Tecno Camon 40 Camera Settings for Better Photos (40 & 40 Pro)

The best Tecno Camon 40 camera settings are simple: shoot at the default 12.5MP (binned) resolution, not 50MP, turn HDR to Auto, turn off or lower AI beauty, pull exposure down by −0.3 to −0.7 EV on bright days, and use Night mode on a steady hand after dark. The same settings work on the Camon 40 Pro. If you want exposure handled per scene without touching sliders, a camera app with a real-time AI Pro Mode, such as SensePose, sets ISO, EV and shutter live and merges a RAW HDR+ burst on-device.

Most answers for this query are videos. Here's the written version: a 60-second quick start, then the reasoning, mode by mode.

5 settings in 60 seconds

Open the stock camera and change these five things. Menu labels on HiOS move between updates, so look for the closest match in the settings gear or the top bar.

1. Resolution: keep the default (binned) mode, not 50MP. The default output combines four pixels into one. That gives cleaner, brighter shots with less noise. Use full 50MP only for bright, static daylight scenes you plan to crop.
2. HDR: Auto. Leave it on Auto so the phone brackets when the scene has bright sky and dark foreground. Forcing it off costs you highlight detail.
3. AI beauty / portrait retouch: Off or 0–20%. The stock default smooths skin heavily. Lower values keep texture and pores and look more natural.
4. Exposure: −0.3 to −0.7 EV in daylight. Tap to focus, then drag the sun icon down a notch. Mid-range processing tends to clip skies; slightly darker files hold more detail and are easy to brighten later.
5. Gridlines: On, and set a 3-second timer for low light. The grid helps you level horizons. The timer removes the shake from pressing the shutter.

The rest of this page covers why, and when to break these rules.

What hardware you're working with

Per GSMArena's spec sheets:

• Main camera (Camon 40 and 40 Pro): 50MP, f/1.9, 23mm, 1/1.56" sensor, PDAF and OIS. That's a fairly large sensor for the price, with optical stabilisation. GSMArena's Camon 40 Pro review identifies it as a Sony LYT-700C.
• Ultra-wide: 8MP, 1/4.0". Small sensor, so it's a daylight-only lens.
• No telephoto on either model. Anything past 1× is a crop of the main sensor. (The higher-tier Camon 40 Premier adds a periscope telephoto.)
• Chip: Helio G100 Ultimate on the Camon 40 and the 4G Camon 40 Pro; the Camon 40 Pro 5G uses the MediaTek Dimensity 7300. Both ship with Android 15 (HiOS 15).

The main sensor is the one worth trusting. Most of the settings below keep you on it and give the processing less to fight.

Mode by mode: settings that actually matter

Photo (auto) mode

You'll take 90% of your shots here.

• Stay at 1× for anything important. 2× is a sensor crop and holds up in good light. Beyond that, detail drops quickly.
• Tap to set focus and exposure on your subject, then adjust EV. Don't let the camera meter off a bright window or the sky.
• AI scene detection: optional. It boosts saturation for food, greenery and sky. If colours look cartoonish, turn it off and keep a more neutral base.
• Watch the sky. If it comes out white, that's clipped highlights, not your lens. Drop EV and let HDR do its job. For why this happens, see our explainer on dynamic range.

50MP (high-resolution) mode

• Use it only in strong daylight and only when you'll crop or print large.
• In indoor or evening light it tends to be noisier than the default mode, because each small pixel gathers less light and multi-frame processing is usually more limited at full resolution.
• Hold still. Bigger files are more sensitive to shake.

Portrait mode

• Set bokeh around f/2.0–f/4 (or the middle of the slider). The maximum blur setting tends to cut into hair and glasses edges.
• Beauty: 0–20%. Same reasoning as above: keep skin texture.
• Keep 1–2 metres from your subject and leave space between them and the background. Real separation makes the software blur look more convincing.

Night mode

• Brace the phone against a wall, rail or table. OIS helps, but night mode still stacks frames over a second or more.
• Don't move until the capture finishes. Moving during the progress ring causes ghosting.
• Use it for scenes, not moving people. For people at night, standard photo mode with a steady hand often freezes motion better.
• Skip the flash unless there's truly no light; it flattens faces.

Ultra-wide

• Daylight only. The 8MP, 1/4" sensor gets noisy fast indoors.
• Keep people away from the frame edges, where wide-angle stretch is strongest. Turn on distortion correction if your menu offers it.

Pro mode (manual)

The stock Pro mode lets you set ISO, shutter speed, white balance and EV by hand. Good starting values:

• Daylight: ISO 50–100, shutter 1/500s or faster, WB Auto.
• Indoors: ISO 200–400, shutter 1/60s (1/125s for moving kids or pets).
• Night, tripod or braced: ISO 100–200, shutter 1/4s–1s.
• Keep ISO as low as the light allows. Higher ISO means more noise; slower shutter means more risk of blur.

Video

• 1080p at 30fps is the safest everyday choice. It's the most stable and balances file size and quality.
• Use 1440p (the Camon 40's top recording resolution per GSMArena) only in good light.
• Turn on stabilisation and lock exposure by long-pressing your subject, so brightness doesn't pump as you pan.

Camon 40 vs 40 Pro: what's different for the camera

The main and ultra-wide rear cameras are the same on both, so everything above applies equally. The differences sit elsewhere.

• Selfies are the real upgrade on the Pro. Autofocus on the front camera keeps faces sharp at arm's length and in group shots. Pro owners can use the selfie camera more freely; base owners should keep a consistent distance so the fixed focus lands.
• The 5G Pro's faster chip can shorten processing time between shots, but it doesn't change the sensor, so the same settings apply.
• Neither has a telephoto. On both, treat 2× as the practical zoom limit.

GCam on the Camon 40?

People search for GCam on the Camon 40 because they want Google's multi-frame HDR+ merge. Unofficial ports exist, but on MediaTek Helio phones they're often hit-and-miss: crashes, missing lenses, or colour that washes out because the port wasn't tuned for this sensor. Ports also usually lock you to auto exposure. If you want to try one, check that it's built for your chip and keep the stock camera as a backup. The alternatives are covered in our best camera app for Tecno Camon guide.

When to use Pro Mode vs AI Pro Mode

Manual and AI-driven Pro modes solve the same problem from opposite ends.

Use the stock Pro mode when:

• You have time to set up the shot: landscapes, product shots, long exposures.
• You want one specific look, such as a deliberately slow shutter for light trails or a fixed white balance across a series.
• The scene isn't changing, so values you set stay correct.

Use an AI Pro Mode when:

• The light is changing fast: walking from shade to sun, events, street, kids.
• You want DSLR-style exposure choices without adjusting four sliders per shot.
• You want the dynamic-range benefit of a multi-frame merge on every photo.

In SensePose, AI Pro Mode reads each scene and sets ISO, EV and shutter live as you frame, the way a photographer adjusting a DSLR would. When you press the shutter, it captures a RAW burst and merges it on-device (RAW HDR+), the same multi-frame method Google Pixel and iPhone cameras use. That recovers highlights in skies and lifts shadows with less noise, which is often the difference between a flat HiOS photo and one with accurate, true-to-scene colour. Cinematic tone grading and background removal / AI edit are there for finishing. The camera is free, needs Android 10+, and installs from Google Play. Free exports carry a small watermark; Pro removes it.

A reasonable split: keep the stock camera for quick video and 50MP daylight shots, and use AI Pro Mode for photos where exposure is tricky, like backlit people, sunsets, indoor mixed light and evening streets.

For composition habits that matter more than any setting, see how to make phone photos look professional. On a cheaper Tecno? The Tecno Spark camera app guide covers that line.

Quick fixes for common Camon 40 photo problems

• Washed-out or grey colours: Turn HDR to Auto, lower EV slightly, and turn off beauty. If they're still flat, the processing is the limit, not the settings. A RAW multi-frame merge helps here.
• White, blown-out skies: EV −0.7, tap-to-meter on the sky, HDR Auto.
• Blurry night shots: Brace the phone, use a 3-second timer, and hold still until capture finishes.
• Plastic-looking faces: Beauty off; in Portrait, blur to mid-level.
• Noisy indoor photos: Stay at 1× and default resolution, not 50MP; move nearer a window.

FAQ

What are the best camera settings for the Tecno Camon 40?

Keep the default (binned) resolution instead of 50MP, set HDR to Auto, turn AI beauty off or below 20%, lower exposure by −0.3 to −0.7 EV in bright light, and turn on gridlines. Use Night mode with the phone braced after dark. These five changes fix most flat or overexposed stock photos.

Are the Camon 40 Pro camera settings different from the Camon 40?

Mostly no. Both use the same 50MP 1/1.56" main camera with OIS and the same 8MP ultra-wide, so the rear-camera settings are identical. The Pro's main camera upgrade is a 50MP autofocus selfie camera, which makes front-camera shots sharper at varied distances.

Should I use 50MP mode on the Tecno Camon 40?

Only in strong daylight when you plan to crop or print large. In normal or low light, the default binned mode combines pixels for cleaner, brighter images with less noise, so it's the better everyday setting.

Does GCam work on the Tecno Camon 40?

Some unofficial GCam ports run on the Camon 40, but results on MediaTek Helio phones are inconsistent: crashes, missing lenses or washed-out colour are common, and ports usually lock you to auto exposure. A Play Store camera app with an on-device multi-frame RAW merge is a more stable way to get the HDR benefit.

What is the difference between Pro Mode and AI Pro Mode?

In the stock Pro mode you set ISO, shutter, white balance and EV yourself, which suits slow, deliberate shots. An AI Pro Mode, like the one in SensePose, sets ISO, EV and shutter live for each scene as you frame, then merges a RAW burst on-device. That makes it better for changing light and quick shots.