Camera app issues/advice

Hi,

I just bought a Xaomi Mi Note 10, mainly because I wanted a better camera, and the camera set-up gets good reviews. But I'm having a couple of issues. Things that were better on my older Moto G6 (which was half the price).

Selfies - depth of field.
When I take a selfie my face is sharp and detailed but anyone behind me - a metre or more away is totally blurred out. This is terrible for group selfies, especially when everyone is a bit distanced ( which is always the case now ). Is there anything I can do about this, or is it just a problem with the hardware (lens)? It was much less of an issue on the Moto.

Sweep panorama.
When I used the camera app on the Moto, it would go the full 360 degrees, creating a full loop. And then, when uploaded to Google Photos (or facebook, whatever) it would display as a rotating panorama image, presumably with the correct Exif data. When I use the sweep panorama on the Xaomi it stops before reaching the start - eg at maybe 180 degrees. Also, on Google photos it won't display as a 360 panorama image. I tried using Exif Fixer software, but it just messes it up. Is there an app which will take better sweep panoramas?

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place. I couldn't see a category for Xaomi, or one for cameras/photography, but I'd be grateful for any useful help or suggestions.

Thanks.

 

Thanks both. Good suggestions. I've had a bit of a play.

The front-facing camera doesn't switch to portrait mode (in that you can then still switch to portrait mode while using the front facing camera) but it does seem to behave very similarly, using the face detection and focusing close by, etc. I don't know of a way to stop it doing that.

On the rear cams tapping the screen does set the focus wherever you tap (as suggested). With the forward facing camera it seems to adjust the light metering, but it still won't focus on anything any distance away (eg a picture across the room). Maybe it just isn't designed to focus on anything over a metre or two away.

 

Probably so. But it seems like a big oversight . As if a selfie camera is just for taking detailed close-ups of my face! I could do that with the macro camera. I don't need to know what my pores and stubble look like. I would rather have a nice shot of me and my friends.

 

It is a good picture. That's the kind of thing I'm after. Not sure how helpful it to say "mine's great thanks!" though .

 

I would respectfully disagree. The selfie camera is for taking a picture of a scene, group, etc, where the photographer is present in the photo. Not just a close up of the photographer's face. The benefit lies in being able to frame the shot by being able to see the composition as you take the photo. If I just want a photo of my own face then I can fairly easily do that with the rear camera by pointing it roughly towards my face and shooting. Framing is a lot easier if that's the only thing I want in shot.