Capturing +still images

To capture still images or to use the display as a viewfinder, build +your application around the Symbian Ecam camera utility. To make use of the +device camera to capture an image, the application needs to repeat the steps +described in the illustration below.

To capture images, use the methods of the CCamera and MCameraObserver2 classes to construct your application. MCameraObserver2 uses +the advanced camera features of the CCamera::CCameraAdvancedSettings class.

To capture still images on a mobile device +

Initialize +the onboard camera.
+
- Create a camera object using the CCamera::New2L() method.
- Reserve the camera for your application using the CCamera::Reserve() method. MCameraObserver2::HandleEvent is called upon +completion.
- Switch on the camera power using the CCamera::PowerOn() method. MCameraObserver2::HandleEvent is called upon +completion.
- If needed, share the camera between multiple clients using +the CCamera::NewDuplicate2L() function. This function +needs the handle of an existing camera object (use CCamera::Handle()).
+
Configure +the camera settings.
+
- Before you adjust the settings, make sure the camera hardware +supports the particular option. Use CCamera::CameraInfo() to retrieve and TCameraInfo to +specify the camera information.
  For example, to find out what +image formats are supported by the onboard camera, use the TCameraInfo::iImageFormatsSupported member variable.
- Specify the image format using the CCamera::PrepareImageCaptureL method. For a list of +possible formats, see CCamera::TFormat.
  Devices support image capture in EXIF JPEG format (CCamera::EFormatExif), which is encoded with +JPEG and requires no additional conversion.
- Specify the desired image size using the CCamera::EnumerateCaptureSizes() method.
  +
- Additionally, you can set, for example, the brightness, contrast, +zoom level, flash mode, exposure and white balance of the image. For more +information on the options, see the CCamera::CCameraAdvancedSettings class. You can also use the settings directly under CCamera.
  +
+
- Before you can call CCamera::CaptureImage(), +allocate memory and set up image format, size and clipping rectangle using +the CCamera::PrepareImageCaptureL() method. This +needs to be called only once for multiple captures.
+
Use the display +of the device as a viewfinder by transferring image data from the camera to +the display memory.
+
- Start the transfer of viewfinder data with direct screen +access using the CCamera::StartViewFinderDirectL() method.
  +
- Transfer viewfinder data as a bitmap using the CCamera::StartViewFinderBitmapsL() method. + MCameraObserver2::ViewFinderReady is called +upon completion.
- Set viewfinder mirroring on and flip the image horizontally +using the CCamera::SetViewFinderMirrorL() method.
  +
- Stop the transfer of viewfinder data to the screen using +the CCamera::StopViewFinder() method.
+
Capture one +or multiple images using the CCamera::CaptureImage() method. MCameraObserver2::ImageBufferReady() is called +upon completion.
To exit the +application or to switch it to the background, switch off the camera power +using the CCamera::PowerOff() method and release the +camera for other applications using the CCamera::Release() method.
The CCamera and MCameraObserver2 classes +are defined in the ecam.h header file. Add the following +line to the .h file, which is used to deploy the API:
+#include <ecam.h> +
Make sure +you have correct capabilities information +set for your application. You need at least the UserEnvironment capability.
+
Make sure ecam.lib is +accessible to your linker when compiling your application by including it +in your mmp file or by editing the project properties in +your IDE, depending on your build environment.