Bad camera?

[JoeKC]

Alright, I've been going over some shots I've taken with the phone, and here's what I've come up with. Aperture seems to be a fixed f/2.8 which maybe we expect from such a small sensor. My ISO has been between 51-400 (95% though at 200 regardless of light it seems.) So, this seems plenty reason enough that our shots are coming out blurry and noisey because even at ISO 400 that isnt gonna be enough light to produce crisp shots in anything but the very best of light (sun.)

Any of you guys care to chime in on what your Exif Data reads? I'd like to know if these ISO's can go higher than 400. Hopefully they will give us a couple extra tools to play with when the new patch is out. I'd like to see what these sensors are capable of.

But the variable you don't list is shutter speed, which is equally important. What does your exif say about that? ISO 400, under "normal" circumstances at f.2.8 and say a shutter speed of 1/125 would totally blow out the image, even on a cloudy day.

Unless the camera can adjust the f stop, there will never be a chance of getting a sharp picture. I really doubt the f is fixed at 2.8, unless this is part of the defect. My unit has not yet arrived today and if it arrives after dark I'll have to wait until tomorrow to test it. I'm eager to see what's going on.

 

[jer.lawrence]

Since there is no zoom at all on the lens (is there?) I don't think that having it set at f/2.8 is a huge issue. It would surprise me a little, though. Did it tell you what the focal distance of the shots were? I'm also curious about that -- Picasa just shows the focal distance as n/a. .. Thanks.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jer.lawrence/Droid# -- If you're interested. I'll shoot a few more up there now.

 

[JoeKC]

Since there is no zoom at all on the lens (is there?) I don't think that having it set at f/2.8 is a huge issue. It would surprise me a little, though. Did it tell you what the focal distance of the shots were? I'm also curious about that -- Picasa just shows the focal distance as n/a. .. Thanks.

Picasa Web Albums - Jeremy - Droid -- If you're interested. I'll shoot a few more up there now.

If you still have daylight you might try shooting with focus set to infinity on some distant object and see what you come up with. I'm especially interested in the variables, f. stop, shutter speed and ISO, assuming they even show up in a photo editor like Photoshop.

 

[MarvinAndroid]

Considering my G1 had absolutely no video recording at all when I bought it... and they added a built in video recorder a few months down the road that actually worked quite well... I have a feeling the camera will only get better as time does on. I think the Droid's camera does definitely need some work. I've noticed that when there is plenty of light around, it tends to take very nice clear pictures, but in lower-light to dark settings it is almost useless. It is possible that the actual camera hardware isn't up to snuff.. but I have a feeling a lot of the problems are related to software and will probably get better with time.

 

[JoeKC]

If you still have daylight you might try shooting with focus set to infinity on some distant object and see what you come up with. I'm especially interested in the variables, f. stop, shutter speed and ISO, assuming they even show up in a photo editor like Photoshop.

Jeremy, I looked at your pictures. The fact that the macro picture is just fine leads me to believe that the issue is with auto mode. If it were inherently a bad lens, nothing would be sharp in any mode. Using macro and infinity might be a work around until the December 11 fix. But from what I have seen, the lens isn't likely the problem. It's possible that we could get acceptably sharp pictures by temporarily using infinity, much the way most phones without autofocus set give an acceptable but not great picture, i.e. everything is just very slightly oof.

 

[The HITMAN]

Here are some shots I've taken with my Droid camera:

That's all I've got so far but I plan on take some outdoor, sunlight shots; which I know should come out fairly excellent. It is basically lower light, indoor shots that come out dung-looking, which is what the whole dual-led flash was supposed to help! lol

I'm sure the camera will get better and better as time goes on; hopefully before the Droid 2.0 hits store shelves. In my opinion, this Droid should be taking photos that are ALMOST on par with the Nokia N900 but it isn't even coming close. Of course, the N900 has Carl Zeiss glass optics but still, the Droid should at the very least look DECENT compared to the N900 (for some reason, it just DOESN'T ). Oh well... Let's hope Dec. 11 fixes things!

 

[scorrpio]

One thing I notice about camera is that macro mode is pretty decent (when used in camera app) but looks like all barcode scanner apps operate camera on auto, and it just keeps trying to focus. ShopSavvy seems to be able to catch an in-focus moment, and so does 'Barcode Scanner', but ScanLife is totally unusable. We probably should look forward to seeing Droid-compliant updates that utulize macro mode on the camera.

Autofocus is very finicky. I gt 'green brackets' maybe nce in 10-15 attempts. I will be past return period by Dec 11, so if it turns out that early batch of Droids simply has defective cameras, I'll have to make use of the 1-year Motorola warranty...

 

[The HITMAN]

...if it turns out that early batch of Droids simply has defective cameras, I'll have to make use of the 1-year Motorola warranty...

If that's the case, Motorola is gonna be hit by a shit-ton of warranty replacements!

 

[Supraman21]

I'm going to look into the framerate issue....mostly because I've wanted to write an Android app but didn't have a good excuse, until now

Sir/Mam I don't know who you are but I love you.