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
    2014-12-21T07:23:21+00:00

    I noticed in a local railway station today a big billboard for the Surface saying (translated from the Japanese) "Have this and you won't need anything else." Wrong. "Have this and you also need an iPad with the Mac version of OneNote installed." Fortunately I do. However, like Carl posted, whenever people ask me how I like the Surface, I say it's great but feel obliged to add "except for the camera."

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-12-20T12:52:14+00:00

    Hi Josh

    I bought my surface Pro 3 because it appeared to offer me all that I needed for my work, the flexibility of a tablet with the functionality of a laptop and the ability to interface with my work network etc. All was gong well and I was potentially going to buy more Surface Pro 3's until I discovered the failings of the rear facing camera.

    It is so sad that such a good product is let down by a small, but important component, and like many others I guess we didn't think to scrutinise the camera small print because we assumed that autofocus camera's were the norm and a given.

    I arrived at this forum right after I discovered how bad the camera pictures were, I thought I had a faulty device until I read the reviews and comments here. Then I discovered the sad truth.

    I'm not going to send my surface back, I was tempted, but equally and perhaps more damaging for Microsoft is that I'm not going to buy another one nor tell anyone else to buy one either because of this one small thing. I may be just one small purchaser but if you multiply this up how many lost sales has this cost the company?

    Saddened Microsoft purchaser.

    Carl

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-12-18T18:21:00+00:00

    Patty,

    It is a great tablet but there is no fix for the Hardware that is built into the camera,  The best solution is to have another tablet or a phone linked that you can take pictures with,  Some of the posters on this website have suggested using a certain reading lens to fix the focus problem,  To me, this is unacceptable,  I am continuing use of the Surface Pro 3 simply because I can use it for everything else.  I do not need the rear camera,  But it would be nice to get a Surface Pro 3.1 with a better Camera.  Not sure if Microsoft will ever do anything like that.

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