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Long story short, new company doesn't allow cameras in their facilities and I'm having serious Thunderbolt withdrawals.
I was wondering if anybody had ever removed the cameras from their Thunderbolt and the phone still worked after the "surgery."
If you did, is there a specific procedure you would follow? I found this online: http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/...=47&tag=siu-container;photopaging#photopaging
But that guy is actually just tearing the phone apart. Is there a way to get to just the cameras without pulling the whole phone apart?
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
Go take a look at the FCC approval photos Adrynalyn posted... Not only will you be taking the phone apart, you'll be taking it apart to the BONE. I'm also pretty confident you'd destroy the phone in the process.
Curious... why would you even tell someone you've got the thing or show that it's got cameras on it, knowing the policy?
Jmc: I guarantee you're absolutely incorrect. There are many people who work in high security companies. There has to be at least one person who has done this.
loonatik78 said:
Go take a look at the FCC approval photos Adrynalyn posted... Not only will you be taking the phone apart, you'll be taking it apart to the BONE. I'm also pretty confident you'd destroy the phone in the process.
Curious... why would you even tell someone you've got the thing or show that it's got cameras on it, knowing the policy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you think I would destroy the phone?
As for your other question, sometimes security will sweep the entire building/staff, just in case. In those instances, if you're caught with a cameraphone, you're getting fired.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
infinite012 said:
Why do you think I would destroy the phone?
As for your other question, sometimes security will sweep the entire building/staff, just in case. In those instances, if you're caught with a cameraphone, you're getting fired.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you'd destroy the phone because that camera isn't just a simple surface mount device like the power or volume micro-switches. It's an entire 8MP camera in a VERY tiny box. To kinda give you an idea how those things are mass produced, a solder paste is applied sort of like one might silk screen a shirt. Then the individual components are placed in their correct locations. Finally, the entire thing is baked in an oven to melt the soldier paste and adhere the components. If you want to see what I'm talking about, go to Qualcomm's website and look at the physical interface for the Snapdragon chip. Assuming the cameras is mounted in a remotely similar way, you're going to destroy the device removing them. Additionally, the FFC also functions as both a brightness and proximity sensor. Removing it would have consequences that would be difficult to predict.
infinite012 said:
Long story short, new company doesn't allow cameras in their facilities and I'm having serious Thunderbolt withdrawals.
I was wondering if anybody had ever removed the cameras from their Thunderbolt and the phone still worked after the "surgery."
If you did, is there a specific procedure you would follow? I found this online: http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/...=47&tag=siu-container;photopaging#photopaging
But that guy is actually just tearing the phone apart. Is there a way to get to just the cameras without pulling the whole phone apart?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would filling over it with some sort of hard/opaque/sticky/permanent adhesive substance suffice? Something like putting epoxy or something over the lens so it renders it no longer useful.
yareally said:
Would filling over it with some sort of hard/opaque/sticky/permanent adhesive substance suffice? Something like putting epoxy or something over the lens so it renders it no longer useful.
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Click to collapse
That might work for the rear camera, but the FFC needs to function correctly to control screen brightness and proximity.
loonatik78 said:
That might work for the rear camera, but the FFC needs to function correctly to control screen brightness and proximity.
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Click to collapse
I dont know about that. Very few android phones have a front facing camera and they function just fine. Besides you can manually adjust brightness. The proximity sensor also has nothing to do with the camera. It's located under the speaker for receiving calls near the LED.
yareally said:
I dont know about that. Very few android phones have a front facing camera and they function just fine. Besides you can manually adjust brightness. The proximity sensor also has nothing to do with the camera. It's located under the speaker for receiving calls near the LED.
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Click to collapse
I was wrong. You're right about the prox sensor. Still, the devices that lack the FFC use a light sensor instead. I'd go nuts trying to adjust the screen all the time. If it were completely removed, there's still no promise the screen would even light up.
loonatik78 said:
I was wrong. You're right about the prox sensor. Still, the devices that lack the FFC use a light sensor instead. I'd go nuts trying to adjust the screen all the time. If it were completely removed, there's still no promise the screen would even light up.
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Click to collapse
Yeah that would be a pain, lol, but maybe he's desperate enough he doesn't care. He would obviously be addicted to his phone way more than I would be if so
yareally said:
Yeah that would be a pain, lol, but maybe he's desperate enough he doesn't care. He would obviously be addicted to his phone way more than I would be if so
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Click to collapse
Well, it's stuff like this that's the reason RIM still builds their top tier BlackBerrys with and without cameras.
Maybe this is too simple but how about just leave your phone in your car?
Sent from my Synergized Thunderbolt via XDA Premium App
Just a suggestion to the OP, there's been others that have asked the same question before. Might try looking through those http://www.google.com/search?client...ndroid+phone&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 for different solutions.
Yeah, I've been doing that (leaving phone in car), but I'm getting bored of the playlists on my ipod and would like to spice it up with Pandora.
Also, I would like to be able to receive emergency calls/texts from my family.
I have searched Google, which is how I got that first link with the teardown. If you guys think it's unwise to take out the cameras after looking at that, please say so. If you're making assumptions about the necessity of the cameras, take a look at the link.
infinite012 said:
Yeah, I've been doing that (leaving phone in car), but I'm getting bored of the playlists on my ipod and would like to spice it up with Pandora.
Also, I would like to be able to receive emergency calls/texts from my family.
I have searched Google, which is how I got that first link with the teardown. If you guys think it's unwise to take out the cameras after looking at that, please say so. If you're making assumptions about the necessity of the cameras, take a look at the link.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Functionality aside, simply how that big one on the rear is mounted would dissuade me.
infinite012 said:
Yeah, I've been doing that (leaving phone in car), but I'm getting bored of the playlists on my ipod and would like to spice it up with Pandora.
Also, I would like to be able to receive emergency calls/texts from my family.
I have searched Google, which is how I got that first link with the teardown. If you guys think it's unwise to take out the cameras after looking at that, please say so. If you're making assumptions about the necessity of the cameras, take a look at the link.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's your phone, but I wouldn't mess with it unless I knew what I were doing with it.
Remove the camera apps, you can't take a picture with it if the application to take it has been removed. (i'm sure the company won't believe it, but it is a solution)
g00s3y said:
Remove the camera apps, you can't take a picture with it if the application to take it has been removed. (i'm sure the company won't believe it, but it is a solution)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If only it were that simple. I didn't believe it at first, but people get fired for having camera capable phones even if they don't have a battery in or near the phone. They're really strict on security.
Go to Wal-Mart & get a cheap Go Phone and some mins . If it has a camera , destroy that one .
I recently posted that my friend and I have the same phone with the same carrier, the same firmware (2.3.4) etc. I asked why his camera was better, and never got a answer which solved it. I now think this was my folley as it appears that it is actually his screen which is better.
We bluetoothed some pictures we both had aken ourselves to see if it was in fact the camera and although it is not as big a difference when we take pictures on each device his pictures (the same pictures) look slightly beter.
Any ideas why this may be, if i got a botched phone or something? there is a couple of slight scrathes over my camera if tht could make the difference but i doubt it since it's more the fact my pictures are blurry.
Thanks in advance, Harry
HarrySansom said:
I recently posted that my friend and I have the same phone with the same carrier, the same firmware (2.3.4) etc. I asked why his camera was better, and never got a answer which solved it. I now think this was my folley as it appears that it is actually his screen which is better.
We bluetoothed some pictures we both had aken ourselves to see if it was in fact the camera and although it is not as big a difference when we take pictures on each device his pictures (the same pictures) look slightly beter.
Any ideas why this may be, if i got a botched phone or something? there is a couple of slight scrathes over my camera if tht could make the difference but i doubt it since it's more the fact my pictures are blurry.
Thanks in advance, Harry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you check the screen settings? There's one besides 'Brightness'. The screen can be set to something, Dynamic, or something else. This could be it... have a look around and make sure you're on the same settings.
FWIW I read your first post a week or 2 ago, and didn't answer cause it sounds like a really strange problem...and without both phones in my hand I couldn't begin to speculate. I doubt that you got a sub-par phone. Try making photos without holding the device, set it on a level surface. The blur could be from your hand shaking very very slightly, and maybe your buddy has steadier hands than you do. Really, no way to tell without having the phones in front of me. Sorry if this doesn't help. Keep us posted on your findings and good luck!
I saw that some i9100 got a different Camara Firmware possibly he got a better Firmware...
if thats not right someone can still blame me
sean is here. said:
Did you check the screen settings? There's one besides 'Brightness'. The screen can be set to something, Dynamic, or something else. This could be it... have a look around and make sure you're on the same settings.
FWIW I read your first post a week or 2 ago, and didn't answer cause it sounds like a really strange problem...and without both phones in my hand I couldn't begin to speculate. I doubt that you got a sub-par phone. Try making photos without holding the device, set it on a level surface. The blur could be from your hand shaking very very slightly, and maybe your buddy has steadier hands than you do. Really, no way to tell without having the phones in front of me. Sorry if this doesn't help. Keep us posted on your findings and good luck!
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Click to collapse
I know it's hard without seeing both, we're struggling with both. I have a more recent camera firmware i think as i updated through samsung apps not long ago. I'm not entirely sure about the shake but we have done a lot of photos and we almost always had him take both pictues. Also we both use 'standard' screen mode (we checked).
check to make sure that the camera lense is clean as well, often a smudgy/dirty lense will make bad photos.
I'm actually having the same problem (and have been having it for months). I only noticed it when I was a concert late last year and I was recording on my phone and watching other people's SGS2s record. Theirs was obviously much clearer and did not distort like my camera/footage did (when lights would flash, mines would blur, 'blob' together lights that were close to one another etc. while theirs captured it with clarity). Then I started to notice that when I zoom in, my camera gets extremely blurry, too. I started comparing to a few other people and, yes, on the same settings my camera is much worse. I've tried resetting the camera settings which has proved to do nothing for it.
I was starting to think I was crazy but I've finally found someone else with the same/a similar problem (was extremely hard to Google).
I also updated my firmware via Samsung Apps. It seems to be great in natural light but otherwise, it's really quite poor.
Camera firmware is TBEF04.
Any ideas?
guys it would be better if we can attach our sample pictures. i had similar problem. this is mine.
The spot metering function on my camera seems to have stopped working. When you choose spot metering mode in the camera and use your finger to point at a bright object on the edge of the screen, the exposure does nothing. Samsung tech support confirmed that the exposure is supposed to be adjusted to that spot that you touched but it doesn't do it on my S3. It used to work but just stopped a couple of weeks ago. What's even stranger that some S3's seem to work fine but others also don't work - I tried whole bunch of them today in various stores and some work just fine but others don't work at all.Is yours broken?
Homey said:
The spot metering function on my camera seems to have stopped working. When you choose spot metering mode in the camera and use your finger to point at a bright object on the edge of the screen, the exposure does nothing. Samsung tech support confirmed that the exposure is supposed to be adjusted to that spot that you touched but it doesn't do it on my S3. It used to work but just stopped a couple of weeks ago. What's even stranger that some S3's seem to work fine but others also don't work - I tried whole bunch of them today in various stores and some work just fine but others don't work at all.Is yours broken?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is broken as well, it only focuses. That's probably related to the fact that my manual exposure controls also don't work though.
It never occurred to me that spot metering should work according to the area you touch. I had always assumed that spot metering takes the reading from the centrer spot on the camera like a DSLR.
Mine only focuses, it does not meter the point that I touch.
Actually, this functionality has been there from the Galaxy S so it's nothing new or revolutionary!
I think that most people don't use the camera as anything more than a simple point and shoot, which is a pity because its easily as good as the iPhone 4S camera and perhaps even a bit better, and we all know the fuss people make about that.
There are a lot of users wandering around with broken cameras but no one seems to care, as you can tell from the number of responses to the original post!
I was always wondering why my S3 only does spot metering at the center spot. Is this a bug or a feature? I think my spot metering is broken but if it should work only at the center then it's fine. Can somebody clear this up?
I'm so glad someone else has this problem - not in a mean way. It's just infuriating me at the moment - was trying to take a sunset picture today and realised it wasn't working when I tapped on the different areas. Infuriating, but not sure how to fix!
same issue here... my Galaxy S does it wonderfully right with spot metering on the spot I touch... my S3 which has a far better cam miserably fails at spot metering and only takes the center average... so spot metering is just broken
Galaxy Note 2 has same camera hardware and software as the S3. My spot metering worked in the past while on the stock rom. I'm on a custom rom, Jedi rom, and it no longer works. This is a TW based rom so I'm surprised it doesn't work. But from what I'm hearing, users on stock firmware are having problems as well.
Thanks to those who stuck it out diagnosing and raising the level of awareness around this problem. Almost every thread I find has some long-winded helpful genius in it explaining to us how we don't understand what spot metering is and that there is no problem. Sometimes you have to be extremely persistent on the net or your problem will be buried by the highly motivated know nothings.
I hope this problem is figured out. I, for one, would NOT trade a faster camera against one with spot metering. These cameras have tiny sensors and will never be great (I have aps-c and full frames). The ability to expose a particular point properly with no regard for the rest of the frame is the only saving grace for these cameras with so narrow a dynamic range due to the small sensor.
I'm learning in this search that this is a big reason most people take poor pictures with camera phones. They don't know how to use the spot metering to mitigate (somewhat) the limitations of the small sensor. I'll report back when/if I find a solution.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
_atlien_ said:
Galaxy Note 2 has same camera hardware and software as the S3...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And guess what... SGS4 has the exact same issue with their cam!!! Can you believe it? I could for one not... When I was testing out the SGS4 in the phone store with stock firmware... it had no touch spot meter that would measure where I push... but the same dumb center weighted spot meter it has in SGS3 and NOTE2. I am disappointed Samsung... it has the best camera but without a proper spot meter. :crying::crying::crying:
I am starting to think this has been done intentionally to dumb things down a bit... or they have some patent issue with apple or someone else with their "touch to spot meter" tech... sigh... patents...
Sigh... I tried asking about this when I first got my GS3 back in October. Same thing.. I don't get how this hasn't been addressed. You can see my thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1963959
I even contacted Samsung France where I am, Samsung USA, and even my mobile carrier and nobody could answer. The shameful thing was that Samsung's TECH SUPPORT didn't even know what I was talking about. I kind of gave up.
A trick for you guys which seems to have worked for me...
Ironically, before getting the GS3, the spot meter worked brilliantly on my HTC myTouch4G. You would touch a spot, wait for it to register with a beep and then wherever you moved, it locked in that exposure. Try this...
- point the screen to the place you want the exposure to be set for
- tap the screen there to focus
- only when you've seen it focus (green square) and heard it beep signaling exposure and focus lock, press and HOLD the shutter button and move to the framing you actually want
- let go of the shutter to take the picture
I have found that it takes one or two tries but it DOES work. You will see that the moment you let go of the shutter, it will go back to what the exposure would have been where you framed.
Feel free to ask questions if this doesn't make sense.
I can't get that to work. But I may not be following the instructions correctly. The beginning steps aren't clear for me.
Center the desired focal point on the screen then touch and lock that point. Then press and hold shutter. Then recompose picture. Then release shutter.
This doesn't work for me. Holding the shutter button doesn't lock the exposure.
Also wondering if this problem is hardware or software. I installed ProCapture app which is supposed to have spot metering which didn't work on my Galaxy Note 2. Just FYI.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
Hi guys! It's a pleasure for me to notice that other people are struggling for this problem!!!:high five:
I remember that my Samsung Wave 2 , with Bada 1.2, gave me amazing shots: the exposition were linked to the focus point. Then with Bada 2.0 all has changed and, independently from the metering method the exposure is alway always weighted at the centre of the image.
Ok one can make recomposition, but it takes minutes and a the results are not so brilliant.
Now I have a Lumia 620: same problem, i'm getting crazy!!
Does anybody knows the reason of this stupid choice??
i select spot-metering mode, point at my brightly sunlight desk, i click different areas of the screen and while focusing the colours seem to change saturation and "fill".. does this mean my metering is working?
Yeah! If the colors of the photo change on the basis of your taps on the screen, then you have the exposure that follows the AF point. You are very lucky!!
Notice that in many devices even if you choose spot metering, the spot is linked to a central point of the image!
But does it happen only with spot or also with other metering modes?
yep mine's broken too not sure if it worked before it fell on the floor but i highly doubt that it worked in the first place it's damn sad that the S3 is such a great phone but has a partly broken cam on 90% of the S3's and still they didn't fix it in the S4
Thank you so much for the quick fix
ive tried over 20 apps
messed around with 100's of setting..... no dice
tinpanalley, your tip is the only way yo make this work
this is by far THE WORST camera a phone could ever had, i feel very sorry for people who purchased the S3 for it's incapable camera.
and the funniest thing is that they screwed up the s4 camera as well, L O L
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/w3aflekki0thqhj/AABqSYnVucDo-QVQeqYJeb2Ba
Anyone have this wonderful issue? I used my note 8 in the exact manner and no issues. No case on the s9+ or anything that could cause this besides a possible hardware issue or I received a lemon. Please check out your camera's and let me know plz. I hope it's just my phone
Yes! Under certain angels it's unbearable. Even had to check if I left some of the film on there, nope..
lightninbug said:
Yes! Under certain angels it's unbearable. Even had to check if I left some of the film on there, nope..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. I went back outside to take more pics and I noticed the camera module was very reflective. It was like i was reflecting light with a little mirror. I grabbed my note 8 to see how that module's reflected light. At first i barely saw the reflection. Then i had to really put the phone at a major angle to get a brighter reflection. I think the camera module's aren't positioned correctly or designed correctly to avoid recieving the sun's rays in an improper way which then produces these crazy sun rays in the pics. My pics were taken mid day so the sun was kinda just past it's peak height. I took more pics later on with the sun lower and couldn't recreate the crazy flare. This is a deal breaker for me. Do you plan on keeping yours? I called Samsung and they weren't any help. They told me to return the phone and order another if I wanted.. this sucks
Damn. That's some crazy lens flare. I'm heading to Hawaii next week, and I'll be taking my S9+ (if it shows up on time). I hope the lens flare isn't going to ruin all my pics.
My Note 8 does it at certain angles, I just use my hand as a lens hood on the side that the sun is coming from.
GibMcFragger said:
Damn. That's some crazy lens flare. I'm heading to Hawaii next week, and I'll be taking my S9+ (if it shows up on time). I hope the lens flare isn't going to ruin all my pics.
My Note 8 does it at certain angles, I just use my hand as a lens hood on the side that the sun is coming from.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, it's bad. Just communicated with Samsung Support on Twitter and they blamed the dual aperture. Suggested I try different angles and tap to focus. Smh. Guess enough people will have to complain before they realize there's an issue.
droidrev71 said:
Yeah, it's bad. Just communicate with Samsung Support on Twitter and they blamed the dual aperture. Suggested I try different angles and tap to focus. Smh. Guess enough people will have to complain before they realize there's an issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol Well, if it is the dual aperture, it's a design/manufacturer flaw.
They basically just fed you the "You're holding it wrong" Apple reply, lol.
Thought it was a rainbow. How did you get it to show? As none of my pics have that but it hasn't been sunny here
Yeah the 1st photo I took outside had lens flare. I'll deal. I got the phone for the stereo speakers and speed. Not the camera.
While it may not eliminate all of it, you do have something on the outer glass covering the lens. It needs to be cleaned with a lens pen. That's what's causing those little o shaped artifacts. Because of the tiny aperture and very wide (F 1.5), these objective element must be kept optically clean as if it were a laser optic! That's exceedingly difficult since its exposed. My suggestion is to purchase a lens pen and keep it with you if the best quality pictures are important. One can really see this at night when capturing dark scenes with bright pinpoint sources such as headlamps and streetlights, etc.
My biggest issue with camera phones (they all have it!) is the internal reflections producing ghost images. It's really apparent at events (i.e. concerts) with multiple bright points of light. Bathes the image in little blue-green dots everywhere.
skivnit said:
Thought it was a rainbow. How did you get it to show? As none of my pics have that but it hasn't been sunny here
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Click to collapse
It was all from the sun. I had issues with my pics no matter which way I stood.
sireniankyle said:
Yeah the 1st photo I took outside had lens flare. I'll deal. I got the phone for the stereo speakers and speed. Not the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was the flare similar to mine?
cpufrost said:
While it may not eliminate all of it, you do have something on the outer glass covering the lens. It needs to be cleaned with a lens pen. That's what's causing those little o shaped artifacts. Because of the tiny aperture and very wide (F 1.5), these objective element must be kept optically clean as if it were a laser optic! That's exceedingly difficult since its exposed. My suggestion is to purchase a lens pen and keep it with you if the best quality pictures are important. One can really see this at night when capturing dark scenes with bright pinpoint sources such as headlamps and streetlights, etc.
My biggest issue with camera phones (they all have it!) is the internal reflections producing ghost images. It's really apparent at events (i.e. concerts) with multiple bright points of light. Bathes the image in little blue-green dots everywhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The pic with the circled artifacts was the first pic I took. The lens was clean toothe best of my knowledge. The following pics didn't have and of those artifacts pop up. Nevertheless, I'm concerned that there is a design flaw. I've owned many phones and have never had such an issue with taking pics with the sun. I was tweeting Samsung support and said the light penetrating into the lens was the reason for the terrible pics. Idk.. the phone is very new so we'll see how many do or don't come forward with this issue. All I know is the afternoon sun was just at the right height to cause the angle that the camera didn't agree with.
It's possible as with wider apertures and very bright out of frame light sources striking the periphery of the aperture you will see this. This can't be avoided even with pro gear hence the use of bulky hoods.
The idea of a two step iris, even in its rudimentary form, is a new frontier for mobile devices and this could be a glaring limitation if not annoying. Just as when driving one uses a visor or their hand, you may have to improvise and provide some shading to limit these artifacts.
Used hand as a shield
Well, took some more pics and the results are terrible. I even had it in video. I used my hand as a shield and away went the lens flare. I even rotated the phone to were the modules were on the opposite side as I normally use the phone during picture and video taking. I think that made it worse. I'm just disgusted.
Another example of me shielding the sun.
Sorry but they were flipped during the upload process.
Delete
droidrev71 said:
Was the flare similar to mine?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll just share
Nothing yet for me, keeping my fingers crossed.
sireniankyle said:
I'll just share
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Click to collapse
Thank you for sharing. The speakers and speed are great! I messed with the phone before it was released and thought the speakers were ok. When trying them when I recieved the phone i was very impressed. I take a ton of pics so I don't think I can tolerate this camera issue.
Natureboy72 said:
Nothing yet for me, keeping my fingers crossed.
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Click to collapse
Fingers crossed!
Seems like an obvious idea that Samsung missed but I thought it would be cool if when using the camera with the main screen, the front screen could also be on showing the person you're taking a photo of a live preview.
If Samsung is lurking here maybe we could see it an update.
Anyone else think this is a good idea?
I had a similar idea when I used my phone for vlogging, if I could open the fold and still use the front screen for the framing of the shot, it could be great... but I doubt Samsung would do it...
its a small screen for anyone to see from a proper distance away, but yes it would be an added benefit regardless.
but i agree with the previous user. i doubt samsung would do it.
i think there is too much concentration on the S11 and Fold 2 at the moment, i don't think they will add very many "quality of life" updates to the fold.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-fold/themes/view-resolution-camera-unfolded-galaxy-t4110369
I have switch to use front screen with latest update and Camera app ver