iPhone 13 Camera is blurry

I’m coming from a Pixel 3, and it feels like a downgrade. So far I’ve noticed two things:

1. More often than not, selecting 3x actually uses the wide camera and up upscales the image. Trying to make a sharp detailed image from 1/3 the pixels results in a blurry mess.
2. Stuff just looks smudged in anything other than bright daylight. Some of this may be a focusing issue, but I’ve noticed a lot of photos of my kids where their hair is sharp, but their skin looks like some sort of makeup filter was applied.

I’m not sure why I paid extra for a 3x zoom that barely gets used, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be returning the phone.

Haribosss wrote:

May I ask if you actually did test the camera on the iPhone 13 pro max? When I read your comments I have some doubts. Or perhaps you did not experience the poor quality outputs most of the users depict on this thread. Then good for you.

Yes, I have, best photos I've ever seen from an iPhone.

The thing is, the better the camera, the more issues in your photographic technique will show, as will things like attempting to take photos in lower light.

That doesn't mean the camera doesn't work for you, the issue is when the camera is blamed for it not being all things to all people.

I would post an example, but my photos are 14 MB in size, this site won't accommodate that, and when I reduce size they exhibit the kinds of artifacts you complain of from the downsizing process.

I’m starting to wonder if some of us have a bad batch of phones. My iPhone 13 pro max is taking **** photos. Period.

something very very wrong with smart HDR.

tried filmic Firstlight app. It also had some horrible colours with hdr turned off. I think that looks like a bug.

that said. When I tried the Adobe Lightroom the colours were much better.

noisey low light. And horrible “smart” automatic photo filters. It’s trash.

Also the image you did share of the leaves shows the exact problem that I, and I am quite sure, others are having with the iPhone 13 Pro cameras. You can claim loss of quality all you want, but the only loss occurring that you can clearly see are the little blocky pixels. That weird texture on the leaves that looks watercolor-like is what I am talking about.

I took this with my iPhone 11 Pro, standing quite far away and with digital zoom. This is not perfect, and I do not expect it to be. But the detail on the tree does not seem watercolor-like. It seems blocky, but that is expected. It’s iPhone, not Nikon, Sony, or Canon DSLR or Mirrorless.

But, look at the difference between these two photos.

Left is iPhone 13 Pro camera app using RAW settings. Right is the same photo file put into Lightroom, with no adjustments made by me. The over processing on the left apparent. Nevertheless, while I don’t have a good flower comparison at the moment because I do not have access to all of my old photos:

This is from the Lightroom version, and it still is not as clear as photos in the past have been.

No. None. Zip. Nadda. Digital zoom is simply a bad method to take a picture and will guarantee bad results. Zooming in on an image shot from far away and expecting crystal clarity as an example of poor cameras is just goofy.

I'm sure I'll get flamed by some of my peers for this opinion, but there is a case for digital zoom on a smartphone camera. Consider that for many users the purpose is point-and-click-then-send, and the user has no intention or ability to import into post processing for enhancement or cropping. Continuously variable optical zoom is rather beyond the practicality and economics of a smartphone so it has to be digital. It helps to be able to crop in camera and remove the embarrassing group who would otherwise appear at the edge of frame and for these purposes the digital crop is usually acceptable with any degradation made insignificant by the poor lighting and intoxicated atmosphere of the moment.

It is also useful for my own usage, record pictures while doing technical repairs. I need a photo of connectors so I can check they are correctly replaced, but I need to have some kind of zoom to get close enough to read the cable labels. Slight loss of quality is unimportant, getting a usable shot with the portable device immediately to hand is essential.

If I want exhibition grade photos I'll be using Nikon not Apple to capture the image, unless it is a first snatch shot with the closest device to hand when the little green man steps out of his starship.

If you think this is an example of a bad photo, you may want to see your eye doctor. There is nothing wrong with that photo. You took in Portrait mode, which is why it posted sideways on the forum. It would have posted correctly has you taken the photo in landscape orientation.

There are things you could have to make the photo better. You shot the photo a bit too close to the subject. The camera was more likely thinking you were taking a macro photo. Had you backed up the focal point a bit, it would have turned out even better, but overall it's certainly not a horrible picture as you seem to think it is.

Honestly if you think this is bad, what on earth could you expect to be better?

dcdandan wrote:

sure many ppl may not be as “experienced “ as you but it’s also not first phone they have and with apple iPhone ease of use. They should be able to point and shoot like before and should not be noticeable difference than prior if not better

That's completely ridiculous, it's like saying a $5000 professional DSLR should be able to be used as a point and shoot.

As the cameras on the iPhone get better and more complex, the additional knowledge to take a good photo comes into play as has always been true.

there is also that apple seem not use telephoto lens and rather digital zoom the main lens coz it thinks it is better

This has been the case with every iPhone with multiple lenses; if the iPhone feels there is not enough light for a good photo with the optical lens it will do a digital zoom instead. I've begged and pleaded with Apple for an indicator showing whether the zoom is optical or digital (I suggested the magnification indicator should be a different color if it's optical than if it's digital) but it's clear they don't want to provide one for whatever reason.

What does that mean? It means, you as the photographer have to be cognizant of the limitations of your tools and adapt your photographic technique accordingly.

As I've mentioned before, if you believe your "stabilization is broken," have your phone examined:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

None of the settings you mention apply if you shoot in RAW and import the RAW file into Lightroom Classic for the Mac, which I suspect is what your workflow must be with the A7; don't shoot with the LR app, just use Camera in RAW mode.

If you don't like Apple's default photo processing, leave them a comment here:

Feedback - Camera - Apple

So! I found a temporary fix.

If you download Adobe’s editing app, Lightroom, for mobile, you can use the camera in the app.

I have RAW only used in the camera app so this may be affecting it. But it will take two photos, one HDR and one DNG. The DNG version is the best version.

Unfortunately it does not automatically save photos to your camera roll, but, the quality is infinitely better.

I have attached a comparison of two photos. The left was taken in the default camera app, and the right was taken in Lightroom.

This is my experience as well. Looking at the subject while taking the photo, I find in many (not all) lighting conditions, that the default camera app will run its algorithms (even with raw) to attempt better colour grading as well as HDR, etc. and the image is typically "hot". Editing the raw file is always possible, if time permits, but I prefer to start from an image that is closer to the original subject rather than an over-AI processed image. I would like the camera app to give me settings to turn elements of this processing off.

I did some tests with camera apps, including Filmic Pro FirstLight, Halide, and Adobe Lightroom. I found the Adobe LightRoom images more realistic. I plan to use it when the image is important, and otherwise use the Apple default camera for random social stuff that doesn't matter so much. I have my exposure setting ready to slide in the Apple default camera, and would often need to turn it down, sometimes -0.7, ... and this would turn down some artificial heat. Interestingly, this change in exposure setting seems to do more than just exposure after the Apple AI processing does further things, and the colour grade is till a bit wrong, but it is a better starting point on most occasions.

I also think we are all getting much better at being critical about our photography. We are noticing more than before. This is also handing opportunity to third party camera software, and I can imagine more software updates will be exciting for that reason. It is also "highlighting" the benefits of dedicated cameras a bit more, which is great for Sony, Canon, etc.

I still want something instant in my pocket that needs less fritzing about. I look forward to substituting the software, perhaps a new third party photo and video app (needs to do both) is coming in the future, and we can set it to be our default with our own quick and easy custom modes and control of post processing elements.

> The noise isn’t because of the processing, it’s sensor noise from trying to make a usable photo out of poor lighting conditions.

Can you point out where I said it was? I said: "iPhone 13 has significantly more noise AND "loss of

detail" because of the (again) aggressive AI post-processing. Than older generation iPhones."

> You keep citing the search results many of which are articles written to try and convince people there is an issue, and your number is hits, not actual people with an issue.

Google Search results hits refers to the number of search engine results for a specific query. In this case: "iPhone 13" "Oil Painting" processing. I even quoted the terms so that the results will need dot have those exact queries. I don't have to convince anyone. This thread is one of the top search results when people search about this issue. We just want this to be resolved so we can all move on... Is that too much to ask?

> Please don’t use Reddit as an example of anything, there are more than 3,000 users there that would upvote a thread stating Tim Cook is an alien from the planet Xyyxzyfus.

I'm sorry, what? How about the 19 page thread from MacRumors then? Are they all wrong as well?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/really-bad-photos-with-iphone-13-pro-max-merged.2315188/page-19

> Am I seriously saying people should shoot in RAW? Why yes, if they want best results; shooting in RAW will give it to you. Likewise, shooting using the Lightroom app will also deliver results that may be preferable.

Why do users have to do all of that when this is not an issue with older generation iPhones. I don't get your logic at all.

Furthermore, I asked two of my friends just now. Who both got the same exact phones a month before I did (iPhone 13 Pro Max 1TB) and they both have the SAME issue.

One of them said he just took his phone to the Apple Store and the genius bar senior technician agreed that there seem to be an issue with the photo and video quality. How do you explain that? I have been an iPhone user since the very first one announced by Steve Jobs (14 years ago). I NEVER had this issues like this.

I am having this same issue. Horrible camera quality in iPhone 13 and also just migrated from Android Pixel 4 which snaps far superior shots. I hope this is a software issue, instead of a hardware issue, otherwise situation can get bad.. I really don't trust online reviews from tech websites, but users like in this thread.

Night mode for me is just horrible compared with Pixel. I tried many setting and all photos on iPhone ended very pixelated.

I don't believe there's a combination of setting to fix this and firmly believe is a combination of hardware and firmware issue in the optical sensor.

Also, the fan boy base dismissing real reports of frustrated users is not helping here.

not saying that the camera is not excellent but talking about some "issues"

This from camera experts (DXOMark website you linked).

On the right you can find the Oil paint effect on iPhone 13 Pro Max (strongly visible in second shot with lettering).

The portrait shot was in daylight condition. in lower light condition it was even stronger)

You can find higher resolution shot here:

https://www.dxomark.com/google-pixel-6-pro-camera-review-a-big-leap-in-image-quality/

This comment is not to compare iPhone 13 pro with Pixel 6. is just to showcase this Oil paint effect that gives a blurred look to the shots.

This effect was not present in iPhone 11 Pro and previous models and is giving a painting / illustration look with loss of detail.

It could be useful having back the possibility to shot without this effect and without HDR too .

Without knowing how you took the photos, its hard to know what might have gone wrong with the 13 Pro on the right.

I just took this closeup of the buckle on my Apple Watch band with my 13 Pro Max. I'm not sure how it could be more in focus than this?