I just installed GCam port (https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/f/changelog1148/) on the Fairphone 3+ I have to review. Did not test night mode yet (it is still daytime here ) but everything seems to work well. Selfie in portrait mode is way better. Stock camera has a color issue and portrait mode blurs to close to the face, result is a bit weird in the hair.
āStableā version (GCam_5.200604.2138build-7.3.021.apk) does not work, I had to stay on build 2111.
I will post comparison pictures later on Instagram or Twitter and put here the links.
That Gcam port to Nokia 7.2 crashes, I couldnāt even see the UI.
I quickly compared stock camera app and Gcam in night mode yesterday.
Stock camera app keeps shutter speed as high as possible (1/12 s) but ISO jump to 3200 and dark zones get very noisy.
Gcam keeps ISO under 640 and fixes shutter speed to 1/4 s, so noise is quite low but you have to be very carefull not to move or shake while taking the picture. But if your steady, the result is great !
For daylight pictures, differences are not that obvious, stock camera is already good enough for me but I will really compare this week-end.
About Gcam, I think it is a bit more CPU intensive and I had a few freezes yesterday but I may be related to the different apps I tested, some of which crashedā¦ So I must confirm also Gcam is as stable as expected. Or maybe another port would do betterā¦ We will see that when more users have a chance to test
I still have a huge complain about stock app : there is no way to control shutter speed, even in Pro mode. I would love to test stock app with Gcam parameters (shutter speed and ISO) to check if there is any magic algo in Gcam app or just optimized parameters.
I did. Curiously, I can only shoot night mode pictures in portrait orientation with that version. Each time I turn my phone into landscape mode, the display will switch back to portrait.
I ran into an issue last night for my final test, nightshot against Huawei P30. When taking picture in my city, I noticed 2 Green squares in the dark night sky at the same level on each side of a church. I thought it was hot pixels badly managed but they were to bigā¦
On next pictures, they were still there, always in the same relative place but a little less bright.
Back home, I think I understood what happened. On the first pictures, there were 2 big city lights at the same level and same distance in between. As Gcam night shot mode des a long exposure, maybe some photocites get to much light and went too hot. Not sure a software update could correct thatā¦
I just took another look at the pictures and it may be unexpected flare !
I could not find the spots on pictures with no direct light and spots slightly move from pictures to picturesā¦
If this is flare, itās definitely not a software issue !
It depends on the light reflected and the eyes looking at the squares.
Anyway, we both agree these are squares
I think itās the sensor reflecting on the back of the lensā¦
The new cameras arrived yesterday and Iāll try Nikitaās latest revision NGCam_7.4.104-v1.6.apk for now (https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/f/changelog1347/). Night mode is quite remarkable on this. Also Google AWB (Auto White Balance) can be very useful under certain lighting conditions. (Selfies inside a room turned shockingly orange or blue depending on the kind of light with the standard cam. AWB was a large improvement and reliefā¦)
This port seems to be missing some Google standard features, though. I canāt find a way to enable motion pictures, for instance.
And Fairphoneās updated standard app has some neat new features as well like object tracking that I couldnāt find on any GCam port yet. Have you?
So, I might switch between standard app and GCam.
I am a little underwhelmed by the new cameras, though. Canāt see much of a difference with the back camera. Zooming in should result in much sharper pictures than with the old camera - but those 48MP donāt seem to do that much, with the output still being 12MP. Selfies are a little sharper, though, of course.
) but everything seems to work well. Selfie in portrait mode is way better. Stock camera has a color issue and portrait mode blurs to close to the face, result is a bit weird in the hair.
and the eyes looking at the squares.