Camera settings for best photos

[asylvia]

so i was wondering what you guys typically leave the camera settings on to obtain the best pictures possible in most circumstances. i understand that if you are trying to get a special shot then tamper away, but for everyday use, do you leave on hdr+ auto, or just hdr+ on all the time? what about the flash?

 

[LeoRex]

The flash on every phone out there is dogpoo...

I'm coming from my experience with my Nexus 6 (no 6P... yet). And while the two cameras are totally different, the HDR+ does the same thing. Between standard and HDR+ mode, the HDR+ picture almost always comes out better looking... provided things like movement in the frame don't screw things up. HDR+ basically takes several shots and digitally processes the RAW file to kind of smooth out the lows and highs. You may lose a smidge of the finest details, but the resulting image is usally better composed with a lot less noise.

Since GC 2.5 dropped when the M preview launched, I've been leaving the phone on HDR+. And with GC 3, switching modes is a LOT easier and orders of magnitude faster. So if HDR+ ain't working out, you can switch to normal or aHDR.

as for Auto HDR+.... playing around with it, it really only seems to trigger HDR+ when it obviously needs it. But I've found that even brightly lit pictures benefit from HDR+ (and they as fast as normal in bright light).

 

[syspry]

The flash on every phone out there is dogpoo...

I'm coming from my experience with my Nexus 6 (no 6P... yet). And while the two cameras are totally different, the HDR+ does the same thing. Between standard and HDR+ mode, the HDR+ picture almost always comes out better looking... provided things like movement in the frame don't screw things up. HDR+ basically takes several shots and digitally processes the RAW file to kind of smooth out the lows and highs. You may lose a smidge of the finest details, but the resulting image is usally better composed with a lot less noise.

Since GC 2.5 dropped when the M preview launched, I've been leaving the phone on HDR+. And with GC 3, switching modes is a LOT easier and orders of magnitude faster. So if HDR+ ain't working out, you can switch to normal or aHDR.

as for Auto HDR+.... playing around with it, it really only seems to trigger HDR+ when it obviously needs it. But I've found that even brightly lit pictures benefit from HDR+ (and they as fast as normal in bright light).

I played around with Auto HDR+ as well, am I right in assuming that when the little HDR icon switches switches from showing an "A" to a little checkmark that it has enabled? I'm just wondering what the benefit of Auto HDR+ is. To save on the size of the photo and processing time when it isn't triggered? If those are the reasons I'll probably just leave on HDR+ full time unless I really think I'll be somewhere where I'll need faster captures.

 

[LeoRex]

I played around with Auto HDR+ as well, am I right in assuming that when the little HDR icon switches switches from showing an "A" to a little checkmark that it has enabled? I'm just wondering what the benefit of Auto HDR+ is. To save on the size of the photo and processing time when it isn't triggered? If those are the reasons I'll probably just leave on HDR+ full time unless I really think I'll be somewhere where I'll need faster captures.

Well, going off what I've seen the HDR+ and non HDR+ images are pretty much the same size. HDR+ does take some extra processing time, and you can see that by the little circle animation and the neat sounding 'bloop'. And yes, when you see the checkmark, that means it's decided that it's HDR+ time.

I'd leave it in HDR+ unless it becomes an issue. You 6P people are a little spoiled. The first versions of the Google Camera with HDR+... it would take FOREVER for the thing to take a picture and it was limited as a result. Seriously, it would take a few seconds to take... very old timey. There was a drastic speed increase when they upgraded the camera when the 6.0 previews dropped. And when the 6P and 5X were released (along with version 3 of the camera), there was another bump in speed. Plus, it used to take a good 4 or 5 seconds to switch between modes (not to mention requiring you to go into a sub menu to do so)... now its prettymuch instant.

In conditions where it's not needed, it seems to understand that and it takes next to no time to take the picture (the post processing speeds up a bit too)... so there's not really a loss. Where you will get into some issues is trying to take a picture in odd lighting where there's going to be a lot of movement. HDR+ actually does a pretty good job of cleaning up the final picture, but with the 6P, you can just flip it into standard mode and rely on its excellent low light sensitivity.

 

[asylvia]

thanks for the input guys.

 

[syspry]

Well, going off what I've seen the HDR+ and non HDR+ images are pretty much the same size. HDR+ does take some extra processing time, and you can see that by the little circle animation and the neat sounding 'bloop'. And yes, when you see the checkmark, that means it's decided that it's HDR+ time.

I'd leave it in HDR+ unless it becomes an issue. You 6P people are a little spoiled. The first versions of the Google Camera with HDR+... it would take FOREVER for the thing to take a picture and it was limited as a result. Seriously, it would take a few seconds to take... very old timey. There was a drastic speed increase when they upgraded the camera when the 6.0 previews dropped. And when the 6P and 5X were released (along with version 3 of the camera), there was another bump in speed. Plus, it used to take a good 4 or 5 seconds to switch between modes (not to mention requiring you to go into a sub menu to do so)... now its prettymuch instant.

In conditions where it's not needed, it seems to understand that and it takes next to no time to take the picture (the post processing speeds up a bit too)... so there's not really a loss. Where you will get into some issues is trying to take a picture in odd lighting where there's going to be a lot of movement. HDR+ actually does a pretty good job of cleaning up the final picture, but with the 6P, you can just flip it into standard mode and rely on its excellent low light sensitivity.

Very informative, thanks Leo! And yes I am spoiled. I'm a princess!

 

[LeoRex]

At least I got the update. The 3.1 update kind of beat back the demons. . I'm thiiis close to getting a 6P, but the 6 runs so damn well on 6.0, I'm having a hard time switching.

 

[CHILLYWILL_95831]

thanks for the input guys.

I keep my camera on HDR auto and auto flash. It looks like we just received a camera update and the HDR seems to be quicker and knows better when to choose. The reason I leave it on auto HDR with auto flash is for those situations where there just isn't enough light and you need a flash. It's not perfect but it works.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[TruPlaya187]

I keep my camera on HDR auto and auto flash. It looks like we just received a camera update and the HDR seems to be quicker and knows better when to choose. The reason I leave it on auto HDR with auto flash is for those situations where there just isn't enough light and you need a flash. It's not perfect but it works.

Posted via the Android Central App

Ok I know I was not crazy....well...for that part LOL

I got the update as well this morning but in the Store it still says Nov 17th for the last update.

Definitely faster and like you mention the Auto HDR seems to work better!

 

[LeoRex]

That Nov 17th update is the one you got.... that was a REALLY long phased rollout.

I snagged it off apkmirror as soon as I saw it drop rather than wait for Play to push it to my phone.

 

[TruPlaya187]

That Nov 17th update is the one you got.... that was a REALLY long phased rollout.

I snagged it off apkmirror as soon as I saw it drop rather than wait for Play to push it to my phone.

Well that took a long time LOL!!!