I can never get a fully clear picture. Only a small portion of the photo I’m trying to take will be in focus while the rest is blurry. I’ve turned macro lens on and off testing if that’s the issue, but it doesn’t change the problem. It’s been like this since I got it on 9/24.
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iPhone 16 Pro Max, iOS 18
You’re not understanding how the simulated Depth of Field (DOF) works. When in Portrait mode, tap the down facing arrow. Near the bottom of the screen, change the f/number to a higher numerical value such as f/5.6 or f/8. If you use a small numerical f/number such as f/1.4 or f/2.8 the DOF is too shallow for both subjects to be in focus.
Hey y’all! I think I figured it out. I had to tap and HOLD my finger on where I’m trying to get the camera to focus (specifically my nails freshly painted) and it clicked into place for me! You might have to tap, hold, and drag as well. Hope this helps!!
My iPhone 16 Pro Max (I also noticed this problem with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but did not pay attention at the time) does indeed blur the text in the corners in automatic photo mode (i.e. with a 1x lens).
Today I had to photograph some pages of a contract document. When I saw the result, I was shocked.
After playing around with different settings and distances for the 1x lens, I realised that nothing worked: the text was smudged.
So I just switched to a 0.5x lens, moved the camera as close as possible to the paper and I can see that the text is now sharp everywhere (f2.2). Yes, it's 12mpx, not 48 - so what? 48 is not needed here - the clean sharpness of the glyphs and signatures is much more important.
Good luck to everyone!
I have iPhone pro max 16 and notice the 24mm lens fusion camera ALWAYS seems to shoot wide open f/1.78 at shutter speeds over 1/2000th second in full daylight:
here is my post with a few more details and example screenshot:
Why is my iPhone Pro Max 16 shooting wide… - Apple Community
the camera focus issues appear to be by APPLE DESIGN and you can bet they are aware of how their camera lenses perform
basic 101:
shooting WIDE OPEN provides least depth of field and the edges typically blur extreme out of focus
this is why photographers stop down when they want to increase edge to edge sharpness in wide angle lenses
if you've ever shot a fast f/1.2 50mm kit lens on a film or digital 35mm SLR style camera you would be amazed how all over the place the focus goes (artistic if you can control it, unusable wide open for a lot of people)
some of the samples I see in the text look like they have some HDR effects going on with at least over sharpening (and you can turn off View Full HDR in your camera settings for more organic preview) -- and the quality of a consumer lens vs the perfect bed of pixels you desire
the HDR effect I am talking about shows a normal preview on the screen then quickly shifts to horrible before your eyes when the HDR preview kicks in -- the actual file isn't horrible, the software showing the preview is
what does Photoshop or Lightroom show at 100 percent actual pixels is what counts...
-g thanks for looking into the issue and researching!
Jeff great quote by Joe McNally, but still doesn’t solve the issue that; all the previous generation iPhones can take perfectly crisp and sharp text close up photos at 1x including “out at the edges” (see previous post of my iPhone comparisons) but the iPhone 16 can’t.
You can’t blame us “Novices/beginners” that we can’t take a “non- blurry” photo with the iPhone 16s when clearly no one had an issue with previous generations iPhones. And I’ve already posted many examples / photo comparisons showing the difference between the different iPhone generations with clear and crisp photos at 1x (previous posts in this forum).
So, love the quote but it can’t be that all of the sudden, all of us ‘Novices” have become “impeded people” *as a nicer word*, with the iPhone 16s in regards to taking close up photos.
I still think there is an issue with depth of field when it comes to taking a photo of a menu / pamphlet/ brochure where, if there are folds/ creases/ humps text become blurry and smudgy because of the DOF…. But if you take it with the 2x zoom which then becomes a 12MP and not 24MP it looks like it should, and matches the previous generation iPhones.
your depth of field looks like about 4mm (if you can even call that shallow plane of focus sharp for 1/36th second hand held) but I marked the crop where I see your actual focus point, I can actually see the plane of focus on the other side of the cup, but I have a disciplined eye -- everything else is clearly out of focus to my eyes
that rounded cup with soft edges and soft lighting is a poor focus test (or the best test) because it is very hard to control focus point
you would have done a lot better using the chocolate wrapper as your focus point for its contrast and hard lines
best use a tripod, tap the screen to lock your focus point, then release the shutter slowly on exhale ... I'm hesitant to say your test is a bit flawed in my opinion -- but I am not sure what area you tapped on to lock focus and if your camera was absolutely stationary or moving around handheld or jerked with the shutter release...
1/36 sec handheld macro is a real challenge even for a pro (unless on a tripod and shutter release) -- look AMZ for LOONSA HD Selfie Master (what I use 8$ for three the buggers)
Tests done on 8 iPhone 16 Pro/Pro Max + my own iPhone 16 Pro, as well as on 3 iPhone 16 (non Pro), on iOS 18.2.1 (latest). And on an iPhone 14 and an iPhone 13 :
The problem disappears as soon as you switch to wide-angle macro mode, typically in the short range of distances where the camera offers the option of switching to macro mode or not. So, for the same photo and distance, the lens used behaves differently : one produces blurred photos as soon as you move away from the center, while the other produces very sharp photos over the whole field.
It's obviously a hardware problem. With a one-in-10 chance of finding an acceptable (albeit imperfect) model. Which is... unacceptable considering the price of the device, and the fact that the non-pro model clearly doesn't have the problem.
How was the Macro Control set in Settings app? The way macro works is different than prior iOS versions. Different lenses behave differently. The macro lens (13mm .5X) focuses closer than non-macro lenses.
>>Control automatic macro switching
You can control when Camera automatically switches to the Ultra Wide camera for capturing macro photos and videos.
appears on the screen. to turn off automatic macro switching.
to turn automatic macro switching back on.To turn off the manual Macro Control when taking photos and videos, go to Settings > Camera, then turn off Macro Control.
If you want to maintain your Macro Control setting between camera sessions, go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings, then turn on Macro Control.
Take macro photos and videos with your iPhone camera - Apple Support
Decentering is easy to determine. Shot a photo and determine which side is presenting the issue. Flip the iPhone 180° and shoot the same subject. The defect should be present on the opposite side as the first shot.
If you want to post a couple of images I’m happy to review them.
Adjust the camera's focus and exposure
Use iPhone camera tools to set up your shot - Apple Support (IN)
It’s OK, but what I don’t think you’re realizing is Apple switched the macro lens from the 1X to the .5X.
The macro setting on smart phones are not true macro lenses by any stretch of the imagination. They are slightly modified to focus closer than the other lenses. Your (fusion) camera lowers the resolution to 12 megapixels or 24 mp. Your other cameras were shooting 48 Mp.
We can debate why Apple changed things, but that’s pointless. What’s done is done and photographers will need to adapt. If you look at the center crop I posted, it’s sharp and probably a little larger than life size.
I hand held my images, but they’d have been sharper if I used a tripod.
Thanks Jeff, have a sus even at the previous posts with my crops I have posted, unfortunately because the limit is 5MB on this forum there is no way to send the photos in full quality, etc. but all my crop comparisons are the full quality photos next to each other of all my 4 phones and then cropped and shrunk so i can upload, BUT the difference is obvious anyways. And I want to just reiterate this is not a once off bad shot, this is consistently bad on the iP16 with the main / fusion camera at 1x ONLY (NO issues with the macro, the 0.5x, the 2x they are great and crisp). For example if i take the photo with the 2x zoom I will be at ~40cm off the table and that's got no issues, very sharp, crisp, as it should be, but with the 1x zoom it is the same as always, blurry.
The interesting thing i found out tho, when i take a photo with the macro, 0.5 or 2x zoom, it actually takes the photo in 12MP and only the 1x zoom takes it at 24MP and those are the ones i have an issues with blurriness. All the 12MP ones are good enough for what I need, but it seems like the main / fusion lens is bad for close up photos and blurs out at the edges.
Maybe it is a defective lens, but i guess that's why we are all here, we need to figure it out if it is a major issue across all phones or just the few and see what Apple will do about it.
Maybe what you can try is get a clear, crisp and sharp brochure / menu / A4 paper with text on it, preferably black text on white paper and take a photo with the main lens at 1x (and not using any third party app) and see if you have the same issue, it only has to be A4 size and make sure its not a macro shot or wide, just the simple 1x main lens / fusion camera.
This is what everyone is complaining about in this forum, the issue is with the 1x main / fusion camera, because most of us aren't photographers, we just want to whip out our phones from our pockets and take a good non blurry photo with the 1x zoom like we ALWAYS have, and for it not to be blurry, like it always has been with previous generation iPhones. I know you mentioned that IOS18.2 is coming out soon so I will have to wait and see if that changes anything. But so far I have found that the 1x zoom on the main lens is bad for close up photos.
Did you read my prior reply from several days ago, where I stated I suspect you have a defect in the 1X zoom? i still suspect that. This may be something that can be remotely diagnosed but you may need to upload images (not the ones you’ve been sharing) or visit an Apple Retail Store. Other people that are having issue need to step up and share images so I can determine the issue.
This whole notion that it’s all about auto and not being experienced photographers is not the issue. The average person takes pictures of sunsets, family, pets, vacations and trips to Disney Land. Average photos on auto look good, if not great. If anyone wants to trouble shot the issue, I’ll help.
Yes this is correct, I also went into apple a week after the iPhone 16 launched with the issue and they tried to compare with another workers iPhone 15 pro and another iPhone 16 pro on the shop floor. They compared all 3 phones and they all had blurry text, basically saying “this is normal because the lenses have changed on the iPhone 15 and 16s”. And I’m like “well I guess I’ll just have to take blurry photos from now on 💁🏻🤦🏻 or have 2 phones on me all the time to take good photo from my other iPhone”…. How does that even make sense. 🤦🏻. The only way to get sharper text is to take it with the 2x zoom which means taking the photo from further, but this means it takes it with the 12MP camera and not the 24MP 🤦🏻 so the 24MP is useless at close ups. Not sure how it is for other photos I haven’t tried yet, but for closeups and for what I need to capture for work it’s useless 😒😒😒
So realistically this is not a fix, this is just a work around and an inconvenience to take it with the 2x zoom as you have to take the shot from further away, harder to get a good shot when zoomed in, etc…. Inconvenience 😒 so over it, paid way too much 💰 for having to carry 2 phones with me 😒😒😒
The issue really is several fold. I disagree that the 48 mp is a fault. The issue is really trying to design a device that meets everybody’s needs and expectations. I shot in ProRaw and have sharper text. My images are also larger files than yours. I used much more light than, but did handhold. If I’d used a tripod my results would be sharper still. Modify your technique and you can get sharper results.
The soft edges are the result of using wide angle lenses and in particular the ultra wide. I have a 15mm made by Zeiss that costs thousands more, and the corners aren’t much sharper wide open. Small lenses are inherently have limitations (and advantages) over much larger and heavier cameras. But learn to use what you’ve got and the results are generally pretty good, even in macro.
Since you didn’t express a desire to learn photography I thought a very simple analogy would work. I guess not. You now feel necessary to critique my analogy. It’s a concept. Do you understand the concept that products change and evolve over time?
Depending on how you have the macro control set, the transition can be smoother or more abrupt. If you want macro to automatically switch, the camera is using the Fusion Camera. I’ve linked to an Apple Support article on how to shot macro.
Why is macro relevant? Because it describes how the camera system works when the 1X reaches its minimum focus distance.
Take macro photos and videos with your iPhone camera - Apple Support
For those that don’t want to learn too much, here’s my explanation.
The iPhone 16 Pro's Fusion camera uses a 48MP sensor with a 2x optical-quality telephoto option and a 12MP ultra-wide camera with autofocus for macro photography, automatically switching to the ultra-wide lens for macro shots when you get close enough to the subject.
How to Fix iPhone 16 Pro Max Camera Focus Issue
