Search “camera recipe” on TikTok or Instagram and you’ll find thousands of settings promising the perfect look: film simulations, vintage tones, cinematic colours. Copy the numbers, get the same photo. That’s the promise, anyway.
In reality, it rarely works out. Recipes are built around one specific scene, one specific light. Move to a different room, a different city, a different hour of the day, and the same settings can look completely off.
Nothing Camera still gives you manual control if you want to dial things in yourself. But when you don’t, presets let you start with a look and see it live before you shoot.
1. Start with the built-in presets
Nothing phones come with a selection of built-in presets, with options such as Urban, B&W Film, Retro, Soft Focus and Amber depending on the model. Unlike an edit applied afterwards, the effect appears directly in the viewfinder, so you can see the look before pressing the shutter.
Malaysian photographer Bryan Then has been shooting with Nothing’s built-in presets across different scenes, showing how a ready-made look can still leave plenty of room for personal framing, colour and style.
To try them yourself, open Camera, tap Presets, swipe through the available looks and shoot with the one that fits the moment.
2. Playground: presets made by other Nothing fans
If the built-in presets aren’t enough, Nothing Playground opens up presets created by the wider Nothing community. It’s free, with community-created looks that go beyond the presets preloaded on the phone.
Browse a preset, preview sample shots and, when you find one you like, use Download or Share to generate its QR code. Scan it with your Nothing phone and the preset is added to your Camera app.
One worth trying is Darwinchrome-1 by darwin.vegher, a KodakChrome-inspired look built around vibrant film colours, deeper reds, punchier skies and softer shadows.
3. Make the look your own
You can also create a preset directly in the Camera app. Adjust exposure, contrast and tone until it feels right, give it a name and cover image, then save it alongside your other presets.
Once you’re happy with it, generate a QR code and share it so other users can try the same look. More advanced users can go further by importing custom LUTs created in tools such as Photoshop or DaVinci Resolve.
And if you want to take that personalisation one step further, you can also customize how the final image is presented with Nothing’s optional watermark.
The point of all this
Manual controls are still there for anyone who wants to fine-tune a shot. Presets simply make it easier to start with a look, experiment quickly and focus more on what you want to capture.
That reflects a broader idea behind Nothing: technology should help creativity feel more intuitive, not add more steps to it. Whether you start with a built-in preset, discover one through Playground or create your own, the tools are designed to stay out of the way and let the photo take the lead.
