WARNING: I'VE TESTED THIS GUIDE ON STOCK FIRMWARE (OREO AND PIE) ONLY
Hey, just a moment before reading: did I help you? Then consider paying me a coffee or anything for my effort
of course this isn't mandatory!
UPDATE: the reddit thread is dead! It will now only link to this guide since updating the same guide two times is pretty useless!
This is an expanded guide for all those people which want to reach the maximum camera quality on their X4.
Please note that this post is not intended to give advices on how to get the best shots on GCAM (but you can do it in comment or ask me, no prob!), but on how to get the best working GCAM possible setup! In other words I won't suggest parameters for HDR+ or Saturation, or custom libs etc...
FOA why you should choose Google Camera instead of the Motorola one? Well I think the following shots speak for themselves:
Cropped detail of an HDR shot:
Moto Camera HDR (taken with wide lens)
Google Camera HDR+ (taken with wide lens)
If you'd like to see more examples just look at this HQ album, you'll be amazed by the details.
Another field in which you can really apprecciate the potential of this camera is the selfie and portrait one. I will spare you from looking at my selfies (you can find one in the previous gallery), so just trust me, or do some googling!
What you need to do in order to use the GCAM on your X4 really depends on what you want to achieve:
1) GCAM 6.2.0.30 for normal lens
- Root needed: NO
- Unlocked Bootloader needed: NO
GCAM 6.2.0.30 adds Time-Lapse feature, and you can simply install it and it will run. There's a lot of ports avaiable, my suggestion goes to this one. Please remember that all the rights belong to Arnova, the original developer.
A couple of things must be tuned in order to get the best experience, so head up to the app settings and:
- on "About" check "advanced options"
- on HDR+ Options:
1) Disabled AWBGains Mod -> ON
2) RAW Format -> RAW10
3) Image Format -> YUV_420_888
4) GCAM wb Mode -> ON
Also, I suggest you to check the "Saturation adjustements" section, because this version really oversaturates photos. Try what levels are the best for you, in my case they were 1.0 - 1.0 for back camera and 1.1 - 1.3 for front camera.
2) GCAM 6.2.0.30 for wide lens
- Root needed: NOT NECESSARILY
- Unlocked Bootloader needed: YES
This is the 6.2.0.30 GCamera with Wide Lens support.
The apk is the same one
After the installation you must enter the package name (org.codeaurora.snapcam)inside the followind /system/build.prop lines:
1) vendor.camera.aux.packagelist
2) vendor.camera.aux.packagelist2
3) ro.camera.cfa.packagelist
You can do this either with a privileged file manager (i.e.: Solid) or with adb pull.
Then activate "Enable aux button" in Settings, and a little tree icon will pop up, allowing you to switch lens.
----------------------
FAQ:
Q: What works in these ports?
A: The following features are fully working:
- HDR +
- Portrait
- PhotoSphere
- Night Sight- Panoramic
- Video
- Slow Motion
- Pixel 2/3 AWB
- TimeLapse
- Motion
Q: What about AR?
A: I'm not interested in it and haven't checked, so I can't assure you that it will work
Q: 60fps videos aren't in 60fps?
A: You can shoot in 60fps by disabling video stabilization in Settings, otherwise 60fps videos will drops to nearly 28-30fps.
Q: Why does my selfie looks purple/green/any other ****ty color?
A: In that case just head over Input model in your port settings and change the front camera model (in my case to Nexus 6P with 6.1 and Pixel 3 for 6.2, but just try). This port also have specific fixes for certain titn problems
Q: I can't even start the camera!
A: this can happen on some devices. To fix try the following: long press on the app icon and use the "take a selfie" shortcut. Wait a moment and the camera should work, allowing you to use it in future just by opening it normally. If it is black even via the selfie shortcut long press the switch camera button, it should work. This procedure must he done only one time!
Q: The 6.2 ports gives me some weird greenish/yellowish balance in photos.
A: This is a problem with Pixel AWB. It reduces chromatic shifts to give you more natural photos, but it can ruin other ones. It usually happens when you are pointing an object which has an intense illumination behind it. If your port allows it just disable it, otherwise select from the viewfinder another White Balancement mode (Cloudy works best for my tastes). Pixel 2 AWB should be the best anyway, and I almost never encounter problems.
Q: Can't install the apk
A: Delete the old version before re-installing.
Hey, just a moment before reading: did I help you? Then consider paying me a coffee or anything for my effort
of course this isn't mandatory!UPDATE: the reddit thread is dead! It will now only link to this guide since updating the same guide two times is pretty useless!
This is an expanded guide for all those people which want to reach the maximum camera quality on their X4.
Please note that this post is not intended to give advices on how to get the best shots on GCAM (but you can do it in comment or ask me, no prob!), but on how to get the best working GCAM possible setup! In other words I won't suggest parameters for HDR+ or Saturation, or custom libs etc...
FOA why you should choose Google Camera instead of the Motorola one? Well I think the following shots speak for themselves:
Cropped detail of an HDR shot:
Moto Camera HDR (taken with wide lens)
Google Camera HDR+ (taken with wide lens)
If you'd like to see more examples just look at this HQ album, you'll be amazed by the details.
Another field in which you can really apprecciate the potential of this camera is the selfie and portrait one. I will spare you from looking at my selfies (you can find one in the previous gallery), so just trust me, or do some googling!
What you need to do in order to use the GCAM on your X4 really depends on what you want to achieve:
1) GCAM 6.2.0.30 for normal lens
- Root needed: NO
- Unlocked Bootloader needed: NO
GCAM 6.2.0.30 adds Time-Lapse feature, and you can simply install it and it will run. There's a lot of ports avaiable, my suggestion goes to this one. Please remember that all the rights belong to Arnova, the original developer.
A couple of things must be tuned in order to get the best experience, so head up to the app settings and:
- on "About" check "advanced options"
- on HDR+ Options:
1) Disabled AWBGains Mod -> ON
2) RAW Format -> RAW10
3) Image Format -> YUV_420_888
4) GCAM wb Mode -> ON
Also, I suggest you to check the "Saturation adjustements" section, because this version really oversaturates photos. Try what levels are the best for you, in my case they were 1.0 - 1.0 for back camera and 1.1 - 1.3 for front camera.
2) GCAM 6.2.0.30 for wide lens
- Root needed: NOT NECESSARILY
- Unlocked Bootloader needed: YES
This is the 6.2.0.30 GCamera with Wide Lens support.
The apk is the same one
After the installation you must enter the package name (org.codeaurora.snapcam)inside the followind /system/build.prop lines:
1) vendor.camera.aux.packagelist
2) vendor.camera.aux.packagelist2
3) ro.camera.cfa.packagelist
You can do this either with a privileged file manager (i.e.: Solid) or with adb pull.
Then activate "Enable aux button" in Settings, and a little tree icon will pop up, allowing you to switch lens.
----------------------
FAQ:
Q: What works in these ports?
A: The following features are fully working:
- HDR +
- Portrait
- PhotoSphere
- Night Sight- Panoramic
- Video
- Slow Motion
- Pixel 2/3 AWB
- TimeLapse
- Motion
Q: What about AR?
A: I'm not interested in it and haven't checked, so I can't assure you that it will work
Q: 60fps videos aren't in 60fps?
A: You can shoot in 60fps by disabling video stabilization in Settings, otherwise 60fps videos will drops to nearly 28-30fps.
Q: Why does my selfie looks purple/green/any other ****ty color?
A: In that case just head over Input model in your port settings and change the front camera model (in my case to Nexus 6P with 6.1 and Pixel 3 for 6.2, but just try). This port also have specific fixes for certain titn problems
Q: I can't even start the camera!
A: this can happen on some devices. To fix try the following: long press on the app icon and use the "take a selfie" shortcut. Wait a moment and the camera should work, allowing you to use it in future just by opening it normally. If it is black even via the selfie shortcut long press the switch camera button, it should work. This procedure must he done only one time!
Q: The 6.2 ports gives me some weird greenish/yellowish balance in photos.
A: This is a problem with Pixel AWB. It reduces chromatic shifts to give you more natural photos, but it can ruin other ones. It usually happens when you are pointing an object which has an intense illumination behind it. If your port allows it just disable it, otherwise select from the viewfinder another White Balancement mode (Cloudy works best for my tastes). Pixel 2 AWB should be the best anyway, and I almost never encounter problems.
Q: Can't install the apk
A: Delete the old version before re-installing.
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