[pythons]

I just got a report from a tester that anything above 4in/10cm from the subject is nice and clear, bellow that gets blurry. So not so bad after all.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

In post #329 there is a picture taken of a bill of lading and I assure you the camera was well over 10 inches away from the document when I took the shot. Would you be able to have the "tester" shoot a similar document that's 8.5 X 11 and have them email to you so that you can post it?

Perhaps everyone posting examples of what their new "flagship" 9900 / 9930 have never taken pictures with a cameraphone before and are just doing it wrong.

This would be a good way to terminate all concern on this issue and prove that the brand new bold does not have a significantly inferior camera in it compared to devices RIM was putting out 3 years ago.

Also the picture showing fine gravel between the exterior window and window seal would be another good example for the tester you know to duplicate. That shot was also taken well over 10 inches away from the subject.

[belfastdispatcher]

In post #329 there is a picture taken of a bill of lading and I assure you the camera was well over 10 inches away from the document when I took the shot. Would you be able to have the "tester" shoot a similar document that's 8.5 X 11 and have them email to you so that you can post it?

Perhaps everyone posting examples of what their new "flagship" 9900 / 9930 have never taken pictures with a cameraphone before and are just doing it wrong.

This would be a good way to terminate all concern on this issue and prove that the brand new bold does not have a significantly inferior camera in it compared to devices RIM was putting out 3 years ago.

Also the picture showing fine gravel between the exterior window and window seal would be another good example for the tester you know to duplicate. That shot was also taken well over 10 inches away from the subject.

He's not testing for me so there's only so much I can ask. He's had the 9900 for a while and the other 2 from about a week before they were launched.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[pythons]

He's not testing for me so there's only so much I can ask. He's had the 9900 for a while and the other 2 from about a week before they were launched.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Ok fellow crackberryITE, fair enough. Please don't think I'm just being fanatical about this for no reason. I love ( not like ) my bold 9650 and would love nothing more to be able to continue using a bold that is faster with a bigger touchscreen but because I use the camera all the time to save both my time and my employers money this is a very important "feature" my smartphone absolutely has to have.

It's possible everyone who has posted shots of the type used for business have no idea what they are doing but I'm thinking this is not the case - the guy who contrasted pictures taken with a bold 9700 and the new 9900 are light years apart - you can't even read the carrier branding on the bottom of the phone on the pictures taken with the new "flagship" Bold.

[sivan]

Well, I think Adam's test on the blog put the question to rest. The 9900 camera picture quality is noticeably worse than the 9780 in every aspect. Closeups are blurry, mid and long range offer only average sharpness everywhere.

[belfastdispatcher]

Ok fellow crackberryITE, fair enough. Please don't think I'm just being fanatical about this for no reason. I love ( not like ) my bold 9650 and would love nothing more to be able to continue using a bold that is faster with a bigger touchscreen but because I use the camera all the time to save both my time and my employers money this is a very important "feature" my smartphone absolutely has to have.

It's possible everyone who has posted shots of the type used for business have no idea what they are doing but I'm thinking this is not the case - the guy who contrasted pictures taken with a bold 9700 and the new 9900 are light years apart - you can't even read the carrier branding on the bottom of the phone on the pictures taken with the new "flagship" Bold.

I understand when you get used to something it's hard to change, sounds like you're gonna pass on the 9900, I'm getting mine tomorrow

You might want to have a look at the other 2 as they'll have AF.
Personally, I believe you can't always have it all, compromises must be made and I'm making mine tomorrow. I held it in my hand today at a Vodafone shop today and that baby is mine.

My 9700 camera does fail in many instances, and gets many shots blurry because of the AF.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[pythons]

Well, I think Adam's test on the blog put the question to rest. The 9900 camera picture quality is noticeably worse than the 9780 in every aspect. Closeups are blurry, mid and long range offer only average sharpness everywhere.

Reverse Evolution - on the camera!

Others have said that EDOF can be affected by sofware and suggested an update might improve the quality of the type of shots people using it as a work smartphone would take.

This is reasonable to believe and could very well be true, however the problem must first be admitted AS A PROBLEM before any solutions are attempted as no one would fix something that isn't broken.

In the case of the camera on the 9930 / 9900 it is absolutely broken and very badly at that. This is not a point where RIM is a year behind iphone or Droid - this IS a case where RIM is behind it's own phones that IT was making 3 F'ing years ago whereas a camera is concerned.

Let's hope someone from RIM notices what some of it's biggest fans are alerting it to and that they jump on this issue with an admission or statement as to this issue can and will shortly be fixed.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Well, I think Adam's test on the blog put the question to rest. The 9900 camera picture quality is noticeably worse than the 9780 in every aspect. Closeups are blurry, mid and long range offer only average sharpness everywhere.

Yes in comparison to an auto focus camera, it's horrible picture quality. People can clamor all they want about not needing a good camera on a smartphone, the point is when they had it many felt inclined to express opinions on how good it was.

What's worse is the whole theory & reasoning behind it. The EDoF was used to get the device profile as thin as possible sacrificing picture quality when there are devices out there that still have autofocus and are still thinner than the 99xx. It's about the trade-off made, and the thinking that it's ok.

Trust me, there were many that stepped up and knocked the EDoF camera during R&D. However you can see those voices were ignored unfortunately.

[nikonwhore]

I just wanted to post that in spite of me knowing the many awesome phones that are out there right now, and knowing that the macro feature is missing on the 9900 (which severely limits what I use my 9700 camera for a majority of the time on a regular basis) I have a 9900 in the mail en route!

I am a crackberry addict and the minute I laid my hands on it in the Bell store yesterday, I knew I had to have one regardless of how annoyed I am about EDOF.

And to boot, I upgraded to the three year promo price, despite only being a year in my 3 year contract! YES. I AM SO EXCITED.

[JasW]

After seeing just how truly craptastic the camera is from Adam's comparison post on the front page, I've come to the conclusion that heads should roll for this. It's going to be a seriously negative slam mentioned in each and every serious review of the device.

You can talk about business phones and taking pictures of documents all you want, but the bottom line is that it is 2011, and most people use their smartphones to take pictures in lieu of hauling around a dedicated camera. They would rightly expect a new, top of the line smartphone to have a decent camera.

This one does not, and it's a big mistake. Whoever is ultimately responsible for allowing the 9900 to go forward with an EDoF camera is not helping RIM.

[aNYthing24]

I gotta say, the video/audio quality recording is pretty phenomenal on this phone.

[pythons]

I gotta say, the video/audio quality recording is pretty phenomenal on this phone.

I would agree that the video looks very good however like many others have mentioned....
...It's 2011 and a person at this time does not need to make a selection between having a great VC OR camera.

[aNYthing24]

I would agree that the video looks very good however like many others have mentioned....
...It's 2011 and a person at this time does not need to make a selection between having a great VC OR camera.

A lot of smart phone cameras don't come closing to the matching the video/audio quality of the 9900, IMO anyway. My Sensation at its current state struggles with audio even though it supports stereo sound recording.

[pythons]

A lot of smart phone cameras don't come closing to the matching the video/audio quality of the 9900, IMO anyway. My Sensation at its current state struggles with audio even though it supports stereo sound recording.

I would have been "ok" if the 9900 struggled with close up shots....
...As it stand they flat out can't do them and the other pictures they take are on the low end of average.

How does your Sensation do for taking pictures?

[aNYthing24]

I would have been "ok" if the 9900 struggled with close up shots....
...As it stand they flat out can't do them and the other pictures they take are on the low end of average.

How does your Sensation do for taking pictures?

Not too bad. Here's a shot of text with not so good lighting.

[pythons]

Not too bad. Here's a shot of text with not so good lighting.

That doesn't look bad at all but what about a full 8.5 x 11'' page?
..Or fine print such as the following?

If RIM produced a camera that could at least equal what my old 9650 considers "cake"...
...This issue wouldn't be an issue at all.

[aNYthing24]

That doesn't look bad at all but what about a full 8.5 x 11'' page?
..Or fine print such as the following?

If RIM produced a camera that could at least equal what my old 9650 considers "cake"...
...This issue wouldn't be an issue at all.

Tried to get it the best I could...hard to keep the phone still. This had flash.

[pythons]

Karmaloop, that's flat out spectacular - the shot literally jumps out at me!
...If ONLY the 9900 / 9930 could have duplicated 2% of that quality!

[olblueyez]

The Sensation does look nice. I just think that finding "a perfect smartphone for everyone" is just going to be impossible. I'm getting a 9900 for the UI, qwerty, and BB messaging. What kind of camera is in the 9860?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[pythons]

The Sensation does look nice. I just think that finding "a perfect smartphone for everyone" is just going to be impossible. I'm getting a 9900 for the UI, qwerty, and BB messaging. What kind of camera is in the 9860?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I'm not shooting for perfect, just usable. The 99xx does not take detailed pictures that are usable. Yet.

Perhaps RIM will address this issue prior to AT&T, Verizon and Sprint selling them by at least saying a software fix is on the way. Short of that this phone will be a bloodbath for RIM.

I can see the article headers now: "Dismal sales numbers for RIM's flagship Bold device" attributed to it's component fisher-price camera".

[kirson]

Yes in comparison to an auto focus camera, it's horrible picture quality. People can clamor all they want about not needing a good camera on a smartphone, the point is when they had it many felt inclined to express opinions on how good it was.

And after a while, you kind of become accustomed to it, and you kind of expect it. It's funny (at least to me) how much I have come to depend on the camera on my 9800. It gives me piece of mind knowing it's always there, and that the quality is good enough for most purposes. Shame they decided to go this way...

[aNYthing24]

What kind of camera is in the 9860?

It has an auto focus lens.

[belfastdispatcher]

Check this video out:



About half way trough the guy gets very very close to a yellow flower and it looks very very clear, i wonder if shots can be extracted from a video thus solving the close up problem.

Thoughts?

[JasW]

Check this video out:



About half way trough the guy gets very very close to a yellow flower and it looks very very clear, i wonder if shots can be extracted from a video thus solving the close up problem.

Thoughts?

Sure, they can -- among other ways, play the video on your PC, pause it, hit Print Screen to copy, then paste into a graphics program and crop it. (You can't do the same on the device with Capture It because I know of no way to get rid of the control panel at the bottom of the screen when one pauses.) But who wants to go to all of that trouble?

[belfastdispatcher]

Sure, they can -- among other ways, play the video on your PC, pause it, hit Print Screen to copy, then paste into a graphics program and crop it. (You can't do the same on the device with Capture It because I know of no way to get rid of the control panel at the bottom of the screen when one pauses.) But who wants to go to all of that trouble?

I'm sure an app can be made for that

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[pythons]

Does anyone within the forums have a way to contact RIM to find out if there is a fix underway for the camera?