See What Is On The Way On Android L For Photographers

On the video above (starting from around 40:10 min) you can see a part of the Google I/O 2014 event which focused on Android and more particularly the new camera capabilities of the upcoming version of Android known as Android 5 or Android L.

The demonstration shows several interesting things that will be possible in Android 5 developers will have the opportunity to play with even before the actual launch to consumers later this year.

Here are some of the improvements that photographers can expect in the next version of Android (and have been revealed for developers in Android’s Camera2 API):

RAW files support (DNG format) – allowing you to edit uncompressed images in external software (Lightroom/Photoshop) with lots of room to play with things such as dynamic range (new apps for editing RAW on the go will sure to follow).
Faster shooting – no more OS slowdowns – from now on you will be able to shoot continuously as fast as your hardware permits – in the case of the Nexus 5 – up to an amazing 30 fps in full 8MP (!).
Full Manual control – This is big – app developers will now gain direct access to a ton of dedicated controls including:

Exposure (duration in seconds)
Exposure compensation (+- 3)
ISO sensitivity (supported by hardware)
Manual focus / AF Trigger
Flash Trigger
AE / AF / AWB mode (Auto-exposure / Auto Focus / Auto white balance mode)
AE / AWB lock (Auto-exposure / Auto white balance lock)
Precapture AE
Hardware enabled Video stabilization
Metering regions
Tonemap curve
Color correction matrix
Frame duration

With Andorid 5 coming this fall photographers will have plenty to be excitent about, and remmber this is not just for smartphones – camera manufacturers are also waiting to see what Google will release so they can create the next version of Android based cameras (the first cameras from Nikon & Samsung did not win lots of heats but these are just early days).

Bonus video: TechRadar’s look at 10 things you need to know about the upcoming Android L

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM-LuRGI5z0#t=30[/youtube]

Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.