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

[ambvaes42]

I don't really have much problems with the focus in darker areas. It takes a bit longer than it does in good lighting, but I think that isn't more than normal. Darkness is hard, for any phone.

What I did notice is this: The standard Camera app has excellent (really brilliant) macro capabilities, and the phone has a very big focus range. Things that are very near are perfectly sharp, even at only a few centimitres.

However, barcode scanners and other third-party applications seem unable to use the complete wide focus range. This makes it very hard to read barcodes and QR codes at a short distance. My Neo and Arc S did not have these problems, on the other hand.

I don't know if this has been fixed in ICS, but it has been a major inconvenience and appears on every Xperia S. It's easy to reproduce. Open the barcode scanner, and try to focus it on anything nearby (like 5 or 10cm away). You'll notice it keeps trying to, but it never really focuses. Now, at the exact same distance, try again but with the standard Camera app. When using that, the focus is no problem at all and everything is perfectly sharp.

Kind regards,

Ambroos

[the_purpleangel]

More examples from me:

[the_purpleangel]

The final one I managed to take by switchiNg the camera to video then back to camera again which seemed to reset the focus.

THIS IS NOT A SOLUTION!

[Xad]

Can't believe the mod deleted my posts that were pointing out uliwooly's advice of carrying a tripod around with you to take photos with a phone was ridiculous. Also deleted are the ones pointing out that all of uliwooly's "good" photos are of far away buildings. Apparently that is seen as "abusive" by some mods here. Take some photos of people in an every day environment like a restaurant and count how many come out in focus.

I know from experience how poor Sony's phone support is, more so the email support, however, the forums and the overzealous reaction to spammers reporting legitimate posts as "abusive" is almost like the last straw.

Only sad thing is the price of this phone is dropping like a rock, so a used one isn't going to recoup the high end of the original value even though it's only been two months. Shocking! Never another Sony mobile that's for sure.

[Uliwooly]

@Xad

I am sorry if you don't like my proposals. It works for me but that may not be the case for everyone. This however does not mean that you are allowed to attack me by saying they are useless. It do not contribute to the forum. I kindly ask you to edit your posts and remove the attack of my proposals.

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[#7]

uliwooly the proposals you give are useless for everyone that shots pictures inside a building, for example partying with friends.

I don't know why you continue asking for more examples when the defect of this camera is more than evident.

[Uliwooly]

@wayfactory the same message goes for you. I am sorry if you don't like my proposals. It works for me but that may not be the case for everyone. This however does not mean that you are allowed to attack me by saying they are useless. It do not contribute to the forum. I kindly ask you to edit your posts and remove the attack of my proposals.

[subben2003]

I love the camera and i love the pictures it takes. i do get one or two out of focus but mostly my own fault. 90 out of 100 comes out 100%as i would have them to do.

heres a few samples

[#10]

Yes, in sunny conditions the camera is great. The problem comes with the mentioned indoor conditions.

[#11]

exactly same issue with my 3 days old experia s... the person sitting next to me with galaxy s2 can scan like a breezer and mine strugging to focus...

Also, today i clicked some pictures in office and first reaction was "images does not look good"...

Is there  a recommended setting i can try to get better results.. i m trying default auto settings till now ...

I strongly feel something should be done regarding this.... i m loving this phone but want the focus and camera issue to be resolved soon..

Also, will it help if i get it checked at the store ?