Google Nexus 5 :: Camera Freezes When Taking HDR+ Photos Only

I experienced freezing while shooting HDR+ after the initial update, but after un/reinstalling the Google Camera, it seemed fine for a couple of weeks, but the problem has returned with a vengeance. I cannot shoot anything in HDR+ without the camera and phone freezing.

Regular photos snap fine, but when shooting HDR+, the progress indicated gets to about 2 o'clock and then image totally freezes. After a few seconds, it will close and pop up a crash box offering to report or acknowledge with OK. (I've reported it.) Sometimes it will put up a notification that "HDR+ photos are processing in the background, but if you tap that it takes you into the Photos app and there's nothing there and then the whole phone freezes. Yesterday, I noticed the GPS stuck on (was in a basement) at the same time and had to reboot the phone.

I un/reinstalled the update again yesterday and HDR+ worked for a couple of shots, but today it froze again. This is clearly an unacceptable way to manage the problem. I'm tired of missing pictures because the camera app crashes. I was at a major event last week and had Camera crash on launch for the first time. Fortunately, I was able to quickly reboot before snapping a group shot, but if I hadn't noticed beforehand, I would've had a crowd looking at me while I frantically restarted my phone because of a buggy basic app.

Rooted, stock Nexus 5, Android 4.4.2, faux123 kernel (to try and fight the terrible battery life), no GravityBox things which I've seen mentioned as possible causes.