Problems with auto focus?

[svtcobra]

My ultra doesn't auto focus
When in full mode
Close up shots

Anybody else having this problem?

Check out the Samsung members forum. Samsung is having a problem with the cameras, not to confused with the camera fogging. They have replaced some of them because of the focus of concern. Samsung says that it's only a affecting their pre-order phones?!

 

[Mike Dee]

I don't think that photo is a great representation of what I observed. Mine is of a reflective surface that is a foot or so away but the reflected image is about 10 feet away (vaulted ceiling). Your image is showing the foreground and the reflected foreground right at the point of reflection. Not sure if you picked a different location for focus but if it's just using the center, then the area in front of and behind your final center will only have a mild blur. My previous photo represents a focus issue of focusing on the background of a close up object (see attachment). What I don't know is if other focus methods have a similar issue or not. I don't recall having this problem before though.

In your original post everything is out of focus, however the background is less out of focus. That particular example in a reflection in not normal. As I suggested previously zoom to 2X and back off a bit on close up subjects.

 

[CKwik240]

In your original post everything is out of focus, however the background is less out of focus. That particular example in a reflection in not normal. As I suggested previously zoom to 2X and back off a bit on close up subjects.

Look at the photo again. Look at that little circle that is reflected off the phone. It's in perfect focus. That's my recessed light on the ceiling. The phone is focusing on that. I held several non-reflective things closer than that to my phone since and there are no focus issue. Here's a similar photo to my last one with the foreground object in focus. In my previous photo, I forced the phone to focus on the background as a representation of what my first photo (of the phone) is actually doing.

 

[bassplayrguy]

Maybe it's just me or i don't know what I'm doing but the zoom on mine isn't that great at 10x. Or you have to have alot of light?

 

[Mike Dee]

Look at the photo again. Look at that little circle that is reflected off the phone. It's in perfect focus. That's my recessed light on the ceiling. The phone is focusing on that. I held several non-reflective things closer than that to my phone since and there are no focus issue. Here's a similar photo to my last one with the foreground object in focus. In my previous photo, I forced the phone to focus on the background as a representation of what my first photo (of the phone) is actually doing.

I know what to look for and it doesn't look in perfect focus to me. Autofocus systems aren't perfect in every situation and a close up of a reflective surface can confuse the camera. For situations beyond the norm there are manual settings. I wouldn't be concerned because of the results your example. However its your money and if you think its a real problem that you can't live with you can always return it.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Maybe it's just me or i don't know what I'm doing but the zoom on mine isn't that great at 10x. Or you have to have alot of light?

You need a lot of light, I don't recall the exact specs off the top of my head but the sensor and aperture are significantly smaller than the main lens. It's this way on every phones telephoto lens due to physics.

 

[Mike Dee]

Maybe it's just me or i don't know what I'm doing but the zoom on mine isn't that great at 10x. Or you have to have alot of light?

Indoors or outdoors at greater distances?

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Indoors or outdoors at greater distances?

We've replied on several posts today at the exact same time lol.

 

[bassplayrguy]

Indoors or outdoors at greater distances?

Indoors is pretty bad.

 

[Mike Dee]

We've replied on several posts today at the exact same time lol.

Yeah...lol

 

[CKwik240]

I know what to look for and it doesn't look in perfect focus to me. Autofocus systems aren't perfect in every situation and a close up of a reflective surface can confuse the camera. For situations beyond the norm there are manual settings. I wouldn't be concerned because of the results your example. However its your money and if you think its a real problem that you can't live with you can always return it.

It's about as good as focus is going to get for this particular object. Here's a close up of the reflection through the phone. You can see some of the details of the texturing on my ceiling.

 

[Mike Dee]

Indoors is pretty bad.

Yeah...if its dark indoors you will see some noise....less at short distances.

 

[CKwik240]

And one of the same like taken directly. It's not a perfect comparison due to lighting differences since I just took this photo. But the focus quality isn't that different.

I'm also not sure why you feel the need to tell me to get another phone. Where did I express unhappiness about it. It's a problem, yes. But I already worked around it before I posted.

 

[Mike Dee]

And one of the same like taken directly. It's not a perfect comparison due to lighting differences since I just took this photo. But the focus quality isn't that different.

I'm also not sure why you feel the need to tell me to get another phone. Where did I express unhappiness about it. It's a problem, yes. But I already worked around it before I posted.

You can be sure that I don't feel the need to tell you to get another phone or at least not in the way you interpreted it. Have a nice night and enjoy your device.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

You need a lot of light, I don't recall the exact specs off the top of my head but the sensor and aperture are significantly smaller than the main lens. It's this way on every phones telephoto lens due to physics.

Looked it up, Main lens is f/1.8 while the telephoto is f/3.0. While I don't know the exact difference in light I know f/2.0 to f/2.8 is double the light. So the telephoto lens gets less than half the light as the main sensor. To compensate it needs to drop the shutter speed to less than half, more than double the ISO, or a combination of the two.

Lower shutter speed increases the risk of motion blur, especially when you're zoomed in. An increase in ISO introduces more digital noise or grain. The telephoto sensor is also smaller which usually means more digital noise as the ISO is increased compared to a larger sensor.

Then keep in mind the telephoto lens is a 5x zoom, anything beyond that is assisted digitally and imperfections caused by camera shake or digital noise will be enhanced and Samsung likely applies more smoothing and noise reduction.

The less light there is and the higher the ISO the lower the dynamic range on the sensor and the harder it is for it to get accurate colors as well.

 

[Francisco328]

SamMobile: 100+ Galaxy Note 20 Ultra owners report day-one camera defects.
https://www.sammobile.com/news/galaxy-note-20-ultra-100-plus-camera-defects-report

 

[Francisco328]

Before anyone accuses me of bashing the new note

What do you do with your note
https://www.facebook.com/manny.rodriguez.3382118

No note 20 ultra pics up on my fb yet
You can go back and see
Note 10+ pics
And note 9 pics
The note 9 pics almost all have the auto filter applied

 

[Mike Dee]

SamMobile: 100+ Galaxy Note 20 Ultra owners report day-one camera defects.
https://www.sammobile.com/news/galaxy-note-20-ultra-100-plus-camera-defects-report

There is a thread about this

 

[Tarah Sorber]

Has anyone noticed a weird rainbow effect ? I was playing with mine last night and when I pointed the camera at light colors I saw this weird rainbow effect.
Maybe I was tired lol. I dunno but once I get home from work later I’ll test it again.

 

[ClintRo]

It's about as good as focus is going to get for this particular object. Here's a close up of the reflection through the phone. You can see some of the details of the texturing on my ceiling.

Mirrors are difficult for a camera. In most cases you would want the reflection in focus, like a selfie, so I would expect that most often.

Normal people would want the reflection in focus, we are not normal people...LOL