How can I zoom in camera app? - Nexus S Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I used to be able to zoom in and out with my Vibrant for video and stills, however... when I got on my Nexus S, I couldn't pinch to zoom or use the volume rockers. So where is it? I tried the Camera 360 app, it told me that zooming is not enabled on the device. Please tell me why... please...
Sent from my Nexus S

Smokexz said:
I used to be able to zoom in and out with my Vibrant for video and stills, however... when I got on my Nexus S, I couldn't pinch to zoom or use the volume rockers. So where is it? I tried the Camera 360 app, it told me that zooming is not enabled on the device. Please tell me why... please...
Sent from my Nexus S
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Click to collapse
Easy, walk closer to the subject you're trying to take a picture of.

Seriusly it doesn't support zoom in Camera mode???
It's strange...

I was pretty shocked by this as well. No 720p and no digital zoom is out of characteristic for a top of the line phone. I'm hoping for a Google update of the camera application bundled with some native video chat. *fingers crosses*
It's not out of the realm of possibility. They DID add multi-touch to the N1 soon after release.

As some users here say that the 720p video recording is hardware limitation, maybe also the zoom fuction is also hardware limitation...???
As the native google camera app has the zoom fuction, it's strange that they didn;t put on Nexus S. That's why i am thinking may the camera zoom is also hardware limitation...
I think Samsung kept the good 5Mp Camera hardware for its phones (such as Galazy S and feature ones...)

kalagas said:
As some users here say that the 720p video recording is hardware limitation, maybe also the zoom fuction is also hardware limitation...???
As the native google camera app has the zoom fuction, it's strange that they didn;t put on Nexus S. That's why i am thinking may the camera zoom is also hardware limitation...
I think Samsung kept the good 5Mp Camera hardware for its phones (such as Galazy S and feature ones...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No digital zoom is not a hardware limitation just an oversight by google. I hope we get an update to add this and make the browser faster.

kalagas said:
As some users here say that the 720p video recording is hardware limitation, maybe also the zoom fuction is also hardware limitation...???
As the native google camera app has the zoom fuction, it's strange that they didn;t put on Nexus S. That's why i am thinking may the camera zoom is also hardware limitation...
I think Samsung kept the good 5Mp Camera hardware for its phones (such as Galazy S and feature ones...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the same camera, but they had to remove the image processing chip for the camera to make room for stuff (like NFC). N1 didn't have 720P recording either (due to bandwidth limitations of the hardware) until someone hacked it in at a bandwidth that the hardware could support (22fps).

Smokexz said:
I used to be able to zoom in and out with my Vibrant for video and stills, however... when I got on my Nexus S, I couldn't pinch to zoom or use the volume rockers. So where is it? I tried the Camera 360 app, it told me that zooming is not enabled on the device. Please tell me why... please...
Sent from my Nexus S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Digital zoom is not a real zoom. Only thing it does is image crop then stretch. You can do that if you want on your pc after taking the pic. No real use of digital zoom.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

nxt said:
Easy, walk closer to the subject you're trying to take a picture of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol @ walk closer.

It's the last option on the 'toolbar' normally.

kalagas said:
As some users here say that the 720p video recording is hardware limitation, maybe also the zoom fuction is also hardware limitation...???
As the native google camera app has the zoom fuction, it's strange that they didn;t put on Nexus S. That's why i am thinking may the camera zoom is also hardware limitation...
I think Samsung kept the good 5Mp Camera hardware for its phones (such as Galazy S and feature ones...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i don't get how the 720p is hardware limited on the nexus s when the mytouch 4g has about the same specs and can do it.

bob.zxr said:
Digital zoom is not a real zoom. Only thing it does is image crop then stretch. You can do that if you want on your pc after taking the pic. No real use of digital zoom.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
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Click to collapse
This.... There is ZERO purpose to digital zoom.

Agreed. Digital zoom does more damage than good. To get a better picture on a subject, just walk closer to it. You could use this method for even digital cameras because at a certain point those even use digital zoom (you can tell because the quality decreases dramatically and it usually stops zooming in at that point, making you manually start zooming in again).

If I am at the stadium I can't "walk closer". My 8-year-old Nokia does have digital zoom, that's just ridiculous.
Yeah, I can stretch the image on my PC, but what about videos? I can stretch videos on my PC so why have I a smartphone? I can just surf the Internet at home or use the telephone at home.

+1 on stadium, +1 on shooting wild life as well, where I can't just "walk closer". Most of the time I only need 800x600 to upload to facebook and stuffs straight thru my phone. So I won't save it to my pc first and then use my pc software to crop it.
Any 3rd party software that does cropping?

Galaxy uses volume buttons to zoom

Did y'all try the volume buttons?
Took me a while to figure out that's how to zoom in on the epic 4g lol
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
EDIT: nevermind. Idk I guess samsung just wanted to gimp the nexs s. And you guys need to stop trying to justify missing features that are standard....my 5 year old LG had. 1.3 mp back camera and digital zoom lol wtf

Related

[Q] Don't you find it odd that our camera can't zoom?

The camera on the Nexus S cannot zoom, even when rooted. Has anyone figured out why? Is this a *bug* or is it intended? I really thought Google was going to fix it with the 2.3.3 update; hopefully it gets added in for 2.3.4.
Are there technical limitations preventing our phones camera from zooming or is it a software limitation?
Good clear zooming is a hardware limitation.
Crappy zooming can be implemented via software. Called digital zoom or something like that.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure that I'm right. Got all this info from when vibrant people were arguing about the camera.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
The nexus s is android in it's simplest form. Being a dev phone you don't really need zoom. Go find a different camera app like vignette
DKY is right; the zoom in other SGS phones operates the same way as taking a full-frame picture, then later cropping it: the resolution of the relevant part of the picture is no better than it would have been in the larger frame; it's just bigger on any restricted-size display.
I find it odd as well ... but as suggested I will try the other camera app.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
kirdroid said:
I find it odd as well ... but as suggested I will try the other camera app.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I find it odd as well. The previous phone that I have is HTC Magic which is a Pure Google phone as well, and it have Zoom (I don't care if its digital, its much easier to use than cropping), and the zoom icon is now replaced with the button to switch between front and back camera on NS.
Digital zoom is RUBBISH and I don't want it on my phone.
And I just realized, the "crop" function makes the photo to have a maximum x/y resolution of 1024!
Digital zoom is horrid...especially if you are zooming in on a low quality image like the NS produces. I don't even use it on my SGSII because I never want to degrade my image.
You can always zoom and crop after taking the image, which is all digital zoom does anyway.

No zoom function - really??

Just got my wife a refurbished Nexus S on Sprint. The camera shows no option to zoom in/out. Am I missing something? Is there a way to get zoom to work for taking photos/videos?
Thanks
HackGerm said:
Just got my wife a refurbished Nexus S on Sprint. The camera shows no option to zoom in/out. Am I missing something? Is there a way to get zoom to work for taking photos/videos?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. Really.
No zoom function..
Lolol. Yeah. No zoom. You can imagine my reaction when I found this out too when I got it.
Sent by pocket technology.
i wish it did. does anybody know of any third party camera apps that can allow us to zoom or is it just the hardware cant do it?
As someone who really does not give a single **** about "cellphone cameras" which aren't even cameras imho,
I was still surprised that no one put a crappy digital-zoom into the camera app to make it seem like it would have a zoom.
For the better I guess.
chad90r said:
i wish it did. does anybody know of any third party camera apps that can allow us to zoom or is it just the hardware cant do it?
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Click to collapse
Digital Zoom, yes!
you can get it in different camera apps and it will look horrible.
Optical zoom on the other hand has to be supported by the built-in camera and looks good because it actually zooms with the lens instead of just magnifying the pixels that come to the screen (digital zoom).
(Simplified, of course)
Camera app recommendations?
Guess this is a sore spot on that "Superphone" - have to see how I can sell this to my wife ....
I'm using the app Camera Zoom FX and am fairly happy. Any other recommendations, especially for using it mainly on portrait mode.
Cheers!
bobdowl said:
Digital Zoom, yes!
you can get it in different camera apps and it will look horrible.
Optical zoom on the other hand has to be supported by the built-in camera and looks good because it actually zooms with the lens instead of just magnifying the pixels that come to the screen (digital zoom).
(Simplified, of course)
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Click to collapse
So it really wouldnt make a difference from just taking a picture normally then zooming in and cropping with a photo editor program??
Just use the crop functionality in the gallery via "edit"... no difference to a digital zoom...
jbruenig said:
Just use the crop functionality in the gallery via "edit"... no difference to a digital zoom...
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Click to collapse
Thank you sir, Will do
jbruenig said:
Just use the crop functionality in the gallery via "edit"... no difference to a digital zoom...
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Click to collapse
I was about to say. It's time for education if someone thinks a digital zoom is actually anywhere near an optical zoom. It's only a crop of a part of the picture that gets done, nothing exactly fancy or of quality.
Very few Android phones offer optical zoom. Heck, the iPhone 4 doesn't have optical zoom either so it's not an Android problem per se.
Yeah I agree. I really wish there was a zoom function on the Nexus S but I guess we just have to live with it
Yeah like others already said, zooming on most phones(not sure about nokias pure view) aren't really zooming per say. They are just cropping the image in real time.
Zoom is quite useless unless you have optical zoom. Since Smartphones are getting pretty thin you can't really build a Camera with optical zoom into a smartphone. There is just no space for that.
Just think about how big those lenses on a DSLR Camera are. They need that space for the zoom (Not that a optical zoom has to have such a big lens, DSLR cameras have other needs in Zoom than Smartphones)

[Q] Possible?

Is it possible to add digital zoom into the stock Camera app on the Nexus S? I am aware that there is no optical zoom, and never will be, and I also know that digital zoom is virtually useless, but it does save me from cropping the photo later. So is it possible to add digital zoom to the stock camera?
Camera Zoom FX does that. Good app overall. :thumbup:
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium
Sure it is! Take a picture, manually zoom in, edit and crop! Done.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2
Nexus S doesn't have optical zoom, so the above method works the same way as digital zoom provided by zoom fx
Please don't use Digital zoom it's very bad and it just pixelizes the image even more. Optical zoom is the real zoom, that the lens actually adjusts in. However as the Nexus S doesn't have that, cropping an image will probably give you the same result as Optical zoom :'(
the guys that replied before are correct. I have bought Camera FX and i don't use it. Digital zoom is far from being as good as Optical
Fellas, I know the NS doesnt have optical zoom, barely any smartphones do (not even the iPhones have it), the only reason I was asking this is because it saves me from having to get a whole other app, and it saves me from going back into the gallery to crop it after.
FirePoncho86 said:
Fellas, I know the NS doesnt have optical zoom, barely any smartphones do (not even the iPhones have it), the only reason I was asking this is because it saves me from having to get a whole other app, and it saves me from going back into the gallery to crop it after.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't believe anyone would have took the time to add this function to the camera app, considering it's usefulness.

Blurry camera images.

Is anyone having issues with the camera? When I pinch to zoom in, I find the camera not properly focusing. This seems to occur no matter if it on single shot, hdr, etc. Its not ALL photos, just moist of them. Used to have thunderbolt and did not experience this type of issue there. The reviews praised the s3 camera, so i am disappointed. Anyone have any advice? Thanks
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2
Unfortunately I also am experiencing this same problem. I dont have a real solution but to use an alternative camera application, and hope it helps.
Try a diff gallery. I found sometimes the gallery will not focus in. Although sometimes I have found myself dissapointed in the camera. There are 2 different cameras in the s3 one is app lower quality.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
You're not alone! The camera is almost always blurry for me, and sadly, bad enough for me to say this camera SUCKS. I really hope this is a firmware issue.
I've looked at the pictures on my computer as well, and they're just not nearly focused.
+1 on all of it for me
So let me get this straight:
While you're in camera mode, about to take a picture, and you pinch to zoom-in, the photo gets blurry?
Or are you talking about in the gallery when you pinch-to-zoom on a picture you've already taken?
If it's the former, I believe it's one of two things: 1) firmware issue, or 2) hardware issue. If it is indeed a hardware issue, you can probably get a replacement free of charge from Verizon.
If it's the latter, I think you just have to wait a few seconds for the phone to show you the high-res version instead of the low-quality blurry snapshot.
My sister has the same issue on her Galaxy Nexus. But I'm assuming that's not the case, since the blurriness usually goes away in a matter of seconds?
I've found the camera pretty crummy in anything but full-light settings. It's really frustrating.
tekhna said:
I've found the camera pretty crummy in anything but full-light settings..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That statement pretty much applies to any camera/phone.
One thing you guys might want to try is using the app "CameraFX"
CameraFX has a pretty cool feature that allows you to take a pic by voice activation. I find the camera phones are much harder to hold steady and take a clear shot than a real DC (& I'm a pro photographer). Using the voice activation allows you to hold the camera super steady & then just say a word like now or smile etc when you're ready to take the shot.
I have my camera set to take a shot with the volume button, but the voice activation is still easier to use IMHO.
jmorton10 said:
That statement pretty much applies to any camera/phone.
One thing you guys might want to try is using the app "CameraFX"
CameraFX has a pretty cool feature that allows you to take a pic by voice activation. I find the camera phones are much harder to hold steady and take a clear shot than a real DC (& I'm a pro photographer). Using the voice activation allows you to hold the camera super steady & then just say a word like now or smile etc when you're ready to take the shot.
I have my camera set to take a shot with the volume button, but the voice activation is still easier to use IMHO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This camera doesn't focus properly. Period. I'll do side-by-side shots with my Rezound and iPhone. The GS3 camera is woeful in anything but full, natural light.
tekhna said:
This camera doesn't focus properly. Period. I'll do side-by-side shots with my Rezound and iPhone. The GS3 camera is woeful in anything but full, natural light.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that the Rezound camera is better, I have three Rezounds & the camera is super (for a phone camera).
I really have not had any focusing issues with the G3 although I don't use it a whole lot because I usually have access to a real DC.
---------- Post added at 10:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:54 AM ----------
Taehee. said:
.
My sister has the same issue on her Galaxy Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's another issue entirely, the Nexus is notorious for having an atrociously bad camera.
+1, I have noticed that a lot of my pics are coming out blurry, I thought it was maybe because the camera was sensative to the slightest twitch and that I was maybe moving it mid shot.
skrypj said:
+1, I have noticed that a lot of my pics are coming out blurry, I thought it was maybe because the camera was sensative to the slightest twitch and that I was maybe moving it mid shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it is to some extent, turn on anti-shake, but that doesn't totally fix it. It's pretty frustrating that this phone seems like a step backwards in terms of camera.
skrypj said:
+1, I have noticed that a lot of my pics are coming out blurry, I thought it was maybe because the camera was sensative to the slightest twitch and that I was maybe moving it mid shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is why I posted what I did about CameraFX.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/59294739/miui.camera.apk
This miui camera works pretty well just install the apk no changes to permission needed. It does not use the ffc so use stock app for that.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
jmorton10 said:
That's another issue entirely, the Nexus is notorious for having an atrociously bad camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not talking about the camera quality, itself. I mean in the gallery, when you're looking through pictures you've already taken, the pictures are a bit blurry at first, but then clear up into the original (higher) resolution.
---
@OP: Are you sure the camera is focused?
Taehee. said:
I'm not talking about the camera quality, itself. I mean in the gallery, when you're looking through pictures you've already taken, the pictures are a bit blurry at first, but then clear up into the original (higher) resolution.
QUOTE]
Gotcha, you definitely have to wait a few seconds or all the images look awful.......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took some pictures today in my home office (have a floor lamp...decent lighting but not super bright) with both the GS3 and the Fascinate (GS1). The GS1 pictures are better. This is VERY disappointing
Taehee. said:
So let me get this straight:
While you're in camera mode, about to take a picture, and you pinch to zoom-in, the photo gets blurry?
Or are you talking about in the gallery when you pinch-to-zoom on a picture you've already taken?
If it's the former, I believe it's one of two things: 1) firmware issue, or 2) hardware issue. If it is indeed a hardware issue, you can probably get a replacement free of charge from Verizon.
If it's the latter, I think you just have to wait a few seconds for the phone to show you the high-res version instead of the low-quality blurry snapshot.
My sister has the same issue on her Galaxy Nexus. But I'm assuming that's not the case, since the blurriness usually goes away in a matter of seconds?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is the former. I tried camera 360 today and photos seemed ok. That app only alows 2x zoom. I was outdoors photographing dinosaurs in full sun. Perhaps i try another photo app, camera fx or something like that and see how it goes. Thank you for the reply. As I see I'm not the only one with this issue, I'm glad that we can discuss it and see what helps for us.
Camera Zoom FX as mentioned is a good alternative, for me I think the instant shutter makes it more blurry because you don't have any time to steady the camera after pressing the button. Camera Zoom has a slight lag. I would also try ProCapture, which I think does a better job than Camera Zoom but YMMV.
Camera sucks.. Period.. Pictures are horrible for an 8mp camera..
Sent from my Commodore 64..
READY.
load"*", 8,1

[Q] Touch to Focus / Tap to Focus

Hi Everyone. I'm thinking of purchasing a Google Nexus 5 phone but I'm concerned about the video, which is one of the main features I'm looking for in a phone.
I've seen test video of the Nexus 5 and the LG G2 which it is loosely based on as I understand it. Both of these phones have pretty serious "focus hunting" problems when recording video. I don't know if it's because of the optical image stabilization or just a software issue but to me at least, that's unacceptable.
I could not verify by searching anywhere online and in forums if the Nexus 5 has a Touch to Focus or sometimes called a Tap to Focus feature for the video recorder or not. What I'm looking for is the ability to turn off auto-focus and just be able to touch the area on the screen where I want the camera to focus IN REAL-TIME as I'm video recording.
Can anyone tell me if this camera has that feature? If it doesn't, is there an app I can buy that will give me this feature? I know there is an App called Snap Camera HDR I believe, but I can't determine if that app can do this either.
Thanks!
Steve in Chicago, Illinois
Curious about this also..
I will say for certain my nexus 5 takes better pics and video than my iPhone 5.
Sent from my Nexus 5
myturbo1 said:
Curious about this also..
I will say for certain my nexus 5 takes better pics and video than my iPhone 5.
Sent from my Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's great but can you verify whether or not the phone has the manual focus feature I was referring to (Touch to Focus / Tap to Focus) and if you can manually focus in real-time while recording video repeatedly?
Thanks.
If you tap the screen when video is recording it takes a picture. So I'm going to say no tap to focus. At least nothing I can see on mine.
frigidazzi said:
If you tap the screen when video is recording it takes a picture. So I'm going to say no tap to focus. At least nothing I can see on mine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's precisely what I was afraid of. Too bad. I'm an amateur videographer and am particular about video and video that constantly goes in and out of focus in some scenes is unusable to me. Do you know if there are settings to control the auto-focus? For example, some smart phone video camera apps allow you to set the focus to fixed infinity, rather than auto-focus. That way you can shoot your distance and wide angle shots set that way, then set it back to auto-focus for close-ups and macro shots.
Focus
stevefoobar said:
Yes, that's precisely what I was afraid of. Too bad. I'm an amateur videographer and am particular about video and video that constantly goes in and out of focus in some scenes is unusable to me. Do you know if there are settings to control the auto-focus? For example, some smart phone video camera apps allow you to set the focus to fixed infinity, rather than auto-focus. That way you can shoot your distance and wide angle shots set that way, then set it back to auto-focus for close-ups and macro shots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After doing some research, it appears there are Android apps that will do what I'm looking for. In particular, this one seems to work with the Nexus 5 specifically:
Snap Camera HDR
Has anyone tried this app?
And one more thing please. I've never owned a smartphone before. Since this phone has no memory card and only 16 GB of internal memory probably of which only 12 is available for apps, how do you get the video and pictures out of the phone into a PC?
Thanks!
Either cloud storage or just plug it in to usb and copy it to computer. I would recommend the 32gb model especially if you're going to be shooting video.
frigidazzi said:
Either cloud storage or just plug it in to usb and copy it to computer. I would recommend the 32gb model especially if you're going to be shooting video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't do cloud but it sounds like the USB jack will allow Windows to recognize the internal memory as a hard drive so that will work.
I didn't realize there was a 32 GB model of the Nexus 5. I haven't seen one anywhere.
stevefoobar said:
I don't do cloud but it sounds like the USB jack will allow Windows to recognize the internal memory as a hard drive so that will work. [...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's correct.
I just took a video with Snap and was able to focus on the points I want while taking video.
~Gesendet von meinem Nexus 5~
I think you can only get the 32gb from Google play store.
MowTow said:
That's correct.
I just took a video with Snap and was able to focus on the points I want while taking video.
~Gesendet von meinem Nexus 5~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome! Thanks.
frigidazzi said:
I think you can only get the 32gb from Google play store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it does appear that way. Too bad. They certainly aren't the least expensive option and they don't sell refurbished phones.

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