Shutter sound sync sucks spectacularly

A pointless rant, and an invitation to casual research...

In low light with flash suppressed, the shutter sound effect on my KEYone is generated an eternity before a blurry shot is actually captured as the phone is moved off-target. A fat smack in the head to the responsible parties. Too young to have owned a film camera I suppose.

Let me explain: when the noise stops, that should indicate completion of the photo-taking operation, not affirm the user's intention to take a photo sometime in the near future.

I don't have a dozen smartphones at hand to test my suspicion that this may be a common design oversight. I'd love it if owners of other phones would try this.

Just turn the flash off in a low light situation (not a dark closet, just a situation in which you'd normally expect the phone to use flash), compose a shot, hit the button and as soon as the shutter sound is generated, move the phone rapidly away. What did you get?

A perfectly valid rant, well written.

When people complain about the camera on the BlackBerry Mobile phones, they often focus too much on picture quality and not nearly enough on overall usability.

I'm fortunate in that I don't expect much more from my phone camera than the ability to document a pre-existing dent in a rental car, so I've literally never had a single disappointing camera experience on any phone I've owned. However, if I did think about my phone as a portable camera I would want it to feel like a real camera when I used it, too.

Posted with my trusty Z10

Originally Posted by bb10adopter111

A perfectly valid rant, well written.

When people complain about the camera on the BlackBerry Mobile phones, they often focus too much on picture quality and not nearly enough on overall usability.

I'm fortunate in that I don't expect much more from my phone camera than the ability to document a pre-existing dent in a rental car, so I've literally never had a single disappointing camera experience on any phone I've owned. However, if I did think about my phone as a portable camera I would want it to feel like a real camera when I used it, too.

Posted with my trusty Z10

I think it's safe to say this phenomenon is not limited to your KEYone, as I've personally experienced it on several devices in a variety of situations. I've also experienced the opposite - where the photo is taken before the sound plays.

I have just trained myself to hold the phone still for several seconds before and after I physicallly tap the button or press the volume key to take the photo.

Not an ideal solution, but a reliable workaround nonetheless.

Originally Posted by Newfangled

I think it's safe to say this phenomenon is not limited to your KEYone, as I've personally experienced it on several devices in a variety of situations. I've also experienced the opposite - where the photo is taken before the sound plays.

I have just trained myself to hold the phone still for several seconds before and after I physicallly tap the button or press the volume key to take the photo.

Not an ideal solution, but a reliable workaround nonetheless.

Well, like I said, this doesn't affect me since I don't care about using my phone as a camera. But, it's awful usability design. Either omit the sound entirely or set it to fire AFTER the sensor has collected the data.

Posted with my trusty Z10

Originally Posted by Newfangled

I think it's safe to say this phenomenon is not limited to your KEYone, as I've personally experienced it on several devices in a variety of situations. I've also experienced the opposite - where the photo is taken before the sound plays.

I have just trained myself to hold the phone still for several seconds before and after I physicallly tap the button or press the volume key to take the photo.

Not an ideal solution, but a reliable workaround nonetheless.

Yes, my self-training continues. ;-) I had to develop this habit when I bought my first digital camera - an abysmal 2MP HP - but I haven't had the experience quite so badly for a long time.

Originally Posted by bb10adopter111

A perfectly valid rant, well written.

When people complain about the camera on the BlackBerry Mobile phones, they often focus too much on picture quality and not nearly enough on overall usability.

I'm fortunate in that I don't expect much more from my phone camera than the ability to document a pre-existing dent in a rental car, so I've literally never had a single disappointing camera experience on any phone I've owned. However, if I did think about my phone as a portable camera I would want it to feel like a real camera when I used it, too.

Posted with my trusty Z10

In my work it is often a necessity or at least a huge benefit to take photos, and a significant hassle to drag a camera along. As you pointed out elsewhere, it wouldn't seem a lot to ask that sound and operation are synchronous.

As to quality, I get a kick out of the hair-splitting comparisons between phone cameras that are now common.

When I shot film, I'd need a tripod for a lot of the stuff I take casually now. The utility and detail are amazing. It would just be nice to know when I'm actually taking the shot.

Originally Posted by ElectroSpud

In my work it is often a necessity or at least a huge benefit to take photos, and a significant hassle to drag a camera along. As you pointed out elsewhere, it wouldn't seem a lot to ask that sound and operation are synchronous.

As to quality, I get a kick out of the hair-splitting comparisons between phone cameras that are now common.

When I shot film, I'd need a tripod for a lot of the stuff I take casually now. The utility and detail are amazing. It would just be nice to know when I'm actually taking the shot.

The quality-for-convenience comparison for phone cameras is amazing. But for me, the difference between devices is inconsequential, and I would still rather lug my DSLR around for any commercial shot I need to take.

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by bb10adopter111

The quality-for-convenience comparison for phone cameras is amazing. But for me, the difference between devices is inconsequential, and I would still rather lug my DSLR around for any commercial shot I need to take.

Posted via CB10

Inconsequential, exactly!

Any modern smartphone camera would fit my workday need: a net-attached pocket device of sufficient clarity and resolution to quickly and usefully document mostly still subjects with lots of little details - often in crappy light.

But I still have my first SLR from 1979, so I hear you. Would love to go DLSR, but it's the wrong tool for my gig and I can't justify it for recreation. I would spend too much.

Now you've got me all wistful for an eye-level viewfinder.

Happy trails