Help Camara App problems

KingsleyM · Feb 4, 2021

I have found the built in camera app is a bit unpredictable. The only way to reliably stop the Motion Photos feature is to switch on flash. It is not possible to disable it with the Motion Photos controls. Selecting a frame from the resulting video clip is tiresome and lower resolution than a still photo. Google support suggested force stopping the app and this worked for a bit.
On one occasion the app hung mid shot leaving the flash LED on.
Camera takes very well exposed shots and the Night Sight is excellent.
Running Android 11
Anybody else having these problems?

puppykickr · Feb 4, 2021

I would just use a different camera app.

The hardware is built in, so quality should be the same.

What will be different is the controls, which will dictate what camera app you choose.

Stay away from apps with ads, and be leery of those with unneeded internet connections.

A good start?

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.simplemobiletools.camera/

codesplice · Feb 5, 2021

Unfortunately much of the Pixel's camera goodness is built into the software, so switching to a different app will likely result in a decrease in quality.

@KingsleyM Why are you not able to disable Motion Photos in the settings? That works fine for me on both my 4a and 5. Or is the issue with disabling the Motion Photo playback in the Photos app?

Selecting a frame from the Motion Photos video clip will be at a lower resolution by design - that's the only way that the video could be embedded in the resulting PNG without dramatically inflating the file size. The tradeoff is that if, for instance, your subject blinked when the photo was captured you may be able to salvage the moment by using the lower-resolution still captured just before or after you pressed the shutter. A smaller photo is probably better than no photo at all.

It's been a long time since I've had the Camera app crash or hang on me. In addition to Force Stopping the app, you might consider clearing its cache and data in case something might be corrupted.

wenglish · Feb 5, 2021

I'm not the OP. I'm embarrassed to admit how much swiping around it took me bring up the camera app settings on my Pixel 4a (for others similarly confused, tap on the downward-pointing chevron at the top of the screen - not sure how I missed that, but I did).

KingsleyM · Feb 6, 2021

@codesplice I realise the app is important for the excellent performance. Disabling Motion Photos in the settings does nothing. I was wanting to find out if others had the same problem. If not I assume it is a hardware error.

puppykickr · Feb 6, 2021

KingsleyM said:
@codesplice I realise the app is important for the excellent performance. Disabling Motion Photos in the settings does nothing. I was wanting to find out if others had the same problem. If not I assume it is a hardware error.

That sounds like a software issue. (The setting is in the app software.)

Anyway, why not try another camera app at this point?

What have you got to lose?

At least this may let you find out if you have software (the app) or hardware (the device) issues.

codesplice · Feb 7, 2021

Did clearing data for the camera app help at all?

Why do you want to disable the motion photos? Knowing more about what you're trying to accomplish might help us to better understand what exactly isn't working as expected.

KingsleyM · Feb 21, 2021

The only reliable way of taking a photo is to force quit immediately before and then it seems to work but only once. It is a pity because the default camera app takes excellent photos. @codesplice I wish to take still photos at full resolution not selecting a lower resolution frame from a movie. The flash is set on and fires in the middle of the movie ar just stays on until you quit the app.
As there has been no other people with the same problem I assume it is a hardware problem. How good is Google at handling replacements?

puppykickr · Feb 21, 2021

No clue about Google replacements.

But I do know that the camera app that I use is very simple and allows a wide range of quality selection.

The camera in my device is only 5mp max, so I am assuming that is the reason for the limit shown here.

puppykickr · Feb 21, 2021

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.simplemobiletools.camera/

codesplice · Feb 22, 2021

KingsleyM said:
The only reliable way of taking a photo is to force quit immediately before and then it seems to work but only once. It is a pity because the default camera app takes excellent photos. @codesplice I wish to take still photos at full resolution not selecting a lower resolution frame from a movie. The flash is set on and fires in the middle of the movie ar just stays on until you quit the app.
As there has been no other people with the same problem I assume it is a hardware problem. How good is Google at handling replacements?

Even with Motion Photos enabled, you still capture the still shot at full resolution. You don't have to pick one of the lower resolution versions offered.

When viewing the image in the Photos app, just tap the pause icon at the top right of the screen to disable the animation.

Sharing the image will always be done at full resolution. There is no need to export one of the limited-resolution frames unless you want to.

KingsleyM · Mar 2, 2021

Problem Solved!
When you press rather than tap the camera button it switches to Video mode and takes a video the length of the button press. It is not in Motion Photos mode (it really is disabled). I just have to learn to rapidly tap.
Thanks for all the suggestions

KingsleyM · Dec 2, 2021

Interestingly the Android 12 update has made my camera app work as expected. With motion capture off in the settings it refuses to shoot a video until you switch to video mode.
Apart from a slight speed increase V12 has just added some unattractive effects to the interface - a backward step I think.

Help Camara App problems

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