Camera & Camera2 API - missing features & bugs

Help Fairphone 4
1

:information_source: This issue has already been discussed over numerous posts, so I just wanted to make one comprehensive post for wiki purposes.

Here is the Camera2 API report generated using Camera2 API Probe with a complete list of currently available features:

Model:FP4
Manufacturer:Fairphone
Build:11
SDK:30
------------------------------------------
Model:FP4
Manufacturer:Fairphone
Build:11
SDK:30
------------------------------------------
Camera ID: 0
Camera Facing: BACK
Hardware Support Level:LEVEL_3
Manual exposure:1
Auto exposure:1
Auto exposure, always flash:1
Auto exposure, auto flash:1
Auto exposure, auto flash, red eye reduction:0
AE Lock:1
Compensation Range: [-12, 12]
Compensation Step: 1/6
Target FPS  Range: [10, 15]
Target FPS  Range: [15, 15]
Target FPS  Range: [10, 30]
Target FPS  Range: [30, 30]
Manual focus:1
Auto focus:1
Auto focus macro:1
Auto focus continuous picture:1
Auto focus continuous video:1
Auto focus EDOF:0
White balance off:1
Automatic white balance:1
WB: cloudy day:1
WB: daylight:1
WB: fluorescent:1
WB: incandescent:1
WB: shade:1
WB: twilight:1
WB: warm fluorescent:1
AWB Lock:1
RawCapture:1
BurstCapture:1
availableCapability: BACKWARD_COMPATIBLE
availableCapability: CONSTRAINED_HIGH_SPEED_VIDEO
availableCapability: RAW
availableCapability: YUV_REPROCESSING
availableCapability: PRIVATE_REPROCESSING
availableCapability: READ_SENSOR_SETTINGS
availableCapability: MANUAL_SENSOR
availableCapability: BURST_CAPTURE
availableCapability: MANUAL_POST_PROCESSING
Stabilization Mode: Optical
Stabilization Mode: Video
previewSize: 3952 * 1824 (13:6)
previewSize: 3840 * 2160 (16:9)
previewSize: 3264 * 2448 (4:3)
previewSize: 3200 * 2400 (4:3)
previewSize: 2976 * 2976 (1:1)
previewSize: 2880 * 2156 (720:539)
previewSize: 2688 * 1512 (16:9)
previewSize: 2560 * 1440 (16:9)
previewSize: 2340 * 1080 (13:6)
previewSize: 2048 * 1536 (4:3)
previewSize: 1920 * 1440 (4:3)
previewSize: 1920 * 1080 (16:9)
previewSize: 1600 * 1200 (4:3)
previewSize: 1440 * 1080 (4:3)
previewSize: 1280 * 960 (4:3)
previewSize: 1280 * 768 (5:3)
previewSize: 1280 * 720 (16:9)
previewSize: 1080 * 1080 (1:1)
previewSize: 1024 * 738 (512:369)
previewSize: 1024 * 768 (4:3)
previewSize: 864 * 480 (9:5)
previewSize: 800 * 600 (4:3)
previewSize: 800 * 480 (5:3)
previewSize: 720 * 1280 (16:9)
previewSize: 720 * 480 (3:2)
previewSize: 640 * 480 (4:3)
previewSize: 640 * 400 (8:5)
previewSize: 640 * 360 (16:9)
previewSize: 352 * 288 (11:9)
previewSize: 320 * 240 (4:3)
previewSize: 240 * 320 (4:3)
previewSize: 176 * 144 (11:9)
photoSize: 3952 * 1824 (13:6)
photoSize: 3840 * 2160 (16:9)
photoSize: 3264 * 2448 (4:3)
photoSize: 3200 * 2400 (4:3)
photoSize: 2976 * 2976 (1:1)
photoSize: 2880 * 2156 (720:539)
photoSize: 2688 * 1512 (16:9)
photoSize: 2560 * 1440 (16:9)
photoSize: 2340 * 1080 (13:6)
photoSize: 2048 * 1536 (4:3)
photoSize: 1920 * 1440 (4:3)
photoSize: 1920 * 1080 (16:9)
photoSize: 1600 * 1200 (4:3)
photoSize: 1440 * 1080 (4:3)
photoSize: 1280 * 960 (4:3)
photoSize: 1280 * 768 (5:3)
photoSize: 1280 * 720 (16:9)
photoSize: 1080 * 1080 (1:1)
photoSize: 1024 * 738 (512:369)
photoSize: 1024 * 768 (4:3)
photoSize: 864 * 480 (9:5)
photoSize: 800 * 600 (4:3)
photoSize: 800 * 480 (5:3)
photoSize: 720 * 1280 (16:9)
photoSize: 720 * 480 (3:2)
photoSize: 640 * 480 (4:3)
photoSize: 640 * 400 (8:5)
photoSize: 640 * 360 (16:9)
photoSize: 352 * 288 (11:9)
photoSize: 320 * 240 (4:3)
photoSize: 240 * 320 (4:3)
photoSize: 176 * 144 (11:9)
videoSize: 3952 * 1824 (13:6)
videoSize: 3840 * 2160 (16:9)
videoSize: 3264 * 2448 (4:3)
videoSize: 3200 * 2400 (4:3)
videoSize: 2976 * 2976 (1:1)
videoSize: 2880 * 2156 (720:539)
videoSize: 2688 * 1512 (16:9)
videoSize: 2560 * 1440 (16:9)
videoSize: 2340 * 1080 (13:6)
videoSize: 2048 * 1536 (4:3)
videoSize: 1920 * 1440 (4:3)
videoSize: 1920 * 1080 (16:9)
videoSize: 1600 * 1200 (4:3)
videoSize: 1440 * 1080 (4:3)
videoSize: 1280 * 960 (4:3)
videoSize: 1280 * 768 (5:3)
videoSize: 1280 * 720 (16:9)
videoSize: 1080 * 1080 (1:1)
videoSize: 1024 * 738 (512:369)
videoSize: 1024 * 768 (4:3)
videoSize: 864 * 480 (9:5)
videoSize: 800 * 600 (4:3)
videoSize: 800 * 480 (5:3)
videoSize: 720 * 1280 (16:9)
videoSize: 720 * 480 (3:2)
videoSize: 640 * 480 (4:3)
videoSize: 640 * 400 (8:5)
videoSize: 640 * 360 (16:9)
videoSize: 352 * 288 (11:9)
videoSize: 320 * 240 (4:3)
videoSize: 240 * 320 (4:3)
videoSize: 176 * 144 (11:9)
------------------------------------------
Camera ID: 1
Camera Facing: FRONT
Hardware Support Level:LEVEL_3
Manual exposure:1
Auto exposure:1
Auto exposure, always flash:0
Auto exposure, auto flash:0
Auto exposure, auto flash, red eye reduction:0
AE Lock:1
Compensation Range: [-12, 12]
Compensation Step: 1/6
Target FPS  Range: [15, 15]
Target FPS  Range: [8, 30]
Target FPS  Range: [30, 30]
Manual focus:1
Auto focus:0
Auto focus macro:0
Auto focus continuous picture:0
Auto focus continuous video:0
Auto focus EDOF:0
White balance off:1
Automatic white balance:1
WB: cloudy day:1
WB: daylight:1
WB: fluorescent:1
WB: incandescent:1
WB: shade:1
WB: twilight:1
WB: warm fluorescent:1
AWB Lock:1
RawCapture:1
BurstCapture:1
availableCapability: BACKWARD_COMPATIBLE
availableCapability: RAW
availableCapability: YUV_REPROCESSING
availableCapability: PRIVATE_REPROCESSING
availableCapability: READ_SENSOR_SETTINGS
availableCapability: MANUAL_SENSOR
availableCapability: BURST_CAPTURE
availableCapability: MANUAL_POST_PROCESSING
Stabilization Mode: Video
previewSize: 2880 * 2156 (720:539)
previewSize: 2688 * 1512 (16:9)
previewSize: 2560 * 1440 (16:9)
previewSize: 2340 * 1080 (13:6)
previewSize: 2048 * 1536 (4:3)
previewSize: 1920 * 1440 (4:3)
previewSize: 1920 * 1080 (16:9)
previewSize: 1600 * 1200 (4:3)
previewSize: 1440 * 1080 (4:3)
previewSize: 1280 * 960 (4:3)
previewSize: 1280 * 768 (5:3)
previewSize: 1280 * 720 (16:9)
previewSize: 1080 * 1080 (1:1)
previewSize: 1024 * 738 (512:369)
previewSize: 1024 * 768 (4:3)
previewSize: 864 * 480 (9:5)
previewSize: 800 * 600 (4:3)
previewSize: 800 * 480 (5:3)
previewSize: 720 * 1280 (16:9)
previewSize: 720 * 480 (3:2)
previewSize: 640 * 480 (4:3)
previewSize: 640 * 400 (8:5)
previewSize: 640 * 360 (16:9)
previewSize: 352 * 288 (11:9)
previewSize: 320 * 240 (4:3)
previewSize: 240 * 320 (4:3)
previewSize: 176 * 144 (11:9)
photoSize: 2560 * 1440 (16:9)
photoSize: 2340 * 1080 (13:6)
photoSize: 2048 * 1536 (4:3)
photoSize: 1920 * 1440 (4:3)
photoSize: 1920 * 1080 (16:9)
photoSize: 1600 * 1200 (4:3)
photoSize: 1440 * 1080 (4:3)
photoSize: 1280 * 960 (4:3)
photoSize: 1280 * 768 (5:3)
photoSize: 1280 * 720 (16:9)
photoSize: 1080 * 1080 (1:1)
photoSize: 1024 * 738 (512:369)
photoSize: 1024 * 768 (4:3)
photoSize: 864 * 480 (9:5)
photoSize: 800 * 600 (4:3)
photoSize: 800 * 480 (5:3)
photoSize: 720 * 1280 (16:9)
photoSize: 720 * 480 (3:2)
photoSize: 640 * 480 (4:3)
photoSize: 640 * 400 (8:5)
photoSize: 640 * 360 (16:9)
photoSize: 352 * 288 (11:9)
photoSize: 320 * 240 (4:3)
photoSize: 240 * 320 (4:3)
photoSize: 176 * 144 (11:9)
videoSize: 2880 * 2156 (720:539)
videoSize: 2688 * 1512 (16:9)
videoSize: 2560 * 1440 (16:9)
videoSize: 2340 * 1080 (13:6)
videoSize: 2048 * 1536 (4:3)
videoSize: 1920 * 1440 (4:3)
videoSize: 1920 * 1080 (16:9)
videoSize: 1600 * 1200 (4:3)
videoSize: 1440 * 1080 (4:3)
videoSize: 1280 * 960 (4:3)
videoSize: 1280 * 768 (5:3)
videoSize: 1280 * 720 (16:9)
videoSize: 1080 * 1080 (1:1)
videoSize: 1024 * 738 (512:369)
videoSize: 1024 * 768 (4:3)
videoSize: 864 * 480 (9:5)
videoSize: 800 * 600 (4:3)
videoSize: 800 * 480 (5:3)
videoSize: 720 * 1280 (16:9)
videoSize: 720 * 480 (3:2)
videoSize: 640 * 480 (4:3)
videoSize: 640 * 400 (8:5)
videoSize: 640 * 360 (16:9)
videoSize: 352 * 288 (11:9)
videoSize: 320 * 240 (4:3)
videoSize: 240 * 320 (4:3)
videoSize: 176 * 144 (11:9)

Missing features

  • The wide angle camera is accessible only through the stock camera app, not through the API. This prevents its usage in alternative camera apps such as GCam or Open Camera.
  • The full 48MP quality (8000×6000) of the main camera and 24MP quality (5760×4312) of the selfie camera are completely unavailable.
  • For some reason, even the basic 12MP resolution (4000×3000) is inaccessible in the Camera2 mode, though it’s probably fine when using the old camera API. This is problematic for example when taking HDR photos using Open Camera. You simply cannot achieve the full 12MP quality.
  • The same applies to the basic 6MP resolution (2880×2156) of the selfie camera. But funnily enough, this resolution is accessible in preview and video modes. Only the photo mode is missing.
  • There also seems to be no access to FPS values higher than 30, which complicates, for example, slow motion video shooting.
  • Also there is no direct access to the ToF sensor.

Bugs

  • When accessing the selfie camera in video mode using the Camera2 API, it sometimes freezes or straight up crashes apps. The workaround seems to be to set zoom to at least 1.07x, then it is stable. This is reproducible, but not by all users.
  • Trying to access 1/8x slow motion in GCam crashes the app. It works in Open Camera (0.125x speed), but the resulting video is choppy.

Response from support

So far, I’ve only got response regarding the wide angle camera:

the wide-angle camera should be usable in other apps but I can confirm it’s not. I’ve reported this to our Quality team and we’ll likely fix it at some point in the future but for the time being, you will have to use our app for such pictures.

Update (2022-03-30):

The list of camera bugs and feature requests is incredibly helpful and I will take a look right away. Some of these are already being worked on, but should I spot anything unknown to us, I will make sure to flag it :slight_smile:

42 Likes
2

Just stumbled upon this announcement from the EU Council: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/03/25/council-and-european-parliament-reach-agreement-on-the-digital-markets-act/

The whole announcement is very interesting, but this hit me in the eye:

Gatekeepers will have to:

  • allow app developers fair access to the supplementary functionalities of smartphones (e.g. NFC chip)

I’m fairly sure that Fairphone doesn’t qualify as a gatekeeper, but it is very possible that Google will actually have to force all vendors to expose all the available features in the API. That would effectively prevent any future issues like this.

8 Likes
4

Yeah, I already have it listed (the last point).

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5

I totally agree with your issues mentioned here! Especially accessing the ToF sensor would be nice to have, so we could have rudimentry night vision.

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6

Thank you @Razem: Great description of the problem. I hope that the Fairphone Team does also a good job by fixing this issues.

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7

Are there any new updates from support?

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8

Unfortunately not yet. I’ll definitely update the post as soon as I get any update.

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9

Any information on this topic, at least to keep this item alive?

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10

Nothing so far, unfortunately. I’ll try to urge the support again.

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11

Also adding that Info here: Apps need SYSTEM_CAMERA permissions to access the full feature set. This is only possible for apps on the system partition with correct permissions. Therefore app like Camera2 API Probe cannot see all features.
https://source.android.com/devices/camera/system-cameras

Not sure why it was done that way. Most user friendly way would probably be to drop the SYSTEM_CAMERA requirement.

For custom Roms it should still be possible to grant that permission and access all features.

1 Like
12

It sounds to me like Google is intentionally making the use of alternative camera apps unattractive. This way, the Google smartphones (with stock ROM!) are even better off with their photo quality than they already are. So you have no chance to get the Google quality/functions with a custom ROM and e.g. gcam port on their smartphones. Using gcam port with other manufacturers (with or without custom ROM) of course leads to the same problem. Sometimes people want to use a gcam port although they have a stock ROM, because manufacturers other than Google often cannot match their quality. This might indirectly push one or the other customer to buy a Google smartphone.

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Yes, that’s precisely how it’s currently implemented. The point is that it doesn’t have to be this way. And the key is indeed to drop the SYSTEM_CAMERA permission requirement, i.e., make the wide lens camera a regular camera instead of a system camera. Which Fairphone can do.

Also I have a new update from the support team. I hope it will be done soon.

Indeed, we have been working on this request for some time already. I have discussed this again with the relevant department and we have agreed to heighten the priority in order to resolve this faster. As soon as I know more in terms of timeline, I will be happy to let you know.

8 Likes
14

Yes, dropping the permission would be best.

If it’s not done, at least for custom Roms it would be best to patch Android to just ignore that permission and provide it to all apps - not sure how hard that is. Maybe such a change would make sense for Linage OS in general.

The stock FPCamera app unfortunately is still not working without crashes if integrated in custom ROMs. But it’s able to access all cameras, when installed as SYSTEM_CAMERA app. I decompiled the camera app and now I’m trying to get behind some of the causes with remote debugging in Android Studio. But that’s time intensive and the learning curve for that is quite steep …

8 Likes
15

So the stock FPCamera App can come around all these missing features / bugs?
Or only accessing all camera lenses?

In general - if I get that right:

  • all non-stock apps (Open Camera, GCam Ports, etc. …) have the described problems, as they use the Camera2 API and
  • there are bugs in it for the FP Camera(s) Fairphone needs to fix, right?
  • So is this a closed source component (of the phone’s firmware)?
  • What is the stock FPCamera doing differently? How does it access the Camera’s?
  • How is /e/-OS dealing with it - as there is an official partnership?

As far as I can see, this was reported a while ago and the problem is well described by @Razem in the first post.

  • Is there any way the community can push this / push Fairphone to fix this?
16

I imagine they have heard the chatter and are doing all they can.

17

/e/-OS includes a modified version of OpenCamera that is installed as part of the system and has the SYSTEM_CAMERA permission. Only with that permission it’s possible to use the Wide Angle camera. e / os / Camera · GitLab

User-installed camera apps are unable to use the wide angle camera. That’s not really a bug but was done that way by design. Not sure how common this is. On a Pixel Phone, can third party apps use auxiliary cameras?

The part that defines which camera is a system camera is closed source, unfortunately. Fairphone should change this to make everything accessible by all apps.

Another thing is that some open source Android components seem to be modified with Fairphone specific proprietary extensions (i.e. libcameraservice from camera · ks-aosp.lnx.3.0.r4-rel · CodeLinaro / la / platform / frameworks / av · GitLab). Fairphone could release that modifications as open source, but due to Apache 2.0 License there is no obligation, unfortunately. That mostly matters for custom roms.

5 Likes
18

I assume when many unhappy people contact them, they might work on this (faster)…so I would say contactsupport

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19

Thanks @xblax for the details.

Only point I don’t get which seems to be not answered to me is:
Does the e / os / camera have all the other issues/bugs described here apart from the possibility to use the wide angle camera?

In general to deal with that, as long as it not fixed by Fairphone:
Why not using the “e / os / camera” and transform it to a system app for now? (also for other custom roms)
I know there are people which prefer the Gcam (or the ports) in regards of the photo quality, but still, I think Open Camera is a good camera app, which fits, at least to my needs. So is there a place where one can get the “e / os / camera” as apk or do I need to create an APK on my own out of the code in GitLab (never did that up to now but I’m willing to find out)?

@yvmuell

Will do. :wink:

20

Hi @Smojo

Does the e / os / camera have all the other issues/bugs described here apart from the possibility to use the wide angle camera?

I have not tried e-/os/ myself. But all third party camera apps do not get access to the full 16MP resolution - that is definitely a bug. I also tried GrapheneOs Camera which uses CameraX instead of using Camera2 APIs directly - only ~12MP.

At the moment I cannot say if that is due to missing SYSTEM_CAMERA permission or not. I will try to find out.

Might also be related to another “feature” in the Camera implementation. Basically there’s a check which camera app uses the camera APIs. If it’s the stock camera app it uses a different capture pipeline.

On custom roms we could theoretically force to use the Fairphone pipelines for all apps, but for example the stock AOSP camera app crashes immediately then.

Not sure what’s the reason behind this. I found some references to other Qualcomm based phones doing the same. Don’t think that comes from Qualcomm but rather from the ODM which does the camera integration.

21

Here is a discussion in German that indicates that with #leos the wide angel lense is accessible e.g. with BigKaka Gcam port and the statement is “it works because its a GSI ROM based on PHH Treble with treble settings phhusson. The advantage of GSIs is that they use the standard kernel what allows to use all OEM funtions…” (no idea if this is correct or what it really means but maybe it helps to troubleshoot this).

3 Likes