samsung is frustrating. They give you the feeling that they are listening to their customers. We ask them for oranges and they give us watermellons. My theory is that they absolutely know they have mediocre sensors in their flagships and do not want to risk their image by letting you see the RAW capability of their camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol that's the thing though, the sensors aren't mediocre. Having a Snapdragon with access to telephoto RAW for a while now, I can definitely say that they're pretty good albeit a little soft and lack contrast. I think it's that Samsung's algorithm is still problematic and they are still catering to the common user who they think is scared of any signs of noise.
Here's a zoomed in picture of a 10x GCam RAW zoomed in with Photoshop Express without noise reduction
And here's the Expert RAW version

Wow, the Gcam looks very nice. That's exactly what I hope to get out of the Exynos someday )

Expert raw seems to be the answer to apple's proraw or I can't remember the exact name. Basically it's 6 raw shots stacked together to help reduce the amount of noise and increase dynamic range over a single raw since these phones are usually meant to have lots of internal post precessing after the raw shot to look good. I was pretty excited when I read apple had come up with it. Turned out to be disappointing. Looks like Samsung's answer isn't better either.
It shows the difficulty of processing and stacking multiple images. I'll stick to my gcam with snap dragon as I'm super happy with it. 10x is by far my favorite lens to take portraits, never use the fake portrait mode, even in 3x it can't beat gcam 10x. Google processing is just that good. If pixel 6 pro had a 10x periscope I was probably switching phones... Will have to wait some more

PhilMorin said:
Expert raw seems to be the answer to apple's proraw or I can't remember the exact name. Basically it's 6 raw shots stacked together to help reduce the amount of noise and increase dynamic range over a single raw since these phones are usually meant to have lots of internal post precessing after the raw shot to look good. I was pretty excited when I read apple had come up with it. Turned out to be disappointing. Looks like Samsung's answer isn't better either.
It shows the difficulty of processing and stacking multiple images. I'll stick to my gcam with snap dragon as I'm super happy with it. 10x is by far my favorite lens to take portraits, never use the fake portrait mode, even in 3x it can't beat gcam 10x. Google processing is just that good. If pixel 6 pro had a 10x periscope I was probably switching phones... Will have to wait some more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what GCAM mod are you using btw?

yoyosquad said:
what GCAM mod are you using btw?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Arnova, one of the first version that was released. I've been really happy with it so haven't bothered updating to one of the latest version that beserker has posted.

PhilMorin said:
Arnova, one of the first version that was released. I've been really happy with it so haven't bothered updating to one of the latest version that beserker has posted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if that's not a problem, can you write us exact version of this release?

ski.ign said:
if that's not a problem, can you write us exact version of this release?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gcam build number is 8.1.101, might still be available from the links in beserker gcam for snapdragon thread

test

How can I install it? It's a zip file

Hello, i have question - how LOSELESS JPEG function works? Can You share some photos without editing it in external editors like lightroom? I'm interested how jpg from expert camera looks like.

I don't see any different between this camera end the stock camera

Hi, I am not sure what you mean by lossless jpeg. I couldn't find a setting for this. Here you can find 6 JPEG photos. 3 with stock, 3 with expert. All settings (ISO, Exposure, Focus distance, White balance) should be exactly the same as I have manually selected them while keeping the phone on a tripod. Auto HDR was disabled too. https://we.tl/t-WSBZjBGaNB
Also, I am on the Exynos variant.