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Hieveryone

macrumors 603
Apr 11, 2014
5,627
2,339
USA
Apparently this is a problem with both the rear and the front camera, the colors and smoothing just looks wrong. Check this video and see the difference for yourselfs:


I saw this video as well. Pretty astonishing IMO.

I honeslty have no words right now. Just...unreal.

I absolutely cannot have my selfies looking like that. I know it's 2018, and I mean no offense to anyone, but I do NOT want my friends thinking I'm smoothening my skin in my selfies.

Seriously. This is not cool at all for me.
 
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FoxD

macrumors 6502a
Apr 28, 2010
504
247
I also started a similar thread last week. Good to see this is finally getting attention. Another dude here posted the first thread about it too.

Hope they fix it...
 
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seven8time

macrumors newbie
Sep 26, 2018
1
0
Why is his shirt so bright in the XS photos though? I’m a photographer and this just seems to be bad camera behavior or metering. It’s so much lighter, so it does seem to be extra Exposure or noise reduction.

This seems like a bug to report rather than a conspiracy.

I just received an XS Max today and the front camera doesn’t do this to my pictures.
 

tt061282

macrumors 6502
Mar 18, 2018
367
409
Nevada
Yeah this is something Apple didn’t really need to do. The front facing camera on the X was already good. It’s honestly like all they added to the front facing camera was this filter and said it was better.

For some people this problem will be HUGE. Personally i don’t take a whole lot of selfies, but for people who do this could be an issue
 
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jabingla2810

macrumors 68020
Oct 15, 2008
2,271
938
As far as I can tell, this is a new Noise reduction technique by the ISP.

I don't think it discriminates skin from other textures, it applies to everything.

I don't think it can be called a beauty mode, because it doesn't just apply to faces.
 

ssl0408

macrumors 65816
Sep 22, 2013
1,233
555
New York
I cannot believe Apple has done this. This is one of the top reasons why I don’t like Samsung phones, because they have this weird smoothing effect on pictures. I’m considering getting an XS but I will wait it out and see if they fix this with a software update.
 
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Donnation

Suspended
Nov 2, 2014
1,686
2,083
Apparently this is a problem with both the rear and the front camera, the colors and smoothing just looks wrong. Check this video and see the difference for yourselfs:


Did you even watch the video? Its only the front facing camera. No where in the video does he mention that it affects the rear camera, because it doesn't.
 
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Azathoth123

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2018
930
698
Fountain City
We’re mostly guys here (women don’t talk about their phones like we do), but there are very favorable comments about the selfie-smoothing effect with different audiences. The smoothing is an effect that’s been used in conventional film photography via portrait lenses for a century, so use of the effect at least is not new. It would be nice to have a toggle though.

You can indeed add smoothness in an image editor, and you can also sharpen images or add noise or grain. I take it most users are probably using selfies as-is and not exporting to image editors as an intermediate step, so I can see the smoothing as a default since selfies are usually a large part faces. Most general audiences are going to like the effect.

https://www.cultofmac.com/579503/iphone-selfies-xs/

One thing is for certain, no matter what Apple does, they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t lol.

Cheers, Azy
 

jacksterg51

macrumors member
Nov 13, 2016
49
14
Honeymoon ãve.
Does anyone know if Apple knows about this issue? Being a guy or not this is still quite annoying, as we as the consumer should have the option if we want to turn this on or off.
 
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5105973

Cancelled
Sep 11, 2014
12,132
19,733
Yeah, you know, I dismissed this as well, as just more anti Apple propaganda, but I did test shots with my X and my XS Max and I get the exact same thing. Apple NEEDS to fix this with a toggle.
Lol, okay fine get a toggle. I on the other hand am going to send Tim Cook a thank you note and a bottle of champagne after comparing the selfie I just took with my 8 Plus to the one I took with my Max. Steve was right, we don’t know what we need until they give it to us. I can learn to appreciate the fantasy! :D Someday when I’m dead and buried and the grandkids see these photos of me they won’t know it was some crazy algorithm and just think grandma was kind of cute at 52!

I have a Pixel 2 whose selfie actually makes me look twenty years older and like I downed a lot of vodka over a bad weekend. I’d take it personally, but it does that to my gorgeous teenager, too.

My Samsung S9+ is so heavily altered I feel like I’m trying to see a picture of myself after downing the vodka that the Pixel 2 made me look like a drank. :p
 

Azathoth123

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2018
930
698
Fountain City
Does anyone know if Apple knows about this issue? Being a guy or not this is still quite annoying, as we as the consumer should have the option if we want to turn this on or off.

It’s not an issue, it’s a feature. :D Of course they know about it, they intended it to be there (vs say the X), it isn’t accidental.

You can do a lot with even a simple free editor on your phone, like Lightroom.The question the designers obviously had is ‘what’s the best option for most people?’

But I agree, a toggle would be a nice simple fix.

Cheers, Azy
 

Azathoth123

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2018
930
698
Fountain City
How do we know that?

This is true, AFAIK there’s no public evidence - but if you’re an engineer (I am a retired engineer) an effect of this magnitude is not something that usually happens unknowingly. That said, there’s a new camera with larger pixels, so it could be X camera code on a Xs sensor, but since cameras are so important and tested extensively it seems less plausible that it is unintentional. The Xs series cameras really are completely new.

And of course if they ‘fix’ it, there will be an equal or greater number of people wanting it back.

Cheers, Azy
 

bpeeps

Suspended
May 6, 2011
3,678
4,630
I saw this video as well. Pretty astonishing IMO.

I honeslty have no words right now. Just...unreal.

I absolutely cannot have my selfies looking like that. I know it's 2018, and I mean no offense to anyone, but I do NOT want my friends thinking I'm smoothening my skin in my selfies.

Seriously. This is not cool at all for me.
This comment actually made me laugh out loud at work. The thought of your friends analyzing extreme closeups of your face on social media is just hilarious.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,392
19,461
This is true, AFAIK there’s no public evidence - but if you’re an engineer (I am a retired engineer) an effect of this magnitude is not something that usually happens unknowingly. That said, there’s a new camera with larger pixels, so it could be X camera code on a Xs sensor, but since cameras are so important and tested extensively it seems less plausible that it is unintentional. The Xs series cameras really are completely new.

And of course if they ‘fix’ it, there will be an equal or greater number of people wanting it back.

Cheers, Azy
An interesting conjecture. I guess we'll see how it plays out.
 
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Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
35,576
52,312
In a van down by the river
I don't have a need to share selfies with the rest of the Internet. It seems a little narcissistic but, that is the world we now live in. I rarely use the front camera as it is. Most of the time I am using it as a magnifier.
 

beermode

macrumors 6502
Apr 18, 2016
276
592
This comment actually made me laugh out loud at work. The thought of your friends analyzing extreme closeups of your face on social media is just hilarious.
Im a photographer and into other creative arts. So are a lot of my friends. In fact, most creative people tend to buy Apple products despite huge advancements on the MS side of town on winning over creatives.
Your anecdotal based insults pretty much sucks.
 

Hieveryone

macrumors 603
Apr 11, 2014
5,627
2,339
USA
This comment actually made me laugh out loud at work. The thought of your friends analyzing extreme closeups of your face on social media is just hilarious.

It’s a young people thing. Most old generations wouldn’t get it.
 

Freakonomics101

macrumors 68030
Nov 6, 2014
2,740
1,799
I have permanent sun damage on my face. If I want to show someone how bad it is and need to ask someone about it, I don’t want my skin smoothed out. There are certain circumstances where this would be inconvenient. No need for anyone to judge.
 
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