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!

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