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[How to]: Getting the most out of the Galaxy Nexus camera (post your tips too!)

alostpacket

Over Macho Grande?
Nov 29, 2009
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alostpacket.com
So while there have been strong opinions about the Galaxy Nexus camera, one thing I think we can all agree on is that we'd all like to get the most out of it.

In that spirit, I'm starting a tips thread to put together some basic photography tips as well as tips for the Galaxy Nexus camera in particular.

There will also be a showcase post to show some of what is possible.

Please chime in with any tips or suggestions -- I am no expert on photography! (at best I'm a very bad amateur!)

Also, if a tip is a quote from another user, please click the little arrow next to their name and thank the post where they said it! They deserve the thanks, not I :)


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Lifehacker articles on Photography

17 articles in total, while many deal with DSLRs, a lot are general in nature and they have some good Photoshop ones too.

>> Most Popular Photography Tips, Tricks, and Hacks of 2011

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tuts+ photography

A pretty good resource for beginners with most tutorials by the community, and some pro stuff. Most are free but they ask you to sign up for access to extra learning materials (like the PSD of the image). Some hilarious tutorials like "A complete guide on how to photograph the Queen"

>> Photography and post-processing tutorials from beginner to advanced | Phototuts+

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dpreview
A popular site for Pro and high-end photo gear reviews, but they have a pretty great selection of articles and tutorials also.

>> http://www.dpreview.com/articles

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Life.com
10 Holiday Photo taking tips
http://www.life.com/gallery/67531/image/ugc1387861/holiday-photo-tips-connect-to-your-world

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Trick to stabilize images


This video is for DSLRs but the principle applies to all cameras

>> youtube.com

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Instant pic taking & quality
Originally Posted by JustBiteMe2k
...the "instant" picture taking reduces the quality too...
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Digital Zoom
Originally Posted by icecold
99% of the cameras on cell phones only have digital zoom, so yeah when you zoom the image is going to get worse. Since it is only taking the same photo and blowing up the section you are zooming in on.
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Stabilization, lighting, and focus
If you're not using flash, then stabilizing your shot is key, brace it against something that doesn't move. Sometimes I tap to focus multiple times (after waiting for it to focus, tap it again) to see if it gets sharper, take a couple shots not just one...uhhm...you'll also get better shots if you send me money to my paypal...;-) There's good lighting and bad lighting you have to know the difference...
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Stabilization, lighting, and focus
Don't turn on camera mode and rush to take pictures, you gotta wait until it focuses. (I advise to aim it on object for at least 10 sec, GNex has zero shutter lag not zero focus time).

Also image stabilization of smartphones is very limited, so one of key to take good picture is try to do best not to shake it. Those pictures with lotta noise is due to shake also, not only light.

Most of cellphones use digital image stabilization by sub optimal image exposure time, it will end up pictures with less motion blur but more noise.
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Auto-focus

One thing you should avoid is quickly tapping the shutter. this causes camera shake and your photos will come out blurry/soft. also quickly tapping the shutter doesn't give the camera enough time to focus.

Instead, you should "hold down" the shutter till the image is in focus then slowly release it to take the picture just like on a real camera.

Also, the only time you really need to touch the screen to focus is if you want to focus on somewhere in the image other than dead center. there's no need to touch the image to focus since touching the shutter also trigger auto-focus, but you need to hold down the shutter long enough to let the camera focus. this is especially important in low light situations since it takes longer for the camera to focus.
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Auto-focus via long-press
...Of course, you could just hold the shutter button down for a bit until it focuses and then release.
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Auto-focus via screen tap
(when taking pics you should) tap the screen where you want the focus, waiting for it to turn green and beep and THEN pressing the shutter button
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Alternative camera apps
I can't take credit for this...but several people have recommended using third-party apps like Vignette. I personally was playing with Camera Zoom Fx (one of the 10 cent apps recently) and it has an image stabilization feature it shows you on the screen using the acelerometer (sorry for the spelling). Anyway FWIW, both Vignette and Camera Zoom seemed to do a little better than the stock camera app in lower lighting settings.

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Balance and composition
Never put the subject in the center. "the rule of thirds".
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(more to come)


Some threads already discussing the camera on AF:

http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-nexus/467590-camera-takes-terrible-pics.html
http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-nexus/472938-camera-update.html
http://androidforums.com/samsung-ga...sfrom-today-galaxy-nexus-rezound-cameras.html
http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-nexus/459421-official-camera-pictures-thread.html


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People take pictures, not cameras.

There are pros and there are people that have only used a horrible iphone camera. In other words, having some basic knowledge about photography is a good thing. On the other side of things... turning off flash in a pitch black setting is not advised. :D:D

Wait, maybe that's about people and guns, where people kill, not guns, lol.
 
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I can't take credit for this...but several people have recommended using third-party apps like Vignette. I personally was playing with Camera Zoom Fx (one of the 10 cent apps recently) and it has an image stabilization feature it shows you on the screen using the acelerometer (sorry for the spelling). Anyway FWIW, both Vignette and Camera Zoom seemed to do a little better than the stock camera app in lower lighting settings.
 
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I can't take credit for this...but several people have recommended using third-party apps like Vignette. I personally was playing with Camera Zoom Fx (one of the 10 cent apps recently) and it has an image stabilization feature it shows you on the screen using the acelerometer (sorry for the spelling). Anyway FWIW, both Vignette and Camera Zoom seemed to do a little better than the stock camera app in lower lighting settings.

I mentioned that in another thread. CZFX does seem a little clearer, but nobody would try the suggestion.
 
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one thing you should avoid is quickly tapping the shutter. this causes camera shake and your photos will come out blurry/soft. also quickly tapping the shutter doesn't give the camera enough time to focus.
instead, you should "hold down" the shutter till the image is in focus then slowly release it to take the picture just like on a real camera.
also, the only time you really need to touch the screen to focus is if you want to focus on somewhere in the image other than dead center. there's no need to touch the image to focus since touching the shutter also trigger auto-focus, but you need to hold down the shutter long enough to let the camera focus. this is especially important in low light situations since it takes longer for the camera to focus.
seems like most of the complaints about the camera i've been reading about are related to soft or out of focus pics caused by camera shake or not being in focus. i'm guessing this is mostly due to people just quickly tapping the shutter, which shakes the phone.
tbh, i don't really see the benefit of the instant shutter in ICS the way it's implemented currently. if instead you could tap the image to both focus and take the pic, like on the olympus pen cameras, then it could be useful.
the main reason i think people are seeing better results with other camera phones is that other phones don't take the picture until focus is locked, which is why you get the delay after pressing the shutter.
on the gnex, the camera takes the pic regardless of focus lock. it's an odd choice google made in implementing the camera this way:/
 
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one thing you should avoid is quickly tapping the shutter. this causes camera shake and your photos will come out blurry/soft. also quickly tapping the shutter doesn't give the camera enough time to focus.
instead, you should "hold down" the shutter till the image is in focus then slowly release it to take the picture just like on a real camera.
:/
Thank you Thank you thank you, I just took 1/2 a dozen pictures that way and bingo perfect pictures........thanks man:D
 
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Holy crap, sourmilk!!! You were DEAD...ON!!! Just did exactly as you counseled, holding down the shutter button! Bam!! Just took a random pic of my "old man" sitten on the couch. Just as I took the pic, he moved his arm. But by holding down the botton rather than tapping, everything was perfectly in focus accept for the arm caught in movement. Looks cool. P.S...shot indoors, no lights on, just light coming in from the window. There needs to be a thread dedicated to telling peeps to just hold down the shutter button, if there isnt already. I was like most...tapping not holding.
 
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instead, you should "hold down" the shutter till the image is in focus then slowly release it to take the picture just like on a real camera.

You know, I never even thought of this and it truly is WAAAAAAY better!!!! Kudos to you!

Also, just as an FYI to people...when you are reviewing the pictures you just took. Give it a second to "refocus" the picture. I'm not sure why it does that, but scrolling through pictures that have been taken...it will temporarily come up a bit fuzzy and then clear itself up. Don't be fooled into thinking your picture was actually fuzzy because of this "feature".
 
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I'm not seeing this in the camera settings... however...

You can flip to video mode and it can do time lapse... set it to say 10 seconds or so, and it will capture a picture. Not sure if it will do a flash or not either, but the flash can stay on during video, that is an option.

I see what you are getting at... setup the phone. Tap the timer in camera mode, run into the frame, smile.... <<snap>>.
 
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I'm not seeing this in the camera settings... however...

You can flip to video mode and it can do time lapse... set it to say 10 seconds or so, and it will capture a picture. Not sure if it will do a flash or not either, but the flash can stay on during video, that is an option.

I see what you are getting at... setup the phone. Tap the timer in camera mode, run into the frame, smile.... <<snap>>.

Thanks for the reply. I tried the video thing, and it will work to some extent. The problem, of course, is that you have a video file instead of a jpg... I'm going to work on finding an easy conversion solution.
 
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Thanks for the reply. I tried the video thing, and it will work to some extent. The problem, of course, is that you have a video file instead of a jpg... I'm going to work on finding an easy conversion solution.

Possible solution: if u have a pc, dowload the free app Formatfactory. Upload pic from gnex. Slide pic into format factory, and see if it will give you the option to convert to jpeg. Its a great program. Just not sure if it converts from a video file to jpeg.
 
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get the hdr camera from the market. turn off flash. set colors to natural or realistic, whatever it's called. great pics every time (it takes care of stabilization and optimal exposure for you)...huge improvement on indoor pics especially. outside pics are already decent on gnex.

Just a tone mapping trick (HDR)? Since nobody can view HDR pictures on most monitors.


Worth a try though since they have a free version: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.almalence.hdr
 
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Does anyone know how to turn off the shutter "click" and auto-focus "beep"? I take quite a few shots on the golf course and this is a deal-breaker. I took a few today of my buddies but after a couple they all wanted to kill me because of the shutter and focus sounds. Looked in all the settings that I could think of but found nothing. Anyone?
 
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Does anyone know how to turn off the shutter "click" and auto-focus "beep"? I take quite a few shots on the golf course and this is a deal-breaker. I took a few today of my buddies but after a couple they all wanted to kill me because of the shutter and focus sounds. Looked in all the settings that I could think of but found nothing. Anyone?

When you are in the stock camera just turn the volume down via the rocker.
 
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