Laggy/Slow Camera Issue

Pretty impressive for 5.0 MP camera in the palm of your hands, but I get really irritated by the laggyness and slow response i get from the camera of the Samsung Behold.

Takes about 3 full seconds after you press the Camera button for the phone to actually take the picture and whatnot.

I do not know if the source of the problem is based on my Camera settings or if it is just the phone itself.

Anyone know a possible "tweak" to this problem?

I have the same problem.

I visited the NY Auto Show. Used the thing for wide-angle still shots of vehicles
sitting in their display areas.

Damn camera does not recover or execute fast. It pauses at every point, whether
that means taking a picture, showing the picture just taken, or returning to shooting
mode.

OK, listen up cause I'm gonna tell you the proper way to deal with this and any other digiral camera. The blurred images are coming from a combo of 3 things...

1. Dirty lens: People don't realize it but handling the phone (like the phone it really is) causes your hands to come in contact with the back of it. Guess what? That's also where the camera lens is located. When you try to get your detailed shots, the internal lens can't focus properly cause it's trying to capture the image you want while also trying to focus on the image that's the closest to it... your greasy fingerprints. Clean your lens first before you attempt to take any shots or else you're wasting your time.

2. Lighting: This plays the largest role in camera imaging of any kind & should be first on the list. If your setting is filled with mixed lighting effects or if your camera's settings are for indoors (low light) and you're outdoors (high light), not only will you get yellowish images but the camera will stall as it tries to match the lighting settings you've chosen with the actual lighting situation. Often your images become blurry cause you snap the photo during its processing process.

3. Use the proper settings: Like I stated in tip #2, any digital camera will stall if you're using the wrong settings for the job. For example, if you're taking pics at the Auto Show (like one guy mentioned) use the auto settings... & not cause it seems like a play on words. Events like Auto Shows have several lighting effects goin' on at once. Your camera must be able to recognize that. If not, it will respond slowly & your photos will always be blurry cause your trigger finger is faster than the processing speed.

Here are a few overall settings: ALWAYS make sure your lens is clean, then be sure you setup the camera for the proper lighting conditions. For something like an Auto Show event, use all automatic settings> Set it to 3MP not 5 cause general shots don’t have to be large, only detailed ones do> use the anti-shake> set the exposure to Center-weighted. Press the shutter slightly till the center target turns green & you hear a beep. This means your camera understands and ready to take the photo. Press all the way down & you’ll love the results!

To keep up with a moving baby, clean that lens again> set your camera for the proper lighting situation> set it to “sports mode” so it can capture motion> take off the anti-shake, set to 3MP for general shots and set everything else to normal or auto. You’ll get the right shot every time.

For detailed shots like taking closeups of lettering on a pen, set your camera for 5MP> set the proper lighting> Set everything for superfine not normal quality> use anti-shake and set the exposure to Matrix. The camera will operate slowly but it’s supposed to cause you’re using the highest settings, meaning it must process everything. NEVER USE DIGITAL ZOOM unless you’re at an event where you’re too far away from the subject. Digital zoom is artificial and not real like optical zoom is. Get good foundations making sure your body is perfectly still… to achieve this, take your pics after you exhale then stop breathing. This keeps your diaphragm from rising your arms causing a motion blur cause you moved during the process of taking the shot.

You must think like the technology you’re using in order to get the best use from it. Keep this in mind for all your techy gadgets. They really work… the problem is you!

Unfortunately, these tips are helpful, but solve nothing and certainly this is not user error as you have to sacrifice a lot to get a 1 second quicker shot. Timing with a stopwatch using the method specified, which by the way also prevents you from using flash, so you must have optimal light, still nets over 3 seconds every time. This is due to the technology not the user. The software parameters are set up poorly and compounded with a junk camera with an abnormally large megapixel. The on-board memory and processor were not designed to process this type and volume of data efficiently. According to the software, a number of things must happen before it is able to take a picture. Some of the more time consuming are:
1. focus (the processor is too slow to identify the subject and then make sure it is in focus)
2. Aperture and Exposure (there is a matrix based on the detected level of light, unless you manually set these settings, and the processor has to calculate these and adjust)
3. Contrast balancing and color balancing are also in this software and are also measure and calculated based on a matrix)
4. If you add Anti-shake, WDR, red-eye, you can forget about it. These are additional functions that you're throwing on an inadequate camera.

I, like everyone else, was very disappointed when I tried to use this camera. We need to remember that this is a phone and will not be anything like a dedicated Nikon D40. This camera, I hate to say, should have had a threaded mount for a tripod and come with the disclaimer that it is for non-movable scenery or for a daguerreotype, where the subject stood still for hours.

Here is what I found out.  It seems LIGHTING is a VERY VERY big factor.
Just try this yourself.  Go your house wall nearby a light source (a lamp or something).  Activate your camera and aim closely at the ILLUMINATED part of the wall. (I had my lamp right by the wall)

I noticed that the Behold is FAR less laggy and very responsive and takes less than 1.5 seconds to take a picture.

However, when i aimed the Behold somewhere else, the camera all of a sudden turns laggy, and returns to its 3 to 5 seconds to take a picture.