iPhone 13 Pro Really bad photos with iPhone 13 Pro (+Max) Merged

[Pandyone]

Agreed, though on your second point its not just the Tele issue. The issue is prevalent on the 1x (26mm) lens too. Apple is definitely doing aggressive noise Reduction regardless of the lens being used and its causing a loss of detail and sharpness with images.

I did 2 identical shots in the HEIC format, one with Halide and the other with the stock app, same ISO and shutter speed (Live Photo was disabled). The photo shot with Halide had noticeably sharper text while the stock app produced blurred edges. Smart HDR is just too aggressive in my opinion.

Would you mind sharing a comparison?
I’m afraid some of camera issues is, as previously stated, due to the f1.5 aperture or sensor shift, at least on my device. When I did some quick comparisons between camera apps on some text, the text is sharp in some parts of the picture and blurry in others.

Did you have Halides deep fusion option on or off?

 

[ToddH]

So, there's clearly a problem with the photos on my iPhone 13 pro. It's not only me because yesterday I saw a topic here with people reporting the same thing.

Basically every single photo I take is automatically modified with evident layers of sharpness, excessive contrast and other things.
It's not one of the profile, it's not the normal post-processing of the phone. You know when in photoshop you put "sharpness" at 100 and everything look weird? Same thing.
And when I open a photo on the photo app at the beginning, for. fraction of second, I can see the normal photo with the normal colors. But after that second all the "modifications" pop up.
It happens on video too, it's even more evident because on the gallery you can see the icon of the video with the normal colors, only when you open it the different colors appear like a quick bad photoshop fix.

I tried everything and there no way to avoid this.

Another details, if I shoot a raw photo the preview is the same but when I open it to change it I finally see the "normal" version. But obviolsy I can't shoot only raw and I don't have this option with video.

This is the topic where people is reporting the same thing

Smart HDR Missing on iPhone 13 Pro?

Hi all, Just upgraded to a 13 Pro from XS and when I go to camera settings, the Smart HDR toggle is not there? Any ideas, or can it no longer be switched off? Thanks!

forums.macrumors.com

They think it's a side effect of a bad HDR implementation but for me is not that, the modification that the software apply are several and not only limited to exposure.

Edit: I just want to add. I had iPhones for years. I'm not confusing this with some "normal" post processing. The photos are really bad, it's basically impossibile to obtain a normal face without the "bad photoshop" effect.

Ok… so you folks don’t use ProRAW? If not… Really??

I think jpeg photos (no matter what camera used) is always going to be highly compressed and leaves you with hardly any data to work with when editing. Use raw. If you don’t understand it, it’s not hard to figure out. You’ll get much better photos that way. Every shot on my iPhone is with ProRAW, even snap shots that I’ll discard later.

 

[Pandyone]

Ok… so you folks don’t use ProRAW? If not… Really??

I think jpeg photos (no matter what camera used) is always going to be highly compressed and leaves you with hardly any data to work with when editing. Use raw. If you don’t understand it, it’s not hard to figure out. You’ll get much better photos that way. Every shot on my iPhone is with ProRAW, even snap shots that I’ll discard later.

I use RAW when I really want to edit and get most of my photos, but "regular" daily photos is really inconvenient to shoot RAW. It takes up more space, time and is not as easy to share. It removes the meaning of a pocketable camera to quickly take some shot with.

And still, the main part of the discussion is that photos often turn out worse than previous iPhones or other phone cameras, due to to much processing and no option to turn it of.

 

[jennyp]

I might have found a workaround for this blurry/oversharpening issue.
View attachment 1872703
I took one picture using the iPhone camera app with the wide lens, every settings set as standard, except raw enabled.

I look at the photo in iOS standard app, awful results, look a bad digitally zoomed picture taken from a 2010 smartphone…

Then I opened the exact same raw picture in Lightroom mobile app, the result is much more appealing, I mean there is quality in the picture, this is noticeable. No filter or setting modifications applied.


Pic in attachment is IOS photo app, pic above is Lightroom.



The issue is then more on the software side rather than hardware. Nonetheless, this cannot be ignored or denied! Please Apple engineers, take my humble investigation as hint of what’s going wrong with this post processing …

Your are welcome

It looks like someone's gone overboard with the clarity and/or texture with the phone version. The haloes around the giraffe on the cushion are typical of overdoing clarity.

 

[Martin Hutnik]

It is about new beta 15.2, can someone confirm it?

 

[ToddH]

Well I suggest using either the Moment app which is fantastic! Or the also fantastic Halide app. Both of these apps seem to capture details that aren’t oversaturated. I use both with ProRAW. The Moment app for photography seems to focus more precisely. Give those a try.

 

[jm31828]

Well I suggest using either the Moment app which is fantastic! Or the also fantastic Halide app. Both of these apps seem to capture details that aren’t oversaturated. I use both with ProRAW. The Moment app for photography seems to focus more precisely. Give those a try.

Does Halide use apple's full computational photography bit that ProRaw uses in the native app, with the only difference being that you have more control over the exposure, sharpening, tone, etc as is usually the case with RAW images? If so, I could see using it fully instead of the native app.

Assuming from all the discussion here that with Halide and other 3rd party apps, there are no issues and the camera is indeed great- so it's a small price to pay until Apple pushes an update that fixes this. (and contrary to some skeptics here, I am sure they will- they silently pushed an update to fix the way pictures of people looked terrible on the XS when it first came out)

 

[ToddH]

Does Halide use apple's full computational photography bit that ProRaw uses in the native app, with the only difference being that you have more control over the exposure, sharpening, tone, etc as is usually the case with RAW images? If so, I could see using it fully instead of the native app.

Assuming from all the discussion here that with Halide and other 3rd party apps, there are no issues and the camera is indeed great- so it's a small price to pay until Apple pushes an update that fixes this. (and contrary to some skeptics here, I am sure they will- they silently pushed an update to fix the way pictures of people looked terrible on the XS when it first came out)

Yes, halide does incorporate/use Apple‘s deep fusion and I believe smart HDR as well. It has a lot of cool features including a new macro mode. However Ray know that there are in app purchases with Moment and Halide, but to me it’s well worth it. I think I’m starting to use the Moment app a lot more because it offers video and unique time lapse features. Along with the ability to adjust the exposure and ISO etc. So far I am getting excellent results from the Moment app with all three cameras. I’m seeing images this sharpen clean from these apps is pretty amazing. The native app is pretty good also. But having the ability to hard select your cameras without the native app switching The cameras when you don’t want them to. However the third-party apps do not support any type of night mode unfortunately. I really hope that one day third-party apps will support night mode and do it a little bit better and longer.

 

[fstoprm]

I'm getting excellent results no matter which app I use. I tend to go to the Native app on grab shots, but I have Halide, ProCamera and FiLMiC Pro installed, and they all work beautifully. I do use a "tempered glass" lens protector as well - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CKPXQ87?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

 

[thenortoriousNXN]

I think the halide app does produce better photos at the moment (will give you a RAW file and the deepfusion, HDR file) but for me, because that app doesn’t give you night mode or video it means using both which personally i find that annoying.

Not halide’s fault i’ve read, apple just doesn’t give them access to some of the code they need for night mode etc

Solution mode: Use the camera app and shoot in ProRAW whenever possible. The things people are seeing on here are a-lot less prominent using that setting.

 

[rowi1de]

Could someone try bright sun on clear sky? It started to look horrible on 12 pro since a while (15.x) .. does this exist with 13 Pro as well? https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...e-in-cupertino-sun-lens-flare-issues.2320337/

 

[jm31828]

I'm getting excellent results no matter which app I use. I tend to go to the Native app on grab shots, but I have Halide, ProCamera and FiLMiC Pro installed, and they all work beautifully. I do use a "tempered glass" lens protector as well - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CKPXQ87?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

Which of these apps you mentions do you find gives you the best all-around experience- as in, using all of the features Apple has available on the phone, giving you the most control, and resulting in the best shots? Would it be Halide? I have heard great things about Filmic, one review said they ended up with the best shots from that app- but do you really see a noticeable difference when using similar settings to take each one?

 

[Knar]

I am using a iPhone 13Pro in RAW and a mini M1 and MBP2016 with the Apple photo app.

On both Macs,
- Attempting to rotate a raw photo causes the app to become unresponsive (needs to be force quit)
- Using the auto-enhance wand takes a long time and yields the most breathtaking spectacular results, none of which are an improvement of the original picture.

 

[MrInquestador]

So, there's clearly a problem with the photos on my iPhone 13 pro. It's not only me because yesterday I saw a topic here with people reporting the same thing.

Basically every single photo I take is automatically modified with evident layers of sharpness, excessive contrast and other things.
It's not one of the profile, it's not the normal post-processing of the phone. You know when in photoshop you put "sharpness" at 100 and everything look weird? Same thing.
And when I open a photo on the photo app at the beginning, for. fraction of second, I can see the normal photo with the normal colors. But after that second all the "modifications" pop up.
It happens on video too, it's even more evident because on the gallery you can see the icon of the video with the normal colors, only when you open it the different colors appear like a quick bad photoshop fix.

I tried everything and there no way to avoid this.

Another details, if I shoot a raw photo the preview is the same but when I open it to change it I finally see the "normal" version. But obviolsy I can't shoot only raw and I don't have this option with video.

This is the topic where people is reporting the same thing

Smart HDR Missing on iPhone 13 Pro?

Hi all, Just upgraded to a 13 Pro from XS and when I go to camera settings, the Smart HDR toggle is not there? Any ideas, or can it no longer be switched off? Thanks!

forums.macrumors.com

They think it's a side effect of a bad HDR implementation but for me is not that, the modification that the software apply are several and not only limited to exposure.

Edit: I just want to add. I had iPhones for years. I'm not confusing this with some "normal" post processing. The photos are really bad, it's basically impossibile to obtain a normal face without the "bad photoshop" effect.

I have the Pro and the Pro Max; and my brother has a Pro Max as well. I haven’t observed what you just described. I’m sorry you’re experiencing that.

 

[Rasputin78]

Which of these apps you mentions do you find gives you the best all-around experience- as in, using all of the features Apple has available on the phone, giving you the most control, and resulting in the best shots? Would it be Halide? I have heard great things about Filmic, one review said they ended up with the best shots from that app- but do you really see a noticeable difference when using similar settings to take each one?

I've tried most of them. Out of the big 3 of Halide, Procam and Moment, I think I find Procam 8 the most useful. Halide is great, but being locked into optical-zoom only capabilities makes Procam more useful for me, where as a non-smeared extra little digital zoom on shots is sometimes useful. Plus, you have the full video capability (minus ProRes, but 99% don't need that anyway) and Halide doesn't have video capability. So, I'm sticking with that until Apple gets their **** together. The only other drawback I've found with the 3rd party apps is AF accuracy. So, if you ever do any tripod shots with a remote shutter, the accuracy isn't as good as the native app. Procam with RAW+JPEG mode with "SMRT" enabled on the JPEG (deep fusion) is a win for now and the best you can get for the time being.

ProRAW doesn't solve the current issue with the native app or any of the 3rd party apps. It still has the aggressive noise reduction filter as part of the processing that still goes into the file, but it's still better than shooting JPEG or HEIC at the present time.

 

[Taz Mangus]

I hope you are reporting this to Apple and providing the photos as proof. Open a case and/or submit to Apple Feedback.

 

[fstoprm]

Which of these apps you mentions do you find gives you the best all-around experience- as in, using all of the features Apple has available on the phone, giving you the most control, and resulting in the best shots? Would it be Halide? I have heard great things about Filmic, one review said they ended up with the best shots from that app- but do you really see a noticeable difference when using similar settings to take each one?

I have just started using them, and like anything else, each one has it's strengths.

FilMicPro is strictly for filmmaking - it offers a tremendous amount of control over the process that the native app simply doesn't make available, gimbal support, manual lens array, sophisticated framerate selector and the list goes on... also has a companion (optional) app for remote control that is more advanced than what the Apple Watch can offer.

Halide is strictly for making photographs. I like it for some of the reasons above, more control of the process. In particular for me are the leveling cues, zebras (focus and exposure) ISO control (I like ISO 64)etc. Another cool feature is that it will shoot RAW+HDR at the same time so you can decide later which you prefer to work with.

ProCamera will shoot images and video, also with deep control over the capture process. It offers bracketing (3-7 images), manual focusing, save location choice (on device or photos icloud camera roll), choice of 3 file fomats for photos and much more. So for me they each have a place in my toolbox, just depends on what I'm working on. I have seen no major difference in quality. FWIW I process all images in Lightroom and all footage in Resolve Studio.

 

[ToddH]

Apple or Moment? ProRAW unedited shots

Screenshot of each. Which do you like? The Moment app is less saturated.

 

[Jake3231]

I recently upgraded from a XS to a 13 Pro. The photos mostly look pretty good, but even moderately close (like indoor) shots look like there's a very aggressive blur around the outer part of the photo. Outdoor photos look great and show much improved detail and HDR.

There's also a much more noticeable delay when viewing photos in the camera roll right after taking them. I plan to file feedback about both of these issues.

 

[n3ro11]

Decentered lens. I had something similar in iPhone 7 and my iPhone 12 is slightly affected too. Return it.

Pozdro.

 

[Thibaut 67]

Same problem with Iphone 13.

This is normal or Apple will update. I don't know if i should wait or make a change

 

[beerseagulls]

I'm sure that Apple is listening and will implement changes when the iPhone 14 comes out in 11 months.

 

[dantracht]

I'm sure that Apple is listening and will implement changes when the iPhone 14 comes out in 11 months.

This thread, and these issues, above all else led me to hold onto my 11pm and wait for the 14pm.

 

[ActionFigures]

Yea I'm seeing this on Twitter as well, hopefully this gets sorted out

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1454332579713191940

 

[golfnut1982]

I'm still waiting for my 13 Pro, but this damn thread really bites. I did come across these pics, and they look quite nice. https://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_13_pro_max-review-2326p6.php