Camera¶
Camera takes photos with the phone's rear or front camera. They are saved on the phone and shown in the Gallery.
Open Camera from the dock at the bottom of the home screen, or from the menu (under Essentials). The screen shows Starting camera... for a moment, then the live picture, with the controls under it:
- the large white round button in the middle: the shutter;
- the round button with two arrows, right of it: switches between the rear and the front camera.
The first time, Camera uses the rear camera. It then opens with the camera you last switched to, until the phone restarts.
Taking a photo¶
- Point the phone and wait for the picture to show.
- Tap the shutter. The picture flashes white and the phone vibrates briefly.
- Open the Gallery to see the photo.
With the rear camera, the picture stops for a moment while the photo is taken: the camera switches to its full resolution for it and back. Keep the phone still until it moves again.
Photos are taken upright (portrait), even when you hold the phone sideways:
| Camera | Photo size |
|---|---|
| Rear | 1944 × 2592 pixels (5 megapixels) |
| Front | 1200 × 1600 pixels (2 megapixels) |
Focus¶
The rear camera focuses by itself, continuously, as you point it.
- To focus on something, tap it on the picture. A ring shows where: white while it focuses, then green when it is sharp or red when it could not focus, then it goes away. The focus then stays where it is, also for the next photos.
- To go back to automatic focus, touch and hold the picture until the phone vibrates. Switching cameras or opening Camera again does the same.
The front camera has a fixed focus: tapping the picture does nothing.
QR codes¶
Camera reads QR codes by itself: point it at one, with nothing to switch on. A yellow frame appears around the code, and a yellow button at the bottom of the picture says what it holds. Tap the button to:
| The code holds | The button | Tapping it |
|---|---|---|
| A web address | Open and the site's name | opens the page in Web Lite |
| A Wi-Fi network | Join and the network's name | opens Settings › Wi-Fi and connects to it, saving it with its password |
| A phone number | Call and the number | opens the dialer with the number, to call or change it |
| A contact | Add and their name | opens New contact with their name and number, to save; their page if the number is saved already |
| Anything else | the start of the text | shows the whole text |
The button goes away a moment after the code leaves the picture. Photos are taken as usual while a code is in view. To share a Wi-Fi network the same way, see Settings › Wi-Fi.
Good to know¶
- The camera is on only while Camera is open; it turns off when you leave the app, and while what a QR code opened is on the screen.
- If the picture shows a message such as Camera not found instead, the camera could not be started and no photo can be taken.
- There is no flash, zoom, video, self-timer or settings.