iPhone 17 pro awful photo quality

Ideally turn off Live Photo. It prioritizes frame rate (taking multiple photos) over image quality. I don’t know if the Prioritize Faster Shooting has an effect or not. You can turn it off and experiment with image quality.

iPhone > Settings > Camera > scroll down > Prioritize Faster Shooting > disable

I don’t think Prioritize Fast Shooting has any effect on Live Photo mode. Live Photo captures 1.5 seconds of video before and after you click the shutter button.

Video maintains a constant frame rate and it might be too fast for the low light conditions you’re encountering. This leads to the iPhone boosting the exposure and the electronic noise because more noticeable and objectionable when lightened up.

All cameras do this to one degree or another. The graininess you’re seeing is electronic noise caused by the low light conditions. All digital cameras exhibit noise.

Your camera tries to compensate for the low light levels by slowing down the shutter and if the subject moves during the exposure, the slow shutter will be the cause of the motion blur in the subject.

Things you can do to get better low light photos in doors of moving subjects.

1. Use only the 1X lens. Do not zoom.
2. Turn all the room lights on and open curtains if daylight
3. Do not use Night Mode
4. Use the electronic flash
5. Use a third party app that allows more manual control of the exposure.

Happy to answer questions. I’d also look for a Facebook group for iPhones or even more specifically iPhone 17 groups. I know of several and people there are very knowledgeable and willing to help coach you in getting better photos.

It was just the wrong choice of settings for the conditions you were shooting in. Now you know a couple of ways to approach the issue and start simple, turn off Live Photo and use the 1X lens for a few shots. If they look good you’re all set. If they’re still a little dark turn on the lights and use the flash. You got this.

You're welcome and I hope you have a great weekend!