Photos Kind of Suck: Do I have a bad phone?

[estark]

Photos Kind of Suck: It was a bad phone!

I got my phone on Friday and have spent the weekend with it. I have a five year old, so the camera being good enough for snapshots is important. Currently it isn't. I have seen everyone saying things like they were "disappointed" by the camera, so I thought it would still be ok. Were they just being slightly less than honest?

I am really surprised at how soft and noisy the pictures have been. I realize that part of this is the lens has a wider angle than my Focus and I may have to zoom in sometimes. But really, the photos are pretty bad -- blotchy and soft. Colors seem to be ok with a bit high contrast. I have played with the settings some, but I haven't found anything that makes these pictures look as good as a gen 1 Samsung Focus. I am comparing these photos to the Focus, not a dedicated camera.

Do I have a bad camera? I really like the phone otherwise and would prefer not to, but do I need to exchange for a Titan 2?

 

[apoc527]

Make sure you focus with a half-press first. I have been using the phone for pictures and have gotten some incredible outdoor pics. I'm still learning the indoor ones, but with the flash and Auto-Fix, I can get some very nice indoor pics as well.

By the way, I can verify that the 900 takes better photos than the older iPhone 4. Loaded up in Picasa, it's very evidence which are Lumia photos and which are iPhone 4 photos.

Interestingly enough, I just now took a photo with my old iPhone 4 and my new Lumia 900 of something in my office. At first I thought that the Lumia's photo looked worse in terms of some yellowing, then I looked up from the phones and realized that it's yellowed because that's what the lighting in my office does to my surroundings. In other words, the Lumia 900 took a far more true-to-my-eyesight photo than the iPhone 4, which frankly let in too much light. Interesting.

 

[estark]

I did press the button halfway and waited for the focus to complete. I have also tapped the screen to focus/snap. I got the same results either way. I soft, blotchy pic. I went to a store at lunch to compare it to another Lumia 900 and the Titan 2, but the flagship store in St Louis, didn't have the Nokias on display.

Maybe I just have a bad camera/phone.

 

[altano]

I just exchanged my phone for an unrelated reason and the camera is RADICALLY better. The old phone had a blue tinge to the preview and all shots in even slightly low light were extremely noisy/grainy. It could just be that it's daytime out right now, so I'll have to wait till tonight for a final verdict.

I'll try to do a comparison later today, assuming my bad Lumia's photos wirelessly synced before I returned it.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

 

[srizo]

If you are trying to take macro shots, under more camera settings->scene-> choose macro.

See if the photo changes if you select different scenes.

 

[auniverseaway]

If you are trying to take macro shots, under more camera settings->scene-> choose macro.

See if the photo changes if you select different scenes.

Actually, you want "Focus Mode" to be set to macro. if you do just the scene, it only works for the one photo after the change (at least in my experience).

 

[estark]

I am not doing macro photos yet. I am taking pictures of my kid playing or landscapes. A thing that happens for every picture I take is that the image looks ok as I focus it and as soon as I take the picture, the color shifts slightly yellow and slide to the left. It may be my imagination, but the image seems to soften at that point also.

 

[KingCrimson]

Hint - phones take bad photos. Get a DSLR.

 

[hasasimo]

I've noticed on my Lumia 800 that pics are sharper and more focused if I take them by tapping on the screen (where I want it to focus) instead of pressing the camera button. Give it a go.

 

[estark]

Thanks for the hint KingCrimson (I like CatFood), but my Canon DSLR isn't usually in my pocket when my kid does something I want to keep (maybe we could work out a schedule) and all I want is for the pics to be as good as my Samsung Focus.

 

[camaroguy]

This may be obvious, but make sure the lens is clean. I was getting some horrible pictures until I realized there was some strategically placed grime on the lens that I could barely see.

 

[toasterthegamer]

Nope you just suck at taking pictures! lol jk Listen to what the people above said!

 

[npyle]

Got my Lumia 900 Friday as well and have spent the last few days trying to get consistent pictures. I had the same issue with my 800 as well. Sometimes pictures look pretty darn good and other times, lots of noise, softness, etc.

I understand lighting, setting, etc. changes, but I just wish that I could get consistency. Oh well, loving the phone still and I'll keep working at what setting(s) work best for me.

 

[estark]

So it was a bad phone. I went to an ATT store that had a Lumia 900 (the flagship store in town didn't) and when I took pictures on both of the same subjects, there was a very noticeable difference. Taking pictures of the parking lot would render license plates readable on the demo phone and a blur on mine. I swapped the phone for a new one and it works well (as good as my Focus) and I am happy now. I do hope they put in a better camera next round though. Thanks for all of the advice.

 

[rdubmu]

Pressing the screen to take the pic is better. My camera button doesn't wake the phone from the sleep state.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

 

[mbootag]

I am having the same problem.
But everything looks grainy and fuzzy before I take a picture???
I have cleaned the lens and still looks horrible before and after the pic?
And yes my screen protector is not over the lens
Must be a bad camera. I will stop by the store and do a compare!!!

 

[ayejay0601]

Do you think it is a problem of the lens or a problem of the software? If a software problem, hopefully we can see an update soon.

 

[lipper2000]

If it's taking really bad pics then I'd go to a store and just exchange it for another and test it there before leaving....

It should take better pics than a samsung focus (I have one and it takes pretty crappy pics, as do most phones).

I am jealous of you people...I'd love to have a cyan lumia...it is f'ing gorgeous looking!

 

[ChristianKing]

Be sure to pull the plastic off the back covering the lense. Or at least cut the top part of the plastic with a Razor and leave the rest of the metal plate covered.

The pics are hit or miss compared to the Titan phones which really take some amazing photos. Nokia will keep working on the cameras though so you shouldn't worry. The worked to improve the Lumia 800's camera and I'd expect we'd see the same with the 900. They've only been building Windows Phones for a year so I will give them a little time to get their imaging software fully ported.

 

[dkp23]

I am having the same problem.
But everything looks grainy and fuzzy before I take a picture???
I have cleaned the lens and still looks horrible before and after the pic?
And yes my screen protector is not over the lens
Must be a bad camera. I will stop by the store and do a compare!!!

Same here, grainy and fuzzy..you just have to do the semi hold to focus, but doesnt help much.

Outside shots are decent, but the problem i have is that if you are ready to take a picture of something and look at your screen to get the right angle, you finally take the picture, you can actually see the color changing when the picture is saving. I have never seen that before on my focus S...

I really hope that this is a software issue because the camera is pretty bad in my opinion. My focus s would take pretty focused pictures even if there is slight movement, with the 900, slight movement will cause blurriness...i hope they fix it.