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

[slimshaddy]

in low daylight it happens.. i mean the quality is not that great...

so manually select your settings 🙂

if you want to take instant shots in good daylight , change the scene mode to landscape..and it will take shots within a second..

[#3]

Hi n8 is superb. Even indoors sometimes the auto focus just isn't right. For a phone like this. In door photos are going to be common. Pub photos should at least focus. Very disappointed if this can not be fixed

[Markus1]

Sorry to hear this. Can you upload a few of these photos? Both the good ones and the bad ones please.

I'll forward your feedback to the developers working with the camera software. We are rolling out new software for this phone (mainly meant to fix a GPS bug) which might come with some changes (I've not heard any info saying it will though so no promises).

We're also launching Android ICS for this phone within a pretty near future (I don't have the exact timeline for this).

[#5]

Hello Sony,

I have the same problem here...It took a blurred picture indoors..focusing is really difficult. If I may tell, the 12 MP camera is not as good as what we expected, say at least equal to N8 capturing quality - if it can't excel....

Xperia S - Indonesia

[#6]

I shall upload some tonight - deleted all of the ones in the pubs but took some last night with low light and as normal - very poor results, sometimes the flash came on, other times not (automatic), 8 pictures taken, 3 in focus -- in my opinion a very bad ratio.

I have a Sony 850i and that takes better pictures and its only 3mp

If you decide to produce another "hi-end" phone do the following:-

Its not just about MP its about the quality of the images, get the stability, autofocus and flash right - go for a better flash and ensure that it takes fast good pictures in low light.

Honestly - if this cannot be fixed I am selling mine on ebay, frustrating as I read all the reviews and reordered my phone as soon as it was available. This type of thing is not good for PR and not good for the phone. If its a handset problem (and local to a few) then ok... replace it and send me out one that works, if its systemic, get the firmware sorted, if its hardware - not much you can do --- really should have sorted this out as there are lots of other options available that do work.

[#7]

Example photos - some nice and clear others blurry - the focus problem is very evident in low light - in the pub it was taking 3-5 seconds to lock on - then it was not always correct - the Nokia - 1 second focus - great picture .. Outdoors mine wins - indoors my old 750i would win

[slimshaddy]

the second last picture.. did you clicked with xperia s..?

if yes, then please get it checked asap...

my friend had a samsung wave and he got his phone from the service centre yesterday only he was facing the same issue.. blurry photos while focussing.. but everything works great..

[#9]

More samples taken today - three images one after the other - each one getting better - but not great

Then two - first one poor second one good - so is this my handset or is this a general problem? All photos taken on Auto, on the Xperia s

[#10]

One more thing - those recent images (3) the first image took 4 seconds to lock on, then still struggled to focus, three shots later and still not perfect.