# New Kindle Fire HD Camera (only front?)



## yaradager (Mar 1, 2013)

Hello,

Does the new Kindle Fire HD have only one front camera? like the old one?

I find it kinda very weird if one needs to take a picture to hold the kindle the other way, facing away from you and trying to take a picture of something that you are unable to see on the Kindle screen

Yara


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## SheilaJ (Apr 10, 2011)

I do too.  I think it is mainly for using skype or some other video chatting.  As far as I am concerned it is totaly useless and Amazon should be more up front about advertising the HD as having a camera.


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## Hadou (Jun 1, 2011)

The Fire not having a rear-facing camera isn't that big of a deal for me.  I have a solid camera on my phone which is much easier to point and shoot rather than holding up something the size of a notebook to take a picture of something.  But, I can see where there would be some confusion and "not-so-happy" for other users.  Just my point of view, anyhow.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

yaradager said:


> Hello,
> 
> Does the new Kindle Fire HD have only one front camera? like the old one?
> 
> ...


A little confused by the question. The original Fire didn't have a camera at all. Still only the HD models do. But they were all announced at about the same time, so I'm not sure which one you're thinking of as 'New'.

However, yes, as it says on the product pages, the Fire has one front facing camera. I don't personally feel that they are at all unclear about that.

It can be used for photos -- but really is mostly their for skype and such. Still one could get a reasonable shot by holding it facing backward over your shoulder, if necessary. I rather think the rationael was that most people will have a phone with a camera handy anyway, or a dedicated camera, and why add the extra cost.

I also will note that the camera is an extra I'd have been just as happy not to have had. I've used skype once or twice, just to verify the thing works, but I'm not an avid user. And I rarely take pictures though I have several devices that have the capability.


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## ireadbooks (Jan 11, 2011)

I'm a Twitter addict. I post all types of photos on my account and yes, the single camera is a pain. You have to take several test pics to get one that can be used. 

It's still more convenient to use my Fire, though, because you can take the pic and post it directly from the tablet. Oddly enough, I haven't used the camera for Skype yet.


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## alicepattinson (Jan 27, 2013)

ireadbooks said:


> I'm a Twitter addict. I post all types of photos on my account and yes, the single camera is a pain. You have to take several test pics to get one that can be used.
> 
> It's still more convenient to use my Fire, though, because you can take the pic and post it directly from the tablet. Oddly enough, I haven't used the camera for Skype yet.


Mine's the other way around. I use the cam for Skype, haven't tried using it for Twitter but good thing you brought this up. Will try it


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## Olmanrivah (Feb 18, 2013)

try holding your Kindle HD sideways so you can see the screen to aim and take the picture. It's called American Ingenuity . . . lol!


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## MINImum (Oct 15, 2009)

I thought it weird, too, that it only faced front.  I really can only take pictures of myself since I'm a bit uncoordinated (and lovely pictures they are, too; the angle is usually perfect for getting all my chins in each shot, even the ones I didn't know I had).

But it's not a deal breaker at all, I didn't even know it had a camera when I bought it.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Arguably, since it has an HDMI out, it would be possible to connect another video display device to that port which you could then look at while you face the camera outward to take the picture. Mind you, I don't know if the port is designed to work with applications other than video displays, but it seems like it could be made to.  It's possible someone even already has, though I've not gone looking.

Arguably, also, that would be way more trouble than it's worth since you can still buy, pretty inexpensively, ordinary digital cameras and just transfer the shots.


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## jaydax (Sep 2, 2012)

Can't help thinking there is an opportunity for some inventive person to make a clip on periscope which will fit over the kindle camera and solve all your problems. If I had a 3D printer I'd be making them.


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