Camera - xperia s - focusing problems and poor images

[#1]

Firstly this phone is fantastic and I have already conmverted several friends from apple to sony.

Last night I though I would really test it out - went out with a few mates, each with different phones and every time the Nokia N8 took better pictures.

Honestly - my xperia took ages to focus and 5 out of 9 shots were very very poor. In direct comparision the N8 - once he had it set up, took photos faster and each one was in focus - non of this waiting while it figures out what its doing,.

In day light - mine wins no problem - in pubs and low light areas I found this phone to have major problems with focus, and tiime delay in pressing and actual capture of images --- dont get me wrong - I can take it out of my pocket - press the button and hey presto - a photo very very quick --but what is the point when its not in focus and then I have to try again, then again, by which time, my mates are laughing as they have unlocked their phone, aimed and took a good photo.

SONY -- please look into this --  is this my handset or systemic?

Looking at the response this is systemic - if this is a software issue then please sort it, if hardware - recall and replace.

For those of you with the problem - the best photos I can get are to disable face detection, scenes to OFF,,focus mode - have it on touch or infinity, metering centre. At least on these settings I get more than 1 out of 10 photos which I can use.

THIS IS STILL AN ISSUE!!! SONY PLEASE RESPOND!

Message was edited by: batman1056

[uliwooly-wooly]

I'm a bit confused, I have the S and I can press and hold the shutter and I can take pictures w/o the need to unlock your phone. I know the Xperia S as all the Xperias compress the pictures and videos, but as for the iphone 4s to take better pictures than the S I disagree

[Xad]

Mine takes a photo like it's supposed to when you hold the button down when the phone is screenlocked. What i was mentioning was a request, not a fault; as in, when you're using the phone and you single press (not hold) the camera button on the side, the phone should switch to camera mode. That's how it works on my previous phone the Samsung i8910, and i'm guessing other Samsung phones with dedicated camera buttons.

It's understandable that the phone requires you to hold the camera button when it's screenlocked, but when it's not screenlocked, it should not require holding the button down, rather just a quick single press....at the very least an option to choose. Anyway, this thread isn't a request thread, it's the camera focus problem thread...i shouldn't have mentioned the request here so back on topic.

As for the comparison between the Iphone 4S photo and the Xperia S photo, i wasn't doing a comparison in perfect conditions of the actual photo quality, instead i was comparing how the photos turned out in specific scenarios where the Xperia S struggled to focus and gave blurry photos while  the Iphone did not and gave non-blurry photos instantly. Although having said that, i do think the Iphone 4S gives out slightly better quality photos and there are plenty of sites that compare sample shots where you can see for yourself; but again, that's not what i was mentioning in the previous post.

[uliwooly-wooly]

I wonder why is that, I spent 9 days more or less taking pictures day and night under different conditions with the X10, Arc Xperia S and other Sony camera, next to some friends using the iPhone 4S and other smartphones and the Xperia S wasn't that bad, I didn't struggled as much or the same as the iphone 4S, so perhaps it has to do with specific conditions, the X10 did a poor job the Arc took really good pictures but not as good as the S

[Xad]

That's great and all, but you'll notice this thread is entirely filled with people whose Xperia S struggles to focus in various situations.

Do you have your camera on default settings? If not, what settings is yours on? And when you say you took photos day and night, does that include in places like a restaurant or is it just outside? As you'll notice, another user posted samples in this thread of how photos often come out with the Xperia S in that environment in default settings....default being important as "Fast Capture" will always use default settings regardless of what settings you make.

As for photo quality comparisons, i'll take actual visual proof rather than opinion: http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/htc-one-x-vs-iphone-4s-vs-sony-xperia-s-camera-test-50007500/ Not saying XperiaS quality is bad when in perfect conditions, but Iphone4s does unfortunately seem to have the edge.

[uliwooly-wooly]

I took pictures indoors, outdoors, concerts, etc. during the day I left auto settings, afternoon between auto settings, manual landscape diferent EV and also Sports/party, at night I switched between auto to nights scene and sports and change the EV at times. I didn't use flash at all. I did took advantage of the fast capture, during concerts or moving objects it's quite useful.

that link wow the HTC One X it's insane, but I don't get pictures as bad as those. I'll post some Xperia S samples

[uliwooly-wooly]

which build number do you have?

[#8]

My replacement phone has just arrived - checked firmware and tried to update its on .67 and says its the latest - tried a few shots inside - focus seams faster, only one bad image and that was prob my fault - will be out on Sat so will really rest and report back - I will then post images and details about my replacement phone - hope this one works - if it does work - then we know sony need to replace some of the others - if I still have problems then its either major hardware problems or software.. will report back in a few days regardless

[uliwooly-wooly]

how about video?

check this thread

http://talk.sonymobile.com/message/171819#171819

[#10]

Its the same for videos as well. It takes tooooo much time to focus in the videos. I expected a much better camera and must say that sony is ruining its reputation big time!

I am seriously considering to get rid of this phone if this issue is not fixed with ICS.

[pixate]

Glad to hear you're getting better results. Keep us posted how you get on. Was it a simple process getting the phone replaced?