Looks good! This is a solid start.
I like how you’re trying to get more people involved to make it feature-rich enough for wider use. I noticed Google has finally opened up camera switching via API, which should help third-party apps use the full camera setup. It’s about time, but honestly, I’m not sure how far that goes yet.
As for Zerocam, they really missed the mark—paid app but no zoom or selfie mode? Come on.
@Ren
Funny you bring up camera switching. The base app for this project uses both front and back cameras. I added a line of code to lock it to the back one, but removing that would allow front camera support right away. A proper toggle would need a bit more work, though.
Appreciate the feedback!
@Foster
There’s definitely demand for something like this. With the right features, you could make a decent profit on the Play Store even if you keep the base version free.
I do like that it’s open source. Keep it up!
What do you mean by ‘excessive computational photography’? Are you saying it’s about removing all neural network processing or just the heavy-handed stuff? And isn’t Open Camera already an option for this?
A good camera app should at least manage exposure and focal length properly. Our eyes do it so easily!
@Ash
AI or neural networks are definitely part of it, but even traditional processing can go too far. Phones rely on software to make up for hardware limits, which leads to overly processed photos. Zerocam (and its iOS version) came from the desire to skip all that.
I haven’t tried Open Camera yet, though. My goal here was to learn by building something and make a free alternative to Zerocam.
@Foster
I get that. It might be better to give users more control over processing instead of removing it entirely.
This is a cool learning project! A friend and I were at a museum and noticed some mirror effects we could see with our eyes but couldn’t capture on a phone. Maybe stereoscopic cameras could fix that… but we still don’t have those on phones despite having 5 lenses. EDIT: Just found out about CrossCam!
Try using the CameraX basic app instead of Camera2. Camera2 will bring a lot of headaches on different devices, like photo orientation issues. OpenCamera already handles most of these problems, and maintaining a camera app for Android is tough, especially for free.
Let me know if you need help—I’ve dealt with Android hardware quirks, and it’s messy but doable.
@Zadie
I started with CameraX, but it uses the device’s processing, which isn’t what Zerocam users want. Camera2 lets me get RAW_SENSOR output for that ‘zero processing’ look.
I’m open to advice, though. This is mostly a hobby project to make something open-source that does what Zerocam does.
@Foster
There’s a lot of nuance you’re missing. CameraX adapts to different devices while still letting you control the pipeline. It’s worth checking out both CameraX and Camera2 documentation to see what fits your needs better.
Camera2 ignores quirks like Samsung cameras starting at 0 instead of 2 or needing extra exposure stops. It’s a lot to manage!
@Zadie
Oh wow, that’s overwhelming. 
Foster said:
@Zadie
Oh wow, that’s overwhelming.
Yeah, it’s frustrating. I’ve tried and given up more than once over the years, but if you’re just building for your own device, it’s manageable. Keep at it—you’ll figure it out!
Reach out if you get stuck. I’d be happy to help.
@Zadie
CameraX defeats the purpose since it’s like using the stock camera.
Love this idea—a simple app for shooting raw images.
This looks awesome! Thanks for sharing.
This is a solid project, but I’d like to know more about future plans for features.
Oli said:
This is a solid project, but I’d like to know more about future plans for features.
It sounds like a lot of work, but it has potential. What features are you thinking about adding?