[pythons]

Howdy!

So I switched to the Verizon iPhone whenever it was released back in March. I've been severly missing my BlackBerry and want to switch back. I've had my eye on the 9930, but the Canadian launch has me a little worried. Just wanted to know what some of you think.

1) Is the camera really as bad as everyone keeps saying it is? I know auto focus is missing. I usually just take pictures when I'm out, nothing special. Will I be able to tell a huge difference? Is it a deal breaker?

If you've never had a need to capture subjects in fine detail ( standard close-up ) and are satisfied with the low end of average, medium and long range picture quality this phone would work for sure.

If you are like me and love the BB U.I. and different than me ( didn't even need or want a camera ) the 99xx would be a no-brainer.

A large segment of the community who actually uses their phone as another tool ( actually a smartphone is multiple tools ) "at work" simply will not tolerate a smartphone that can't take a functional picture of those things related to work.

If I didn't need to take as many pictures as I did I would grab a 9930 without even thinking about it. In the end it's your path and you must choose. Just realize that the blackberry 99xx, as far as the camera is concerned, is in the Jurassic Period compared to the iphone / Droid and about any other smartphone. As I've said in other places this issue isn't about RIM not keeping up with the other guys making smartphones - the camera in the 9900 and 9930 isn't even the quality of cameras RIM was putting into their 2 year old PLUS phones.

2) I've read mixed reviews on here about the battery life of the device. Is there a general consensus about the battery life? I am a moderate user and just want to be able to make it through a day.

The iPhone has been great, but I'd really like a qwerty again. Thanks for the input guys!

I've been reading those same threads and I've noticed more positive comments from established members of the forum than I have negative - also, while there is UNANIMOUS agreement within the actual third party reviews that the camera is so much bloatware ( junk ) I've heard no negative comments as to the battery life.

If RIM was willing to keep that part of their device the same you can be sure the BB sips power instead of gulping it down and the 9900, as far as battery life goes, should blow out of the water anything else out there.

Yeah, I agree with you that RIMS QWERTY is second to none and the same goes for their BBM - that's one **** of a solid way to quickly communicate with people from all over the world - a poster here on crackberry from the U.A.E. was kind enough to show me the ropes on this feature I had not even used. That's what happens when you are about the only one at work left on a blackberry and ALL your friends drank either the apple or droid juice LOL!

If you don't care about a camera I would jump on the new Bold in an instant...
...In fact I'm still hoping that RIM can come up with a software fix that can at least bring the picture quality for close up to the functional level - I would bust a move if that happened.

Good luck.

[billybobjones]

To OP:

See Guide:
1. Is a camera your main concern in a phone, with close ups of texts being a priority in your daily use?

If yes = not blown out of proportion
If no = blown out of proportion

2. are you a heavy user? Heavy on media? No charger around? Hate the hassle of an extra battery? Only use 3G? 3G signal not strong? Same network and in same area as of those complaining of poor battery life?

IF Yes = not blown out of proportion
if NO= Blown out of proportion

/close thread

[JasW]

The 9900/9930 is overall a solid device. Definitely overall the best BlackBerry ever released. Of course that's until the 9850/9860 is released then it will be the best. Why? Because it does everything the 99xx does and has a better camera.

Wait a minute -- by that logic, shouldn't the 9810 be the BBBE (Best BlackBerry Ever)? It has OS 7 and a better camera, too, but unlike the 9850/60, it also has a physical keyboard.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[pythons]

You keep throwing out "Horrible Camera"

but I was snapping pics of a kiddo jumping on the couch with my 9900 while the god father of the kid was using the Torch, ONLY the 9900 was able to produce a non blurred image, the details of the non blurred parts of the blurred child was better with the Torch but the over all image of a Kid jumping on the couch was better due to the faster image capturing

that said I probably can attribute some of that to the faster processor, I look forward to trying a 9810 out to see if IT is better than the 9900.

I would say it's a non-functional camera similar in effect to "bloatware" many carriers pump into phones that don't serve the purpose which was intended for them.

Yeah, "horrible"- in my view is too kind of a word because horrible implies it could do the job ( just do it so poorly it's "horrible" ). The facts are the camera is not functional for anything work related. It simply CAN'T do the job = i.e. not functional.

For OVER two years I've been attaching pictures of damaged cars to insurance reports that came from my OLD and now outdated blackberry and not one of them was ever returned or was I ever requested to re-shoot something.

Prior to using a blackberry I had a high end point and shoot and a Canon 60D DSLR ( the one prior to the 10D) I used to take these shots and the blackberry was able to do a good enough job I didn't have to pack either of those cameras around any longer and could keep them locked up in the S.I. room!

The pictures taken from the 9900 are NOT functional, period.

[joewoo]

this makes me sad

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Posed PICS I agree FULLY that an AF camera would have been better, but for "action" pics the Bolds Camera + (processor) are providing better images than that of the AF camera's on previous models

I DO say that that can be proven to be other hardware once we see the 9810/50/60 devices. but until then I am not disappointed yet.

lucky you have that iPhone for those posed shots

I agree that for in motion pics it's a tad better. But let's be honest, that wasn't what they were thinking when they slapped in the EDoF. The bottom line is the camera in the 9900 should out-perform the camera in the 9780 the same way the rest of the device out-performs it. I completely understand it's a phone, but things should progressively get better, not worse and all around, it's not as good of a camera compared to BOTH the 9780 & 9700.
You know I absolutely LOVE to take pics of my kids & post them, or post what we're doing. The 99 makes this virtually impossible.

On the flip side of the coin, I will totally agree that the other positive aspects of the 9900/9930 outweigh the negative of the (horrible)camera. And it is leaps and bounds better than any other BlackBerry released to date. But it's the principle of it all. The entire platform should be taking steps forward. Not three steps forward & two steps back. Anyhow, I have and use the 99 everyday, and I love it. But it's all in the details. Small piece by small piece make for a great experience and this one lacks a bit. Of course that's why we have QNX coming and it wont' disappoint.


@JasW this may very well be the case depending on form factor preference.

[_StephenBB81]

I agree that for in motion pics it's a tad better. But let's be honest, that wasn't what they were thinking when they slapped in the EDoF.

From a corporate stand point they were thinking mmmm margin dollars and ooohh we can spin better video on the cheap.
I don't deny that AT ALL! I just don't agree with the Camera being horrible.

I have and use the 99 everyday, and I love it. But it's all in the details. Small piece by small piece make for a great experience and this one lacks a bit.

I too love my 9900 and it is in the details, when Kevin asked me what I would give the 9900 on a scale of 1-10 in terms of aesthetics I laughed and said 6, he looked at me like I had 2 heads
you know why I gave it a 6? -1 for No Red END button, -1 for No Green Call button, -1 for the over gloss on flat back of the device, and I can never give something a perfect 10
I'm a knit picker!

[/QUOTE]

[sf49ers]

As an iPhone 4(GSM) user, I can concur that the battery is phenomenal. Most avid BlackBerry users write-off any other smartphone as having horrible battery life, but iOS is incredibly optimized as to get a ton of life out of the battery.

in my experience the iphone battery gets worse as the number of emails accounts increase and so with other polling services like facebook, twitter etc. if you have limited accounts then it works good esp the iP4

[pythons]

in my experience the iphone battery gets worse as the number of emails accounts increase and so with other polling services like facebook, twitter etc. if you have limited accounts then it works good esp the iP4

Would you say if a person didn't have FB or any of the social media applications running on their iphone 4 and just had 3 email accounts set up for instant push it would make it through the day with approx 2 hours of phone calls?

[_StephenBB81]

Would you say if a person didn't have FB or any of the social media applications running on their iphone 4 and just had 3 email accounts set up for instant push it would make it through the day with approx 2 hours of phone calls?

That would depends on how much you really use the device,

2h of talk time would eat up about 30% of your battery, with optimal 3G signal
if you are spending less than 10min per hour reading emails I would say you could make it through a day safely with the iPhone 4 in a solid 3G signal area

[olblueyez]

I would say it's a non-functional camera similar in effect to "bloatware" many carriers pump into phones that don't serve the purpose which was intended for them.

Yeah, "horrible"- in my view is too kind of a word because horrible implies it could do the job ( just do it so poorly it's "horrible" ). The facts are the camera is not functional for anything work related. It simply CAN'T do the job = i.e. not functional.

For OVER two years I've been attaching pictures of damaged cars to insurance reports that came from my OLD and now outdated blackberry and not one of them was ever returned or was I ever requested to re-shoot something.

Prior to using a blackberry I had a high end point and shoot and a Canon 60D DSLR ( the one prior to the 10D) I used to take these shots and the blackberry was able to do a good enough job I didn't have to pack either of those cameras around any longer and could keep them locked up in the S.I. room!

The pictures taken from the 9900 are NOT functional, period.

Don't the 9850/9860 have the AF camera your looking for? And the larger screen to preview said pictures?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[siausin]

I sure think the camera issue is over blown by some and I suspect they have not even used it but just join in the popular media carnival to bash its obvious fixed lens shortcoming while totaling ignoring its many pluses... It is still a fine camera and it takes decent photo for quick sharing and documentation it takes very good quality video. Iphone 4 takes better photo but that doesn't mean bold is horrible. It is just not as good and no AF is an issue to some but I have been able to take photo of documents using the bold and text is very readable. You always have big ego people in this world who feel RIM owe them big because it didn't put in something they desired - just go and get another phone iphone or android for goodness ******* sake.

The battery life is pretty good. It is even better than my torch 1.

Overall I think bold 9900 is a very solid piece of device and I am enjoying it with my PB.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

[ATDM]

Howdy!

So I switched to the Verizon iPhone whenever it was released back in March. I've been severly missing my BlackBerry and want to switch back. I've had my eye on the 9930, but the Canadian launch has me a little worried. Just wanted to know what some of you think.

1) Is the camera really as bad as everyone keeps saying it is? I know auto focus is missing. I usually just take pictures when I'm out, nothing special. Will I be able to tell a huge difference? Is it a deal breaker?

2) I've read mixed reviews on here about the battery life of the device. Is there a general consensus about the battery life? I am a moderate user and just want to be able to make it through a day.

The iPhone has been great, but I'd really like a qwerty again. Thanks for the input guys!

The Bold 9900 is worth it for the keyboard alone!! This keyboard is SOOO much easier (and thus, faster) to type on!! The phone is gorgeous to behold. Long overdue, but definitely worth the wait!! This thing blows every other blackberry out of the water, period. No contest, seriously. This phone puts messaging on turbo!!!!!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Crucial_Xtreme]

I sure think the camera issue is over blown by some and I suspect they have not even used it but just join in the popular media carnival to bash its obvious fixed lens shortcoming while totaling ignoring its many pluses... It is still a fine camera and it takes decent photo for quick sharing and documentation it takes very good quality video. Iphone 4 takes better photo but that doesn't mean bold is horrible. It is just not as good and no AF is an issue to some but I have been able to take photo of documents using the bold and text is very readable. You always have big ego people in this world who feel RIM owe them big because it didn't put in something they desired - just go and get another phone iphone or android for goodness ******* sake.

The battery life is pretty good. It is even better than my torch 1.

Overall I think bold 9900 is a very solid piece of device and I am enjoying it with my PB.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

It doesn't bother you one bit that both OLDER model 9700 & 9780's take photo's that are at a minimum twice as better than the 9900/9930? If so, than it totally speaks for yourself. But in the natural progression of a products life cycle, it's supposed to gradually get better. Not get worse.


@ATDM: Agreed! They keyboard is golden. But I'm not blind.

[iLive an iLife]

Wow, I never expected to see so many responses/the discussion that happened in this topic. I thought I was going to get flamed for bring up the camera and battery again.

I don't use the camera on my phone for anything special. Basically like someone said, Facebook/Twitter posts. I'd say 90-95% of the time, I'm not taking a picture with my phone for details. Something funny happened, I'm out with friends, etc. Nothing special. I'm anxious to read Kevin's review and play with one in person - I think that's going to be the best way to tell.

The reason I want to rejoin the BB community is because I miss push email, a keyboard, the LED, notifications, calendar/task built in, the social media apps (everyone complains about the BB apps, but I find the iOS apps to be horrendous) and sound profiles. As long as the camera is functional and takes decent pictures, I'm a happy camper. My concern with the battery is I don't want something that's going to die 5 hours in (*cough*Thunderbolt*cough*). Even if I had to top it off half way through the day, that would be fine. I'm going back to school for my Master's in a few weeks and I think having a BB would really help keep me organized. Again, love the iPhone but I basically have a toy/video game/entertainment device not a communication tool. I really appreciate everyone's feedback!

PS - For the record, my iPhone gets pretty good battery life. I make it from about 7 am - 11 pm with about 30-40% battery left and the phone gets a workout throughout the day.

[tumer]

wow cx crom your response i sense your starting to get angry at rim

[tumer]

ok so the reason of the 9900 being thin is bs we know that now for the no autofocus camera its prety obvious it was about cost so does anyone know how much cost difference there was between the two cameras?????????

[djnick]

^^he stated multiple times he is disappointed rim took a few steps back with the device. While it is the best BB to date it no where near the best phone ever made. And with higher end android phones coming out and iphone 5 the BB market will only really be for blackberry lovers. Rim is losing tremendous steam in the consumer market at least in the usa

[pythons]

That would depends on how much you really use the device,

2h of talk time would eat up about 30% of your battery, with optimal 3G signal
if you are spending less than 10min per hour reading emails I would say you could make it through a day safely with the iPhone 4 in a solid 3G signal area

Cool, I'm to get one next week to test for a few days and know the early iphones were a joke for call quality, reception and battery life.

[pythons]

Don't the 9850/9860 have the AF camera your looking for? And the larger screen to preview said pictures?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I believe they do however I've never cared for those form factors - while I've always liked the Bold. i guess I believed them when they ( and everyone else ) said it was their flagship.

[howarmat]

its funny....RIM used to buy things by the millions, RAM, CPUs, screens. It is part of the reason they were behind. They had a stock pile of parts. It would have been great to have a stock pile of cameras to go around this time!

[kevinnugent]

Are the green and red answer/end keys on the 9000 compatible?

[pythons]

I sure think the camera issue is over blown by some and I suspect they have not even used it but just join in the popular media carnival to bash its obvious fixed lens shortcoming while totaling ignoring its many pluses...

The popular media hasn't started bashing the phone yet - it certainly will and that's for sure...
...What we have thus far witnessed is loyal RIM fans wondering W.T.F. happened.
...And who in the "F" at RIM re-defined the established word "Flagship".

It is still a fine camera and it takes decent photo for quick sharing and documentation it takes very good quality video.

Correction: It is NOT a functional camera, it's bloatware at this point.

Even saying the camera is horrible is more compliment than the phone deserves....
...Saying it's horrible implies it can do the job in the 1st place.
...And the fact is that business related pictures are BEYOND it's ability.
...The issue is not that it does a bad job - the issue is it CAN'T do the job.

Iphone 4 takes better photo but that doesn't mean bold is horrible. It is just not as good and no AF is an issue to some but I have been able to take photo of documents using the bold and text is very readable.

Again, the issue is NOT that the camera takes horrible "work related" pictures...
...The issue is that it CAN'T render work related pictures - the camera isn't functional.

You always have big ego people in this world who feel RIM owe them big because it didn't put in something they desired - just go and get another phone iphone or android for goodness ******* sake.

You realize that's the attitude that has RIM rolling around in it's own dung, right???
...You realize that's why RIM continues to get a larger market share of a diminishing market, right?
...Some of us care enough about RIM and it's future to practice some tough love.

The battery life is pretty good. It is even better than my torch 1.

Overall I think bold 9900 is a very solid piece of device and I am enjoying it with my PB.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

If your camera needs don't go past posting pictures that are on the low side of average on social networks that's great. If that's all the better I needed my pictures to be I would get a 9930 in a second.

I need to be able to take pictures to submit with damage reports that I do and I'm telling you that an insurance company would REJECT a picture taken with a 9900 / 9930 FLAT OUT.

If you needed to create a pdf out of a document you got out in the field you COULD NOT DO IT with that camera, period!

I'm telling you I replaced my work DSLR and high end point and shoot with a two year old blackberry and that if I bought a 9930 I would have to blow the dust off those cameras so I could do my job!

You may not think that's a big deal but anyone who uses their phone in the world of work will absolutely think it's a big deal.

[pythons]

its funny....RIM used to buy things by the millions, RAM, CPUs, screens. It is part of the reason they were behind. They had a stock pile of parts. It would have been great to have a stock pile of cameras to go around this time!

The thought of it will generate a wet-dream! How I wish they would have had a stock pile of the 3.2mp AF camera that's in my bold 9650 - I would have bought the phone in a second.

[Sharma15]

1) Camera is great for outdoors and pictures with friends/family. I personally love it and the flash makes it a whole lot better as it's instant and doesn't really blur. I was out with some friends and took some pictures in pitch dark and it looks like the lights were on.

2) Battery life is something that will settle through usage of the battery. You have to make sure the battery gets used until it becomes more stable, soo for me it's great but I do play games, music and browse a lot on my phone and still get through the day with 40-50% It's actually pretty good in that sense.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com