DROID...Do you have camera problems? NOW FIXED???

[xxceler8]

so far I have yet to see decent pictures taken after the fix.

Seems it might just be a software fix to make the bars green no matter what.

And you guys are so funny with your theory about a date bug. Bwhahaha. Come on now!

maybe it was a temperature bug, now that its cooler, it works better. haha.

Oh, and this "fix" made it so my alarm did not work this morning to get me up.

[mizark]

ok so i have green corners but is the camera supposed to make a loud motor noise when focusing.

[CrikeR]

Another confirmation:

- Took a picture, Green corners.
- I disabled network time
- Set date to November 14th 2009
- Took a picture, same subject, 10 seconds later, red corners

Now the pictures don't seem all that different but I am still looking at them on the phone only. However, changing the date changed the focus.

I also got a loud beep when I held down the button on the phone. May have been something else but it only happened twice.

[xxceler8]

hopefully they can get rid of that stupid BEEP when it focuses. I can tell its focused by the green bars, mkay motorola! I don't need no stinkin BEEP

[photoeditor]

Saw this on the engadget comments to the article about a "stealth" update to fix the camera. Seems to be true.


Did you guys see this in the engadget responses to their article. Interesting...


AlexL @ Nov 17th 2009 9:13AM
Here's a crazy theory. What if there was no silent fix pushed out, but rather the autofocus code was broken because specific states of the clock was interfering with the operation of the autofocus code? So when a certain time/date passed, the issue no longer exists and the code became functional by itself. Sounds crazy I know, but not without precedent (something like this happened to first generation Zunes). Maybe someone can try setting the date to an earlier one and see if the autofocus magically breaks again.
Reply
Neutraltravisw @ Nov 17th 2009 11:15AM
Just changed the date back to 11/11 and got red boxes. Went back to 11/17 and got green boxes again. Could be something to it.
NeutralMatt Cutts @ Nov 17th 2009 11:24AM
AlexL, is there an easy way to set the time or date or the Droid? I don't have one myself.
NeutralDan Morrill @ Nov 17th 2009 11:26AM
Yes, this is exactly what is happening.

There's a rounding-error bug in the camera driver's autofocus routine (which uses a timestamp) that causes autofocus to behave poorly on a 24.5-day cycle. That is, it'll work for 24.5 days, then have poor performance for 24.5 days, then work again.

The 17th is the start of a new "works correctly" cycle, so the devices will be fine for a while. A permanent fix is in the works.

So does this mean that my original Droid that was working correctly will now, as of today, be incapable of focusing for the next 24.5 days?

[photoeditor]

Seriously, this is floating all the way to the top and it's NOT helpful.

I can't believe someone actually believed this.

Cleaning the lens does make a serious difference to picture quality, though. This camera set-up is prone enough as it is to flare without having one's greasy fingermarks all over it, and because of where it's located it is definitely prone to fingermarks. If your pics are dull and washed out, give it a little wipe.

[smartguy087]

I noticed this morning that my uptime had reset implying that the phone had restarted at about 3 AM EST while I was sleeping. If an update had been sent out I would assume it would restart the phone. Has anyone else's uptime reset around 3?

[CrikeR]

Posted in the other thread about the 'date bug' theory. Confirmed that changing the date back on my Droid caused the camera to revert back to poor focus and red corners.

Interestingly, the date of Nov 17th is 23 days before December 10th, the date the update from Motorola/Google is scheduled to be released. If tghe 24.5 day number is true, then the update would come just in the nick of time.


Perhaps the issue is known?

[ncsufan01]

And you guys are so funny with your theory about a date bug. Bwhahaha. Come on now!

maybe it was a temperature bug, now that its cooler, it works better. haha.
up.

I just changed my date back a few days and I am back to the red corners. Then I changed it to Oct. 17 and I have green corners. It definitely has something to do with the date.

[destardi]

..well, the phone IS based on UNIX.

Weird, strange, and wonderful should all be expected

[snsmom]

ok, so i changed my date to 11-16-2009 and sure enough i got the red corners again. i don't like this mess they need to fix it. i love using my cell for pix

[elusiveDesires]

I just changed my phone's date back to 11/11 and it went back to red corners. Then I reset it to automatic and it's green again. There was no secret OTA update in my opinion.

Just trying to provide further confirmation of the "date bug." :P

[drFUNK]

ok, so i changed my date to 11-16-2009 and sure enough i got the red corners again. i don't like this mess they need to fix it. i love using my cell for pix

Luckily, it looks like the 24.5 day cycle will end after half of Dec 10th and we'll have the fix on Dec 11th. (According to Dan Morrill's Engadget comment. If you google him, he's an Android dev.)

[PridgNYC]

If someone has any idea what portion of an autofocus algorithm could possible use time/date info, I would love to hear it. Sounds nuts to me but then again I have see (and written) some pretty crappy code

It is possible that it uses the timestamp to calculate the focus postion. Like an offset, if the focus motor is a fixed speed motor, then you could set a specific focus point by starting the lens in its home position and running the motor for 700ms.

[jseah]

I'm getting more green corners now, but still get red from time to time. I have noticed though that even when it is red, the pictures are sharper.