Hello,
If you enjoy taking macro (close-up) photos with your phone, but always have trouble getting the camera to focus properly, I put together a quick video guide with a couple of tips and tricks that may help you.
I found this method particularly useful for subjects that are not perfectly static (like insects or flowers blowing in the wind).
Here it is: http://youtu.be/vDMXcWffQJs
Let me know how you get on, and feel free to post any macro shots you have taken in this thread (ideally taken with the sensation of course).
Bugsy.
Reserved for further info
Nice explanation, i know nothing about taking photos ( i just point and click and hope for the best, so the more vids/tuts the merrier!!!
Thanks for this. It's just the thing I've been looking for.
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio using XDA
Pretty simple! Thanks for the quick vid! I can happily snap pics quite quickly!
Great guide.
Definately helps on closeups! cool
Wow, thanks. I've gave up before while trying to take close up pictures before.
Well it maybe because I've been trying to focus in low light but my camera doesn't seem to be focussing properly.
I have tried focusing on my hand even in daylight but it doesn't work, it looks for focus but nothing happens after that
Someone mentioned before that it maybe because of the colour contrast and the camera doesn't recognise anything there... Any help would be appreciated
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio Z715e using xda premium
Thanks for the share. It is very useful.
LilChinchster said:
Well it maybe because I've been trying to focus in low light but my camera doesn't seem to be focussing properly.
I have tried focusing on my hand even in daylight but it doesn't work, it looks for focus but nothing happens after thatpremium
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Click to collapse
In the video, you'll see that I used the text of a newspaper to establish focus lock. If you're outdoors, look for something that is relatively flat (not smooth or reflective though) and has some features. Rough concrete, old tree bark -even cut grass and soil can work surprisingly well at times. The most important thing is to fill the entire frame with something that's easy to focus on.
Finally - the poorer the light conditions, the more important it is for you to keep the camera still for the initial focus. In the video I used my finger as a distance guide, but it can also be very useful for resting your camera against.
I know I'm a noob to XDA... but here's a quick tip I've got, for nearly the same thing but in low light.
Use the camcorder with the flash on. Focus, switch back to camera, and snap the pic.
That method is useful when there's almost no light in the room, and the phone won't focus correctly.
Hope this will help someone some day.
Also, great tip!
espchris91 said:
I know I'm a noob to XDA... but here's a quick tip I've got, for nearly the same thing but in low light.
Use the camcorder with the flash on. Focus, switch back to camera, and snap the pic.
That method is useful when there's almost no light in the room, and the phone won't focus correctly.
Hope this will help someone some day.
Also, great tip!
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Click to collapse
That is an extremely good tip for low light. With autofocus disabled, switch to video mode> enable video light> tap to focus> then switch back to camera mode for the shot. I like! I might even update the video with that one
SenseBugs said:
That is an extremely good tip for low light. With autofocus disabled, switch to video mode> enable video light> tap to focus> then switch back to camera mode for the shot. I like! I might even update the video with that one
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Click to collapse
You're welcome man! I've been using that trick for years now. I started doing that with my MyTouch Slide, then the MT4G, and now my Sensation. (I'm at HTC guy)
Name's Chris btw
I use the Camera360 app. It includes the 'photo light' option in addition to 'flash on/off/auto', so no need to switch to video for focusing.
Thanks for the tip though.
Cheers, Jp
Related
Friends,
Post Your Best Fuze Photo's
Tvos
Very nice shot and panorama stitch but please... there is no such thing as fuze photos. There might be mobile photos and pro photos, there is no point to focus on brand/model specific photos
Fire Training
Here is a pic I snapped at a Firefighter Survival training I attended.
I took this picture off a customer's balcony, great view in Dawsonville GA looking south toward ATL
darfri said:
Very nice shot and panorama stitch but please... there is no such thing as fuze photos. There might be mobile photos and pro photos, there is no point to focus on brand/model specific photos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, there is a point to focus on brand/model specific photos.
The idea is to share photos made with the same device, to compare quality and find the best camera settings.
johanromijn said:
Yes, there is a point to focus on brand/model specific photos.
The idea is to share photos made with the same device, to compare quality and find the best camera settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think he was saying it should be TP not Fuze. I think the only TP that has anything dif about the cam is the Sprint one and its just the lack of the filter over the lense because the battery case is sealed.
damn these pics look good...I forgot that this is armed with a 3.2mp camera until now haha.
not to thread jack
Just thought I'd ask a friendly group here, since you guys have your panorama working. When i switch to panorama on my phoneand attempt to take a photo it says, "Camera: Unable to capture photo. Disk full." I'm using 3GB of my 8GB card, so I know there is room on my card. I also tried saving it to main memory with no luck. I also tried switching it to the lowest quality and resolution, all with the same results. Any help would be appreciated.
YellowGTO said:
I think he was saying it should be TP not Fuze. I think the only TP that has anything dif about the cam is the Sprint one and its just the lack of the filter over the lense because the battery case is sealed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In that case, I didn't say anything.
nyckid211 said:
Just thought I'd ask a friendly group here, since you guys have your panorama working. When i switch to panorama on my phoneand attempt to take a photo it says, "Camera: Unable to capture photo. Disk full." I'm using 3GB of my 8GB card, so I know there is room on my card. I also tried saving it to main memory with no luck. I also tried switching it to the lowest quality and resolution, all with the same results. Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone know whats going on? I am having the same problems
Could it be that the new rom update messed up the Panaroma function?
Cant be, because when I flashed it I could still take panoramic pictures after, something happened recently that I cant figure out
the picture quality on this phone is amazing. Camera phone has come a long way since the Nokia American Idol version...lol
Heres a lil macro shot I took of a jigsaw puzzle
Flowers are always the best inanimates.
Dont you LOVE flowers?
freekquency said:
Flowers are always the best inanimates.
Dont you LOVE flowers?
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lol. Man it's been a long time since I had some flowers!
no tweaks were done. Just the camera in it's stock form!
It's pretty sad to say that this camera gives just as good of pictures as my Nikon S550.
freekquency said:
Flowers are always the best inanimates.
Dont you LOVE flowers?
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I love THOSE flowers haha
kudos, looks like dank
Here's a few of my wife's Infiniti G35x
19" G37 Sport rims
225/45/19 Bridgestone Potenza
18% window tint
Stillen/K&N intake with Z-tube
Pioneer AVIC to connect with Fuze (in the near future)
AkumaMax said:
lol. Man it's been a long time since I had some flowers!
no tweaks were done. Just the camera in it's stock form!
It's pretty sad to say that this camera gives just as good of pictures as my Nikon S550.
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Holy!!!
08 STi police?! I need a bigger turbo..
here's one from my comicon 09 trip.... top of rock in NYC... shot through a plexi security wall (so you don't jump off the top!).
I have recently used my camera for a picture but I noticed that my screen look like its burning up like pixels are burning. So I took some picture of it. I'm not sure why it show it like this but screen look very bad in camera mode beside this picture was taking at half 7 at night. And while recording I did not see very great quality even my cousin Samsung wave 2 5 megapixel looked better on picture and video. I just want to know if any1 else has felt the same. for some reason i could not upload the picture and i will try again to upload them.
the first 1 is just in the camera mode and flah is not on and the second is flash on but you can still see bad colours. and in video just forget it i can see sort of light on the screen going up and down and it is very disturbing while recording. i have tried to take a picture at day time and the quality looks good still not better than my old htc hd2 because of pixelated.
i had to cut some part which was due to privacy but this is the picture i took at my collage and this was the assisemant i had to write it and i took picture of it rather than writing it down. but you can see the collage picture looks alright but at night it just look messed up. and the settings are same all the way through everything to set with custom level set to middle all of them and picture is set to 8 megapixel.
please feel free to write about your experience you had with your camera and your screen and i have watched youtube and i dont see anything wrong this is i think camera problem. other than phone is 3 weeks old no drops no nothing still in brand new condition.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
Do you have a camera mod installed?
What ROM are you using?
If its stock rom and you haven't changed the camera, then take it to the store you bought it from, and demand an exchange because that camera is obviously messed up.
my experience with my sensation, and about all mobile phones, is that in low light conditions the quality is really poor.
Need to say I did not experience the bad quality you're showing. With flash it should have been better if the distance of the photographed object is not to big.
I'm using revolutionary 3.1.1 rom and I did not use any mod or anything its the camera that is showing the quality like this.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
I cannot take this back to store because I have bought this phone from gumtree and when I bought it the box was sealed and there was nothing wrong with the seal.
Everything was brand new and I have uploaded a picture of day time the camera look ok but night time it quality goes crap
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
I would like to see some sample of ur pictures if any1 can upload them and take some at night and some at day. If in case ur pic quality is different then I'm gonna take this to mobile shop to get it fixed
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
As I'm a fresh user of this forum I am not sure if I can post any pictures, but I'll give it a try.
I took this first picture in sheer darkness. I could not see the model car on the display. With the flash it shows on the photo. It's not sharp because of that.
The second one I took with a little light so I could just see the modelcar in the phone display. This picture is a little sharper but still not good.
The third I took under a halogen desk light and is clearly sharper.
Hope it helps!
Also took a daytime picture for you. Well...it's a bit cloudy and foggy outside so the pic is not 100% clear, but think you can get the "big picture" about the overall quality.
Shery4life said:
please feel free to write about your experience you had with your camera and your screen and i have watched youtube and i dont see anything wrong this is i think camera problem. other than phone is 3 weeks old no drops no nothing still in brand new condition.
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Click to collapse
Hey Dude,
1. As @Speedy72 said, either smartphone or regular phone does not take good photos due to physical optic parts limitations.
BUT
2. Some time ago I had similar problems with pictures also with ARHD roms. ROM is genuine but problems were obvious for me. It also gone bootloops once a day. Now changed to Virtuous Sensation XE 2.1 and both mentioned problems vanished for me.
So, my advice - try different ROM (if U like ARHD then Virtuous XE will be just for you).
Good luck!
Im actually having the same problem with the camera... hopefully thats just the way they all are when it comes to a red or orange color
Try hitting the menu key and messing with the image adjustments to see if you can make it normal again.
Sent from my HTC Sensation
In low light, the camera blows. One thing that seems to have worked for me was to disable the "Auto-Enhance" feature. Pictures were much better. I now run ARHD 4.1.5 with Amaze Cam v7 and it takes great pictures, even in low light.
With mod, low light
Without mod, auto-enhance enabled, daylight
Notice the major blotchiness of the daylight picture.
Hope this helps
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
Jimmah555 said:
In low light, the camera blows. One thing that seems to have worked for me was to disable the "Auto-Enhance" feature. Pictures were much better. I now run ARHD 4.1.5 with Amaze Cam v7 and it takes great pictures, even in low light.
With mod, low light
View attachment 771661
Without mod, auto-enhance enabled, daylight
View attachment 771662
Notice the major blotchiness of the daylight picture.
Hope this helps
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
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Click to collapse
this is what i mean the camera is ok in day but at night this is what makes me mad.
can you see the right top corner all those little pixel they look disgusting
As far as the really bright pixels, did you try disabling the auto-enhance and take the picture again? Let me know how that works.
In the really dark photos, those pixels are called noise. Even top of the line DSLRs have that (to some degree) in low light. It's a phone camera. It's going to happen. Go check some Apple forums and you'll find out that the 4S has this too. I'm afraid its something you're going to have to live with my friend, or carry around a light
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium
Jimmah555 said:
As far as the really bright pixels, did you try disabling the auto-enhance and take the picture again? Let me know how that works.
In the really dark photos, those pixels are called noise. Even top of the line DSLRs have that (to some degree) in low light. It's a phone camera. It's going to happen. Go check some Apple forums and you'll find out that the 4S has this too. I'm afraid its something you're going to have to live with my friend, or carry around a light
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium
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i have took the auto enhance off but still those little pixels are sticking out beside i looked up for camera noise and this is how my screen looks all the time before taking picture.
i hate this noise thing so bad because it only happens at night and this is the only time when i rarely use my camera.
Shery4life said:
i have took the auto enhance off but still those little pixels are sticking out beside i looked up for camera noise and this is how my screen looks all the time before taking picture.
i hate this noise thing so bad because it only happens at night and this is the only time when i rarely use my camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you thought about backing up your apps and anything else you need to keep and trying Android Revolution HD 4.1.5 (I think 4.1.6 is out now actually)? It has Sense 3.5, then you can flash the Amaze camera mod v7 (v8 causes problems for some). The newest InsertCoin ROM also has Sense 3.5, same with RCMix. Try them all. It will produce less noise, but like I said before, you'll never lose the noise fully no matter what camera or software you go to.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium
best camera ever
I had the GS2 for a few days and then returned it for the GS2SR. Both seem to have very finicky auto brightness. Can anyone else confirm this or did I have two bad phones in a row? My previous phone was the Nexus S and its light sensor worked flawlessly.
Also, can't seem to take great pics yet. Any suggestions on the best camera settings or is it just because I also own an iPhone 4s and am used to that camera?
thanks
Lol for one it takes great photos 8mp and 1080p video. For two yes auto brightness is a pain on the skyrocket and the other sgs2 i dontt use it. I uncheck it
And three used to the iphone 4s camera would mean you were used to an inferior camera on a phone that is nothing more then a glorified app launcher. Launcher pro app pretty much sums up the capabilities of the ios. But maby you got a faulty device it does happen. I have taken very many photos and videos on the sgs2 and the akyrocket and i have to say very happy with the reasults from both. Mabye go too att have them exchange it if it seams like its having issues.
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, 8MP and 1080P are just specs, not real world. My Nexus S out of the box took much better pics. And as for the iPhone, I won't even go there as some people are precharged to hate one platform or the other it's not even worth discussing. I actually love both platforms and look forward to switching back and forth regularly. I'm going to play with the camera settings and see what I can improve with my Skyrocket.
As for the auto brightness issue, I actually found my solution in another thread. Just unchecked "Auto adjust screen power" in display settings and leave auto brightness checked. Works perfectly now! No issues in the last 12 hrs.
It is not specific to this phone, the Android auto brightness algorithm is crap. With every Android I've owned I tried to give it a chance, but alas, they don't seem to realize that in pitch darkness the screen needs to be an minimum power and in direct sunlight it needs to be maxed out.
Thanks for that. I feel a little better now. I was actually just logging back on to say to forget my earlier response that i fixed it. It's still very wonky. But I'm glad to know it's not the phone. Going back to turning it off all together.
Funny thing is that the first early impressions I read of the Galaxy Nexus today included a complaint that the auto brightness feature is really flaky.... Wild, wild stuff.
I developed some software to replace the stock auto-brightness.
WMguy said:
I had the GS2 for a few days and then returned it for the GS2SR. Both seem to have very finicky auto brightness. Can anyone else confirm this or did I have two bad phones in a row? My previous phone was the Nexus S and its light sensor worked flawlessly.
Also, can't seem to take great pics yet. Any suggestions on the best camera settings or is it just because I also own an iPhone 4s and am used to that camera?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding pictures and image quality - you can take some amazing photo's but you have to mess with settings (which its got a bunch of, more in line with a proper camera). But, if you're not a savvy photog - the auto, point and shoot will give you some crap photos.
I'm finding issues with the auto brightness and auto adjust too. Tried turning off the latter and still found it cranking down too readily, to the point I thought the camera was taking dark pictures. Turned both auto functions off and it seems better. Camera pictures now don't seem like they were taken with an ineffective flash, viewing the pictures on lowered brightness seems too have been the issue.
does anybody else get fuzzy pictures? i just noticed it happening. espically when i zoom in. and the focus seems to be louder than before. but im not sure if thats just me worrying about it.
When you zoom its digital zoom essentially cropping it to look bigger, and the camera noise its a sound played by the speaker. So if your ringtone volume is louder the sound will be louder.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
even without zooming its seems that it is really fuzzy. and its the sound of the actual camera, not the noise coming from the speaker. i have the volume all the way down and when it is focusing it makes a lot of noise. i think that the focus may be broken.
Oh ok, mineakes no noise, other than the artificial sound, you most likely have bad hardware, take it back to where you got.it and show them the issue to get a replacement if possible.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Maybe there's oil or nostril mucus on your lense? Maybe moisture?
Sent from my HTC One X
kleeman7 said:
Oh ok, mineakes no noise, other than the artificial sound
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Click to collapse
Pretty sure its normal for the camera to make a faint "click" as it auto focuses. Try pointing the camera at different distances (to subject being photographed), or slide the zoom all the way from one extreme to another. Its pretty faint, so you have to listen closely, and if there is any background noise you may not hear it at all. It also doesn't seem to make the noise all the time. Sometimes it also clicks when you exit the camera app.
At least I hope its normal, as my phone does it! :-O
Agree that if the noise has gotten louder, and the camera is not focusing, the camera hardware may have failed.
It's very faint I should have said.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
A lot of my photos come out blurry as well, but thats because my hand shakes and whatnot. While the HOX takes beautiful photos, it is VERY easy to blur them if your hands arent steady enough.
On the other hand, my video keeps freezing up every time I hit the record button. I have to reset the phone to solve the issue. This problem didn't come up until after I rooted my phone. Perhaps theres a correlation there..?
now that you mentioned it i didnt notice it until after i was rooted. i just updated to the newest ruu (which is annoying me with my contacts) and im gunna see if it still happens. thank you for the responses everyone.
This is probably the 10th thread about this subject. Its normal and its coming from the lens itself.
How is unable to record video "normal?"
My HTC One XL pictures also look pretty shabby. Take any picture and zoom in after to see just how fuzzy and blurry they are. With the iPhone 4S they are much better. Not nearly as much blur or fuzz in pictures taken by iPhone 4s.
Got my Z3 a couple of days ago (wife as well) and when either of us take a picture in an indoor, low light situation the picture is always foggy looking. In fact, even in very low light if the flash goes off, the picture is foggy looking. Anyone else experience this or have any thoughts? Really irritating. Pictures are great looking if no flash though (on both phones).
Yep, same here and tried everything...this camera is why I bought it, and it sucks compared to my Lumia 920
esheesle said:
Got my Z3 a couple of days ago (wife as well) and when either of us take a picture in an indoor, low light situation the picture is always foggy looking. In fact, even in very low light if the flash goes off, the picture is foggy looking. Anyone else experience this or have any thoughts? Really irritating. Pictures are great looking if no flash though (on both phones).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't used flash yet but I read somewhere that manual mode reduces this fog effect. i'm guessing it's some sort of lens flare? Try playing with the different scene modes and settings.
Same issue with mine. Been working all week on it and cannot get a good picture inside
Same, swapped first one out only to find this has the same issue, thought i was the only one
esheesle said:
Got my Z3 a couple of days ago (wife as well) and when either of us take a picture in an indoor, low light situation the picture is always foggy looking. In fact, even in very low light if the flash goes off, the picture is foggy looking. Anyone else experience this or have any thoughts? Really irritating. Pictures are great looking if no flash though (on both phones).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Need some examples, really. Are you using a case on your phone? Try without. Try a few different modes (auto, manual etc) and see if there's a pattern.
Manual mode and changing iso up seems to allow for better pics.
Sent from my D6603 using XDA Free mobile app
Yes same problem already talked about in depth, try manual mode, keep the ISO as low as possible with the flash, in fact if the object is more than 5m away, then the flash will not really do much, turn it off and increase the ISO
I had the same Problem, and after testing if it was the case or the Glascover, because sometimes the
Pics were foggy and sometimes not.
Some of the Glas Cover makes Reflextions on to the Lens but the worse
are the Fingers on the left Side of the Phone, when you make pics in landscape.
The Finger on the left Top makes so many Reflections to the lens that the Imgages becomes
foggy.
When you make a Pic and hold the Phone in the middle, than all the Pics with Flash are good,
You can test it by yourself in Automodus or Manuell.
rambus
Same issue
Has anyone managed to find a workaround for this??
I'm having the same issue and not sure what to do.
Thanks,