Android photography

[Rgarner]

I found an ebook about using an iphone camera. I guess that's Apple. Would most of that still apply to an Android? It's a Motorola G Stylus with 128 gb internal and up to 512 sd.

 

[svim]

Basic photography principles for smartphones will be common throughout, but specifics will be very different. You need to take into account the differences in the hardware (the actual camera modules that's in your Moto phone vs the the one in an iPhone) and software (the camera apps in both platforms will be written to accommodate the different camera modules involved.) Also, with iPhones there's more consistency in the development and manufacturing process when it involves the camera and its corresponding app. With Android it's much more of a mixed bag where different manufacturers will use camera modules sourced from different suppliers, and there a numerous camera apps from different developers. Also, the date when that ebook was released will could be an issue. Smartphone cameras are an evolving technology where newer camera modules have not only more resolution capacities but more features, that also tied directly to more sophisticated camera apps. A dated ebook based on older cameras and older apps could be worth reading through to get familiar with fundamentals, but could also be a bit misleading when applied to current technology.

Are you using the default camera app that came pre-installed on your G Stylus, or are you using a more feature-rich third-party camera app?
Basically, that iPhone ebook will only be partially helpful to you. Any digital camera (in a smartphone, a DSLR, a webcam, etc.) is based on light entering a lens that projects onto a sensor, but the differences on how that's implemented will vary quite a bit. It's not just the user interface differences between Android and iPhones you'll need to mentally account for, there are also significant fundamental differences that both platforms rely upon. (i.e. with Android it's just a matter of using a file manager app if you want to manually do some file/folder changes to your photo library or its contents; with an iPhone, you just don't).

 

[Rgarner]

Thanks, I have been using mainly the built-in app. I also have Simple Camera but I've barely opened that. Are there instructions particular to the Moto G?

 

[svim]

Thanks, I have been using mainly the built-in app. I also have Simple Camera but I've barely opened that. Are there instructions particular to the Moto G?

Looking through the Moto G Stylus online user manual it would appear the camera and camera app are more less just typical and generic in nature (see pg. 19):
https://download.lenovo.com/Motorol...s.NA Retail.User Guide.en-US.SSC8C78658-B.pdf

Since you already have it installed, I'd look into using that Simple Camera app instead. Be sure to go through the app's Settings menu to take advantage of the added features and user interface changes that the default camera app doesn't provide. Simple Mobile Tools makes some pretty good apps, their camera app is a one of them.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemobiletools.camera&hl=en_US&gl=US

 

[Davdi]

If your phone supports the Camera2 API (it should) you really should try Camera-FV5, preferably the paid version. you get full control of Aperture and shutter speed, focus modes, ISO white balance etc. plus a very cool feature called Synthetic exposure, which lets you set long (20+ seconds) exposure times without worrying about the actual exposure being correct. I've been using this app for years now, it's my go to app.

 

[Rgarner]

Thanks, those are good suggestions. The thing is I have barely any experience with the techier side of cameras and don't really know where to begin with that. I did suspect the provided app was rather vanilla.

 

[PitCarver]

A +1 for Camera FV-5.

I'd say look through the book and compare the features/instructions to yours.
As svim said all basic smartphone cameras are similar and most users just use the basic features of point and shoot to take a picture.

 

[svim]

Thanks, those are good suggestions. The thing is I have barely any experience with the techier side of cameras and don't really know where to begin with that. I did suspect the provided app was rather vanilla.

Stay with the Moto stock camera app, it's fully functional and there's no need to make things more complicated for yourself using a more feature-rich, expanded function third-party camera app at this point. Teach yourself the basics by getting comfortable with using the app, then later you can look into a different camera app if you need to. Some people just don't, whatever camera app comes with their phone is perfectly adequate while some people are pretty intense on their smartphone camera usage.

You might want to avoid that iPhone camera ebook for now too, the user interface and menu options it details will just confuse you as there are just too many differences between Android and iPhone apps. If you have used a conventional, film-based DSLR camera before, the basic photography principles still apply to newer digital cameras, they've been the same for hundreds of years. But even up until a couple of decades ago, to use a DSLR required a basic understanding of those basic photography principles so they could be applied to the various, corresponding camera settings. Now, the cameras in our smartphones, or more specifically the camera apps, are becoming quite sophisticated and can do a lot of auto-adjustments on-the-fly so even novice photographers can take pretty decent pictures by just tapping on a button. Knowing all those photography ins and outs isn't as big a priority now that cameras/camera apps are compensating that automatically, but it can help one take better photos, especially when it involves things like low-light scenarios or framing a shot when there's a lot of rapid motion going on in front of you. There are dozens and dozens of basic photography sites online, if you really want to dig into taking really optimal photos, it might help to read up on the fundamentals, try perusing through this site:
https://photographylife.com/photography-basics
But again that might be overkill for your needs. If you're focused on just getting familiar with the Moto Camera app for now, you might want to just start using the app and do lots of lots of experiments and test shots. Be sure to go into the Camera app's Settings and look through all of its options so you get a handle on its capabilities. If the app also has it's own Help menu that will probably the extent of documentation available for that app. The issue being most books on this kind of topic will be out of date by the time they get released to the public (especially actual physical books as their production time is longer than ebooks), and it's a matter of economics. To write and distribute an ebook on something like a Moto camera app has very little to benefit (more likely to be a deficit). Camera modules, and their corresponding software, are a continuously evolving technology so even if there was an ebook for your particular camera app, it would be a pretty specific one. There's not just big differences in Android and iPhone cameras, there are big differences between Pixel and Moto phones. (i.e. the Pixel camera module has some specific and proprietary features that only the Google Camera app has full interactions with, so third-party camera apps will work on a Pixel phone but with limitations to those proprietary features.) Anyway, take to the time just play around with your Moto Camera app. Back in the days when cameras required film, it was a matter of paying a lot more attention to your photos but with digital cameras you can just picture after picture and just delete the ones you don't want to keep. Make changes to resolution, toggle between auto-flash and manual-only flash, and any other optional settings. Just take a lot of photos, observe the differences in the resulting photos, and once you're used to using that default camera app, you might come to the conclusion it's all you need, or it will be time to install a more advanced camera app.

 

[Davdi]

The more photos you take the better you'll get.