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iPhone 12 Pro iPhone 12 Pro camera cannot focus up close
- Thread starter jin1212
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Came here to tell you that in fact, there WAS an issue, and it was fixed in 14.2. My iPhone now properly focuses.
Really? Do you have proof there was an issue that was fixed in 14.2? Would love to see that...
There is no question that the 12 Pro (Max) cannot focus as close at the 11 Pro Max...it also has trouble focusing in general a close distances...the 11 Pro Max had no issues at all.
Again, its not "trouble" or "issues". Its a new camera system with a new sensor, lenses and LiDAR scanner. If people cant deal with having to move back from 2 inches to 3 inches from their subject, they should return their 12s and go buy 11s. There are tons of people waiting for their 12s who would appreciate this.
Yes it's called an issue that magically went away after installing 14.2 when testing under the exact conditions. Others have stated the same thing. Why can't you just admit you were wrong?
I just noticed it with my 12 Pro Max as I was trying to take a photo of my Apple Watch display. It just would not focus ... I was like 🤔 and compared it to my old old old 6S
Did I say it was trouble? Its something to be aware of...and NO, moving back 2" is not the same when you are taking essentially macro shots of small objects. It may mean nothing to you, but if you regularly shoot these type of shots it would be something to be aware of before upgrading as this is a big change from what we have had for a long time now. You clearly dont shoot close focus shots, as your solution is not a solution for this type of shot. It is feature that iPhone cameras have excelled at for years now. Hopefully FW can address this.
Regularly take close up photos for my work. Massive issues with iPhone 12 pro max focus even when moving out a distance. (I Take pics at least 20cm away with lamp for lighting) Running 14.2 - no fix. Actually changed back to my x plus until I can find a solution. I’m beyond mad, but happy that others are seeing the same issue.
Larger sensors and faster lenses create more depth of field. The larger sensor with the faster f/1.6 lens on your 12 PM is going to have a more shallow depth of field than your 11 PM, meaning more will be out of focus in a comparable shot. I really wish people in this thread understood how cameras work and what minimum focusing distance is before thinking their iPhones are broke...
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Okay, that may be true. However, I also have an iPhone 12 mini, and according to the specs of its camera it also has the f/1.6 lens. The image is not blurry on it. As you said, the blurriness could be a result of the Pro Max's larger sensor.
Its also the LiDAR sensor in lower light. Try the same test outdoors in better light and see what happens.
Completely understand how cameras work. However when you are used to using a particular product in a particular way for many many years - a significant change to a system is going to cause issues. If it was as simple as adjusting for minimum focusing distance I’d not have an issue - I believe it’s a combination of things.
All well and good saying ‘go outside and test it’ the issues we are all having are our own ‘real world’ use. To not be able to use a $2500 phone and have to switch back to an old phone for my business - is a mighty pain in the ass. (Mind you the standard / outdoor type pics on this phone are great!)
I simply can not hold onto this phone in a box and hope they fix the issue. It may just be the last iPhone for me and I’ve had every model since day one.
Excuse me, while you’re not technically wrong, the depth of field is like 10-20% shallower at most, and WOULD NOT account for the entire frame completely failing to focus. You’re dismissing others as clueless, but there’s a very real issue here and if you actually tried one of these phones you’d see it. The focus racks like crazy and fails to lock, it’s clearly abnormal and a major regression from previous models, not just ‘a minor, understandable tradeoff of the bigger sensor’.
I really hope Apple addresses this soon, as it’s frankly a nightmare. I imagine it’s fixable in software but please acknowledge it and tell us.
I welcome theories as to why this might be the case, but I think the Tele lens might be Apple’s intended Macro lens on the 12 Pro + Max (despite being saddled with an inferior sensor.) Here’s a 2X crop from the Wide, followed by an uncropped shot from the Tele. As you can see in the, uh, gory portion of the chew toy, the Tele seems to have captured more detail:
I’m not saying it’s ideal, but this could well be how we’re expected to do closeups with the Pro phones.
What’s perplexing is why this “downgrade” to the Wide’s minimum focus distance would only apply to the Pro phone lenses and not the 12/Mini‘s cameras, given that they’re apparently exactly the same...? In other words, what is gained by forcing Pro users to only use the Tele lens (with its noisier sensor) for macro shots? 🤷♂️
(Note that I haven’t tested this in daylight yet but I expect similar results...)
Using a third party app to manual focus (i.e. disabling autofocus) doesn’t allow for a shorter focusing distance, unfortunately, which points to the actual travel of the Wide’s physical lens elements being restricted to a shorter range... which might make sense since there’s an extra element crammed in there now. But then why wouldn’t this be happening on the regular 12 and Mini Wide lenses too?
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My 12 pro max is on ios 14.2. I can sure that it is not fixing the issue.
Possible. Which is super frustrating. Being forced to use a Tele lens to get the focal distance while narrowing the DOF. If this is the case then I have to relearn the ‘angles’ that I take my photos. Trying to get the whole image into a narrow DOF. I’ll try reshooting that way and pay close attention to camera to subject angle. If that doesn’t work I’m gonna scream! I don’t need artsy shallow depth of field close up photos!
Because the 12 and Mini dont have LiDAR sensors....
The main function of the LiDAR sensor is judging depth of objects in front of it. It obviously can’t focus as close as the 12, Mini and older iPhones without it.
In very low light. So low light that the night mode kicked on for the second shot. It’s not super sharp, appears to be focusing more on my hand than the remote, but it’s not blurry like yours. Almost looks like yours was attempting a portrait shot. Look at the blue fabric to the right.
