Google Camera on Samsung Galaxy S8

I recently learned on XDA that the Google Camera app that comes with the Google Pixel has been modded to work on most newer Android phones.  They also checked out the code, deemed it safe and made me feel comfortable loading it up on my Samsung Galaxy S8.

Here’s the article including install links:
https://www.xda-developers.com/google-camera-hdr-ported/

Everyone seems to be excited about the HDR+ feature and maybe I’ll do some side by side shoots with that and the stock Samsung Camera app, but not now.  I’m interested in the various stitching capabilities, like panorama, Sphere Photos, and wide angle selfies.

First up, the standard panorama shot.  Like every shot in this blog entry, this is the Pacific Design Center.  I’m impressed with the stitching of this very wide shot.  There only a couple of areas where it needs to be cleaned up.

My new favorite toy is the fisheye effect panoramic.  You take a bunch of pictures guided by “circle in the dot” navigation and it mimics the fisheye effect.   I had some stitching issues on the bottom, but I’m guessing that has to do with my technique of lining up those shots.  Be sure to keep your camera at the same orientation for every shot.  This takes 2-3 minutes to take all of the necessary shots, but so worth it, if I can clean up that bottom middle section.

Finally, the Photo Sphere. This creates an immersive sphere around you. The only way that I’ve found to share it with the masses is through Facebook, so you have to click on the Facebook share thing below. Then you’ll have a way to view these. YAY!

 

…and now for a bonus, the Wide Angle Selfie, not from the Google Camera, but from the Samsung Camera.  It’s basically a panorama using the front camera. Brilliant, right??

Cool right??