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General discussion

Samsung Galaxy S8/S*+ camera went from fantastic to terrible

Nov 2, 2018 5:45PM PDT

With a recent update, the camera had gone from taking phenomenal pictures with accurate color to washed-out pictures.

I was trying to take a picture of a tree with beautiful, vibrant fall foliage from inside my bedroom through a window one morning and the result was leaves that looked beige or white instead of the brilliant oranges and reds that my eyes could see.

I contacted both Verizon and Samsung and their support people took me through the predictable scenario of trying to change some settings that I already played with to no avail. The Samsung rep said I needed to send the phone in so they could remove the operating system and reinstall it. She thought the install might not have been completely successful. I told her I couldn't be without my phone for several weeks and that my son had the same problem on his phone and that it seemed unlikely that we both had unsuccessful updates.

Both support people used apps to connect to my phone and could see the problem. I pointed out that a setting that used to let us prevent this auto-lighting adjustment used to be available but no longer was.

Basically if you moved the phone slowly, the color representation was perfect until the entire image was in view and then some type of auto color adjustment took over and washed out the color.

Hope someone can help, because the pictures went from fantastic to terrible.

-- Submitted by Aaron P.

Discussion is locked

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Photography by software ...
Nov 2, 2018 10:07PM PDT

It is indeed amazing how the field of photography is currently undergoing another wave of nothing less than groundbreaking innovations. A good deal of that stems from the problem that a smart phone just doesn't have a way to include a 80x zoom lens - the amount of glass needed for a traditional telephoto is just too much - and it gets bigger if you also want it to be a fast lens. Which also means that the depth of field as provided by the tiny wide angle lenses in our phones today is essentially unlimited. So they use multiple lenses and by combining the images create an artificially low depth of field, give you a "designer" bokeh and alter the image in any number of other ways by the creative use of software.

With the good comes the bad - I suspect that your term "some type of auto color adjustment" hits the nail on the head. You seem to have hit on an update of the camera app that unlearned how to leave well enough alone - the setting "as is" seems to have gotten lost.

Things that I would try here include: update just the photo app; find a third party photo app; record your photos in raw mode and play with various software solutions on your PC to get out of your photos exactly what you want - this last one may not be where you want to be on a permanent basis, but it could provide some compelling evidence of what it is you are complaining about - call center support people, much as I appreciate the job they are doing (often in spite of the system they work in) are anything but omniscient. And a series of sample pictures can be very compelling evidence to take to a developer.

A question on the side: Anyone else out there with this problem? My Note 8 and my old Note 3 don't show anything like this (but then I have not yet accepted the most recent update yet - do you think I should?)

Another option might be to downgrade the phone's software (maybe just the photo app) - Does anyone know how to do that? This could lead us to a general discussion of whether it is always best to go to the latest version of everything as the security concerns seem to dictate. After all we are replacing a mature, tested piece of code with something that potentially has been modified under time pressure to fix one thing and may well bring in a host of new problems ...

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simple solution
Nov 3, 2018 5:26AM PDT

I'm old fashioned but my solution is simple!
Buy a phone to talk on and buy a camera for photo's!
I'm so old fashioned that I went back to a house phone last month,I was fed up with lousy cell service and even worse customer service!

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camera versus phone or tablet
Nov 9, 2018 5:41PM PST

I have a Samsung SM-T700 tablet and found the photos so amazingly good that I gave away lugging a decent camera around the World on holidays, the phone is perhaps not quite as good.

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Did I miss the question?
Nov 3, 2018 6:59PM PDT

It obviously seems like some kind of software issue but I'm not sure what you are looking for as an answer since there really wasn't a question. I have a Galaxy S8+ and there is nothing wrong with my camera or app. If you have cleared cache on your phone and are looking for other things to try, you could look into any Samsung updates that might be available in the Samsung app as sometimes you don't get notified of them immediately. You could try resetting your phone (factory reset) after doing a backup of everything first (easy to do with this phone if you don't have auto backups setup to backup to Samsung Cloud). Or if NOTHING else works, you could go ahead and get a cheap prepaid phone to use, and then send in your phone to get fixed. I think most carriers ended their loaner phone programs but chances are that even if they did still have them, the phone would be the same or worse quality than a $30 prepaid phone you can easily pickup and always keep as a backup. I tend to keep my old phone once I upgrade as a backup, but you could even just find a cheap one that someone is selling as a last resort.

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Samsung Galaxy photo problems.
Nov 9, 2018 5:17PM PST

I have a Samsung S6 Edge, and the photo program for this must be different, since I have not had any problems due to any updates. They probably have a different program for the S8 from the S6, but this problem doesn't seem to be a common Galaxy software problem and seems to involved only the S8.

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Test with a different app
Nov 9, 2018 5:49PM PST

As someone else mentioned, you can use a different camera app. Even if you don't switch to it permanently, it's worth trying it as a test. That would rule out an OS issue and isolate it to the camera app. I'm a fan of Open Camera on my Pixel XL.

And, I'm sure that support already had you delete the cache, but just in case, that is one of the easiest things to try.

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Roll it back!
Nov 9, 2018 6:05PM PST

Just roll back the update on the camera app, it should be under settings. You can probably update it after the next fix. Not a bad idea to sync your photos & files beforehand, then you won't lose anything important. I wouldn't roll bad the entire phone.

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Through a window?
Nov 9, 2018 6:25PM PST

Sometimes we have to start with the most basic of basics: have you had the same issue when you do NOT shoot through a window? I'm thinking un-noticed reflections of something, refraction from light going through the glass, is the glass at all tinted?...even a window that needs cleaning.
I'm a bit surprised that nobody mentioned the fact you were shooting through a window. It may mean nothing, but I thought I'd toss it out there.

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Yes, a good start
Nov 10, 2018 9:55AM PST

The OP needs to give us more information.

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Check Storage Space?
Nov 9, 2018 7:34PM PST

While I am an iPhone user, I can try to ask a few general questions. Updates usually do strange things with your storage space, especially if the update is larger than the modules it replaces. You might want to look at how much space is there for photos.

Also did "anything" go wrong during the last update? Did it die in the middle and corrupt a file? In many updates (including PC), I've noticed that settings get deleted, added and/or changed. Now might be a good idea to review ALL of your settings, especially those related to the camera to see if anything is different or in some way, changed.

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Try Manual Mode
Nov 9, 2018 7:55PM PST

I have a Note 8. I, often, use manual mode. If your phone has it, you might want to try it and see if that works until Samsung comes up with a fix.

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In store tech
Nov 9, 2018 8:22PM PST

See if Samsung still has Tech service inside BestBuy stores
They did 2 years ago when an update made my S5 useless as a phone (though despite re-doing the OS did not solve my problem ..... VZ ultimately offered a solution and told me NOT to update the S5 any more)
But it would be strange that two phones suffer from the same update failure .... so maybe they can at least return it to the prior OS ....
Be warned

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In store Tech
Nov 9, 2018 8:26PM PST

See if Samsung still has tech service in Best Buy stores .... they did when my S5 became usless as a phone after an update (already had an S7 for my other line , just for a date reference)
Maybe the can at least restore it to the prior OS ...
Be warned .... it will wipe everything of your phone (factory reset type)
.
It did not resolve my S5 issue, VZ ultimatelly replaced it so the could do a forenzic on my phone ... and they told me to mo longer update my S5

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Understand the problem - sorry have no solution
Nov 9, 2018 9:19PM PST

This exact same thing happened to me with my S 8 after an update a few months ago. I could not believe that suddenly all the photos I was taking were drastically overexposed looking with all the colors washed out. I was taking pictures of grandchildren at a fall festival so I was furious. However I basically took the phone out of its case and spanked it. (Remember the old rolled up newspaper bit with the early TVs? 1950's) I turned it off and on repeatedly, squeezed it in frustration and tried again. After about the 4th or 5th time in my increasing irritation it suddenly began taking decent photos and has done so ever since. So I haven't a clue as to what the problem was or whether it will recur.

Meanwhile the latest software update from 3 days ago made many of my photos vanish (fortunately backed up already) and deleted half of my contacts information beyond phone #. After repeatedly poking the phone and getting the same non-result today all of a sudden I got that little circle of seeking and a message saying finding contacts. So far they seem to all have been found again. Not sure whether these glitches relate to software conflicts between the OS and app updates or what but I suspect we will encounter more. So maybe if you throw the phone in frustration it will behave.

I keep all my old smart phones and use them for other things since they are always worth nothing when I go to upgrade. I can tell you that one that I use as a clock will do nothing else and must always be plugged in. Another has a bright pink screen but works fine for things like pod casts and a final one has a screen that will only be on full bright or it jumps and stutters wildly and has a very short battery life because of this. Don't get me started on my collection of tablets and computers.

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Samsung Galaxy S8
Nov 9, 2018 9:57PM PST

I had the exact same issue as did so many others. My camera went off and started taking unfocused pictures after the last major software update to Android Oreo 8.1; took it to the Samsung Support Center and they installed a new camera free.

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Samsung S8+ camera issues
Nov 10, 2018 1:17AM PST

You need to do the Samsung system or firmware update to fix the phone's camera issues on the S8+.

After the firmware update it resolved my camera's issues. (I had the same issue)

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Turn HDR off
Nov 10, 2018 1:49AM PST

My Samsung S6 went the same way. Although general images were OK, close-ups, for example of moths or flowers, were awful, and previously they were good (I take a lot of nature pics) . Flash pics were also very poor.

I recently noticed that HDR was on. Maybe I had done that deliberately at some time, maybe I had touched it accidentally, maybe an update did it. Turning it off has made a big improvement. That may not be your problem, but it's helped me.

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Check what file format the phone is saving in
Nov 10, 2018 6:02AM PST

Aaron, check your settings to see what format the phone is saving in. What you are describing sounds like files that are in RAW format and need to be processed in a photo editing program, such as Photoshop. My LG will save RAW files, but also will save a JPEG along with it. When I view my photos on the phone the RAW file will be washed out because the camera has only captured the digital information and has not processed it. Go in your files and view the format of the pictures. If they are have DNG after them, they are RAW files. If they have JPG or JPEG after them they are processed files.

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I've not experienced this problem.
Nov 10, 2018 7:59AM PST

Sorry about the unhelpfulness of my reply, but I too have a Galaxy S8+ on Verizon, and I am not experiencing this difficulty at all. Mine is set at the factory default settings (for serious picture-taking, I use one of my actual cameras).

One possible source of your problem, which I suggest simply because it is related to the overall "vibrancy" of your pictures, is the HDR feature. Mine is set to "Auto." Fiddle with that and see if your results improve.

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Samsung K- Zoom
Nov 10, 2018 9:04AM PST

Never had any problem with my 4 years old Samsung K Zoom.....
Perfect pictures.
Afraid to buy a new Samsung yes...

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Steps you take to solve issue
Nov 10, 2018 10:11AM PST

First step, record everything you do to resolve issue. Secondly, only try one possible solution a time.
And (just in case) if you haven't checked to see if it happens outside, or other areas besides through a window, that would be something you need to do. I would assume since it happened to your son as well that it's not only through the window.

I like the ideas of using a different camera app. But that won't quench your desire to fix the main dilemma.
When did it happen? Do you allow your phone to update automatically and so was it updated as of the latest update previously? Could I have change that sentence did not include the word update so often? Anyway, I'm just trying to figure out the last update you did. Now I'm scared to update my SAMSUNG-SM-G892A phone!
Please 'update' your post if you find a solution! Happy

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Another Setting to Try
Nov 12, 2018 7:43AM PST

I don't have a Samsung Galaxy anything but I did have problem with colors not right on my phone that was because of a setting that I changed in the "Accessibility" setting, called "Color Correction"; it was ON. If your is ON, Turn it OFF and see if that work.

Also, I do know if you have downloaded your pictures to a PC but your pictures may have turned out great, it is just the display setting on your phone that may have been modified accidentally.

When that "Color Correction" setting was ON, the card game app I was using that setting made it hard to distinguish between the red and black card.

I'm not sure if that will help. I have not read all of the other responses so, you maybe treading water with this one.

By the way, I have an old Sony Xperia.