Blurry photos?

capulinflicker · Jan 17, 2014

So I've had my Maxx for about two weeks now and so far I like it a lot. However I've noticed that the camera is incapable of picking up detail outside of about 30 feet or so. Anything close up or within reach looks great, but everything else just looks blurry.

Here are a couple sample shots from my phone.

I know the Maxx got blasted in reviews for it's poor camera, but surely it can't be THIS bad, right? The car in the second photo is only about 30 feet away yet it still comes out super blurry. I've tried everything to get a good focus and it seems to do the same thing regardless of which camera app I use which makes me think this is a hardware issue. Has anyone experienced the same thing?

Sadly I just missed my 15-day "trial" window with Best Buy, but if this is really a hardware issue they should still take it back and replace it right?

Rukbat · Jan 17, 2014

Were you autofocusing on that last shot? It was probably focusing somewhere between the first and second trees. Try a shot like that again but manually focus on the car.

The depth of field you're looking for in that shot would give a good DSLR nightmares. Hoping for a camera with a wide open iris to do anything with it is worse. (The depth of field - the range between the closest thing the camera can focus on and the farthest thing it can focus on, in the same shot - depends on how wide open the iris is. The more light it lets in, the shorter the depth of focus.)

Even an app like Camera FV5 would have a problem with a shot like that. You'd probably need f16 or smaller to get good focus from the blocks in the foreground to the traffic light in the background - and a phone camera can't do that.

capulinflicker · Jan 17, 2014

I have tap to focus on when using the stock camera. The last picture I tapped to take a shot down the sidewalk. The second photo I was trying to focus on the car and that's the best I could get. God help me if I get in a hit and run and I'm trying to nab someone's license plate

doogald · Jan 17, 2014

Are you sure that the lens isn't dirty?

It looks like a hardware failure to me if not. The phone has a one year hardware warranty.

Thom · Jan 17, 2014

... maybe something is covering the lens ... plastic?

... Thom

vzwuser76 · Jan 18, 2014

Is the OP on 4.4 or 4.2? He may not have the manual focus option available.

I've had problems with out of focus or blurry photos on nearly every phone I've had at one time or another. My S3 had a lot of issues with that, and that's generally considered to be a decent snapper. I am noticing better pics out of my Maxx since the 4.4 update. The manual focus makes a big difference for me.

capulinflicker · Jan 18, 2014

There's nothing on the lens and I've cleaned it thoroughly with a microfiber cloth.

I took this photo standing about 10 feet away from the poster and you can barely read it.

I know camera phones aren't supposed to be spectacular, but I feel like on my GNex I could still get pretty good detail from distance. I took this last summer with a two year old GNex...

creektrails · Jan 24, 2014

I broke my screen, returned my maxx to moto for repair and my camera is doing the exact same thing as yours now. Horrible focus. When I got the camera back last week I didnt try the camera before it updatdd to kitkat but now it is dreadful. Way worse than before I sent it off. I'm going to write them.

Blurry photos?

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