General GCam Raw file editing... - ASUS ZenFone 8

Hi, I've made a few posts comparing the Wichaya GCam to the stock Asus camera. So far I've always preferred the look of the Asus shots compared both to the Wichaya GCam + config xml. However the Asus shots over-sharpen areas of fine detail and over-smooths some highlight areas which looses fine detail.
Unfortunately there is no way to alter the sharpening and processing of the Asus camera. Wichaya's Gcam, however, can be customised using Ram Patcher settings, and I have been playing about with these to try to alter the look of the GCam shots to my taste.
Both the Asus camera and the GCam can save RAW files that can be edited afterwards. It can take a lot of effort to produce a good result, but for an occasional special picture it can be worth the trouble. I did a quick test today to compare an edited Gcam RAW with the normal GCam Jpeg and Asus camera's Jpeg. I've attached the results as screenshots of the editing software I use.
I was pleased with the edited RAW file (it's actually the Adobe DNG version of RAW) and felt that it gives a more accurate impression of the scene than either the Asus or GCam Jegs. So I saved the settings and in the future be able to apply them automatically. Some additional tweaking will always be necessary to Raw files, but the saved settings will make a good start.
Of course it's possible to also edit the Jpegs of both cameras but the results can become grainy - RAW files have a lot more potential to be edited successfully.

Related

RAW DNG Support

Just thought I'd share, although it might be common knowledge, that I didn't realise the X720's camera supports RAW output. :laugh:
I'm using 'HD Camera Pro' which is currently free on the Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andromedia.manual.camera.dslr
This app outputs to DNG and CaptureOne reads these files just like any other DNG (although MacOS Finder struggles). If you wish to process DNG files on the phone you'll need Snapseed.
Images are aways 31.08MB which suggests that they are a true capture of the camera sensor's RAW data.
Images are definitely sharper and contain more detail but saturation needs boosting (buts that's fairly normal for RAW images).
Mateus109 said:
Just thought I'd share, although it might be common knowledge, that I didn't realise the X720's camera supports RAW output. :laugh:
I'm using 'HD Camera Pro' which is currently free on the Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andromedia.manual.camera.dslr
This app outputs to DNG and CaptureOne reads these files just like any other DNG (although MacOS Finder struggles). If you wish to process DNG files on the phone you'll need Snapseed.
Images are aways 31.08MB which suggests that they are a true capture of the camera sensor's RAW data.
Images are definitely sharper and contain more detail but saturation needs boosting (buts that's fairly normal for RAW images).
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Is there a way to enable longer shutter time (longer than 2s) on this phone?
Seems like you do not know anything about gcam hahahahaha
noel_Fs said:
Seems like you do not know anything about gcam hahahahaha
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Last time I checked, GCam didn't work with EUI.
Mateus109 said:
Last time I checked, GCam didn't work with EUI.
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Not even adding hal2 line to build.prop?
noel_Fs said:
Not even adding hal2 line to build.prop?
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Nope, well at least not using the Magisk module or adding the enabling line manually.

Why does S10+ have such bad jpeg compression ?

I took a ton of pictures, and compared many with S7. S10 is always super clean and smooth, without any noise, every picture size ranges from 1.3mb to 5mb tops. While S7 retains some noise in the blue skys, and can be edited after, the S10 one has macro-blocking from the start, and when I try to edit them a little, all sorts of artifacts start to pop up, like banding, it looks like 256 colored gif sometimes. I feel like when S10 processes and saves jpegs, it applys something like noise reduction 70/100, jpeg quality 60/100, if compared to Lightroom settings.
Samsung compress jpegs too much, the average jpeg out of the phone is about 2-3 mb, while jpeg converted from raw using Lightroom mobile is 6mb!
There is a new custom rom with modded camera app to get 100% jpeg
I noticed that too. Is it possible to change compression ratio on stock rom?
Nop
Unless you install a third party camera app with jpeg compression control.
If you want to use stock camera then take your photos in raw, you can edit them calmly in any raw editor
Thanks for the answer! Can You, please, recommend any third party camera app? Good RAW editor for Android would be helpful information too.
martolk said:
Thanks for the answer! Can You, please, recommend any third party camera app? Good RAW editor for Android would be helpful information too.
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Good RAW editor for Android : Snapseed.
You also got Adobe Lightroom, but it is not for free.

RAW images support

Hello, I'm new to this forum, I like this device but images taken from it are just below average and smooth out at the edges. I tried gcam but none of them work any good.
But there's a workaround to get good pictures, I found out that in pro mode there is an option for raw photos, so enabling it saves a copy of image in raw format and then importing that raw file to Adobe Lightroom in device gives really good results, I was impressed by the details of the images, there is quite noise but with little tweaks it can be reduced so final images have good sharpness and details.
give the google cam mod a try , even just saving as jpg's the quality is pretty stunning and it can save as Raw too . follow the guide to get the settings right and you'll be happy as larry
version GCamera_Mod_v.5.1.23_R4X works great for me , app force closes now and again but you can reopen it straight away

best manual camera for Google pixel 4 XL?

I just picked up a Google pixel 4 XL on an amazing deal! I'm just looking for suggestions from other pixel users specifically photographers on what the best manual camera app is that they've used in conjunction with g cam?
I've tested a few but everything I've shot with has resulted in grainy photos or horrible UI. If anyone can resent some suggestions I'm sure this would help out others as well.
Moment Pro Cam and Open Cam [emoji1474]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
For photos the gcam app is King from what I can tell, moment app is ok... If you want superior video control go for FilmicPro.
Demolition49 said:
For photos the gcam app is King from what I can tell, moment app is ok... If you want superior video control go for FilmicPro.
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Have you used the moment app recently? I heard it's very buggy that's what's causing me not to pay for it to test out.
Also I'm not trying to shoot video in any way shape or form I'm just looking strictly for photography. But thanks for the suggestion.
thepersona said:
Have you used the moment app recently? I heard it's very buggy that's what's causing me not to pay for it to test out.
Also I'm not trying to shoot video in any way shape or form I'm just looking strictly for photography. But thanks for the suggestion.
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The moment app is buggy, I emailed the devs and they say they are working on an update but couldn't give me a date, so it could be months before we see anything. I'd suggest shooting raw on gcam and playing with the photos in post. There may be something else out there I am unaware of
Isn’t gcam the app that comes pre-installed on the device though or is there some modded version you are referring to that I’m obviously not aware of?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Demolition49 said:
The moment app is buggy, I emailed the devs and they say they are working on an update but couldn't give me a date, so it could be months before we see anything. I'd suggest shooting raw on gcam and playing with the photos in post. There may be something else out there I am unaware of
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I would use raw from the pixel Gcam however the resolution of all my images on raw is 600 x 800 rather than the original jpeg size of 2040 x 4040 etc. The raw is such a small size leaving me to not be able to use it if needed to print for portfolio etc
Is there a fix to increase the overall size of raw images to larger images or original sizes images like the jpeg counterpart?
thepersona said:
I would use raw from the pixel Gcam however the resolution of all my images on raw is 600 x 800 rather than the original jpeg size of 2040 x 4040 etc. The raw is such a small size leaving me to not be able to use it if needed to print for portfolio etc
Is there a fix to increase the overall size of raw images to larger images or original sizes images like the jpeg counterpart?
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I just took a picture in RAW and checked the Raw folder. The image I have is 4016 X 3008 at 13MB
Am I misunderstanding what you are trying to do?
dtroup64 said:
I just took a picture in RAW and checked the Raw folder. The image I have is 4016 X 3008 at 13MB
Am I misunderstanding what you are trying to do?
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I think I'm just slowly starting to figure out how the phone works. Because I looked at my raw folder the best images I took obviously didn't have raw shooting on so that sucked but
what I realized is that for some reason my phone doesn't take raw photos when in portrait mode (the raw plus JPEG option isn't even available). And that my files are previewed as originals in the photo app and then in the actual files app they're all small kilobytes size files. I did an 8 x zoom that turned out pretty well however that's like 930x688
As seen in the pic attached. I just took another pic and when looking at it it's full resolution and amazing quality yet when I look at it in the files app it's all grainy and
I Could have sworn when I did the 8 x zoom the final quality in the preview looked way better than how it turned out when I look through it now LOL.
Apologies for the rambling but those are two issues no. My phone not shooting raw all the time specifically when I use portrait mode. But also I can't seem to find my original raw files are not in the raw folder they're just thumbnails from what I can tell. No I'm not in the thumbnail folder LOL.
dtroup64 said:
I just took a picture in RAW and checked the Raw folder. The image I have is 4016 X 3008 at 13MB
Am I misunderstanding what you are trying to do?
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Here's my raw folder specifically look at the last 4 images. The aren't recent. And they're so small and pixelated no pun intended.
the photo that I attached in my earlier post above this isn't existent in that folder for some reason. The Spider-Man image below was taken like two minutes ago but for some reason there's only a JPEG of it I can't find a raw file and relating to my earlier post about my phone not always taking raw images.
Somebody can help me figure this stuff out it would save me a lot of headache and hassle
I can't even upload the dng raw file to compare. the Raw file is substantially more grainy than the actual jpeg for some reason
2000x1496 for the raw file
3024x4032 for the exact same image in jpeg.
And much better quality on the joeg. I don't understand if this is normal or not.
thepersona said:
I can't even upload the dng raw file to compare. the Raw file is substantially more grainy than the actual jpeg for some reason
2000x1496 for the raw file
3024x4032 for the exact same image in jpeg.
And much better quality on the joeg. I don't understand if this is normal or not.
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I just tried on my phone and the raw images are all 3024x4032 whether I take them in portrait or landscape orientation. If you are getting different resolutions, then something is up. Double check your setting and make sure you are taking full resolution phones and also that the aspect ratio is set to 4:3. The 16:9 aspect ratio will actually reduce the resolution because it crops the image to 16:9. I suspect this is what is going on with your settings.
As far as the actual image quality, have you ever dealt with RAW images before? I ask because RAW images are just that, raw. They will always need to be edited in a photo editing software to bring out the beauty in them. When you use the stock camera, the Jpeg files are automatically processed through the Google software (which is very good) to bring out the beauty in them. It's completely normal for the processed Jpeg image to look much better than the RAW image. RAW images will always look "flat" and grainier compared to a jpeg image because they haven't had any processing (noise reduction, white balance correction, contrast adjustments, etc etc etc) done to them yet.
Of course the RAW image is a non-destructive file format which is why serious photographers prefer it. What this means is that the edits you do on a RAW image are not permanently modifying the original RAW file. They are just changes that are "notated" or "amended" on to the original file. (That's not the correct terminology, but hopefully you understand my point). This means that you can edit those files and makes an infinite number of changes without effecting the original RAW image data.
A Jpeg file on the other hand is a destructive file format however. This means that when you edit a Jpeg file and save it, it permanently alters the jpeg file with that change. The data that it was changed from is lost forever. You can re-edit the file, but you are changing the actual file data every time you save the file and you can't magically bring back data that wasn't saved in a previous edit. In other words, there is no way to get back to the original file after it has been edited and saved.
Here is a different way to see it. Lets say you have a RAW file and a Jpeg file and you make three successive edits to those files......
With the RAW image this is what the data would look like: RAW -> RAW+edit 1 -> RAW + edit 1 + edit 2 - > RAW + edit 1 + edit 2 + edit 3. You can always undo the edits and get back to the original RAW data.
With a Jpeg image, this is what the data would look like: Jpeg -> Jpeg after edit 1 ->Jpeg after edit 2 -> jpeg after edit 3. There is no way to go back to any of the previous versions unless you save each edit as a unique file. (I should note that using Google Photos to edit your jpeg images seems to allow you to go back to the original file, so Google must be saving the edits as a unique file automatically. But if you use another program to edit your jpegs, you need to be aware of the destructive nature of the jpeg format).
Hopefully that helps - either you or someone else reading this thread.
sic0048 said:
I just tried on my phone and the raw images are all 3024x4032 whether I take them in portrait or landscape orientation. If you are getting different resolutions, then something is up. Double check your setting and make sure you are taking full resolution phones and also that the aspect ratio is set to 4:3. The 16:9 aspect ratio will actually reduce the resolution because it crops the image to 16:9. I suspect this is what is going on with your settings.
As far as the actual image quality, have you ever dealt with RAW images before? I ask because RAW images are just that, raw. They will always need to be edited in a photo editing software to bring out the beauty in them. Jpeg files are automatically run through the Google camera software (which is very good) to bring out the beauty in them. It's completely normal for the processed Jpeg image to look much better than the RAW image. RAW images will always look "flat" and grainier compared to a jpeg image because they haven't had any processing (noise reduction, white balance correction, contrast adjustments, etc etc etc) done to them yet.
Of course the RAW image is a non-destructive file format which is why serious photographers prefer it. What this means is that the edits you do on a RAW image are not permanently modifying the original RAW file. They are just changes that are "notated" or "amended" on to the original file. (That's not the correct terminology, but hopefully you understand my point). This means that you can edit those files and makes an infinite number of changes without effecting the original RAW image data.
A Jpeg file on the other hand is a destructive file format however. This means that when you edit a Jpeg file and save it, it permanently alters the jpeg file with that change. The data that it was changed from is lost forever. You can re-edit the file, but you are changing the actual file data every time you save the file and you can't magically bring back data that wasn't saved in a previous edit. In other words, there is no way to get back to the original file after it has been edited and saved.
Here is a different way to see it. Lets say you have a RAW file and a Jpeg file and you make three successive edits to those files......
With the RAW image this is what the data would look like: RAW -> RAW+edit 1 -> RAW + edit 1 + edit 2 - > RAW + edit 1 + edit 2 + edit 3. You can always undo the edits and get back to the original RAW data.
With a Jpeg image, this is what the data would look like: Jpeg -> Jpeg after edit 1 ->Jpeg after edit 2 -> jpeg after edit 3. There is no way to go back to any of the previous versions unless you save each edit as a unique file. (I should note that using Google Photos to edit your jpeg images seems to allow you to go back to the original file, so Google must be saving the edits as a unique file automatically. But if you use another program to edit your jpegs, you need to be aware of the destructive nature of the jpeg format).
Hopefully that helps - either you or someone else reading this thread.
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hey brother thanks for the amazing explanation I appreciate it. And yes I have dealt with raw files and I'm aware of how they work. I guess the visuals confused me or threw me off because it's been so long since I've done photography.
I feel a little embarrassed coming in here with an amateur worry we're concerned LOL but I am a conceptual photographer and when using my DSLR I have to go to the similar process and I just forgot that raw files are not meant to look like the finalized jpegs. It's been 3 years since I delved into photography I knew I got Rusty somewhere lol thankfully though I bought this pixel specifically so I can revisit and get back into photography using this device in conjunction with my DSLR.
I'm actually going to save your response only so I can look at it and never come back in here with a foolish post LOL. But also I'm going to look into my resolution because I hate having thick borders on my camera screen and maybe that's why I change the aspect ratio not knowing that it was going to actually crop the image substantially. More tests later today and confirm whether your hunch was true or just think it is. ?
sic0048 said:
I just tried on my phone and the raw images are all 3024x4032 whether I take them in portrait or landscape orientation. If you are getting different resolutions, then something is up. Double check your setting and make sure you are taking full resolution phones and also that the aspect ratio is set to 4:3. The 16:9 aspect ratio will actually reduce the resolution because it crops the image to 16:9. I suspect this is what is going on with your settings.
As far as the actual image quality, have you ever dealt with RAW images before? I ask because RAW images are just that, raw. They will always need to be edited in a photo editing software to bring out the beauty in them. When you use the stock camera, the Jpeg files are automatically processed through the Google software (which is very good) to bring out the beauty in them. It's completely normal for the processed Jpeg image to look much better than the RAW image. RAW images will always look "flat" and grainier compared to a jpeg image because they haven't had any processing (noise reduction, white balance correction, contrast adjustments, etc etc etc) done to them yet.
Hopefully that helps - either you or someone else reading this thread.
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Here are the details of a raw image. Why is the resolution so low? Any idea? This specific issue is annoying me because I can't seem to fix it. I'm just baffled at how low the image size is.
thepersona said:
Here are the details of a raw image. Why is the resolution so low? Any idea? This specific issue is annoying me because I can't seem to fix it. I'm just baffled at how low the image size is.
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So just to make sure we are on the same page......
When you open the camera app, click on the pull down carrot at the top of the screen. That should pull down the options menu. Scroll down to ratio and make sure it is set to "Full Image (4:3)".
Then click on the settings icon and scroll down until you see "Camera Photo Resolution" and make sure it is set to "Full Resolution"
Based on your previous posts, I don't think this is your issue, but are you accessing the RAW files via the camera settings menu where you select the RAW + JPEG image? That is probably the easiest way to make sure you are looking at the correct file and not a thumbnail, etc. There should be a "View RAW folder" link in the settings menu that you can click on to open the RAW files in Google Photos. The RAW images I have in that folder are in the 10-12MB size range and yours are only 1MB.
I'm hoping that one of these things is the culprit. If not, I'm at a loss to why your images are coming out small.
sic0048 said:
So just to make sure we are on the same page......
When you open the camera app, click on the pull down carrot at the top of the screen. That should pull down the options menu. Scroll down to ratio and make sure it is set to "Full Image (4:3)".
Then click on the settings icon and scroll down until you see "Camera Photo Resolution" and make sure it is set to "Full Resolution"
Based on your previous posts, I don't think this is your issue, but are you accessing the RAW files via the camera settings menu where you select the RAW + JPEG image? That is probably the easiest way to make sure you are looking at the correct file and not a thumbnail, etc. There should be a "View RAW folder" link in the settings menu that you can click on to open the RAW files in Google Photos. The RAW images I have in that folder are in the 10-12MB size range and yours are only 1MB.
I'm hoping that one of these things is the culprit. If not, I'm at a loss to why your images are coming out small.
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Brother I followed the directions and when I go to the camera app and look in the raw folder there, I can see the original raw images in high resolution. Why can I not access those original files in the file app or downloaded gallery?
thepersona said:
Brother I followed the directions and when I go to the camera app and look in the raw folder there, I can see the original raw images in high resolution. Why can I not access those original files in the file app or downloaded gallery?
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I ended up having a separate album in my Photos app that is entitled Raw. When I take photos with the Jpeg + RAW enabled, the photos appear in that album. Is it possible that you have such an album but haven't seen it yet?
dtroup64 said:
I ended up having a separate album in my Photos app that is entitled Raw. When I take photos with the Jpeg + RAW enabled, the photos appear in that album. Is it possible that you have such an album but haven't seen it yet?
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Yes I definetley have that album. When accessing it via the photos app it's fine I see full resolution raw images but in another gallery app or even the files app it's available but the images in them are substantially smaller files.
The trick I found to work for now was to use solid explorer and go in the app and find the files path. And make a shortcut on my home screen. For the files app specifically, I'd access the list in the left panel just click on images and then access RAW. Prior to that I was accessing the internal storage then manually going to camera then raw. When I did that I found the folder but it only contained the small resolution files. It's really weird.

Raw capture with stock camera app

Hi
Been using a V50, that is identical to the V40 camera wise, for a couple of days comig from a V30.
Regarding RAW capture with the stock camera the output seems much worse than the V30 - the DNG files have vignetting and are very desaturated, noting like the output on the V30 and previous LG phones that had this corrected.
Using a 3rd party camera app, the DNG files don't have vignetting but are still very desaturated.
I'm on android 10. Does the V40 also has these issues, having the same camera hardware?
Thanks
Hi!
The V40 does actually have the same problems. Well, DNG files as RAW files by nature contain the unprocessed information what the camera saw when it took the picture, including all optical imperfections and sensor noise. I have a SONY a6000 mirrorless camera at home, and it also has these "problems". It is how it is... Instead of the camera software doing the hard work, it leaves it to you to decide what do you wanna do with the image. Using Lightroom Mobile, you can fix both vignetting and barrel distortion by enabling Lens Profile Corrections. There is also an Auto setting for the colours too. (and a built in capture mode with DNG support which automatically applies lens prifile corrections if I remember correctly) But if you do not want to go through all these to get a decent picture, why all the fuss, just use JPEG. The stock cam app can do awesome images with its built in post processing algorithm, I barely use RAW mode, unless I wanna do something really specific and go hard on editing.

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