Here is a full example of building a camera app in Android that was taken from the Google tutorial.This is the complete tested camera code all in one place with no errors. There was a few errors i got from copying and pasting the code from the Google tutorial but they are fixed in this example. I also added code to display the last image taken so the user can open the picture in a image viewer. I removed excess code without testing so comment if you are having issues so I can make corrections.

This is image for an application I created so the layout below will not include the text, ads or shutter image. Check out my app in the Google Market.
CameraActivity
public class CameraActivity extends Activity{ private static Camera mCamera; private static CameraPreview mPreview; static final int MEDIA_TYPE_IMAGE = 1; static Context context; /** setting last image taken **/ static ImageView myImage; static File imgFile = null; int duration = Toast.LENGTH_LONG; @Override public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.camera_preview); mCamera = getCameraInstance(); context = getApplicationContext(); // Create our Preview view and set it as the content of our activity. mPreview = new CameraPreview(this, mCamera); FrameLayout preview = (FrameLayout) findViewById(R.id.camera_preview); preview.addView(mPreview); myImage = (ImageView) findViewById(R.id.lastPic); /** if last image is clicked it will open in an image viewer app **/ myImage.setOnTouchListener(new OnTouchListener() { @Override public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) { Intent intent = new Intent(); intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_VIEW); if(imgFile == null){ CharSequence text = "This is only an icon, take a photo"; Toast toast = Toast.makeText(context, text, duration); toast.show(); } else{ intent.setDataAndType(Uri.parse("file://" + imgFile.getAbsolutePath()), "image/*"); startActivity(intent); } return false; } }); /** A safe way to get an instance of the Camera object. */ public static Camera getCameraInstance(){ Camera c = null; try { c = Camera.open(); // attempt to get a Camera instance } catch (Exception e){ // Camera is not available (in use or does not exist) } return c; // returns null if camera is unavailable } public void takePhoto(View v){ mCamera.takePicture(null, null, mPicture); } private PictureCallback mPicture = new PictureCallback() { @Override public void onPictureTaken(byte[] data, Camera camera) { File pictureFile = getOutputMediaFile(MEDIA_TYPE_IMAGE); if (pictureFile == null){ Log.d("ERROR", "Error creating media file, check storage permissions:" ); } try { FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(pictureFile); fos.write(data); fos.close(); } catch (FileNotFoundException e) { Log.d("ERROR", "File not found: " + e.getMessage()); } catch (IOException e) { Log.d("ERROR", "Error accessing file: " + e.getMessage()); } setImage(); mCamera.startPreview(); } }; /** Create a File for saving an image or video */ private static File getOutputMediaFile(int type){ Boolean isSDPresent = android.os.Environment.getExternalStorageState().equals(android.os.Environment.MEDIA_MOUNTED); if(!isSDPresent) { int duration = Toast.LENGTH_LONG; Toast toast = Toast.makeText(context, "card not mounted", duration); toast.show(); Log.d("ERROR", "Card not mounted"); } File mediaStorageDir = new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().getPath() + "/cameraSpeed/"); if (! mediaStorageDir.exists()){ if (! mediaStorageDir.mkdirs()){ Log.d("MyCameraApp", "failed to create directory"); return null; } } // Create a media file name String timeStamp = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMdd_HHmmss").format(new Date()); File mediaFile; if (type == MEDIA_TYPE_IMAGE){ mediaFile = new File(mediaStorageDir.getPath() + File.separator + "IMG_"+ timeStamp + ".jpg"); imgFile = mediaFile; } else { return null; } return mediaFile; } public static void setImage(){ if(imgFile !=null){ if(imgFile.exists()){ Bitmap myBitmap = decodeSampleImage(imgFile, 100, 100); // prevents memory out of memory exception myImage.setImageBitmap(myBitmap); } } } @Override protected void onPause() { super.onPause(); releaseCamera(); // release the camera immediately on pause event } @Override protected void onResume() { super.onResume(); if(mCamera == null){ mCamera = getCameraInstance(); context = getApplicationContext(); mPreview = new CameraPreview(this, mCamera); FrameLayout preview = (FrameLayout) findViewById(R.id.camera_preview); preview.addView(mPreview); } } private void releaseCamera(){ if (mCamera != null){ mPreview.getHolder().removeCallback(mPreview); mCamera.release(); mCamera = null; } } public static Bitmap decodeSampleImage(File f, int width, int height) { try { System.gc(); // First of all free some memory // Decode image size BitmapFactory.Options o = new BitmapFactory.Options(); o.inJustDecodeBounds = true; BitmapFactory.decodeStream(new FileInputStream(f), null, o); // The new size we want to scale to final int requiredWidth = width; final int requiredHeight = height; // Find the scale value (as a power of 2) int sampleScaleSize = 1; while (o.outWidth / sampleScaleSize / 2 >= requiredWidth && o.outHeight / sampleScaleSize / 2 >= requiredHeight) sampleScaleSize *= 2; // Decode with inSampleSize BitmapFactory.Options o2 = new BitmapFactory.Options(); o2.inSampleSize = sampleScaleSize; return BitmapFactory.decodeStream(new FileInputStream(f), null, o2); } catch (Exception e) { // Log.d(TAG, e.getMessage()); // We don't want the application to just throw an exception } return null; } }
CameraPreview
package com.nathanhaze.speedcamera; import java.io.IOException; import android.content.Context; import android.graphics.Canvas; import android.hardware.Camera; import android.util.Log; import android.view.SurfaceHolder; import android.view.SurfaceView; /** A basic Camera preview class */ public class CameraPreview extends SurfaceView implements SurfaceHolder.Callback { private SurfaceHolder mHolder; private Camera mCamera; private GlobalVar gv = new GlobalVar(); public CameraPreview(Context context, Camera camera) { super(context); mCamera = camera; // Install a SurfaceHolder.Callback so we get notified when the // underlying surface is created and destroyed. mHolder = getHolder(); mHolder.addCallback(this); // deprecated setting, but required on Android versions prior to 3.0 mHolder.setType(SurfaceHolder.SURFACE_TYPE_PUSH_BUFFERS); } public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) { // The Surface has been created, now tell the camera where to draw the preview. try { // setWillNotDraw(false); mCamera.setPreviewDisplay(holder); mCamera.startPreview(); } catch (IOException e) { Log.d("ERROR", "Error setting camera preview: " + e.getMessage()); } } @Override protected void onDraw(Canvas canvas) { // Paint temp = gv.getPaint(); // temp.setTextSize(150); // canvas.drawText(Integer.toString(gv.getSpeed()), 50, 100, gv.getPaint()); Log.w(this.getClass().getName(), "On Draw Called"); } public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) { // empty. Take care of releasing the Camera preview in your activity. } public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int w, int h) { // 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 (mHolder.getSurface() == null){ // preview surface does not exist return; } // stop preview before making changes try { mCamera.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 { mCamera.setPreviewDisplay(mHolder); mCamera.startPreview(); } catch (Exception e){ Log.d("ERROR", "Error starting camera preview: " + e.getMessage()); } } }
PhotoHandler
import java.io.File; import java.io.FileOutputStream; import java.text.SimpleDateFormat; import java.util.Date; import android.content.Context; import android.hardware.Camera; import android.hardware.Camera.PictureCallback; import android.os.Environment; import android.widget.Toast; public class PhotoHandler implements PictureCallback { private final Context context; public PhotoHandler(Context context) { this.context = context; } @Override public void onPictureTaken(byte[] data, Camera camera) { File pictureFileDir = getDir(); if (!pictureFileDir.exists() && !pictureFileDir.mkdirs()) { // Log.d(MakePhotoActivity.DEBUG_TAG, "Can't create directory to save image."); Toast.makeText(context, "Can't create directory to save image.", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show(); return; } 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); fos.write(data); fos.close(); Toast.makeText(context, "New Image saved:" + photoFile, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show(); } catch (Exception error) { // Log.d(MakePhotoActivity.DEBUG_TAG, "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"); } }
Manifest
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" package="com.nathanhaze.speedcamera" android:versionCode="3" android:versionName="1.2" > <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="8" android:targetSdkVersion="18" /> <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" /> <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" /> <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS" /> <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="@android:style/Theme.NoTitleBar" > <activity android:name="com.nathanhaze.speedcamera.CameraActivity" android:screenOrientation="landscape"> <intent-filter> <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" /> <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" /> </intent-filter> </activity> </application> </manifest>
Layout
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:orientation="vertical" > <FrameLayout android:id="@+id/camera_preview" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:layout_weight="1" > </FrameLayout> <LinearLayout android:id="@+id/speedBackgound" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="80dp" android:layout_gravity="bottom" android:orientation="horizontal" > <ImageView android:id="@+id/lastPic" android:layout_width="70dp" android:layout_height="70dp" android:layout_gravity="center" android:layout_marginLeft="10dp" android:layout_weight="1" /> <Button android:layout_marginLeft="10dp" android:id="@+id/button_capture" android:layout_width="80dp" android:layout_height="80dp" android:onClick="takePhoto" android:layout_gravity="right"/> </LinearLayout> </LinearLayout>
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Hi. good work and app. please you can give donwload link on source codes ? CameraActivity is wrong. thx
I am sorry I can’t, since I do it have a slim down version of it. What errors or problems are you running into?
awesome job! helped me a lot !
in camera activity its giving some errors :/
What is PhotoHandler, where is it being used?