Lost Password?

A password will be emailed to you. You will be able to change your password and other profile details once you have logged in.

Droid’s Camera Issues Resolved! (For Now)

droid_360_02You know all those Droid reviews that heaped glowing praise on everything except the camera? All those reports of issues with getting it to focus?

Many sources are reporting that Droid owners awoke to cameras that suddenly worked perfectly today.  Was it a silent patch? Did the lens just need a cleaning?

Nope. Google's Dan Morrill explained that the camera issues have been pinned down to a date-related bug:

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, Droid owners, enjoy your cameras while you can, and hopefully you'll see the issue permanently resolved soon.

Chuck likes food, music, words, baseball, hounds & Android. You can follow him on Twitter.

Like this? Share it.

Related Posts

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/droidin droidin

    Fascinating

  • Nate

    Shouldn't we wait for something a little more official than a comment in the middle of Engadget?

  • newspeak

    wait....so the droid gets pms.....shit

  • http://www.curious-creature.org Romain Guy

    @Nate: it is the actual bug, really.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/chuckfalzone Chuck Falzone

    Dan Morrill is a pretty reliable source, but that it's not particularly official is the reason this post is filed under "rumors and more."

  • Nate

    I'm not disputing that he's a reliable source.

    My problem is that, just like here, anyone can call themselves whatever they want when they comment on Engadget. How do any of us know who really made the comment?

  • Nate

    I know there's a bug. I own the phone and have been dealing with the camera issues from day one.

    However, when I set the date back on my Droid, it still focuses. Going back in time doesn't recreate the original problem.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/chuckfalzone Chuck Falzone

    Before posting, I cross-referenced it with a comment by him on Twitter:

    http://twitter.com/morrildl/status/5799769494

    That is definitely his real twitter account.

  • denis2342

    the exact cycle is 24.855134814814814 days

  • bob

    lol...so much for being more masculine than the iPhone... (I still love mine, even if he get's pms)

  • Nate

    I did a little digging myself and found the Twitter account too.

    So, I'll take it for what it is. It appears to be a date bug. It doesn't explain why mine will now focus no matter what date I put in, when it couldn't focus at all before today. I guess I'll just accept that mine is the exception to the rule.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/chuckfalzone Chuck Falzone

    You're able to set the date on a Droid? Doesn't it just pull it from teh interwebz?

  • http://soft.antonspaans.com Streets Of Boston

    = 2 ^ 31 milliseconds. :)

  • http://twitter.com/boilergrad02 @boilergrad02

    Best comment ever...I am stealing this one!

  • Nate

    You can set the date yourself under the Date and Time settings, or you can have the network define it.

  • http://twitter.com/JessPerrecaJr @JessPerrecaJr

    awesome...lol

  • http://www.jfseostudio.com advanced seo

    yay its fixed lol. time stamp that is nuts.

  • http://www.jfhostreview.com web host review

    thank god. I could really use the camera feature.

  • http://twitter.com/tkilla454 @tkilla454

    mines still bad. so i was trying to film skating today and it was blurry but if you put it up to something like your hand it was super hd but then far things looked terrible so i turned off and turned it back on and it was good for a while but then later on in the night like actually 50 mins. ago i checked it and it sucked ... why?!

  • http://www.miketrinch.com dtrinch

    mine is still bad as well, for a few months now. doesnt focus at all and red bars around the screen when taking a picture. anyone have any answers! took phone to the verizon store and they are clueless and hadnt heard about the bug. they said to wipe out my phone, get it back to factory and try it then. what do you think???