The Best Camera App?

Rumman Shaikh

Senior Member
Apr 30, 2013
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We all know that the Stock Sony camera app sucks :p
Superior auto didn't live upto the expectations we had with the hardware(exmor rs sensor,etc,etc) that Sony provided to us ....and naturally we were forced to move to other 3rd party camera apps :-/

But the number of camera apps there is humongous and each and every camera app gave different results,had little different features,making it more difficult to choose one.

Many camera apps were ported from different devices (Z1,LG G2,Samsung S4 Google edition,Lenovo,..) each giving different results but altogether they gave better results than the Stock Camera app.

So I began testing different camera apps,,,ranging from ports to the basic playstore downloadables ..
Had to go through a lot of them ( Z1,LG G2,Samsung S4 Google edition,Lenovo,Camera mx,Camera zoom fx,camera FV-5,and many,many others that I don't remember right now :p)

I found that for full manual(almost) control Camera FV-5 was better than any other app that I tested,and the fact that it could save images in lossless format(PNG),,definitely made it superior.

And then I realised that manual controls was not every one's cup of tea :p, and also not suitable for capturing something real quick :-/

The need for "Full auto" arises

So the search began, all over again....

It finally came to an end on this app by ALMALENCE called 'A Better Camera'
At first I was not impressed by it's clunky UI, it's not bad but not great either,but for full auto mode,does that.really matter??;)
But when I started exploring the app furthermore,I realized that I had a decent set of features.Started clicking photos rightaway :D

It really takes some great photos in all lighting conditions ,and in various scene modes.The photos come out to be really sharp and crisp,color reproduction,saturation,contrast levels were really spot-on.
HDR was the true "icing on the cake" for this app..here I came to know what really HDR is meant to be :p( a little noise is observed here,but can pe reduced from settings)
Panorama can capture full 360 degree resolution(20600 x 1892 ):D
Single Shot Jpeg images come out on an average 2-4 mbs.
Video mode takes decent quality videos too.

So the result was that this was the best camera app that I've tested till now.Also,the developers of this app are currently working on bringing PNG to this app,and hopefully making the UI b a little better :D

So those who are really disappointed by the stock Sony Camera App this is "the best"app to go for...Go ahead and try this app and compare,you'll definitely notice the difference (& upload them here);)

Playstore Link : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.almalence.opencam

For Manual controls : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=46111181

UPDATE : Sometimes, you simply can't note any differences between images produced by different camera apps,, this is because of the Bravia engine.
The Bravia engine saturates the colors evenly and sharpens the image,improves contrast,fixes exposures,etc,etc:p ... No matter how good or bad the photo has been clicked... and yes that's what it's for,and it does its job pretty neatly.But when u turn that off or transfer it to any other device or PC,, then u can clearly note the minute differences in exposure,saturation,vividness,and the details when fully zoomed in.Try it ;)

If you feel that I've helped you in anyway, please hit the thank button :D
Sent from my Xperia ZL (C6502) using Tapatalk 4.2.5
 
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Mighty_X

Senior Member
Jul 12, 2011
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Thx Alot!
A better camera is really awesome!! Really remarkably better then stock

Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 

DAddYE

Senior Member
Nov 9, 2010
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Tested too all of them: ( Z1,LG G2,Samsung S4 Google edition,Lenovo,Camera mx,Camera zoom fx,camera FV-5,and many,many others that I don't remember right now :p)

Thanks a lot, I'll try and let you know!

The only thing that btw I didn't notice is the "lose-less" of FV-5 with png, but I'll happy to re-test it again.
 

bdacier

Senior Member
Dec 22, 2006
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Maastricht
www.nozems.nl
I can attest to pro capture! Pictures in low lighting are way better than stock (as far as noise and lighting is concerned). Though I'm really disappointed about the z1's picture quality... I feel like cheated by Sony and reviewers that state the z1 takes good pictures!

Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk
 

FiremakerP

Senior Member
Nov 10, 2010
283
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I really miss a bigger 16:9 mode than my ZL had! My ZL had 9MP 16:9 mode I was using it all the time loved it. But here with the Z1 I have only 8MP 16:9 mode.

Whats the point of having a 20MP cam on a phone and cant shoot a 13MP 16:9 picture?
 

FiremakerP

Senior Member
Nov 10, 2010
283
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Sorry but I paid good money for the best android camera phone out there.
I don't want to pay extra money for some other apps Sony can do better.

Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app
 
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DAddYE

Senior Member
Nov 9, 2010
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Mmm, after few days I confirm that as for pro capture FV-5 and so on, those apps do not perform in any way better than stock.

Left Stock (manual), Right A Better (?) Camera





More details in stock, more color.

I.e. The red of the bike or look at the leaf of the tree.
 
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slonn

Senior Member
Nov 6, 2010
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Mmm, after few days I confirm that as for pro capture FV-5 and so on, those apps do not perform in any way better than stock.

Left Stock (manual), Right A Better (?) Camera

More details in stock, more color.

I.e. The red of the bike or look at the leaf of the tree.
Thanks for sharing. I use ProCapture instead of the stock Auto mode. If I want better details I use the stock manual mode, but often there's no time to go into the manual settings and adjust.
 

Rumman Shaikh

Senior Member
Apr 30, 2013
319
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Mmm, after few days I confirm that as for pro capture FV-5 and so on, those apps do not perform in any way better than stock.

Left Stock (manual), Right A Better (?) Camera





More details in stock, more color.

I.e. The red of the bike or look at the leaf of the tree.
Yes,u simply can't note differences,, this is because of the Bravia engine.
The Bravia engine saturates the colors evenly and sharpens the image,fix exposures,no matter how good or bad the photo has been clicked... and yes that's what it's for,and it does its job pretty neatly.But when u turn that off or transfer it to any other device or PC,, then u can clearly note the minute differences in exposure,saturation,vividness,and the details when fully zoomed in.Try it ;)

If you feel that I've helped you in anyway, please hit the thank button :D
Sent from my Xperia ZL (C6502) using Tapatalk 4.2.5
 
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dagrim1

Senior Member
Sep 1, 2008
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Sorry but I paid good money for the best android camera phone out there.
I don't want to pay extra money for some other apps Sony can do better.

Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app
Sorry, but if you spend 500 or 600 bucks on a phone what's another 2 bucks for a piece of software which might actually help you out.

In the end I don't think any of the custom apps actually produce better photos, but ProCapture indeed allows other resolution 16:9 pics which the sony app doesn't. So yeah, I wouldn't make such a big deal of spending these 2 bucks if it brings you waht you're looking for.
 

Ricochet23

Senior Member
Dec 22, 2012
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I also use ProCapture and i really like it. There's just one thing that's really bugging me with all those camera apps...
Isnt there any way to use the hardware button to start another app than stock cam "when screen is off"?

It is working when the screen is turned on but when it's off i always have to press the button twice :crying:

press 1 turns screen on
press 2 starts any cam app

i tried a lot to enable it with 1 press but none of it is working.
 
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slonn

Senior Member
Nov 6, 2010
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Isnt there any way to use the hardware button to start another app than stock cam "when screen is off"?

It is working when the screen is turned on but when it's off i always have to press the button twice :crying:

press 1 turns screen on
press 2 starts any cam app

i tried a lot to enable it with 1 press but none of it is working.
It's not possible, unfortunately. I'm sure Sony could fix it if they really wanted to, but not likely.