Auto focus issue

Darth Mo

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I use my phone to take a lot of photos for work and many are close up, 8“-18". My S22U had no issue focusing in these situations but my S24U struggles with it. A tap to focus works almost instantly but I don't think that should be needed. It mostly occurs in lower light situation like the attached photos, but it's certainly not dark. Has anyone experienced the same behavior? 20240313_081240.jpg
 

Village_Idiot

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There have been a few occasions where my phone didn't want to focus. Low light has always been the bane of autofocus for both digital and non-digital cameras. Even modern digital cameras still don't have the dynamic range of the human eye. What looks well-lit to the human eye would still be a challenge for a digital camera, even the modern ones.

For the type of work that it looks like you do, using the built-in flash may help. You can also use the built-in flashlight to illuminate the area and the camera should be able to focus.
 

BEaRebel

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I feel you. Been an peeve of mine forever. You need details in focus. I believe @B Diddy helped me with this quite some time ago.
Looking back at my older
TCL 10 Pro (SGH999), I cannot believe the gr8 shots I got, for a budget phone.
You probably don't have time to mess around with Pro Mode... Maybe try Nite Mode & Portrait to see if u can get more details in focus. Sometimes it helps me.
When I pull back just a bit, it helps as well. Maybe others will chime in on usable "Tips" on clear details.
Guess next phone, we need MACRO Feature 😆
 
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Darth Mo

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There have been a few occasions where my phone didn't want to focus. Low light has always been the bane of autofocus for both digital and non-digital cameras. Even modern digital cameras still don't have the dynamic range of the human eye. What looks well-lit to the human eye would still be a challenge for a digital camera, even the modern ones.

For the type of work that it looks like you do, using the built-in flash may help. You can also use the built-in flashlight to illuminate the area and the camera should be able to focus.
I know low light is difficult, but I never had this issue with my S22U photographing the exact same things in the same conditions. Hopefully it's a software thing that they can tighten up with an update.
 
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Village_Idiot

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I know low light is difficult, but I never had this issue with my S22U photographing the exact same things in the same conditions. Hopefully it's a software thing that they can tighten up with an update.
It can be alleviated a bit with software. Another quick question. What resolution are you shooting at? Try using 12MP instead of 50MP. That may help a bit. I just to a picture in low light conditions with 12MP and the autofocus worked with no issues.

This was taken using Camera mode, 12MP,5x zoom, no flash, and night shot turned on.
b74905371e26acd754496c4b16d0ed32.jpg
 

Darth Mo

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It can be alleviated a bit with software. Another quick question. What resolution are you shooting at? Try using 12MP instead of 50MP. That may help a bit. I just to a picture in low light conditions with 12MP and the autofocus worked with no issues.

This was taken using Camera mode, 12MP,5x zoom, no flash, and night shot turned on.
b74905371e26acd754496c4b16d0ed32.jpg
The actual photos come out fine, it just doesn't acquire focus automatically as easily as my S22U. I can tap the screen and it will focus quickly, it's just different, inferior performance from my previous phones.

I've attached the photo with proper focus, no flash.
View attachment 360953
 
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Village_Idiot

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The actual photos come out fine, it just doesn't acquire focus automatically as easily as my S22U. I can tap the screen and it will focus quickly, it's just different, inferior performance from my previous phones.

I've attached the photo with proper focus, no flash.
View attachment 360953
Shooting at 12MP instead of 50MP, the autofocus will work better. There was no hesitation when I snapped that image. The autofocus worked just fine. What is happening is it combines the smaller pixels (individual sensors) into a bigger "super pixel" (aka: pixel binning). This makes it more efficient at light gathering, which facilitates better autofocus performance.
 

Aleafy

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I have a same problem too, in low light cannot auto focus both photo and video. The problem is only the main camera though.

Planning to go to samsung repair service.
 
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VidJunky

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I had this issue back with the S20 and posted a thread to talk about it.


In that thread someone pointed out to me that if I pre-zoomed the autofocus worked better. It seems counter intuitive but since then any time I have a focus issue I zoom in to about 3x and find the macro pictures work better. I haven't noticed too many issues with this phone but maybe I'm doing it without even thinking because I started doing it with the S20...?

On a side note however this is 100% a software issue. In that thread while looking for a solution I started using an app called S10 Camera, and the pics were good without the pre-zoom so this is something Samsung could fix with a software update, but I hope this helps.
 
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