How to fix Galaxy Note 8 camera vertical blurred line issue, other Android camera issues

Hello Android fans! Today’s troubleshooting article answers some camera issues about some Android phones like the #GalaxyNote8, #GalaxyS8, #LGG5 and #HuaweiP10. We don’t mean this post to be an exhaustive guide to fixing all camera issues for devices mentioned above. The solutions we provide here are only for the particular cases raised by the four users below.

If there’s one thing that makes smartphones particularly appealing to millions of users today, it is their camera. Obviously, gone are the days where phones are only for communication purposes only. Right now, smartphones touches a lot of aspects in our life, including the side of everyone of us to easily snap a moment. That said, having a camera problem in our smartphone is not only annoying but can potentially impact our lifestyle.

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page.

When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Problem 1: Galaxy Note 8 camera showing vertical blurred line

Hi! So I have the Galaxy Note 8 and I’ve noticed something with the camera when indoors. There are vertical blur lines in the camera in indoor lighting. Is that supposed to happen? It doesn’t always happen but if I hold it in a certain position and the indoor light is hitting a certain way, I see moving vertical blur lines. Otherwise the pictures are absolutely perfect once adjusted. The quality of the pictures are of really good quality. Just wanted to know why this happens because I haven’t been able to find anything online. Thanks! — Nooran_khan

Solution: Hi Nooran. Light can play tricks in lenses sometimes. The vertical blurred lines you see may only occur if the camera lens hit a certain color spectrum in a certain angle. If that’s not that, then it may be an issue with your Note 8 screen. It can be a minor hardware or firmware bug. Try to learn more about the issue by discerning certain patterns when the vertical lines occur again. Try to take note of your observations and bring the phone to your nearest Samsung service so a Samsung technician can take a look at it. Before bringing the device to Samsung, make sure that you can replicate the issue consistently. Otherwise, Samsung will simply dismiss the issue and not pay attention to it.

Problem 2: Galaxy S8 won’t open camera settings

Hi. I’ve been having issues trying to access the camera settings on my Samsung S8. I know there’s two ways to access the settings menu but I can’t access either one. I click on the wheel cog for settings, the settings screen opens and then closes right away. Please help! — Louise

Solution: Hi Louise. You’re right, there are two ways to access Camera app settings. One is by opening the Camera app and tapping on the Settings icon (cog). The other is by going under Settings>Apps>Camera app>More settings. If you can’t access setting via any of these routes, that means there may be an issue with the camera app itself, or with the operating system. To fix the issue, try clearing the camera app’s data first. To do that, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down), or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
  2. Navigate down to Apps. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager.
  3. Once in there, look for the Camera app and tap it.
  4. You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
  5. Tap on Clear Data button.
  6. Check if you can access camera settings now.

Clearing camera app’s data is the virtual equivalent of reinstalling the app. The customizations you made before will be deleted.

If clearing the camera app’s settings won’t help, the next good thing to do is to see if the problem is due to a bad third party app. Here’s how:

  1. Turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
  3. When SAMSUNG appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume Down key.
  5. Continue to hold the Volume Down key until the device finishes restarting.
  6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  7. Release the Volume Down key when you see Safe Mode.
  8. .Check if you can access camera app settings.

If you can go into camera settings this way, this means that one of your installed apps is causing the problem. Remember, restarting your device to safe mode is not a solution but a means to it. Since you now know that a third party app is interfering with your default camera app, you’ll need to identify it and remove it from the system. The best way to do that is by uninstalling third party apps. Basically, what you need to do is to uninstall an app and check if you can access camera app settings. If the problem remains, that means that the recently app you removed is not the one causing the problem (you can reinstall it later). You’ll then need to do the same cycle of removing and replicating the problem until you’ve identified the culprit.

Finally, if the problem can’t be removed by clearing camera app’s data or by observing the phone, you can do the more drastic solution by wiping the phone clean, also known as factory reset. Here’s how:

  1. Back up data on the internal memory. If you have signed into a Google account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft and will need your Google credentials to finish the Master reset.
  2. Turn off the device.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume Down key several times to highlight wipe data / factory reset.
  6. Press Power button to select.
  7. Press the Volume Down key until Yes — delete all user data is highlighted.
  8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  9. When the master reset is complete, Reboot system now is highlighted.
  10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Problem 3: LG G5 photos are too large when sent via SMS or email, how to reduce photo file size

I read your article on how to use the camera, but did not see how to change the picture’s resolution. When I just need to send an informational picture for work, I often can only attach one picture or sometimes can’t even attach one in a text or in an email. I’ve had multiple time-sensitive work emails bounce back unsent because the pics are too large, and when they do send, I’ve gotten complaints. Is there a way to set the camera to lower resolution or to shrink existing pics with the camera or Gallery? For LG G5 — Michele Nordahl

Solution: Hi Michele. In an LG G5, you’ll be able to adjust the aspect ratio resolution by going into camera settings>resolution. Once you’ve tapped the resolution icon, you’ll have the option to either select 16:9, 4:3, or 1:1. Using each of these options does not mean that  the file sizes of your photos will be reduced significantly though. Although selecting, for example, 1:1 over 4:3, will reduce the number of pixels per unit area of a photo, and hence the overall file size, the reduction may not be enough for your need. Even if you select any of the aspect ratio, file size reduction may only hover to about 1MB. This means that the average file size in any given photo you take using your camera will still be about 4MB.

Most carriers will only allow sending an SMS with an attachment in their network if the total file size is not over 1MB. If you’ll send a message with your pictures, they’ll most likely be compressed by your carrier’s system before it can be transmitted. The problem is, file compression sacrifices the quality of the file. A compressed photo can look very bad when it reaches the recipient.

If you want to send photos in their original resolution, try using cloud services like Dropbox or Google Drive. Even other platforms that allow for bigger attachments like Facebook Messenger will compress your files although the end result is not that bad compared to a cellular network’s.

Your LG G5 device does not have a built-in feature that will compress your photos.  Try using other photo editing apps and see if you can get what you want.

Problem 4: Huawei P10 camera wide aperture feature not working after lens replacement

Recently, the camera on my Huawei P10 became misaligned and I had to replace the lens. After replacing the lens, I noticed that my favourite camera mode (wide-aperture mode with digital bokeh) would no longer work. Every other mode is perfectly fine, but wide-aperture mode refuses to function. When I used to take photos with this mode, I could change the aperture with a slider at the right-hand corner of the screen, setting it to as low as 0.95, which makes the background of the photo out-of-focus using a digital bokeh effect. The slider is still there right now, but I see no difference in the photos or camera no matter what I set the aperture to. The photos I take using wide-aperture mode do not display a wide-aperture symbol at the bottom left of the photo’s thumbnail, like it’s supposed to. I used to be able to adjust the photo’s aperture in the gallery after taking the photo, but now it just displays as a regular picture. It’s as if I didn’t even use the mode at all. I’m relatively certain that this is a software issue with the app, since bokeh is added digitally, not using the lens itself, but I’ve searched online and no one else has had this issue before, so now I’m not so sure. I just really want that mode back because half the photos I took in the past utilized the bokeh effect. Do you think you can help me? Thank you! (: — Jing Li

Solution: Hi Jing. Digital bokeh in Huawei P10 is not purely software function. Leica’s digital camera technology that Huawei uses utilizes both hardware and software in order to achieve the wide-angle with bokeh effect shots. Tampering with the hardware must have changed some software configuration causing the issue you’re having. Try to factory reset your phone and see if that will fix it. If not, consider replacing the entire camera assembly (and not just the lens) with the original one and see if that will return the original camera function of your device. Otherwise, you’re stuck with what you have.

 


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