Help Camera woes

MartinS · Nov 7, 2013

I am yet to take a reasonable picture of a moving object (read my son playing). The camera focus seems to take up to 2 seconds to work and capture a picture by which time I get 1 of 2 outcomes:

The moment has gone
Or
I get a worthless blurry mess

This really is disappointing, the cameras On the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 were near instant, what's going on here?

Any advice appreciated, I really am a photography novice. For information, HDR is Off and I haven't altered anything else... Flash on auto, scenes off etc.

cgfw201 · Nov 7, 2013

not done anything in motion yet indoors, but I've been pretty impressed by the camera, and I used to have an S4.

Massive fan of photo sphere in particular and the tiny planet option.

DMPhee · Nov 7, 2013

MartinS said:
I am yet to take a reasonable picture of a moving object (read my son playing). The camera focus seems to take up to 2 seconds to work and capture a picture by which time I get 1 of 2 outcomes:

The moment has gone
Or
I get a worthless blurry mess

This really is disappointing, the cameras On the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 were near instant, what's going on here?

Any advice appreciated, I really am a photography novice. For information, HDR is Off and I haven't altered anything else... Flash on auto, scenes off etc.

I always find preinstalled/stock apps, including camera apps, lacking.. a few suggested apps in Google Play Store; try :

1. PhotoSequence Pro - you can take 30 photos per second (NOT a typo, 30 per second) of even moving scenes- free version available to try it. Only downside - it saves the photos in a directory that is not obvious in the stock gallery App - install QuickPic photo viewer (best + free), and make it your default gallery viewer; in Quickpic, choose "show hidden directories". Otherwise you have to use a file manager app to find and view them. (Get QuickPic no matter what.) Because of the speed, you don't get full high resolution, but it may fit your needs.

2. UCam, has a GIF option -(automatically) take up to 20 photos in a burst sequence; then it creates an animated GIF of those photos - you can edit the GIF before you save - effects, frames, many options...free and paid versions, (I think, I bought the pd version.) It has a lot of photo options - panorama, collage, GIF, more.

3. MX camera, free - has a "one-shot" widget you can put on your home screen - Hit/touch the widget and it instantly loads and takes a photo without waiting for any input from you - fast option to take a single photo.

MartinS · Nov 7, 2013

Thanks, but is anyone else seeing the behaviour with the stock camera that I see?

It must be able to do better than this. It could be a deal breaker if I can't take pics quickly of my son playing.

swerver32 · Nov 7, 2013

I would like to hear more on this too. Reports of slow shutter and slow focus are giving me cold feet, since those are problems I've always had on my phones, and was hoping to finally get past it. It sounds like the camera actually takes pretty decent pictures, not counting these 2 issues.

Did you try any of the apps posted above? Is it true that apps can add burst mode to this phone?

brad3813 · Nov 8, 2013

MartinS said:
Thanks, but is anyone else seeing the behaviour with the stock camera that I see?

It must be able to do better than this. It could be a deal breaker if I can't take pics quickly of my son playing.

There is a good 1-2 second shutter lag when using HDR+. When HDR+ is off, is shoots a little quicker, but still way slower than my HTC One. They say google is working on an update to the camera, so hopefully that is one thing that is addressed.

DMPhee · Nov 8, 2013

brad3813 said:
There is a good 1-2 second shutter lag when using HDR+. When HDR+ is off, is shoots a little quicker, but still way slower than my HTC One. They say google is working on an update to the camera, so hopefully that is one thing that is addressed.

Again I've always found that the stock camera app with any smartphone - beginning with my first one - an HP Ipaq 5400 Windows CE I had in 1999, is mediocre at best and you have to go third party ; one reason is they don't want to compete with their developers...The apps I mentioned I use all the time and they work well. Photosequence Pro has the fastest burst mode - 30 pictures per second. The camera is great for a phone - but it depends on the camera app. Hope that helps.

MartinS · Nov 9, 2013

By the way, the Team BBQ camera (Focal) doesn't seem to function on the N5 yet...

It displays the message "unable to take picture"

Hopefully an update around the corner.

gordonwd · Nov 9, 2013

Just used HDA to take a pic at the Lincoln Memorial and it was definitely an improvement over a simple shot.

gordonwd · Nov 9, 2013

BTW, anyone know where the setting is for a shutter sound? Mine is silent.

gordonwd · Nov 9, 2013

My mistake about sound. Just too quiet to hear outdoors.

Help Camera woes

Android Expert

Well-Known Member

Lurker

Android Expert

Android Enthusiast

Lurker

Lurker

Android Expert

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

BEST TECH IN 2023

Smartphones

Best Android Phones

Upcoming

Best iPhones

Upcoming

Tablets

Best Tablets

Upcoming

Laptops

Best Laptops

Upcoming

Televisions

Best TVs

Upcoming

Game Consoles

Best Game Consoles

Upcoming

Wearables

Best Wearables

Upcoming

Smart Home

Smart Home Tech

Upcoming

Similar threads