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How To Take Better Photos on Your Android Phone

The cameras keep getting higher in resolution, but there's more to getting good shots than the hardware.

By Ryan Whitwam

| June 14, 2010

.It's become common for even mid-range Android phones to come with some impressive cameras. A five megapixel sensor is usually present in most smartphones, and that means you can get some pretty reasonable point-and-shoot type images. A phone's camera may not be replacing your dedicated camera anytime soon, but you have to work with what you have. If all you have with you is a phone, you might as well maximize the image quality. Android has made some strides in the image capture department in the 2.1 and upcoming 2.2 updates.

Read on as we tell you how to get the most out of your Android phone's camera. The app that comes with the phone is the one most people will inevitably use, but we'll also tell you which third-party apps can add useful functionality.

Zooming[/B

]Zooming is something we've all become accustomed to on real cameras. A standalone camera most likely has optical zoom. This enlarges an image by using movable lens elements to vary the focal length. With optical zoom, quality is not lost. With the digital zoom used in phones, you are basically cropping out pixels at the edge and blowing up what's left. The result is a poorer quality image. We recommend not zooming in if at all possible, since you can always crop an image after the fact using desktop software. The only time you should use your camera's zoom is when you have to send that photo off on the phone without any post-cropping.

Stock Android phones running on 2.1 and earlier have access to zoom controls in the form of plus/minus buttons on the screen, but it only moves in steps. In 2.2 Google is adding a zoom slider to the on-screen controls. Camera Pro and Camera Zoom FX can add that functionality now for a few bucks. Sense UI phones have long had access to digital zoom in the camera app. The ease of use depends on the underlying Android software version. On Android 2.1 builds of Sense, users are presented with a large friendly scroll wheel to adjust the zoom.

The zoom option is there if you need it, but we suggest only using it when you have to. Even then, zoom only as much as you have to. Each step you zoom means fewer pixels in the final image. The small images sensors on these phones tend to have more noise than standard cameras, and the more you zoom, the more noticeable that will be.

Flash

Next, you need to keep track of your flash settings. Cell phones use LED flashes, which are nice as they don't use very much power. However, they tend to light a subject more harshly than a more natural-looking Xenon flash on a real camera might (this happens even at a distance).

It's always a good idea to turn the flash off when you don't need it. The stock Android camera app has a tendency to overuse the flash when it is set on auto. If you take a picture in medium light and the flash goes off unexpectedly, try it again with the flash off. We often find the resulting image to be preferable to the one with the flash.

Focusing

What's the good of taking a photo if it isn't going to be in focus? Android phones made early use of autofocus cameras and that means better images. Phones with hardware camera buttons sometimes employ a two-step mechanism like a real camera. That means you can depress the button halfway to focus, then recompose and press it the rest of the way to capture the image. This is helpful in that it can allow you to change up the framing without capturing an image if the focus doesn't look right.

On a phone like the Nexus One without a hardware shutter button, you can get similar functionality. When you press the on-screen shutter button, you can hold your finger there to inspect the focus. If you don't like it, just slide your finger off without removing it from the screen. This will let you try again without taking the image. Similarly, if using a trackball/trackpad as the shutter, depress to focus, and if you wish to abandon the image you can tap the screen.

Sense UI phones have a different trick up their sleeve when it comes to focusing. These phones have tap to focus, a feature we originally saw in the iPhone 3GS. You can tap anywhere in the frame to have the camera autofocus for that spot. This is functionality we have not yet been able to replicate on stock Android phones through apps.

Image size

The next thing to be aware of is what type of image quality you need. The default setting on most phones is maximum quality. That's fine if you intend to take important images to keep. But if you're just taking a snapshot to email to a friend, or send in an MMS, you don't need the highest resolution image.

A full resolution image from an 8MP camera like that in the Incredible or EVO 4G could be well over 1MB. If you're on a non-unlimited data plan, sending a large image via MMS may not be a viable option at all. All the stock apps, as well as third-party camera apps will allow you to change the resolution of the image being captured.

This is also a good idea if you need to take several photos in quick succession. Android can be a little slow to write images to the SD card and prepare for the next shot. By reducing the overall image size, you can get more shots in. This functionality is available from the onscreen controls of all the stock apps. Some third party apps hide this functionality in the settings menu.

Fine tuning

These camera phones are getting closer and closer to being the real thing, as evidenced by the plethora of image effects they can use. Stock Android 2.2 (and Sense UI) and higher phones can take advantage of different exposure settings. The exposure is just the amount of light allowed to hit the image sensor. This can be used to compensate for conditions that are too light or dark, bringing out detail. If you need a flash, but it makes the image a little too bright (common with LED flashes), you can try again with a lower exposure. Change the exposure around while composing a shot. The Android camera will change the preview to approximate chosen exposure. Stock Android 2.1 is unable to alter these values, so you'll have to wait for the 2.2 update.

You can also get better color representation by changing the white balance. The auto setting is usually fine, but we've found Android phones can get confused, especially in low light. This often leaves us with warm, almost orange pictures. If your phone is taking images that look to warm or cold, try setting the white balance to the type of light you're shooting under. You have options like incandescent, daylight, fluorescent, and cloudy.

Sense UI phones (even on 2.1) have all these tweaks and more. HTC has added a number of options to their Android interface that doesn't exist for stock phones. There is an option to change metering mode to spot, center, or average. This controls how the phone samples to determine how to expose the shot. This can be helpful if your subject is lighted differently from the rest of the shot. We find this useful for times when we're taking a backlit shot.

Sense UI also builds in ISO settings. ISO is basically how sensitive the image sensor is to light. A higher ISO will allow you to capture motion better, but the image will be grainier. The sensors on phones tend to handle motion pretty poorly, so this is a nice addition on HTC's part. We haven't found any apps that allow stock Android to do any of this either. Camera 360 is a new app with some fun filters, and it offers an ISO option, but we found it did not work on stock Android 2.1 or 2.2. It seems HTC rolled their own code for this.

With a little thought, you can capture completely respectable images with your Android phone. We feel that the most important first step is setting up the shot correctly. You have to evaluate if you need the flash on or not, and if you can avoid zooming. Make sure to examine the preview after your handset focuses before you take the image. In our experience, the stock apps that come with your phone will do nearly everything you need.

Most of the third party apps don't add much functionality beyond some effect filters. The only exception may be timer and timer and burst mode, which you can get from an app like Camera Zoom FX. Sense phones, of course, have this built in. Do you have any camera tips for Android? Any apps you've found that bring something meaningful to the experience?