Camera

Camera

The camera object provides access to the device's default camera application.

Methods

camera.getPicture

Takes a photo using the camera or retrieves a photo from the device's album. The image is returned as a base64 encoded String or as the URI of an image file.

navigator.camera.getPicture( cameraSuccess, cameraError, [ cameraOptions ] );

Description

Function camera.getPicture opens the device's default camera application so that the user can take a picture (if Camera.sourceType = Camera.PictureSourceType.CAMERA, which is the default). Once the photo is taken, the camera application closes and your application is restored.

If Camera.sourceType = Camera.PictureSourceType.PHOTOLIBRARY or Camera.PictureSourceType.SAVEDPHOTOALBUM, then a photo chooser dialog is shown, from which a photo from the album can be selected.

The return value will be sent to the cameraSuccess function, in one of the following formats, depending on the cameraOptions you specify:

You can do whatever you want with the encoded image or URI, for example:

Note: The image quality of pictures taken using the camera on newer devices is quite good, and images from the Photo Album will not be downscaled to a lower quality, even if a quality parameter is specified. Encoding such images using Base64 has caused memory issues on some of these devices (iPhone 4, BlackBerry Torch 9800). Therefore, using FILE_URI as the 'Camera.destinationType' is highly recommended.

Supported Platforms

Windows Phone 7 Quirks

Invoking the native camera application while your device is connected via Zune will not work, and the error callback will be triggered.

Quick Example

Take photo and retrieve Base64-encoded image:

navigator.camera.getPicture(onSuccess, onFail, { quality: 50,
    destinationType: Camera.DestinationType.DATA_URL
 }); 

function onSuccess(imageData) {
    var image = document.getElementById('myImage');
    image.src = "data:image/jpeg;base64," + imageData;
}

function onFail(message) {
    alert('Failed because: ' + message);
}

Take photo and retrieve image file location: 

navigator.camera.getPicture(onSuccess, onFail, { quality: 50, 
    destinationType: Camera.DestinationType.FILE_URI }); 

function onSuccess(imageURI) {
    var image = document.getElementById('myImage');
    image.src = imageURI;
}

function onFail(message) {
    alert('Failed because: ' + message);
}

Full Example 

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Capture Photo</title>

    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="cordova-1.7.0.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">

    var pictureSource;   // picture source
    var destinationType; // sets the format of returned value 

    // Wait for Cordova to connect with the device
    //
    document.addEventListener("deviceready",onDeviceReady,false);

    // Cordova is ready to be used!
    //
    function onDeviceReady() {
        pictureSource=navigator.camera.PictureSourceType;
        destinationType=navigator.camera.DestinationType;
    }

    // Called when a photo is successfully retrieved
    //
    function onPhotoDataSuccess(imageData) {
      // Uncomment to view the base64 encoded image data
      // console.log(imageData);

      // Get image handle
      //
      var smallImage = document.getElementById('smallImage');

      // Unhide image elements
      //
      smallImage.style.display = 'block';

      // Show the captured photo
      // The inline CSS rules are used to resize the image
      //
      smallImage.src = "data:image/jpeg;base64," + imageData;
    }

    // Called when a photo is successfully retrieved
    //
    function onPhotoURISuccess(imageURI) {
      // Uncomment to view the image file URI 
      // console.log(imageURI);

      // Get image handle
      //
      var largeImage = document.getElementById('largeImage');

      // Unhide image elements
      //
      largeImage.style.display = 'block';

      // Show the captured photo
      // The inline CSS rules are used to resize the image
      //
      largeImage.src = imageURI;
    }

    // A button will call this function
    //
    function capturePhoto() {
      // Take picture using device camera and retrieve image as base64-encoded string
      navigator.camera.getPicture(onPhotoDataSuccess, onFail, { quality: 50,
        destinationType: destinationType.DATA_URL });
    }

    // A button will call this function
    //
    function capturePhotoEdit() {
      // Take picture using device camera, allow edit, and retrieve image as base64-encoded string  
      navigator.camera.getPicture(onPhotoDataSuccess, onFail, { quality: 20, allowEdit: true,
        destinationType: destinationType.DATA_URL });
    }

    // A button will call this function
    //
    function getPhoto(source) {
      // Retrieve image file location from specified source
      navigator.camera.getPicture(onPhotoURISuccess, onFail, { quality: 50, 
        destinationType: destinationType.FILE_URI,
        sourceType: source });
    }

    // Called if something bad happens.
    // 
    function onFail(message) {
      alert('Failed because: ' + message);
    }

    </script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <button onclick="capturePhoto();">Capture Photo</button> <br>
    <button onclick="capturePhotoEdit();">Capture Editable Photo</button> <br>
    <button onclick="getPhoto(pictureSource.PHOTOLIBRARY);">From Photo Library</button><br>
    <button onclick="getPhoto(pictureSource.SAVEDPHOTOALBUM);">From Photo Album</button><br>
    <img style="display:none;width:60px;height:60px;" id="smallImage" src="" />
    <img style="display:none;" id="largeImage" src="" />
  </body>
</html>

cameraSuccess

onSuccess callback function that provides the image data.

function(imageData) {
    // Do something with the image
}

Parameters

Example 

// Show image
//
function cameraCallback(imageData) {
    var image = document.getElementById('myImage');
    image.src = "data:image/jpeg;base64," + imageData;
}

cameraError

onError callback function that provides an error message.

function(message) {
    // Show a helpful message
}

Parameters

cameraOptions

Optional parameters to customize the camera settings.

{ quality : 75, 
  destinationType : Camera.DestinationType.DATA_URL, 
  sourceType : Camera.PictureSourceType.CAMERA, 
  allowEdit : true,
  encodingType: Camera.EncodingType.JPEG,
  targetWidth: 100,
  targetHeight: 100 };

Options

Android Quirks

BlackBerry Quirks

Palm Quirks

iOS Quirks

Windows Phone 7 Quirks

Bada 1.2 Quirks