Tips & examples for close up photography using the Galaxy S2 Camera pt2

Below are the first attempts at close up photography I've tried using the Galaxy S2 Camera that have been post-processed using Photoshop. Admittably, I have some way to go!!! Both images have been cropped to tighten the shot, and the images have been colour adjusted. For example, you can see that we can get a sharper image of the daisies by taking a further away shot with better focus, and blowing up the subject. We can also use colour adjustments on 'shadow', 'highlights' and 'midtones' to bring out the desired detail.

Some general tips for Close up shots that I most definately need to apply in future are to: 1. rest or clamp the camera to something if at all possible to avoid blur and increase focus. 2. Play around with the 'Exposure value' and 'ISO' settings for each intended shot. 3. Take the shot further back in the highest resolution. 4. Get the lighting right by using an A4 white sheet. 5. Don't be afraid to take far more shots then I think I'll need.

Tips & examples for close up photography using the Galaxy S2 Camera pt1

When taking extremely close up shots with the Galaxy S2 you will likely want to choose 'Macro' setting, or opt to manually focus. In my experience Macro works well, and requires you tap where on the screen you want superfine focus.

When taking outdoor shots in bright settings, it will help to select 'Outdoor Visibility' from the camera settings menu. 'Outdoor Visibility' will illuminate your screen to make it easier to see what you are shooting, though bare in mind that what you see on screen will not correspond to the luminance of the actual photograph taken. Below are some examples of close up shots I've taken using macro. These shots were not cropped and represent the original distance from the subject.

As you can see from the latter shots, even though I used 'macro' and pressed on screen the focal subject for focusing, the images are not as sharp as I would of liked. Instead the background seems to be sharper than the foreground subject. A recommendation in future would be to take the shot from slightly further back, so as to sharply focus the foreground subject, and crop the image in post-processing.

Some general close up photography advice would be firstly to use a white sheet or black sheet to increase or reduce illuminance on the subject.

Another trick I've heard of but have yet to try, is to choose a low ISO setting, and turn on the flash. This means that you can be left with sharper and more illuminating photos.

For each image below, you can click on them for full resolution:

Day shot - Macro - 'Mushroom'

Day shot - with Flash - 'Mushroom'

Day shot - Macro - 'Mushroom'

Day shot - with Flash - 'Mushroom'

Day shot - Macro - 'Daisies'

Day shot - Macro - 'Daisy'

Day shot - Macro - 'Daisy'

Tilt shift video on the Galaxy S2 Camera

Geek.com report on extraordinary results using post processing of footage shot with a Samsung Galaxy S2 Camera:

Tilt Shift Lincoln UK - KakePipe.com from Stu Kennedy on Vimeo.

According to Stu Kennedy; "Tilt-shift is a technique often used in small and medium-format cameras that use tilt for selective focus. However, in the case of the Galaxy S2 camera, the tilt-shift effect was added afterwards with After Effects 5.5. Kennedy used the Time Line feature in After Effects and reduced each clip to 27 percent of its original time. The camera was at 30 fps and he edited it in Vegas 10." (Geek.com, 2011) Catch the full article at: http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-cetera/samsung-galaxy-s2-captures-miniaturized-city-with-time-lapse-tilt-shift-video-20110721/

Quickly snap a photo using a widget from the homescreen of the Galaxy S2 Camera: A comparison

Capturing an event, a scene, or action shot, as it happens, is one of the most useful things to be able to accomplish. Having a good quality camera phone (that you are sure to have on hand) can help.  I've looked at android applications for taking a rapid burst of images in a previous post. Here I look at 3 applications available that allow you to almost instantly take a photograph by pressing an icon on your homescreen. This is particularly revelevant for the Galaxy S2, as it does not have a dedicated camera button.

You'll notice that these apps are marketed as spy apps, as they emphasis silent shutter shooting. However, it is equally useful to be able to effortlessly capture a photo by pressing an icon on your homescreen, rather than launching the camera app and taking a photo.

One Shot Silent Camera

One Shot Silent Camera

A nice widget that takes a third of a homescreen image, with a button to take a photo, preview shots, and snap a photo. In settings you can choose 'Shot Count' as well as 'Brightness' and 'Timer'. My issue with this app is that it shoots in low resolution 480x640, and doesn't have options for 'Flash' or 'Focus'. The paid option has enhanced features for 'Shot Count' and 'Brightness' etc.

Camera Widget

'Camera Widget' allows you to place a small icon on your homescreen (you can choose from a range of icons). You can choose whether to autofocus or otherwise. Upon pressing the icon, it takes a photo within a few seconds, and displays a preview window (from a range of choices) as it does so. I like that this Camera app will take photos at full resolution but like the previous widget, it does not have flash option.

Snap Camera Pro

'Snap Camera Pro' is a fully featured camera app which also as a 'quick snap' widget. The widget takes I res photos but does not take flash photos. However, once you take a photo with the widget it quickly previews the photo and launches into full camera mode, which is almost as useful. This costs just 70 cent in the market and has filter settings as well as 'multi shot' feature. Because of this, this would be my winner out of the three apps reviewed!

Galaxy S2 Camera Pictures Live Wallpaper

As you begin to take better pictures with your Galaxy S2 phone, you might want to create a collage of the latest photos. This useful app, called 'Camera Pictures Live Wallpaper' which is free from the Android App Market, creates a floating slide of the images in your DCIM folder, and it works well on the Samsung Galaxy S2.

Galaxy S2 Homescreen

Must have Photo and Video Apps for your Android Samsung Galaxy S2 phone

The following at 4 tested apps on my Galaxy S2 Camera, that I consider essential, and which work very well:

'Little Camera'  (free) - A highly rated android photo app. From the app, it links you to your native camera app to take a photo, then allows you easily experiment with over 70 different filters and tools on the photo you've taken. You can layer different effects on each photo and it has a nice interface!

'Ultra Burst Camera' (paid) - Take up to 40 black & White photos per second with this tailored app. The app can take between 10 to 40 photos per second in black & white, depending on how high the resolution is set.

'Fast Burst Camera' (Free and Paid) - Can take up to 100 photos instantly, and can shoot 5 to 10 photos per second at 800x480. The paid version has 'Focus' and 'Flash' feature, so probably worth the 4 euro investment.

'IP Webcam' (Free) - Turns your phone into a wireless webcam for your computer or laptop. Can shoot at 640x480 resolution in landcape or portrait, and can use rear or front casing phone camera. Can enable audio too! Very useful!

Pudding Camera on the Samsung Galaxy S2

Pudding Camera is currently one of the most popular camera apps available from the Android Market. It has an interesting, simple and user-friendly interface which makes it nice to use:

Pudding interface

I took a number of photos testing out various filters with some of the results below. What I didnt like is that 'Pudding Camera' seems to vertically stretch some photos slightly, with most settings other than 'Snap'. I'm not sure if this is only on the SGS2 phone or whether it's a univeral issue.

Using 'Fantasy' and 'Dazzle' together does make for some nice surreal shots, and I've often seen the 'Fisheye' filter used for shots at nightclub events to great effect. Pudding has features for taking more Retro
looking shots such as 'Noir', 'Vintage Brown' and my personal favourite, 'Vignetting'.

What I do like about this app is that it allows you to choose 'Flash option' with all of the filters. Something even the Galaxy S2's own internal application doesn't allow.

Unfortunately, the Free App can only take photos to a maximum resolution of  1280px.

Basic Setting

Basic Dazzle

Basic Vivid

Snap Basic

Fantasy Basic

Fisheye Basic

Fantasy Vivid

Fantasy Dazzle

Comparing the Samsung Galaxy S2 Camera with the Nokia N8

The Nokia N8 is considered for many the current market leader smart phone for taking photos with it's massive 12 megapixel carl weizz lense and powerful flash. However, how does it compare to the the Galaxy S2 camera? Have a look at this comparison blog post which pits the two phones together for a number of shots.

http://sgs2vsn8camera.blogspot.com/2011/08/samsung-galaxy-s2-vs-nokia-n8-camera.html

We can see that the Galaxy S2 performs very well against the N8, but we can also take note the importance of adjusting settings for the best photo possible. For instance, night shots with the N8 outperform, however tweaking the SGS2 settings such as turning on the 'autocontrast' may make a big difference.

The sharpness and shutter speed of the Galaxy S2 also compared favourably against the N8, with settings like 'Macro' in 'Focus Mode' settings making a noted difference for close up shots. Finally, the blogger noted that the N8 seemed to pump up the colour compared to the SGS2 for some daylight shots, so it may be worth opting for a 'Scene Mode' such as 'Beach/Snow' to add warmth to shots.

Samsung Galaxy S2 HDR Photo Apps

After a week with my SGS2, I've decided to play around with filtering and photo techniques abit more. I've seen some great results with HDR photography and wanted to experiment myself. HDR or High Dynamic Range imaging, creates a greater range of luminance and contrast between shades of colour in photos. HDR photos can be achieved purely through the post processing of images, or through the combining of 3 or more photo shots with slightly different ranges into one. As the latter is the preferred option, i opted away from Android apps like the popular 'Camera 360' which uses post processing, and instead chose 'HDR Camera+' from the app market. Below are my first results. The first photo is without HDR, whereas the remaining 3 images are taken with 'HDR Camera+', whereby I've chosen 'High Contrast' in the 'Local Contrast' options of the settings menu. Click on each photo for a full resolution view.

Rosses Point (Sligo, Ireland)

Rosses Point (Sligo, Ireland) HDR Photography

Rosses Point (Sligo, Ireland) HDR Photography

Rosses Point (Sligo, Ireland) HDR Photography

Lessons learned:

As you can see, the results are dramatic. Though on reflection, i will probably opt for a subtler contrast next time, as the luminance is alittle overkill.

I'd also warn that unlike professional camera's with HDR features which take each individual SDR shot in rapid succession for combining, the 'HDR Camera+' app has approximately a .5 delay between each of the three shots, which means that unless you hold your camera incredibly still and use only static images, you will not have the same crispness to the images that you may wish for. I will research means to reduce this lapse, and test similar apps to see if this is a universal issue.

Shane

Testing different 'Scene Mode' options with the Galaxy S2 Camera

Using the Galaxy S2 Camera, you have the option to choose from the original camera settings with autoflash enabled, or you can choose from either presets:

1) 'Scene Mode'
2) 'Shooting Mode'
3) 'Effects

Note that you can only choose from one of the preset ranges above. For instance when you choose from the 'Scene Mode' settings, you will not be able to choose many of the other settings in the menu. Note that for many of the 'Scene Mode' options listed below, you do not have the option to use a flash, and for others, you will not have the option of auto-flash. Below is a selection of images taken of the same object, in the same position and lighting, using different preset options from the 'Scene Mode' I began by resetting the camera settings. Thus with Autoflash enabled. I took a 8mp photo using the following presets, where 'AF' = Autoflash, 'F' = Flash on, and 'NFO' = No Flash Option

Beach/Snow 'NFO'

 

Orig Cam Settings 'AF'

Portrait

Portrait 'F'

Landscape 'NFO

Night 'NFO'

Sport 'NFO'

Party Indoor

Sunset 'NFO'

Dawn 'NFO'

Fall Colour 'NFO'

Candlelight

Backlight

  Backlight 'F'

About the Galaxy S2 Camera

The Galaxy S2:

Here is a good introductory blog about the feature settings on the Galaxy S2:
http://mysamsunggalaxys2.blogspot.com/2011/08/galaxy-s2-camera-features.html

Below is a video walkthrough and review of the camera on the S2:

Welcome and Introduction

Hi all,

I've set up this blog to document my experience researching, testing and ultimately using the camera on my new Samsung Galaxy S2. I basically opted to buy a good fully featured phone for, music, videos, camera, apps and internet instead of splashing out on a new dedicated camera. I will be going travelling next month, so I opted for a Samsung S2 because it was an all in one solution for what I wanted whilst travelling:

1. To be able to quickly access wireless internet and check emails on the go.
2. To be able to store and access a large volume of my favourite music.
3. To be able to use my phone as a wifi hotspot for my laptop.
4. To have a high resolution camera with a flash
5. To have quick access to a camera for shooting pictures and video
6. To have access to gps and mapping software for hiking, travelling, navigating.
7. To have quick access to language translation tools.
8. Be able to convert currency quickly
9. Be able to access plenty of reading material

These were my main needs whilst travelling. To access offline maps when hiking or exploring, I've downloaded 'Lotus' from the app store and downloaded the areas I will mainly be travelling. When travelling, it is not possible to have with you a large collection of books, so I've also downloaded plenty of ebooks to read from my phone. There are plenty of apps available that will allow you to translate and speak common local language phrases offline without an internet connection. Similarly, there are apps available that will let you check currency conversation whilst offline, such as 'Exchange Rates' by Russell Wilson.

Ultimately I found that a high spec smartphone was the best way to fill them. Having been impressed with the quality of photos from my Samsung Galaxy S, I opted to sell my Galaxy S for a good price and update to the Galaxy S2 because it now has a;

1. LED Flash
2. 8 mega-pixal resolution (3264x4268)
3. 1083@30fps Video
4. Geo-tagging, face & smile detection, red-eye reduction, image stabilisation
5. 16gb of internal memory with additional 32gb additional MicroSD expansion
6. Duel core processor and 1GB of ram, for multi-tasking and smooth lag free use.
7. More battery power, and better power management with the Super-amoled plus screen
8. Larger 4.3 inch super-amoled plus screen

Hopefully I will be able to document how I've learned to make the best use of the Camera and it's features on my phone. This blog will document what the different features on the Galaxy S2 Camera do, and how to tweak them for different results. I'll post picture comparisons to demonstrate this. I'll test Market apps that can extend the features on the phone, such as 'HDR Camera+', which allows you to take high range colour images by combining 3 shots into one. And of course, I will look at the many camera filter apps available. Finally, I hope to document my experience learning how to take more interesting and better photos.

Shane