Camera focus is not that great

[matt21484]

As the title suggests, I am having a hard time w/ the focus on my L920. I generally use the screen to touch to focus and there have been times where I know I clicked on a far corner and I can tell the image is focused on that spot. That being said, I took the following photo earlier today and clicked directly in the middle of the screen and the image came out all blury. I go back and forth on using pro shot and the default camera app to take pictures and it seems sometimes it's great and others it isn't. After the shot below I did double check to make sure everything was on full auto. Is there some trick or am I just "doing it wrong". I took other pictures and had similar results, and then others were fine. Total anecdotal, but it seems like the L920 has a hard time focusing on far away (10+ feet) objects vs close objects.



EDIT: So something is obviously wrong. The picture above is in focus, but on the preview within the camera app & on the camera roll, the image is super fuzy/out of focus. It even looks out of focus when I look at the picture on skydrive as I have auto upload full rez on wifi enabled. This is a screenshot of the image when I view it on my phone and in windows explorer. Someone please explain as I'm totally stumped.

 

[Jazmac]

Couple quick things. 1. check to make sure your camera is set to default settings and 2, before snapping pics, use your shirt to rub off the lens. I've blown a few good shots because my hands left fingerprints on the lens. The 920 has a camera that is nothing short of amazing. But I agree, what is showing in the preview and in on skydrive is odd.

 

[raycpl]

I could be wrong, but it looks like you shot it on "close-up" mode... happens to me all the time !!

As the title suggests, I am having a hard time w/ the focus on my L920. I generally use the screen to touch to focus and there have been times where I know I clicked on a far corner and I can tell the image is focused on that spot. That being said, I took the following photo earlier today and clicked directly in the middle of the screen and the image came out all blury. I go back and forth on using pro shot and the default camera app to take pictures and it seems sometimes it's great and others it isn't. After the shot below I did double check to make sure everything was on full auto. Is there some trick or am I just "doing it wrong". I took other pictures and had similar results, and then others were fine. Total anecdotal, but it seems like the L920 has a hard time focusing on far away (10+ feet) objects vs close objects.

View attachment 35520

EDIT: So something is obviously wrong. The picture above is in focus, but on the preview within the camera app & on the camera roll, the image is super fuzy/out of focus. It even looks out of focus when I look at the picture on skydrive as I have auto upload full rez on wifi enabled. This is a screenshot of the image when I view it on my phone and in windows explorer. Someone please explain as I'm totally stumped.

View attachment 35521

 

[matt21484]

I am 100% positive that the settings were default since I looked immedialty once I saw the blurry picture. My first thought was that it was in close up mode as I've left it in that mode several times. This time it was not the case. Do fingerprints really mess the lens up that much? I know I did rub it on my shirt later today after a similar outcome and the second shot came out OK. I just can't believe that a little pocket lint would do this much damage to shots. I've never had this big of a problem before. This is an Ebay phone as well, so who knows if there was hardware damage under the skin.... Other shots have come out great though, and I really do not regret switching from iphone to WP8

 

[AndreStudart]

I am 100% positive that the settings were default since I looked immedialty once I saw the blurry picture. My first thought was that it was in close up mode as I've left it in that mode several times. This time it was not the case. Do fingerprints really mess the lens up that much? I know I did rub it on my shirt later today after a similar outcome and the second shot came out OK. I just can't believe that a little pocket lint would do this much damage to shots. I've never had this big of a problem before. This is an Ebay phone as well, so who knows if there was hardware damage under the skin.... Other shots have come out great though, and I really do not regret switching from iphone to WP8

try proshot app, you can set the focus manually to anywhere you want, otherwise, just press a little bit in the camera button until it gets enough focus, then press to take the shot, this happened to me when I did not wait for the focus, just pushing the button and done

 

[AndreStudart]

I am 100% positive that the settings were default since I looked immedialty once I saw the blurry picture. My first thought was that it was in close up mode as I've left it in that mode several times. This time it was not the case. Do fingerprints really mess the lens up that much? I know I did rub it on my shirt later today after a similar outcome and the second shot came out OK. I just can't believe that a little pocket lint would do this much damage to shots. I've never had this big of a problem before. This is an Ebay phone as well, so who knows if there was hardware damage under the skin.... Other shots have come out great though, and I really do not regret switching from iphone to WP8

try proshot app, you can set the focus manually to anywhere you want, otherwise, just press a little bit in the camera button until it gets enough focus, then press to take the shot, this happened to me when I did not wait for the focus, just pushing the button and done

 

[trwrt]

In your screenshot of the preview within the camera app, is that after zooming in by any chance?

 

[Jazmac]

I am 100% positive that the settings were default since I looked immedialty once I saw the blurry picture. My first thought was that it was in close up mode as I've left it in that mode several times. This time it was not the case. Do fingerprints really mess the lens up that much? I know I did rub it on my shirt later today after a similar outcome and the second shot came out OK. I just can't believe that a little pocket lint would do this much damage to shots. I've never had this big of a problem before. This is an Ebay phone as well, so who knows if there was hardware damage under the skin.... Other shots have come out great though, and I really do not regret switching from iphone to WP8

You better believe it. The camera lens on the 920 gets mad dirty just using the phone normally. If you don't take a second to wipe off that lens it will show up in your photos, every single time. Its not just pocket lint. Its naturally occurring oils from your skin. Doesn't take much to bum rush a photo.

Sometimes its just blurry and sometimes your pics have what looks like a quasar passing through. But it will be something there and it will show up in otherwise great one time shots. But check your settings because one thing the 920 has is the ability to "save" settings. It could be that while testing the camera, you set close up and saved them. Every time you launch the camera, it will be in close up mode.

I didn't mention it before but great shot you posted.

 

[matt21484]

Thanks everyone for the tips and answering my questions. Learn something new every day