iPhone 13 Pro Disgusting Photos

Guys, relax. Go into settings>photos> turn off view full HDR. The photos look ok when you view them on third party apps or your laptop.

Just the other day I compared a photo shoot in lowlight. the iPhone 13 pro is applying some really bad bad bad bad sharpening effects to the photos. iPhone X is waaay more natural compared to it. and it's ridicolous. in 13 pro, if the camera recognizes a person is a big deal. it goes with some 'adjustments' (that you can't absolutely deactivate because of smart hdr 4 ) in light and sharpening that are so no-natural. no sense.

I know how to use the camera. Apple has incorporated post-production sharpening that one cannot turn off. I have worked with Level 2 support and they have no fixes for it because it is built into Apple’s system. It is a shame but Apple has created automatic post-production that is made for the lowest common denominator. Less sophisticated users will think it is just fine, I am sure. It is very much like the new screens with the yellow green tint. Apple doesn’t acknowledge it but if you put a 12 or 13, side by side, with an earlier model, looking at the same photos, the 12 and 13 photos have a yellow-green tint. it is the display. Very disappointing.

If you are within your return window, you can return your device and purchase something else; similar complaints were made about the iPhone 12.

Otherwise, complaining here does nothing as Apple Engineering does not read these forums.

Instead, leave feedback here, which they do read and act upon:

• Feedback - Camera - Apple
• Feedback - iPhone - Apple

Apple is not "in denial" because you don't like the photos you get, but if sufficient people state they want a way to get less processed or pure RAW photos, they may provide one in the future.

The iPhone 13 Pro wide lens can physically not focus at the distances older iPhones could in part due to the larger sensor used in the 13 Pro, which is why it can macro capability using the Ultra Wide lens:

Capture close-ups with macro photos and video

iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max introduce macro photography, using the new Ultra Wide camera with advanced lens and auto-focus system for stunning close-ups with sharp focus as close as 2 centimeters.  iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max can also shoot macro videos, including slow-motion and time-lapse.

Shooting macro in Photo and Video modes is automatic — just move your iPhone close to the subject and the camera will automatically switch to the Ultra Wide camera if it's not selected, while maintaining your framing. To shoot macro slow-motion or time-lapse videos, select the Ultra Wide camera (.5x) and move close to the subject.

You might see the Camera app transition to the Ultra Wide camera as you move your iPhone close to or away from a subject. You can control automatic macro switching by going to Settings > Camera, then turning on Macro Control.

With Macro Control on, your Camera app displays a macro button  when your iPhone is within macro distance of a subject. Tap the macro button to turn off automatic macro switching, and tap it again to turn automatic macro switching back on. 

If you turn on Macro Control, automatic macro switching is enabled the next time you use the camera within macro distance. If you want to maintain your Macro Control setting between camera sessions, go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings and turn on Macro Control.

About the Camera features on your iPhone - Apple Support

There's no "not having" it involved; this is the design of the phone, and if it doesn't suit your needs, you will need to return it, if within the 14 day return window, or sell it, and purchase something else.

For you, in the specific situations you are complaining about.

For most the iPhone 13 Pro does a vastly better job the majority of the time.

If I am going to be using Lightroom to post-process photos I will use a third party camera app and/or shoot in ProRAW instead. That’s even true of photos from my DSLR, there I always shoot in RAW.

Most of the time I take a photo on my 13 Pro Max with the camera and then hit “edit” and tap the magic wand to further generate the best results for sharing or social media.

The “oil painting” complaint is a ridiculous disparaging comment and does not reflect that though it can look over processed at times, that is also the look most people prefer from their photographs today.

Instagram-ready without the need to apply filters is the standard modern phones are shooting for.

This was recently brought home to me by photos like this, which look over-processed to my eye but were shot not with an iPhone but rather by a well-respected professional with a Canon EOS R5 mirrorless equipped with a "white" RF series lens and was voted one of the best photos of the event by attendees:

ProRAW still has some degree of processing applied, so if you want a true RAW photo you will need to use a third party app.

This is no different than the situation with premium Android phones.

By default all premium smartphones now apply heavy processing across multiple exposures to create the single photo you see after you've taken it.

To quote from CNet's review of the new Samsung Galaxy S22:

Samsung is touting improved low-light performance for both photos and videos and this is mainly due to processing. For photos, the entire S22 series uses a hybrid of pixel binning (combing multiple smaller pixels into a larger one) and high-resolution images to create photos with less image noise and better detail.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/galaxy-s22-our-early-impressions-samsung-800-middle-child/

Yes - many people want Instagram-worthy photos without having to apply Instagram filters.

That's why ProRAW and third party apps are available for those who don't find the photos the Camera app takes by default suitable for their purposes.

It doesn't matter what other smartphones do, premium or otherwise. Apple should make things better, not just parrot the competition. I'm judging based on a couple of decades of using digital cameras and prior iPhone use. I understand the limitations of small-sensor cameras.

I look forward to computational photography, but it should make things visibly better, not worse. What you're doing is coming up with excuses, not actually showing anything.

I did a couple of comparisons. Here's the first one, with the back hair of my cat and the edge of a futon. I've cropped out (100% pixel view) sections from two photos (as is the norm for photography comparisons). You can see that one of them has more severe noise reduction than the other, to the point where the posterization and loss of detail is noticeable. Compare the stitches in the futon, where they are almost lost in one photo. Wood grain is more smoothed-out, although neither shows the full grain of the wood that a larger-sensor camera would have picked up; even so, one simply has a bit more detail than the other. In the cat hair, both have some blurring of detail, but near the top, only one has the hairs clearly defined, while the other fades them into more of a blur; the posterization is clearly visible. Finally, look at the hairs on the futon, on the cushion and wood - clearly defined in one and blended into the background on the other.

One is simply better, and it's not the native app. Sure, viewing on a small phone screen it doesn't matter, but then, why bother wasting CPU cycles on downgrading the image if it doesn't matter? Let's just admit that Apple has joined the "industry standard" of heavy-handed aggressive noise reduction, when they used to be superior.

The Lumix ZS200 and Sony A6100 have much larger sensors than the cellphones, so I would expect superior photos from those in any event. It's not really fair to compare them to a cellphone camera.

This issue is really no different than comparing those cameras to typical point & shoot cameras that people used for years, before most people simply switched to mostly using their cellphones. Small-sensor cameras from Sony and Panasonic also have overly-heavy noise-reduction, as I know from personal experience, having owned both.

I think what bothers me the most is that I thought the iPhone processing was superior, until this latest update. It was a surprise. However, given that 3rd party apps have a great deal of control, it's at least an option, and not so tragic. The hardest part now is for me to figure out a good workflow. Apple's native apps are particularly easy to use and straightforward, which is still a good feature. While I would like an option or 2 (say, enhance/normal or heavy/light noise reduction), every time you add options, someone gets confused or forgets to switch it, and it adds complication. I can see where Apple may just want to keep it simple, and Dog-Moof may have a point that most people like the processing. Camera manufacturers have been doing this in their budget low-end cameras for many years. Must be for some reason.

If a dark area is getting "overexposed" you're likely getting night mode, which you can shut off if you so choose.

Use Night mode on your iPhone - Apple Support

Turn off the lens correction button under the camera settings in your phone settings

Your only solutions if you need one now are to use a third party camera app or to sell it and buy something else.

For you too the best solution may be to sell your 13 Pro and purchase something else; they are bringing decent values on eBay and similar sites.

Itsokisit wrote:

Taken at the same exact time with a slightly different position since I’m not a robot that can perfectly recreate the same exact frame.

Use a tripod.

Its EXTREMELY clear there’s a software issue just off that picture no?

It's impossible to say as the one from the Camera app was first downconverted from HDR, and then again to lossy JPG.

It's clear the first one looks blurrier, but impossible to know what the original looked like.

Still, I recommend you leave feedback:

Feedback - Camera - Apple