Sanyo 8400 White Balance Camera Issue

[tbakergobuck]

Sorry to start another thread but I thought this deserved it. Laursifer get a 8400 and help me find out this camera issue. lol

First off I would appreciate if poeple would not make any stupid comments like "take the phone back and wait for a M1" "camera sucks" etc. :irked:

I'm pretty sure this white balance camera issue happens mostly in direct sunlight and some people haven't had any issues. I'll try not to make this to long but it won't be easy. lol

Yesterday I swapped out my 2nd 8400 because I wanted to see if my 3rd 8400 would also have the white balance camera issue (green/dark pictures) that my 1st and 2nd one had. Also another reason why I wanted to swap out my 2nd 8400 is because the rep dropped it when activating it. lol I don't think it matters but my first and second 8400 were black. For my 3rd 8400 I decided to get a blue one.

With my first and 2nd 8400 I had a fare share of green and weird pictures that I've already posted in the 8400 picture thread. Yesterday I took a total of 111 pictures with my brand new 8400 (3rd one). I took 52 pictures some sitting in my car in a parking lot and the rest at Antrim lake. I also took 59 pictures at a school. By looking at my pictures in the provided links below you can tell that there are a lot of bad pictures which I had the same issue with my 1st and 2nd 8400. I'm not sure if there is a bad batch of 8400's or if the people that haven't had any issues are just really lucky or there just not taking the same pictures with the similar lighting conditions or just haven't taken enough pictures to see the issue. I've noticed the issue seems to happen more when taking Landscape pictures. I tried every picture mode setting (normal, beach/snow, Scenery, night/dark) and only the night/dark picture mode setting seems to make the landscape pictures at the lake look better (see pictures 50-53). I think I tried before with my 1st and 2nd 8400 adjusting the white balance but it didn't help but may need to test that again. I noticed on a few pictures that I could see the red blinking light which is weird. If anyone 8400 user having the issue that can help test different adjustments it would be appreciated. I really like the phone but I would like it even better if I didn't have this camera issue but I don't think it will be a deal breaker for me :)

All pictures were taken 1.3mp but resized to whatever, some with adjustments, read picture captions

parking lot and antrim lake pictures
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2100920104

school pictures
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2100918655

[NONAME]

So...did any of the ones you took with the night/dark mode turn out with that green tint? (I couldnt find the comments on which settings were used other the landscape/portrait mode) Also, where is that white line coming from?

[tbakergobuck]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (MobilePhone SCP-8400/US/1.0) NetFront/3.3 MMP/2.0)

So...did any of the ones you took with the night/dark mode turn out with that green tint? (I couldnt find the comments on which settings were used other the landscape/portrait mode) Also, where is that white line coming from?

I think I left out 50-53 lake pictures had the night/dark adjustment on. Look below the pictures where the caption is. White line is from the glare from the sun.

[jgallandt]

Wirelessly posted (Lg 535: Mozilla/4.0 (MobilePhone SCP-8400/US/1.0) NetFront/3.3 MMP/2.0)

Had that problem with minei Seams like there was a bad batch of them, so instead of going back to the same store, I went to a different Sprint store and exchanged it. No problems now.

[tbakergobuck]

Wirelessly posted (Lg 535: Mozilla/4.0 (MobilePhone SCP-8400/US/1.0) NetFront/3.3 MMP/2.0)

Had that problem with minei Seams like there was a bad batch of them, so instead of going back to the same store, I went to a different Sprint store and exchanged it. No problems now.I got my 2nd 8400 at different store but still had the issue. My 1st and 3rd 8400 were bought at the same store but I got a different color thinking if there is a bad batch that might make a difference but it didn't. I guess I could try to get one from telesales but not sure if I want to go through the trouble.

[tbakergobuck]

I'm surprised not to many replys and I don't know if anyone cares but just to clarify.

When I was getting the bad pictures I tested taking pictures with the night/dark picture mode setting on and they looked better. The lake pictures 50-53 had the night/dark setting on. I tried all the picture mode settings and the night/dark was the only one that made the pictures look better. One time before I messed with the white balance settings but none helped. Also this issue happens sometime when your not in direct sunlight. Look at the parking lot pictures, I was in my car and still got a green picture.

I might try to swap it out for a 4th 8400 through custormer service or I might just throw in the towl and return it. I might get a different phone or just wait for the M1 but knowing that others don't have this issue I'm not going to just keep it.

For some reason I always get phones that have issues. :(

[james2K]

well tbaker, I think i'm going to throw the towel in myself. nothing against the 8400 but i'm going to try and keep this treo 700 i got thru work for now, perhaps until the M1. of course, as always, this and my phone situation is subject to change.

[dwehking]

The one I bought for myself at the Sprint store on 9/30 had the problem with the green pics in direct sunlite. The store manager said he got them on 9/28. The one that was ordered from telesales on 9/29 for my son is fine.
I returned mine and went back to the A900 until something better comes along.

[krazyfiend]

I do care tbaker, I have just given up on the issue and will be returning my phone sometime before the 27th of this month. Ill just go back to my 5500 until the M1 drops

[tbakergobuck]

Probably my last pictures with the 8400..:( I'm going to decide monday if I'm going to try to get another 8400 (4th) through custormer service to try to get one with a good camera or I might just return it because I'm tired of dealing with it. I do like the 8400 but I take a lot of outside pictures and so far all three 8400's that I've owned are really inconsistent taking outside pictures (not just in direct sunlight). Just to give people a idea I can take 10 outside pictures I might get 3 or 4 pictures that turn out good so that's just unacceptable to me. I guess the people that havne't had any issues with the camera are lucky but cross your fingers that nothign happens to your 8400 because who knows how many bad ones are out there. lol I'm going to borrow my friends blade that he's not using and just wait untill the m1/motorolos come out. I hope it's by Nov. 5 because I'm not sure how long I can stand using the blade. lol

The night/dark picture mode setting helps prevent the outside green pictures. They look a lot better with the setting but I think the color is still off a little.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2100759251

[cegil]

Hi
and I have the same issue regarding the white balance.

I just got the 8400 a little over a week ago and noticed that I have that problem, too. I just happened upon a sprint store out of town and got it there on the spot, but, since there is no longer a store where I live, I cannot go in to exchange it and it is not likely that I'll get back to the store before my trial period is up, huh?

I have tried to call them, but the message keeps saying that no one is available to take your call?? I'll keep trying to call them.

I am wondering if I'll have the option to exchange it via lock/line @ $50, huh?

[scott_walker]

I am also having the problems. Tomorrow is 2 weeks on this camera, I'm going to probably hope to exchange it for an M-1 when they come out and just time my returns so I can do it.

The color quality on my old 8200 is much better most of the time. Yup I get those green skies outside when taking pictures where the sun's in the picture. On bright days when the green isn't an issue the sky is to washed out and white. Inside the colors of the people are too yellow/orange. Now I DID take a picture of someone inside under florescent lighting with the image settings set at normal and the picture turned out nicely. But ya know what happened when I went into the camera settings and changed the white balance to florescent? Yup...yellowish faces again. Also my phone's camera seems to have a problem with the flash...it usually doesn't illuminate the subject, like the sync timing is off.

So....the rest of the phone's pretty nice, except for an occassional mystery shut-off, but the camera really bites. Too bad. If it actually had a good camera without the glitches I might seriously think of keeping it instead of trading it in for the m1, but this camera is just too intolerable I feel.

[tbakergobuck]

I posted this in another thread but thought it should be in this thread as well.

Somehow, I don't think that any firmware updates is going to fix the problem with the camera issue, what do you think, huh?

Also, I wonder why they put the camera at the bottom, where your finger can block the picture, instead of on the top, as in the 8200, huh?I was talking to Noname and he's not having the issue but I've had all four of my 8400's have the wacky picture issue. We thought maybe the cause of the wacky pictures is maybe becasue of a glare issue. I might cut a peice of velcro and put it right below the camera to see if that helps. Who knows if Sanyo did put the camera at the top of the flip like the 8300 or on back of the phone like the M1 then we might not be having camera issues. I doubt there will be a fix but you never know. I'm surprized that there hasen't been a update cause Sanyo/Sprint usually is pretty quick releasing them.

[cegil]

I called customer svc ... told them that there is no PCS store here, anymore. She said that I can try the Nextel store, but he said they cannot tie into the sprintpcs network, yet, to order phones. He suggested Radio Shack. The lady there said to bring it in and they will check it to see what can be done, huh?

Maybe they will be able to place an order for a replacement, within the trial period, huh?

[dumrox]

Not sure if this will be helpful, but here's my experience.

Got a blue 8400 right when they came out. It had the bright day picture problems as others have noted. Finally took it back to the Sprint store. They had two more blue ones in stock. The first one we tried had the same problem, but fortunately the 2nd one seemed to work fine.

In playing around with the new phone, I see that this phone doesn't have a zoom option when in camera mode, only in camcorder mode. My previous phone, the one with the white balance issue, had a zoom option while in camera mode. My wife's 8400, which never had the white balance issue, doesn't have a camera zoom option either.

Would be curious to see if this is consistant. Do all phones that have a camera zoom option have this white balance issue? Conversely, is the white balance issue a non issue for all phones without the camera zoom option? This would certainly indicate to me that the w/b issue was related to a firmware version and not a hardware issue. Also might make it easier to ensure you're getting a phone w/o any w/b issues. Just get one withouit the camera zoom option.

[krazyfiend]

all 3 of mine have had no zoom option in camera mode and have the white balance issue

[tbakergobuck]

I think you can only zoom when you lower the resolution to 640 x 480. I think it's just a bad camera placement but we may never know. lol

[NONAME]

all 3 of mine have had no zoom option in camera mode and have the white balance issue??NONE of Sprints camera phones zoom when in the HIGHEST RES. mode. Try using a lower Res. and you will find that you can use the zoom function.

[tbakergobuck]

??NONE of Sprints camera phones zoom when in the HIGHEST RES. mode. Try using a lower Res. and you will find that you can use the zoom function.Isan't that what I said. http://sprintusers.com/forum/images/smilies/newsmilies/scratch.gif Goof ball. Get some sleep. lol

[NONAME]

Isan't that what I said. http://sprintusers.com/forum/images/smilies/newsmilies/scratch.gif Goof ball. Get some sleep. lolBe quiet you phone JUNKIE :p ...you get some sleep :lol:

[tbakergobuck]

Be quiet you phone JUNKIE :p ...you get some sleep :lol:I would get some sleep but those dam pain killers made me wired. :lol: I see that your back to your first avatar.

[james2K]

??NONE of Sprints camera phones zoom when in the HIGHEST RES. mode. Try using a lower Res. and you will find that you can use the zoom function.

you never had the 9K? there was definitely 20x zoom capability at 1.3MP :cool:

[spicytuna]

Crap, almost a month now since I've bought the phone and it happened to me this afternoon. Pictures came out green!

C'mon Sanyo, what the hell is going on? How do you overlook such an obvious bug as this??? :irked:

[dtarrance]

you never had the 9K? there was definitely 20x zoom capability at 1.3MP :cool:

Dang, you beat me to it! :lol:

It does have this feature, but I find anything past 6-10x zoom (depending on distance to object(s) being photographed) is just too blurry, even if you set the phone down on something.

[james2K]

i agree, its pretty worthless over like you said 6-10. I was surprised that sanyo left this feature off the 8400

[dumrox]

ack! Thanks for the clarification guys. I knew I had used the zoom on my previous 8400 as I played around a bit to see if there was any difference between a zoom and just cropping from an unzoomed pic (answer = no difference). I guess I had forgotten about the zoom only at 640 since then.

My bad.

[neatfreakgeek]

My 84000 has similar white-balance issues where everything has a yellow tint. I'm still in my 30 days. Should I exchange it? Or wait it out for a software update?

[jedifisher]

I just got my 8400 and quickly noticed the green picture problem. The problem is caused by too much overall brightness contained within the image. For instance, if I take a picture of a snowy outside landscape thru my house window on a sunny day, with the window taking up most of the picture, the sky turns black and the snow is green. However, if I back up so that the window only takes up 1/2 of the picture everything is fine - the snow outside the window is bright white and the sky is blue.

Once there is enough total brigntness in the image, changing camera settings i.e white balance, brightness, etc has no effect on the outcome (pics are green, black and dark blue only). These facts make me believe that the CMOS camera hardware is being oversaturated by the total brightness of the subject matter and there is no valid data for the software to process.

I took my phone back to the Sprint store to see if others also had the problem. It was a bright sunny day and the front of the Sprint store was light tan, and with the sun at my back, I snapped a shot on the way in - presto green Sprint store! I showed the picture to the tech support person, and he said that he had not seen the problem before? He came outside and tried other 8400s all with identical green results. This makes me think that the problem exists with most, if not all, 8400s.

I called Sanyo support and they said that they were not aware of any problem? :irked: The fact that Sanyo does not admit that there is any problem also makes me believe that it is a hardware issue with no solution except to replace the phones! Which Sanyo does not want to do.

You may also notice that even in the normal looking pictures the reds look orange. Orange is actually red with some green in it. This camera just loves green.

If you want a reliable camera for all lighting conditions this phone is not for you. Hopefully the M1 will be better. :)

[JamieinMN]

I've got an 8400 that has the same problem.

I haven't been able to take one good picture outside without using the Night/Dark setting.

Has anyone found out anything more about this? Bad batch of phones? I just got my last week from Telesales.

Here are some pics, normal mode, no modified settings:

http://members.aol.com/mnweststudent/badpic1.jpghttp://members.aol.com/mnweststudent/badpic2.jpg

http://members.aol.com/mnweststudent/badpic3.jpghttp://members.aol.com/mnweststudent/badpic5.jpg

If I use the Night/Dark setting, they turn out wonderful:
http://members.aol.com/mnweststudent/goodpic1.jpghttp://members.aol.com/mnweststudent/goodpic2.jpg


Do you think a batch of phones are bad. Which is why some had no problems and others do? And since I got this phone from Telesales, will it be a big hassle to have it exchanged? Or Will they send a replacement, and then I ship back the defective?

[nerys]

HAH !! I wondered what that was. Took a picture came out all funky like it was inverted or something. Only happened once and I could make it do it on command if I shot the same "scene" but as soon as I aimed at something else it shot normal pictures. I was getting conspiracy goose bumps like that one building had something that was flipping my camera (just kidding :-) hehe

anyway it was something about the lighting or composition as it has never done it before and never done it again so I am not worried about it. I am pretty impressed with this phones camera. First phone where the pictures almost don't suck (all cell phone pics suck so :-)

I am happy with it. its good enough that I actually use it quite often. thankfully no "lag" issue like the A900 had :-)

[thrashjazz]

i have a white 8400 and I'm glad to say i don't have this problem. I've had it since February and have never taken a "green" picture.

[PaPPaSmuRf777]

My first 8400 was great but it went to shut down by it self and wouldnt come back on. Now my sec. 8400 has the "Green tint" and its strange that the camcorder doesnt have the problem.