Database Users

Galaxy S camera problems

Just as the thread title says, my camera is full of bugs, unable to change iso/exposure properly and hangs when I try to focus or take a picture. Had the same problem when using jf4 and jm2 as well as third party camera apps. Is this a software or hardware problem? And any solutions?

you are the very first person to complain about this.
just about every body else loves the camera, including me
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=731846

AllGamer said:
you are the very first person to complain about this.
just about every body else loves the camera, including me
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=731846
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I had problems testing the panorama shot, but I never complained, mostly because I don't take pictures and I was just testing it. Also, in the camera's defense, I was talking pictures in a room, where perhaps there was an issue due to corners while the shot is intended to be of landscape....any thoughts?

Not exactly complaining but I think that it could be a hardware problem as half of the time I press the camera app, the app starts shows a black screen and says 'camera failed' and force closes...

Qazz~; said:
Not exactly complaining but I think that it could be a hardware problem as half of the time I press the camera app, the app starts shows a black screen and says 'camera failed' and force closes...
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Is this lag ?

Not much lag, but like I said its real buggy, can't even focus.when I tap on an area the box shifts to wheretapped but it does not focus, the box will now get stuck there and the iso/exposure will not change then usually the camera will stop working

Qazz~ said:
Not exactly complaining but I think that it could be a hardware problem as half of the time I press the camera app, the app starts shows a black screen and says 'camera failed' and force closes...
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now, that is an actual problem.
did you try rebooting the phone?
if you can't take even a normal picture, you might have an defective camera

Taking a picture is a hit and miss affair, takes pics 2 out of 10 times i try, it should be a camera problem, going to send it in for warranty now. will report back when its fixed

Have you tried a hard reset to see if the problem goes away?
Whenever things start to go wierd, I alway 1)Soft reset 2)If it does not work do a hard reset 3)If still doesn't work, find out if everyone else with the same firmware has the problem 4) Finally, go to the shop for a replacement, it's likely then to be a hardware issue.

If you have 'fring' installed uninstall it and camera will stop failing

Just updated to JM2, I have fring installed, never had such problem even with stock...

Sorry my bad, fring was recently fixed for sgs
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Soft reset, hard reset, flashed firmware again. All did not work. Was sent in for repair a few hours ago, they said it would take 2-3 days, had jm2 on it though and where I live the latest firmware is jf4. Hope they don't bother about that. Hoping for the best

Update!
Just got phone back from Samsung after waiting for 4 torturous days, everything seems to be in working order now, the auto focus is still pretty slow though but other than that its great.
So after all it should have just been a hardware problem as the customer service lady told me that they changed the pcb of the camera

Qazz~ said:
Not exactly complaining but I think that it could be a hardware problem as half of the time I press the camera app, the app starts shows a black screen and says 'camera failed' and force closes...
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I had the same problem get voodoo lag fix if you have any other lag fix un do them before running the voodoo it works rember after you do the lag fix it takes a long time to boot

here is the fix to camera problem!!!!!!!
I had the same problem get voodoo lag fix if you have any other lag fix un do them before running the voodoo it works rember after you do the lag fix it takes a long time to boot

HELP PLEASE.... I bought a new Galaxy S Captivate about 3 weeks ago and i think alrealy had the new Android 2.1 with the GPS Fixed. The Camera was working until a few days ago. Every time I start the Camera app, after just 2 or 3 seconds I am getting the Warning message "Camera Failed". I can only press okay and the Camera app closes. I tried many times and it is always the same.
I tried soft reset, and hard reset which errased all my data, and nothing. Today I decided to upgrade to the new Leaked version of the Froyo 2.2 to see if it would help. Nothing helped. I AM STUCK....
I called Samsung 3rd level support and they said that I should send my phone to them for them to REFLASH my phone. If that would not fix they would replace and send another phone to me.
My problem is that I am out of the USA (I am in Brazil now) for the next 3 months, so I would like to find a way to fi via software now.
Since Samsung said that the best way to fix this Camera problem is the FLASH the phone, and only SAMSUNG has this special flashing software, my question is:
1- DOES ANY ONE KNOWS WHER I COULD DOWNLOAD THIS SAMSUNG FLASHING SOFTWARE ? ANY WHAT WHERE I COULD GET THE ROM ORIGINAL CAPTIVATE 2.1 VERSION?
2- I only know this 2 ways to flash or upgrade my phone,
I897UCJF6-final-OCD-REV0.rar (for Android 2.1)
I897UCJI6-OCD-REV02-Low-designgears.exe (for Android 2.2 leaked version)
But I am not sure that this is the SAMSUNG FLASH version that they are talking about , is it?
Where can I find the real Samsung Flash software ? PLEASE HELP

Solved Thanks to Voodoo
Had practically the same problem, Camera failed yet it worked for Video and even in Panorama mode, I didn't install anything new other than some themes from the Market, I tried factory set, removing the battery ... nothing worked, so I disabled OCLF, uninstalled it, and installed Voodoo lag fix instead, that made the trick !! Don't understand why though , but anyways it's working now

twingerbread 3.3 - video camera
alovell83 said:
I had problems testing the panorama shot, but I never complained, mostly because I don't take pictures and I was just testing it. Also, in the camera's defense, I was talking pictures in a room, where perhaps there was an issue due to corners while the shot is intended to be of landscape....any thoughts?
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the camera is definitely broken. I'm running kernel 2.6.32.9, twingerbread 3.3 on sgh-i897; and the video option is no-fugu. force-close EVERY time I try to use it.

When i try to camera it says "camera failed".Soft reset, hard reset, flashed firmware again. All did not work

Camera Problems

Hey guys, none of my cameras are working. When i hit the camera button the camera app turns on but the screen is white. I've tried searching but everything comes up related to a discolored camera. Ive tried flashing many roms, fixing permissions, tapping on the camera. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Do you have an Evo 4g? You said you "hit the camera button" but the Evo doesn't have a hardware camera button.
If it's happening across multiple roms, including stock, it's probably a hardware problem.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

oxxomxxo said:
Hey guys, none of my cameras are working. When i hit the camera button the camera app turns on but the screen is white. I've tried searching but everything comes up related to a discolored camera. Ive tried flashing many roms, fixing permissions, tapping on the camera. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
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You haven't flashed a Froyo kernel on a Gingerbread ROM, have you? The issue you describe is a well-documented side-effect of doing just that. If not, I would flash back to stock and see if it works. If it does, then you know it's a software issue. If it doesn't, then I would agree with plainjane.

Did you ever get a working answer to this? I'm having the same problem. My camera won't open, it force closes before going anywhere beyond a black screen. The night before, it would at least open. The front facing camera worked but the rear facing camera seemed stuck on solarize (which I had no options to change). Seems like a software problem so I updated to the latest deck rom, updated hboot, pri, nv, wimax - now fully updated and still no fix. Tried installing miui apk and still same.
If I don't get this camera fixed, I'll have to unroot. Not looking forward to doing that but if it's between having root or camera, I'm going to pick the camera.
Hope someone can help before I have to go to such drastic measures.

midian42 said:
Did you ever get a working answer to this? I'm having the same problem. My camera won't open, it force closes before going anywhere beyond a black screen. The night before, it would at least open. The front facing camera worked but the rear facing camera seemed stuck on solarize (which I had no options to change). Seems like a software problem so I updated to the latest deck rom, updated hboot, pri, nv, wimax - now fully updated and still no fix. Tried installing miui apk and still same.
If I don't get this camera fixed, I'll have to unroot. Not looking forward to doing that but if it's between having root or camera, I'm going to pick the camera.
Hope someone can help before I have to go to such drastic measures.
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Rooting won't break your camera.
I would flash back to a rooted stock ROM, and confirm whether camera works or not on it. If it does, then you know the issue is in fact software related (which it doesn't sound like it is). If it doesn't, then you have a hardware failure.

A corrupt sd cars gave me the same problem. Try re-formatting it.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I took it to Best Buy and they told me it's a sensor issue. My phone gets replaced so it's all good.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I tried them all before deciding it must be a hardware issue and going to BB.

I know this is a few months late, but I recently had a similar problem. I would click the camera icon and the screen would just go black and then f/c on me. I was running ICS roms, so I flashed to Decks GB rom, Mik 3.1 rom and had the same problem. So I figured it was a hardware problem.
I decided to open up my evo and take a look inside and found the camera housing was not seated completely. Pushed it back down and it has been working for days now
I guess it probably jarred loose when I dropped it or bumped it or something.
Thought I would share, because it was very frustrating for me, so I figured it might be bothering someone else.

Snapchat camera issue?

Ok...something strange is happening when I use snapchat. I take a picture and than the app closes by itself and the camera refuses to work until I reboot...any other camera app will just gove a can nit connect to camera message until I reboot. Ill reboot and any camera app works (stock/instagram) but as soon as I try snapchat again...it auto closes when I take a picture and suddenly the camera wont connect again.
The strangest part is it was working fine earlier...ive been using snapchat since I got the phone with no issues...so not sure whats up...ive uninstalled and reinstalled...so not really sure what else to do...anyone have any suggestions? Anyone else experience this? Do you think maybe its hardware??? I dont think its hardware cause it works fine until I use snapchat...but idk cant figure this one out
Also, I have done notging new to my phone...no nee apps, no new mods, no new updates...nothing so there really is no reason for this behavior. Ill try odin later but im away from my oc at the moment and just wanted to get other peoples input
Edit: snapchat appears to be working again...still strange that that happened...makes me worried as I dont know if it was the hardware or app failing
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

mg2195 said:
Ok...something strange is happening when I use snapchat. I take a picture and than the app closes by itself and the camera refuses to work until I reboot...any other camera app will just gove a can nit connect to camera message until I reboot. Ill reboot and any camera app works (stock/instagram) but as soon as I try snapchat again...it auto closes when I take a picture and suddenly the camera wont connect again.
The strangest part is it was working fine earlier...ive been using snapchat since I got the phone with no issues...so not sure whats up...ive uninstalled and reinstalled...so not really sure what else to do...anyone have any suggestions? Anyone else experience this? Do you think maybe its hardware??? I dont think its hardware cause it works fine until I use snapchat...but idk cant figure this one out
Also, I have done notging new to my phone...no nee apps, no new mods, no new updates...nothing so there really is no reason for this behavior. Ill try odin later but im away from my oc at the moment and just wanted to get other peoples input
Edit: snapchat appears to be working again...still strange that that happened...makes me worried as I dont know if it was the hardware or app failing
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
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Fine for me. No issues no lag

I've had the same issue a couple times. It's really weird. It only happens on the rear camera (the 13MP good camera) and only in certain scenarios. I tried to take a picture of my hammock, it locked up and I had to shut down. I took a picture of the ground, no problems. Hammock again, locked up. Flash on/off, doesn't matter. Weirdest thing.
I think it might be the camera software switching between white balances automatically (no proof to back this up, but since it matters where I point the camera, it has to have something to do with what the camera is seeing and doing in response to the scenery) and SnapChat might not play well with one of the white balances.
I just now took a picture of my driveway from inside my house, no problem. Took a picture of the hammock in the yard, freeze up. There's a lot of green in the hammock shot, I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

Have you guys factory reset. First thing I did when I turned it on

My girlfriend's s4 is doing the same thing she only gets it on the front camera but can make it do it at will she says it when the camera first turns on and is focusing and adjusting the color of you take a pic before it settles down it does what the op said.

energyracing said:
I've had the same issue a couple times. It's really weird. It only happens on the rear camera (the 13MP good camera) and only in certain scenarios. I tried to take a picture of my hammock, it locked up and I had to shut down. I took a picture of the ground, no problems. Hammock again, locked up. Flash on/off, doesn't matter. Weirdest thing.
I think it might be the camera software switching between white balances automatically (no proof to back this up, but since it matters where I point the camera, it has to have something to do with what the camera is seeing and doing in response to the scenery) and SnapChat might not play well with one of the white balances.
I just now took a picture of my driveway from inside my house, no problem. Took a picture of the hammock in the yard, freeze up. There's a lot of green in the hammock shot, I don't know if that has anything to do with it.
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i think your hammock is cursed o.o and i have no issues. it works fine on both front and back cameras in snapchat/any other camera app.

sorry to bump an old post but did anyone ever find a solution to this problem, its been happening to me on my gs4 from verizon. It will work then all of a sudden it does the same thing with the camera and just exits the app?

Same deal on my Galaxy s4 that is barely a month old. Everything was working perfectly fine until a couple of days ago when I try to send snaps using the rear camera.
Goes something like this:
- Take photo with rear camera, app crashes
- Screen freezes at the Snapchat 'loading' screen OR nonfunctional camera within the app (whereas everything else works such as receiving incoming snaps)
- Rebooting works from time to time, but the problem is reoccurring
- Tried clearing cache/reinstalling the app, no luck
It's starting to really get on my nerves.

I had the same problem. Snapchat force closes and camera starts to fail. I contacted the snapchat team and reported the problem. I got a reply saying that they are working on it. Maybe you guys should send them an email too and explain the problem you guys are having.

I have the exact same issue. I've not been able to find a work-around.

snapchat freezes on videos that are longer then like 2-3 seconds it seems... then i have to restart again to get the camera back...

Nothing is wrong with your phones. Snapchat is an extremely ****tily programmed app. What do you expect from a terrible iOS port?
I might suggest Wink! as an alternative, but it doesn't support video, but meh.

Yeah I have the same problem. It's fricken ridiculous. When will they fix this?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Free mobile app

I think it may have to do with using the CM/non TW camera.. Whenever I used it I experienced this very problem. Since I've gone back to TW, I have not..

[Q] Switching to front facing camera produces error. 'Camera not connected'.

Helllllo everyone!
So I apologize for being one of those people who just come here to ask questions. Unfortunately life doesn't have room for me spending time playing with my Android devices anymore, so having it 'work' is more important to me.
I am on 4.3, ParanoidAndroid 3.96. I am not on the latest because it took some time to have the app TouchControl work (with my Franco kernel), and Secure Settings etc. that I chose to just stick with it because it worked really well for me.
The problem!
I recently noticed that if I tried to switch to the front facing camera, it'd hang. After that, I would not be able to use my torch/led, and going into the camera would tell me that "The camera is not connected" or something like that. I could only fix this by clearing all the data on my Gallery, and shutting down, and then turning on again. Reboot would not work.
If I did that, I could go into my camera and use the rear camera fine. Take pictures, record video, etc. Torch works as normal. It's just that once I attempt to go into the front camera, this problem happens.
It's weird because I didn't flash anything or change any settings when this happened. I DID install https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.mrogalski.saidit which wouldn't let me record a video while being used, but I since disabled/uninstalled it which solved that problem.
I have done a lot of googling on this problem, and noticed that I am not the only one who has this problem. For some people it seems like their phone is new, and some it just happens out of nowhere. For that reason I suspect it might be a hardware problem that can occur randomly, but it's weird that after triggering the problem, that my torch won't work anymore as well. Unless the torch is somehow tied to the camera/flash, and by triggering the problem when I try to access the front camera, it isn't able to 'call' the camera/flash anymore as a result?
I bought my Nexus 4 from Google in May 2013, so I believe I still have until May 2014 to RMA it, correct? Would I get another Nexus 4 at this point, or maybe I'd get a Nexus 5 instead?
Thanks in advance for any insight into my problem!

I know you would like to keep the rom you are on but to be on that rom you must have a custom recovery installed. So if I was you I would back you're rom up then flash something different to see if its hardware related or not . If so then return the phone.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

bladebuddy said:
I know you would like to keep the rom you are on but to be on that rom you must have a custom recovery installed. So if I was you I would back you're rom up then flash something different to see if its hardware related or not . If so then return the phone.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Thanks for the reply.
I tried installing the latest PA rom, but came up with an error. I had the rom I was on originally still, so I tried wiping and flashing it again. Finished flashing, went and opened the camera and it still happened. Looks like it's a hardware problem then!
I guess I'll go look up a guide to flashing back to stock now.

S8 weird camera problem

Hi guys, I have been dealing with s8 camera problem for months now and decided to ask before I smash my phone into the wall.
Problem looks simple, I start recording and it randomly stops. Its followed by quick flash(the one that you see when switching the camera on) and looks like camera is restarting. It happens after 2,5, 10 seconds or sometimes doesn't happen at all. I recorded a video of my baby and after 20s I found out that recording stopped and I didn't get anything. I tried to use a camera in safe mode, seems to be working fine there.
Does it mean that some apps interfere with camera app? Also tried cleaning the cache which didn't help. Is there a way to find what apps are causing the issue? Is factory reset best option in my case? I would add that I can see those weird flashes even when I'm not recording and camera is simply switched on.
I would appreciate any help guys. Thank you.

Do you try some other camera apk ?

zelenko said:
Do you try some other camera apk ?
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Yes, they worked fine and didn't have any issues. I would like to use an original app tho because I find it much quicker and less complicated. Wonder if it's maybe related to Samsung cloud sync. I'm just too scared to factory reset lol

So you are saying that U never tried to solve the problem by doing a factory reset? That should be second thing on your list, after restarting. xD