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iOS 8.4 picture quality

TL24

TL24

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 20, 2011
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Just wanted to see if some of you on iOS 8.4 beta 1 or 2 could post pictures from your 6 and 6+ to see if Apple has reduced the heavy noise reduction they've implemented since iOS 8 has been released?

This has been an ongoing issue since iOS 8 was first introduced and I've yet to see Apple do ANYTHING about it. Basically pictures taken with a 6 and/or 6+ will have heavy heavy noise reduction that'll severely reduce the picture quality, rendering your pictures with an almost water paint like effect. Keep in mind I don't have a 5S and below to test but this has been a constant issue for me on my 6+ and other users as well on their 6 as described in the following Apple forum thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6576391?start=90&tstart=0

I know this is an issue because my old 5S that I no longer have was on 7.1.2 and it took amazing pictures with low noise reduction.
 
I have absolutely no issue running iOS 8.4 beta 2 on a 6+. Pictures are sharp. I'd say that's more a camera issue than software.
 
Paradoxally said:
I have absolutely no issue running iOS 8.4 beta 2 on a 6+. Pictures are sharp. I'd say that's more a camera issue than software.
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Highly doubt it, I've tested numerous in-store 6 & 6+ and they all displayed the same symptoms.
 
TL24 said:
Highly doubt it, I've tested numerous in-store 6 & 6+ and they all displayed the same symptoms.
Click to expand...

Well, I'm just going by what I experience on my particular iPhone 6+. I've never seen this issue publicized anyway. You would think that if the 6/6+ had major camera issues on every single device it would be all over the news like bendgate was (which was a major exaggeration anyway).
 
simon lefisch said:
Pic quality on my 6+ seem good to me. No 'water coloring' that I can see.
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You're right on that, I've had a mixed bag of shots that either turned out great or turned out really bad. Here are some shots that turned out great:

df0b6aa4adff16dd4e5ea00240e01418.jpg


7462fefdfadee41dad63ef3e2c90c05b.jpg


1f73b0d35c764f5c3ff74e5edbbe73e3.jpg
 
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Here's another shot that I took with my 5S running iOS 7.1.2 at the time I think?

e7ee1f2177b5d61ac8ebe429e54a75ec.jpg
 
Paradoxally said:
Well, I'm just going by what I experience on my particular iPhone 6+. I've never seen this issue publicized anyway. You would think that if the 6/6+ had major camera issues on every single device it would be all over the news like bendgate was (which was a major exaggeration anyway).
Click to expand...

Apple seem to get extremely positive professional reviews all the time, but user forums throw up some different opinions.
 
The water-painting due to way too aggressive noise reduction is really noticeable on my (second) 6. It does it even in outdoor daytime lighting.

There's also a large amount of lens distortion that doesnt appear to be compensated for at all on both front and rear cameras.

I keep hoping a software fix will address it but I don't think they care.
 
sunking101 said:
Apple seem to get extremely positive professional reviews all the time, but user forums throw up some different opinions.
Click to expand...

Well, I'm glad most casual users aren't on user forums or they would question what they bought because of the extremely vocal minority.
 
The image was cut a bit on the iPhone.

Made with an iPhone 6 Plus iOS 8.4 Beta 2.

Look at the background. Watercolor. :-(
 

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There is nothing wrong with that picture. That "watercolor" is called bokeh and it's the normal out-of-focus effect of a close focus snapshot taken with a large apperture camera.
 
pigbrother said:
There is nothing wrong with that picture. That "watercolor" is called bokeh and it's the normal out-of-focus effect of a close focus snapshot taken with a large apperture camera.
Click to expand...

I looked at that picture at full size. That bokeh is some crap-tastic Claude Monet Impressionism painting if I ever saw one. Picture looks ok small, but actual size and the all-too-noticeable noise suppression is in full effect.

You do not see it? Maybe you do not have the "eye" of a photographer.
 
pigbrother said:
There is nothing wrong with that picture. That "watercolor" is called bokeh and it's the normal out-of-focus effect of a close focus snapshot taken with a large apperture camera.
Click to expand...

I thought the same thing at first but if you enlarge it and look at the background you will see some bokeh and a lot of what looks like severe heat waves but without the usual organization. Monet effect describes it well.
 
doug in albq said:
You do not see it? Maybe you do not have the "eye" of a photographer.
Click to expand...


I can see very well, thanks you very much. The bokeh looks quite ugly and the TV screen area is blobby because is an out-of-focus high-contrast background. The noise is also pretty visible, but it's expectable and understandable.

There is nothing wrong there, at least not for a very small lens attached to a very small senzor. I've seen some similar ugly bokeh on lenses more expensive than your entire iPhone, so maybe you should adjust your standards accordingly.
 
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iOS 8.4 picture quality

Here are some examples, more to come as I dig through my album.

Here's on that I just cropped from the original to show how bad the quality is:

ff4e22b3ae1195c0f193ecc841b314ee.jpg


Here are the originals:

2bf5d4fc5f7012af075f454772231ba8.jpg


d31a360554cbbdacfc74c889a8399082.jpg
 
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I'm really surprised that so many of you are expecting perfect noiseless photos from a camera so tiny you can swallow it.

When you consider the size of the iPhone's camera and the fact that these days you can shoot these photos in regular ambient light without a flash and they come out as good as they do, the camera performs awesomely.

If you need perfect photos with no noise reduction artifacts, get a dedicated camera. Even modern non-SLR dedicated cameras will blow away phone cameras.
 
zorinlynx said:
I'm really surprised that so many of you are expecting perfect noiseless photos from a camera so tiny you can swallow it.

When you consider the size of the iPhone's camera and the fact that these days you can shoot these photos in regular ambient light without a flash and they come out as good as they do, the camera performs awesomely.

If you need perfect photos with no noise reduction artifacts, get a dedicated camera. Even modern non-SLR dedicated cameras will blow away phone cameras.
Click to expand...

Sorry but my 5S on 7.1.2 at the time took great pictures even in the not so good lighting conditions.

I wouldn't have a problem if this was the case to begin with, the problem here is that Apple regressed with iOS 8 and that's an issue whether you want to believe it or not.

Also, please stop with this whole "get a dedicated camera" bs... I get what you're saying but with the way the camera industry has been advancing in smartphones it's pointless to bring along a dedicated camera. The whole point of using my damn smartphone as my camera is so that I can share my experiences as they happen and not have to wait to upload them onto my laptop to then share it to everyone else.
 
IMO, the software that processes the images is as big a compromise as the camera is. Someone made a decision on processing that not everyone is going to like. If you subtract noise removal from the algorithm, someone will blow up shots, point out the noise and question the lack of noise removal.
 
TL24 said:
Also, please stop with this whole "get a dedicated camera" bs... I get what you're saying but with the way the camera industry has been advancing in smartphones it's pointless to bring along a dedicated camera. The whole point of using my damn smartphone as my camera is so that I can share my experiences as they happen and not have to wait to upload them onto my laptop to then share it to everyone else.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you have conflicting requirements.

In the photos I see everything I would expect from a shallow depth of field, wide aperture, slow shutter speed, low light picture. Including two very cute doggies.
 
The problem is that the noise reduction is too strong. Of course the iPhone camera will have noise. But if you remove too much noise you may also loose detail. It's a preference thing and in this case less noise will wow customers more then the little detail you lost. So Apple choose that. I know I'd rather have more grain in my photo and remove myself after that not having an option. I notice it most on faces that are far away from the camera. The eyes turn into mushy blobs and clothes fade to the neck.
 
zorinlynx said:
I'm really surprised that so many of you are expecting perfect noiseless photos from a camera so tiny you can swallow it.

When you consider the size of the iPhone's camera and the fact that these days you can shoot these photos in regular ambient light without a flash and they come out as good as they do, the camera performs awesomely.

If you need perfect photos with no noise reduction artifacts, get a dedicated camera. Even modern non-SLR dedicated cameras will blow away phone cameras.
Click to expand...

Noise isn't the issue, though. Poor noise reduction at a very low level in the processing is. It occurs so early in the processing that the Monet-style artifacts are present in TIFF images sent from the camera to all third party apps. And it happens even at low ISOs in broad daylight shots--where less digital noise should be present to begin with.

Allow the end user to turn off the automated noise reduction=Problem solved. Those who like it can leave it on. Those who despise how it's been implemented wouldn't be stuck with it.

Personally, give me noise over watercolor artifacts any day. I loved grainy film too though. ;)
 
PNutts said:
It sounds like you have conflicting requirements.

In the photos I see everything I would expect from a shallow depth of field, wide aperture, slow shutter speed, low light picture. Including two very cute doggies.
Click to expand...

+1

Those photos look great. The iPhone is not a DSLR, no matter what Apple says.
 
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