iPhone 13 Camera is blurry

I’ve tried everything to fix this issue but these cameras are just rubbish my S21 ultra pics are way ahead than these new cameras on the 13

pro max, I have booked to see an apple specialist through their support. I sent them some sample pictures of how terrible these pictures come out even in good lighting there’s always a blur to them when you zoom in a little after the picture has been taken and they too agreed that they should not look like that. I’m even getting better results on my 4 year old Samsung handset, this is just shocking from Apple for the price I paid I feel like I have been sold a half baked product did they even test these cameras? Even just a normal landscape picture looks blurry, however up close I’m getting good results and portrait mode has much more detail than the standard setting on the camera. I’m starting to think that this auto switching feature they have enabled is causing the issues as it’s forced and now way of turning it off. I’m gonna see what Apple say next week if nothing is fixed then returning this handset and sticking with my S21 ultra which always gives excellent results in good light and in low light. It’s obviously an issue that needs a fix as many people have started posting and talking about it needs a fix but a bit screwed if it’s hardware related

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/iphone-13-problems

"iPhone 13 Pros automatically switch between wide and ultrawide cameras

This one's not so much a bug, but a feature. The iPhone 13 Pro models feature a new macro mode that uses the phone's 12MP ultrawide camera. Try to shoot an object that's within 5.5 inches of the lens, and the phone will shift from the main wide lens to the ultrawide shooter. Apple says this approach is better for capturing close-up details.

Not everyone agrees. Review Raymond Wong of Input says the switching messes with the framing of the shot, with the camera capturing a different frame from what appears on the view finder.

How to fix it: Apple says a future software update will allow iPhone 13 Pro owners to turn off this feature if they prefer that their phones not automatically switch to the ultrawide angle camera when taking macro shots."

I don’t agree.

I noticed that 3x photos have problems.

zooming in you can often see a sort of “paint effect”.

it s due to software interpolation since this appear way different shooting using Lightroom app that preserve natural photo grain and sharpness instead.

it also happens that some picture appear to be blurred (all lens) . I noticed that in situation when HDR is needed.

i think that this problem could be solved without Smart HDR enabled but this option is not there anymore on iPhone 13 pro.

i m d like to understand why they also removed the possibility to save both shots , with and without HDR.

removing this features certainly doesn’t sound PRO.

mesposito83 wrote:

@lobsterghost1 I think that no-one here wants to return their phone, this is absolutely not an option. What we're trying to understand here is why on earth pictures are worse on the latest phone! And I'm sorry, but I really can't understand why you're trying to "excuse" Apple, this is a major problem, considering that the 13 pro and pro max are advertised especially for photograph.

I'm not excusing Apple. They have nothing to be excused for. iPhone 13 Pro series take some of the best photos I've ever gotten with an iPhone. And I came from iPhone 12 Pro Max.

If you are not getting great photos from your phone, either learn more about how to use the cameras in your phone as many of the issues people have shown in this thread with photos are examples which were simply not photographed well. Or if you are convinced the phone's camera is defective, let Apple see the phone to see if by some chance there is an actual issue on your phone (highly doubtful). Or if really disappointed, return the phone and get something else.

This is exactly it… the back camera is great. The front camera is great as well in good lighting but as soon as the lighting gets darker, some filter turns on making the quality look so smudged. This then applies to your FaceTime calls.. its definitely not a hardware issue

afjal129 wrote:

i called Apple support, uploaded a screen recording to show the problem and they told me it’s because of slow wifi connection that the photo is uploaded to iCloud, blah blah. However, that’s not true because I use a 1GB internet connection at home. I was transferred to a senior technician who ran some diagnostic and said the hardware is all working fine. The technician recommended that I take the phone to a Apple Genius at the store who can hold the phone and see the problem.The suggestion by lobsterghost1 that the blurry photo is normal is incorrect!

The reference I said was "normal" had nothing to do with blurry photos being normal. I was speaking to the poster who believed that immediately after a photo was taken, it opens blurry, then goes into focus. That is normal, as the phone is still processing the photo immediately after has been taken.

Please don't misquote me or put words in my mouth I never said. At no time have I ever suggested blurry photos are normal. And I'm certainly not getting blurry photos on my 13 Pro Max, unless I do a poor job of taking a photo, which anyone is capable of doing.

The three lenses have different qualities as would be the case when using different photographic lenses.

Also, there is the issue that many have not yet realized that below a certain light level the 3x zoom becomes a digital zoom, not an optical one.

If you are worried it is a hardware issue, take your phone to your local Apple Store to be examined.

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

You only have 14 days to return it, so if you really dislike it, do it now.

The 3x lens works great in lighting conditions that support its use; you can still be focused on areas with light too low for the 3x lens on a bright day.

I see your point but I was outside in a golden hour as you can see from the sky in the background.

I repeat: I shooted other videos with my front camera without any problem: they were nice and sharp, but the one I posted is disappointing.

It’s clearly a software issue.

now I’ve put “auto low light fps” on event for 60fps to see if this bad workaround works waiting for Apple to fix it

I have just switched from an iPhone 11 Pro Max to the 13 equivalent and am very concerned with the poor quality of all pictures taken either wide or close up. The automatic switching from the normal to the wide camera for close ups is horrible. this should never have been implemented without allowing the user to decide what lens to use.

In addition to this, the post processing is diabolically bad. even in good outdoor lighting, the post processing is shockingly bad. How on earth did this get signed off on for retail? I am close to returning my 13ProMax and switching back to my 11 till this is resolved.

Here is a great example of the lack of detail taken of my friends timepiece first with the wide camera and second finding the sweet spot and using the standard camera in comparison.

OK:

1) Never, ever use digital zoom.

2) Don't use the 3x zoom unless you are sure there is enough light for the optical zoom to be the lens used

3) Shoot in RAW and process in Lightroom (something I do with my DSLR anyway.)

Apple's processing has always been a bit more aggressive than I might prefer, but in the vast majority of shots it is actually very effective.

Thanks for the tips but the reason photos are turning to crap apparently has to do with Apple making the frame auto switch to wide lens for macro photos? but shows a visible lag inbetween the switch when adjusting. Making the photos look blurry and hard to adjust.

They’ve allegedly addressed this and will be fixing this issue next update. I think this is what many of the users are talking about. I screen recorded what my lens is doing but I can’t post videos on here, so here is a screenshot from the screen recording I took. Top SS is how the image looks for a split second on my camera - aka a normal, good resolution image and then (bottom SS)- with 0 prompting on my end, switches to this blurry ****. All auto settings have been turned off, nothing has been selected- it just does it on its own and it looks terrible. And it just keeps switching back and forth. No visible movement from my hand, it’s the camera.

The fact that it looks like a good quality image at first only to self adjust to whatever this is is ridiculous. And it’s not just me, as my fiancés new 13 pro does this as well. I just want to take a normal *** photo of my ring, I shouldn’t have to jump through a million photography hoops to do so. Point and shoot- I was able to do that on every iPhone I had previously and I would like to do the same with this one without having to continually make adjustments. If I wanted to learn photography or mess with camera settings all the time, I would buy my own DSLR and take lessons. This is about just wanting normal decent iPhone quality photos without it going to potato mode every time something gets close to the lens because “aPpL kNoWs bEsT”

not here to argue so please don’t tell me to take my phone back for a refund or come at me sideways for this response. I enjoy my new iPhone, but this aspect is incredibly frustrating for non-photographers.

This makes perfect sense.

What you are seeing as a dark image on the screen is what the lens is natively seeing.

What you see after the photo is taken is the phone compositing multiple exposures to make a night mode photo, extracting all the light it can from the multiple exposures to try to present something viewable.

The XR would have just left you with a dark frame in which little to nothing could be seen.

The solution is the same as it would have been for the XR - move somewhere with more light.

I'm listening. But how would my agreement or disagreement matter. You fail to realize you're only speaking with other users here. If you're not happy with the quality of your photos, handing out here commiserating with other users is not going to help you get better results at all. Apple isn't here. Engineers are not reading these threads.

If you're not happy with your camera, schedule an appointment at your Apple Store Genius Bar and let them see it.

The photo of your kid, I personally think was taken too close. Hence much of the oversmoothed area. You could have cropped in after taking the photo a bit further away. Which camera did you use? Do you know? Given how close you were, it may have transitioned to the Ultra Wide, which is not optimal for a portrait photo. And this is kind of my point. Experiment with what works and what doesn't. There is no perfect camera system.

In counterpoint to your kids photo. I just took this photo of a guy I work with. I took it further away, the cropped in after I took the photo. Notice anything smoothed? Nope. Nice and in-focus.

Does my iPhone 13 Pro Max take better pictures than your phone? Nope. I took a better picture.

More… I read that vibrations can break the sensitive image stabilization and maybe this could confuse the post processing on photos… resulting in the bad stuff experienced here. Some of us could have broken phones. If they we’re delivered badly. ….