Why does the camera use a flash even though I have turned flash off?

Question

I have the flash turned off on my phone:

camera settings

But when I take pictures, it flashes. Even outdoors in broad daylight. Why?

Indrek · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-15 14:29:11Z

5

That's probably the focus assist feature, which uses the flash before actually taking the picture, to focus the scene.

To disable this in the default Camera app:

In the Nokia Camera app:

Expand the app bar by tapping on the three dots
Select "settings"
Set "Focus assist light" to "always off". Alternatively, set it to "set by flash", so it will only be enabled when flash is enabled.

answered Jul 15 '14 at 14:29

Indrek♦

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what would be the consequences? Less focused pictures? – Kate Gregory Jul 15 '14 at 14:31
2

It's possible that focusing will be slower, or the camera will fail to focus properly. This should only be a problem in low-light scenarios, so you'll have to experiment with the setting yourself. Personally I use Nokia Camera and set it to "set by flash". – Indrek♦ Jul 15 '14 at 14:33

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