[chefey]

its sad. but i am still going to snag this 9900. not because "its the thinnest bb to date"but because when paired with my playbook i am sure i will have one of the finest mobile experiences out there. i hate that we now use the words sexy when it comes to a phone. and as far as the camera, if its the same as the one on the pb, have no fears, it takes GREAT photos (just not at night)

[qbnkelt]

I use my phone camera for quick captures...like my honey sending pics of what ice cream he's getting for me. Or a quick shot of friends at a club. I don't ever expect it to replace a camera. Really, the little Nikon I carry in my purse is so tiny it doesn't take any room at all.
That said, it is disappointing that they removed the auto focus from everything except the Torch 2. My Atrix killed the camera on my BB. Obliterated it.

[Fr3lncr]

So... to summarize then basically wait until the camera comes out, try it and see if it fits your needs. If it doesn't, find something else. That something else may be another Blackberry model or, unfortunately I guess from a BB fan perspective, another maker entirely.

If nothing else, this thread will remind me to try the camera out. I am one of those that uses an SLR for taking pictures. I also use the camera on my phone for taking quick pics to send by email which is really handy. I don't expect the pictures to be great as I'm not going to print them, but I'd still like them to be as sharp as possible. To date, the camera on my 9780 is a little disappointing as they are often out of focus even though I get the 'green box'. But because I don't use it that often, it doesn't bother me that much.

One would assume that due to the feature of scanning the bar code box thingees (what are they called again?) that the 'Greztky' (see blog post about naming conventions) should be able to take somewhat okay macro shots if you are adding people to BBM or adding an app, or whatever. It would seem really weird if it couldn't do that.

And as per the article linked to on the first page, these types of lenses/cameras are still good for many things like landscapes:

Here's an informative article that UGC posted: EDoF versus Auto-focus: Understanding the compromises involved

So, to summarize the summary, we buy, we try, and we like or we don't like. Hopefully the 9900 is something to like all around. I'll be disappointed if I have to return it if it doesn't suit my needs, like I was with the Torch which I really, really wanted and then really, really didn't like using it. (Not that I would return it just because of the camera, unless it was completely useless, as it would need to be a collection of things...).

I can understand peoples frustrations though as, if you are a BB fan, you want to a BB that meets all your needs and be able to show it off or whatever... and this type of news makes it 'seem' like it is a less perfect phone than before you read the thread but you wont know for sure until you try it.

[Masahiro]

I can understand peoples frustrations though as, if you are a BB fan, you want to a BB that meets all your needs and be able to show it off or whatever... and this type of news makes it 'seem' like it is a less perfect phone than before you read the thread but you wont know for sure until you try it.

Very well said. A lot of people just need to calm down and try the phone out before they jump the gun and assume the 9900 will have the worst photo quality ever. I don't think most consumers will notice or care that much about the lack of auto-focus. We'll see.

[belfastdispatcher]

This is the kind of pics my 9700 takes, but I don't just keep it on Auto, I make use of the scene modes.
The 9900 can only get better

[green_ember]

So I read through all 11 pages thus far and not one person bothered to do any actual research on the subject. Here's a great link from the company that makes EDOF cameras for cameraphones...

DxO DOP7+ EDoF: An Ultra Low Cost Alternative to Autofocus

The technology has improved to the point that self portraits, barcodes, business cards, and documents are no longer issues. Macro shots have been improved to 10cm (4 freakin inches!)

Looking at the example pictures of the girl's eyes, I'll take one of the EDOF cameras over an AF any day. I hear that the ISP for the camera may even be integrated in the phone's processor which makes the image processing (allegedly) 240x faster than non-integrated ISPs

Since the company says they have over 40 million EDOF lenses in cameraphones already, I'm guessing the technology works well enough that people just don't care if their phone has AF or not lol

[kbz1960]

From the link given above it seem the edof will be just fine or even better then auto focus unless you take a lot of close up pics. How many people actually take their pics somewhere and have prints made from them?

Even the mega pixel thing is over kill if you never have prints made.

[pythons]

i have an iPhone as well as a BB 9330 which now has been replaced by the 9900..... RIM never had a phone with an excellent camera.... BB was all about ease of use!

I would say the Bold 9650 has a most excellent camera - I would put it against an iphone or droid any day of the week.

http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...ml#post6541611

[pythons]

Come on people, if anyone thinks any cell phone out there takes good pictures, then you don't know what a good picture looks like.
Anyone with any knowledge of photography spends the most money on their lenses. A lot more. The 9900 is a great smartphone. It's not a camera.
By the way, this is what a good lens looks like.

I've got a Canon 10D that does a bang up job on pictures and I don't think anyone here is saying RIM needs to do that level of picture to remain in the market - what we are saying is that many people who are using the blackberry for work rely on the AF to take pictures of notes or paperwork ( I do this all the time ) Also, many need to take a detailed shot of damage on a car such as rock chips in the paint or other things.

[kbz1960]

I've got a Canon 10D that does a bang up job on pictures and I don't think anyone here is saying RIM needs to do that level of picture to remain in the market - what we are saying is that many people who are using the blackberry for work rely on the AF to take pictures of notes or paperwork ( I do this all the time ) Also, many need to take a detailed shot of damage on a car such as rock chips in the paint or other things.

Taking pics of notes and paperwork sound more like espionage.

[pythons]

Taking pics of notes and paperwork sound more like espionage.

When you work for a large auto-group doing those types of things is simply called survival...
...We're not talking the Nations secrets or anything like that - just stock numbers, load plans for lots, etc.
...LOL, after reading what I posted I can see how it could look that way.

[Guatiao]

12 pages and still no photo taken on a 9900 to actually see how good or bad it looks...

[melb_me]

My playbook photos look pretty good weather 2 feet or 20 feet away. I just compared between it and my ipad2. Sorry playbook kills the Ipad. Where can I post the pics so you can look? If anyone is interested.

[lnichols]

Yeah all the Playbook pics and 1080p videos using this same technology look awful don't they?

[Bla1ze]

AT LAST, I HAVE A SOLUTION FOR ALL OF YOU, IT'S QUITE EASY....

Don't like it.... don't buy it.

(We all know that won't happen though. In fact, some of you will have read this thread fully knowing the situation -- still go out and buy it, then come back here and complain about it despite having been fully aware even before buying it -- just so you have something to cry about)

[Michelle Haag]

AT LAST, I HAVE A SOLUTION FOR ALL OF YOU, IT'S QUITE EASY....

Don't like it.... don't buy it.

(We all know that won't happen though. In fact, some of you will have read this thread fully knowing the situation -- still go out and buy it, then come back here and complain about it despite having been fully aware even before buying it -- just so you have something to cry about)

+infinity

[pythons]

My playbook photos look pretty good weather 2 feet or 20 feet away. I just compared between it and my ipad2. Sorry playbook kills the Ipad. Where can I post the pics so you can look? If anyone is interested.

Post them right here, I just ran outside my condo with my Bold 9650 & an iphone 3gs....
...The iphone does not have a flash so I shut the flash on the bold off to make it fair.
...The results are obvious in my view - the blackberry takes WAY better pictures.

The 9650 DOES have AF however and this is the worry about the new 9930 / 00.


I will be very interesting when someone posts some pictures they have taken with the new Bold touch and gets them posted so we can put this issue to rest.

[Spika]

Why didnt anyone with a 9900 post a pic of pics taken of some text yet so we can see the focus?

[pythons]

Why didnt anyone with a 9900 post a pic of pics taken of some text yet so we can see the focus?

Interesting isn't it! It would be nice if RIM would just overnight me a 9900 or 9930 and I would take the normal pictures I do for my job and compare the ones from the new berry to that of the old - that I can't find any good examples of what the pictures taken from these new devices look like is rather telling. The fastest way to kill the negative aspects of this thread would be to simply throw up some examples of what the camera on the 9900 can do. The video that comes from the 9900 looks very good and we see plenty examples of that YET no pics to speak of.

[howarmat]

Post them right here, I just ran outside my condo with my Bold 9650 & an iphone 3gs....
...The iphone does not have a flash so I shut the flash on the bold off to make it fair.
...The results are obvious in my view - the blackberry takes WAY better pictures.

The 9650 DOES have AF however and this is the worry about the new 9930 / 00.


I will be very interesting when someone posts some pictures they have taken with the new Bold touch and gets them posted so we can put this issue to rest.

eh, first one bold wins, second one iphone wins lol...iphone 4 would have been better to use but it is still good to see

[melb_me]

Playbook vs Ipad2 Same lighting. You decide. I had to re-size and re-sample the playbook image down to upload it. I did not change any settings in either device from the way they are "out of the box"

[pythons]

eh, first one bold wins, second one iphone wins lol...iphone 4 would have been better to use but it is still good to see

I'm getting both a Blackberry 9780 & iphone 4 to test for reception where I live from a local AT&T Corporate Business Rep at some point next week. If Sprint does not push VVM on the 9930 to the end user I've already been assured AT&T most certainly will. I will for sure snap some pics and post em up.

I'm going to cover my bases and make sure I don't have reception issues where I live like I did with Vz - I literally couldn't use the phone where I live on Vz and for the Seattle area it is the absoulte worst carrier for reception I've ever witnessed.

[pythons]

Playbook vs Ipad2 Same lighting. You decide. I had to re-size and re-sample the playbook image down to upload it. I did not change any settings in either device from the way they are "out of the box"

You're right - there is no contest with which one takes better pictures....
...The PB handed the ipad it's fudge-"C" to it on a paper plate.

The PB does not have AF?

That's the best pic I've seen posted from a playbook and if the 9900 can duplicate that there will be no issue with the camera. THANKS for posting those pics melb!

[i7guy]

I've read they do not.

I've seen the pics, they are gorgeous.

[Tre Lawrence]

LOL re: earlier comment asking why someone would want to use a cell phone camera for work pics.

Wow.