[KoreAairlines]

Why is everyone talking about getting a camera? That's NO Excuse. I don't carry my camera with me everywhere! I carry my PHONE. I don't think it's unreasonable to want decent pictures from your phone, especially nowadays when the standard is 8mpx in mobile phones.

So yes, I do have a camera. But when I am out doing daily things I don't carry it with me. I have my phone. I don't think it's too much to ask that the subject in question be in focus, or for me to be able to take a picture of a document then send it. I shouldn't HAVE to carry a camera, plug it into my computer when I get home and email it.

Agree with that ... i dont carry my camera too everywhere i go.
While the camera on the 9900 is not ideal and dosent look crips on document fotos, they still very acceptable ... because they are readable.
If you say 8mp camaras are standard, nokia phone have 12 mp cameras since a long time now ... and yet we dont buy nokia phones because of that.
Actually 8 and 12 mp cameras were on "dumbphones" long time before they came to smartphones.

Almost all cell phone cameras do bad if light conditions are bad... and so does the 9900 one and also the GSII camera (just for example).
One camera which does fairly good in darker lights is the iP4 camera and thats the only thing im jealous about.

[JeffN4321]

Maybe because rim made a very bad decision and tried to save money on camera.

Doesnt look like that rim ever fully understand the value of camera or media player to smart phone users.

[fragment137]

I'm more of a recent BB User than a lot of people in this thread, but I have to say... I've been sitting here in class and chuckling to myself with each new post...

I GET IT. the 9900 doesn't have an awesome camera... I also understand some people wanting a decent camera with their phone.

There are, however, a few things I think are worth mentioning (again). The 9900 EDoF camera is better than most AF camera's from older BBs! Case and point: I had a Torch 9800 before this Bold, and I've never been more frustrated with an AF camera!

In terms of multi-media, it's just a fact that RIM is not up to standard. I would still prefer to have an iPod over using BB's media player. This is fine IMHO though, because BBs by design are meant to be superior communications devices. Can any of us really advocate against that? Yes, the smart-phone market has been taken in one very particular direction: Having everything but the kitchen sink in your pocket in a form factor smaller than the human hand. BUT, What we want versus what we need in terms of a phone comes down to some very basic things that describe humanity:

We always want the most, for the least, in the least amount of time. This equation is always the goal, but is almost never attainable.

Human beings will ALWAYS have something to complain about, because of the pre-mentioned equation. No matter how awesome something is, it will never be perfect, therefore we will always find something that can be improved, and we'll pick it apart til the end of days.

When it comes to what we want out of a phone, we need to get what suits us the most (absolutely). So, if having an AF camera is a necessity for you, then don't get the 9900! If you got the 9900 anyway(and you knew about the EDoF camera), then don't complain! If you want a do-everything-but-shave-for-you phone, then get an android or an iPhone, iOS 5 has a messaging server a-la BBM now, so w/e!

My bottom line is, people are going to complain no matter what you do, so I'm just going to enjoy myself by reading it all :P

[rcheung135]

Not only that, but it's missing 8GB I'd like to see on smartphones nowadays. /flamesuit on

[fragment137]

Ahhh the wonders of expandable memory

[rcheung135]

Ahhh the wonders of expandable memory

About that, I'd have to end up buying another card. Great.

[azie]

This....actually makes sense. Personally I could've dealt with a 5mm taller phone for the sake of a better lens

that includes a decent battery !!!!!!!!!

[TheScionicMan]

I hope they go to the EDoF camera on all their phones. I've missed so many good shots waiting for the AF to try and work. And the few times I needed to get a close up, it got what I needed. I don't need my phone to OCR docs.

[MetalxAssassinx]

If you want a great digital camera with amazing auto focus capabilities.......buy a Canon.

if it has auto sync between the bb and the camera i might buy one =))
not just put the bb with my laptop and my camera , plug my camera and plug my bb and then add the photo from one to other .. that would be REALLY annoying -.-"

[MetalxAssassinx]

I think RIM is following the "old" Nokia way
Remember Nokia ? One times they was the biggest phone company in the world
Almost everyone uses them, then they become more "arrogant"
And taking us , their loyal supporter for granted.
They began producing and selling phones that are actually the same "inside" but different "outside"
And they never sell us the "perfect" phone
You want qwerty, choose E series, but E series camera and speakers are bad
You want camera and speakers, get the N series but the N series has no qwerty
And so on...
In the end us, their used to be loyal customer , starting to looked elswhere to get a phone that has good camera and qwerty and etc.

I really think that RIM is following their path right now.
You want good keyboard get the 9900
You want good camera get the torch
You want good battery live get the future 9790
And so on

In the end I relly think that will make us become tired of it
And choose other vendors

Look at apple
They only produce 1 phone in 1 year
And it has the latest technology that they can offer at that time of point.
That's why they phone is less "problematic" then BBs

I've been bb user for a long time, but I'm starting to get fed up with them
Cause my 9900 camera can't take decent picture of reciept or atm transfer reciept
Which I really rely upon everyday
And the battery life suck big time
The only thing that keep me holding on is the super nice keyboard and big screen
Otherwise Ill already went back to my 9780.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

You're right and wrong at the same time .. RIM making 4 phones at the same time is a good point for me .. like apple iPhone .. i see the screen not big enough for touch screen , While i see GS2 is Big enough for me =p , what RIM actually wanted to was:
Bold : Keyboard
Torch2 : both screen and keyboard
Torch (screen only) : is only for screen
Mini Bold (Coming soon) : Keyboard .. but SMALLER
not what you said , but you're right .. and that's the problem .. just look at HTC or Samsung .. they do have more then 1 phone a year ,,, and i see that a good idea for me , makes everything easier to choose , and don't include these damn problems ..

i hope you got my idea :P

[Elite1]

iphone is the most popular device used on flickr...doesn't that tell you anything?

That just tells me the calibre of person still using Flickr is perfectly suited to an iPhone.

[Morten]

If you want a great digital camera with amazing auto focus capabilities.......buy a Canon.

and if you want a camera with lense that focus and works for more than 3-4 years - stay away from Canon Ixus/ELPH cameras

[VERNO1948]

Well, that does it for me. The only use I have for the camera of my smartphone is to use it as a image notepad, more often snapping text or small objects at short distance. And I do that very often with my old 8900. Something like twice a day.

Can't do that with a 9900? So for me it's going to be Good-bye, RIM, and Hello Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Android 4. Il'l surely get used to virtual keyboard, most people do...

[ibiza.ben]

They didn't put autofocus on the Bold to give people a reason to buy the Torch...

[George__]

This is THE REASON why I feel my Bold 9900 was a rushed product!
Can't take very decent close up pictures of lecture notes, business cards etc. BLEH

[simplr]

Close-up's using the BB 9900 can be good if you hold a close-up lens (a.k.a. magnifying glass) against the 'phone's camera. A tiny, swing-away, correcting lens attachment could be a commercially viable idea. The LDoF camera lends itself to such a device.

[rcr682k2]

I use this function all the time to auto focus small serial number stickers for my work. Not having this function has really pee'd in my cornflakes!

[meelisar]

Hi there!
Im planning on buying the BB bold 9990 so i've been reading A LOT about it. I found a lot of reviews saying it doesn't have an autofocus but i just found one saying they ACTUALLY HAVE AUTOFOCUS but you have to know how to use it.
This is the link where it is explained: Como usar mejor el Autofocus de las BlackBerry

It's in spanish and im at school so i dont have time to translate it, but appearently you just gotta know which buttons you gotta press.

[offyoutoddle]

sorry to disappoint you but this isn't going to work on a 9900. That is relevant only for the other phones that actually do have autofocus. Its talking about pressing and holding the convenience key instead of pressing the trackpad button to take the pic - trust me it doesn't have any effect as the lens doesn't have the hardware. I noticed early reviews said it did have autofocus too, but commented that it wasn't working well (from memory I think it was techradar). This was their mistake, as the camera was working as it was designed.

My take on it is AF vs EDOF is it is a trade off. Truth is the Bold can take some very good pictures, and it can do it very quickly so you don't miss your subject. But is it as good as some other cameras on the market? That's best judged by the individual on the results they get, not by comparing tick lists on a marketing chart. I've got no complaints, after all what's that phrase about the best camera is the one you have with you?

[kpai81]

this is the worst part of the phone. the camera