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iPhone 16 Pro Max Issues with ProRAW 48 and stock camera app
- Thread starter jajo.j
- Start date
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- camera iphone 16 pro proraw raw
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When I got the 15 Pro Max last year I posted a thread about the inferior quality of ProRAW 48 using the stock app comparing to 14 Pro Max from 2022. At that time I was convinced that it was a bug that Apple would solve quickly. They didn't.
I was hoping for 16 Pro Max to perform better in this area but it is just the same overprocessed and denoised mess that we saw on 15 Pro Max.
Luckily, there are other apps that can take higher quality 48MP shots on the iPhone. Halide, Firstlight and ProCamera are some examples.
Just check these 100% crops between Halide (to the left) and Stock (to the right)
If you want to shoot high res on the iPhones, test some third party apps!
Now I only wish that they would allow third party apps to shoot regular raw (without remosaicking) in 48MP.
Hi! I having the same issue like you…my photo pixelated when fully zoom in proraw max compared to heif max but i found out something to remove pixelated effect from proraw max…i try lightly edit in photo app itself for example exposure +1 & save then photo become more better. I attached comparisonWhen I got the 15 Pro Max last year I posted a thread about the inferior quality of ProRAW 48 using the stock app comparing to 14 Pro Max from 2022. At that time I was convinced that it was a bug that Apple would solve quickly. They didn't.
I was hoping for 16 Pro Max to perform better in this area but it is just the same overprocessed and denoised mess that we saw on 15 Pro Max.
Luckily, there are other apps that can take higher quality 48MP shots on the iPhone. Halide, Firstlight and ProCamera are some examples.
Just check these 100% crops between Halide (to the left) and Stock (to the right)
If you want to shoot high res on the iPhones, test some third party apps!
Now I only wish that they would allow third party apps to shoot regular raw (without remosaicking) in 48MP.
I just found out something if i lightly edit proraw max photo in photo apps itself, just adjust +1 exposure & save then the quality become more better…no more pixelated when fully zoom in… View attachment 2442825 View attachment 2442824When I got the 15 Pro Max last year I posted a thread about the inferior quality of ProRAW 48 using the stock app comparing to 14 Pro Max from 2022. At that time I was convinced that it was a bug that Apple would solve quickly. They didn't.
I was hoping for 16 Pro Max to perform better in this area but it is just the same overprocessed and denoised mess that we saw on 15 Pro Max.
Luckily, there are other apps that can take higher quality 48MP shots on the iPhone. Halide, Firstlight and ProCamera are some examples.
Just check these 100% crops between Halide (to the left) and Stock (to the right)
If you want to shoot high res on the iPhones, test some third party apps!
Now I only wish that they would allow third party apps to shoot regular raw (without remosaicking) in 48MP.
I have the same issue but I found something that might help...try lightly edit proraw max photo in photo apps itself (example: exposure +1) & then save...the photo become more better
Yes, it works great. I wish there was a zero process 48MP option. 😞
That would be awesome!!! I’m hoping it’s in the works. If not 48mp, I’d settle for a 24mp option.
My ProRaw files look better after 18.1. The stacking process of the final image takes longer now like it should and the photos are clean. This is on the iPhone I have that was having ProRaw issues before I restored the iPhone. Photos are better now. I still have more tests to run
I tested, re-tested and everything is the same. Same artifacts everywhere. Pixelation!
(Native ProRAW MAX [48MP] vs ProCam ProRAW [48MP])
(Native ProRAW MAX [48MP] vs ProCam ProRAW [48MP])
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That’s crazy!!! My camera files have improved and the focus is better. Can’t believe that Yours hasn’t improved. Are you able to get a replacement?
I forgot, your iPhone is a pro or pro max?
No need replacement, because its not hardwere, but software, and also reproductable by others. Including another 3 16PM that i tested last hours from family, same issues. Only an update will solve this.
Yeah... ios 18 problem. I tried also 1 Iphone 15PM with ios 17 and then ios 18 and the problem was visible only in ios 18, after the update. Only 14 pro series are safe with proraw.
But 15PM with iOS 17 still has much worse ProRAW performance than 14PM. Just a small note.
It seems that iOS 18.1 has ruined the quality of 48MP ProRAW on the 14 Pro with artificial bokeh. But I need to take more photos in daylight to confirm. That can't be possible.
With immense denoise. Pixelation started with ios 18.
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ProRAW with iOS 18.1…. Amazing quality, I love it. The ProRAW files look so good.
These were not taken in night mode, only ProRaw 48mp.
Sorry to say so because I know several of you guys are still having issues with your iPhones. Hopefully the issues get resolved promptly. Both of my 16 pro max iPhones are constant with each other. The desert titanium iPhone was the one I was having issues with when using ProRAW, after the restore, the ProRAW files were much better. Now with 18.1, the ProRAW images are better still. I’m in Houston tonight, taking night photos. Excellent dynamic range. Lightroom edits.
These were not taken in night mode, only ProRaw 48mp.
Sorry to say so because I know several of you guys are still having issues with your iPhones. Hopefully the issues get resolved promptly. Both of my 16 pro max iPhones are constant with each other. The desert titanium iPhone was the one I was having issues with when using ProRAW, after the restore, the ProRAW files were much better. Now with 18.1, the ProRAW images are better still. I’m in Houston tonight, taking night photos. Excellent dynamic range. Lightroom edits.
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My iPhone 11 Pro now shoots so much ugly photos that I just gave up. No RAW, no editing, nothing. Phone no more gives me any pleasure when I try taking photos with it. I found my old Sony Ericsson G700 from 2008. I never realized its 3.2mp no-AF camera can be this good!
Don’t look at the “detail”. Look at the colors. One of the first Sony sensor iterations. This is literally how it looked in real life. Can ANY new iPhone even compete? At least mine makes everything look unnatural, oversharpened, overHDRed, not crisp or naturally sharp, fully denoised, literally not as it should be.
My iPhone 5 and (not mine) iPhone 4 took similar photos as this Sony Ericsson, but 5 has crushed display and camera fell off completely, and 4 has almost dead display and totally destroyed back glass. Will probably try searching used 4 to replace but not sure I wanna do that since my only 30 pin cable is almost dead and no one selling the original cable that actually works.
In fact, for now sending those lovely Sony shots via bluetooth seems like the top option for actually UNPROCESSED phone imagery. Oh, btw iPhone still cannot send via bluetooth sadly, only AirDrop which works only to Apple devices. I even forgot how useful bluetooth is.
Even some random shot of my home wine collection looks so true to life and nostalgic. One would say “but the highlights are blown”. YES, they are. Those are laws of physics for a tiny sensor, and breaking them with some gimmicky HDR and AI would just make things worse 95% of all time.
And some autumn leaves to top it up:
Not telling everyone should do that, but at least I had some TRUE pleasure taking these photos vs shooting with my iPhone. Not sure it was just nostalgia since I rarely took any shots with the phone back in the days. I had recently tried 16 Pro irl and honestly, it feels even worse in some areas than ancient 11 Pro, even more sharpening and postprocessing, denoising is less aggressive tho.
I think people must pressure Apple into giving back controls over photography. This means writing more forum posts, posting on social media, tiktok and of course flooding their apple.com/feedback page. I personally don’t want them to do any processing to my shots, I know my tools perfectly enough to post-process myself. Some shots (like the ones I provided) do not even need any post processing, or else it will ruin natural look of the images. I don’t need RAW because I don’t have time to edit these large shots, I want “natural” button and ability to simply shoot jpegs.
There is for sure always another option… an Android phone, Open Camera app and basically thats it. Apple should finally realize if they do not cater to photographers and continue to market their phones as “Pro choice”, more people would naturally drift to competition.
Btw, why iPhones can no more give natural motion blur, unless you shoot in RAW? The obsession with stabilization doesn’t always equal to more “artsy” and “aesthetic” shots. While this one below surely doesn’t look like a good photograph, it has some interesting “vibe” that lures in
Don’t look at the “detail”. Look at the colors. One of the first Sony sensor iterations. This is literally how it looked in real life. Can ANY new iPhone even compete? At least mine makes everything look unnatural, oversharpened, overHDRed, not crisp or naturally sharp, fully denoised, literally not as it should be.
My iPhone 5 and (not mine) iPhone 4 took similar photos as this Sony Ericsson, but 5 has crushed display and camera fell off completely, and 4 has almost dead display and totally destroyed back glass. Will probably try searching used 4 to replace but not sure I wanna do that since my only 30 pin cable is almost dead and no one selling the original cable that actually works.
In fact, for now sending those lovely Sony shots via bluetooth seems like the top option for actually UNPROCESSED phone imagery. Oh, btw iPhone still cannot send via bluetooth sadly, only AirDrop which works only to Apple devices. I even forgot how useful bluetooth is.
Even some random shot of my home wine collection looks so true to life and nostalgic. One would say “but the highlights are blown”. YES, they are. Those are laws of physics for a tiny sensor, and breaking them with some gimmicky HDR and AI would just make things worse 95% of all time.
And some autumn leaves to top it up:
Not telling everyone should do that, but at least I had some TRUE pleasure taking these photos vs shooting with my iPhone. Not sure it was just nostalgia since I rarely took any shots with the phone back in the days. I had recently tried 16 Pro irl and honestly, it feels even worse in some areas than ancient 11 Pro, even more sharpening and postprocessing, denoising is less aggressive tho.
I think people must pressure Apple into giving back controls over photography. This means writing more forum posts, posting on social media, tiktok and of course flooding their apple.com/feedback page. I personally don’t want them to do any processing to my shots, I know my tools perfectly enough to post-process myself. Some shots (like the ones I provided) do not even need any post processing, or else it will ruin natural look of the images. I don’t need RAW because I don’t have time to edit these large shots, I want “natural” button and ability to simply shoot jpegs.
There is for sure always another option… an Android phone, Open Camera app and basically thats it. Apple should finally realize if they do not cater to photographers and continue to market their phones as “Pro choice”, more people would naturally drift to competition.
Btw, why iPhones can no more give natural motion blur, unless you shoot in RAW? The obsession with stabilization doesn’t always equal to more “artsy” and “aesthetic” shots. While this one below surely doesn’t look like a good photograph, it has some interesting “vibe” that lures in
We are with you. My iPhone 5s was perfect.
I think you would like how Regular/Native RAW looks with an app like Pro Camera. Completely unprocessed. The way to get great performance from iPhone camera is third party apps.
ProCamera is my favorite so far if only the editing process wasn’t such a nightmare. I expect fully finished shot just without all the “makeup” and instead I have to extensively edit RAW files, one by one:
- turning off “boost” slider. Turns out it is a NATIVE Apple RAW setting and ProCamera and other RAW editors just provide access to it;
- Turn all the way down the luma noise reduction;
- Turn down a bit of a color noise reduction;
- Completely turn down sharpening;
- Touch up some contrast and/or saturation, natively iPhone RAW looks horrendous, especially if photos are taken during daytime;
All the edits take up 2-10 minutes. And when I have many shots it becomes so boring that I just don’t wanna even bother. I would much more like sliders in photos app to turn off unnecessary processing. I am more than sure this processing also sucks up battery life.
UPD: few more things.
When taking RAW photos in any app, auto settings do not always work properly. I.e. while great for static objects, in RAW mode iPhone no longer relies on accelerometer and gyroscope to determine the speed at which you move, i.e. it often fails to determine right shutter speed and ISO. I have often seen iPhone to overexpose unless I compensate exposure by -0.7 (not ideal tho, often had underexposure).
Another issue with RAW is that iPhone doesn’t provide a full RAW image preview, so I cannot see how my settings changes reflect in real time and can only guess if I did everything right. Sort of not used to it after more than decade of digital photography and live image previewing
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