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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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

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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Click to collapse
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..

Camera Problem: autofocus reacts only after longer rest

Got a new Note 4 SM-N910C after I replaced my old, as it had display issues (same model). Old and new phone are running 5.0.1., both are rooted. I restored all apps and data from the old phone on the new via Titanium-Backup.
When I open the carema app, or ANY other camera app on the new phone, it won't focus for approximateli 10-15 seconds - afterwards autofocus works snappy and accurately. When I close the camera app and reopen it, sometimes the autofocus reacts immediately, sometimes I have to wait again. After a longer period in which i did not use the camera, the initial lag always occurs.
Same issue when I use the test mode (#0# - Mega cam). In compairison the old model always works perfectly!
Resetting the camera app does not fix the issue. "Shaking" the phone does not fix the issue.
Does anyone know that issue, does anyone hab a suggestion how to solve the problem. I don't know whether this is a hardware (stuck af-motor??) or a software problem.
I thank you for every answer and suggestion in advance.

Are you on the stock ROM now?

Yes, everythin is stock.. just rooted via CF autoroot..

Did you have this problem before you rooted the device?

pimpl said:
Got a new Note 4 SM-N910C after I replaced my old, as it had display issues (same model). Old and new phone are running 5.0.1., both are rooted. I restored all apps and data from the old phone on the new via Titanium-Backup.
When I open the carema app, or ANY other camera app on the new phone, it won't focus for approximateli 10-15 seconds - afterwards autofocus works snappy and accurately. When I close the camera app and reopen it, sometimes the autofocus reacts immediately, sometimes I have to wait again. After a longer period in which i did not use the camera, the initial lag always occurs.
Same issue when I use the test mode (#0# - Mega cam). In compairison the old model always works perfectly!
Resetting the camera app does not fix the issue. "Shaking" the phone does not fix the issue.
Does anyone know that issue, does anyone hab a suggestion how to solve the problem. I don't know whether this is a hardware (stuck af-motor??) or a software problem.
I thank you for every answer and suggestion in advance.
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Click to collapse
It's a hardware problem, the camera lens abit loose. Some tried shaking it but only a temporary fix. Bring it to Samsung Service Centre for repair (if still have warranty). Mine had that problem and was fixed by Samsung.

Update:
I restored the device's factory settings, i.e. Recovery - Full Wipe, and flashed the Lollipop 5.0.1. stock rom via Odin. I did not not restore the camera app usting Titanium Backup.
The error still exists. Shaking the device causes no improvement at all and there are no strange noises during focusing detectable. I suspect that it is therefore definitely not a hardware failure.
.. Once again the error description:
If I do not use the camera for some minutes and open any camera app (e.g. native app, instagram, PS-express, whatsapp, Google Kamera, camera pro and also in the test mode (# 0 # - Mega Cam)) the picture is totally blurry and the focus seems to stay in the macro focus. When I try to set the focus point by touching the screen, the focus indicator appears but the focus does not change for approximately 10 seconds (again, in all camera modes and camera apps). After this "initial lag" the camera works perfectly fine. When I close my camera and open it after a short time, it focuses immediately. When I close my camera and open it after a longer time, initial lag occurs again.
This is extremely annoying.
I suspect that the system deactivates the camera ("deep sleep") so when opening the camera a full "initialization" (i.e. error checking, etc.??) is done every time. According to the Application Manager however, the camera app is active and uses the system's Ram when the lag occurs!
Can anyone - under 5.0.1. - confirm this behavior?
Again, I am very grateful for any kind of help and suggestions!

How difficult is replacing the camera? Is it simple?

Camera constantly refocuses when taking video

Hey guys, so I've been loving the phone in almost every way until today when I finally used it to take video for the first time. I bought a tripod attachment for my MXPE and was trying to film a short video of me talking in front of a blank white wall. When I went back to look, the video was constantly refocusing with a terrible zoom in/out effect. Now that I've done some testing it happens whether on a tripod, or in my hand. Even on a static background, it will eventually refocus. If there's any movement, whether I'm panning from side to side or something is moving on the video it will refocus. Here's a short example. Don't be fooled by thinking I'm doing some crazy trick with my hand here, it will noticeably refocus for any reason, including me just moving my hands while talking in front of it. Also keep in mind the phone is on a stable tripod, so any movement is entirely the camera or software. I just didn't want to get on camera or show significant parts of where I live. I've searched to see if anyone else has this problem and unfortunately all I found was a reddit thread with almost no responses. I should say I'm on stock, no modifications to my phone. The camera is set to save to internal memory so micro sd shenanigans aren't a factor either. I've used the stock app, Google Camera and Open Camera and they all exhibit this refocusing behavior.
So what's up, are other people experiencing this also, or is my otherwise great phone working with a somehow busted camera? It takes photos just fine, though now that I think about it, it does the same zoom in/out refocusing when I move the camera photo mode too. I remember trying to take a picture of a spider and the camera wouldn't stop trying to focus long enough for me to get a clear shot. Is this a software deal, or do I need to talk to Motorola? If it's a software deal, why is no one else talking about this?
Edit: I used the "focus lock" shortcut in Open Camera and was able to make it stop. But that means I can't use the default app or Google Camera. What the heck guys?

Its an issue in low light (indoors) when the subject moves. I submitted a complaint with video sample on the official forums and moto responded it was expected for thr camera to re-search for focus when the subject moves.
However I later received an email from the moto camera team asking them for more information which I provided. Who knows maybe they are trying to improve it.
This issue exists on the nexus 6 also and is much worse btw.

I've made the same test and got similar results.
It seems that each time a new element appears the camera tends to change the focus, it looks like it trying to adapt to the new situation.
I'm also no happy with this issue.
Please keep posting if there's any news from Motorola.

Yes, definitely. I shoot a lot of videos of people playing piano, and it's constantly refocusing because the hands never stop moving. :/
Hopefully, this will be fixed in the future.

I have been having the exact same problem recently. For me, it's not even when the subject is moving. Take this video of my son for example ( drive.google.com/file/d/12BqfnL7OoEvV3CSWim-OCgxiHID4mrMeFQ/view ). Notice that it keeps refocusing even though he and the camera are barely moving. There seemed to be plenty of light coming in the window. Is there no way to fix this?

FYI, I finally contacted Motorola Support about this issue because it is so bad, in my case, and they instructed me to send in my phone for repair. Twelve days later, I receive my phone back, and the camera still has issues with focusing while using the camera. I wrote them back to find out what they are going to do now, so I will update here when I hear back. This is SO FRUSTRATING. I would not advise buying a Moto X Pure for the time-being, if you want a functioning video camera.

You can lock focus on the stock camera app by long pressing the focus bracket. I don't know if this was added recently but I found this thread among several others on google search and none of them mentioned it. Cheers!

I forgot to update here after my debacle finished.
Motorola Support had me send in my phone again soon after I got it back from them the first time. I asked them why nothing changed with the phone, and the tech said they mis-marked the problem in their system as a problem with the flash. /sigh So all they did was replace the flash and return the phone. What a waste.
The next time I sent in the phone, they just went ahead and replaced the phone entirely. I got back the new phone, and guess what? Exact. Same. Problem.
I finally posted the video on YouTube where the camera constantly refocuses, and a user suggested downloading a totally different camera app, like "Camera MX." I did so, and immediately noticed a huge difference! I couldn't believe the majority of the focusing problem was caused by Motorola's buggy Camera app, but that does seem to be the case. Unbelievable.
So if you have this problem, download another camera app like "Camera MX," and it should help the refocusing problem a ton.

OnePlus 6T issues

Hello everyone,
this is my first post here on XDA, so I hope I'm following standards here.
I got my second OnePlus phone, the OnePlus 6T (Mirrorblack 8GB+128GB) about two weeks ago and it has really been an upgrade from my previous OnePlus 3. However I have had some issues that make the overall impression a bit worse.
My first problem is with the camera. When taking pictures with the flash it turns the flash one for a while then turns if off for a moment before turning it back on and taking the picture. This super annoying when you are posing with a couple of friends! This doesn't happend when using the front facing flash feature. Also when you take picture with Snapchat the camera also is super slow. However it's the inverse as enabling the flash makes the camera much faster. I'm not sure if it's an OnePlus issue or an Snapchat one, I know snapchat has lots of problems so could be on their end. I also know that I didn't have the issue on my OnePlus 3.
My second problem is one that have happend very rarely, two or three times yet. It's that sometimes when I start an app, it just crashes. And I can restart it how many times I want without any difference. Force stopping it does work sometimes as with clearing cache. But sometimes doing that makes the device reboot itself. Sometimes it just keeps on rebooting itself. The solution for it as it seems is to reboot it manually, but it's extremely annoying to have it happen. It's difficult to know whats wrong since it doesn't say anything useful really.
Does anyone else have similar issues? Could it be some corruption issue or some bad app I have installed?

Do a factory reset. As for the camera that's called a slow sync with the flash as its getting the picture ready and focused, that short flash at the end is to light the picture. If it stayed on the whole time it would blind you subject as its brighter than the front camera and would most likely give red eye.

I don't have a suggestion for your second problem as I have not experienced it but also about the camera thing you mentioned, it doesn't happen when you take a picture with the front with the fake flash because the front camera has a fixed focus so it doesn't have to acquire focus like the back camera does when lighting in a dim environment.

globala said:
My first problem is with the camera. When taking pictures with the flash it turns the flash one for a while then turns if off for a moment before turning it back on and taking the picture.
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Click to collapse
This happens for the following reason:
- first flash - phone usues auto focus to make you and your friends, dog, food or whatever you are shooting clear and the
- second flash - after it achieves the AF lock it flashes a little bit brighter to take the photo
If you use a digital camera, DSLR, or any other camera, you will notice that they have a led light that iluminates you in the dark, then uses the xenon flash to take the photo
globala said:
Also when you take picture with Snapchat the camera also is super slow.
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If you take the picture in the dark it might just try to achieve AF lock. Activating the flash does that a little faster.
globala said:
My second problem is one that have happend very rarely, two or three times yet. It's that sometimes when I start an app, it just crashes. And I can restart it how many times I want without any difference. Force stopping it does work sometimes as with clearing cache. But sometimes doing that makes the device reboot itself. Sometimes it just keeps on rebooting itself. The solution for it as it seems is to reboot it manually, but it's extremely annoying to have it happen.
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You can try reflashing Oxygen OS and see if this still happens. If it does sent it to warranty