Help Camera not focusing

[desert dogs]

I got my phone in July and have not had any problems with the camera until yesterday. I was trying to take a picture of my mom on her 87th birthday and it would not focus. I was maybe 3 feet away (taking a pic of her with her cake). It finally worked but it took about 10 tries to get it to work right. I thought maybe I was too close, so I tried again this morning from about 10 feet and it still would not focus. It will also blur the pic after taking a shot even if I am using something to steady the phone.

I will get the green box for a second and then it will turns red. I have tried with zoom function at 1 and all the way to 4, and it does not seem to make a difference.

Here are my settings:
photo size: 4128x2322(16:9) have tried another setting as well
Burst shot: off
Tap to take pics: on
Face detection: on
Metering modes: center-weighted
Smart Stabilization: on
ISO: off
Save as: Rich tone only
Location tag: off
Review pics/videos: on
Volume key: the zoom key
Timer: off
White balance: auto
Exposure value: 0
Guidlines: off
Flash: off
Voice control: off
Contextual filename: off
Save as flipped: off
Storage: device

I have the mode set to auto but have tried the Rich tone (HDR) mode too.

I did drop my phone one time but have taken pictures since that time and did not have an issue. This is very frustrating. My brother has the same phone and I tried with his phone and he does not have these issues.

Anyone have any ideas on what the problem could be? Also, I did reset the camera settings and no change.

As always, thank you for any input as I find this forum to be very helpful.

 

[SkyJackpot]

I got my phone in July and have not had any problems with the camera until yesterday. I was trying to take a picture of my mom on her 87th birthday and it would not focus. I was maybe 3 feet away (taking a pic of her with her cake). It finally worked but it took about 10 tries to get it to work right. I thought maybe I was too close, so I tried again this morning from about 10 feet and it still would not focus. It will also blur the pic after taking a shot even if I am using something to steady the phone.

I will get the green box for a second and then it will turns red. I have tried with zoom function at 1 and all the way to 4, and it does not seem to make a difference.

Here are my settings:
photo size: 4128x2322(16:9) have tried another setting as well
Burst shot: off
Tap to take pics: on
Face detection: on
Metering modes: center-weighted
Smart Stabilization: on
ISO: off
Save as: Rich tone only
Location tag: off
Review pics/videos: on
Volume key: the zoom key
Timer: off
White balance: auto
Exposure value: 0
Guidlines: off
Flash: off
Voice control: off
Contextual filename: off
Save as flipped: off
Storage: device

I have the mode set to auto but have tried the Rich tone (HDR) mode too.

I did drop my phone one time but have taken pictures since that time and did not have an issue. This is very frustrating. My brother has the same phone and I tried with his phone and he does not have these issues.

Anyone have any ideas on what the problem could be? Also, I did reset the camera settings and no change.

As always, thank you for any input as I find this forum to be very helpful.

You might not want the HDR mode on unless you have a very steady hand, as that mode requires a more steady hand than usual.

Generally you will get a better focus than usual, or any focus at all, when you point the red or green box in the Middle of the camera screen at a surface which isn't a continuous pattern covering a large area, such as a dress or even a plain dress with no pattern.

You will need a small object or area that breaks up the monotony of that large plain or patterned area to focus on, such as a button on a plain or patterned dress, or the text on a piece of plain paper. Something that is clearly definable.

Once you've gained focus by putting the red box in the Middle of the camera screen on a clearly definable object or area, you can then slowly move the camera to any other area at the same distance as that object or area & still keep focus.

In your case, depending on what type of cake you have, if it has a plain surface then I would choose one of the candles on the cake or the lettering on the cake to gain focus, and then take the picture.

Highly reflective materials are also great for gaining focus, such as moving the red box in the Middle of the camera screen onto a tube of toothpaste to gain focus, and then moving the camera onto a nearby object with low reflectivity such as a dry wash rag, but still remaining in focus from the toothpaste tube.

http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-note-3/828166-photography-note-3-a.html

 

[desert dogs]

Thank you for the reply Sky. I probably was not as clear as I should have been in my post. Whether I am looking to take a pic up close or at a distance, the green box will show for a split second and then go red and the image then becomes very blurry. I will point away from the object and then back to see if that will refocus the camera and it doesn't, the box stays red.

I took it back to Best Buy and the Samsung rep that was there and he had the exact issue that I was having on the focus ability. It didn't matter if it was up close or 20 feet away. He installed something called Vitamins to do diagnostics on the phone (evidently Verizon does not allow codes to be used or something). He didn't find anything unusual. He said to come back the next day when his manager was there who had more experience.

I returned the next day and spoke to a manager. And low and behold the camera worked fine. The only thing that happened from the night before to the next day was that I was getting up from the couch and my phone dropped onto the floor (it was in it's case, belt clip and all) from about a foot and a half. Which I did tell the Samsung guy, but he still had no explanation for this problem.

Now it is 2 days later, have it set to auto, stabilization on, face detection on, tap to take pic and review pics on. It seems to be ok so far.

However, I don't remember this happening when taking a pic, but now after taking a pic it will say "processing" with a status line. If I move the camera away from what I was taking a picture of, the picture will now be of the floor, my shoes, or whatever was there when the "processing" was on the screen. Has this always been part of the process? I know that is a dumb question, but I can't remember seeing that when taking pictures before this problem. Guess I am having a senior moment ...lol.

Thanks again.