Still can't figure out how to turn the light on while taking a picture

[jevs656]

Does anyone know how to do this? I posted on it before and did not get an answer that works. I want the flashlight to be on while I take a picture basically. To get rid of shadows.

 

[amyf27]

Does anyone know how to do this? I posted on it before and did not get an answer that works. I want the flashlight to be on while I take a picture basically. To get rid of shadows.

I can't do it either. Last time it worked for me was Note 3.

 

[jevs656]

It sucks because using the force flash on just makes the picture dark even when you have plenty of ambient light.
I just like to use the flashlight to kill my own shadow or my hand holding the camera. You cannot take a shot straight over the top of something without casting a shadow unless the light comes from the camera.

 

[Soundman72]

look for what looks like a lighten bolt at the top of the screen you have 3 option no flash auto flash or flash on.
by pressing this you will go through each option the flash will only go off when you take the picture

 

[jevs656]

look for what looks like a lighten bolt at the top of the screen you have 3 option no flash auto flash or flash on.
by pressing this you will go through each option the flash will only go off when you take the picture

This is not helpful. We know how to set the flash mode. We want lighting on (flashlight) and no flash.

 

[Soundman72]

This is not helpful. We know how to set the flash mode. We want lighting on (flashlight) and no flash.

Please be respectful

The only other option is to turn the torchlight mode on

 

[jevs656]

If you mean the flashlight, this is also not a good solution. The flashlight automatically turns off when you open the camera.
If you have a way to do your suggestion please let us know. That is exactly what I cannot get to work.

 

[Budman40]

For what it's worth, if you want to take a picture from above, try PhotoScan. it does pretty good taking pics of photos and documents and turns the flash on while the pic is being taken to remove those shadows. Not sure if this is helpful, but throwing it out there.

 

[edubb256]

It sucks because using the force flash on just makes the picture dark even when you have plenty of ambient light.
I just like to use the flashlight to kill my own shadow or my hand holding the camera. You cannot take a shot straight over the top of something without casting a shadow unless the light comes from the camera.

I've found that flash works fine as fill flash to fill in shadows, but you have to be the right distance from the subject, like with any camera. But if that doesn't work for you, have you tried just turning up the exposure a bit when the flash is turned on?

 

[Madam ImAdam]

The Open Camera App has this function. I've just tested it out. doesn't seem to make much improvement in the final image, but the exif settings confirm that the photo taken with the torch on, indicate Flash: No Flash.

(Can't seem to attach the screen grabs from the Android Central app.)

To my laptop...

 

[jevs656]

It looks like going into pro mode, turning the flash to always on, and cranking up the circle with the + and - compensates for the dark pictures that come out in auto mode when you use the flash.

I spent 10 minutes looking for a list of the options in pro mode. I couldn't find it. Why is it so hard to find simple instructions these days. Everything is a video and I don't have time to sift through a video for an answer....sigh.

Try searching terms like "samsung note 8 pro mode camera list of options" and good luck finding a simple list of what the options are. I cannot tell you what the circle with the plus and minus is for sure, but it seems to turn up the brightness.....

 

[edubb256]

Simpler to just change the exposure in auto mode, but if you want to fine tune it in some way, you may need pro mode.

 

[jevs656]

Simpler to just change the exposure in auto mode, but if you want to fine tune it in some way, you may need pro mode.

Is this the slider with the light bulb that comes up when you touch the screen?
I just tried that and it may be doing about the same thing as the other method I mentioned. When in auto mode, if you crank that up after you touch the screen and leave forced flash on, it seems to do about the same as the other method I mentioned in pro mode.

It is still too bad we can't just leave the flashlight on like I could on the older phone. Then you don't have to mess with any camera settings.

 

[Madam ImAdam]

Open Camera app - this option is "light always on"

 

[jevs656]

My camera does not have a menu in it that looks like that. You must not be using the stock camera app?

The pro menu looks like this.
https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2017/09/note8menu-100734644-large.jpg

 

[jhimmel]

My camera does not have a menu in it that looks like that. You must not be using the stock camera app?

The pro menu looks like this.
https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2017/09/note8menu-100734644-large.jpg

He told you. It's the "Open Camera" app. Search for it in the App Store.

 

[jevs656]

He told you. It's the "Open Camera" app. Search for it in the App Store.

Ahh yes. I see that now. I did not go back and read the whole thread again. When he said "Open camera app". I mistakenly thought he was instructing me to open my camera app. I never downloaded the app suggested above that. I tend to stick to the stock stuff. I really don't have time to play with phones and try a bunch of different apps. I only come here out of desperation/frustration when something doesn't work or I cannot find an option I used to use on the old phone. I was hoping there was a way to use the stock camera app along with the flashlight.

So, if anyone else comes to read this. To keep it clear, it appears you cannot use the camera and the flashlight at the same time or have the light on within the stock camera app. You can make some adjustments and force the flash to be on that will get you a bright picture without the shadow when you already have good ambient lighting. Otherwise you need to get a different app as suggested above if you want a lit shot (not flash).

 

[Soundman72]

I'm still trying to get my head round this thread a flash is designed to add more light to a picture.
any light will create shadows because the light is not 360 degress.
unless you have a light source coming in from all angles shadows will occur

 

[jevs656]

I'm still trying to get my head round this thread a flash is designed to add more light to a picture.
any light will create shadows because the light is not 360 degress.
unless you have a light source coming in from all angles shadows will occur

The camera and your hand add the shadow when you want to shoot straight down on an object. The room has very good lighting.

The easiest way to get rid of this is to just turn the flashlight on. You know, like camera men have lights on their cameras. This gets rid of the shadow your creating with the camera itself being in the path of the lighting.

See attachments. Second shot with no shadow is the exact same shot in the exact same lighting conditions. Only in this case I have to turn the flash to forced on and then crank up the brightness because you cannot have the flashlight on with the stock camera app. If you don't turn the brightness up, the forced flash will actually make the picture dark.

 

[Baby_Doc]

Another way to avoid hand shadows when taking a closeup picture from above is to use the telephoto lens. This will allow you to be more removed from the subject so your hand shadow will be less visible or invisible when falls outside the frame of your picture.