Is there a free (FLOSS) android camera app that supports time priority (Tv/S) mode and if not, why?

I tried open camera, but was not able to have a variable ISO and a fix time (not sure if my phone has a variable aperture). It’s the same for the stock camera app and among friends, colleagues, and family, no phone/app seems to implement it.

I am photographing my children and they tend to move fast, so in automatic or ISO priority modes, the selected time/ISO combination do not fit most of the time.

Any ideas?

I know I could have asked at open camera forum, but am not too interested in an SourceForge account. Furthermore, the topic is very general.

That’s exactly why I bought a DSLR, in 2006. Too many pictures of the floor, as the grandkids move on before the camera made up its mind…

I know, doesn’t answer your specific question; you just resurrected a fond memory… :slight_smile:

Okay, to your question, you may have better exposure at a forum like xda-developers:

https://www.xda-developers.com/

I just did a search over there, and turned up this:

https://www.xda-developers.com/best-android-camera-app/

Gotta tell you, the answer to that question in my case led me here, now with a few cameras, lenses, and a homemade raw processor program to show for it…

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Thanks for pointing to xda-developers, didn’t think about them.

Hm, I found some more hints at https://www.camerafv5.com/. This app seems to have time/shutter/speed priority (at least if that are equivalent names for that feature), but it seems device dependent. The topic becomes more and more mysterious. While fix ISO variable shutter speed seems incredibly difficult to implement, there seems to be no issue the other way round. Hm, let’s wait here for some more time, but eventually I might have to ask the open camera devs. If they only were on github/-lab and not on SourceForge …

In Open Camera, have you tried fixing highest acceptable ISO to you and then choosing Action scene mode?

I tried but cannot find an action scene mode in open camera, also not on their website. Can you guide me, please?


Click on the three dots and scroll to get to scene mode. There you can choose action scene mode as the last choice.

Hm, unfortunately I cannot find scene modes in the menu, the last entry is about colour effects. Any advice how to get this, do I have to activate it? I am using the latest version of open camera that is available on f-droid (1.45.2) .

Edit: It’s a Samsung Galaxy S7, if this is important.

I’m running open camera from fdroid, and it is for sure in there, I’m on a one plus 5t.

Hm, seems I am not alone with this issue, but no answer in the open camera forum so far:

https://sourceforge.net/p/opencamera/discussion/general/thread/9e15cfcb/

The two screenshots there show the difference:

Does your phone support the camera2 API?

Since you can shoot in raw with open camera, Camera2 API is activated. However, Samsung is known to restrict Camera2 API support to the third party apps. You can check the the level of support of Camera2 API by apps like Camera2 API Probe. You should have a Level 3 activation.
Here is a screen shot of using that app on my phone

Guess that test program is not free software? I only have access to f-droid and cannot find it there. But it seems you are correct with your assumption. Too bad, this is my last Samsung phone. Even the stock app does not have this feature.

It is free on Google Play Store.

Shreedhar has a much nicer mobile phone
than I have.
That is why his Camera2 probe shows more
abilities than mine :frowning: I am just a mere Limited.

I just got lucky! I bought my Moto X4 because it was the cheapest phone (4GB+64GB for about 125USD in India) with waterproofing!

In open Camera you can find some informations about your camera in “Camera Setting → About…”

Hm, this tells me “Scene modes: none”. That shutter priority is only available by scene modes is already weird, this is obviously already the 2nd version of this API, but then scene modes not available on some devices? That’s extra weird.

Definitely my last Samsung. Unfortunately I tend to use smartphones >4 years and this one I started to use 4 weeks ago.

These are the details that should be in the data sheets of the devices but even years after introduction of the device there is no resource that clearly tells the facts. Only thanks to this smart community here I have a clue what’s going on. Thanks for all the insights and tips.

I meant free (FLOSS). To make it clear: that is not about paying for software, it’s all about the code, the control over my devices, the communities and the (expected/implied) impact on mankind.

Hm, I have no access to google play store and do not want it. I try to use free software in my private life exclusively, and I am 99% there. As it turned out (see above), open camera delivers these informations as well.

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