It depends on what one means by “perfectly fine”. I think you are judging it by how much the app has improved over the last two years. Others might be comparing it to other smartphones and things like “waiting 15 seconds between shots” and “no automatic/manual flash” does not qualify as “perfectly fine”.
[Edit: I meant this to be a reply to @Sharon Librem 5 camera software ]
The link by Torrone about “Cheese” is stale. The referenced link is dead, but it also points to their software development issue tracker where they shifted from “Cheese” to “someone developing a camera app” two years ago. https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/Apps_Issues/-/issues/6 . And even that is no longer relevant since it doesn’t point to the “millipixels” application (which, I think, is a fork of their previous label/app called “megapixels” https://puri.sm/posts/cameras-its-complicated/)
The camera app is, I think, Millipixels and the development effort on that can be seen here: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/millipixels/activity . Realize that this is a developer repository (with issue tracking, etc.) where one can look at how the sausage is made. If you’re used to github/gitlab you can get an idea about your last question in regard to the camera ( “How can I find out when this device was put together and stuff installed?”) by looking in that repository link, or even the README in the source files https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/millipixels/-/tree/master
Overall, I agree with you: The Librem 5 promises more than it delivers. Sadly, I don’t think you’ll be able to find an answer to “when will the Librem 5 be ready for prime time” (mostly because there isn’t a general agreement about what that means since it’s seemingly a different definition for each person).
Depending on your requirements, there are other devices+software that might meet your
requirements in terms of not being a “stalker device”. You’re probably already aware of them,
so I won’t go into detail, but a simple de-googled Android (like LineageOS … or even the more
extreme GrapheneOS) might be enough.
I meant what I wrote. It does work perfectly fine - it’s definitely not as convenient as other phones right now, but it’s fully functional.
You don’t have to wait between shots.
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I believe that I’m not overstepping too far by saying that the poster (Sharon) does not agree.
Does it have a flash that is triggered by the shutter (whether automatically with low light or a toggled on/off) setting?
You’ll know if you are “overstepping”. 
I do disagree with “fully functional”. Too much that is said to be “fully functional” isn’t - IMO. But I’ve come across product support elsewhere that refuses to agree that something isn’t working, in public. Too, I have to tap the snap button several times before it wakes up and starts the spinner. There is nothing to suggest anything happens when pressing that button - no flash, no click - nadda. Whereas, some icons, I feel if I even look at them, they’ll load up.
Answer: No.
I’ve mention the dull, yellow ‘torch’ several times and no one has addressed that, so I gather then that everyone has a yellow, not white ‘torch’/flash/thing. Jim is searching for that now on his brand new Samsung 
Hmm. I wonder if anyone would miss him.
~s
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The flash feature consists of 2 white LEDs. Hopefully they have very different color temperatures: warm and cold. I think that this topic came up before, but it has been a while. I guess that they have other priories than enabling the cold LED. The idea is that if you are under incandescent light, then you should use the warm LED and if you are under sunlight, or fluorescent or LED bulbs that emit colder light, use the cold LED (when this feature is available). We should also be able to mix these LEDs to generate the color temperatures in between. I am guessing that they defaulted to the warm LED because in most situations when there is not enough light, the light that you do have in that environment is typically warm. By matching the flash color temperature to the surrounding light, the flash does not introduce color temperature distortions.
Typically, the phosphor color on the LEDs are different shades for warm and cold (when you are looking at them while they are turned off). Here is an example. I do not see a big difference on my phone, but it does look like only the bottom
EDIT: After thinking about this more, considering the same phosphor color, early iPhone flashes, and the individual control, it may be that 2 LEDs are used for taking a photo, and only 1 is used for a “torch.” The reason may be heat dissipation. Running a flash continuously can produce more heat than the phone is designed for. Typically you would use PWM to control brightness, but maybe that strobes too much for a photo sensor. Adjusting the current would also dim without strobing, but maybe they did not have room for that circuit. Given how warm the LED color temperature is, they could still put a cold white LED temperature in there and the flash would be a neutral color temperature, and we would also get a neat color temperature adjustable torch, but I am not sure that is what is going on.
This “phone” has two bulbs at the back, both of them that is the two of them are exactly the same amber colour. And, wherever I go, and try a pic, it’s amber/yellow whatever but certainly neither are white, neither produce anywhere near white light - just yellow:
Don’t know if you’ll see this or not, but it’s a pic of my keyboard taken from about 10" away. The stuff at the top is the bottom of my monitor screen.
Device camera settings are:
Gain 32
Exposure 900
Balance d50
Focus 250
I doubt it’s settings because nothing changed from the default setting to the ones above.
BTW, there is no flash. I’ve not seen a device without one.
G’night
~s
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Those are the default values that will generally only work well in proper daylight outdoors. You’re supposed to adjust them to match the lightning conditions. In the other thread you told me that you did that, but you did not.
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d50 will most likely be a reference to the CIE D50 Standard Illuminant, in layman’s terms, the images being produced by the camera will be colour balanced on an assumption that the scene/subject is being light by 5000K daylight source(s).
The LED being used by the torch feature of the phone has a measurable colour temperature of (approximately) 2400K and Duv of (approximately) 0.0017.
Having the camera’s [white] balance set for 5000K daylight source while lighting the scene/subject with a 2400K source (i.e. the phone’s torch) will result in the images being produced by the camera having a colour balance heavily shifted towards yellow/amber tones.
The camera software lacks the convenience of automatic or even semi-automatic modes that most are accustomed to and have come to expect. While that remains the case settings have to be applied manually, if you are using the torch to light the scene/subject and desire the images being produced to have a natural/neutral colour balance (i.e. whites to look reasonably white) then the camera’s [white] balance should be set to 2400K or close to it (if that’s possible?)
While I can fully understand that you may not recognise the output of the torch as being (even remotely close to) white, in the world of lighting particularly for film and camera the torch output would be considered a 2400K white light source.
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Did not do what? Does this device have a camera that you can see everything I do? Or don’t do? Get over my mistakes please, and I already have fact checker doing that. Don’t need two of you bullying me around. If you can’t read it all - your issue, don’t make it mine.
I take it everyone had something in their cereal this morning they didn’t like.
Bye
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Thank you @Loki There really should be a link from the ad for L5 to your explanation. My error was in believing the ad. I will drop the issue because it’s really caused quite a stir. I will never agree that it’s a camera too. Not yet. And, the two LEDs are YELLOW not white and no amount of pressure to accept they are white will change them from yellow to white. Others have 2 whites. So I got a extra special deal 
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You admitted yourself that you didn’t adjust the sliders by posting the gain, exposure, balance and focus values made while taking the photo. Those are the settings you’re supposed to adjust based on conditions around to make the photos look good and that you told me (in the other thread) that you did.
You’ve been linked multiple times to a guide that explains how to do it: https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-photo-processing-tutorial/
All Librem 5s have two warm white (yellowish in appearance) LEDs as a torch / camera flash.
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No they do not have LED torch in white color (equal to around 5000K). I’d rather guess that those two Chip-On-Board LEDs are around 2600K as 2400K goes more in direction of candle light color (the most preferable color of light, more reddish than yellowish, after any kind of daylight disappeared). Anyway (color of flash light used on some smartphone might not be allowed in public indoor places, especially if blue LED light dominates during any photo session) and within this thread it is more important for us here to get familiar with this related presentation: sharp_photos.mp4.
Yes, but in some other reality, as unrelated here to the Librem 5 COBs (and although your description point into the very right direction, yet reality is way below CRI 95+ and related LEDs are in one single light color for both of those LEDs, as @Loki rightfully pointed toward 2400K.
Anyway, what is very positive we can already adjust this torch light intensity (PHOSH development related).
In short, for low-light shots, tap the word “Exposure” at the top of the screen. A slider for Exposure adjustment appears at the bottom of the screen. Slide it to brighten the image. (Tip: If you long-press and hold the slider button, it converts from broad- to fine-grain adjustments.)
You might also want to increase Gain in the same way, just a little.
The flash function for photography is not yet implemented. When people say to turn on the torch/flashlight, this is just an imperfect workaround to add some extra light to the subject, not an official suggestion.
For outdoor shots in bright light, you might not have to adjust much.
I’ve also noticed that I have to crank up the screen’s general brightness setting to see the camera’s displayed image better.
[For info, the Camera app package name is “millipixels” and is itself a Purism/L5-specific fork of “megapixels,” which was originally created for postmarketOS, if I’m not mistaken.]
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Thanks a lot,
~s
Thanks. My fault. I read the ad, assumed the phone would work like other devices do. I should have known better.
~s
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Right. The marketing was/is inaccurate. I think developing the camera functionality turned out to be harder than Purism expected, but fortunately it’s getting there now, thanks to the efforts of @dos and @dcz (and maybe others I’m unaware of?).
But yeah, the marketing should have been revised a while ago, in my opinion.
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I love 2400K for late night lighting, but unless I am shooting pictures in a candle lit environment (or lighting with other 2400K LEDs), it should be a little higher. I wonder how hard it would be to desolder 1 of the 2 COBs and replace it with something 5000K-ish. The current might have to match the existing COB. The LM36922 allows each LED to have different voltages, as it regulates by current. In the datasheet, register 0x10 lets you enable or disable the LEDs individually. I tried reading this with the i2cget tool, but I would have to recompile the kernel to disable the driver to get direct access. The Linux kernel driver hard code’s both LEDs to be on or off at the same time. So, with the right hardware skills and software skills, this feature can be hacked in.
I still like the 2400K for a flashlight late at night, although the CRI might be a little off. However, using it for illuminating stuff in dark corners during the daytime hours is less than ideal.
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My quick and initial “preparation” wasn’t quite successful:
Yet another quick photo under 3000K/CRI98 (actually only to the natural red color related picture, presenting great lenses/sensor potential) indoor light was quite better:
And this photo, with the Librem 5 LED torch on, showing white (although not
white card balanced 
) light color at exactly 5000K/CRI95 (I’m quite sure):
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