Camera Settings

[allyAndroid]

I don't use the camera on a phone unless I am out somewhere and see something that I want to take a quick snapshot of but I decided to play around with the camera today and see what types of settings it had available.



When you first go into the camera, it opens in landscape mode and you have menu options on both the left and right side of the screen.



On the right, there are three icons. The first is a switch that you can slide to change from camera to video. The second is used to take a photo or start/stop recording the video. The last one will open up your gallery or if it displays a ? then it will open up a help document that describes the different settings available.



The left menu will slide off the screen after a couple of seconds. To re-activate it, just touch the screen. It consists of 5 options: Zoom, Exposure, Flash, Focus, and Settings.



Zoom displays a bar that you can slide from the left (Zoom Out) to the right (Zoom In).



Exposure also displays a bar that you can slide from the left (Darker) to the right (Lighter).



Flash displays three options: Auto, Off, and On.



Focus displays two options: Auto Focus and Macro. Auto Focus will try to automatically find a spot to focus while Macro is used to take a photo of an object that is very close.



Settings has eleven different options: Image Size, Scene Mode, ISO, White Balance, Color Effect, Timer, Shot Mode, Image Quality, Auto Review, Shutter Sound, Store Location



Image Size - Choose between QVGA 320x240, VGA 640x480, 1M 1280x960, 2M 1600x1200, 3M 2048x1536 sizes. (I would leave this set to 3M unless I was running out of space on my SD Card.)



Scene Mode - Choose between Off, Portrait, Landscape, Sports, NIght, and Sunset.



ISO - Choose between Auto, 100, 200, 400, and 800. (I would leave this set to Auto.)



White Balance - Choose between Auto, Incandescent, Sunny, Fluorescent, and Cloudy. (I would just leave this on Auto.)



Color Effect - Choose between Off, Mono, Negative, Solarize, Sepia, Posterize, Whiteboard, Blackboard, and Aqua. (I will try these at a later time and hopefully upload a few examples.)



Timer - Choose between Off, 3 Seconds, 5 Seconds, and 10 Seconds.



Shot Mode - Choose between Normal, Smile Shot, Beauty Shot, Frame Shot, and Panorama Shot. (This one is something I have never used before but it sounds interesting. If you set it to Smile, it will automatically take a photo when the camera detects a smile. Beauty Shot will remove spots and imperfections in faces. Frame Shot will add a photo frame around the image. Panorama will create a panoramic image from composed images.)



Image Quality - Choose between Super Fine, Fine, and Normal. (I would leave this set to Super Fine unless I was running out of space on my SD Card.)



Auto Review - Choose between On or Off. (If you want to see your photo after you take it, change this option to On. You then have the option to delete it, share it, or set it as a background or contact image.)



Shutter Sound - Choose between Off or one of 4 Tones. (I just keep this on Tone 1 which is the normal camera sound. Off would be good if you are in a place where noise is frowned upon.)



Grid View - Choose between Off, 2x2 Grid, or 3x3 Grid. (Personally, I like a grid on my display. It helps to frame the object that I am taking a photo of.)



Store Location - Choose between Off and On. (This is handy if you want to know where a photo was taken. If you don't care where it was taken, you can turn this option off.)



Some settings will change back to their default settings so you have to constantly change them if the default is not what you want. Auto Review and Store Location are two examples.



A word of caution about taking a photo of yourself or someone else in a dark room or when you have the scene set to Night. The flash gets very bright and can blind you. I am still seeing spots.

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[allyAndroid]

Color Effect Photo Gallery

[Jump]

Had to pin this, thanks AA.

[nicolett80]

is there anyway to lock the settings on the camera and video? Because they always go back to default settings including the scene and the color, when i exit the camera. Isn't there some way to keep the settings the same even when you exit so they are there when you go back in?

[allyAndroid]

is there anyway to lock the settings on the camera and video? Because they always go back to default settings including the scene and the color, when i exit the camera. Isn't there some way to keep the settings the same even when you exit so they are there when you go back in?

Not with the current software that came with the phone. I am not sure if there are any apps on the market just for the camera or not. Andoid 2.2 was supposed to have some upgraded software for the camera but nothing was ever mentioned about the default settings. Since there is little hope of us getting 2.2, we are stuck with what we got.

[nicolett80]

Okay, thanks. I have another issue that just came up today. I took a video and clicked share, clicked Gmail, chose who to send it to & clicked sent. Then later, the people I sent it to said they received the email but were unable to see the video. They there was no way to download it or view it or anything to click on. The only reason they knew it was supposed to be a video is because I wrote video in the subject line. Am I doing something wrong? The pictures go through just fine.

[allyAndroid]

Sounds like the video was too large to send. I have a 30 second video that is too large for Gmail. Gmail should give you a warning but it only shows for a second.

[allybi]

I find that the flash is way too bright on my Ally for semi close work. During the 1st flash before it takes the shot all looks good but the 2nd flash incinerates the picture. I wish the intensity would remain at the 1st level...or have some adjustability. Anyone else find this issue or have a successful workaround? I know its just a phone cam but its pretty decent even at only 3.2 and quite useful...uh until the flash melts your subject that is. Oh yeah, definitely do not look at the flash head on. AA how are those retinas lol?

[Allynati]

Okay, I've got a question for you guys.



My friend (who also has an Ally) added the camera icon to the swipe bottom section in Launcher Pro.

Now when he opens his camera thru that icon, the camera comes up in an all new BLACK interface.

The features are similar, but I really like the look.

So I added mine in the swipe area too.

To no avail, I have the same ole interface.



He claims this is all he did, if not, he has no idea how it came up.



Has anyone else seen this 2nd camera interface?

Do any of you know how to access it?

I've tried everything I can think of.



Thanks in advance for your help!!!

[missithang]

I find that the flash is way too bright on my Ally for semi close work. During the 1st flash before it takes the shot all looks good but the 2nd flash incinerates the picture. I wish the intensity would remain at the 1st level...or have some adjustability. Anyone else find this issue or have a successful workaround? I know its just a phone cam but its pretty decent even at only 3.2 and quite useful...uh until the flash melts your subject that is. Oh yeah, definitely do not look at the flash head on. AA how are those retinas lol?

i have the same issue and came to the forum to see if there was any resolve for it. i have played with multiple settings yet haven't come up with a solution. like you said, if it stayed at the intensity of the first level it would be perfect!