Camera phone competition discussion
 

Here you can add your ideas and improve the voting system of the first competition so then we can utilize it in this month competition.

Re: Camera phone competition voting system - your ideas!
 

You can add poll to first post. :D

And have links to pictures in poll options.

Re: Camera phone competition voting system - your ideas!
 

Nice idea.

Re: Camera phone competition voting system - your ideas!
 

well i will vote for current voting system. there will be many entries 20 to 30. adding polls for all nominations doesn't sound a good idea as poll list will be very large.

Re: Camera phone competition voting system - your ideas!
 

Why not let people choose 3 pics they like and give points to it:

Most liked 3 points
2nd most liked 2 points
3rd most liked 1 point

That way choosing is easier. Posts from people with wrong points scheme are not valid.

Re: Camera phone competition voting system - your ideas!
 

OK, keep them coming! :)

Re: Camera phone competition voting system - your ideas!
 

BUMP, I think Morpog's idea is good.

Re: Camera phone competition voting system - your ideas!
 

+1!

(10 chars)

Re: Camera phone competition voting system - your ideas!
 

Sounds good but isn't it an additional hassle to count the points that way? If not then +1! :)

Re: Camera phone competition voting system - your ideas!
 

It isn't. ;)

Re: Camera phone competition voting system - your ideas!
 

Maybe specify base timezone, to avoid misunderstandings like justadude's case from January? After all, the contest is held worldwide ;)

Re: Camera phone competition voting system - your ideas!
 

That is also important!

Re: Camera phone competition voting system - your ideas!
 

Good idea! It should break ties.

And whilst not about voting, can we please also request the district, country to be specified for each photo, unless it is indoors or limited in view? I love landscapes, geomorphology, architecture etc and often want to know "where is that?".

Re: Camera phone competition voting system - your ideas!
 

I don't think disclosing the location should be compulsory but it would be nice if people did it on their own whenever possible.

Nothing stops you asking, BTW :)

Re: Camera phone competition voting system - your ideas!
 

How about this minor modification. If we get 6 points to give out, we may as well give them as we wish. Everyone gets 6 points (or 5, or 10, or 19500...) and distributes them as (s)he likes. It could be like the above, or all 6 points to the same picture, or 5/1 split, whatever.

Or just one vote each as we've always had :)

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

I'm closing in for voting at midnight..
We should try the 3 2 1 voting system this time.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

i was on amazon today looking at lens kit extensions for cell phones, and i wondered if these would be allowed for submissions in the camera phone competition. i was thinking an optical zoom lens would help get close up on some wildlife for this month's competition. but my next thought was that this might pose an unfair advantage. what does everyone think?

also, should we use the 3 2 1 points system for this month's voting? :D it's a great system, i've seen it used on other forums and it makes voting quite a bit more lively.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

The idea of additional lenses has been discussed already. The conclusion was... (see yourself).

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

Hi kapu2, it is allowed but please make sure to let us know when using it.
Also, minor photo modfcations like cropping, resizing, rotating allowed.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

Developing from raw raises the question of what in that context is a minor modification..... I know you know that, but one needs to put this here in the light of your comment. Equally, one should raise whether or not HDR images are acceptable. Perhaps I have not read the relevant rules. Apologies if so...

Since I have fcam drivers installed (I rather like the flexibility of fcamera and blessn900 reigns supreme under low light), I have essentially abandoned the stock camera app as it routinely overexposes and the -0.5ev function does not work.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

It's allowed only if it's from the phone, so in other words, everything is allowed when taking the photo.
BTW I have the same problem with cameraui2, overexposes all the time. I just want a camera app that can do manual everything and not be so contrasty as fcam...

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

OT: is anybody still working on fixing cameraui2? or is it FCAM that breaks it? looks like we are the only ones who are bothered by that bug... I don't know how to fix it, how about you guys?

OTOT: Half-Life, love your flickr photos! Makes me want to pick up my camera. I just followed you. :D

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

I don't really know how to fix camera ui2 and I don't have fcam installed anymore.
Also, thanks for following me, but I'm not really updating my Flickr anymore, no decent internet connection here, I'll post some photos on Monday.
/ot

To sum it up, lens accesories are allowed if you mention you used one, processing allowed only before taking the shot but not after.
Only rotating or resizing and minor cropping allowed after...

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

I believe camera-ui2 was developed by nicolai.
http://talk.maemo.org/member.php?u=21992

Since the problem is with fcam, which is most definitely not being maintained, it's not reasonable to expect camera-ui2 to re-calibrate itself to nonstandard drivers which may or may not be present in the phone.

Is there an app that will reassign opening the lens cover to start another program, for example fcam? That way fast camera access would be possible, & it wouldn't be a problem if you forgot to use fcam if it were installed instead of camera-ui2.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

There is Camera Lens Launcher for that. I actually use it for all camera related apps and for the flashlight.
And thanks for the clarification regarding cameraui2 and fcam.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

It is unclear how the fcam drivers affect camera-ui2, as ostensibly the 2 use separate libraries. That may be true only to a point: if gstreamer is the commonality, then fcam may be altering a setting in a way not wanted for the stock imaging pathway.

The issue is complicated by the fact that BlessN900 uses the fcam driver as well fcamera.

If Half-Life_4_Life still has over-exposure with stock , then I must suspect BlessN900 is installed still. I did I test way back and could see a clear difference in camera-ui2 exposures with and without the fcam drivers installed.

Also, note that independant of the fcam effect, camera-ui2 as well as the original Nokia app have the disfunctional -0.5ev correction. Nicolai cannot solve that as the problem lies in a Nokia binary blob.

Back to topic: I have unfortunately submitted pics in prev competitions that fail to meet the criteria. I never use fcamera's jpegs, for the reason Half-Life_4_Life notes. I always develop from raw (and have recently learnt how to fix the luminance and colour vignette in Linux) and want to continue to do so, as the results are better than camera-ui2 can achieve (at least I think so, others may disagree - no matter). Like Half-Life_4_Life I think fcamera is more flexible.

So, now that I know better, I will see if I can get a result with camera-ui2. Stock jpgs can be a challenge to darken in the lower registers.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

I'll try to restore my N900 to factory settings but it's going to be hard. I'll report back here tomorrow.

OT: I think I'll be getting a soldering iron soon so I may try and repair my N900 usb port of course after learning how to solder properly. That kinda work would require some better equipment than just a 20-30w soldering iron, right? I don't know If I will get an entire soldering station or just the soldering iron so temp changing will be a problem. Also, what solder? Rosin core or something else?

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

A fine tip is helpful. If you are not likely to solder much, a station is overkill. Just use the iron for a short while after the point it starts to melt the solder easily, then unplug it and continue. Usually one gets enough done before it cools too much. Too hot is the major problem (though poorly flowed solder is not good either). Get fluxed solder, as thin as possible.

Remember that you just need to make a good connection and you can brace that with epoxy/resin as per pages on this board.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

Upon deistalling every possible app (about 150), I rebooted my N900 and now it doesn't boot up. It shuts down on the Nokia logo.

I think I will get that soldering iron sooner than I thought.

And It will be fun,can't wait to learn how to solder. I might make some stuff wih that. :)

EDIT: Actually I had to hold the power button a bit longer lol.
Still, with most of the apps removed, camera overexposes but I still haven't removed camera-ui2. I'll do that today and finally report back.
I had to clean up my N900 eventually.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

Ouch! If you used HAM to de-install that should not have happened. Good luck though!

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

BTW, how do I remove camera-ui2 and make sure I've removed all fcam drivers? I want the normal stock camera app too.
Do I have to remove KP52 too?
I think I'll just leave FAM, FileBox and some other essential apps I need.

EDIT: I'll just reinstall the original camera-ui from xterm, I have to learn some basic commands lol.
Wishing myself luck.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

My N900 is willy-nilly again. Can't boot it up, doesn't go past the Nokia logo.
Tried all I could, no luck.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

The fcam drivers can be manually uninstalled if still present AFTER removing BlessN900 and fcamera.

KP52 can be uninstalled only by using the proper uninstaller and not simply removed via HAM. Doing the latter will cause problems. Camera-ui2 comes with CSSU.

CSSU cannot be uninstalled. A reflash is the best option - cold comfort in the case of a flaky usb port I know.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

I think it would be a good idea to post a link in the first post of every competition with some simple tips about making good photos with your smart phone. Like rules of thirds and such.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

Thanks for the idea. I'll try and come up with something.
Maybe even a little guide here on TMO.
Not too complicated, thank goodness there aren't any manual settings on mobile phones...

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

I heard someone talking about adding more photos to the voting results post.
So that not just the first place gets a photo. But, it would be too cumbersome.
Just look at what happened this month, there were three contestants with the second place.

And for dropping the name your phone thing. I can't force anyone to write the phone they used, I'm no one that can do that but I can omit placing the entry in for the voting but I don't want to do that.
But rules are rules and we need to be a bit stricter with them..

Also, I noticed that ste-phan won again this month, twice month-to-month.
I think it should be avoided to allow more users to share their ideas when they win.
So this means that the winner of this month cannot participate in the next month, unfortunately.
Well, expect for this time of course. I just haven't thought about it before.
And one more thing: due to a lot of new users, if some inactive user wins and doesn't respond within one day of winning I need to give the second winner a chance...

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

What's the problem with someone winning two, three or a hundred times in a row? Is this some warped idea of "fairness", like when my kids had a sports day at the nursery and everyone got a medal, because it was "fair"? How fair was it to those kids that did actually win but whoever came last got the same medal?

I never won any photo competition but I can tell you, if I won only because the best participants were prevented from taking part, I would not consider it a worthwhile victory.

Regarding the "name your phone" versus "provide EXIF" thingy, I strongly favour the former.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

I can see what you mean. You're right but again, I'm considering everything in order to improve this competition. Oh, and users don't need to provide EXIF data but why is it so hard to upload an original photo somewhere and not just attach a photo using TMO?

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

Because not everyone has or wants an account at some sharing service.

Re: Camera phone competition discussion
 

There are a lot of sites that don't require registering. But I know I'm asking too much with that.