Samsung Camera Experiments

This repository contains a Python script that patches the libexynoscamera3.so camera lib of Exynos devices to enable different features.

Requires Python 3.10 or higher. Make sure to install the dependencies too (pip install -r requirements.txt).

libexynoscamera3.so

Usually located at /vendor/lib/libexynoscamera3.so and/or /vendor/lib64/libexynoscamera3.so. Some devices have both but only use one, it's suggested to patch both in that case.

Some newer Exynos devices like the Galaxy A55 don't have this library. Those aren't supported by this script at the moment.

If the script fails to patch your lib, open an issue with your device model, Android version and attach the lib.

Features

The following camera features can be enabled or modified.
Keep in mind that enabling them doesn't mean they will work as expected nor that something will change. It's up to you to test the modifications.

Hardware Level

• 0 (LIMITED)
• 1 (FULL)
• 2 (LEGACY)
• 3 (LEVEL_3)
  • The lib doesn't seem to expect this level, so it will probably behave like LIMITED
• 4 (EXTERNAL)

Capabilities

• These three are automatically enabled by the library if the Hardware Level is set to FULL:
  • MANUAL_SENSOR and READ_SENSOR_SETTINGS (2)
  • MANUAL_POST_PROCESSING (4)
  • BURST_CAPTURE (8)
• If this is disabled, GCam doesn't work and shows a black screen in photo mode. Enabling it is enough to make it work on some devices:
  • RAW (16)
• Others
  • ZSL (Zero Shutter Lag) and Private Reprocessing (32)
    • This causes issues with some apps on the A20, A20e and A30 since they don't support ZSL. You can use this app to check whether it works on your device.
  • YUV Reprocessing (64)
  • Depth Output (128)
  • Constrained High Speed Video (256)
  • Motion Tracking (512)
  • Logical Multi Camera (1024)
  • Secure Image Data (2048)

Usage

usage: patch_lib.py [-h] [--hardware-level {0,1,2,3,4}]
                    [--enable-cap {2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512,1024,2048} [{2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512,1024,2048} ...]]
                    [--disable-cap {2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512,1024,2048} [{2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512,1024,2048} ...]]
                    [--skip-depth] [--model MODEL] [--android-version ANDROID_VERSION] [--version VERSION]
                    libs [libs ...]

positional arguments:
  libs                  Path(s) of the libexynoscamera3.so lib(s) to patch

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit

Lib Modifications:
  --hardware-level {0,1,2,3,4}
                        The hardware level that will be set
  --enable-cap {2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512,1024,2048} [{2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512,1024,2048} ...]
                        The capabilities that will be enabled, separated by spaces
  --disable-cap {2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512,1024,2048} [{2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512,1024,2048} ...]
                        The capabilities that will be disabled, separated by spaces
  --skip-depth          Skips modifications on cameras with the "Depth Output" capability. Recommended if your device
                        has a depth camera.

Magisk Module:
  If the following settings are provided, a Magisk module with the patched lib(s) will be created

  --model MODEL         The device the lib comes from (e.g. Galaxy A20)
  --android-version ANDROID_VERSION
                        The Android version the lib comes from (e.g. 11)
  --version VERSION     The module version (e.g. 1)

Example

python3 ./patch_lib.py libexynoscamera3.so --enable-cap 16 will enable the RAW capability. This should be enough to make GCam work.

python3 ./patch_lib.py libexynoscamera3.so --enable-cap 16 32 --hardware-level 1 will enable the RAW & ZSL capabilities and set the hardware level to FULL.

Troubleshooting

If Android doesn't show show any cameras, this means the camera lib crashed:

• Can happen if your device has a depth camera, try patching with --skip-depth.
• Someone has reported that they had to move the lib to /vendor/lib64/hw/. Try it if you see something like dlopen failed: library "libexynoscamera3.so" not found in the logcat.

GCam tests after enabling the RAW capability

Note: If you test this on a device not listed here or you have any issue/weird behaviour, please let me know.

Most tests were done using BSG's GCam 8.1, as it seems to be the most stable one on Exynos devices that do have GCam working.

Device Name	SoC	GCam Works?	Notes
Galaxy A12 Nacho (A12s)	Exynos 850	X	Android 11 Android 13 Freezes Lags/freezes. Back cam doesn't save pics and front cam sometimes does
Galaxy A20	Exynos 7884	✓	Android 10 Android 11 Freezes HDR works & pics are 10x better than with the stock cam. Very laggy, sometimes the phone reboots while using it.
Galaxy A20e	Exynos 7884	✓	Android 10 Android 11 Freezes HDR works & pics are 10x better than with the stock cam. Very laggy, sometimes the phone reboots while using it.
Galaxy A25	Exynos 1280	✓	Android 14 HDR works. Not much difference in quality with the stock cam. Laggy.
Galaxy A30	Exynos 7904	✓	Android 10 Android 11 Freezes HDR works & pics are 10x better than with the stock cam. Very laggy, sometimes the phone reboots while using it. On few devices the front cam pics are unusable due to bad resolution.
Galaxy A30s	Exynos 7904	?	Android 10 Android 11 Freezes Untested
Galaxy A33	Exynos 1280	X	Android 14 Saves black pics when HDR is on
Galaxy A40	Exynos 7904	Partially	Android 11 Front cam pics unusable due to bad resolution. It's possible to fix, need to investigate how
Galaxy A50s	Exynos 9611	Partially	Android 11 Photos have pink tint. Changing black level doesn't help
Galaxy A51	Exynos 9611	Partially	Android 11 Photos have pink tint. Changing black level doesn't help
Galaxy F62	Exynos 9825	Partially	Android 11 Issues with the front camera
Galaxy M31	Exynos 9611	Partially	Android 11 Photos have pink tint. Changing black level doesn't help
Galaxy M31s	Exynos 9611	Partially	Android 12 Photos have pink tint. Changing black level doesn't help
Galaxy M34 5G	Exynos 1280	X	Android 13 Saves black pics when HDR is on

As it can be seen, GCam only seems to be usable on the Exynos 7884/7904 series. As someone who had an A20, I can say that the difference in quality with the stock camera is huge. You can check that yourself with this comparison of two pics I took a few years ago.