1. Alex_Hong's Avatar
    oh yeah, to add on. when i want to take pictures of things like business card or text, i just find a focal point which my 9900's camera is comfortable with and take the picture with flash. zoom in later to read it. since its 5 mp, zooming in isn't so bad as long as the picture is in focus. IMO works out a little better than placing the camera super close and out of focus.

    Also, easiest way to take still pictures of moving objects, flash. Even in daylight. it forces the camera to capture the image at a higher shutter speed.
    01-29-12 10:22 PM
  2. icashinout's Avatar
    Autofocus or not, a phone camera will not replace a real camera until they come up with optical zoom.

    In the mean time I dare you take a photo like this with your autofocus iphone 4 camera. My guess is you will find it impossible.

    *** first off that photo is fake first look at the girl she is awful high to sliding off a little tykes sliding board even if she is jumping over there is no way she is that high second where is her shawdow the sun light angle would produce a shadow no shadow on house or under her in the grass or sliding board. lets be real you photo shopped this have a great day
    01-30-12 01:05 AM
  3. belfastdispatcher's Avatar
    *** first off that photo is fake first look at the girl she is awful high to sliding off a little tykes sliding board even if she is jumping over there is no way she is that high second where is her shawdow the sun light angle would produce a shadow no shadow on house or under her in the grass or sliding board. lets be real you photo shopped this have a great day
    Lol, these photos are the way it came out of the camera, no touching, I don't believe in editing photos.

    Is this enough to convince you?

    Edit- my little girl does have springs in her legs and she is fearless, she just turned 4 a couple of weeks before
    Last edited by belfastdispatcher; 01-30-12 at 01:57 AM.
    01-30-12 01:45 AM
  4. Alex_Hong's Avatar
    *** first off that photo is fake first look at the girl she is awful high to sliding off a little tykes sliding board even if she is jumping over there is no way she is that high second where is her shawdow the sun light angle would produce a shadow no shadow on house or under her in the grass or sliding board. lets be real you photo shopped this have a great day
    its entire possible to take a photo like that. with EDOF and good light there's no need for the camera to look for focus or light, it can snap the shot almost instantly. Come on man, do you seriously think that someone will go to the extend of photoshopping an image just to prove a point in a thread that he didn't even start???
    belfastdispatcher likes this.
    01-30-12 02:01 AM
  5. Chrisy's Avatar
    A decent camera on the phone is important to me. The camera on my Android Thunderbolt was awesome! Plus it had a kick stand. I hike and kayak alone and I love taking pictures without having to carry a camera.

    But since I'm back on the BlackBerry 9650 and eventually getting a 9930 I will be buying a digital camera for those pics now.

    I'm not a pro but I do want clear sharp images. It's easy for people to dismiss those of us wanting a phone with a decent camera by saying "just use a real camera." Well, I haven't had a real camera because my phones had good ones. The iPhone has a great camera.

    Just kinda sucks that I have to go spend another $100 because RIM didn't make the camera better.
    Last edited by chrisy520; 01-30-12 at 05:50 AM.
    01-30-12 05:46 AM
  6. belfastdispatcher's Avatar
    A decent camera on the phone is important to me. The camera on my Android Thunderbolt was awesome! Plus it had a kick stand. I hike and kayak alone and I love taking pictures without having to carry a camera.

    But since I'm back on the BlackBerry 9650 and eventually getting a 9930 I will be buying a digital camera for those pics now.

    I'm not a pro but I do want clear sharp images. It's easy for people to dismiss those of us wanting a phone with a decent camera by saying "just use a real camera." Well, I haven't had a real camera because my phones had good ones. The iPhone has a great camera.

    Just kinda sucks that I have to go spend another $100 because RIM didn't make the camera better.
    Ah but they did make it better, better for me and my photography, I like to snap still frames of life, as you can see from the pics I posted above.

    I would def recommend you get yourself a half decent camera and a light tripod, you will enjoy your photography a lot more. And all the megapixels in the world are not a substitute for optical zoom.
    01-30-12 06:49 AM
  7. sulcopete's Avatar
    People get hung up on the lack of things, like auto-focus, but if all you're doing is taking close up shots of things, then you have no business buying the phone.
    I have to disagree with this. What businessman wouldn't appreciate the ability to snapshot pages of text, and be able to zoom in on the picture and read it later? I know for me, the lack of autofocus has been inconvenient when I take a snapshot of a light fixture or ballast, for the purpose of recording part numbers. If they wanted to give us the best of both worlds, why not have an option to turn the autofocus on or off....that way if you want the shutter speed, you can have it. If you want the close up clarity, you can have that too. Why RIM....WHY? Maybe with the next phone....
    soo007 likes this.
    01-30-12 07:33 AM
  8. soo007's Avatar
    I have to disagree with this. What businessman wouldn't appreciate the ability to snapshot pages of text, and be able to zoom in on the picture and read it later? I know for me, the lack of autofocus has been inconvenient when I take a snapshot of a light fixture or ballast, for the purpose of recording part numbers. If they wanted to give us the best of both worlds, why not have an option to turn the autofocus on or off....that way if you want the shutter speed, you can have it. If you want the close up clarity, you can have that too. Why RIM....WHY? Maybe with the next phone....
    i agree with coming. coming from a 9700 and 9780 (for the 34 days it lasted) i set a "minimum standard" for photo quality. not having autofocus has been a pain for close ups.

    i find zooming in to be hideous.

    how is it that the iphone 4, which launched 18 months before the 9900, is even thinner than the 9900 got a much better camera than the 9900? (rhetorical question)
    i still think the dual-core idiots made a terrible compromise. thank god they are gone.
    01-30-12 07:40 AM
  9. belfastdispatcher's Avatar
    It still amazes me how some people can completely ignore the benefits 9900's camera brings to the table and keep complaining about the lack of autofocus.

    My 9900 somehow takes perfectly acceptable photos of receipts.

    Here's one taken last week and then emailed to the client.
    Last edited by belfastdispatcher; 01-30-12 at 09:17 AM.
    Alex_Hong likes this.
    01-30-12 09:12 AM
  10. egzbuen's Avatar
    Coming from the older 9700, I really feel the lack of AF in my 9900 was a downgrade in terms of camera macro shooting function. Specially in my case, I almost always take macro shots on-the-go which is really lousy in the 9900. However, come non-macro shots, the 9900 is a-ok. Did I say, it takes magnificent HD video.

    Anyway, as I have always said in other threads, the 9900 is a sure upgrade from the 9700 or 9780 in all respects except for 2 things, battery life and the lack of AF.

    Nonetheless, I still love my 9900 and would not change it for anything, at least 'till the next BB is released.

    Cheers.
    01-30-12 09:28 AM
  11. snickdog's Avatar
    and I'm really liking this camera a LOT. I like the various preset modes available -- I find that the text and close up modes work well for things like articles, pictures and such that I'm photographing.

    For the most part, many of the pictures I take are of dogs/cats, and for these the camera works really well in capturing nuances of movement quickly -- MUCH better than my previous auto-focus Storm2.
    01-30-12 09:30 AM
  12. jonty12's Avatar
    It still amazes me how some people can completely ignore the benefits 9900's camera brings to the table and keep complaining about the lack of autofocus.

    My 9900 somehow takes perfectly acceptable photos of receipts.

    Here's one taken last week and then emailed to the client.
    warning [rant]

    There are NO benefits! That's why it isn't appreciated. I can set my 9810's camera to "sports" mode and get instant pictures too without waiting for the focus. The thing is, I can choose how I want to use the camera. Can't on a 9900/9930.

    Why people are annoyed is because the 9900 would have been almost perfect with a decent camera, and the "excuse" used for not having it was bogus. There are a lot of auto focus phones on the market that are thinner than the 9900.

    RIM has been incredibly frustrating with their hardware choices (part of the reason people suggest the new CEO may have been part of the problem). To illustrate:

    9900 doesn't have auto focus camera
    9810 doesn't have NFC
    9790 doesn't do HD video recording
    None have front facing camera

    why can't they have a phone that gives you all the options?!! why do you ALWAYS have to give up at least one?! Apple doesn't do this. Motorola doesn't do this. LG doesn't do this. HTC doesn't do this.

    I wanted the 9900, but the camera killed the deal (I need a good performing camera for work, and I have children so my wife is constantly asking me to take close ups of the kids). I wanted the 9790, but the lack of HD recording killed the deal. I "settled" on the 9810 as an upgrade from my 9800 because I didn't think I'd use a lot of NFC before my next upgrade.

    There is no valid reason, NONE, that they 9810 shouldn't have NFC, the 9790 record in HD, or, and back to topic, the 9900 have an auto focus camera.
    [/rant]
    01-30-12 01:19 PM
  13. anon(19759)'s Avatar
    The more options they put in, the worse battery life gets and the more people complain. Every smartphone on the market has compromises of some kind. If the camera on the 9930 doesn't work well enough for what you need, you bought the wrong phone. The iphone has a sealed battery and no microsd slot. The Galaxy Nexus doesn't support usb mass storage mode. Not a single phone out there that will satisfy every need.
    01-30-12 03:19 PM
  14. sulcopete's Avatar
    The more options they put in, the worse battery life gets and the more people complain. Every smartphone on the market has compromises of some kind. If the camera on the 9930 doesn't work well enough for what you need, you bought the wrong phone. The iphone has a sealed battery and no microsd slot. The Galaxy Nexus doesn't support usb mass storage mode. Not a single phone out there that will satisfy every need.
    Not until RIM makes one. It's coming...just you wait....
    01-30-12 04:49 PM
  15. emirozmen's Avatar
    In a word YES
    01-30-12 06:44 PM
  16. BoldtotheMax's Avatar
    I think it takes pictures just fine. I used one in the store and took a good 10 pics of the surroundings and for the most part, did just fine. Even the rep rocked the same phone and showed me a bunch of his pictures and they all looked great really.

    Like others said, if you are talking pics of something close, then it may be a deal breaker, but if not the camera should suffice for most.

    I need a decent camera as I take a lot of pics of my kids and honestly feel that the 9900 would suffice.
    01-30-12 06:51 PM
  17. Branta's Avatar
    The camera in my 9900 does disappoint me - yes it's good for taking portraits/landscapes, beter than I imagined it would be (but then I'd use my real camera for shots like this, not a phone camera which is always a compromise). The phone itself is solid, useful, well made, if not exciting.

    But...

    I often use it to take photos at work of equipment I am taking apart (or faulty things I need to email photos of to the engineers), serial numbers on the back of things I can't get to, snapshots of documents rather than taking notes etc..

    It is useless for that - and for any close work at all. I have to find someone with a decent camera phone (which to be honest is practically any other phone than a 9900 with this edof thingy).
    That is exactly my position too. "Use a real camera" is not a useful suggestion, the extra equipment needed and time to download, reduce size, and then get a laptop connection or copy the photo to the phone to actually send the email makes the option completely impractical.
    01-30-12 07:18 PM
  18. kbz1960's Avatar
    That is exactly my position too. "Use a real camera" is not a useful suggestion, the extra equipment needed and time to download, reduce size, and then get a laptop connection or copy the photo to the phone to actually send the email makes the option completely impractical.
    Well if you really want to go thru all of that. But while you have it hooked up to your computer or laptop why wouldn't you just email it from them? Most cameras also have a settings for smaller file sizes.

    But yeah, know what you're sayin.
    01-30-12 07:45 PM
  19. boss_hog's Avatar
    I generally get better shots with my 9900 than my iphone4. Text is tricky sometimes but it does well with the right user
    01-30-12 08:44 PM
  20. icashinout's Avatar
    Lol, these photos are the way it came out of the camera, no touching, I don't believe in editing photos.

    Is this enough to convince you?

    Edit- my little girl does have springs in her legs and she is fearless, she just turned 4 a couple of weeks before
    looks like i am wrong i apologize i was also able to take my sony camera and take the same type of pictures today my bad homie its all good.
    belfastdispatcher likes this.
    01-30-12 10:33 PM
  21. belfastdispatcher's Avatar
    looks like i am wrong i apologize i was also able to take my sony camera and take the same type of pictures today my bad homie its all good.
    Now try it with your 9810 and see if you can get the same results, I'm willing to bet you can't, even in sports mode thee autofocus is still there.
    01-31-12 01:21 AM
  22. belfastdispatcher's Avatar
    warning [rant]

    There are NO benefits! That's why it isn't appreciated. I can set my 9810's camera to "sports" mode and get instant pictures too without waiting for the focus. The thing is, I can choose how I want to use the camera. Can't on a 9900/9930.

    Why people are annoyed is because the 9900 would have been almost perfect with a decent camera, and the "excuse" used for not having it was bogus. There are a lot of auto focus phones on the market that are thinner than the 9900.

    RIM has been incredibly frustrating with their hardware choices (part of the reason people suggest the new CEO may have been part of the problem). To illustrate:

    9900 doesn't have auto focus camera
    9810 doesn't have NFC
    9790 doesn't do HD video recording
    None have front facing camera

    why can't they have a phone that gives you all the options?!! why do you ALWAYS have to give up at least one?! Apple doesn't do this. Motorola doesn't do this. LG doesn't do this. HTC doesn't do this.

    I wanted the 9900, but the camera killed the deal (I need a good performing camera for work, and I have children so my wife is constantly asking me to take close ups of the kids). I wanted the 9790, but the lack of HD recording killed the deal. I "settled" on the 9810 as an upgrade from my 9800 because I didn't think I'd use a lot of NFC before my next upgrade.

    There is no valid reason, NONE, that they 9810 shouldn't have NFC, the 9790 record in HD, or, and back to topic, the 9900 have an auto focus camera.
    [/rant]

    Dude, close up of kids? That's not close up, close up is when you want to take a photo of an eye or nose, a kid's face is not close up and the 9900 performs very well for that.

    PS for your information no manufacturer will ever put everything on one single phone, they want you to buy their next phone.

    Example, do you think when Gillette made a two blade shaver they could've made a 3 or 4 blade one?

    Here's a close up taken this morning of my boy's lego jeep, good enough for me
    01-31-12 05:40 AM
  23. o4liberty's Avatar
    If you are looking for quality photos get a camera! I have used almost every camera phone out there to see if one is better than a other and while some are for the most part camera phones can't replace a regular camera. Photos taken with natural light look pretty good but indoors is always an issue. I carry a Canon Elph 300 hs and no phone can compare to the photos that it takes.
    01-31-12 06:14 AM
  24. ekv's Avatar
    Can we start a new thread for people to post their accomplishments with the 9900/9930 using diff locations, conditions, lights etc. Just like "post your screen" threads.

    At least that would make potential buyers decide for themselves, than going via word of mouth. Since this issue has been brought up so many times, we can easily refer people to follow the thread and decide if the 9900/9930 camera is good enough by their standards.
    01-31-12 06:51 AM
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