yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] vic_singh:
Hi all,

I recently got this phone for my wife and she loves it however I just discovered this camera for it.

What settings are you guys using for GCam?

HDR+ or ZSL?

What devices?

Pixel or Nexus?

Buffet size?

Support Level Over ride?

Etc......

Thanks in advance.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] ej_424:
I can't get portrait mode to work on any of the gCam builds including this one....
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] sactownbully84:
Yeah ....same here ....that's y I laugh cuz everyone says the stock camera sucks ...but I can't find a single gcam build that's stable ....they all suck ...but you know what app always works 4 me and takes good pics?.... THE STOCK ESSENTIAL CAMERA APP!!
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] ej_424:
Ok so it's expected. ... I have to agree with you. I just got the essential phone coming from an iPhone x. I would say the camera isn't great but good. Seems software optimization is holding it back a bit. Definitely serviceable though.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] sactownbully84:
Yes I agree with you. Also :)
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
You root, you get magnificent gcam, they all work.

For you unrooted folk, what did you use for settings. I bet they are wrong, since that same package works fine when magisked, and the only thing I'm doing modifying media profiles so slomo works
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] sactownbully84:
I've used 6 different gcams and the essential ph1 settings were used that went with the according cam port that I had installed at that time...no I'm not rooted....that for me defeats the entire point for me and y I purchased this phone ....

With that said ....I get fine enough pic quality from the stock software that works and I don't have to put any "settings" in to get it to run properly.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
For the sake of being right, wanna try something? Install that gcam from earlier, and use these settings. In order to get the setting to stick, you need to FC the app then reopen. I get what you are saying, you just want it to work, but it's trying to support a bazillion diff sensors, so it's harder than it sounds. I have attached the settings required to make everything work, just start with the advanced settings first and FC. It's only 5 minutes of your life I'm asking you to waste :)
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] sactownbully84:
My kids leave shortly to go w. Their mother ...I will set it up again and follow your directions then
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
Any luck?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] derausgewanderte:
works great. It takes some time to process images but it's worth it.

cheers and thank you aer0zer0
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
Hdr+ enhanced, yeah. But like you said, night and day different
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] sactownbully84:
The front face pic I take are upside down lol

---------- Post added at 01:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:21 AM ----------

Other than that yes ...that gcam w them settings takes better pics

Stock camera ...in the dark using flash

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zS6JgQD5btR2klG73

Gcam w. Settings used recommend by aer0zer0

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ijzJhXEfnNtNAzqW2

Very noticeable in low light settings

Here's link to the gcam I'm using

https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/f/MGC_5.1.018_Urikill_vXXII.apk
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
Those settings really apply to all the gcams in some fashion. Try them all, see which camis best
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] sactownbully84:
U got props from me ...u we're right n u swayed my decision lol. Yes it takes more work and it's not point and shoot but I was able to create better looking pics .....do these gcams utilize the dual camera system on the PH-1?...or if I'm thinking correcty the gcam apps don't get use of the monochrome eensor?....
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
They did a real janky job of how they use the bw sensor in the essential app. I cant call it by adding it to the aux camera build prop. Needs more work. I sorta got a build going, but it broke other stuff. Try arnova v7b10

https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/...era-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V7-test-10-Op5-5t.apk
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Skirr:
How is it handling color in HDR+ enhanced mode compared to the ArtZ versions? If I remember correctly you liked his versions as well when still available. Tried a few different ones in between but always come back to this one, probably due to the optimization of the black level for the IMX258 the PH-1 shares with the G6.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/f/ModGoogleCamera_5.1.018_R4X_v.4.0.apk

That one has all the adjustments. Very manual
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] xorwin:
guys, what is the best one in terms of quality? I am using https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/...eCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V7beta-test-9.apk at the moment with [MENTION=5447216]aer0zer0[/MENTION] magisk.

thank you
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
That's probably good enough
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Skirr:
I think you misunderstood. I was not asking which one has the most settings, I was asking wether the one you recommended had the same great colors out of the box as the one by ArtZ which was optimized to the same Sony camera sensor. Due to the different configurations a lot of Gcam versions have green color casts on the PH-1 when comparing HDR+ with HDR+ enhanced in my experience.

I did test the first one you recommended though. Color wasn't great out of the box, but I found some black level settings that seem to work very nicely as of now, so thank you.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
Yeah, I figured it out after the fact. Nothing tuned like artz, but that one gives you the ability to do it yourself. All the color values are there. There may even be a recipe in cstarks lg thread about what setting to tune to get it.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Skirr:
The settings you have to tune are the "Black level settings" in the Urkill version (might be called differently, like black level offset, in other versions). These settings are hidden in some versions from other developers, others have hard coded on/off settings like Arnova in the beginning ("Turn on to remove pink hue"). Unfortunately those won't work on the PH-1 since we have a green hue. ArtZ was the first one that tried to find the correct settings for the IMX258, the chip the PH-1 shares with the LG G6. His settings were:

0x427F70A4 # 63.86f

0x427FB852 # 63.93f

0x427FB852 # 63.93f

0x428047AE # 64.14f

Unfortunately most mods only allow you to modify the settings in .1 intervals. I personally tested around a bit and the following settings seem to work quite well in different low light and daylight conditions:

Crimson/Neutral/BrightGreen: 63.60

DarkGreen/Neutral/Red: 64.00

DarkGreen/Neutral/Red: 63.90

Blue/Neutral/Yellow: 64.10

These settings might not necessarily be applicable for every Gcam version though: Urkills Version uses Pixel II XL/Taimen configuration for HDR+, if a port uses anything else (Nexus 6, 6P/Shamu) results could be different.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Scarfa:
If people like Artz colours reproduction so much why not just use his gcam mod. What am I missing here?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Genghis1227:
Really thank you so much getting us to where we are today. Tested this version below and no need to root anymore unless you want AR stickers.

GoogleCamera-Pixel3Mod-Arnova8G2-V1.apk

Awesome stuff!
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
Slomo works now? I'm using it, it's really nice
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Genghis1227:
Yep, slomo working
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] starbiker99:
Do you have a link to this version? Thanks!
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Genghis1227:
You can find them all here: https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] tnthd2:
Have you tried Cstark27 mod? It never gives the green tint, but occasionally has pink hue - usually the first image but not after in a series.

The main priority of Cstark is good texture and noise results, and I think it does give the best results for the PH-1 above all the other mods I've tried.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Skirr:
Artz's version is based on cstark27's modifications as both were developed for the LG G6. The main thing that made Artz's version very good for the PH-1 though is that he calibrated the color profiles for the LG G6's IMX258, the same Sony camera chip that the PH-1 uses. This gives great colors on the PH-1 as well.

You will mainly notice the differences when using HDR+ enhanced in low light situations, Gcam ports without the correct color settings/black level offsets produce a greenish tint under those circumstances. You won't see it if you use Neuxs 6 or Nexus 6P configurations without HDR+ enhanced or if you just use regular HDR+.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] ej_424:
So what ArtZ version do you recommend for the Essential PH-1? Any advanced setting or camera setting tweaks in general once installed?

Thanks!
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] tnthd2:
I don't use Artz's mod but use Cstark27 version 3.6 normal (the latest one that works with the PH-1). This version has Pixel 2 config baked in. Like I mentioned, it sometimes gives a little pinkish tint in HDR+ enhanced, but not always. Normal HDR+ doesn't really have any pronounced color cast. Give this version a try if you haven't yet to see if it makes any difference.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Skirr:
It is an inherent issue of the Gcam mods. Since Gcam mods are only available for a few devices (the Nexus line and the Pixel line) they only contain the necessary color profiles for them. Some of these configurations work better than others for the PH-1. There are also different profiles used between the different HDR modes, it's just how it is.

You also have to separate between a pinkish glow, which is called amp glow and another issue entirely, and the greenish glow that is related to the color profiles. It is the same for many other devices which is why you can find the "Remove pinkish glow"-option in mods from B.S.G or Arnova2G: the Xiaomi devices they develop for use an entirely different sensor and that causes the color information to be skewed towards a pinkish tint.

Thanks for the recommendation, but I'm very happy with the ArtZ version. I tested a lot of different apks a while ago and that one came out on top. Here is a comparison I made on reddit with a sample gallery linked:

Comparison of multiple Gcam ports in low light

---------- Post added at 06:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:29 AM ----------

I use "GCam_5.1.018_v3.0_taimen_by_ArtZ". It got taken down from the original storage place a while back though due to some developer dispute on xda, but you still might be able to find it. No special settings necessary despite the usual ones (HDR quality etc.).
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] ptzink:
Is there a way to enable Developer Settings for this port? I don't see that as an option and I would like to tweak some of those (face boxes, disable zoom in portrait mode, etc.)
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
No, that APK is too old to have the zoom fix. He intentionally disabled the debug menu.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] ming3r:
Hey [MENTION=4860033]Arnova8G2[/MENTION] regarding your latest Pixel2Mod / beta (https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=76396836&postcount=4667)

The GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V7.1-test.apk crashes when you go into settings on the Essential. Final seems to be working okay.

I'll mention it on the OP3 thread, but its kicking butt on that.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] ptzink:
Has anyone tried the Arthur version of the port? (https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/dev-arthur/) I tried this one and it works quite well and has lots of options including control of color, noise reduction, HDR+, etc. Plus I really like the "manual" focus controls that allow you to switch to a macro, infinity, or face focus mode. My only issue with it - which is a deal breaker unfortunately - is that burst mode will work only after the initial install. Once the app has been force closed or closes on its own, burst mode stops working all together. Also, when it is working, it stops the burst at 7 photos. I would love to submit my feedback, but the active forum for this mod is in Russian. Just curious if any other Essential users have tried this one.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Genghis1227:
I'm noticing v2 of the Pixel3Mod is more delayed when taking picture on the screen...as in jittery motion before taking the picture. [MENTION=4860033]Arnova8G2[/MENTION] reverted back to v1
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] crixley:
Wish I knew what the differences between pixel2mod and pixel3mod were. I can't really discern any quality changes. If anything pixel2mod seems slightly better.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
Pixel3mod is on new 5.2 code base

Pixel2mod is on 5.1 code base

Mods are the same between the 2. I prefer the pixel3mod, but whatever's clever.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Genghis1227:
Are you seeing screen lag in the Pixel3Mod v2?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
Don't use it,I don't like that centered brightness thing it does
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] arshum:
I'm still using v1 too.

Everything works, except you have to turn HDR off when taking selfie.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Genghis1227:
I've tried all the other versions of Pixel3Mod and still go back to v1. Anybody like any other version of this apk related to Pixel3Mod?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] fulvio1993:
is the gcam working on Android P beta?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
Yeah, the new arnova 5.2.025 build is out too. Google kebs built in to camera
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] s197:
Curious if you have an updated recommendation for those who don't want to root since this post is a couple months old. Thanks for the help!
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Nickdroid86:
Also wondering about a newer version.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Genghis1227:
I've been using MGC_5.3.015_4.apk with pretty good results.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Voloda SVK:
Something what is working nicely and stable? I'm on stock latest update.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] s197:
Thank you. Any known bugs you've encountered?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
Arnova pixel3mod 5.3.015 v4b3 seems pretty good for the non rooted people too. I just tested it on my buddies new unrooted mata. Which probably means tolyans 5.3.015 v1.2 or whatever works just as well. With more features.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] crazililazn:
I noticed that after I set-up the Navigation Gestures app and hid my nav bar, both of these gcam versions would just force close on me. I tried wiping data and cache and even disabling the hidden nav bar and it would still happen. Haven't uninstalled the Navigation Gestures app yet, but I wanted to know if this was a known bug before I gave that a shot.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
Not sure, never tried.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] evotirx:
Is Arnova's apk "better" than cstark27 in terms of compatibility?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] Nickdroid86:
Will the 360 camera work with any of the Google cameras??
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
No
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] s197:
Arnova has a new stable v8 release. Can I just assume that without root slow motion and portrait mode (of objects) with rear camera won't work no matter which port is used? I've tried Arnova, ArtZ, toylans...
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
I think slomo would be the only thing that wouldn't work. I'd try Tolyans 5.3.016 v1.04.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] nate5711:
Did you have any problems with the navigation gestures install? Are you rooted?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] s197:
The closest I can find to that is MGC_5.3.015_v.1.0.4_Toylan009.apk

I don't see any .016 version. I tried the version above and portrait doesn't work. It actually acts like burst mode, which I've seen in a few other ports. It takes a singular picture but it has the burst icon when you look at the image in the gallery.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
that was a typo by me, thats the one i recommend. Portrait mode works here. Thats how its supposed to look, 2 images, one regular, one bokeh'd. It also only works on people, not objects.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] s197:
Thanks for confirming! Odd it doesn't work on objects, I assume it only activates when it recognizes a face? The good thing is the stock camera has a good portrait mode (and it works on objects). I mainly need the Gcam for night pics. Just wasn't sure if it was a bug or not.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
Yeah, we don't have the dual phase pixel thing. The facial recognition is all software though. No one does, don't feel bad.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] starcms:
In GCam you can use Lens Blur mode. It's the same effect as Portrait but for objects.

Also, Slow Motion definitely works in Arnova8G2's Pixel3Mod GCam apps without needing root (not sure about Toylans009's v.1.0.4 which is what I also recommend). However, it used to give indoor photos a green tint, but I think that may have been fixed in the newer versions. https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/.../GCam_5.3.015-Pixel3Mod-Arnova8G2-v4Beta4.apk

Edit: But to get the best bokeh (Portrait pics), you should use the Essential app. Portrait mode on GCam only uses AI to identify the person and not depth since our camera doesn't support Dual-Pixel phase detect (Pixel 2 uses both AI and depth in Portrait mode). Lens Blur in GCam requires you to move the phone up to create an artificial depth map. The stock Essential camera app uses both rear cameras to create an optical (real) depth map (just like your two eyes), plus lets you change the intensity of the bokeh effect.

What would be fantastic if there were a way to get GCam to use the depth information from both rear cameras (in place of Dual-Pixel phase detect) in Portrait mode. Then it would work exactly like on the Pixel 2 and would work on all objects (not just people) and it would work better on people too (be able to blur foreground objects in addition to background objects).
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] s197:
Appreciate the explanation, that makes a lot of sense. I'm actually liking the stock camera's portrait mode quite a bit, probably for the reasons you describe.

I still get a force close when I try to switch to slow mo on Toylans. Is there a reason you recommend Toylans over Arnova? I had read earlier in the thread that some of it is dependent upon what chip is in the phone and that impacts the settings made by the various devs.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] starcms:
The primary reason being that all of Arnova8G2's builds give a green tint to indoor or otherwise lowlight photos on the Essential. This may have been fixed in the latest Pixel3Mod version that I provided a link to...I haven't tried it.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] crazililazn:
Yes I did. It seemed like the navigation gestures accessibility service was missing a necessary field that gcam checks for upon launch and this was force closing gcam. I grabbed some logs from my device and forward them to the dev, so we'll see if there is a resolution for the issue.

Also, I'm not rooted. Running 8.1 with the July security patches on my essential phone.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] nummer:
PH-1 on P beta here. Sometimes when I'm adjusting settings, motion photos get disabled with seemingly no way to turn it back on. Is there a way to do this without wiping the application's data?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
What gcam?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] nummer:
https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/f/CameraX-V2.apk

alone_in_dark's CameraX v2

Edit: figured it out, it was because hdr enhanced was disabling motion, stupid me :silly:
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] emowing:
Is anyone having issue with either the GCAM or the stock cam not recording sound or recording sound but it's extremely low where it's near silence? Recording sound with a sound record works just fine. Any idea on a fix?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
Yea, not sure what caused it. Wonder if we can edit the media profiles and update the channel/bitrate info.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] kindlyoldbear:
Are washed out pics just a fact of life for this camera? Arnova and Cstark are better than stock but not by much. What settings do you suggest for portrait?

I should add that I don't use any of the fancy features. Just portraits of people and objects up close. I'll root if necessary.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] amarkovits:
arnova with no extra config works great for me. The portrait photos are great with both front and back camera.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] ptzink:
Is anyone else having an issue with the latest Arnova gcam + Android Pie with the touch to focus point being off? When I touch an area to focus, the focus "dot" appears a few mm away from where I actually touch.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] arshum:
I have the same issue!

It worked absolutely fine with GoogleCamera-Pixel2Mod-Arnova8G2-V8.1 before Android Pie. Touch to focus now shifts down a bit in portrait camera mode.

Reinstall+reset app doesn't work either. :crying:
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] ptzink:
[MENTION=4860033]Arnova8G2[/MENTION] are you aware of this issue? Happening on any other Android Pie phones?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] tnthd2:
Same issue here with Cstark 3.9.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] starcms:
If you are running Android Pie, you should be running a GCam mod based off version 5.3.x., not 5.1 or 5.2.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] tnthd2:
Don't know if the other two members did like you said or not, but Cstark doesn't have any better version than the one I'm running. I noticed the problem right away, but don't really mind. Just mentioned it since they asked ?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] ptzink:
So I switched to Arnova's Pixel3Mod based on 5.3.x. I can confirm the touch focus is working as expected as is pretty much everything else. The only thing I miss is the lack of control on HDR+ Enhanced processing and lack of RAW capture. First world problems, but I thought I would chime in.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] duy_ng:
Can you provide a link or tell where I can download it, please?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] starcms:
Toylan's builds with these settings are the best you can get for the Essential.

https://xdaforums.com/essential-phone/themes/custom-gcam-settings-using-tolyans-build-t3829476

However, don't use his very latest 1.0.7 build. Use the v_1.0.5 build.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
I think the 1.0.7 is working fine, did I miss something?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] starcms:
I hadn't tried it, but the OP of the thread I had provided a link to had lots of issues with it not saving some pics and force closing while processing HDR on others. He had posted a video showing the issues.

No issues for you? Running Android Pie?
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] s197:
Probably in reference to this:
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] aer0zer0:
It's got a bug from the bsg base.
[Essential Phone Themes, Apps, and Mods] sting12345:
can someone post a link to one of the gcam's that does work with stock pie or link to thread? Sorry if it's been posted many times, just got mine yesterday.