Surface Pro 3 camera quality

Anonymous

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.

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Anonymous

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

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

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276 additional answers

Anonymous

2014-09-22T14:51:29+00:00

Amen brother...my sentiments exactly. I'm in the field also doing auto claims and have to take photos. The idea to just use OneDrive is faulty because most of us have a limit on data. I need the photos directly in my computer at full resolution.

One thing I also wanted to add.

I'm not one of these people that expect perfection from everything I buy. When I bought my first iPhone, there were things I didn't like. Things that did not work right. When I bought my first Android phone (Droid OG), same thing, as well as my first tablet, etc.

I get that there will be issues. But this is a case of a 3rd Gen device and if you're going to promote it as Super Premium then you better deliver with specs that make it that way. I agree with everyone here that feel Auto Focus should just be standard on something like this. How hard can that be? Does it add $50 to the price? FINE!! I just dropped $1500 and if you are catering to those people, no one that is serious about buying this is going to yell about an extra $50 for auto focus.

Sometimes I sit and wonder who the people are at Microsoft that makes these decisions. I am responsible for Sales Enablement at my company and there's no way I would have allowed a machine like this to enter the field with the very basics not added, and autofocus is about as basic as it gets.

Also, keep in mind. Microsoft is going after a target audience of MacBook Air users and Mac users in general. If you want to KEEP those folks using your machines, you better make sure you deliver the goods. I get that the MacAir doesn't have rear facing cameras, but Microsoft, you set the bar with the comparisons, so step up your game and if you get those people to convert, make sure you keep them in the fold.
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Anonymous

2014-09-22T14:42:09+00:00

Amen brother...my sentiments exactly. I'm in the field also doing auto claims and have to take photos. The idea to just use OneDrive is faulty because most of us have a limit on data. I need the photos directly in my computer at full resolution.
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Anonymous

2014-09-22T14:18:03+00:00

I don't take photos with my laptop, nor do I see others doing that. It's impractical. The Surface is a tablet - portable, agile and aimed at productivity so if I have something I can hold in one hand, running Office, and using OneNote then taking photos of document like things up close should have been the priority over any other type of use of the rear camera. The front camera is optimised for video chat, which makes sense. If you want to compare Apple products, have a look at how the iPad photographs things like that.

This is the kind of response that I simply cannot stand from people. It's called, to me, the Acceptance of Low Standards.

Look, if I were buying a $300-$500 Tablet only, I might be willing to accept that. Hell, I bought the 1st Nexus 7 and it didn't even have a rear camera. So, for $229, I was willing to forgo that.

ALL respectable "tablets" have decent rear facing cameras. Microsoft is pushing this as a premium device, charges for it, and for the most part, fits the bill. But to just say "use your phone" or "I don't see anyone taking photos with it" is absolutely ridiculous and ****. Not every user is the same, and there are a lot of people that take these into the field for all types of work.

I take mine into the field and use it to document claims on houses. While I do carry a high end Camera for those shots that I need to zoom into at higher elevations, I need a camera on a tablet that I can use to take a shot of all the exposures of each side of the home and make notes on. This is a legit complaint by many people so please spare everyone your "you should just be happy with this or that" comments.
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