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
    2014-08-05T14:01:29+00:00

    On Tue, 5 Aug 2014 10:33:07 +0000, Lake Smith wrote:

    |A moderator in another forum suggested getting an external lens that people

    use for cameras on their phones.  If using the note 3 ever becomes annoying, you

    could always try it out.  I've never used one my self, so I can't comment on the

    experience.  If anyone tries it or has tried it before, please comment on the

    experience.

    |

    |

    |

    |He suggested the macro lens.

    I've actually tried to use one of these phone lens add-ons - macro lens. Didn't

    work for me.

    __________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Barb

    Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP

    My Blog - http://digitalmediaphile.com/

    Barb's Connected World Blog Reader Windows 8 App -

    http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/barbs-connected-world-blog/02f35769-52bf-461c-b1d5-06e54a58d298

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-08-05T10:33:07+00:00

    I've stuck it out and will hope for the best that something can be done about the camera.

    A moderator in another forum suggested getting an external lens that people use for cameras on their phones.  If using the note 3 ever becomes annoying, you could always try it out.  I've never used one my self, so I can't comment on the experience.  If anyone tries it or has tried it before, please comment on the experience.

    He suggested the macro lens.  This is the site he used as an example: http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/cell-phone-lenses/new

    I hope this helps 

    Edit:

    |I've actually tried to use one of these phone lens add-ons - macro lens. Didn't

    work for me.

    |

    That sucks :/  Thanks for letting me know.  I was thinking about getting some for my cell phone, but I guess its mostly a scam lol

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-08-03T23:28:33+00:00

    the rear camera has no auto-focusing for short distance object. Most cell phone cameras have a focusing ring to specify the area for picture-taking. For using the camera as a scanner ( books, documents), you need an application software which can straighten the image and auto-correct the curvature of the page.

    Sony's laptop can scan documents and pages in the book. Ipads also have such functions. The software download from apple store is about $10. I wish, Mmicrosoft will solve this problem quicky.l

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