After using my new Note 3 to take some photos while hiking over the weekend, I found out most were out of focus. Looking at how the camera works, it seems that when you take a photo the phone takes it immediately without focusing first. It will try to focus as you move it around but if it did not focus yet, it will not do so when you take the photo. On my Relay 4G as well as Galaxy Nexus (and pretty much any other phone I used) the auto focus will kick in right after you press the shutter button and will at least try to focus the picture. Is there any way to force the Note 3 to work the same way? I went through all the camera settings and did not see anything.
anyone747 said:
After using my new Note 3 to take some photos while hiking over the weekend, I found out most were out of focus. Looking at how the camera works, it seems that when you take a photo the phone takes it immediately without focusing first. It will try to focus as you move it around but if it did not focus yet, it will not do so when you take the photo. On my Relay 4G as well as Galaxy Nexus (and pretty much any other phone I used) the auto focus will kick in right after you press the shutter button and will at least try to focus the picture. Is there any way to force the Note 3 to work the same way? I went through all the camera settings and did not see anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using the tap to take the shot feature. It's is the camera settings. It's a great feature and works well. I like taking a handful of different shots but it works well for up close shots and distance shots. Once turned on you literally tap the screen where you want the camera to focus and it will focus on the area and take the shot. But yes like you I've noticed that sometimes pressing the shutter button sometimes does not achieve focus. Hope this he's as kind of a work around for you.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
Mine have all auto focused though I do prefer to tap to focus. The times when I didn't tap, it went through its focus cycle and was fine. Perhaps its focusing on something else in the image frame? Maybe there is a smudge on the lens and its focusing on that and makes the rest of the image blurry.
Related
I am waiting to get my T-Mobile US TP2.
For those of you that already have a TP2, non-T-Mobile US, can you say if the camera has a "pre-focus" capability as on most digital cameras?
I am looking to see if you can press the button to take a picture but only set the focus and the press the button to really take the picture.
press it anywhere on the screen to get the focus...., well kind a like that...or you could just watch the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTszfJJLimU
gunggu said:
press it anywhere on the screen to get the focus...., well kind a like that...or you could just watch the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTszfJJLimU
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my readings of the manual, that look/sounds like touch focus where you are touching the screen to select a different location to focus on, which sounds link a nice feature.
The question I have is, when you touch the screen for touch focus, does it actually initiate the auto focus at that time or do you still have to press the shutter button/icon to initiate the focus and then immediately take the picture?
On most digital cameras today, you can press the shutter button half way to focus and press fully to actually take the picture. I was hoping the TP2 also had something like this.
well, u can also see in the video that it doesnt work like that, so when u push the soft camera button, it will automatically focus and shot it...sorry mate
mmeyer4663 said:
From my readings of the manual, that look/sounds like touch focus where you are touching the screen to select a different location to focus on, which sounds link a nice feature.
The question I have is, when you touch the screen for touch focus, does it actually initiate the auto focus at that time or do you still have to press the shutter button/icon to initiate the focus and then immediately take the picture?
On most digital cameras today, you can press the shutter button half way to focus and press fully to actually take the picture. I was hoping the TP2 also had something like this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does on mine. when i touch an area of the screen which isnt a button, it shows the focal area changes and focusses on it. So, you can focus on something which isnt in the middle of your shot etc. I cant find anything like a focus lock though...so you cant focus on something, move the phone and then take a shot with the same focus set-it'll re-meter everything.
'tunes
mad_tunes said:
It does on mine. when i touch an area of the screen which isnt a button, it shows the focal area changes and focusses on it. So, you can focus on something which isnt in the middle of your shot etc. I cant find anything like a focus lock though...so you cant focus on something, move the phone and then take a shot with the same focus set-it'll re-meter everything.
'tunes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a good thing.
With the way you have described touch focus, you CAN pre focus and then when ready, hit the shutter icon to take the picture without the additional delay of auto focus when you press the shutter icon! Good!
Thanks!
UPDATE: From the TMO TP2 manual:
To use Touch Focus:
1. Set the Camera to Photo or Contacts Picture mode.
2. Touch the area on the screen that you want to focus. The Touch Focus indicator ( ) positions itself on the selected area.
Note If you tap outside the effective focus area, a white box appears to indicate the area where you can use Touch Focus.
3. Touch (Shutter ICON here) to activate auto-focus on the selected area and take the photo. See “Auto-focus” in this chapter for more information.
This implies that the touch focus only let's you designate where to focus. When you touch the shutter ICON, it still initiates the auto focus function and then takes the picture.
mmeyer4663 said:
This implies that the touch focus only let's you designate where to focus. When you touch the shutter ICON, it still initiates the auto focus function and then takes the picture.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spot on - it'll remember where you've told it to focus, but when you press the shutter button it'll re-focus
mad_tunes said:
Spot on - it'll remember where you've told it to focus, but when you press the shutter button it'll re-focus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just verified the international version of the TP2 has exactly the same language in the manual.
......would be very helpful
Is there anyway to achieve this? Tab once to focus the lens then tap a second time to actually take the pic. I think the TP1 could do this, right? This would be a great feature/tweak.
I'd also like a way to tell the camera to focus and then to take a picture.
The default of press here and I'll take a picture in 1-3 seconds is crap!
gunggu said:
well, u can also see in the video that it doesnt work like that, so when u push the soft camera button, it will automatically focus and shot it...sorry mate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly the case
I just recently upgraded my Samsung Focus to the latest beta 7712 - everything seems to work fine except for the Camera - it doesn't seem to focus anymore when I hold down the shutter button halfway. Focus also doesn't work for the Bing Vision for example, it just shows a blurry image no matter what.
Anyone else have this problem or suggestions on how to fix it?
Thanks!
Working fine here on HTC HD7.
Sent from my HTC HD7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Working fine on my LG Quantum.
working here just normally on a omnia7
Works on v1.3 Samsung Focus on 7712.
Although I do randomly have trouble focusing on things, but it seems to be limited to reflective or steep angled surfaces. Otherwise it focuses just fine.
What hardware revision and did you have issues on mango beta 1?
Have you tried pressing on the screen to take a photo (It'll focus then take) instead of pressing the button. Not a fix but you might have to do it until we get Official Mango.
Sounds ironic how the Focus won't focus anymore xD
Try resetting camera settings, or a factory reset with 7712.
Same experience on both builds of mango. I have to press the camera button 1/2 way and wait for it to focus before pressing completely.
Small price to pay...
Camera is functioning as designed and focuses without lag and stays locked, however, pressing further to trigger the shutter is diffacult and I end up with a blurry pic. Also, I wish the search button would lock out. Its not needed in camera mode. I always hit it by accident sending me to Bing.
Had the same problem on the first release of Mango. Seems to have gotten better on Mango release 2. Having some other issues, however.
I have the Focus v1.3 - before 7712 I had limited trouble focusing, but it worked well for the most part, similar to Scrtcwlvl. Now the camera will not focus at all, as in every shot is blurry =\ I had mango beta 2 installed before this, and oddly enough did not have this problem.
Its late now, but will try in the morning to do the screen tap focus and reset camera settings, and hard reset perhaps if that fails.
N!njaDuck said:
Same experience on both builds of mango. I have to press the camera button 1/2 way and wait for it to focus before pressing completely.
Small price to pay...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's how it's designed to work.
Sent from my HTC HD7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
alaszlo said:
Camera is functioning as designed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at all, the flashlight is buggy now
Tried doing tap to focus, also resetting the camera settings, no dice =(
If I'm feeling in a curious mood I'll try the hard reset, otherwise I might just live without the camera till RTM rolls around.
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone
Actually, I've noticed some interesting behavior since upgrading from 7392 to 7712 -- on my LG Optimus 7.
+ Can save the camera settings now. Awesome!
+ Able to turn off the shutter sound
+ Putting the phone on "vibrate" also turns off the shutter sound, which is what it should've been all along
+ Can force it to take pictures more quickly (rather than a long focus time)
+ Able to rotate the screen in "camera roll" mode when viewing pictures I've already taken. Couldn't do this before -- only when viewing from the Pictures hub.
- Seems to take blurry pictures more often when using the physical camera button, but less blurry when using the screen to snap the photo. Strange.
- Can't seem to get "tap to focus" to function on my phone, even if I turn off the "tap screen to take photo" option
Just some reports worth noting. All in all, I *love* the 7712 Mango build
do you think m$ will improve video capture from 25 to 30 fps at 720p ?
I have the same issue on 7712 on an AT&T Samsung Focus. (which makes having a "focus" issue on the Focus very difficult for searching in the forums...)
Both of the Mango preview builds had the same problem for me.
Holding the shutter button down half-way sometimes takes a LONG time for the focus target box (the white lines) to appear and the actual focusing routine to begin. Once the auto-focusing has begun, I see the image go from blurry to clear as it auto-focuses, but then, maddeningly, it continues "auto-focusing" past the in-focus image and settles on a blurry image.
I know "a long time for the focus box to appear" is subjective, but it's noticeably delayed compared to NoDo. In very informal testing, it's taken up to 8 seconds for the auto-focus target box to even appear (sometimes it's quicker than that, but, worse, sometimes it's never come up). BUT, once the actual auto-focusing has begun, I will see the image go from out-of-focus to in-focus, then settle on out-of-focus as it thinks it's found me the optimal focus condition for the picture.
My sort of solution... instead of using the shutter button, I touch and hold on the screen which brings up the focus box, then as the focusing routine starts, as soon as the image is in focus, I release my finger from the screen. This ninja-like quickness usually catches the image while it's still in-focus. If I press and hold the screen indefinitely, it will behave just like detailed above, where it goes from out-of-focus, to in-focus, then out-of-focus, but I guess because of how the "screen is touched" mode works, it takes the picture once I've been touching the screen for 3 seconds, regardless of focus.
I think the trick to lifting off of the screen while the image is still in focus can be duplicated with the shutter button (when the image is in focus, jam the button down from the half-detent to the full-detent before it can go back out-of-focus), but I found that urgently pressing the shutter button fully-down is a good way to move the phone during the exposure, which usually ruins the picture.
I've found that the finger-on-screen method will reliably bring up the focus box/auto-focus routine, while the half-detent on the physical button does not always get the focus box to show up. I've tried pressing the button to the half-detent from lots of different angles and directions, but without finding any type of pressure correlating with success or failure. This issue never appeared on NoDo or pre-NoDo (only on the Mango previews), though I do recognize that the phone is mechanically older now than when I was I got it in November. BUT, combined with the auto-focus silliness, I'm not thinking it's a button issue.
ahaha your Focus can't focus!
camera quality and performance is far worse than my 2mp dummy phone from 2006, the camera tries to auto focus again every time you try taking a picture, and it snaps the shot when it's blurry... getting really frustrating, could probably get better quality images if I just take a screenshot of the camera app... I just want to prevent that camera from focusing on it's own, and only focus when I tell it to, or manually focus somehow.. there should be some way to do that right?
Also, I thought I would add that I frequently encounter an error opening up the camera and then it says "can't connect to the camera" and the only way to fix it is to restart the device. usually the error occurs when browsing the gallery and then trying to go back into the camera, wher eit fails to start the camera and then no camera app, including the default one can access the camera.
Touch to focus on your object on the display. Ring will turn green.
Can also press and hold the picture/shutter icon to force it to refocus re everything and just release it to take the shot
albundy2010 said:
Touch to focus on your object on the display. Ring will turn green.
Can also press and hold the picture/shutter icon to force it to refocus re everything and just release it to take the shot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when you tap the screen to focus, it will focus, but then start auto focusing immediately after, thereby defeating the purpose entirely. and when you push the take picture button it will try focusing WHILE it takes a picture and you'll get an out of focus shot every time that takes a long time between shots. horrendous... I would swap it with the 3mp iphone 3gs camera or even my old 2mp nokia camera any day. With the forced auto-focus and bugs, the nexus camera is totally unusable. If you could just disable the camera auto focus somehow in the system settings so that it only re-focuses when the application tells it to (such as with clicks) it would be much better (ie. not broken).
When I try other camera apps, the camera also forces refocus when attempting to take a picture, despite pre-focusing by tapping.. I think it must be something with the camera or the system that is telling the camera to refocus when you take a picture because it happens in every application I've tried. I want to just tap somewhere on the screen to focus once and then it will NEVER try focusing again until I tap again.
UPDATE: Also, the one app that can expressly disable autofocus on camera shutter "camera fv-5"... does something weird on nexus 7, the first time you try to take a picture, even though it is set to disable auto focus and it is already focused, it will focus the first time you take a picture. then after that, even if you change the focus just like before manually or whatever, for as long as the app remains open it won't force refocus as you take a picture. There must be something in the android system that is overriding camera settings and causing the autofocus to go crazy in all the applications rendering the camera and video apps unwatchable.
Oh yeah, and the camera FV-5 trial limits the picture resolution to 0.3mp, and confirms my thoughts when I compared it to my old 2mp nokia, there is no additional detail in my 5mp images than the .3mp images taken by fv-5 without autofocus, and even those aren't sharp even when resized to .3mp. Wonderfully depressing and irritating that you can't even get .3mp of clarity out of a so called 5mp camera. >____<. The focus never focuses properly, it always scans through the correct focus and lands on blurry.
Hey Guys I'm having an issue with the Google Camera app on the Samsung S4 Mini. I can take pictures and videos fine however the issue arises when i want to take multiple pictures on the same focal point.
So if i touch the screen on the focus point, let the app find the correct exposure, take the picture then touch the screen again take a picture etc. it works fine and can keep doing that. The problem arises however when i want to take another picture without touching the screen in between taking shots. If i touch the screen, take a shot (the first picture is fine) and then try to take another shot without refocusing nothing happens. The focus circle will not respond to further attempts to refocus and the button to take pictures doesn't do anything.
Is there anything i should be doing? Any direction would be awesome.
Cheers.
I always take photos of my kids playing, but i noticed a big problem with the G4 camera that any moving object looks blurred in the photos even if the movment is slow (eg. Turning heads etc.).
I did not have this problem with my previous Galaxy S5.
Anybody noticed this problem?
Someone mentioned that the camera seems to want to use slow shutter speeds and low ISO values, when left in Auto mode.
As Auto does not provide any adjustments at all, you'd either have to use Manual mode, or try another camera app that allows a little more control. Something to force the camera to use a higher ISO setting, and a faster shutter speed, which would help reduce blurring of moving objects.
Of course, this assumes you are in a well-lit area. If you're indoors, in a moderately-lit area, then you are going to have more trouble regardless.
Manually turn on the flash, that might help. You can toggle the flash mode even if the camera is in auto.
I have kids too and sometimes my pics of them come out blurry too...this is outdoors with a ton of light. These out of focus shots are not a shutter speed thing but more of an auto focus problem.
The camera always wants to re-grab focus whenever you take a picture when the subject is moving. My kids will be in the frame, in focus (green squares on screen to confirm) I push the camera button, then the damn software tries and refocus because my kids are running around, the auto focus pics the wrong focal point and then the shutter snaps...out of focus pic.
I too came from the S5 which had better software. On that phone, if I turned off burst shot, pushing and holding down the camera button would cause the camera to focus on the subject and lock it in, then when I released my finger, it would take an almost instantaneous picture and keep focus... end result always sharp pics of my kids even when running (as long as there was lots of light).
If G4 could have that feature, all would be perfect!
Ah, in that case, maybe try touching the screen to cause the camera to focus on the spot you touched. But, instead of touching the spot where your moving kids are, try touching a non-moving spot on the ground near them, but at the same focal distance. That way, your kids will also be in focus. If that still doesn't work, then maybe switch to manual mode to hold the focus manually.