The spot metering function on my camera seems to have stopped working. When you choose spot metering mode in the camera and use your finger to point at a bright object on the edge of the screen, the exposure does nothing. Samsung tech support confirmed that the exposure is supposed to be adjusted to that spot that you touched but it doesn't do it on my S3. It used to work but just stopped a couple of weeks ago. What's even stranger that some S3's seem to work fine but others also don't work - I tried whole bunch of them today in various stores and some work just fine but others don't work at all.Is yours broken?
Homey said:
The spot metering function on my camera seems to have stopped working. When you choose spot metering mode in the camera and use your finger to point at a bright object on the edge of the screen, the exposure does nothing. Samsung tech support confirmed that the exposure is supposed to be adjusted to that spot that you touched but it doesn't do it on my S3. It used to work but just stopped a couple of weeks ago. What's even stranger that some S3's seem to work fine but others also don't work - I tried whole bunch of them today in various stores and some work just fine but others don't work at all.Is yours broken?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is broken as well, it only focuses. That's probably related to the fact that my manual exposure controls also don't work though.
It never occurred to me that spot metering should work according to the area you touch. I had always assumed that spot metering takes the reading from the centrer spot on the camera like a DSLR.
Mine only focuses, it does not meter the point that I touch.
Actually, this functionality has been there from the Galaxy S so it's nothing new or revolutionary!
I think that most people don't use the camera as anything more than a simple point and shoot, which is a pity because its easily as good as the iPhone 4S camera and perhaps even a bit better, and we all know the fuss people make about that.
There are a lot of users wandering around with broken cameras but no one seems to care, as you can tell from the number of responses to the original post!
I was always wondering why my S3 only does spot metering at the center spot. Is this a bug or a feature? I think my spot metering is broken but if it should work only at the center then it's fine. Can somebody clear this up?
I'm so glad someone else has this problem - not in a mean way. It's just infuriating me at the moment - was trying to take a sunset picture today and realised it wasn't working when I tapped on the different areas. Infuriating, but not sure how to fix!
same issue here... my Galaxy S does it wonderfully right with spot metering on the spot I touch... my S3 which has a far better cam miserably fails at spot metering and only takes the center average... so spot metering is just broken
Galaxy Note 2 has same camera hardware and software as the S3. My spot metering worked in the past while on the stock rom. I'm on a custom rom, Jedi rom, and it no longer works. This is a TW based rom so I'm surprised it doesn't work. But from what I'm hearing, users on stock firmware are having problems as well.
Thanks to those who stuck it out diagnosing and raising the level of awareness around this problem. Almost every thread I find has some long-winded helpful genius in it explaining to us how we don't understand what spot metering is and that there is no problem. Sometimes you have to be extremely persistent on the net or your problem will be buried by the highly motivated know nothings.
I hope this problem is figured out. I, for one, would NOT trade a faster camera against one with spot metering. These cameras have tiny sensors and will never be great (I have aps-c and full frames). The ability to expose a particular point properly with no regard for the rest of the frame is the only saving grace for these cameras with so narrow a dynamic range due to the small sensor.
I'm learning in this search that this is a big reason most people take poor pictures with camera phones. They don't know how to use the spot metering to mitigate (somewhat) the limitations of the small sensor. I'll report back when/if I find a solution.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
_atlien_ said:
Galaxy Note 2 has same camera hardware and software as the S3...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And guess what... SGS4 has the exact same issue with their cam!!! Can you believe it? I could for one not... When I was testing out the SGS4 in the phone store with stock firmware... it had no touch spot meter that would measure where I push... but the same dumb center weighted spot meter it has in SGS3 and NOTE2. I am disappointed Samsung... it has the best camera but without a proper spot meter. :crying::crying::crying:
I am starting to think this has been done intentionally to dumb things down a bit... or they have some patent issue with apple or someone else with their "touch to spot meter" tech... sigh... patents...
Sigh... I tried asking about this when I first got my GS3 back in October. Same thing.. I don't get how this hasn't been addressed. You can see my thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1963959
I even contacted Samsung France where I am, Samsung USA, and even my mobile carrier and nobody could answer. The shameful thing was that Samsung's TECH SUPPORT didn't even know what I was talking about. I kind of gave up.
A trick for you guys which seems to have worked for me...
Ironically, before getting the GS3, the spot meter worked brilliantly on my HTC myTouch4G. You would touch a spot, wait for it to register with a beep and then wherever you moved, it locked in that exposure. Try this...
- point the screen to the place you want the exposure to be set for
- tap the screen there to focus
- only when you've seen it focus (green square) and heard it beep signaling exposure and focus lock, press and HOLD the shutter button and move to the framing you actually want
- let go of the shutter to take the picture
I have found that it takes one or two tries but it DOES work. You will see that the moment you let go of the shutter, it will go back to what the exposure would have been where you framed.
Feel free to ask questions if this doesn't make sense.
I can't get that to work. But I may not be following the instructions correctly. The beginning steps aren't clear for me.
Center the desired focal point on the screen then touch and lock that point. Then press and hold shutter. Then recompose picture. Then release shutter.
This doesn't work for me. Holding the shutter button doesn't lock the exposure.
Also wondering if this problem is hardware or software. I installed ProCapture app which is supposed to have spot metering which didn't work on my Galaxy Note 2. Just FYI.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
Hi guys! It's a pleasure for me to notice that other people are struggling for this problem!!!:high five:
I remember that my Samsung Wave 2 , with Bada 1.2, gave me amazing shots: the exposition were linked to the focus point. Then with Bada 2.0 all has changed and, independently from the metering method the exposure is alway always weighted at the centre of the image.
Ok one can make recomposition, but it takes minutes and a the results are not so brilliant.
Now I have a Lumia 620: same problem, i'm getting crazy!!
Does anybody knows the reason of this stupid choice??
i select spot-metering mode, point at my brightly sunlight desk, i click different areas of the screen and while focusing the colours seem to change saturation and "fill".. does this mean my metering is working?
Yeah! If the colors of the photo change on the basis of your taps on the screen, then you have the exposure that follows the AF point. You are very lucky!!
Notice that in many devices even if you choose spot metering, the spot is linked to a central point of the image!
But does it happen only with spot or also with other metering modes?
yep mine's broken too not sure if it worked before it fell on the floor but i highly doubt that it worked in the first place it's damn sad that the S3 is such a great phone but has a partly broken cam on 90% of the S3's and still they didn't fix it in the S4
Thank you so much for the quick fix
ive tried over 20 apps
messed around with 100's of setting..... no dice
tinpanalley, your tip is the only way yo make this work
this is by far THE WORST camera a phone could ever had, i feel very sorry for people who purchased the S3 for it's incapable camera.
and the funniest thing is that they screwed up the s4 camera as well, L O L
Related
Hi,
I was taking some snaps with my S2 today and I was trying to spot meter on some bright lights so that I could expose for them and underexpose the rest of the scene. However, I realized that spot metering only works at the center of the screen. To my knowledge, the phone should spot meter at the point that I decide to focus on. When I tap to focus it should automatically spot meter on that region. That is how it works on my friends HTC legend and thats how it works on my Nikon D300s. Spot metering should be done based on the autofocus point but it doesn't work this way on my phone. I have to spot meter using the center of the scene, keep the shutter button pressed, recompose and then release to take a snap. Could someone explain why this is not working as it should or is this just samsung's weird implementation of this feature.
Galaxy Camera Spot Metering
radicalgel said:
Hi,
I was taking some snaps with my S2 today and I was trying to spot meter on some bright lights so that I could expose for them and underexpose the rest of the scene. However, I realized that spot metering only works at the center of the screen. To my knowledge, the phone should spot meter at the point that I decide to focus on. When I tap to focus it should automatically spot meter on that region. That is how it works on my friends HTC legend and thats how it works on my Nikon D300s. Spot metering should be done based on the autofocus point but it doesn't work this way on my phone. I have to spot meter using the center of the scene, keep the shutter button pressed, recompose and then release to take a snap. Could someone explain why this is not working as it should or is this just samsung's weird implementation of this feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, I have noticed the same issue on the S3, spot meter and center wieghted metering only works on the center of the screen, even if your focus point is somewhere else. I dont recall the original Galaxy S being programmed like this, most other phones I have also tried (iphone 4 and iphone 5, droid x) all allow you to spot meter on your desired focused point.
Apparently, samsung beleives your focal point of your picture should always be in the center of your picture! I find this odd, considering they have put so many features in the phone to appeal to photographers, but they seem to have left left out a basic metering function that is available on most other phones, and one that is vital in creating shots with proper exposure control.
Does anyone know of android camera application that allows for more contoll over the spot metering capabilities?
Thanks.
deving said:
So, I have noticed the same issue on the S3, spot meter and center wieghted metering only works on the center of the screen, even if your focus point is somewhere else. I dont recall the original Galaxy S being programmed like this, most other phones I have also tried (iphone 4 and iphone 5, droid x) all allow you to spot meter on your desired focused point.
Apparently, samsung beleives your focal point of your picture should always be in the center of your picture! I find this odd, considering they have put so many features in the phone to appeal to photographers, but they seem to have left left out a basic metering function that is available on most other phones, and one that is vital in creating shots with proper exposure control.
Does anyone know of android camera application that allows for more contoll over the spot metering capabilities?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a really a very interesting topic!! Also Bada 1 linked the exposition to AF, (i took amazing shoots) while in Bada 2 this feature has been lost: the exposure is always weighted to the center of image. It is very common in other devices (for example in my lumia 620) (there you cannot even choose the metering mode...) and cameras too (canon, but not nikon..)
Anyway the old Galaxy S advance has still the exposition calculated on the focus point... Why have they changed? It's a so stupid thing...
I recently posted that my friend and I have the same phone with the same carrier, the same firmware (2.3.4) etc. I asked why his camera was better, and never got a answer which solved it. I now think this was my folley as it appears that it is actually his screen which is better.
We bluetoothed some pictures we both had aken ourselves to see if it was in fact the camera and although it is not as big a difference when we take pictures on each device his pictures (the same pictures) look slightly beter.
Any ideas why this may be, if i got a botched phone or something? there is a couple of slight scrathes over my camera if tht could make the difference but i doubt it since it's more the fact my pictures are blurry.
Thanks in advance, Harry
HarrySansom said:
I recently posted that my friend and I have the same phone with the same carrier, the same firmware (2.3.4) etc. I asked why his camera was better, and never got a answer which solved it. I now think this was my folley as it appears that it is actually his screen which is better.
We bluetoothed some pictures we both had aken ourselves to see if it was in fact the camera and although it is not as big a difference when we take pictures on each device his pictures (the same pictures) look slightly beter.
Any ideas why this may be, if i got a botched phone or something? there is a couple of slight scrathes over my camera if tht could make the difference but i doubt it since it's more the fact my pictures are blurry.
Thanks in advance, Harry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you check the screen settings? There's one besides 'Brightness'. The screen can be set to something, Dynamic, or something else. This could be it... have a look around and make sure you're on the same settings.
FWIW I read your first post a week or 2 ago, and didn't answer cause it sounds like a really strange problem...and without both phones in my hand I couldn't begin to speculate. I doubt that you got a sub-par phone. Try making photos without holding the device, set it on a level surface. The blur could be from your hand shaking very very slightly, and maybe your buddy has steadier hands than you do. Really, no way to tell without having the phones in front of me. Sorry if this doesn't help. Keep us posted on your findings and good luck!
I saw that some i9100 got a different Camara Firmware possibly he got a better Firmware...
if thats not right someone can still blame me
sean is here. said:
Did you check the screen settings? There's one besides 'Brightness'. The screen can be set to something, Dynamic, or something else. This could be it... have a look around and make sure you're on the same settings.
FWIW I read your first post a week or 2 ago, and didn't answer cause it sounds like a really strange problem...and without both phones in my hand I couldn't begin to speculate. I doubt that you got a sub-par phone. Try making photos without holding the device, set it on a level surface. The blur could be from your hand shaking very very slightly, and maybe your buddy has steadier hands than you do. Really, no way to tell without having the phones in front of me. Sorry if this doesn't help. Keep us posted on your findings and good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know it's hard without seeing both, we're struggling with both. I have a more recent camera firmware i think as i updated through samsung apps not long ago. I'm not entirely sure about the shake but we have done a lot of photos and we almost always had him take both pictues. Also we both use 'standard' screen mode (we checked).
check to make sure that the camera lense is clean as well, often a smudgy/dirty lense will make bad photos.
I'm actually having the same problem (and have been having it for months). I only noticed it when I was a concert late last year and I was recording on my phone and watching other people's SGS2s record. Theirs was obviously much clearer and did not distort like my camera/footage did (when lights would flash, mines would blur, 'blob' together lights that were close to one another etc. while theirs captured it with clarity). Then I started to notice that when I zoom in, my camera gets extremely blurry, too. I started comparing to a few other people and, yes, on the same settings my camera is much worse. I've tried resetting the camera settings which has proved to do nothing for it.
I was starting to think I was crazy but I've finally found someone else with the same/a similar problem (was extremely hard to Google).
I also updated my firmware via Samsung Apps. It seems to be great in natural light but otherwise, it's really quite poor.
Camera firmware is TBEF04.
Any ideas?
guys it would be better if we can attach our sample pictures. i had similar problem. this is mine.
I cannot get this damn camera to macro focus on anything. I came from a Droid Charge, which actually has a fantastic camera, and this one is disappointing to me. There is a lot of noise, and switching apps didn't seem to help that, but I could live with that if I could get the stupid thing to focus on what I wanted. I can tap the screen and it still won't switch focus to the thing closest to the phone. It won't even focus on something as simple as a Coke can right in front of the camera, but everything behind it is in perfect focus. Please help! I'd like a phone camera that can take a decent picture at least as good as my Charge, this one is terrible so far though.
yeah I've noticed that macro focus isn't that great on the dna. hve you tried macro mode? it helps a bit. I noticed that to focus on something small you can't be right up next to it.. you have to pull back for it to focus right.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Definitely tried every mode there is on the thing. Even tried the Camera 360 app everyone says is better. I was trying to take a close up picture of a completed lego building probably about as big as both your fists together on a table. The phone would not focus on that object. Would not. Not even moving the phone itself farther back. But everything in the background was in perfect focus. Dumbest thing I've ever seen. Picked up the Charge (I just gave it to my mom to use) and took a perfect picture on the first try, even without macro mode.
If that's the best the DNA camera can do I might have to explore other devices. I REALLY don't want another Samsung phone because they're terrible, but the one good thing about that Charge was the camera. I'm disappointed to say the least. Hopefully they can fix something like that in an update, I'll be sending an email to Verizon and HTC about it. I might even stop by a Verizon store to do a side by side test with another one and exchange if it's better. I was super excited to get this phone, but not even being able to use it in quick point-and-shoot situations is a deal breaker.
Hello everyone, I may be missing something but i was playing around with the camera on this great phone and realized that the normal press and hold of the shutter button to have the camera focus in a dark room does not work. If you press and hold the camera takes shots in burst mode. If you press it once the flash lights up dimly but does not focus properly and then flashes full blast but takes a blurry photo. This is very annoying because im used to my samsung s3 and note 2 that would focus by holding the shutter button in a dark room and then release to take a clear focused picture.
Am I missing something? for a camera that is good in low light and have 5 levels of flash intensity it seems to make no sense to not be able to focus in a dark room. whats the point of having a camera with a flash that cant take a picture in the dark or semi dark room right?
let me know if you are having this issue, if you think i'm doing something wrong or maybe if ill just have to deal with it until HTC comes out with an update. if it happens to you we can all call 8664498358 and press 0 and let HTC know this is very annoying I have gotten through to a live person instantly by calling this number to ask why in the world the power saver feature is persistent in the notification drop down....there reason....dummy instructions and to many service returns for "bad batteries"
UPDATE: I have spoke with HTC on a separate issue and mentioned this to the guy i spoke with and he has not had any other feedback on this issue, how ever he advised me to have anyone who is having this issue please contact them, he was not able to duplicate it yet because he in not in a dark room but he said he will try it when he can (Thanks Fred). the more people who report the issue and provide feedback the better chances they can get it resolved, I am having this issue on my wifes phone and my phone. you may need to focus on a far object and then try to focus on a near object in a dark room, like a room with less then low light. In my case it was in a room only lit by an old crt tv (bedroom) how ever he advised me the more feedback the better, they are very interesting in hearing from us and he is very aware of the xda forums as well as other android forums out there.
so no one cares. nice
So much for the community. No one seems to care even though plenty of you guys have looked and all own this phone. Pretty disgraceful.
EDIT: Sorry if I sound rude or condescending, Just surprised no one has commented yet or has said they are having this issue, personally I use my phone for taking photos in less then low light situations often and if this issue cant get resolved its going to really suck. HTC can fix it but needs the feedback to know that its widespread and not just a fluke, although they do know that its happening on my wifes phone and my phone.
I've tried it, and it doesn't auto-focus either. Manually focusing before taking the picture works though.
Zolor23 said:
I've tried it, and it doesn't auto-focus either. Manually focusing before taking the picture works though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for the reply, I have tried to manual focus and it doesnt work for me in very dark situations. sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't though. I have noticed if I focus on something distant in a low light area and then back on something near in a very dark area it will not focus. Every other camera I have used on a phone has lit up the flash long enough and bright enough to focus and turn the focus indicator green how ever this camera seems to focus on speed and seems to not care about weather the picture is focused, it doesn't turn red or beep or anything it just takes a blurry photo. it takes more blurry photos then clear it seems to me in low light or less then low light conditions.
If you could please contact HTC and let them know I would be very happy and hopefully they get this issue fixed, I have called HTC a few times for other issues. yesterday my lock screen kept saying today was cinco de mayo and for the life of me I couldnt figure out how to turn that off and I also am not happy about the Gallery app showing every single friend photo including horribly low resolution ones not to mention the persistant power saver notification in the drop down thats so stupid! but when I talked to them they mentioned the camera issue and wanted me to explain to them cause they saw the notes based on my phone number and previous calls, they would like all the feedback they can get.
This isn't just a T-Mobile HTC One issue, my international is doing this too.
I'd be interested to know from someone that doesn't have this problem, in a dark room, if you tap on the screen to focus, does the light come on?
All other phones I've had would light the area to focus, as you've said above this just tries to focus in the dark. How can that be right?
I've tried different ROM's and firmware, always tries to focus in the dark. Why on earth would it do this!?!?!
Yeah I noticed that problem too when trying to take a picture of a person in a life like Iron Man costume in a theater Friday night.
Sent from my Nexus 7
lets get this fixed!
Boy I'm glad I'm not the only one. I know we are about fixing stock and nodding and what not but please start a ticket on the issue. HTC has a place on there website for this or you can call them.
Seems like an obvious idea that Samsung missed but I thought it would be cool if when using the camera with the main screen, the front screen could also be on showing the person you're taking a photo of a live preview.
If Samsung is lurking here maybe we could see it an update.
Anyone else think this is a good idea?
I had a similar idea when I used my phone for vlogging, if I could open the fold and still use the front screen for the framing of the shot, it could be great... but I doubt Samsung would do it...
its a small screen for anyone to see from a proper distance away, but yes it would be an added benefit regardless.
but i agree with the previous user. i doubt samsung would do it.
i think there is too much concentration on the S11 and Fold 2 at the moment, i don't think they will add very many "quality of life" updates to the fold.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-fold/themes/view-resolution-camera-unfolded-galaxy-t4110369
I have switch to use front screen with latest update and Camera app ver