Surface Pro 3 camera quality

Anonymous
2014-06-23T00:43:23+00:00

i posted this as a question so that the Microsoft techs can have some visibility of this issue

Frankly, I am lividand disappointed at the quality in this product. at first I assumed it was a firmware issue and/or a hardware issue but after performing all of the steps the tech support people have instructedand having been instructed to go the store and exchange for new hardware, I get the same issue.

so this leads me to believe it may just be the quality of the cameras microsoftshipped out on all of the devices

now these were releasednot too long ago and maybe there is a firmware fix out there but until then I am going to share the photos I am able to capture with everyone here 

now I am a student and I bought the pro 3 to be able to take a picture of a document or whiteboard and be able to write on it in onenote. the picture above is of a small target, a barcode, but even taking pictures of a full sized paper with standard size text, it is still almost illegible!

to compare the photos with another device I brought out another moble device: my ipod. the quality of the camera on the device I use to listen to music should surely be about the same quality of camera in the $1600 ten times the size of an ipod device I just bought right? NOT EVEN CLOSE

the first super clear picture is not from the pro 3 but from my ipod WHICH ALSO has a 5 MP camera. as you can see you can easily define everything in t he picture not only to include the sticker underneath the barcode , but the number in that 2D barcode as well. very good job!

the next horrible picture is the BEST PICTURE I could get from the rear camera on the Surface Pro 3. as you can see this is horrible, you can see it’s a bar code, you cannot tell those are numbers underneath. you could guess but you wouldn’t be able to identify any single number

the last picture is the BEST PICTURE I could get from the front camera, which is strangely odd since it is markedly better than the rear camera, although still severely sub-par. you can at least identify some numbers and see that there is a sticker underneath the barcode.

So there you have it. this is the horrible picture quality we can expect from the surface pro 3's cameras and how it compares to equivalent-megapixel MP3 players

Microsoft, If you can address this with a firmware update to make the cameras auto-focus, I will be a happy customer;even half the quality of my ipod I can work with. but this? this is unacceptable.

Surface | Surface Pro | Sound and camera

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Anonymous
2014-12-08T09:51:06+00:00

On Sun, 7 Dec 2014 21:06:04 +0000, OAKNOVA wrote:

>>I am quite disappointed with the camera on the Surface Pro 3 and its inability to focus and take sharp pictures of documents. These days even the most rudimentary and basic phone or camera can take sharp images that can be save, printed. I have to now take a photo with my Samsung phone and then email it to my account and download it as a saved image. Microsoft learn from Apple and create flawless products the first time around. I think I have wasted my money on the Surface Pro 3. Any fixes out there or should I just sell this product?

there is no software fix for this. the camera is fixed focus. here's what I did

as a kludge

http://digitalmediaphile.com/index.php/2014/09/23/get-glasses-for-surface-pro-3-for-clear-documents-take-2/

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Barb

Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP

My Blog - http://digitalmediaphile.com/

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Anonymous
2014-11-02T17:11:37+00:00

There is no zoom. It is a fixed focus camera.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-08-21T23:30:08+00:00

    I have some very good news! I have finally discovered a solution to this problem. This problem has plagued me through the surface Pro 1, the surface pro 2, and the surface pro 3. If you are like me, you love your surface pro, however this is one problem that sticks out like a sore thumb. Unfortunately it appears from all the information that I have been able to gather on the internet that the camera is definitely a fixed focus camera. So Microsoft can't fix the one in your hand.  However if you love your surface pro and are willing to use an easy $5 to $20 "bandaid" solution, then check back here within the next 2 days. I need to do just a little more research to give you the best information :)

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-08-21T18:07:31+00:00

    On Thu, 21 Aug 2014 17:13:58 +0000, The Cool Dude wrote:

    >>I'm now considering returning my SP3, but I'm hopeful that Microsoft will either fix this somehow for the SP3 or offer us a free upgrade to the SP4 if and when it comes out as a kind of good will gesture to appease their customers.

    It is extremely unlikely that either will happen.

    __________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Barb

    Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP

    My Blog - http://digitalmediaphile.com/

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-08-21T17:13:58+00:00

    Hello there.

    I'm really disappointed about the camera as well. Since the quality of the pictures my SP3 takes is so poor, it is unusable for educational or business use. Even for personal use it's pretty brutal and I'm embarrassed to share any photo that I take with my SP3.

    I was at the local zoo last week and saw a lot of people taking pictures of the animals and their family with their iPads and iPad mini's. No one was using a Surface Pro 3 or the earlier versions of the Surface. Granted it's not really a tablet, but still....

    I'm now considering returning my SP3, but I'm hopeful that Microsoft will either fix this somehow for the SP3 or offer us a free upgrade to the SP4 if and when it comes out as a kind of good will gesture to appease their customers.

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