Terrible quality photos
 

For some reason the N900 that I have is taking TERRIBLE quality photos. They seem to be much worse than my old HTC TYTN II (3mp). Even with the flash off they are really grainy (the flash is known to cause some sort of haze with the n900). I have tried changing it out of automatic mode (ex: macro mode) and changing the resolution (3mp vs 5mp) and there hasn't been a difference. Does anyone else experience this and is there a way to make the photos look better?

Edit: here's an example, a photo of my old phone I was going to list on Ebay (now reconsidering doing that...) I know the photo can be resized in a photo manipulation tool, but its still really blurry
http://imgur.com/L0urX.jpg

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

What ISO setting are you using?

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Automatic - This I haven't played around with too much, I thought the default setting should produce something half descent?

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Photos seem to be at 3.5 megapixels not 5
Check your camera settings.

I think it defaults to 3.5
I remember having to change it to 5

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Yeah mine was on default 3.5, I have taken pics at 5mp and think they are quite acceptable

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

I have tried adjusting the resolution, it doesn't change the outcome. The two resolutions on the N900 are identical, except with the 3mp it crops the photo for a widescreen view, AFAIK.

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

That looks like an out of focus picture. It could be that your camera suffers from a back or front focus problem. But, I wouldn't jump to that conclusion only from looking at a picture like this one. From the looks of it, it was taken indoors, with insufficient light, and was hand held. Those are challenging conditions even for an SLR camera.

You see, when there is not enough light, the camera has to compensate by either using a wider aperture (not much available on a phone camera to begin with), slowing the shutter down (increasing the likelihood of camera shake), or increasing the ISO (increasing the visible grain). Under low light conditions, focusing is also more challenging, even for a high end DSLR camera. To test that you do not have front or back focus issues you will need to take some shots to a chart, preferably using a tripod or something like it. But, my guess is that you are simply running into the low light limitations of a camera of this type.

Try taking some shots outside or get yourself some strobe lights for your interior shots and more than likely you will get much better results. Also, make sure to press very gently on the shutter button while taking the shots. Press slowly until it has acquired focus and then slowly apply more pressure until it reaches the point of release.

Let us know what you find.

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Making photos really depends on a lot of conditions. Are you trying to make photos in the dark room? are u trying to make photos while object is moving? What ISO setting is set to? If you try ISO setting 100 Ull need more light in the room, but the photos going to be less grainy. Just a simple explanation.

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Regarding Blurry photo- try to press the button half way- the frame in the middle of the screen gets green- press it all the way down to make photo. I find out with this phone, that even if the object (or u) moves a little bit while making photo- always blurry.
Photo taken by N900:
http://imgur.com/Yf04k.jpg

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

When you're taking your photo as previouslt stated apply light pressure to allow focus, the square will illuminate red if it cannot focus and green means take the photo, you've got the focus

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Another photo of my doxxie:
http://imgur.com/8tJpd.jpg
Current is 5MP and above is Wide 3.5MP

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

wow i should have known to try and press halfway for it to focus... After trying that a few times the photos are now about 100x better! this is good advice for anyone with the n900.

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

it happens on me too... but i learned it by my self.. just press the button halfway.... its not like the n97... you can just press it fully and it will focus on the one you're taking at...http://imgur.com/TLGap.jpg
http://imgur.com/no3Px.jpg

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Awwww... Happy ending! Cute dog, too!

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Tnx! He knows he is!

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

How does one fix that?

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

I was at Disney World yesterday and took some pictures
using the N900 and day pics look terrific but the night pics
are a little grainy. The video looks better at night compare
to night pictures,

day pics
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j3...091220_001.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j3...091220_005.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j3...091220_037.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j3...091220_046.jpg
Night pics
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j3...091220_062.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j3...091220_068.jpg

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Nokia should communicate this instruction more.
I found out only by accident after having used a N900 prototype for 3 months. Now the photos look good.

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Isn't that general camera functioning though?

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

NO KIDDING!

Oh man, last week I badly needed to take some pictures of a serial number inside a dark server cabinet (don't ask!) because they were not accessible with the naked eye, and the pictures I was getting were AWFUL. Using the half-press method I am getting crystal clear shots every time.

Thank you SO much for clearing up one of the few remaining niggles I had with this otherwise awesome device :D

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Test iso 100/400 macro with Flash (no internal/external light)

Iso 400
http://www.rgbdesign.it/20091222_003.jpg

Iso 100
http://www.rgbdesign.it/20091222_004.jpg

Iso 100
http://www.rgbdesign.it/20091222_005.jpg

Iso 400
http://www.rgbdesign.it/20091222_006.jpg

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

he he nice and clear pictures... ca. two fingers left of the star (on botom picture) there is a small hair... I first thought it was on my screen :p

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

I have an N82 and N900. I do not understand if the two have 5Mpx, because the pictures of N82 (without using xenon) are absurdly better than the N900?
Even when shooting documents (macro) photos of the N900 are completely blurred.

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

One problem I find is that the shutter release (sorry, that's the "capture button") has too much travel and requires too much pressure at the bottom. The half-press for focusing works as it should, but taking a photograph requires applying more pressure as the top of the button becomes flush with the surrounding surface. It's very easy for my hands to shake a little in that situation, and that's enough to spoil a low-light photo.

As long as I remember to compensate (I find pressing the button with the nail of my index finger helps), I'm happy so far with the camera.

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

I have seen stellar photos taken with the N900. I have not been able to achieve this-- which leads me to believe quality in this case is more user-dependent than device-dependent.

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

In my case, I had to change the white balance from Automatic to Sunny, otherwise the photos were way too white.

People skin color seemed like they were dead :D

Don't know if this is a hardware problem or SW...
If HW, then I should replace the device... :(



Bye

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Megapixel number is NOT a measure of photo quality. All that megapixels tell you is how large the photos are, not how detailed.

The N82's hardware and firmware was designed specifically for photographers, which is why it produces much better pictures than most phones. It was launched and marketed as a photo-centric device, the ultimate cameraphone. I watched the N82 launch live online, and they spent almost the entire time talking about photography.

If you want an upgrade from the N82, the N86 is the next photo-centric Nokia model.

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Or just get the Sony Erricsson Satio with 12.1MP camera Cybershot, smile detection, point focus...etc. That if you think camera should be the main priority. Other wise just get a Camera :D

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Looking at some of the shots on the 'your best photos' thread, and the n900 flickr group I'm sure this is the case. I have a handful of spectacular shots - but most are not.

I asked tiggert if he'd write us a 'getting the best from your n900 camera' page for the the wiki - I think it would be good if the people who are getting great photos shared their secret with the rest of us.

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Now the N86 is a real camera. Unlike N82/N900 it has a mechanical shutter and variable aperture. Still not as good as a $99 Canon, but could be a big improvement.

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Hi.What settings are you using when you take the pics of documents? One thing I love about N900 camera is the wealth of features it has, which can be changed by a touch of a button.

For example, if I want to take a pic of a document (or anything that's closer than 1 ft from the lens) I'd switch to Macro mode.

Tapping on the Spanner icon allows me to change ISO, White Balance, Resolution and, best of all, visual check as you dial in Exposure compensation!

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Yes, I used with all combinations of settings but without success.
I need a good camera, a QWERTY keyboard and a powerful operating system.
I had a Treo 650/Centro but they were bad camera, I opted for the N82, but the Symbian OS is very weak, then got the N900 believing that would solve the question definitively. (I'm a realtor here in Brazil) so the camera needs to be really good, because I need to constantly photographing properties and documents.
If you know of any application that solves this, please let me know.:confused:

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

N95 has mechanical shutter also. You can hear it opening and closing but not when you taking picture.

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

E71 then, too...

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thats weird, i always felt mine had more of a green tint to things in low light (day light is fine tho) when compared to my old n82 which as many will agree has great colour handling.

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

Ok, but look at this http://www.flickr.com/photos/timsamo...07857408/show/
What is the secret to get pictures so perfect with the N900?
Additional software?:confused::confused::confused:

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

nope, i think its just a case of adequate lighting and using the correct settings for the envirnment you're taking pictures in. auto is nt always the way to go.

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

I was actually able to meet one R&D dude from Nokia last year. Basically the reason why N82 and N86 are better camera phones is the reason they are made for that purpose. They start designing the phone with the camera parts and the other specification have to comply to that. On the other hand when you design another type of a phone, you just have some space there left for a camera module and some budget (e.g. 15$). Then the camera module designing team have to cope with that. Therefore I suggest that the camera on the N900 is just supplementary.

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

I agree, the macro mode isn't working properly (compared to my 2 year old N95. which had the best camera I have ever tested.)

Re: Terrible quality photos
 

One thing I have noticed... and wonder if anyone else has, is that when the camera is set to "landscape" its default infinite focal length is out of focus. So, if the same scene is put on "automatic" the picture will be quite clear, but on landscape things will simply be out of focus. Does anyone know if focal position for landscape can be modified to another preset position via software?

Oh, and on a second note, I agree with the idea that much of the photo quality comes from camera use, and not the hardware. It is not very difficult to take terrible pictures, not being steady, etc.... but to get clear pictures -- most especially with macro, requires a steady hand and almost no movement in or out, as things will go out of focus very quickly -- and subsequently become blurry.