Camera Bugs - Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

It's happened a few times now where I've tried to take a picture and it just won't take. I keep clicking the shutter button but nothing will happen. It's really inconvenient so I'm wondering if it's just me.
A few more bugs I've noticed is sometimes when the face detection circle goes over someone's face when I scroll into the gallery the circle is still such there. Sometimes when I exit out of the gallery a bunch of images from the gallery flash real quick before it goes back to the home screen. And when going into the camera if I swipe to see a picture and click 'set as' the contact photo / wallpaper option doesn't show up. I can still click the buy the options are invisible.
Just wanted to know if it's just me or if this is happening to other people too.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

HDR takes pics super slow because its actually taking two and combining them. Make sure that's off.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Ngo93 said:
It's happened a few times now where I've tried to take a picture and it just won't take. I keep clicking the shutter button but nothing will happen. It's really inconvenient so I'm wondering if it's just me.
A few more bugs I've noticed is sometimes when the face detection circle goes over someone's face when I scroll into the gallery the circle is still such there. Sometimes when I exit out of the gallery a bunch of images from the gallery flash real quick before it goes back to the home screen. And when going into the camera if I swipe to see a picture and click 'set as' the contact photo / wallpaper option doesn't show up. I can still click the buy the options are invisible.
Just wanted to know if it's just me or if this is happening to other people too.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the focus ring carry over into the gallery. That's really the only bug I've found, and it only happens on occasion.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk²

Omfg tonight I was in a club and thought I'd test out the camera and it took two pictures then wouldn't take any more. The button would press but the focus ring wouldn't twist and nothing happened, on top of that the flash still worked so I turned it into an impromptu strobe light show. Pretty stupid and annoying. When I got home a few minutes ago I tried to 'break' it again and I did! No photos would snap. Very dumb.
I had the stuck focus ring a few days back too. Hope they fix this soon. Broken camera is very bad.

The camera on this phone is @$$$$$$$$. Sucks so hard. I wish they out the galaxy s3 camera in here. Or hope they fix it with software. Looks like 2mp picture quality
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Yeah it seems like a software update could fix this. It's just really annoying when you can't snap that photo when you really need it. I hope Google pushes out a fix soon... or let the devs address it in upcoming custom ROMS =)
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

I've had this too. I've also had issues with it losing focus. Not impressed with the camera at all. My 2011 Xperia arc takes much better shots.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

I have had the same shutter button wont take the picture and ive killed the camera app and got it working again. Not being able to take a picture of my new born baby laying in the clean turkey roasting rack on wed was a huge disappointment, and worse of all i was with my in-laws and they new it was my "brand new fancy phone." I said oh yep it got the picture to cover up for my nexus 4 (moment of cowardliness) instead of saying oh the camera froze, let me force close the app and open it again!

I've been having some problems with the cameras as well...
please have a look here and comment
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2011315

Has anyone found a fix for this problem?
Several times this past week the camera would not take a pic. I would push the button and the circle would not turn to focus and sometimes the flash would just stay on (it was not on video mode). The camera would be unresponsive so I would have to either back out or hit the home button. Sometimes reopening it or hitting the task killer then reopening the camera would work but a couple of times I would turn the phone off then on to get it to work.
It's such a pain to miss shots but I think it sucks more to ask someone else to take the shot with their phone...especially when they're on a different OS. I like this phone much more than my S2 but that camera didn't let me down like this one has.

It seems like a problem with the focusing system. I've experienced it myself.
One solution is to tap on the screen to acquire focus (green circle) before snapping
a picture. The focusing on the Nexus4 camera is overall pretty bad. I am guessing that
Google will release a kernel update about this at some point.

its really coz of the focus thing... there should have been a manual and auto focus in the camera.. to avoid it... possiblly the focus take too much of time detecting what to focus and what not to.
may be a mod with auto focus and manual focus with the camera app can solve the issue

-Mindroid- said:
It seems like a problem with the focusing system. I've experienced it myself.
One solution is to tap on the screen to acquire focus (green circle) before snapping
a picture. The focusing on the Nexus4 camera is overall pretty bad. I am guessing that
Google will release a kernel update about this at some point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried to do that and it would do the same thing with the flash staying on. I tried to touch different parts to move the circle but it still wouldn't give the green circle and allow the shot to be taken.

I have 1 question for you guys, do you have s rear screen protector on, and does it cover the camera lens?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

I don't have problems with taking pictures, but focusing, definatley, when I have flash turned on, and tryign to focus to something close (almost Macro close) it just won't focus, it will flash quickly, and have the green circle, but it just isn't focused! It's fine when the flash is turned off though, or if I let it focus after pressing the shutter button, just tap to focus with flash.

mrbkkt1 said:
I have 1 question for you guys, do you have s rear screen protector on, and does it cover the camera lens?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. I have not removed the original protector and it does not cover it.
I'm trying the lgcamera app to see if it works better.

If I remember, the original protector covers the camera, but not the flash.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

I have a pink spot in the middle of the camera. Does anyone else?:/
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

666fff said:
Omfg tonight I was in a club and thought I'd test out the camera and it took two pictures then wouldn't take any more. The button would press but the focus ring wouldn't twist and nothing happened, on top of that the flash still worked so I turned it into an impromptu strobe light show. Pretty stupid and annoying. When I got home a few minutes ago I tried to 'break' it again and I did! No photos would snap. Very dumb.
I had the stuck focus ring a few days back too. Hope they fix this soon. Broken camera is very bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also faced the situation when I was with my friends and after taking two pictures, my nexus 4 stopped taking pictures and flash stayed on. Very embarrassing. Had to use s2 for all other pics.
Sent from my Nexus 4

Mine does this too. The picture wouldn't take after taking a few shots of my son.
I'm not sure HDR mode is the problem and tapping to focus certainly didn't fix it.

Related

[Q] Camera Blur

Following the update, any picture I take with my camera is blurry. It doesn't matter if I keep the camera still and/or the subject is still.
Anyone else seeing this and/or have any ideas as to how to fix it?
Someone suggested holding down the shutter button for a sec before releasing it. I've tried it and notice when the sound is on it'll actually make a noise when it's focused. I hth you!!!
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
DLarva said:
Following the update, any picture I take with my camera is blurry. It doesn't matter if I keep the camera still and/or the subject is still.
Anyone else seeing this and/or have any ideas as to how to fix it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you do ok before the update?
If not I can suggest some tips...
Don
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Yeah, my pictures were turning out well prior to the update. It could be coincidence and something else changed, but the update is the most likely culprit.
I've got the same issue. My picture quality has gone to crap in the JI6 update vs. the JFD update. They always come out blurry no matter how still I hold the camera.
On this forum others have fixed errors following the update by performing a factory reset...has anyone who had this blurry camera issue tried this? If so, did the blurriness go away?
Have you tried cleaning the plastic/glass element in front of the camera? Sometimes I get a finger smudge on it and my pictures will turn out blurry.
sj_martin said:
Have you tried cleaning the plastic/glass element in front of the camera? Sometimes I get a finger smudge on it and my pictures will turn out blurry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this heh you'd be surprised at how important this is. But I haven't noticed any problem, works fine for me.
I have tried cleaning it...but perhaps I need to use the right cleaning product. Any recommendations?
jesus. use your t shirt.
perhaps you accidentally set the focus mode to macro?
DLarva said:
Yeah, my pictures were turning out well prior to the update. It could be coincidence and something else changed, but the update is the most likely culprit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have noticed that after the update, specifically the need to get a lock with the focusing square prior to taking the shot, is critical. Just tapping the shutter button to get a shot gives me blurry pictures most of the time. Not sure if its really the update or not or just me.
I have found if I push the shutter button down and hold it down until the focusing square goes green indicating a focus lock, then I can hold the camera still and compose my shot, as long as I do not change the distance between the subject and the camera, I can trigger the shutter by pulling my finger off the screen shutter button without bumping the device, I get much sharper pictures. Camera shake equals blurry. In this new high def world we demand sharpness more then ever.
In addition with all cameras, the sensor (or film in the old days) needs a certain fixed amount of light for a proper exposure. With automatic cameras the brighter the ambient light on the subject the faster the shutter speed will be. Fast shutter equals sharper focused hand held shots. If its darker the camera compensates by opening the shutter slower (longer) and raising the ISO to get the same fixed amount of light into the camera. In low light if you move even slightly the shot will be blurry and grainy from the high ISO and slower shutter.
Sorry if this is all well known "camera 101", just trying to help. This really is an exceptional point and shoot camera and over the top for a phone. I hope the update didn't jack up your cameras and a reset and/or the above tips does the trick for you guys.
Don
Update:
After trying many different things I finally talked with TMo support and they sent me a replacement phone.
My old phone had a few additional problems that this one doesn't have, so I'm glad I did the replacement. However, the new phone also doesn't seem to be capable of taking good photos.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I used to be able to take great pictures with this phone without trying, and now I go out of my way to setup the perfect situation and the pictures are still blurry.
The only thing I can think of that changed on the phone is the OTA update.
Furthermore, taking video works just fine. So it is something about the Camera software or something I'm somehow doing differently than I did during my first few months of ownership.

Bad Camera autofocus on Note..

as on others devices (S2),also on Note i noticed that autofocus is not perfect.
On macro it works well,but on normal photos and expecially ZOOMING....i can not get a good focus.
Try to zoom 4x ...impossible to get a correct focus..for me
a personal problem...or firmware problem....?
i have last firm ...upgraded on line 2 days ago.
Regards..
You should never use digital zoom on a phone camera the results are always terrible. Also I noticed my SGSII had a tough time auto focusing during videos. It was always freaking out trying to focus on the center object.
on HTC HD2 autofocus works well also zooming...
samsung optical software are very bad...
No solution?
Have you guys noticed a tiny piece of protective plastic over the camera lens? May or not be obvious, but have you removed that?
alcuin said:
Have you guys noticed a tiny piece of protective plastic over the camera lens? May or not be obvious, but have you removed that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OOPS
Mine has the plastic still on. It has a round cut out for the lens already.
indie said:
Mine has the plastic still on. It has a round cut out for the lens already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The lens has its own little piece of plastic covering it.
removed around ...but the lens have no plastic...
is only my Note with this problem..?
you can zoom and focus well?
boh...seems something of software related...
My lens has no other plastic on there
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indie said:
My lens has no other plastic on there
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look again. I Missed mine even with my spectales on. My nephew with young eyes spotted it.
I took the plastic off but i cant see the one you are refering too. I can see some sort of faint line around the lens but i dont think its suppose to come off
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Yes bro
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
enobrec said:
removed around ...but the lens have no plastic...
is only my Note with this problem..?
you can zoom and focus well?
boh...seems something of software related...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you on 2.3.6? On my note (2.3.6), I just tried what you described (4x zoom and focus) and it had no trouble focusing.
This was indoors, with some light coming through the window blinds and it's almost sunset outside. So not really bright inside.
Granted, digital zoom is always (and I mean always) a bad call compared to taking an unzoomed photo and cropping/enlarging yourself, but at least the phone had no trouble focusing while zoomed in.
its not just you
Its not just you. I have the same proplem now, but did not when i recieved it. The problem is just more aparent when zooming in the phone but you also see it unzoomed on the full photo on the PC. Auto focus just does not do its job and everything is really blurry. I think the problem only came up after a firmware upgrade, but i may be mistaken.
I already tried downgrading which did not work (maybe an even older version is required?) but then noticed the CSC code wrongly set to KOR. Stetting it to the for me correct DBT did not help either.
Anyone has this without having upgraded? Anyone solved it?<
Update: Looking back at made photos... If this is a software issue, it was not present in firmare KK9. I got a photo mentioning that firmware that was ok. However I have this version installed now, and focusing is not ok.
However i still see it possible that some changed from more recent firmwares like a camara firmware change made it in that was not reversed when installing the older version.
I'd appreciate if we could work together in narrowing down this problem by comparing situations.
My phone's auto-focus was working fine until I did the KKA firmware update. Now it is crap. I've been hoping for another update to fix it, bit no dice so far!
I have the same problem. I was considering sending my Note back or trying to find a camera replacement until I figured out my first few pix (pre update) were very good. I just hope an update comes soon because I'm working with a Mac at home and have failed to root or flash one of the updated roms.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
The camera in the Galaxy Note has about 8 million photosensors. That defines the resolution you're going to get. Digital zoom only enlarges the pixels, interpolating, it's the same if you shoot without zoom and then enlarge the picture on the computer.
For me the camera on the Galaxy Note is pretty capable, better than a compact camera I had 6 years ago.
I don't know who you're responding to with the post of your image sample, but I cannot get anything close to this at the moment. Only in macro mode. The problems is auto focus, it has nothing to do with zoom.
I decided to ask for a replacement or repair from amazon.de and was in luck.
Due to an extended cristmas timeframe in which you can just send it back or get a replacement I just sent mine back and they sent me a new one right away.
The new one is fine now. The camera photos are really good.
Plus, now the screen on this new one is nicely even compared to the slightly uneven display brightness in some areas of the screen (especially on grey color) on my old one.
Also got the latest firmware on it without a problem.
So I'm really happy now
Im sure you guys know in photos you can touch the screen to set your focus point.
Digital zoom will just give you crap results, avoid this and just zoom and crop in editing which will give you a much better image.

Macro Focus option?

Does anyone know how to enable/ toggle the macro option on the s4 or is there no such option? tried looking but couldnt find it.
sameer1807 said:
Does anyone know how to enable/ toggle the macro option on the s4 or is there no such option? tried looking but couldnt find it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read in one of the reviews that the camera can take macro pictures in auto mode. There is no separate mode anymore.
sameer1807 said:
Does anyone know how to enable/ toggle the macro option on the s4 or is there no such option? tried looking but couldnt find it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No option, but it is unnecessary.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337
Yea focus is very good up close. Guess it doesn't need a macro. Thx for the replies
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
So is there anyway to install a 3rd party camera for macro mode? I take pictures of circuit boards up close at work and it cant focus in that great.
If your work has a requirement for taking macro photos, they should be providing you with more appropriate hardware to do so.
I love the auto macro focus! Especially when I can tap where I want the phone to focus before snapping the pic.
View attachment 2174216
We have a dslr camera but its not always available. My coworkers have S3s and note 2s and tge macro focus is noticeably better than the S4 macro focus. Its just convenient having a phone that can take macro pictures like the s3 did. This pic I attached was one of the few that came out ok.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
I am very familiar with circuit boards and know there is very small detail on them. My story as close as I can get to yours--
Have a fluorescent light fixture installed over a vanity up inside a soffet. Hard to get to and even harder to read the info on the ballast with my poor eyes even with glasses--
My son said take a pic. So, I held the phone up inside the soffet to the ballast within maybe 3 inches. My positioning was awkward and could not hold phone and hit camera button at same time to take the pic. So, I used the "by some called gimmicky" feature of say cheese.
End result a good "macro" pic and with a little zoom in could read the extremely fine Lamp Info chart on the ballast. I am on Auto, so think this feature is pretty good for most situations. Still maybe not yours--
Anyone ever solve this 'issue'? I work with circuitboards as well (hobby), and I often need to retap the screen up to 20 times for a decent focus to appear. Most frustratingly, it IS sharp for a moment but continues to focus until it is way OUT of focus. So I am not keeping the subject too close, it simply fails to focus properly.
A simple manual focus would already be a great improvement!
With a decent autofocus and 13MP, I should be able to get more detail than my cheapo (20$) USB microscope pen with 2MP (or so it says on the box, I think it is probably just VGA) resolution, but I often have to turn to that instead and then photograph my computerscreen to whatsapp a pic

[Q] Camera Noise

Hey,
I have come from a HTC One phone and the photo quality was fantastic... I no have the Note 3 and have noticed that the auto focus isnt that great and photo quality isnt that brilliant either, not sure if its my phone or the lighting...
I have added a fews that I have taken...
Any suggestions would b great on how to improve photo quality... Being Samsung I thought camera would be very high quality...
coolfreebies
coolfreebies said:
Hey,
I have come from a HTC One phone and the photo quality was fantastic... I no have the Note 3 and have noticed that the auto focus isnt that great and photo quality isnt that brilliant either, not sure if its my phone or the lighting...
I have added a fews that I have taken...
Any suggestions would b great on how to improve photo quality... Being Samsung I thought camera would be very high quality...
coolfreebies
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try turning on the touch to snap picture feature. this allows the phone to auto focus and then take the picture, removing the possibility of you bumping your phone pressing the snap button
Yeah those photos area really out of focus... Try resetting the focus mode from center to matrix and back.
The minute you zoom in on a photo taken with the Note 3 you will find that a huge amount of noise and grain exist but if you take a picture on a sunny and clear day outside without zooming in on picture it is taken then you will find picture to be acceptable.
Vide recordings on the Note 3 are great but picture quality and speaker volume/sound leave a bit to be desired. Otherwise I love my Note 3. Had it come with pair of speakers like those on the HTC ONE and with a better camera it would have been perfect.
Set 'tap to take pics' to off, then tap the screen anywhere to focus there. It'll show a green square if the focus is locked.
Also check that the protective foil is removed from the camera.
If you're having difficulty focusing close to the camera (+- 20cm), turn on Macro.
Send From My Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9005 Using Tapatalk
ShadowLea said:
Set 'tap to take pics' to off, then tap the screen anywhere to focus there. It'll show a green square if the focus is locked.
Also check that the protective foil is removed from the camera.
If you're having difficulty focusing close to the camera (+- 20cm), turn on Macro.
Send From My Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9005 Using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not find a macro option on mine
desiregeek said:
I did not find a macro option on mine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh, that's odd... Mine had
It but it's gone now... Did they delete it in the recent update?
I still hate the lack of a manual mode.. Made me leave the stock camera behind.
Send From My Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9005 Using Tapatalk
Also turn on stabilization mode.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

More camera issues...

Hey all, my Note 4 camera will not focus close up, when i say close up i mean like 3-4 inches, sometimes it tries to focus and gets the image perfect but then unfocuses straight away and it goes blurry again, sometimes it doesnt even try to focus. When it manages to focus and then goes blurry again straight away I am keeping the camera still so its not because im moving it and the focus is for less than a second. If i touch the screen to try and get it to focus its hit and miss whether it actually focuses or not.
Any ideas?
I have difficulty to focus on palm of my hand but no problem to take picture of monitor screen. Possibly depend on contrast?
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
I am having focus issues as well. But I can focus on close object.
Anything further than 2 meters is hard to focus on.
Sent from my SM-N910G using XDA Free mobile app
Try holding your finger on the screen and a blue circle will appear when it's locked on and you should get a decent close up...
Yep... Hold for close focus. No focus issues here.
Glad I'm not alone with focusing problems...
Here is my topic : Note 4 camera won't lock focus + blurry edges on pictures with far focus
Best regards,
Chris.

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