iPhone 7 Plus Camera - Pictures are bad

I am livid.

Just had a call back from Apple Support, the guy on the phone was relaying the message from an "engineer" essentially saying I have to take the phone into an apple store and take photos with an iPhone 7 Plus and compare. If the images look the same then this will prove it's not an hardware issue, there is nothing they can do as the opinions of people on photo quality "differ" and in this case feedback to Apple using the feedback site.

I argued with the guy the logic that if the compared photos are the same then this might not be a hardware issue, it's an iOS one what do I do about that. He talked some rubbish about the software downloaded is the latest and to feedback.

I finished expressing dismay that this phone cannot produce an image out-of-the-box that is useable. Unless I take a RAW image and edit it, which required time for and loses the live-photo ability as well not to mention the amout of storage required to hive off thousands of photos. I shouldn't have to use RAW as my defacto option.

This is my last iPhone, I'm on the Apple upgrade program will pay that off ahead of time and get a phone that produces better photos with a secondary RAW option.

I also believe this is the case. DNG from LR look good — it's almost certainly not hardware or camera-module related. I feel bad for the people wasting so much time trying to get repairs done or phones replaced. It's not going to change (unless you were having a different problem). This is Apple software crushing the **** out of a JPEG with insane noise-reduction and/or sharpness enhancement. I think what happened is they were trying to please "the masses" who want fast, sharp, clean photos, and went WAY too far processing the JPEGs for that purpose.

If anyone uses Lightroom on the desktop, you can replicate this easily. Take a picture straight from camera, and jack the sharpening slider and luminance noise reduction slider all the way up. Voila, a painting. The only difference is on the iPhone you don't have a choice...

I am also experiencing the same issue. Pictures appear to be smudged and people seem like they have makeup on. Borderlines look uneven and very poor quality.

Just phoned Apple and a case was opened, yet they claim they have no records of this issue. However for me it seems like a software one, since all RAW images appear much better.

Example 1: iPhone 6 Plus on the left, iPhone 7 Plus on the right

Example 2: iPhone 7 Plus, RAW on the left, jpg on the right (same image)

In example 1 if you zoom in on the right image, you can see heavy watercolour effects which do not appear on the iPhone 6 Plus photo. In example 2 you can see the same effect.

There's definitely something wrong with the iPhone 7 Plus OIS/compression/image processing. Unfortunately I don't have the iPhone 6 Plus anymore to test further. Hope this gets resolved soon.

Here are some pictures taken of the same scene using a iphone 6 plus, 6s plus and my 7 plus.

iP6P : http://www.image-share.com/ijpg-3376-295.html

iP6sP : http://www.image-share.com/ijpg-3376-296.html

iP7P : http://www.image-share.com/ijpg-3376-297.html

These were taken indoors. No zoom, no editing or color adjustments. Taken using the default camera app. Notice the color saturation differences.

Here's a cropped at 100% comparison image between the ip6 plus and ip7 plus versions.

http://www.image-share.com/ijpg-3376-298.html

I don't know what to say. Some says its a non-issue, some report this is not wide spread, some of us (including me) thinks its in all the ip7.

As mentioned by one comment above I disabled HDR in the camera settings and as well in the camera app. Since then both sharpness increased and the watercolor effect decreased noticeably - don't know if its just my impression but perhaps you give it a try and let us know if this worked. Perhaps its a bad algorithm linked to the HDR function?!

Despite what was said in an earlier post, I don't believe this watercolour effect is caused by optical image stabilisation. As I understand it, OIS works by employing an articulated lens that moves in such a way as to counter any *fine* hand movements. There is no overlaying of images, and it works the same way for photos as for video. This being the case, OIS does not explain the watercolour effect.

Furthermore, it was stated that the RAW image doesn't display the artefacts because the sensor does not receive a stabilised image. I call BS on that! OPTICAL implies that the lens system is performing the stabilisation, and where does the sensor gather light from... yes, from the lens system.

Like others, I'd says its a software issue, easily resolved if Apple would tweak the JPG algorithm.

OK, I just got off the phone with Apple.

Very helpful.

I emailed him a copy of my grainy photo and he had me do a restart of my phone, which was holding down the volume fown button and side button until Ibsaw the Apple logo.

After the restart, the grainy-ness of my images around my house was better. Not in low light though.

He said there were other steps to take which would totally reset my phone so I chise to try this out for a few days. I have his direct email address so if I continue havingva problem, I can get to hom firectly and not have to explain my issue to soneone new.

Apple Support is VERY good!!

Carol

Just wanted to chime in here. My 7 Plus also exhibiting this issues with the crap quality pictures. Attached image comparing an original iPhone 6 to my brand new 7 Plus with the standard Camera app. 7 Plus image is absolutely terrible in a fully lit room, even worse than a phone from 2 generations ago.

I can verify taking DNG with LR mobile basically fixes the issue, however I need to select the "Detailed" option under "Presets" -> "Details", then export in order to get a usable JPEG.

This is pretty embarrassing, especially considering it's been 3+ months since the release or the phone with multiple iOS updates in between. Considering people are buying this phone SPECIFICALLY for the camera (like I did), this is something that should be addressed with some urgency, in my opinion.

I too have terrible paint effect blurring on most photos. Even at pretty bad levels during midday light outdoors. Low light shots look like pencil crayon drawings by my 2 year old and are completely unusable. Apple have replaced the camera unit - no fix. Online support - no fix. Genius Bar - no fix. Software updates - no fix. Apple staff all see the issues, but all say I'm the only one with the problem. Problem evident on 10.0 right through to 10.2 (current) - both public builds and betas, and it occurs on both outward-facing cameras, with or without portrait mode. My 6+ is taking better photos in the same circumstances right now... I'm getting close to asking for a refund and going with a Pixel XL or OnePlus 3T. Or maybe generating some media attention may help. Has anyone had a replacement iPhone 7+ and has it solved the issue? Hoping this is a small batch problem that Apple recognises.

Frustrating amount of investigation we are having to do. What a way for a company to treat a customer spending £1000, eh...

You describe the problem very well, though I also found it apparent in portrait mode. It shows up mostly on skin. Portrait mode was handy for identifying that the problem exists on both rear facing cameras. Using 2x doesn't necessarily use the telephoto lens - often it simply applies a digital zoom to the wide lens. Portrait mode however forces the phone into telephoto lens - confirming that the overenthusiastic noise reduction and sharpening is indeed on both. Has anyone tried the selfie camera?

Hello user. If disable in the iOS stock camera app the Live Photos function and using iOS 10.2. Then better?

I am not sure. But Live Photos feature makes the photos worse again. More Gaussian blur!

Gaussian blur is even worse for the animal and people face and for dark environments. Therefore first photo here or other photos here, so details missing.

But disable this Live Photos feature. not fixed general camera problem.

For the love of god.... for the last time, a reset will NOT magically make your pictures better.

Please stop spreading around this "fix", it is NOT a fix and it's just an unessecary suggestion that'll wipe out everyone's settings for zero benefits.

This issue is iOS related and how it applies over sharpening and heavy noise reduction. So again, please stop with the whole reset your settings suggestion.

I took my phone to Apple store in STL this weekend. They agreed that photos were terrible and my phone was replaced on the spot. The pictures are no better, and the display model appeared to do the same thing. The tech went from, "wow this does take terrible photos" to "a lot of it is how you use the camera, lighting, etc..". If I shoot with an app that does RAW I have much better quality - and 5 times the storage per photo. I have to think someone at Apple sees the issue and is working on a software update???

sharpening? it looks more like aggresive noise reduction to me. that is why the details are gone, simply washed out. my kids look like a barbie doll with too much make-up. hair is smeared out too, no details at all.

but, like i said before...it is a problem in any condition, any subject. I too like too think it is a software thing....the hardware should be capable enough.

wonder how this ever go through Q&A testing? this is so obvious, even to basic users like my wife, who is no photographer or nitpicker...she just wants good photos. and right now, that is not possible at all. It even worse then a i5c or 4s really.

just hope Apple will fix this asap, or am I returning this phone. they did not fix it in the 10.1 update.