The focus on the back camera on Galaxy S5

[tkpc621]

I notice that the auto focus or tap focus are both pretty bad and makes it blurry unless I am more than a feet from the object. Is this a problem for you guys or is it just my phone?

 

[natefish]

I have noticed that it has a harder time focusing up close.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[DarshOne]

focusing up close is impossible with my s5

 

[Bambino444]

Same here, gets blurry with auto focus. The closes to a macro shot that I can get is when i zoom in.

 

[monicakm]

Well there is no mention of this phone having a macro mode (that I've seen) but 3" is, imo, pretty darn good for a phone! This was handheld, on auto, no flash. The picture behind the tv remote is a page from a sale circular. I was focused on the "Select" button on the remote.

 

[monicakm]

I thought I'd take an outdoors close up with my S5 to show you that this phone CAN get up close and personal. This was, at the most, a 3" shot. Maybe closer to 2.5". I did have a little harder time focusing than I did with the picture of the tv remote. Might have been the angle. Not sure my Canon SX50 could have done much, if any, better

 

[AZgl1500]

I just did some really close up shots and discovered it depends on the reflection angle of the surface in relation to the camera.

I just shot a business card and at a 30 degree angle, it is blurry.

If the camera is tilted exactly above the card with a 90 degree view, the focus is dead on.

 

[Todd Fluhr]

Make sure you took the thin, plastic, protective film off of the lens. It took me two weeks to notice it.

 

[monicakm]

Ah, by reading these forums BEFORE my phone arrived, I knew all about the plastic over the lens

 

[tkpc621]

Make sure you took the thin, plastic, protective film off of the lens. It took me two weeks to notice it.

Yes I did peel off the plastic. I'll try more situations to see if there's a way to take better closeup photos. I am just wondering if it is a software problem, hardware problem, or if the phone is just not capable of taking closeups easily. I switched from my iPhone 4S and it had no problem. All I had to do was tap and it'll focus pretty close objects.

 

[lawsoncv]

I have the same problem with my Sprint S5. I sat 4 rows from center stage at a concert and my pictures turned out horrible. Same for a night time football game. During the day and close I can focus wonderfully.

I ran to BestBuy's Samsung service center where they flashed the software. No luck. I went back the next day and they agreed it's a hardware issue, probably the stabilizer, and I'm back ordered 10 days for a new phone.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Philtronic]

Every DSLR is gonna be less performant in low light unless a very fast lens is use, something like f2.8 or bigger,
now imagine a camera in a phone... pretty normal if you ask...

Phil.

Low light with the S5, I only resize (not cropped) and reduce noise a bit in Photoshop:
Focus point on the "K"

 

[Ceetar]

Sometimes it works okay, but in general, no. I wish there were a focus slider or at least a macro mode.

I noticed this instantly after switching from the S3. I'd already built up the instincts of how close to get to take a good macro shot and it just wasn't working with the S5. Very spotty and annoying. I do seem to get slightly better results with 'spot' focus over center or matrix, but only barely.

 

[cydewaze]

I notice that the auto focus or tap focus are both pretty bad and makes it blurry unless I am more than a feet from the object. Is this a problem for you guys or is it just my phone?

I only have a problem if the thing I'm trying to focus on is small and in the foreground, and something else much larger is in the background.

 

[Ceetar]

I wonder if it's some unseen result of selective focus being built into the camera? Thinking about it now, I have noticed I have a harder time focusing on a small part of one object versus an object against a background that's further back.

It might help to use the digital zoom to be able to tap-focus on small objects?

 

[LawVanj]

Has nobody ever thought of using the S5's magnifier app? You can take extreme closeups with that. It can be found in the widgets.

 

[shawes]

Awesome!!!! Thanks!!!!!

 

[Keith Newstrom]

This worked! Thank you so much.

 

[yuishere]

Try using a microfiber cloth and clean your camera! The cloth is designed to not scratch or harm the glass it is wiping. I often had the problem with focusing my camera, but after I wiped it, it was good as new. I hope this helps!

 

[steve1279]

My camera is funky. Some days its absolutely fantastic, other days it feels like my old lg flip phone camera that was like 2mp. At night, its jsut terrible period.

I took these 2 photos just now at work. The one that was the furthest was maybe 3 inches if the closest, was at most 1 inch from the keyboard.
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