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
    2014-12-10T00:11:45+00:00

    This is a good workaround, but SERIOUSLY MICROSOFT WHAT A BACKSTABBER. You guys should have very clearly mentioned that the camera is fixed focus instead of touting the 5 MP tag which is wortheless. In this day and age, customers EXPECT a tablet to have autofocus, and not mentioning the lack of that very clearly is tantamount to deliberate deception! I'm livid, much like the OP.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-12-08T09:27:14+00:00

    I agree too.

    Didn't notice the camera was **** until recently when I tried to take the snapshots of some business cards. I was surprised. I initially thought I had scratched the lens or some fog was covering the inside of the lens.

    Microsoft won't stop at surprising me..... smh

    I just don't know why they usually overlook these basic things that users easily notice. Then wait for us to complain before fixing it. Just too bad. Don't they know that its a bad image they are creating for themselves. And once someone gets the bad first impression, that's it....

    I recently bought a lumia phone.... wow. So pathetic. Usability is just poor. They should just "constructively" copy android or at least learn. There is a standard on ground. Its not acceptable to provide a substandard product.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-12-08T03:22:34+00:00

    Please don't ask us to do useless things and just tell us that the camera can't auto-focus. I already have paid Microsoft 1200$ for a device that can't do what I expected from it, I don't also want to waste time on fixing an issue that cannot be fixed because of Microsoft's tech suggestions.

    Thank you

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