When talking about GOS camera quality keep in mind there was a change back in Version 56:

Notable changes in version 56:

  • use Latency mode by default for fresh installs instead of Quality mode: Latency mode doesn't wait for 3A convergence (stable auto-focus/auto-exposure/auto-white-balance), defaults to 95% JPEG quality instead of 100% and uses HDR+ on Pixel 4 and later instead of Pixel 2 and later which doesn't matter much for fresh installs since Pixel 3 has been end-of-life for over a year

I had my GOS install done before this update and so fiddled around with the setting and tested it out and manually put it on latency priority. I found that Latency really improved how fast it took photos after hitting the shutter button but you are more likely to get less awesome photos as as a result. Since I have my phone set to launch the GOS camera with a power double tap and generally want to snap really quick photos this setting is perfect for me and I use GCam for anything I'm willing to take a couple more seconds to capture and care about the quality of.

    abcZ
    I thought those features were done by google on their servers? Are they done in-camera?

    • [deleted]

    abcZ

    abcZ 314random Any differences are due to you having set different level of compression (JPEG). Again, the data is IDENTICAL

    If you claim something, support it.
    Where exactly could one adjust "different level of compression" - as you were saying - in GOS camera and in Google camera?

    • [deleted]

    • Edited

    To abcZ: I missed the time window to edit my comment, but I would like to add, that I really don't care about what kind of processing or magic does the app, the only thing that's important here is, if the picture is of a good quality. And if I have two apps and one takes always better shots, than it's quite easy to pick a side. I am glad that GOS camera is improving but these statements like: the data is the same is absolutely irrelevant, when one picture is evidently better than the second one.

      [deleted]

      Sorry for hijacking the thread but wanted to say that I totally agree with this statement and think the same.

      Whilst GOS Camera is a GREAT project, respecting user privacy and consistently improving, the fact it cannot utilize the APIs in full (which is Google's fault) makes it pretty much not good for me too as I care about quality, especially, considering that Pixel is a flagship phone with camera capabilities similar to high-end Apple and Samsung devices.

      The most disappointing thing is that the Google Camera is not processing images fast enough on GOS on Pixel 7 for some reason so it makes it very challenging to use.

      I didn't find it to be as good as the Pixel Camera, so I just installed the pixel camera again.

      • [deleted]

      AdamBv1

      I have a question about this.
      I recently installed GrapheneOS and my camera app also had "Latency" enabled at first.
      But since the quality is most important to me, I then immediately switched to "Quality" here.

      Unfortunately, I'm not very tech-savvy, but for photos, the quality is much more important to me than the speed when shooting.

        [deleted] Guess what? GrapheneOS Camera does no processing. That's all done by the HAL, which is the same no matter what camera program you use.

          • [deleted]

          abcZ
          abcZ 314random Any differences are due to you having set different level of compression (JPEG). Again, the data is IDENTICAL

          If you claim something, support it.
          Where exactly could one adjust "different level of compression" - as you were saying - in GOS camera and in Google camera?

            How about the settings? Or just look at the file sizes.

              [deleted]

              I guess he is referring to:

              GOS Camera: More Settings - Image Quality (set to 100% for maximum quality)

              Google Camera: More Settings - Camera Photo Resolution (set to Full Resolution for maximum quality)

              However, this is all useless as GOS camera (and all other 3rd party cameras) simply cannot match Google Camera's quality due to Google Camera having post-processing, Night Mode, etc as it utilises the full potential of the API and hardware vs 3rd party cameras. There is a noticeable difference.

              But GOS / 3rd app devs cannot do much until Google will lift the limitations.

              • abcZ replied to this.

                Volen However, this is all useless as GOS camera (and all other 3rd party cameras) simply cannot match Google Camera's quality due to Google Camera having post-processing, Night Mode, etc as it utilises the full potential of the API and hardware vs 3rd party cameras. There is a noticeable difference.

                Nobody is talking about the image degrading features of gcam.

                  abcZ

                  This thread is about comparing picture quality of GOS camera vs Google Camera and people provide their feedback and experience.

                  If you believe Google Camera is inferior then its ok too - you can use any app you want, the choice is all yours.

                  For me personally, Google Camera has better quality so I prefer it vs any other 3rd party cam.

                  • [deleted]

                  • Edited

                  abcZ How about the settings? Or just look at the file sizes.

                  Where exactly? You are claiming something, than support it.

                  I do not care about the file size. You wrote,
                  cit: "The quality is absolutely identical" from both camera aps and you also wrote that the potential difference is created by a user setting a different type of compression.

                  I believe based on this thread that I am not the only one who would be greteful if you'd show me where exactly I can change the settings in GOS camera (because setting quality to 100% doesn't help) so that I can have the same picture quality as from Google camera, and I would immediately uninstall Google camera as redundant.

                  Unfortunately, I think that you are just spreading your false opinion as a fact. I will gladly eat my words and apologize to you if you support your claim and point us to the settings that you are referring to, and not only this setting exists it also improves the image quality greatly.

                  [deleted] Quality works well and it's what my device was defaulted to originally. It has very noticeable shutter lag to me but hardly unusuable, being maybe up to a whole second compared to a small fraction of one, but it does use that time to make sure everything is good instead of possibly a poorly focused and exposed mess.

                  If you don't plan on using multiple camera apps then putting the GOS camera in quality mode is probably a good idea. I like being able to optimize it for Latency and then using another when I care about quality and have the time. I spend a lot of time driving and sometimes that second of shutter lag can be the difference between what I want to get a picture of being in frame or not and so capturing anything at lower quality because it took shortcuts for speed is better than nothing to me.

                  @abcZ it's starting to seem like you've an axe to grind about Gcam. There are clear and apparent differences that are outside the realm of JPG compression. You can even view comparison reviews online showing the exposure differences between Gcam and GOS camera.

                  Personally, I'm happy with both apps, but there is a clear difference in the post-processing of landscape shots that are done within the app itself.

                  a year later

                  Volen
                  Hi Volen,
                  You mention macro option on Google camera, does it work for you on graphene OS? I have graphene OS on a pixel 7 and I don't have the macro option on Google camera, the golden flower icon doesn't appear, the focus doesn't work and the macro option doesn't appear in the settings.
                  Thank you in advance for your feedback :)

                    Sim

                    Hi mate,

                    Yes, it does work properly.

                    A stupid question, but did you check the Macro is actually enabled in your camera settings (open Google Camera, swipe up to access settings and make sure Macro is set to Auto. If it is already set to Auto, try to disable it and then set to Auto again).

                    • Sim replied to this.

                      Volen
                      Hi Volen,
                      Thank you so much for your answer! That's the thing, I don't have any macro option in my settings, when I go to settings I only have "Framing hints" and "grid type" in the composition section. I tried uninstalling the Google camera app and install it again but it didn't change anything. You seem like you are knowledgeable on the topic, do you have any other troubleshooting ideas maybe?
                      Thanks again