FV-5 and HedgeCam 2 woes

The camera app on my new phone turned out to be dumbed down. Doesn't even have exposure compensation, nothing.

So for the first time in my life I went camera app hunting. First I found Camera FV-5 and tested the free trial version. Didn't take long before I bought the paid version. Was thrilled, even a histogram and focus magnification! Until I looked at the shots. The highest resolution I can use is 5.31 MP. I have a 48 MP camera.

Lots of complaints about this in the comments at Google Play (yeah, should have read before I paid...). No solutions, no answers from the author.

Then I found the free HedgeCam 2. I see no option to use manual focus that it is supposed to have.

"Use Camera2 API" is ticked. Nothing related to Manual Focus found at On screen GUI | Control Panel | Control Panel Buttons .

Any ideas about how to get any of these apps to work as advertized? Suggestions about other apps with full manual control and that actually work would also be appreciated.

I had already downloaded Camera2 Probe and AFAIU everything needed should be available. My phone doesn't do RAW, but apart from that most boxes are checked.

In Hedgecam the three sliders icon, I think I get which one you mean, brings up a menu with Auto-level, Resolution, Grid, White balance and Scene mode. No focus.

So you are saying you get your cameras full resolution with FV-5? I wish I knew how to get that. I really like that app the best. But as said, the author ignores all complaints about this at Play. I wrote to them about another thing before I discovered this resolution problem and they ignored that too, in spite of that they encourage contact. So I guess this is a lost cause. I don't see whey they don't just make the previous version available until they've fixed this issue. As I understand it it was a major upgrade that caused the problem.

I should have mentioned I have a "China phone". A Doogee S88Plus. I don't think that should matter, but maybe it's off the radar in some way.

Funny thing is I've never been very interested in mobile photography, I just wanted the exposure compensation. But when I found there are quite intelligent camera apps around I wanted it all. So I'll solder on. I'll go check the Snap camera now.

Thank you.

It didn't have shutter speed.

But I stumbled on one called Manual Camera Pro that usually paid but for some reason free now.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lensesdev.manual.camera.pro

It seems to tick almost all boxes for me. ISO, shuttter speed, histogram, can choose between my different cameras, focus peaking, If it works well remains to see.

I2K4 wrote:

Glad you've found a good working app - I recall a couple of "Manual Cameras" by different developers and different from each other. The experience with Hedgecam2 is surprising - you chose the right icon but it should show something like this - and you see the focus slider at the bottom:

By the way, there are a couple of apps that will produce good RAW/DNG without Camera2 support, used them on my old phone - Snap Camera HDR is one (tends to need a white balance fix) and Bacon Camera that worked better on a ZTE.

Some difference!

The one I found actually has the silly name Manual Camera DSLR Pro. By Lenses Inc. But in Settings it goes under the name of Manual Cam.

I already have the two others you mention. IRRC think they work, but don't have the features I want.

The MP thing is odd with Manual Camera too. 48 pixels is ticked, But only some images are 48 pixels according to the Info in my gallery app. Their size vary. I shot a few just now to test and one is 36.6 and one is actually 48. The other are somewhere in between. 😵

Is that normal for some reason I don't understand? I don't usually check the MP/dimensions...

I2K4 wrote:

meow wrote:

..

The MP thing is odd with Manual Camera too. 48 pixels is ticked, But only some images are 48 pixels according to the Info in my gallery app. Their size vary. I shot a few just now to test and one is 36.6 and one is actually 48. The other are somewhere in between. 😵

Is that normal for some reason I don't understand? I don't usually check the MP/dimensions...

Sorry I don't have any experience with pixel binned sensors I'm not sure the achieved output is better, for example, than a few fast HDR frames from a working GCam - my Moto is roughly equivalent to a Pixel 3 for that. Given the problem you have with Camera FV-5 it might be there's something unusual about your phone, maybe worth checking a device user forum.

Yeah. I sure didn't buy this phone for the camera and wasn't happy about the pixel count. I bought for its huge battery and IP68 at a decent price.

But I don't think pixel binning means variable image dimensions. I checked the files from the camera app that came with the camera. They are all 48 MP.

I saw something at Play I overlooked before. The author has posted an update. The "resolution bug" reported by some users is now fixed. That's probably it. And it isn't fixed for me. I made a comment about it. I've also emailed them. We'll see if they answer.

Interesting how the mind works. As I said I'm not into phone photography. I use the camera in there of course, but I use it as I would have used an old Instamatic. I basically don't care, just want to remember a situation or have a snap of something I see. But as soon as the aspect of manual emerged I absolutely must get it working. It's probably no problem to find a working app with what I missed to start with, exposure compensation. But now I must have it all! Thank heavens one can't buy (proper) lenses for mobile! 😂

I2K4 wrote:

For quick and dirty snaps without manual settings, the GCam Pixel algorithm and HDR can't be beat if it can be found for a given device (not always easy). I'm lucky mine is compatible with several, my default camera for simple point/shoot. A web search turns up this for Doogee but I can't vouch for it, or the safety of the linked GCam APK (It's the only result I got which makes my leery, I use Bitdefender free malware scanner as protection for sideloading APKs).

The blogger has a procedure for enabling Camera2 that suggest the manufacturer's limits need to be overridden - no idea. He also links a "config file" for the GCam, that may add functionality - maybe worth a try if the basic APK doesn't work.

Thanks, but if it can be risky I don't dare... I just got my new phone back the other day. I had to send it in because the compass was about 180 ° off and the main reason I wanted a phone like this  involves heavy use of compass and GPS. They kept it almost 5 weeks and my old phone can only be charged with difficulty. I don't dare to risk any more phone problems ATM.

A little late to this discussion and I think I've discussed a similar topic with I2K4 before.

I don't use my phone for much more than snapshots and mostly on auto but that said I've been searching for many months for the a camera app that's better than the stock app on my Realme 6.

The initial problem with the stock app was one of jpeg compression, which was very heavy, and the lack of raw.  Despite a 64Mp/16Mpixel camera it would produce files of say a landscape at about 2.5Mbytes, which is about half of what my dSLR would do.

Subsequent phone updates seem to have improved on the jpeg compression but still no raw.  It does have the capability of producing 64Mpixel images instead of the usual binned 16Mpixels.

The phone is full Camera2Api compliant.

I have tried the following and 'mileage' certainly varies.  I get the impression that most of them just provide different GUIs and Controls but the underlying processing is done at the OS level.  Also they only seem to be able to use the main lens and not the others such as macro.  Electronic stabilisation also seems to be missing.

1.  Camera FV5 - a decent enough interface but can't get full resolution images.  It tops out at 4000 x 3000 pixels when the stock app delivers 4608 x 3456.

It also has some problem with filenaming.

No response from developer

2.  Opencamera/Hedgecam 2 - very similar in capability.  Interface might not be as 'pretty' as some but the app delivers JPEG and Raw at full resolution.

3.  SnapCamera - a nice clean interface and delivers Jpeg and Raw at full resolution.  However, one problem is that its slow to produce the images.  If you close the app just after taking the shot the image files don't get completed and you only get a tmp file.

No response from developer

4. Lightroom Mobile.  - good interface, Jpegs limited to 4000 x 3000 but it carries all the baggage of Lightroom and you can't seem to open the app directly into the camera module.

Bacon, Manual Camera, nothing special and no real difference from the above.

I also tried Gcam but it was very flaky and when it did work wasn't any better than the above.

In terms of video the stock app is the best.  The image stablisation works very well, which none of the others seem to use, and it has the ability to lock the exposure when starting which again I can't seem to get the others to do.

Slo mo is amazing.  Snap supposedly has this feature but it doesn't work.  In fac it killed the app and I had to reload it.

Currently Hedgcam 2 is my default app for still and the stock app for videos.