Hmm I don't know if I'd call this issue HUGE. It's no secret that the Droid's camera sucks.

Also, If your battery light is blinking you really should charge it. If you don't you'll have bigger issues than a camera not working .

Is it broken? Sure it is. Is it a HUGE problem? Nah.

 

Huge. Quickly. Bye.

 

charge your phone and complain less.

 

You do know that most phones disable certain features when the battery is low right? My Storm would turn off voice and data when the battery reached about 10%.

 

seems like a neat photo.

 

Wouldn't call this a bug. If your phone is flashing red because of a "dangerously low" battery, then there's probably not enough power to take a photo. Charge your phone.

 

Exactly, all Windows Mobile based phones go into flight mode when the battery reaches a certain point. Much more of an issue in my opinion then the camera being disabled. This is most likely a protective measure as I'm sure the flash is a significant battery drain and you can damage the battery if you let it completely discharge.

 

I would think when the battery is getting really low, things that would put a drain on the battery (such as a flash) would not function properly. To me it makes sense. But then again, I'm new to smart phones and the DROID is my first.

 

Bingo.

 

Better ways? Like going into flight mode? Frankly, I'd much rather have my PHONE decide its no longer a camera because of the available charge then to decide it is no longer a phone but will continue to function as a camera... Then again I'm pretty nonsensical at times.

 

DING DING DING.

It looks like the shutter or iris or whatever is trying to open but doesn't have enough power to completely open.

Keep the phone charged and quit taking pics of unsuspecting ladies in the nightclubs....

 

This seems like the most plausible explanation.

 

You have to remember that this is first and foremost, a PHONE!

... so yes at low battery levels they are going to hinder camera operation in order to try and reserve power for the PHONE in case it is needed, not an issue, and I don't anticipate this being changed to appease your opinion. it's working as intended for device that it is intended to be.

 

See I would help but I hardly ever have my phone drained that hard. I guess I could just surf the market and play with apps all day to drain it faster but I'm really suspecting that this is intended and that there is no defect.

 

Haven't tested it, won't bother to test it. However, I think it would be a nice 'fix' if there was an update that would disable the camera at a certain battery level and give you a message if you try to take a pic saying you need to recharge first, rather than taking crappy pics.

But I wouldn't call this a bug any more than I would call it a bug that when your car battery is low the car won't start.

It's normal, and not unexpected for things to get wonky when the power is low. My motorcycle can get VERY weird if the battery is low, even while the motor is running.

 

I wasnt trying to come across as flaming, but I never let my phone get that low. I might give it a shot just to see. However, remember it is a phone first as others have stated. My comments were to explain why I would think it wouldnt work well. Low battery. Just like anything electronic, once it starts getting critically low, wierd things happen.

 

Also, the other issue of asking other users to test is it is that it's still an extremely small sample size. You and your 3 friends + say me testing it is still what, 5 out of how many Droid's deployed? You still can't make a good assumption just based on 5 samples.