iPhone 12 Disappointed with iPhone 12 pictures...

[guitargeek84]

Hey there!

So, I wasn’t planning on upgrading this year. I had an 11 Pro Max that was doing pretty awesomely, but sadly on Friday I fell down some stairs and the phone was broken. Enter the choice of what replacement to get...

I chose the iPhone 12. One, because it was what Verizon had in-store, and also because from what I had read the 12 was going to do everything I want in a hand-friendly size...

The phone feels great, but I am rather disappointed with the camera. Some of the pics are awesome, and I am highly impressed with the improvements to Night Mode.

BUT... why the Hell are photos overexposing so much? I have changed a bunch of the settings to try to adjust this, and have found that I need to go to a third-party app sometimes to get a pic that looks right.

Check these out, and let me know what you thinkl!

I am going to play with this more to see what I need to do. If I am seeing consistent results similar to these two below, I am going to return the 12 and pick up the 12 Pro Max. I admit, I am a bit of an iPhone photography enthusiast haha.

Thanks!

 

[Sam in SoCal]

Hey there!

So, I wasn’t planning on upgrading this year. I had an 11 Pro Max that was doing pretty awesomely, but sadly on Friday I fell down some stairs and the phone was broken. Enter the choice of what replacement to get...

I chose the iPhone 12. One, because it was what Verizon had in-store, and also because from what I had read the 12 was going to do everything I want in a hand-friendly size...

The phone feels great, but I am rather disappointed with the camera. Some of the pics are awesome, and I am highly impressed with the improvements to Night Mode.

BUT... why the Hell are photos overexposing so much? I have changed a bunch of the settings to try to adjust this, and have found that I need to go to a third-party app sometimes to get a pic that looks right.

Check these out, and let me know what you thinkl!

Thanks!

What settings did you change? Did you also try turning off smart HDR

 

[guitargeek84]

What settings did you change? Did you also try turning off smart HDR

Hey, Sam!

I went into Settings > Camera. I tried turning off Scene Detection and Smart HDR at the same time and individually. No change in effect.

 

[LongWayHome]

Well I would say that to me it doesn't look like you are giving the phone a chance to adjust to the light and are taking the photos quickly like you are trying to take them without anyone noticing that you are taking them. Just my thought as the camera angle you are using is really weird.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Does that room have different colors lights in it? It also looks like there was motion with the camera that caused the shapes and colors to be unnatural and distorted.

 

[Thoradin]

You should always tap the screen at a point in the shot where you want the focus and meter readings taken from.
If you don’t then it will sample from a large area in the centre of the shot, with the amount of white in the centre of these and the amount of light, that’s what’s throwing your images out.
The iPhone is too busy trying to balance the white colour properly and not paying attention to anything else.

 

[guitargeek84]

Does that room have different colors lights in it? It also looks like there was motion with the camera that caused the shapes and colors to be unnatural and distorted.

Yeah, there are different light sources and colors around. I am going to attach a pic I took with Halide as a comparison...

What’s nuts is that my 11 Pro Max didn’t have this exposure issue shooting pics in that room.

Sure, there was some blurriness from motion - That was my fault.

 

[guitargeek84]

Well I would say that to me it doesn't look like you are giving the phone a chance to adjust to the light and are taking the photos quickly like you are trying to take them without anyone noticing that you are taking them. Just my thought as the camera angle you are using is really weird.

Hmm could be - everyone knew I was taking pics and testing out the camera - we were playing Cards Against Humanity

 

[Apple_Robert]

Yeah, there are different light sources and colors around. I am going to attach a pic I took with Halide as a comparison...

What’s nuts is that my 11 Pro Max didn’t have this exposure issue shooting pics in that room.

Sure, there was some blurriness from motion - That was my fault.

That looks much better using Halide.

 

[ToddH]

Hey there!

So, I wasn’t planning on upgrading this year. I had an 11 Pro Max that was doing pretty awesomely, but sadly on Friday I fell down some stairs and the phone was broken. Enter the choice of what replacement to get...

I chose the iPhone 12. One, because it was what Verizon had in-store, and also because from what I had read the 12 was going to do everything I want in a hand-friendly size...

The phone feels great, but I am rather disappointed with the camera. Some of the pics are awesome, and I am highly impressed with the improvements to Night Mode.

BUT... why the Hell are photos overexposing so much? I have changed a bunch of the settings to try to adjust this, and have found that I need to go to a third-party app sometimes to get a pic that looks right.

Check these out, and let me know what you thinkl!

Thanks!

Overexposed....I do see that. Do you touch where you want to focus and expose or adjust the exposure compensation before the shot? Or are you one to to point and shoot? Take in mind you need to expose for the highlights and then lift the shadows when editing your photos if you actually edit anything at all. Digital photography is much like slide film, do you have to expose for the highlights and adjust / lift your shadows. You can touch the screen where you want the camera focus and slide your finger up and down to adjust the exposure compensation to make it darker or lighter and then you take your shot. The third party app I use and LOVE is Halide. Auto or full manual control With that app.
this is what I usually do, I usually under expose my photos up to -1 stop and adjust for the shadows. I’m a photographer so that’s what I do.. most people don’t want to go through the trouble of editing, many just want the camera to do everything for them and I understand that, not everyone is a photographer and understands light and composition.

apples new default camera settings are really good. The exposure compensation slider is really nice. when you make an adjustment with it, it stays active until you set it back to zero. It may be possible that you accidentally set it to a +1 stop increase and every photo is over exposed. This will be the +/- icon in the circle next to the aspect ratio at the bottom of the camera frame where night mode is. If that is at zero and your shots are over expo, the camera must be trying to adjust to a dark subject and that would make shots over exposed. Try the adjustment I suggested and let us know if that helps.

 

[guitargeek84]

Overexposed....I do see that. Do you touch where you want to focus and expose or adjust the exposure compensation before the shot? Or are you one to to point and shoot? Take in mind you need to expose for the highlights and then lift the shadows when editing your photos if you actually edit anything at all. Digital photography is much like slide film, do you have to expose for the highlights and adjust / lift your shadows. You can touch the screen where you want the camera focus and slide your finger up and down to adjust the exposure compensation to make it darker or lighter and then you take your shot. The third party app I use and LOVE is Halide. Auto or full manual control With that app.
this is what I usually do, I usually under expose my photos up to -1 stop and adjust for the shadows. I’m a photographer so that’s what I do.. most people don’t want to go through the trouble of editing, many just want the camera to do everything for them and I understand that, not everyone is a photographer and understands light and composition.

apples new default camera settings are really good. The exposure compensation slider is really nice. when you make an adjustment with it, it stays active until you set it back to zero. It may be possible that you accidentally set it to a +1 stop increase and every photo is over exposed. This will be the +/- icon in the circle next to the aspect ratio at the bottom of the camera frame where night mode is. If that is at zero and your shots are over expo, the camera must be trying to adjust to a dark subject and that would make shots over exposed. Try the adjustment I suggested and let us know if that helps.

Thanks for the comprehensive reply!

I do touch the screen to adjust the focus and exposure compensation. I love the editing process. These phone are so easy to use, yes it is easy for one to just think they can point and shoot and be done. Nah, proper editing is a joy

I think that you may have a point with regard to the +/- exposure tab. I havent used that part of the interface, and it is definitely possible that that could be the culprit behind those shots.

I am going to try to redo the scene later tonight and see if I can find the source lol

 

[danvalor]

The default Smart HDR on my mini is so strong that it is to my eye overprocessing and creating ghost artifacts almost like aberration

 

[Thoradin]

The default Smart HDR on my mini is so strong that it is to my eye overprocessing and creating ghost artifacts almost like aberration

You can’t properly compare those 2 pictures.
The one on the left is very out of focus, the one on the right is pin sharp and detailed.

 

[guitargeek84]

I ended up getting the 12 Pro Max - I am so very pleased with it! I was able to turn on Apple ProRaw a few days back, and WHAT A DIFFERENCE it makes being able to edit pictures in this format!

A couple nights ago I went outside to take some shots of the Northern Lights, which were popping awesomely... Here’s what I got!

 

[Knowlege Bomb]

I like what my mini is putting out!

 

[groovypebble]

I have the same over exposed experience that I never got on my 6S (the phone I upgraded from ). Yes the night photos are great and low light is awesome but sunlight just ruins it and I can;t see how to adjust One here sun behind and one sun in front

 

[Octavius8]

hdr3 in the 12s is a joke.
I tested my pro max and the 12 pro cameras receding the apple shop and the photos from the 12 seem to be taken with a higher iso, meaning mucho more noise in the 12, for scenes fully illuminated. For me, the new aperture is poorly calibrated for good light photos. Is like Apple adjusted the phone for night photos, but kept the settings for day time, so the photos look over exposed and with more noise. Really a shame that after some many months the camera has not been fixed and that most guys are fanatics and can’t see problems in their phones!. I am a +10 years apple user, but not a blind follower.

 

[TechLord]

I came from the 11 to the 12 and found the opposite. The 11 ALWAYS overexposed my photos. When taking selfies my hair colour was noticeably lighter and looked nothing like in real life or my previous iPhone 8 which I felt was more colour accurate. My 12 is very colour accurate, close to real life and my 8. Maybe I just got a lemon of an 11.