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camera seems to take picture after flash turns off

I'm having a problem in the sense that the camera seems to only take octure after the flash turns off. this is when the flash is set to auto mode. as a result my picture looks darker with the flash on then without. anyone with this problem as well or any ideas what to do

yeancheant said:
I'm having a problem in the sense that the camera seems to only take octure after the flash turns off. this is when the flash is set to auto mode. as a result my picture looks darker with the flash on then without. anyone with this problem as well or any ideas what to do
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I noticed same thing. Looks weird for me too. No idea how to fix it. The problem not always exist - photos are ok when I shot in total darkness with flash. If i take photo with some light then it looks like after flash turns off.
Anyone else noticed that?

No, this is normal. It reduces the exposure time when flash is on, so that pictures do not get overexposed. Every camera does that.
As a result, you may get darker pictures with flash than without, if you use the flash at times where it's not needed. Just turn the flash off then.

I noticed this too, as in the flash fire and the camera shoots but the image from the preview that remains on screen for a sec if for example you press delete, looks better than the actual photo.
It's like the camera needs to capture the image a few milliseconds quicker or something.

No no no. You all got it COMPLETELY wrong. I already gave you the explanation above.
It takes the picture exactly at the same time that the flash turns on. It does NOT shoot too late.
It just reduces the exposure so that the pictures don't get overexposed. ALL cameras do this!
Sometimes, however, it uses the flash when it should not. These are the times when pictures would turn out better with the flash than without because the flash cannot compensate the reduced exposure time. Just turn off the flash and everything is okay.
This happens with every camera that uses auto flash, but it happens particularly often with mobile phones that have an LED flash. This is more or less normal and you can't do anything about it, except for turning the flash off manually.

HD2 camera flash can not be switched on at always on mode

I upgraded to the latest ROM version 3.14.831.3 couple of weeks ago, after that I found the camera flash light does not work when switch to always on mode. The flash light would be not on until I take a photo which acts the same as the auto mode.
I have tried the factory reset, which seems it only restore back to the latest ROM with clean settings, but the problem is still there.
Any one has same issue?

Yes, it's the new software version that does that.
I was thinking if we could take the files from the old camera software and put them in this version.
It's annoying not just if you want to use the phone as a flashlight (solved with torch app, but not that handy) but the picture quality in low light conditions totally sucks, because it won't focus when the flash is on.

This is by design... it's SUPPOSED to behave like that! The way the flash illuminated constantly like a torch/flashlight in the old ROM was very annoying... it wasted battery power, blinded your subjects and was distracting for everyone else around. You won't find a conventional 'proper' camera exhibiting this behaviour (actually, they can't anyway due to the way xenon flash tubes work).
The new flash behaviour in the new ROM mirrors how a conventional camera would behave and, IMO, is a big improvement.
As for focusing, I've never had much of a problem and think the HD2 does a very good job in low light most of the time. The only real solution to accurate low-light focusing is an IR focus-assist lamp.

ian_uk1975 said:
it wasted battery power
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+1
Battery Power..

ian_uk1975 said:
This is by design... it's SUPPOSED to behave like that! The way the flash illuminated constantly like a torch/flashlight in the old ROM was very annoying... it wasted battery power, blinded your subjects and was distracting for everyone else around. You won't find a conventional 'proper' camera exhibiting this behaviour (actually, they can't anyway due to the way xenon flash tubes work).
The new flash behaviour in the new ROM mirrors how a conventional camera would behave and, IMO, is a big improvement.
As for focusing, I've never had much of a problem and think the HD2 does a very good job in low light most of the time. The only real solution to accurate low-light focusing is an IR focus-assist lamp.
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If it is by design, HTC should disable the option in the camera mode to have the flash light always on. And also disable the flash light in the Camcorder too, it works totally fine in the Camcorder mode.
Plus they do not mention this change in the ROM description.

xiaohan said:
If it is by design, HTC should disable the option in the camera mode to have the flash light always on. And also disable the flash light in the Camcorder too, it works totally fine in the Camcorder mode.
Plus they do not mention this change in the ROM description.
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I think you're misunderstanding how the camera app is designed to work... when you select the option to force the flash on, you're telling the camera app to always fire the flash, regardless of the ambient light level. The flash LED is not supposed to stay lit the whole time that 'force flash on' is enabled and using the flash LED as a flashlight to see where you're going has got nothing to do with the camera app. By modifying the behaviour of the flash LED in the new ROM, HTC have replicated the behaviour of a regular camera and have enhanced the camera app in doing so. Having the flash LED constantly on has got nothing to do with taking better pictures.
When in video mode, of course the LED should be constantly on as its purpose in that mode is that of a video light. This is correct functionality.

ian_uk1975 said:
I think you're misunderstanding how the camera app is designed to work... when you select the option to force the flash on, you're telling the camera app to always fire the flash, regardless of the ambient light level. The flash LED is not supposed to stay lit the whole time that 'force flash on' is enabled and using the flash LED as a flashlight to see where you're going has got nothing to do with the camera app. By modifying the behaviour of the flash LED in the new ROM, HTC have replicated the behaviour of a regular camera and have enhanced the camera app in doing so. Having the flash LED constantly on has got nothing to do with taking better pictures.
When in video mode, of course the LED should be constantly on as its purpose in that mode is that of a video light. This is correct functionality.
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I think you're right about this. What would be nice is if there was a way to have a little more control over it. For example - if you're in reaaally low light and want to take a picture you can't even see what it is you're trying to take a picture of unless the flash LED is on - so I understand the op's frustration. What would be ideal is if there was a way to tell the HD2 to activate the LED flash X seconds prior to taking the picture. That way you could make it come on for a second or two before it takes the pic so you can actually see what you're takin a pic of.

or, for those rare times when the light must be on when taking pics, you could always turn on the torch and then start the camera.

Any recommended torch app for HD2?

samsamuel said:
or, for those rare times when the light must be on when taking pics, you could always turn on the torch and then start the camera.
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on my device that results in overexposure

Flash darkens photos?

Anyone else observing that when they take a pic with the flash on in "medium" light conditions, the photo comes out actually darker than if the flash wasn't even used?
I swear the timing of the flash is bad on my S5. When I tap the button to shoot the photo, the flash turns on and the image on the screen looks bright and good. But then I think the photo is actually taken a split second later after the flash has turned off, and the photo that gets taken is dark as hell. I think I've tried all the combination of settings in the default S5 camera app, and nothing helps.

Brent212 said:
Anyone else observing that when they take a pic with the flash on in "medium" light conditions, the photo comes out actually darker than if the flash wasn't even used?
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I haven't seen this with my S5. Unfortunately you didn't elaborate on your camera settings, camera version or other crucial details.
At a guess, and it is only speculation since we don't have your details, you are expecting the flash to act like a fill flash. When the auto mode (which is probably what you are using) probably uses the flash in a conventional manner i.e. a fixed shutter speed (or limited shutter speed range). There are good reasons for that, but the net effect if the subject is outside of the flash range is that little of the flash is reflected back and the (presumably) higher shutter speed lets less total light in resulting in a darker picture.
You can test that thesis by taking some pictures of a subject that is very close to the camera. If the problem goes away with close subjects that implies that the problem is an artifact of using flash for a subject that is too distant for the flash to work with. No flash can work at an unlimited distance which is why people using a flash in a stadium when they are 75 meters from a subject is silly. In this case, flash mode simply isn't appropriate to the situation you are using it in and you'd be farther ahead to use a slower shutter speed, without flash.
It's highly unlikely that a bug would see the shutter opening after the flash.
.

It happens with literally *every* combination of the settings in the camera app (with flash set to "on"). Auto mode, beauty face mode... actually, are there any other modes that I'd use to take a picture of something 3 feet away in a darkish room? I have panorama, "shot & more", virtual tour... those wouldn't be right, correct? So both beauty face and auto, with all the combination of settings... hdr on/off, stabilization on/off, iso at auto and all four "manual" options, all three metering modes... nothing makes a difference.
The problem is the same all the times -- it's not just that the non "subject" areas are dark -- the whole image is dark, just like if you turned off the light in a room and snapped a pic at the moment when the light was still on at 50% brightness as it's turning off. It's super annoying just because of how damn good the image looks on the screen when the photo is being taken... it even seems to "snap" the shot at the right time... the shutter sound goes off and the little border animation happens when the pic is nice and bright. Then I open the actual image and it's garbage.
I was hoping someone might know of some setting in a config file somewhere for a delay between when the flash is triggered and when the camera attempts to capture the image, and that maybe mine got changed somehow to a larger than optimal value.
My wife has an s5, I'll have to test with hers and see if it suffers from the same problem.

Long story short: the camera is using a fast exposure time to keep the subject from being "blown out", i.e. overexposed, when the flash is used. That means that the foreground is going to be sharper but anything in the background will be lost in darkness if the ambient lighting is low. When you leave the flash off, the camera will use a longer exposure time (or shutter speed, if you will) to allow enough light, which also lets more of the background be seen in the picture.
Another thing to consider is that if your screen is set for auto brightness control, you will not have the same brightness when viewing the gallery pictures that you will when looking at the camera view. The camera view is full brightness at all times, but if you're viewing the pictures that you took in the gallery, screen brightness will drop down according to ambient lighting. Photos definitely look dark if you're looking at the gallery by lamp light.

Marlin29 said:
Long story short: the camera is using a fast exposure time to keep the subject from being "blown out", i.e. overexposed, when the flash is used. That means that the foreground is going to be sharper but anything in the background will be lost in darkness if the ambient lighting is low. When you leave the flash off, the camera will use a longer exposure time (or shutter speed, if you will) to allow enough light, which also lets more of the background be seen in the picture.
Another thing to consider is that if your screen is set for auto brightness control, you will not have the same brightness when viewing the gallery pictures that you will when looking at the camera view. The camera view is full brightness at all times, but if you're viewing the pictures that you took in the gallery, screen brightness will drop down according to ambient lighting. Photos definitely look dark if you're looking at the gallery by lamp light.
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That's interesting stuff, but doesn't really apply to the problem I described (at least the first part... the screen brightness setting stuff is potentially related, but isn't in my case). The exposure time is fine, it's just **when** the exposure starts that is the problem... a little too late, IMO. Really wish there was a way to adjust when it takes the photo in relation to when the flash is fired.
The foreground objects aren't lit up at all. No difference between foreground and background. Sometimes, I'm taking a picture of a t-shirt laying on a flat surface from 2 feet away. Without a flash it looks pretty good, but it's a little dark so I decide to try the flash to see if it'll lighten it up a bit. Instead, it makes it look like I turned out half the lights in the room.... way darker than no flash.

Same here, three friends of mine too.

I'm having the same problem s5 neo

I just figured out how to correct the pics from coming out dark. Go into camera-settings-exposure value-slide to the right to 2.5 or more.My pics come out fine now. Indoor light normal daylight.( with flash off.) I will know more in other settings (places ,situations )if it needs to be tweaked again.

no problems here
my settings are AUTO MODE
flash AUTO
no effets at all
and still i get good shots in night

Power/current draw issue?
Mine was doing this, and I noticed the first flash (ranging) was fine, but the second flash (to illuminate the image when taken) was much weaker. Whilst plugged into charge, repeated low light experiment, and the low light flash illuminated image was fine!! Maybe battery on its way out?

Yellow tint when using flash in auto mode. How do I correct this?

When using the flash in auto mode I always get this yellow tint which is very annoying. When I switch to pro mode I can change the white balance to florescent and it removes that yellow tint and make the picture look more natural when using the flash. Is there away to correct when using auto mode? I only ask this because when I'm on pro made its way to much stuff on the screen. Look at the 2 examples below.

Yellow tint when using flash in auto mode. How do I correct this?

When using the flash in auto mode I always get this yellow tint which is very annoying. When I switch to pro mode I can change the white balance to florescent and it removes that yellow tint and make the picture look more natural when using the flash. Is there away to correct when using auto mode? I only ask this because when I'm on pro made its way to much stuff on the screen. Look at the 2 examples below.