5. Shooting modes
We all see those different shooting modes on different camera's. We all assume we have a good idea what they do. Well Lets look at some stock One+ shooting modes.
-Auto: Jack of all traits mode. Auto is fast taking and fast focusing. It should get you through most good lighting and even some poor.
-HDR: Mixes of extreme lighting conditions scare digital cameras. Dark shadows, and bright lights are not there go to zone. HDR fixes this, by taking 10 shots at different exposures. Capturing the photo in different dynamics ranges and mixing them helps solve the problem (hence HDR - High Dynamic Range). I takes a moment together the different shots needed so don't do moving objects. Be for warned though the One HDR is very powerful. It can make shots extremely bright, leaving late afternoon shots looking like broad-day-light. It can even capture grainy images in situations so dark that would otherwise be beyond the cameras ability. Still, it has an amazing affect on poor lighting conditions and should be mastered. Try taking a picture of a shadowy afternoon and with the sun making exposure a mess. You'll see what it can do.
-Clear image:This mode blows everything out of the water, well when you have time to take a still. Taking 10 photos, clear image stitches them together into the clearest shot possible. Even under moderately low light condition, breath taking shots can be taken - plain and simple. Keep this mode in mind for anything that doesn’t move much. Use for any stills or landscapes.
-Night: Here is where most smartphone cameras struggle. Lacking any stabilization the One is no different. Night mode increases shutter time, and ramps up the ISO, which can leave shots grainy. Still paired with RAW imaging, good shots are possible. Therefore, make sure you leave RAW capture on as you might often need to edit the image after.
-Steady:This mode is hugely useful for a camera that lacks optical image stabilization. With this mode you can take shots while you’re heavily on the go. Remember it’s usually only one swipe down from auto mode. More important than usual, do not use performance profiles here. That will cost the OnePlus One the CPU horse power it needs to stabilize the shot and you will always have a blurred mess.
Modes I don’t use
There is no reason to keep every mode in your arsenal at all times. Click the little circle and then the magic wand to edit your available shooting modes. The list above is my preferred modes. Everyone has different tastes and camera needs. Choose wisely on what you keep a few swipes away, and which to keep buried in the settings. Failure to do so will keep important modes too many swipes away or or beyond your reach entirely when you need them the most.
-Slow Shutter:This is a powerful mode best left out if you forget to turn off RAW every time you use it. It has been known to crash the camera in combination. Slowing the shutter though can drastically increase the amount of light received by the camera sensor. Darker places come to life without the degradation found in raising the ISO. The big problem is the One lack the stabilization that keeps these images from being blurry. Is you have steady hands, a stabilizer or a tripod, you will be the night shot king. Otherwise try to keep your slow shutter exposure time at 4 seconds unless you need 8.
-Action: Increases ISO and uses a faster shutter speed to capture action. Anything moving will be captured at a slight expense of quality. Steady shot is from when your moving, this is when the subject is jumping around.
-Smart Scene: Does a lot better than Auto mode. Its called ASD or auto scene detection in Colour OS. However it is much more powerful on the one. Primarily due to the fact on the CyanogenMod it has way more modes to pick from. Smart scene picks the best mode for you, and skips the guess work. This means it can handle bright and low light, stills and action, and any other ugly lighting you find your in-between. Remember its not as good as knowing what scene mode you want. Choose smart scene or ASD if you don't feel confident in your own choice, or want to skip the guess work.
6. A Few things
“Important note #1 never put your OnePlus one in performance mode powersaver while taking pictures. It handcuff’s the camera in many different ways, and reduces video quality. You'll notice it when your shutter time doubled and CPU intensive shots – HDR, and Clear Image.”
6.1 Common problems
“Images are flat colourless.”
Well the One+ often has difficulty with exposure. Many time it is simply due to leave the exposure more of default counterweighted. Switching to frame average is a big help in this department.
“Everything is blurry, and out of focus”
Leaving the focus mode on tap to focus is a great idea. It lets you pick and quickly set your focal point. Unfortunately, IF YOU DO NOT TAP THE SCREEN, SHOTS WILL BE OUT OF FOCUS. If every hing still takes to much time, and you want a faster focus, Lenovo super Camera, Colour OS camera shoots and focuses fast. They make great point and click Apps.
“Why can't I see the pictures from other apps, or in the gallery at all?”
Sometimes pictures can take a moment to be recognized by the gallery. In fact, many early Color OS builds created photos unrecognized by most gallery apps. Quick pic is usally the app to solve both problems. Its fast to recognize new photos, and play those amazing GIF's from Color OS camera as well. You will also need Astro file manager to find RAW- DNG files to edit later.
6.2 Selfies:
CyanogenMod: Generally you only need Beauty mode, and Steady Shot. Beauty mode is great for faces and has amazing exposure. Steady shot is for when your hands can't hit the shutter and stay still enough to get the shot, or use auto when you actually want to include the background on a landscape shot. . Action is another possible mode that does not require very still participants, but it reduces shutter time, so only use in bright light.
Colour OS: Takes great selfies. As good as any other without any modes or things to fiddle with, making it very recommendable for those who take a lot. There's little to work with like the Google camera and thats the top feature here. (Oddly enough you need to most camera app reverse there selfies automatically so you can read text in the shot. This app does not. You need to enable that feature in setting if you wish)
Google: Simple click and snap selfie cam. More than ok for a simple users, but other can do a better job. Like the two noted above.
Lenovo super cam: Avoid. Its hard to use any of its features. The only thing that work well is a lenovo super cam stamp that often appears on you photo. Anyone can use this App without have to defend themselves for it. They wont takea picture of themselves with it though. Its just a mess avoid it for selfies.
O And one more thing...Face The Light.
7.When and how to use RAW/DNG
Are you either limited in time or don't know how to use Raw imaging? Fine don't use it. It often slows your shutter speed to a halt. All of a sudden your camera-next modded Cyanogen app is taking photos slow. It is perfectly ok to not edit every image afterwards. If your just looking to take pictures, turn off Raw. It will clutter in your camera folder even after the JPEG image has been deleted. Capturing raw is simply not always needed in day to day picture taking. That does not mean it is not easily the most powerful feature in this cameras arsenal. Only three Apps are capable. Cyanogen, Colour OS, and Fv-5. Why such a big deal? It makes photos good enough to be memories. You can take a shot, where as long as the picture is focused, adjusting Colour, highlights, sharpness, shadows, and tint will make a breath taking image near, DSLR quality. JPEG the standard image format does this automatically. Results are not always perfect. A RAW DNG file are untouched, and can be edited without any image degradation. It is what the camera itself saw, not the filtered and compressed file your phone wants you to see. Use when your taking important photos. Family gatherings as opposed to night on the town. RAW can change the photo in ways you cannot imagine. Go ahead and download photoshop express. You can use it even instead of Photoshop on a computer. Lastly if you cannot find the RAW/DNG to edit on you phone try a third party file manager like Astro.
8. Your Own Stabilizer
Stabilization is a huge problem for both photos and videos. Have you ever tried to shoot 8 second shutter time by holding your hands still? If you haven't don't bother. You can hold your device against a pole, or frame to help, but chances are your not getting your great night shot. Video is just as bad, walking, talking to someone else or just about anything leads to shaky video's. Solutions exist, Tripods are tried and tested. Unfortunately there not very mobile. The solution – stabilizers. If you are serious about night shooting, or video taking, they're are great investment. Alot of serious enthusiast buy high end expensive stabilizers like theiKan FLY-X3. You can pick up lower end, non electric ones for a fourth the price online. You wont have that perfect professional clean look, but it will be a huge improvement, even for just videos. If you want something even cheaper have fun and build your own, you'll see a major improvement.
Cheapest, easiest and simplest guide. You can find every thing at a hardware store, though it may be easier to buy gimble joint and bar magnet online.
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