I've just received the phone and I'm noticing a LOT of distortion, specially when holding the phone vertically and close to my face.
There's some kind of distortion fix going, but it looks like it's optimized for landscape front facing pictures, and when you hold the phone at the maximum stretch of your arm.
When I open Instagram front camera (or I switch from the back camera to front), my face looks good for about a second, but then there's some distortion thing going on, some distortion animation like flubber that makes my face look completely distorted. It's like a squishing
Here they talk about it: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/thread/21077564?hl=en
This also happens for videocalls, so I'll always look bad in videocalls because in a videocall you hold the phone vertically and close to your face and this distortion fix makes you look so bad.
Is there any way to disable this distortion fix and enable it just for landscape pictures and from far?
I believe what's happening here is that the distortion fix is optimized for landscape full arm stretch pictures and not for videocalls where it's portrait and zoomed in
That's really interesting... I remember hearing about some real-time perspective fixing with the camera but I take maybe one selfie per decade, so I don't really pay attention to it. But now that I'm looking at it, if I significantly change the camera mode, I can see it making a pincushion adjustment around my eyes. It happens outside of the default camera app as well, so it must be a low level thing affecting it. I can only imagine what it might be doing to your face when not working correctly.
I would imagine that to do perspective fixing like this, it would need to use some sort of method to determine depth. Is this done by a separate sensor? Is it possible you have some sort of screen protector or other thing obscuring the sensor array on the top of the phone? I can't decide if the phone is using only depth data or if it possibly is using face detection and would only happen for certain people where that detection is bad. I also can't decide if this is more hardware or software controlled.
jljtgr said:
That's really interesting... I remember hearing about some real-time perspective fixing with the camera but I take maybe one selfie per decade, so I don't really pay attention to it. But now that I'm looking at it, if I significantly change the camera mode, I can see it making a pincushion adjustment around my eyes. It happens outside of the default camera app as well, so it must be a low level thing affecting it. I can only imagine what it might be doing to your face when not working correctly.
I would imagine that to do perspective fixing like this, it would need to use some sort of method to determine depth. Is this done by a separate sensor? Is it possible you have some sort of screen protector or other thing obscuring the sensor array on the top of the phone? I can't decide if the phone is using only depth data or if it possibly is using face detection and would only happen for certain people where that detection is bad. I also can't decide if this is more hardware or software controlled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's definitely a low level thing
I believe what's happening here is that the distortion fix is optimized for landscape full arm stretch pictures and not for videocalls where it's portrait and zoomed in
When I just physically rotate the phone, I can see it changing the applied adjustments shortly after it stops moving. I wonder if your phone is incapable of properly detecting the orientation in terms of the camera and never applies the portrait adjustments. A faulty accelerometer? Though that would suggest that it has multiple and the camera and OS level ones are different? I assume you don't have issues with the OS not seeing you switch orientation.
Given how rare this issue sounds, it might require replacing the phone if there are no methods of altering the behavior. But it doesn't sound like Google is acknowledging the issue either. Though it would be hard for them to ignore picture/video evidence.
jljtgr said:
When I just physically rotate the phone, I can see it changing the applied adjustments shortly after it stops moving. I wonder if your phone is incapable of properly detecting the orientation in terms of the camera and never applies the portrait adjustments. A faulty accelerometer? Though that would suggest that it has multiple and the camera and OS level ones are different? I assume you don't have issues with the OS not seeing you switch orientation.
Given how rare this issue sounds, it might require replacing the phone if there are no methods of altering the behavior. But it doesn't sound like Google is acknowledging the issue either. Though it would be hard for them to ignore picture/video evidence.
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Click to collapse
Mine is doing that too, but I believe whats' happening is that it's physically impossible to optimize it good for portrait just because of how is the lense built.
I don't think it's impossible... I feel like mine does it just fine. If I wasn't paying real good attention, I wouldn't know anything was actually happening. Or are you saying that when it is working properly, it would still be below your standards? Considering how minute the adjustment is for me, I can't imagine it bothering anyone. So my assumption is your specific phone is doing it wrong somehow.
jljtgr said:
I don't think it's impossible... I feel like mine does it just fine. If I wasn't paying real good attention, I wouldn't know anything was actually happening. Or are you saying that when it is working properly, it would still be below your standards? Considering how minute the adjustment is for me, I can't imagine it bothering anyone. So my assumption is your specific phone is doing it wrong somehow.
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Click to collapse
It could be maybe because I'm comparing it side by side to my OnePlus 7 Pro?
I'm checking now the pictures on my computer side by side, and when it's vertical selfie, then the distortion compensation doesn't work that much good as when it's horizontal (and arm full stretched, then it's perfect)
Okay, maybe it's a subtle thing that I don't have an eye for. Your post made it sound really pronounced, so maybe I was expecting more.
I tried comparing with my Note5, but I couldn't see much of a difference. Are you supposed to see the difference in viewfinder mode, or only in processed photos?
jljtgr said:
Okay, maybe it's a subtle thing that I don't have an eye for. Your post made it sound really pronounced, so maybe I was expecting more.
I tried comparing with my Note5, but I couldn't see much of a difference. Are you supposed to see the difference in viewfinder mode, or only in processed photos?
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Click to collapse
It's so pronounced if you want to take a closeup portrait selfie.
Less pronounced when taking a full stretch arm portrait selfie
And almost no effect when taking a full stretch arm landscape selfie
The issue here is on apps like instagram (it's zoomed in and always vertical) or videocalls.
Both in the viewfinder and final file
Related
Hi,
I seem to have found a way to stop the ridiculous lag on the camera, although I'm not sure this will work for everyone.
I have a non-standard version of the Camera software installed (I think it's the Touch version from somewhere on here - not sure who, I'm pretty new here so please forgive me), but I've noticed that if I start the camera up, then put the device into standby for a few seconds, then turn it back on again, the camera is *far* more responsive, and this is for both still images and for video.
I have no idea why this is - someone more technically intimate with the Kaiser can probably shed some light on it, but it seems to work for me.
The only downside I can see is that it makes the low-light compensation stop working, but in situations with plenty of light there's no difference whatsoever in image/video brightness.
Andy.
Ya, weird how this works. This work around was discussed here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=365345
camera is ugly?
my camera quality is so ugly i have one of the newsest camera software installed. i dont mean the lag or anything i just mean the camera quality is so blurry and unclear i have sharpness on high and styll :S
when i press a camera button to take a picture and it auto focuses before the green thing comes for juss like half a second everything is clear buh then becomes super blurry. any suggestions or is jus broken
I've just come back from holiday where I found myself taking quite a few snaps with the Diamond's camera rather than my usual camera simply because it was more convenient.
I don't normally bother with PDA cameras as they're pretty much rubbish but for quick snaps the Diamond's camera is not too shabby. However, I noticed some very strange quirks:-
1. It seems to try and detect the orientation of the camera using the G-sensor and rotates the image automatically. Most of the time it gets it wrong - is there any way to stop it from doing this so I can rotate my images manually? it really messes things up in Album!
2. In really bright light (such as shooting directly towards the sun) everything goes dark blue and grainy. It's actually quite nice (I have a Holga camera so quite into that sort of thing) but I can't think of an explanation for such behaviour!
See attached for an example.
Cheers
Dave
I got a very blueish picture on a bright day (though not against sunlight) too... Though taking a picture inside then yeilded fine colors (well, average quality). Dont know what cause it, must be a flaw in the color metering.
I really wouldnt use the camera for anything other than snapshots or when you dont have a camera around. Even at 3.2mpx like my old Canon A510 (a budget entry camera, hardly anything high end), the Canon beat the living snot out of it. I wont even begin to compare it with my F40fd (again, a budget cam).
Though I must say its much, much better than my old 1.3mpx K600i phone camera, lol.
I've certainly heard that overexposure can lead to a blueish tinge. So you might want to try manually cranking down the exposure and see if that helps next time.
In this case its more than a tint though, there is pretty much no red or green in the image and the contrast is off the charts. Interesting and fun pictures though.
The Diamond camera needs a UV filter as the chip is too sensitive to the high side of the spectrum. Mine is not as bad as yours- and I was taking photographs similar to yours, perhaps there are different back covers that provide filtering- I have the original Diamond cover.
i also had blue pics when taking pics against the sun but with my 4 megapicsel casio camera. last time it happened there where also ppl, (blue) in the pic lol. so, maybe it is not a diamond related problem.
have you tried using the inbuilt setups for exposure?
if i have no other choice an have to use the diamond as a camera i am always take out the back cover. another thing to try
Thanks all for the responses. I actually quite like the blue pictures, and since the behaviour is at least predictable I'm not too bothered. Instant Holga effect
With regards to the G-sensor guessing camera orientation however that is really bugging me. And also I've noticed that the camera on-screen controls don' t flip to portrait mode either.
Cheers
Dave
davew said:
Thanks all for the responses. I actually quite like the blue pictures, and since the behaviour is at least predictable I'm not too bothered. Instant Holga effect
With regards to the G-sensor guessing camera orientation however that is really bugging me. And also I've noticed that the camera on-screen controls don' t flip to portrait mode either.
Cheers
Dave
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Click to collapse
Yes, also i am bugged of this. I've take a shoot of a contact image with the PDA in Landscape (the photo was right in this position).
Now i have my friend photo ALWAYS rotated of 90° and, if i rotate the pda, the photo rotate itself and it's NEVER aligned.
Now i can't assign the photo until i don't rotate it by the PC
Exactly - you take the shot and then try to view it in Album. Then you end up wiggling the Diamond around to get the orientation right. In slideshows the orientation is all wrong too.
The only way to fix it that I've seen is to go into the MS "Pictures & Videos" application after taking your shots and rotate each image manually.
Most digital cameras I have ever seen just leave the image alone
Mine is also very blueish (MDA Compact IV here) and it also auto-rotates for me
Hopefully we can find a way to at least turn off the auto-rotation, with some tweaks or new camera software!
The blue-ish tinge in a normal situation is probably just the white balance being off (or overexposure as another poster pointed out).
To get those mad blue shots I had to stand in the surf at the beach and shoot directly at the sun. When I tried the same shot at sunset I got normal colours (though still some vingette effect at the edges).
Attached is a shot from the same day, same place just at sunset.
I've tried all the settings and resolution. I find 640 X 480 to be the clearest. Still pictures are clear. Anything moving in the picture is a blurry mess. Is there a registry hack that improves clearity?
+1 bump +1
Wow, an 18 minute speedbump
Please clarify what you have tried, my Crystal Ball is away for Calibration.
(Or do you expect a 300 $ camera in a 600 $ mobile? )
Did you both try the "reaction time" tweaks that are available in Advanced Config ?
this is coming from a photographer. Blurry objects are caused by moving objects in a low light environment. When trying to capture light in a room with poor lightning the camera shutter will stay open longer to capture enough lights for the exposure. This can be corrected by bumping up the ISO or apenture. Since this cannot be done by the camera on the Fuze you can always turn Flash on to compensate for the low light or resting your elbows on a desk for more steady position
karloe said:
Wow, an 18 minute speedbump
Please clarify what you have tried, my Crystal Ball is away for Calibration.
(Or do you expect a 300 $ camera in a 600 $ mobile? )
Did you both try the "reaction time" tweaks that are available in Advanced Config ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm coming from devices like the Sanyo M1 (2MP Auto Focus, the best camera phone ever on Sprint), Mogul (2MP decent pictures) and Treo 800 (2MP, really nice pics). All I'm asking is for the blurry pics to be better. I took 20 pics yesterday and 18 of them were blurry. I've tried every resolution setting. Like I mentioned earlier it seems L 640 X 480 pictures seem to be better than the higher settings.
Buy SonyEricsson and you get a camera that can be actually used for something...
Mine takes pretty good pictures, do you hold the capture button to allow the auto focus to do its work and then take teh picture without having much movement. The movement is what i found causes the blurriness. I guess it autofocuses on a spot and then when you move it start refocusing but the picture takes anyway?
BTW my sports and burst mode arent working properly, camera freezes up and have to soft reset. Is the 3mp tweak for these modes to much for the CPU to process
Yes, I hold and press which autofocus then snaps. I understand it something in the picture is moving but every pic? That's not normal. I've been taking pictures with phones for years and never ran into an issue like this. Plus this is suppose to be a really advanced 3.2MP camera. Might have taken a step backwards with this one.
One thing I do is turn the brightness down as far as the camera will let me, this really isn't a brightness control but a shutter speed control, lowering the brightness raises the shutter speed, which allows for faster camera response.
I think the problem is probably mostly that the sensor used in our module has an imaging area of 3.61mm*2.72mm, 4.52mm diagonal.. take a look at the chart here for imaging sensor sizes: http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Camera_System/sensor_sizes_01.htm
Notice how the size of our sensor is below the bottom of the chart.. It's often said that a camera with superior MPixel count will lose to a camera with an inferior MPixel count and a superior sensor.. well, our sensor isn't big enough to be able to take really nice 3.2mpix photos.. without ideal conditions. Then there's that whole thing about using a CMOS sensor rather than a CCD sensor..
One thing I think the camera can do better is that it doesn't seem to be operating in progressive-scan mode.. there's noticable tearing all over the place..
VibrantRedGT said:
I've tried all the settings and resolution. I find 640 X 480 to be the clearest. Still pictures are clear. Anything moving in the picture is a blurry mess. Is there a registry hack that improves clearity?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can remove the back cover of your phone and take a picture... it does make it better.
pandaboyy said:
You can remove the back cover of your phone and take a picture... it does make it better.
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Click to collapse
I think that is somewhat incorrect. For TYNT II and older phones, yes that would work, since it has a plastic cover over the camera. But for the touch pro and the diamond, it should make little to no difference. I've tried it, and I don't see much of a difference, since it's just a hole. Not covered with plastic or anything.
I had the blurry photos problem too. I just tried it and I haven't played with it enough to confirm this fixes the problem (it seems like it reduces the problem but doesn't eliminate it) but try this:
HKLM/Software/HTC/Camera/Captparam/
and set
CaptureTimer = 0 (old=5000)
tell me if you see a difference
Two more things to do - go into the camera advanced settings (in the camera itself) and turn off the click sounds and set the review time to no limit. With those two and the change above I think I have a working camera here...
have you done the "white balance" tweak in your settings? it completely gets rid of that yellow look when you take pics indoors. Also theres rumors saying that turning off the shutter sound increases the camera's quality but I cant prove that
bugsykoosh said:
I had the blurry photos problem too. I just tried it and I haven't played with it enough to confirm this fixes the problem (it seems like it reduces the problem but doesn't eliminate it) but try this:
HKLM/Software/HTC/Camera/Captparam/
and set
CaptureTimer = 0 (old=5000)
tell me if you see a difference
Two more things to do - go into the camera advanced settings (in the camera itself) and turn off the click sounds and set the review time to no limit. With those two and the change above I think I have a working camera here...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try that registry hack.
Here's the 'yellow photo' fix if anyone hasn't seen it yet: http://www.fuzemobility.com/?p=951
I think what most people are looking for with regards to photos is not 100% 9mp quality from our phones. I mean, why can't a fix similar to the Tilt's be made?* All I want is a higher FPS in low light conditions.
*Where you can increase FPS (in low light) by running the camera, turning the phone off, covering the lens, then turning the phone back on...
How to make a sharp pitcure:
EDIT: See new post! This one has been erased to avoid confusion.
I tried those tweaks with no success. Pics aren't as blurry but they are pretty crappy. I'm not saying I want 10MP clearity. I just want this camera to be compariable to the devices I previously owned (Sanyo M1 and Treo 800). Right now it's not. I'm going to exchange this device.
Errrr Sorry I stated the wrong registry key. Actually that one does not matter too much. UPDATED version:
1. Change registry key:
- HKLM\software\htc\camera\captparam\Capkeydelaytime = 10
2. Soft reset to activate the hack.
3. Set the capture key of the camera to hold & press.
To make a photo:
- Aim at subject.
- Hold your finger on the round big enter key and wait until the white "[" "]" go green. This might need a slight "touch".
- Shoot by pressing the round big enter key fully.
The problem you're going to run into is the size of the sensor on cell phones in general. You could have a 10mp cameraphone but if they keep the sensor the same size it is now the pix will continue to be crappy.
I will say that the pictures I've taken with my Fuze have been pretty good, and I have really bad shakes in my hands. The autofocus is a huge step forward imo.
I'll be honest, i haven't really looked for any alternate software very hard... but what i have found, is either incomplete, or does not have the feature set im looking for.
I was trying to take photos today, and i realized, Auto focus is great for objects at about 7in to infinity distance.
But what am i supposed to do for objects that may be closer? it seems to focus on everything around the object, and totally ignore the subject to be photographed.
Now I'm curious, is there an application that could allow you to manually focus the lens? I mean, it is an electromagnet... and is is controlled by software... and I've seen the auto focus bring the subject in to focus, then loose it... so it make sense that it should technically be able to do it, right?
if there is a software out there that allows the control of the electromagnet in the raph, any ideas?
-Wyefye
I know that on a digital camera when you take a photo ~7in or closer you use the macro feature. Im not sure what that entails but you could try starting from there.
there might be something wrong with your device. i just tested mine (brand new, not even 1 day old yet) and i can easily take pictures as close as 2inches away from the subject and they turn out extremely clear and sharp.
this is using the camera app that comes pre-installed on the phone
see the attached picture, it was taken approximately 2 inches away
the curvature of the lens on the camera make it impossible to focus on all 4 corners of the SD card at that distance, but as you can see the top edge is almost perfectly clear
I just "Warrantied" my Fuze. The new (to me as it is a re-furb) unit doesn't take sharp pictures any closer than about 6 inches. That is a pain as I am a big WorldCard Mobile user but cannot get decent resolution of business card shots any longer.
I think - based on what I hear as the camera is focusing - that there is some mechanical issue within the unit itself.
Don't know if this is any help to anyone, but I've noticed (although it's kinda like common sense, so I'm not going to act like I'm intellectual ) that when I take a picture with my phone close up, in macro mode, it only turns out clear when I'm pretty much straight on with whatever it is I'm taking a picture of. This of course has to do with the fact that when the camera needs to focus on an object, it needs to basically pick a spot that is one distance away from the camera. As you can see with the sd card picture, it focused on the top, so everything out of the distance range cannot be seen very well. We do have to remember though that these are extremely small smartphone cameras, and not dedicated digital cameras
piratedninja said:
see the attached picture, it was taken approximately 2 inches away
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verified. Stock HTC Touch no mods. See the pic.
Hi,
Something I've tried to to find the answer to, but so far have been unable to do so - the camera performance has always been terrible on my tytn2. I've tried a range of different roms, but none have made any difference to the camera.
My understanding is that it is important to have a radio that works with the rom you are using, but can I get better camera performance by using a different radio?
Currently I am using "07/10[Super Ram][CHOME][Manilla] Josh's Kaiser Roms+Kitchen "21929 Hybrid Light" - a great rom, and my radio is 1.65.16.25.
I would really appreciate it if anyone can give me any pointers with this or otherwise help me get better camera performance (the tytn2 is an amazing phone, the camera is the only problem I have with it).
Cheers
Moved as not ROM Development...
The camera is just whack anyway unless in ideal light situations.
Typically the camera will either work or not work at all depending on the Radio, unfortunately the Kaiser's camera (and all cellphone cameras in general) is not the greatest in low light so you are pretty much stuck with what you got.
Thanks for the responses. It's not so much the camera performance in terms of picture quality, but the terrible lag when taking pictures - there is a two second or more delay between pressing the camera button and the picture taking. This always results in pictures that are extremely blurred.
Turn off the full press and also the shutter noise...
I tried everything possible with my tytn to improve camera , however it was all pointless since it could not be done.
Well not quite. In my frustration with a few things which aren't perfect in Shifu's latest ROM (hey, it's pretty darn nice for the most part, even M2D is running well for the first time in my experience of over 20 WM6.5 ROM versions, mostly on the Elfin, 3 on this Kaiser), I did some searching for a camera video frame rate solution. Found one. I've already forgotten the link (since reading it this afternoon), but it's so simple there's no need to go looking. Here's the procedure. Works in any lower light situation, as in not broad daylight. Haven't test it it outside in daylight yet, but it might even work there, will find out tomorrow.
1) Open camera application.
2) Put hand over lens to create a black screen.
3) Turn off power. (This part is a bit of a stumbling block for those with slide to unlock or a password active - have to have those turned off for this to work.)
4) Keep the hand (or whatever, doesn't matter so long as it blocks light) over the lens for at least a second.
5) Take off the hand.
6) Press the power button again.
7) Start shooting when you like.
8) Enjoy what looks like 30fps video, much improved autofocus and shutter response times, and unfortunately, darker images. So still not a great low-light camera, but indoors in average conditions or even somewhat dim light it's not bad at all for a phone camera. Took me a few tries to nail down the procedure and be able to reproduce the effect every time, but five minute's practice at most.
Apparently the vast improvement in frame rate and general responsiveness globally in the camera's operation and settings dialogues is over-ridden if one points the camera at a light source or brighter reflective objects. I find it stays stable during a session even if I point it directly at a 20W halogen light from 6 feet away, but your mileage may vary.
Another tip would be to avoid the double-take of the autofocus algorithm. Bloody thing focuses on a half-press, then focuses all over again, blurring out then returning to sharpness, on full shutter press. So either go to half-press shooting, or use the D-pad centre button to shoot pictures and videos, as this is a single-stage switch.
In my case, running Shifu's latest ROM from December and his recommended radio, and just this evening flashing Kaiser-HardSPL-3.56, I find the video frame rate to be about 2 to 3 frames per second without this trick, and well above 20fps with the trick. Awesome. A little bit irritating too, having to do this silly little button sequence thing, but it's better than having to go hunting for my 'real' camera when a video opportunity presents itself and the Kaiser will take less than 10 seconds to get ready, and getting the proper camera will take over a minute of walking and digging and powering on... As has so often been said in web discussions of phone cameras, it's not so much the quality of your best camera that's important in everyday use, it's whether you have a working camera with you that counts. And this little trick makes the camera I ALWAYS have with me a whole lot more usable.
Now, if only there were a way to get Resco Audio Recorder to make clear 2-sided recordings of my calls. Worked like a dream on the HTC Touch Elfin. All I hear is remote, static-distorted voices with this Kaiser. Seems from discussions that this is a hardware limitation. Hope not. And it'd be nice too if the device weren't cranky about my 8GB microSD. Seems a tad unstable at times. Same for considerable numbers of other users, so maybe another hardware limitation? Hope it's drivers, and that some genius presents an update.
GerardSamija,
Yeah that's an old trick but not perfect as tends to dim the light and when hit by a large light flips back to the slow fps another one is to remove the plastic cover on case covering lens.
I gave up using camera unless outside & it's the same issue on Touch Pro even with the built in flash "well light really"
2 Side Voice Recording on Kaiser **WORKS**
Thank you very much for that stylez. I'm reading through the pages of that thread, and while so far the latest CAB there hasn't quite made decent quality two-way recording for my Kaiser, it's considerably improved from what it was yesterday. Nice.
Trying the 'old' camera trick (sorry for re-publishing ancient news - I've only had this Kaiser a few days, so just getting caught up. On testing it this morning I found a number of tries didn't work at all. Not sure why. Then just now I tried it again and it worked fine, though delivering only about 15 to 20fps, not quite smooth. I did back to back tests without and then with the trick, and there was about a tripling of framerate from A to B. Guess I'll just have to keep practicing to get it down solid.
And I probably will remove part of the shielding over the camera lens, carefully. The lens in the body itself has a flat glass cover so no real risk of damage there, as it's recessed behind the battery cover. Occasional cleaning of dust is necessary anyway with a pocketable camera, so this just adds the step of slipping off the battery cover to do that. The phone I have was used for a few months, then left in an office drawer for over a year. Not a lot of wear, but obviously some fine scratching of the coating on the camera lens protective filter. Removing it will improve imaging, and the glass lens cover beneath is about the same as on my old HTC Elfin. That one has held up very well.
I hear windex helps.
ChumleyEX said:
I hear windex helps.
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Click to collapse
lol ya i gave up using the camera really, i know im just caring around a big brick, with the advantage that its touch screen and has a keyboard... otherwise its not used much for anything else, unfortunately there are a million other phones that would meet this basic need, though im not getting burned by HTC again or any other phone maker...
I'm getting better at the timing with tricking the camera into responding quickly for stills, and getting 15fps and better almost all the time. This afternoon was fairly sunny here, and I shot a few videos of my son at the playground. Checking them later on my Asus 901 they look quite good. And contrary to many comments saying pointing at bright light kills the effect, I was able to shoot almost directly into the sun without losing frame rate.
Oddly, VLC gives an audio codec cannot be found error. Guess I'm off for yet another codec hunt. Windows 7 has mostly been pretty solid in supporting things like that, but I guess VLC stands apart from the OS in terms of codecs.
Windex? Nah, bit of a rub with a shirt end is fine. It's not a camera for making museum grade images. It's convenient, when I don't want to carry a bulky HD camera with proper optics around with me.