Bad camera on your phone, how to improve it. Setting up a camera on Android

Improved camera for Android. It is with this formulation of the problem that you can find dozens of topics on specialized forums and specialized websites. For some users, focusing does not work, for others the self-timer does not work, for others the flash does not work.

Mobile device manufacturers often devote negligible time to improving built-in cameras. In their opinion, a smartphone is a phone with many modern functions and Internet access. And the camera... Yes, there is one. But that's just a bonus.

In today's review we will look at a program that I rightfully consider one of the best among software whose name contains “Camera”.

Installing the HD Camera application for Android

You can find a great variety of applications in this category on the virtual shelves of Google Play. Just enter the word “Camera” into the search bar and the store will return several dozen similar programs.

But the best camera for Android, according to thousands of users of modern gadgets, is the HD camera for Android. Let's check together if this is true.

Follow the link and install the application into the memory of your mobile device.

Android Camera Improvement: Video

Setting up the HD Camera app for Android

At the first launch, the program will unobtrusively ask the user whether to save information about the shooting location along with future photographs.

How to answer this question is up to you. We go to the main application window and see a completely standard interface design. Simple and concise.

Opening the main parameters of the program is done by clicking on the area of ​​the screen marked with a circle.

At the same step, you can open the HD Camera settings menu. Just click on the central icon.

As you can see, the most significant elements of the photography process are collected here: geolocation, self-timer, presets and much more. By combining these options, you can not only speed up photographing a particular object, but also significantly improve the quality of the resulting images.

For example, the size of the final image does not always mean excellent quality. Set exactly the parameters that you really need at the moment.

Or an automatic shutter release. With this feature, you can always prepare for the upcoming shoot.

By the way, switching cameras in the application is not done very well: to do this, you constantly have to go to the main menu of HD Camera for Android.

How to use the front camera on Android

In principle, there are no special differences between cameras in the program. Same menu, same settings, same functionality. Just set the front camera as the main one and take pictures of your loved one.

To conclude our review, let us dwell on one more advantage of the described application. The developers have included a video recording mode in the HD Camera for Android, which is distributed completely free of charge.

It is worth noting that the program shoots video in fairly good quality. If we talk about the video mode settings, they are an order of magnitude poorer, but, in principle, even they are enough for normal operation.

In any case, whether you customize the camera for yourself or not, even with the standard options, HD Camera for Android will surprise you with the quality of the resulting images.

The cameras of modern smartphones are not yet capable of completely replacing a good point-and-shoot camera, not to mention professional cameras. But nevertheless, you can achieve a passable image even from a budget smartphone with the help of a few secrets, programs and a couple of simple tricks.

Unfortunately, on social networks there are quite a lot of not just terrible photos, but ones that are generally embarrassing to show. Moreover, the “authors” usually do not stop, but use dozens of all kinds of “popular” filters that they can find, believing that this can really correct a deliberately incorrect composition.

We want to convey that really good pictures can be taken with a not very high-quality camera. Of course, their quality will not be perfect, but it will not be a shame to show the photo on the same social networks.

Part one. Learning to take photographs

To take a really good photo, you need to know and understand the basic photographic techniques that are sure to make your photos incredibly beautiful, no matter how many pixels your camera has.

Lighting

Of course, when shooting with your phone's built-in camera, there's no question of using professional lighting equipment to sharpen your photos and improve color. But don't despair - you can always use sunlight or artificial light to your advantage. But it’s still better to rely on natural light. It matches much better with almost any camera and provides a natural color palette.

Artificial lighting can often ruin your photography. Incandescent lamps, as you know, will give off a yellowish tint; moreover, they will not be able to sufficiently provide the required level of illumination. Fluorescent lamps, on the other hand, can provide overly bright and harsh light, which is also not a good aid for photography. Natural light sources will provide you with warm shades that can highlight the subject and not wash away the details. This is why, if possible, avoid using camera flash.

So, you've found the perfect light source for your photograph, positioned your subject to make the most of the light, and ensure that the light illuminates the subject of the photograph, but does not hit the camera lens, otherwise you will end up with an overexposed image.

Experiment, don’t be afraid to shoot from different angles, with different lighting brightness - morning, afternoon, evening.

Advice is, of course, good, but it will give you absolutely nothing without practice - only through personal experience can you understand how it all really works.

Exposition

Exposure, in its simplest sense, is the effect of the amount of light entering the camera sensor on the overall brightness of the image. In conventional cameras, you can change this parameter by experimenting with the shutter speed, aperture and ISO value. This combination will determine how much light hits the camera lens and how sensitive it is to light. The better the lighting, the lower the sensitivity should be selected. And vice versa - in poor lighting, more light-sensitive settings are needed, although this, of course, can result in a grainy image.

The “native” Android camera is mostly deprived of customization options, and in most cases it only allows you to adjust the exposure with a moving slider. More advanced applications allow you to carry out almost the full range of manual settings - change ISO, aperture, etc.

Sleight of hand and no fraud Of course, we will talk about focus, because a well-chosen exposure and good lighting are not everything. Before you take a photo, you need to make sure your subject is in focus.

Also, most cameras offer the ability to randomly focus - focus in an area that you select by tapping on the screen. There are also many different automatic effects that would be quite difficult to achieve manually on such a camera (for example, background blur - “bokeh”).

Image composition

Now that you know some of the intricacies of the photography process, you can apply them all to get a high-quality picture, just remember to practice. But even with all these subtleties, your photo will only be as good as the correct composition.

One of the main principles of photography is the “rule of thirds”. It divides the image area into nine equal parts using horizontal and vertical lines. The main concept of this rule is that the subjects (or object) should be located along the lines or at their intersection.

Unfortunately, in reality, natural lighting will not always be ideal, the moment may be fleeting, the subject itself may be constantly moving, etc. All these nuances make you rely more on memory than photography. Luckily, there are many software options for enhancing a photo you've already taken.

Part two. Programs for processing and shooting

No, we won’t talk about Instagram filters and other “popular” things on the Internet. We want to get the most out of the resulting photo, so we will try to do everything manually, because this is the only way we can get a result that will suit us.

This application is installed by default on most Android smartphones. It has a simple user interface and minimal settings, but it has several unique photo modes, as well as several effects.

With Google Camera, you can overlay a grid on the camera interface, adjust exposure, and it can also provide you with an HDR mode that will allow you to pull out a good picture even in less than ideal conditions. You can also create 360-degree panoramas with this camera.

This camera also has several night shot modes, HDR time-lapse photography, and a self-timer. Using this camera will allow you to experience the power of manual photo adjustments, allow you to practice with different shooting modes, and with this application you will be able to take really high-quality photos.

Of course, you can’t do without Photoshop even on Android. This application will allow you to customize and improve the photos you take right on the screen of your phone without the help of a computer.

Of course, this application does not have even a tenth of the settings of its “big brother”, but this is quite enough for you to eliminate red-eye, adjust contrast, exposure, adjust color, brightness, shadow and much more. And of course, everyone’s favorite filters are available here.

Avoid taking photos in low light, at least if you want your subject to be evenly lit.

The phone's built-in camera sensor is quite weak, and at a high ISO (light sensitivity), which allows you to shoot indoors without a flash, the noise level will also be very high. Therefore, successful indoor photographs will only be taken in bright light. Avoid bright highlights and other highlights.

Because of them, you will either get an underexposed (darkened) frame with a clear image of the bright area, or a bright frame with white spots where the highlights are. The second is worse, since editing can sometimes extract detail from deep shadows, but cannot restore blown-out images (you just end up with a bunch of white pixels). On the other hand, it could be part of your artistic intent - for example, a stream of sunlight pouring through a window. It is best to photograph people in diffused light - in the shade, under a cloudy sky or under bright artificial lighting. Try to include rich colors as they will look good in the photo, but a wide range of very light to very dark areas will inevitably lose detail. The focal length (distance from the optical element to the sensor) of the built-in camera is short due to its miniature size, and therefore it copes well with shots where most of the scene is in focus. However, this property, along with a very weak autofocus mechanism, usually does not allow focusing on objects that are very close to the camera, or achieving a shallow depth of field and blurred background (however, the latter can be simulated in subsequent computer processing of photographs).

Avoid photos in front of a mirror and selfies taken at arm's length. Mirrors often “fool” the autofocus mechanism. It's better to ask someone to take your photo. If you'd rather take the photo yourself, use a timer, lean your phone against something, and stand in the frame.

Choose a large and visible object. Small details, such as tree leaves in the background, will be blurry.

• When photographing with your phone, it is best to get as close to your subject as possible. If you can get close enough to get a close-up of it, the results will be best.
• Most smartphone cameras have digital zoom, but it won't help you take detailed photos from a distance. Unlike optics, it does not bring the image closer, but only stretches it, noticeably degrading the quality.