Android Camera.takePicture failed… here is a solution to the problem.
Android Camera.takePicture failed
As a learning exercise, I’m writing a security application that needs to turn the camera on, take pictures, and turn it off when any event occurs, without worrying about flashing, focusing, or displaying previews. I followed the online demo and made an app that can take pictures, but it uses previews and so on. So I started working on getting it to work without a preview. Anyway, I keep getting the exception of “photo failed” and I don’t know why. I hope that people with more experience with the Camera API can take a look and point the direction of the solution. Here are my relevant documents. I’m using the latest Android Studio and testing on the Galaxy S4.
[Main Activity .java].
package com.g5digital.cam2;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.hardware.Camera;
import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.LinearLayout;
import android.widget.Toast;
import java.io.IOException;
public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity implements View.OnClickListener {
private static final String TAG = "MainActivity";
private Button button;
private int cameraId;
private Camera camera;
private CameraPreview camPreview;
private LinearLayout container;
private Camera.Parameters camParms;
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
container = (LinearLayout)findViewById(R.id.container);
button = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button);
button.setOnClickListener(this);
}
@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
return true;
}
@Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
int id = item.getItemId();
if (id == R.id.action_settings) {
return true;
}
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
@Override
public void onClick(View view) {
openCamera();
try {
if (camera != null) {
PhotoHandler ph = new PhotoHandler(this, camera);
camera.takePicture(null, null, ph);
Commented until takePicture() works
/*(new Handler()).postDelayed(new Runnable() {
@Override
public void run() {
MainActivity.this.closeCamera();
}
}, 1000); */
}
}
catch (Exception e) {
closeCamera();
Log.d(TAG, e.getMessage());
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
private void openCamera() {
do we have a camera?
if (!getPackageManager()
.hasSystemFeature(PackageManager.FEATURE_CAMERA)) {
Toast.makeText(this, "No camera on this device", Toast.LENGTH_LONG)
.show();
}
else {
closeCamera();
cameraId = findFrontFacingCameraId();
if (cameraId < 0) {
Toast.makeText(this, "No front facing camera found.",
Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
} else {
camera = Camera.open(cameraId);
try {
setCamParms();
setCamPreview();
camera.startPreview();
}
catch (Exception e) {
closeCamera();
e.printStackTrace();
finish();
return;
}
}
}
}
private void closeCamera() {
if (camera != null) {
camera.release();
camera = null;
}
}
private int findFrontFacingCameraId() {
int camera_id = -1;
Search for the front facing camera
int numberOfCameras = Camera.getNumberOfCameras();
for (int i = 0; i < numberOfCameras; i++) {
Camera.CameraInfo info = new Camera.CameraInfo();
Camera.getCameraInfo(i, info);
if (info.facing == Camera.CameraInfo.CAMERA_FACING_FRONT) {
Log.d(TAG, "Camera found");
camera_id = i;
break;
}
}
return camera_id;
}
private void setCamParms() {
if (camParms == null && camera != null) {
camParms = camera.getParameters();
camParms.setFlashMode("Off");
}
if (camera != null) {
camera.setParameters(camParms);
camera.setDisplayOrientation(90);
}
}
private void setCamPreview() throws IOException {
if (camPreview == null && camera != null) {
camPreview = new CameraPreview(this, camera);
}
if (camera != null) {
camera.setPreviewDisplay(camPreview.getHolder());
}
}
}
[CameraPreview.java]
package com.g5digital.cam2;
import android.content.Context;
import android.hardware.Camera;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.SurfaceHolder;
import android.view.SurfaceView;
import java.io.IOException;
public class CameraPreview extends SurfaceView implements SurfaceHolder.Callback {
private Context context;
private Camera camera;
private SurfaceHolder holder;
private static final String TAG = "CameraPreview";
public CameraPreview(Context c, Camera cam) {
super(c);
context = c;
camera = cam;
holder = getHolder();
holder.addCallback(this);
}
@Override
public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder surfaceHolder) {
try {
camera.setPreviewDisplay(holder);
camera.startPreview();
} catch (IOException e) {
Log.d(TAG, "Error setting camera preview: " + e.getMessage());
} catch (Exception e) {
Probably getting "called after release()" message
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
@Override
public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder surfaceHolder, int i, int i2, int i3) {
If your preview can change or rotate, take care of those events here.
Make sure to stop the preview before resizing or reformatting it.
if (holder.getSurface() == null){
preview surface does not exist
return;
}
stop preview before making changes
try {
camera.stopPreview();
} catch (Exception e){
ignore: tried to stop a non-existent preview
}
set preview size and make any resize, rotate or
reformatting changes here
start preview with new settings
try {
camera.setPreviewDisplay(holder);
camera.startPreview();
} catch (Exception e){
Log.d(TAG, "Error starting camera preview: " + e.getMessage());
}
}
@Override
public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder surfaceHolder) {
//
}
}
[Photo Processor .java].
package com.g5digital.cam2;
import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Bitmap;
import android.graphics.BitmapFactory;
import android.graphics.Matrix;
import android.hardware.Camera;
import android.os.Environment;
import android.util.Log;
import android.widget.Toast;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Date;
public class PhotoHandler implements Camera.PictureCallback {
private final Context context;
private final Camera camera;
public PhotoHandler(Context context, Camera c) {
this.context = context;
this.camera = c;
}
@Override
public void onPictureTaken(byte[] bytes, Camera cam) {
Log.i("PhotoHandler", "Picture taken!");
File pictureFileDir = getDir();
if (!pictureFileDir.exists() && !pictureFileDir.mkdirs()) {
Log.d("PhotoHandler", "Can't create directory to save image.");
Toast.makeText(context, "Can't create directory to save image.",
Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
return;
}
Bitmap bmp = BitmapFactory.decodeByteArray(bytes, 0, bytes.length);
int width = bmp.getWidth();
int height = bmp.getHeight();
Matrix matrix = new Matrix();
matrix.postRotate(270);
Bitmap rotatedBitmap = Bitmap.createBitmap(bmp, 0, 0,
width, height, matrix, true);
SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMddHHmmss");
String date = dateFormat.format(new Date());
String photoFile = "Picture_" + date + ".jpg";
String filename = pictureFileDir.getPath() + File.separator + photoFile;
File pictureFile = new File(filename);
try {
FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(pictureFile);
boolean result = rotatedBitmap.compress(Bitmap.CompressFormat.JPEG, 90, fos);
fos.write(bytes);
fos.close();
if (result) {
Toast.makeText(context, "New Image saved:" + photoFile,
Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}
else {
Toast.makeText(context, "Couldn't save image:" + photoFile,
Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}
camera.startPreview();
} catch (Exception error) {
Log.d("PhotoHandler", "File" + filename + "not saved: "
+ error.getMessage());
Toast.makeText(context, "Image could not be saved.",
Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}
}
private File getDir() {
File sdDir = Environment
.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES);
return new File(sdDir, "CameraAPIDemo");
}
}
[AndroidManifest.xml]
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="com.g5digital.cam2" >
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FLASHLIGHT" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" />
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera.autofocus" />
<application
android:allowBackup="true"
android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
android:label="@string/app_name"
android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >
<activity
android:name="com.g5digital.cam2.MainActivity"
android:label="@string/app_name"
android:screenOrientation="portrait">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
</application>
</manifest>
[activity_main.xml]
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:id="@+id/container"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
tools:context="com.g5digital.cam2.MainActivity"
tools:ignore="MergeRootFrame">
<Button
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/click"
android:id="@+id/button" />
</LinearLayout>
[LogCat output].
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 D/MainActivity﹕ takePicture failed
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ java.lang.RuntimeException: takePicture failed
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at android.hardware.Camera.native_takePicture(Native Method)
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at android.hardware.Camera.takePicture(Camera.java:1194)
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at android.hardware.Camera.takePicture(Camera.java:1139)
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at com.g5digital.cam2.MainActivity.onClick(MainActivity.java:66)
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at android.view.View.performClick(View.java:4475)
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at android.view.View$PerformClick.run(View.java:18786)
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:730)
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:137)
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5419)
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:525)
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:1187)
01-29 14:55:45.826 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:1003)
01-29 14:55:45.836 5853-5853/com.g5digital.cam2 W/System.err﹕ at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
Solution
No, to take a photo, you must show a preview. Skilled people have invented many solutions, see, for exampleTake Picture without preview Android ,
Android: Is it possible to take a picture with the camera from a service with no UI , How to use Camera to take picture in a background Service on Android? …
Keep in mind, however, that the request is not for technical purposes, but for privacy purposes. The system is constantly evolving and prevents newly discovered workarounds.
Perhaps the most reliable way to hide a preview on S4 is to use SurfaceTexture, but display it invisibly, such as out of the viewport.