[Feature request] Long exposure range problem

Oscar10

Hello
I have a problem with the long exposure range, I have the pro version but the app does not allows me to exposure more than 1/7 seconds, so I can not make timelapses of the stars (and I am very limited with other kind of timelapses).
My phone is a new Samsung Galaxy S25 and I think is not a third party issue because other app allows me exposures of 21 seconds?
Why is that?
I purchased the pro version because I like this app, It is very intuitive, however this issue is a big handicap for me.
Do you have any idea?
Maybe am I missing someting?
Thank you in advance

Noah

Oscar10 welcome to the forum. 👋

I'm unsure of the camera specs that the S25 allows third-party apps to access, but 1/7 of a second would be in line with the rest of the Samsung S series so far (unfortunately).

Which other apps allow you to set shorter shutter speeds? I may be able to take a look and see if there is a workaround.

Thank you.

Oscar10

Noah
Hello Noah,
Thank you for your quick answer.
Specifically the app "DeepSky Camera" (in its free version where you can find it in AppStore) allows me to exposure 26 seconds (in fact I have just taken a 60 seconds of exposure photo right now).
I wanted to post some screen captures where I could show you the availability of these times of exposure.
On the other hand, I also could send you a example photo taken through the app "DeepSky Camera" where in its details you could find the numbers of ISO / F / EXPOSURE
The problem is that I do not know how to add these images in here.
Could you please take a look? Maybe there we can find a solution for all of us.
If you need any more info please let me know.
Thank you in advance

Noah

Oscar10 Thank for pointing me in the right direction. I just wanted to update that I'm still looking into how DeepSkyCamera accesses the "extended shutter speeds".

The chart on the website lists the extended shutter speed for the Galaxy s25 at 600 ( see https://deepskycamera.de/en/extensions.php). Is that what you are seeing?

Once again, thank you.

Oscar10

Noah
Hello Noah,
Thank you for your answer.
As far as I know the maximun exposure range that that I am allowed in that app is 60 seconds.
Maybe a 600 second exposure is possible (as shown in the link you shared) but I haven't learned how to do it yet.
In the DeepSkyCamera app menu, there's a manual download option. There you might be able to find out how the app achieves extended exposures (it talks about using Camera2API to achieve this, I think... I'm not sure..).
In the app menu, you can also find the "information" option, that tells the app version and the allowed settings, which in my case are the following:

DeepSkyCamera Free
App version: 2.1.4
Phone: Samsung SM-XXXXX
CPU: Qualcomm
Camera ID: XXXX
Hardware level: INFO_SUPPORTED_
HARDWARE_LEVEL_3
JPEG mode is available.
Resolution: 4080x3060
RAW mode is available.
Resolution: 4080x3060
ISO: 25-3200
Minimum exposure time: 49854ns 1/20058s
Maximum exposure time: 60000000000ns = 60 seconds
Focal lenght: 5.4mm
Focal length in full frame: 22,91mm
Crop factor: 4.24
Sensor size: 8.16mm x 6.12mm
Aperture: 1.8

I can tell you that if you manage to solve this point you will have the best tinelapse photography application in the App Store.

If I can help you with anything else, or need any more info, please, don't hesitate to write to me.

ba32107

Noah
Hey Noah,

I was just wondering if you had an update on this? I have the same problem as Oscar. Samsung S23, shutter speed limited to 1/7s in Velocity Lapse, but I can do almost a minute in DeepSkyCamera.

Your app is so much better than DSC, I really want to use it for astro timelapse, but with 1/7s I just can't get there.

I was wondering if perhaps the DSC developer has "simulated" a long exposure by taking multiple 1/7s photos and somehow stitching them together? I can't see how they'd circumwent the API limitations, but maybe they did!

Noah

ba32107 Hello, welcome to the forum. 👋

Thanks for letting me know that you're also looking for this.

The possibility that they used frame stacking to simulate the long exposure doesn't seem likely since the table listed on the website shows the max shutter speed varying based on specific devices. If it was frame stacking then I don't think there wouldn't be anything different between devices. (I've implemented something similar for the video effects in Velocity Lapse so I'm aware of how it would be done.)

So, is your device model SM-S911B then or something different? I might have an idea if it is.

ba32107

Noah

Yes exactly, it's SM-S911B/DS. I suppose you figured that out from the shutter speed limit 🙂

We appreciate your efforts, thank you! Please keep us updated. As an aside, if you do figure it out how it works and don't mind sharing, I'm really curious (I'm a software engineer and I know from experience how frustrating it is when another app implements the seemingly impossible)

Noah

ba32107 Thank you for confirming that. I'll keep this thread updated.

Noah

The latest version includes an experimental extended shutter speed range for certain devices.