ROMs with the best camera quality in Micromax A110

ROMs with best camera clarity in Micromax A110

Thank you Micromax, for this awesome device! 

I have been a long-time user of this exquisite phablet that has really rocked the Indian marketplace. Everywhere, from online Flipkart to our local shop, demands are still very high for Micromax's Canvas series of phones. With the recent release of Canvas 3D, Canvas Music and Canvas HD, Micromax has successfully been managing to ward off the domination of Samsung and Nokia in the Indian market. But however, still many of us haven't forgotten A110, Micromax's signature and flagship device last year that created such a dazzle everywhere.

Micromax A110 Superfone Canvas 2 continues to be my primary device, and I am rather proud of it. In my opinion, while buying an expensive, feature-rich device can be satisfying, buying a cheaper one with comparable features (although with slightly less specifications) can be immensely rewarding. Smartphones, tablets and phablets are turning into portable computers nowadays, and with the passage of each day, we can see that software seems to matter more. Hardware is important, definitely, allowing the software to use its full potential, but at the same time it is becoming less and less dominating factor, because of tremendous advancements in software programming. Hardware nowadays serves only as a base, which is required for the software to run. Same effect can be witnessed in the case of Micromax and Samsung devices, and their battle in our market.

Micromax A110 sports a nice 8 megapixel camera, which is more than adequate for mid-range photography outside, or in an well-lit environment. The device is a sub-Rs. 10000 one, and packs a number of other features. As such, the camera can't be expected to be something extraordinary. Night photography, and low-light photography still lag far behind those facilities provided by quality Samsung and Nokia devices. While there are multiple apps claiming to magically escalate night photography in the Play Store, I have found none of them to be useful in the case of Micromax A110. However, all is not lost! One major catch is, you can hugely improve daylight photography, and especially close-up shots and landscapes using the 12 MP patch for your device or flashing the ROM I mention below (you can google for it easily, but it's more advisable to flash the ROM itself).

The new series of ROMs
that has replaced the previous
Jallebi series. 

This patch essentially comes from Mobistel Cynus T2 ROM, the ROM released by a German company, Mobistel, for their device Cynus T2, which is just a re-branded version of Micromax A110. But however, the ROM is immensely better than the offician ones provided by Micromax. Micromax limits its camera to 8 MPs, and while Mobistel ROMs unlock the extra potential and turn your camera into a 12 MP one. While the processor powering the devices supports a maximum of 8 MP takes, and certainly your picture clarify won't improve after you apply the patch or flash the ROM, a major benefit (I've experienced it many a times) is the increases picture size. The shots turn into 12 MP ones, with more megabytes consumed, and greater detail captured.

Those of you who are familiar with Nokia's pureview technology know it well, that the 41 MP camera employed by Nokia basically takes a very, very large shot. Thus, it compensates for the lack of optical zoom. Unlike digital cameras, smartphones (most of them) don't support optical zoom, and digital zoom practically leads to loss of quality and clarify, and more pixelation. As such, Nokia cleverly used 41 MP as the default setting. Having a resolution such large allows you to efficiently use digital zoom to capture your image, thereby magnifying your image up to 5 or 6 times (5X-6X), without any loss of quality. Or else, a large resolution shot can be filtered or distilled to form a 5MP one by the device's operating system. This is a major catch.

For the same reason, Mobistel's camera is superior to that of Micromax, for the device. Of all the ROMs I've used, I found the ROMs based on Mobistel providing the clearest and best pictures. A 12MP shot is 1.5 larger than an 8MP shot, and so it packs in more detail in the case you're in a well-lit environment. After recently flashing Micromax's latest V3 ROM, and trying some other ROMs based one it, such as JMP V10 and SUVI V6, I found that while those ROMs might be very slightly smoother than Mobiste-based ROMs, the camera clarity is nowhere near that provided by Mobistel. So, if you're into photography and would like to use your Micromax A110 as your primary/secondary  device, it would possibly be better for you to use a Mobistel-based ROM.

Two images I shot with Micromax A110, using the 12 MP
camera on Jallebi ROM. Note that I've resized them for
reducing the size for online upload. 

I am currently using the flawless JMP Jallebi ROM, based on Mobistel, made by the esteemed developer Jiggar Pattani. It's based on Mobistel, and is especially advisable to try because it doesn't need you to manually replace the modem.img file after flashing it (those of you not familiar with it should know that, after flashing default Mobistel ROM, the device did not initially recognize the second SIM. As such, the modem.img file from system folder was to be replaced with that of Micromax ROMs, to get both the SIMs working).

Another major benefit is that, this ROM by default enabled the proximity sensor, as well as TV out.

So, here are the benefits and problems of switching to this ROM:

Pros: 

1. Far better camera quality, 12 MP main + 1.3 MP back

2. Almost negligible difference in speed 

3. Promixity sensor works perfectly, i.e the phone knows when you're talking and when your ear is away

4. TV out works by default

Cons: 

1. Slightly older android version, 4.1.1 (still jellybean, but the latest ROMs use 4.1.2). You still have Google Now and almost all Jellybean goodies working perfectly. 

2. You'll have to download it again, in the case you haven't downloaded it yet. 

HERE'S THE DOWNLOAD LINK: http://www.4shared.com/zip/7TG3TNHj/JMP_Jalebi_ROM_MMX_A110.html

IMPORTANT

1. Backup all your apps and data using Titanium Backup before flashing any ROM. 

2. Take a total backup of your existing ROM using CWM so that you can fall back to it in the case anything goes wrong or you simply don't like the new one. 

3. Before flashing, install MobileUncle Tools from Play Store and take IMEI backup of your SIMs. Most of these ROMs won't detect either of your SIM card after flashing, then you can use MobileUncle tools to restore the IMEI and get your cards working. Be sure to backup this tool, and use Titanium to restore it immediately (without data) after flashing new ROM. 

4. This ROM increases the image size, and not necessarily the clarity. Also, after installing it, I first myself tried to take a few shots indoors, and found them to be grainy. You might find the very same, but that's the case with every ROM (even the official ones) out there. It is not due to bad camera quality, it's simply the lack of low-light photography facilities in the device. So, be sure you try it outside, or in a well-lit environment. 

5. Digital zooming is slightly better with this ROM. Also, the image size is around 5 to 6 megabytes (3-4 megabytes under low-light conditions). So, be sure to reserve a portion of your memory card for that. More megabytes = more details = more opportunity to resize/modify. I use it with my GIMP software, for modying shots and creating amazing effects. 

6. There are other ROMs based on Mobistel ROM too, such as Dr. Bhokali ROM and SUVI ROM V4. But this one is the best as per my experience, so I mentioned it here. 

I am not mentioning the Flashing procedure here, because it's very common and can be found if you google 'Flashing a ROM with CWM'.