Nexus 7 Camera Discussion

[natehoy]

Did Google put the N7 camera lens on the wrong side? My feeling is yes and here is why.

My feeling is no, simply because I already have a Thunderbolt with a nice camera that I actually carry around with me for quick snapshots, and with G+ integration I can view the photos almost instantly on my Nexus Seven (or anywhere else).

And I already have a shock-and-waterproof Lumix I carry around for events where I'm going to take a lot of photos or I'm expecting to have to do photography under electronic-unfriendly conditions (in the rain, or out on the ocean in my kayak). My Lumix can be easily operated with one hand, has a much faster shutter and recovery time than a phone-based camera, and has all sorts of features (rapid-fire, macro zoom, multifocus, image stabilization, 5-second battery replacement, quick-change SD cards, etc) that you simply won't find on a heavier, more-delicate tablet or phone.

The Lumix lacks Geolocation (older model, but it also means better battery life so it's a tradeoff I might not have made anyway), but there are times when I take my actual shots with the Lumix then take a quick snap of my Thunderbolt's screen with the GPS running so I have a crude location reference for the set.

For a camera, I really lust after a good DSLR. I loved my Rebel G (35mm) back when I carried it, but I lack the funds to go DSLR anytime soon.

But my use case is different from yours, my Nexus rarely leaves my house but my phone is on a holster on my belt all the time. So I already have a perfectly good camera with me that would be easier to use (and has more internal memory) than the Nexus 7, and I have an actual camera for serious camera work.

I do dislike the fact that augmented reality apps don't work on the N7 and I really wish they had at least stubbed out the camera API to show a blank image or something for more app compatibility, but that's obviously not a deal-breaker since I bought the thing knowing that.

Would I LIKE to have a rear-facing camera on my Nexus? Sure. If it didn't drive the price point up. But I'm not going to use it a lot because standing there holding a 7" tablet over my head like a billboard to take photos is not only tiring, it looks stupid, and a lot of the events are outdoors - that place that features inconvenient things like rain and an increased possibility of drops. Into mud.

I'll be frank - I chose the Nexus 7 because it had the features I really wanted, at a price point I could afford. If I had REALLY wanted a 7" tablet with more features like an SD slot and a rear-facing camera, I'd be sporting a Galaxy Tab or something similar, and I'd have gladly paid the price difference to get those features. What I REALLY wanted was a functional at-home tablet for video conferencing, web surfing, gaming, a little note-taking, email, etc. And for $250 (I hedged my bets on storage), I'm very happy with what I got.

Would I have paid $300 for the same rig with an 8mpix camera on the back? No.

Would I have paid $275? Sure.

 

[natehoy]

A rear camera would add a few cents to the manufacturing costs. Apple didnt even raise the price of the ipad when it add a rear camera in the ipad 2 or a higher res camera in thei ipad3 so you are wrong about price.

Even 8 megapixel camera modules cost a lot more than a few cents. Replacement modules are closer to $25 wholesale - and that's just for the module. Then, of course, you're going to have a whole bunch of people carping immediately about the 8 or 16GB memory and "how can you include a high-res camera with nowhere to put the photos!?!?!" So then you're looking at an SD slot, and ... guess what ... if you wanted all that you could have just bought a Galaxy Tab. Google wanted high-performing hardware on a device that was very affordable, to get Google fondleslabs in the hands of as many as possible. They didn't want to build the biggest, meanest, beastliest, costliest tablet out there, and if they had I would not own one. They made some serious design compromises to make something that is a megabeast when it comes to performance, but is still one of the cheapest tablets in the market (excluding Pandigital and other super-cheapo offerings).

Apple didn't raise the price when they added the camera on the iPad 2 because the cost of some of the other components came down, and they were able to add a camera and still make their required margin while sticking to the price they had gotten their customers used to for the "latest iPad", and they've added even more features to the iPad 3 and still maintained the same price point. It doesn't mean the camera was free or nearly free to them, the lowering cost of some other components made room in the cost to add a (now) $25 camera module. Plus, when the iPad 1 came out, 8mpix camera modules were a lot more than $25.

 

[natehoy]

If you need to show pictures to other people so often with a device that you carry with you, it may be prudent to buy a higher end tablet that includes a camera. Or, find a way to share the pictures from your phone to your tablet this way you can take them with the high res camera in your phone and then have them load onto the tablet. I know that Apple devices allow you to do this with the cloud so I assume there must be ways to do it with Android.

Yes. I do this with mine.

Install the Google+ app on both your phone and tablet. On the phone, tell it to upload all of your pictures to G+ Instant Upload immediately. Take your picture on the phone, wait sufficient time for it to upload (if you have WiFi available, it's pretty darned quick), open the gallery on your tablet, voila'!, there it is,

Of course, you can also autoupload using Box, DropBox, Flickr, Photosync, Shutterfly, or any one of a hundred cloud storage or cloud-based album sites that all have Android applications, most of them free.

 

[ffastffrank]

If you need to show pictures to other people so often with a device that you carry with you, it may be prudent to buy a higher end tablet that includes a camera. Or, find a way to share the pictures from your phone to your tablet this way you can take them with the high res camera in your phone and then have them load onto the tablet. I know that Apple devices allow you to do this with the cloud so I assume there must be ways to do it with Android.

I have HTC Flyer 7" tablet, but purchased 3 N7's for family members and they miss not having easy to use camera. My EVO 4G has 8mp and I have transfered pics, but it is a hassle. Since I teach this stuff to a lot of folks, I like N7, but it is hard to recommend without good camera. Also, grandchildren, operate from WiFi Only, so NFC is nice for transfer.

 

[ffastffrank]

My dreams have been answered by ACER's version of N7 for $229. This sounds like one I can recommend. Found discussion on Tab Times email.

Also has HDMI and SD. See Tab Times