Tuesday, December 30, 2014

How to Disable Android Smartphone Auto Focus--Solved!

Manual Focus for Android Smartphone!

My Samsung Note 3 is good enough that I use it to film my television program here in Fujian, China--but I was long frustrated with the video zooming in and out, even though the phone was on a tripod and I stood as if I was in a straitjacket. After 30+ takes to get only 10 usable shots (because of the video zooming in and out),  I was ready for a straightjacket. Fortunately, Android now has a way out of this problem!

1. Turn on the video camera.
2. Tap the screen on the area you want to manually fix the focus  (you may need to hold it a second or two, depending on the phone).
3. You'll see a small circle with a square inside, and  AF inside the square. This means the Auto-Focus is now manually fixed on the area of the screen you tapped. You can now move the phone about and it will stay focused on that one spot. Kudos to Google. It was long enough coming.

But how to do this when you're filming yourself, as I do for my TV program? My solution is cumbersome but it works. I place some large object about my height (cardboard cutout or something) in front of the camera, tap on that area, then take its place.

I hope this was helpful. Click Here if you'd like to read how I use an Android  smartphone (Galaxy Note ), Ravelli tripod, Ampridge smartphone directional boom mike and Kootek Android Smartphone Remote Control to film myself for the Fujian TV program (shown 5 days a week).

Enjoy Amoy!

Dr. Bill

And learn more about Fujian and Xiamen Island from my eBooks below.

"Fujian Adventure" $1.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J22FA98/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00J22FA98&linkCode=as2&tag=amoymagic-20
Bill Brown Xiamen University www
oymagic.com