Timaphillips

I read on a verizon forum that someone was told by an in store rep. that an update is coming for the Droid on December 11th. Possibly a fix for the useless camera.


Seriously, I'd take my Curve's old camera over this thing.Not nearly a make or break thing though because this phone is the best I've ever used.

Last edited by Timaphillips; November 8th, 2009 at 06:28 PM.

GrandMasterB

Man I hope so! I was soooo looking forward to this camera and now I am just bummed out about it....

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OctoMom

Same here - I don't HATE it but it's definitely not what I was expecting from a phone like this.

Asupermex

Rep also told me the same thing. My camera won't focus 90% of the time. Took it in, the tech guy said they received lots of complaints and said motorola would be coming out with a fix for the software issue withing 3 days. Really suck not being able to utilize the 5pix camera.
Pretty disappointed, but happy with the rest of the phone functions. PS they should have tested the hell out of the camera....they just concerntrated on apps...

Nevik

The BB Storms camera is way better. Hope theres a fix soon.

Last edited by Nevik; November 8th, 2009 at 09:21 PM.

digitard

To be fair I'm sure the S/W versions offered to Verizon went through multiple versions. It's possible the camera issue wasn't present on previous versions and they released some kind of update (for whatever hardware/software) and it messed up and it slipped by due to previously not being present in multiple versions.

I don't know, but I've seen stuff like that before when I worked in the cell industry (like when RIM s/w would come out and it'd have big memory leaks, close up for multiple versions, and then get a final release version only to see it come back after 4-5 builds w/o it).

The fact they've already got it on the plate is good to show they're not trying to sweep it under the rug.

x0SiN0x

im hoping for a camera update as well, i dont use a camera much on the phone but in a pinch to catch that moment of the kids its great... but not able to capture anything with this

Apeman

Really need this camera update, It took 4 minutes for ShopSavvy to get it..... it is the best barcode scanner. Barcode Scanner app takes a few seconds, but doesn't have the store features of ShopSavvy.

Pretkomel

Hi,

I would like to see that update soon. I like the post above that says in three days. I would not like to wait until December to take better pictures with the phone.

Pretkomel.

syntrix

I've contacted shopsavvy about this.
They will put a new version out very soon to help with this problem. For now the fix is two fold:

1. Step back a bit from the barcode.
2. Make sure there is very good light to capture the barcode.

I emailed them yesterday, and got a reply in like 15 mins But ultimately they said to look for a new version soon!

radikal

well i had a 1.3 camera on my LG Chocolate, so far this is better, i am happy, but i would like a fix!

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Savio

Today while playing with the Droid at my local Verizon store, I noticed the camera didn't perform so well when taking close-up shots. My current iPhone 3GS would've handled the situation much better. I don't have my Droid yet (should soon), but I'm hoping they address this quickly as I enjoy taking pictures, and I also enjoying using my iPhone's camera. Either way, the camera won't have an effect on whether or not I purchase the Droid. I know I will anyways. I would just like to see what the camera is truly capable of. Luckily it's all just a software update away.

Last edited by Savio; November 9th, 2009 at 01:20 AM.

QrafTee

So essentially your heard from a friend of a friend of a friend... but less reliable because it's from a stranger... who claims to talk to an in-store rep...

I don't doubt an update is coming, but y'know what I'm saying, right?

radikal

yeah, its kinda like this blink-182 forum i go to, everyone knew a music store rep that said they were coming back during their hiatus, none of them were really right, they were just lame predictions.

ajm144k

for the doubters, here it is word-for-word how the motorola people have described the problem and the plan for the fix:

amuse

Great news, we updated ShopSavvy over the weekend and it is now supporting both the Verizon Droid and Android 2.0. The fix means ShopSavvy works almost as well on the Droid as it does on the HTC devices. Once Motorola updates their camera firmware it should work perfectly.

We recognize that as more and more phones are released ShopSavvy (and any app that scans a barcode) will need to be tweaked to accommodate different frame rates and focal lengths. We have decided to port our iPhone scanning library (i.e. allowing for blurry barcode scanning) to Android. Once we update ShopSavvy to include 'meatloaf' (this is the name of our scanning software) it should work on ANY Android phone that has a camera (knock on wood).

Sagz

I posted this on the moto support side but thought Id try here.

So I got my camera to take quicker pictures and start actually focussing, by changing a few settings. Before doing this I would either get the red bars or no picture at all....when it did take a picture there would be a lag (screen freeze thinking you got the pic but it would be after that screen freeze). I also noticed the sound went away, and the scanning apps started working a hell of alot better.

Maybe some of you can confirm if you see better performance after these steps:
1. Open Camera App
2. Click the left side of screen to slide options, or open it from the menu button.
3. Go to scene mode and change it to something else like Action (anything but portrait or auto).
4. Take a picture...you will notice there are no focus bars on the corner, it will just snap pics. Take one picture at least, so you can continue to step 5.
5. Click on top right to view the picture then click done.
6. Take another picture, you will now notice that you get the focus bars and they turn green.

After these steps most pictures (Ive had 100% success rate) will be focussed and quicker. If you want to change back to auto you can but the setting will only hold for as long as you are still in the camera app. Otherwise keep your camera in a setting like action wont have to worry about the inability to focus. I can also scan barcodes using apps like shopsavvy with a success rate I did not enjoy before.

<Edit> Cleaned up some pisspoor grammar.

Glad to see its working for those that have replied so far. I believe this proves that this is a software defect and not a hardware defect.

Last edited by Sagz; November 9th, 2009 at 10:22 PM.

meekrab

Right on, that actually seems to improve performance pretty well. I hope I'm not just being optimistic. In any case, a software fix is still necessary. In the meantime, this will help. The "steady photo" mode works nicely, which brings me to another question, is this the only mode with image stabilization?

icstars989

Sagz, good work my man! I also get good focusing and can also use shopsavvy now with some success. First time I ever got it to read a barcode. Popped my cherry on what else, but the Droid! Interestingly enough though, Babies R Us is selling em for $35.99 we all got hosed.

wbbgjr

The reason why Action is much faster is because the camera is setting the focus on infinity all the time. Notice the mountain symbol on the left side of the screen. This works great until you are taking a picture of anything that isn't 40+ feet. ( i made that number up)

Conkreet

So, i just tried this, switched it to action mode just because that was the next available option, snapped a picture of the first thing i could..... and the phone froze and rebooted itself. now ill be the first to admit that im no tech whiz, but if nothing else this little test at least shows that its most likely a software issue i think. gonna go in and try a couple different modes and see if anything else happens.

wbbgjr

By the way ShopSavvy just got a new update and it's working much better.

syntrix

Thanks for pointing the modes out. I finally found the low light setting, night mode, and this helps 100% over auto mode! LOVE IT!

Supraman21

I hope they can bump up the Frames per a second to 30 instead of 24. The iPhone can do it why not the Droid. Its only 80 more lines or resolution

QrafTee

... Why can't all 1080p console games run at 60FPS instead of games having to play at 720p or lower resolution at roughly 30FPS? I don't get it... wait... hardware limitations...

Supraman21

Hmm then why is Gran Turismo running 1080p at 60fps or God of War 3. Its all about the code and how well the developers can program. The Droid's hardware is there but I don't think Motorola put much effort into the software. The Instinct HD has a crappier processor and and gpu but also has a 5m camera. Sure the optics are different but does better optics mean higher frame rate? Idk I just assume Samsung wanted to make a good camera phone so they put allot of effort in the software. The instinct HD records HD at 30fps and DVD quality at
80fps. Ur telling me the Droid cant do an extra 6fps. It doesn't sound like much but it makes a hell of a difference in motion.

stearic

I think his reasoning is that the main cpu/gpu on our phones, is the same as what's in the iphone 3gs/palm pre (granted right now the pre is having graphics slow downs due to their webOS and not hardware related issues). So technically going from that, it does have the cpu power behind it to do that, but it might be a limitation of the camera on the droid. Hell it could be a limitation of the android OS itself and we'll be at the mercy of google tell they up said "possible limitation" in regards to the camera.