Android :: Speed Up Camera Snaps

Apparently auto focus in a phone camera isn't all it's hyped up to be. To get faster performance (the time from pressing the shutter button to the picture being taken is usually slowed down by the camera trying to find focus in autofocus mode (and sometimes missing completely and giving up if the subject is dark or lack contrast). I'm not sure about all Android phones, but my Acer Liquid has a focus setting either 'infinity' or 'auto'. From what what I understand about photography, on a small lens such as on a camera phone, the DOF (Depth of Field) is very large, and when the focus is set to the hyperfocal length (the 'infinity' setting), everything from infinity to about 2.5 ft is in focus. I confirmed this with my phone (set focus to infinity, see what the closest thing that's in focus). So what this really means is for almost all regular picture-taking, it should be set to 'infinity' for faster performance, and only set to 'auto' when one needs to take pictures of objects closer than about 2.5 ft, like a 'macro' mode. So it would've actually made more sense if Android Camera app were to label the two settings '0-2.5 ft auto focus' and 2.5-infinity fixed focus'. If your camera has this setting, give it a try and see if it's snappier.