[zipped]

To date I haven't had an issue with the camera on the 9900. Have read the threads about the close up issues which I haven't really had to worry about as well as the threads with some of the great shots. Think I will always remember the sunset pic in Hawaii someone posted. Beautiful.

My experience to date has been pretty much similar, I have been taking pics in pretty good light, "still" shots, landscapes, etc. Really thought I had great pics.

Went to my daughter's father/daughter dance last night. We had a blast got one or two great pics. The balance of pics turned out pretty poor. Slight movement ruined the shots. Couldn't get a good "scenery" mode to grab pics. Last two years have used the camera on the 9700 at the dance and always been fine. Couldn't believe how poor the camera was when having to grab quick shots.

Hit me today looking at these pics compared to the past pics what a difference the autofocus means. Realized how many pics I snap of the kids, friends, friends making fools of themselves, and the people of Walmart. (if you are reading this from out of the US Google that one to enjoy a laugh). Started thinking I will have to have this phone 2 years if I don't return it by Tuesday. Thought, it won't be that big of a deal, deal with it. Then thought, heck that is a long time to keep this phone without a camera I can depend on. Heck, I haven't used my Canon in 6-7 months.

Anyhow, as mentioned, have the last couple days of buyer's remorse before either keeping for 2 years or returning. The 9790 hasn't appeared on T-Mobile with no rumors yet indicating it would. BB10 is too far out. I went into the T-Mobile store near me on Saturday (free tablets!) I saw they had stock of the 9810 left. Read it pretty much everything the same with exception of NFC but it does have autofocus. I've become attached to the 9900 form factor which oddly enough I had my doubts I would moving from the 9700. Was wondering if anyone in the 9900 forum had moved from the 9810 or vice versa. I read one great thread here but it seemed like only a few folks had moved from a 9810, more from the 9800 which isn't an even match. Almost wish I hadn't seen the 9810. Only played with it a little bit as I didn't even consider it until the camera issue surfaced.

I've posted on the 9900 battery issues I experienced, made my peace for the most part, ordered a second battery to add to my 9900 accessory collection of the Seido dock charger, Seido Active case, and an OtterCase I use when biking. Would hate to waste all of these accessories. Think I have OCD even considering this exchange. Your thoughts?

[howards]

I think for the very few times when you know you're going to take pics that need to be on the money, just bring your camera. I wouldn't give up the 9900 because of your experience at the dance. All phones have their strong and weak points. The camera is not a strong point of this phone, but in most cases gets the job done.

[snowindec9]

9810 is there for a reason.the autofocus camera.its a great device in its own respect too.also there is a luxury of large screen real estate.these camera disappointment threads are getting repetitive now.move to another device if not satisfied.there's also an iphone and galaxy nexus for camera comfort.

[sulcopete]

I would not consider downgrading to the torch from the 9900. I did not like the top-heaviness, the accidental screen button pushing while on the phone, the lag time on the touchscreen UI, and the slider which for me was awkward to operate when the keyboard was needed. IMHO, the 9900 is a much, much better device and a pleasure to use. The camera isn't all that bad either....did you have flash off? It's been my experience with the flash off the shutter time (if we can use that term here) gets increased, so pictures will come out fuzzy if there's any movement. But with the flash on it takes great stop-action photos.

[SK122387]

The Torch 9810 takes better pictures. I have both devices, and while the 9900 is perfectly fine for 95%of the pictures I take, there are the few that I need to close up, that the 9900 is just plain bad. Plus, the pictures look really nice on the Torch's screen. I'm pretty impressed with the Torch's multimedia capabilities. Sure it doesn't really do anything that the 9900 can't, but it just does everything so well.

[Maseroche]

You can also consider the 9790. Takes better pictures than the 9900 but at the cost of, a harder to type at, keyboard.

[DenimAndLeather]

I love taking pics too and if pictures are very important to you then I would suggest getting a Canon Powershot camera that is even smaller than the 9900 and take that with you when you want good quality pictures to share. The camera from any phone on the market simply cant compare to the great pics/video & performance from a Canon Powershot.

I use my phone's camera for menial pics or spur of the moment candid shots when the phone camera is the only camera around. That happens rarely. Otherwise I take my canon powershot with me or breakout the Canon 60D SLR when I mean business.

I feel your pain with the OCD tendencies. I had issues with the smaller screen on the 9900 which made me think about going for the Galaxy Nexus' 4.65 inch screen lol. I didnt go for the Nexus because I love having a physical keyboard on my phone. It encourages me to type longer replies and text/bbm more which enriches my relationships with those I care about -- and day-to-day that gives me alot more joy than a bigger screen or a better phone camera ever could.

So my advice is to stop focusing on what you dont like and start focus on what you do love about the 9900 and don't look back. No device is perfect. I love the 9900 for its beautiful keyboard, lightness & thinness and its iconic Blackberry styling. The 9900 is the last of its breed for a while.

FYI, I can comment on the form factor of the 9810 because I just upgraded from the 9800 to the 9900. The 9800/9810 keyboard keys are on the small side and you will have to bunch up your fingers to type compared to the expansive keyboard on the 9900. Also yes the screen is bigger but there is no orientation lock for the 9800/9810 screen so it sometimes annoyingly switches from portrait to orientation when you dont want it to. Also having to slide the screen up & down constantly everytime you want to get to the physical keyboard gets kinda tiresome after a year of doing it. but thats just me!

[belfastdispatcher]

The 9900 has a very fast camera, I presume you had it in night mode without image stabilization activated. Should've used sports mode for dancing shots or party mode for still shots in a party atmosphere. Learn to use the scene modes, they make a huge difference.

I find night mode a bit extreme, it turns night into day when used with flash.

[boss_hog]

The scene modes make worlds of differance. I getter pics with my 9900 than my iphone4 99% of the time

[zipped]

9810 is there for a reason.the autofocus camera.its a great device in its own respect too.also there is a luxury of large screen real estate.these camera disappointment threads are getting repetitive now.move to another device if not satisfied.there's also an iphone and galaxy nexus for camera comfort.

Really? As a Crackberry "Genius" this is what you bring to the forum? Screw that. (And that is my polite voice) I believe my post was relevant and 99% of the people on here have replied with helpful information. Boost your post count elsewhere.

As to everyone else, thanks for your input so far. Have to pull the trigger today lol. I do have a nice small camera with the Canon, but as mentioned I had the 9700 and the pics took good enough pictures for my needs without having to carry a second device.

Never had a slider phone before which is probably a better way to orient my question. I want all of the processor features of the 9900 so the 9810 seems on par. Small keyboard is not a problem, I actually could fly on the 9700, 8900, etc. Unless it is really smaller than those. Agree with you DenimandLeather - Thinking it may be a pain in the neck having to slide the keyboard open every time to use the keyboard. Goodness knows I can't type on my friends iPhones or heck, even my playbook for that matter. Also per Sulco, I was curious about the topsided issue compared to my 9900.

For the orientation lock, Six Tools and Rotation Lock can fix that I have read. I was looking for one for my Playbook before I came across someone who explained it was already built in lol....

Funny thing is there really isn't much in the 9810 forums about complaints, etc compared to the 9900. I am sure this is related to the fact they aren't as readily available as the 9900 but still interesting.

I couldn't actually use the 9810 at the T-Mobile store because the rep said a kid had snapped off the USB charger and broke the connector. Could just pick it up and look at it.

[Phylth]

Hi zipped -- My wife has a 9810 and I have the 9900. One thing to consider is the weight and thickness difference. The slider feels very heavy, and for me that would influence where I take it and what I do with it. She keeps it in a purse so it's not as significant an issue, but I tend to pop my phone in the breast pocket of my coat or in a pants pocket. The skinny 9900 is barely noticeable; the big honkin 9810 feels like a brick. For me the better multimedia features of the slider don't outweigh the size penalty.

Dave

[ubizmo]

The 9900 has a very fast camera, I presume you had it in night mode without image stabilization activated. Should've used sports mode for dancing shots or party mode for still shots in a party atmosphere. Learn to use the scene modes, they make a huge difference.

I find night mode a bit extreme, it turns night into day when used with flash.

This.

Auto-focus has nothing to do with the quality of photos of moving subjects. Image stabilization in party mode works well for this kind of thing. Sports mode with flash might work, but it depends on just how dim the ambient lighting it.

I agree that if using night mode, it's best not to use flash.

[emirozmen]

9810 will let you down also. But of course better than 9900

[zipped]

This.

Auto-focus has nothing to do with the quality of photos of moving subjects. Image stabilization in party mode works well for this kind of thing. Sports mode with flash might work, but it depends on just how dim the ambient lighting it.

I agree that if using night mode, it's best not to use flash.

I find it interesting on the 9700 I didn't run into the issues as I did the other night. I did not use party mode, but will note it for the future. Thanks. I did try the sports mode but wasn't thrilled with what I took.

Looking to attach to show what I was seeing, I forgot I had taken some of my son's basketball as well earlier Saturday from his basketball game. Most of these were horrendous and I did have lots of time to play with modes.

The girls had to do a Tebowing pic which actually came out good. Just thought I would throw that one out there for fun

My two 9900's are on their way back. Have to wait till 6pm here so they hit the UPS system and T-Mobile credits my account. At least there is time to think about it.

The size difference appears to be 4mm so hopefully not much different. Funny to be using the 9700 again after the 9900. It's like mini-me. Also, I keep hitting the screen wondering why it isn't working lol.

[zipped]

Just for comparison, here are some "fast" pics taken on the 9700. Outdoors so a bit different but you get the idea.

Also, thinking about it, why doesn't AF affect this Ubizmo? These are big differences in the results.

[belfastdispatcher]

Just for comparison, here are some "fast" pics taken on the 9700. Outdoors so a bit different but you get the idea.

Also, thinking about it, why doesn't AF affect this Ubizmo? These are big differences in the results.

Those are not fast pics and to be honest they're pretty bad, especially pic 3 and 4 where only the middle of the picture is focused, the sides are blurry.

This is a fast picture

[zipped]

Great pic Belfast!

Well, when I say fast, the basketball and soccer pictures were taken with a bunch of kids in motion. I have hard enough time keeping up with them lol.

As far as bad goes, to tell you the truth, I wouldn't have an issue if the 9900 took pics as they did with those soccer pics taken with the 9700. They may be "bad" compared to others but for a work phone, those are more than acceptable to me.

The basketball pics though are "bad", especially for a phone these days. Those pics remind me of my 8100 with it's 1.3MP camera... I would bet my 8900 took a better "action" picture but I need to check my files to compare. Perhaps the 9900 gets better as the updates continue to rollout. Updates definitely affected previous phones camera picture quality.

[belfastdispatcher]

My best tip for the 9900 camera, give it a wipe, especially before taking night shots, I guarantee you have fingerprints on the lens right now lol.

[belfastdispatcher]

Here's a fast pic I just took, bare in mind it was taken from indoors trough a window on a dark cloudy day.

The car was driving past at around 30mph and the plane was taking off

Edit some of the quality seems lost in the online pic, in the original one you can zoom in to clearly see FlyBe on the plane and the propellers appear still.

[StumptownBold]

Really? As a Crackberry "Genius" this is what you bring to the forum? Screw that. (And that is my polite voice) I believe my post was relevant and 99% of the people on here have replied with helpful information. Boost your post count elsewhere.

As to everyone else, thanks for your input so far. Have to pull the trigger today lol. I do have a nice small camera with the Canon, but as mentioned I had the 9700 and the pics took good enough pictures for my needs without having to carry a second device.

Never had a slider phone before which is probably a better way to orient my question. I want all of the processor features of the 9900 so the 9810 seems on par. Small keyboard is not a problem, I actually could fly on the 9700, 8900, etc. Unless it is really smaller than those. Agree with you DenimandLeather - Thinking it may be a pain in the neck having to slide the keyboard open every time to use the keyboard. Goodness knows I can't type on my friends iPhones or heck, even my playbook for that matter. Also per Sulco, I was curious about the topsided issue compared to my 9900.

For the orientation lock, Six Tools and Rotation Lock can fix that I have read. I was looking for one for my Playbook before I came across someone who explained it was already built in lol....

Funny thing is there really isn't much in the 9810 forums about complaints, etc compared to the 9900. I am sure this is related to the fact they aren't as readily available as the 9900 but still interesting.

I couldn't actually use the 9810 at the T-Mobile store because the rep said a kid had snapped off the USB charger and broke the connector. Could just pick it up and look at it.

As a regular reader of the CB forums (usally the 9900/9930 threads), I agree with the response to your original post. There really are many, many duplicate threads about the camera issue. I imagine you did a simple search of the forums before creating your thread, yet still chose to add yet another one on a more than covered topic. Why did you do this? Only you know. Maybe its fun to vent, rant, or complain.

Again, like others here, there is nothing any of us can do for you and if we could wave a magic wand and give you auto focus camera on your 9900, we would.


For those of you who have a issue with the lack of AF camera: get over it or move on.

"Stop trying to make a cat bark or a dog purr. Its simply not going to happen"

[zipped]

As a regular reader of the CB forums (usally the 9900/9930 threads), I agree with the response to your original post. There really are many, many duplicate threads about the camera issue. I imagine you did a simple search of the forums before creating your thread, yet still chose to add yet another one on a more than covered topic. Why did you do this? Only you know. Maybe its fun to vent, rant, or complain.

Again, like others here, there is nothing any of us can do for you and if we could wave a magic wand and give you auto focus camera on your 9900, we would.


For those of you who have a issue with the lack of AF camera: get over it or move on.

"Stop trying to make a cat bark or a dog purr. Its simply not going to happen"

Yes, again, now for your benefit, thanks for adding to the conversation with a nonrelevant post. I assume you can read as well and understand the contents of my original post. Should I ask you how many dust under the screen threads there were before you posted yours? Your thread probably helped you out as well as others. Also, I didn't see people flaming you like the wisdom you have dished out to others here such as "stop wasting your time", "deal with it", or "your expectations are out of whack "

Obviously I have returned my 9900 due to the end of the buyers remorse period to either purchase another 9900 and/or purchase the 9810 with roughly the same specs. There is a chance that perhaps I wasn't using the modes correctly or some other reason for my poor results. There has been enough information from the other posters to be of use at least for me and the questions I posed which is the purpose of the forum. I like the form factory of the 9900 and think it's a great phone which is why I am torn between the choice I have to make.

There are plenty of dumb @ss threads on here however it is each individuals opinion of what is dumb@ss and what isn't. We could poke at people all day if we wanted. If you don't like someones thread and have nothing relevant to add move on and post where you are helpful or have a question which you need answered.

If it were up to you and this "cat can't bark" I would bet you have many others which hope this cat does bark in the future either by using the modes correctly or future updates to the software. Hope you have a very cheery day.

[ubizmo]

Also, thinking about it, why doesn't AF affect this Ubizmo? These are big differences in the results.

I see that I'm chiming in again late, since you've already returned the 9900, but to answer your question...

Your 4th football photo, ...239, is a good example of how AF can give you a worse result than EDoF. The fellow on the right, who is closer to the camera, is out of focus, because the AF focused on a distance farther away (it will focus on the distance of whatever's in the center of the frame). EDoF would work better for this sort of thing.

[zipped]

Thanks Belfast and Ubizmo. Actually on the soccer, err football pic the 9700 got number 3 in that pic perfect which is what I was most interested in! (my oldest)

Picked up the 9810, within minutes leaving the store I was driving 65mph and snapped a couple shots. Crystal clear, didn't adjust as I figured I was busy enough with the steering wheel. Meant to post but they were wiped as I loaded .258. Will take a few in an hour or so then post tonight. Loads different.

Not crazy about the weight and slider format but heck, will see. Interesting the different features it has, just minor things.

If I keep this up, I may be on free phones till BB10 makes it out

[belfastdispatcher]

Thanks Belfast and Ubizmo. Actually on the soccer, err football pic the 9700 got number 3 in that pic perfect which is what I was most interested in! (my oldest)

Picked up the 9810, within minutes leaving the store I was driving 65mph and snapped a couple shots. Crystal clear, didn't adjust as I figured I was busy enough with the steering wheel. Meant to post but they were wiped as I loaded .258. Will take a few in an hour or so then post tonight. Loads different.

Not crazy about the weight and slider format but heck, will see. Interesting the different features it has, just minor things.

If I keep this up, I may be on free phones till BB10 makes it out

Yeah, that's not the problem taking photos like that, by the time the autofocus did its thing you were probably 10-20 meters from when you pressed the button.

Simple test with a kid in a swing, try to take a photo when the kid is furthest to the left.

[TheRealRoland]

I would switch to a 9810 in a heartbeat.

It's just that I switched from at&t to verizon, and wanted to keep the bb keyboard (not a virtual one!) - and vzn doesn't carry a 9800 or 9810

It was so easy creating close-up photos w the 9800, and the 9930 is letting me down.

I totally agree with other poster using a phone to make snaps should not be an exercise of holding the phone still, making sure the light is ok, and making sure you're not too close-up to the subject.

I got a canon 7D, various lenses, but for the spontaneous photos the phone is still #1 for me.

Even at airshows, I used my 9800 (and the 8310 :-) and shot a couple of (very lucky!) nice action photos.

Not so w the 9930 so far.

Too bad - like I said, in a heartbeat.