iPhone 13 Camera is blurry

This phone has been awful at taking pics from day 1 I went to an apple store and they replaced the handset with a new one and still all the same issues on the new one and 15.4 has fixed nothing. This is such a major problem that needs to be fixed, all photos I take with the native camera app come out all blurry and over sharpened with a cartoony water colour effect. Everything looks fine and great in the viewfinder but as soon as you snap a pic and then open in the gallery after about 2 seconds it does some awful processing and completely destroys the picture, it’s definitely a software issue as when I shoot in Lightroom I don’t get none of this processing! The fact that we paid so much for this phone and the main camera app is broken and still has not been fixed is so infuriating! So many people having these issues I’m guessing it’s down to deep fusion and HDR, we need a toggle to turn HDR off like in previous devices, I really don’t understand why Apple took this away from us and left us with awful pictures! Why give us the choice in previous phones then take it away because they think it’s best! Let the user decide what’s best for them by giving the option. I’m going back to apple store and returning this replacement. Nothing but issues with this phone such a shame as I love everything else about it.

ProRaw image unfortunately doesn’t produce an image without this processing.

Oversaturated color of the sky was there on PRoRaw too, as well as blurred outline of some buildings (due to SmartHDR that can’t be turned off like in previous models)

some third party apps do produce image without this processing (often you have to pay for these kind of app - subscription or one-time payment)

(did my tests with iPhone 7, 11pro, 13 pro - tripod - native app, Lightroom mobile app camera. Also tried to edit later with snapseed, apple native image editor, Lightroom desktop and mobile, VSCO, photoshop desktop and mobile).

BTW is one of the greatest camera I tested in a smartphone even if I feel that is going to a different direction compare to previous iPhone’s cameras.

I used all iPhones starting from iPhone 3 and until 11pro (included) I feel that the camera was oriented to produce images with high consistency with reality.

This gave me the possibility to choose a wider range of editing later in postproduction step.

Currently it seems to be oriented to product “perfect” images using AI and automatic processing. The idea of perfection btw is set on a model and visual style that is subjective .

HDR that can’t be turned off and sometimes produce more saturated/unrealistic sky, sometimes skin are smoothened up etc.

with x3 telephoto I also didn’t like the oil painting effect (recently notice that it’s not there using telephoto+ portrait mode ) because before zoomin in was showing a grain similar to professional cameras instead.

There are also positive things about this AI processing: e.g. in the test I made texture of fabrics and clothes always look amazing and sharpen. I m also happy that compared to other brand s devices I tested.

this kind of image is less faithful to reality so some information I want to highlight in postproduction are often gone with the AI processing (wrinkles, shadows on faces). also color of skies has been much better than reality, but not faithful.

Don’t get me wrong: I think is a great camera especially if compared to other Phones camera. Also the device , Os, battery are the best I ever tried , but as Robert Pearson I can’t us iPhone 13 pro camera for my use case anymore.

I prefer grain instead of oil painting when zooming in.

I need the possibility to shoot without HDR on.

I need to take portrait preserving wrinkles and skin details.

i need to point and shoot very quickly with native app and so on.

I know I m very demanding but it s important to outline that these things I can’t currently do with iPhone 13 pro.

Again, ProRAW still processes to some degree, but third-party camera apps like Lightroom Mobile, Halide and Snapseed have access to the sensor and can create true RAW DNG files.

If you want true RAW files try using one of those instead. You can't just shoot with one of the apps above, you have to have it create a RAW DNG file that you post-process with software later as you would with a RAW file from any other device.

Note what you cite about a preference for photos that look good as opposed to true accuracy were first lodged against the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Note also HDR in itself will not blur edges per se, though some may occur if not using a tripod if multiple images are combined to create a final image due to HDR and camera shake occurs, just as can happen with manual photo stacking techniques.

It's interesting that you like Portrait mode photos, as substantial processing is occurring there to simulate the bokeh of typical large camera lenses.

Can you please send me the part when I’m saying that I like portrait mode ?

I would be grateful because I can’t find it :)

I outlined that portrait mode doesn’t have the strong processing as x3 because this can be a useful workaround for users that don’t want this processing.

“Substantial processing” to simulated bokeh can be decrease editing the focal length option later.

thanks for outlining again things I did talk about month ago (proRaw, third party app).

it means that now we are aligned :)

note that I m talking about producing images with high consistency with reality, which I prefer, opposed to processed.

”photos that look good” is a highly subjective way to define pictures and I m avoiding this to keep the conversation healthy.

note that I outlined that i used a tripod as well and this unluckily didn’t improve that on distant subjects like buildings.

I just switched from my iPhone 6 lol

to the iPhone 13 mini and I can honestly say that the videos especially slow Mo with the birds in my backyard are better quality on the iPhone 6. 13 mini videos are really bad. So frustrated.

I've been using a new iPhone 13 Pro max for outdoor photography, often of wildflowers. I've noticed that there is a strong color dependency in how the focus works. The camera does a great job focusing on foreground flowers - as long as they aren't RED. It's almost impossible to get the camera to focus on red flowers. It strongly prefers the background - grass, twigs, etc, - if the flower is red. All other flower colors focus just fine.

I'm guessing that the auto-focus mechanism - whether it's pixel based, or Lidar based - doesn't pay attention to the red signal. Hello? There are red flowers out there!

A big part is the AI doing stuff. Look at it change the colors live while recording video, but the same goes for pictures. This is not brightness, so you have no control. It also does that when the light source is not in frame, before someone tells me to not record them directly. „itwasbetterbefore“ uploaded photos in which I found out which is the 13 Mini just by the light being far to white.

https://youtu.be/Vhzp-G9xDo4

I have just switched over from a Samsung Galaxy Note 10 to the iPhone 13 pro and I am utterly disappointed with the abysmal photo quality. The camera was one of the main reasons I bought this phone. The Note 10 is way better. They photos look like oil paintings,not photos. This is utterly unacceptable for a device like this.

Then your should still be within your 14 day return window to get a full refund if you bought it directly from Apple.

Note you should avoid the Galaxy S21, S22 and Google Pixel 6 as well as an Internet search will reveal they perform similar or even more image processing.

Can You please show results of your internet research ?

I’d like to see oil painting effect on Samsung and google device you mentioned but I wasn’t able to find it.

it would be very helpful and I d like to make a comparison.

The first pic looks like an art installation. I'm not sure that's a real squirrel & tree; either that or it is a weird filter applied after the pic was taken. The second pic is too small to tell much of anything about the image quality.

Hello ~ No one likes to be called a liar . If my iPhone took pictures that I didn’t like I would start using one of my other cameras most likely my Canon EOS 5. Probably best that you go to the Samsung community and look at the complaints there. I am very pleased with my iPhone and I have 1000’s upon 1000’s of pictures that I would have never had been able to enjoy without it. Thx Apple!

~Katana-San~

All I’m asking for is where the pics came from. Where did I call you a liar? The first pic doesn’t frankly look like a pic of something natural. The second one is simply too small to discern if there’s an iq issue or not.

There are also many professional photographers who use their iPhone 13 family phones each and every day.

The iPhone 13 will take pictures like a low-end phone if you try and use it as one, or it can take photos with professional quality if you do that.

You also ignore the fact that all high-end smartphones process even more than the iPhone 13 does; yesterday I tried taking photos with a Samsung Galaxy S22 and a Google Pixel 6 and saw multiple artifacts in each, much more than I see in 13 Pro Max photos.

You seem to disparage people who use the phone for vlogs and such, but what do you think the primary use of the cameras is?

It’s nothing to do with “QA.”

The cameras are working as designed, and the vast majority of customers are thrilled with them.

If you don’t like the processing there are ways to avoid it by using third-party apps like Halide, Lightroom Mobile and Snapseed.

Many of the other issues you mention can be ameliorated by use of options, like using Macro Control to turn off switching.

Your “blurred” 3x images are likely because there was not enough light to use the physical 3x lens and so digital zoom was used on the 1x image.

Note all cameras, even $6000 mirrorless pro cameras, have difficulties focusing in low light.

All of these things have been discussed previously in this thread at some length.

You returned your phone as it wasn’t the right choice for you, and that’s why Apple has a return policy.