iPhone 12 Pro iPhone 12 Pro camera cannot focus up close

[SergioRZ]

I've been happy with my 12 Pro Max for the last few days until.... today, when I realized that I just can't take close up photos of my wrist watches like I used to with my old 11 Pro It's just doesn't focus unless I distance the phone much more than I used to. Bummer

Found this topic discussing this issue, and I'm really sad to learn this is indeed a design feature specific to the 12 Pro Max version and there isn't much hope of any kind of fix to what seems to be a physical limitation of the device.

oh well...

Thanks to everyone here for all the information and details.

 

[rawCpoppa]

It should be noted this thread started before the 12 PM was available.

 

[johnnylarue]

I've been happy with my 12 Pro Max for the last few days until.... today, when I realized that I just can't take close up photos of my wrist watches like I used to with my old 11 Pro It's just doesn't focus unless I distance the phone much more than I used to. Bummer

Found this topic discussing this issue, and I'm really sad to learn this is indeed a design feature specific to the 12 Pro Max version and there isn't much hope of any kind of fix to what seems to be a physical limitation of the device.

oh well...

Thanks to everyone here for all the information and details.

It is indeed a bummer. The 12 Pro still takes acceptable macros, but then you’ll need to live with significant compromises in other areas. No magic bullet this time around. 🤷‍♂️

I do suggest you take 2 mins to let Apple Support know this matters to you so they’re aware that people actually care about this feature when designing future iterations. It’s the kind of thing we’ve come to take for granted and I think a lot of reviewers don’t even bother with macro test shots as a result. Which explains why this was initially missed by so many.

 

[richard371]

I've been happy with my 12 Pro Max for the last few days until.... today, when I realized that I just can't take close up photos of my wrist watches like I used to with my old 11 Pro It's just doesn't focus unless I distance the phone much more than I used to. Bummer

Found this topic discussing this issue, and I'm really sad to learn this is indeed a design feature specific to the 12 Pro Max version and there isn't much hope of any kind of fix to what seems to be a physical limitation of the device.

oh well...

Thanks to everyone here for all the information and details.

Normally I could fill the frame but with the pro max this is as close as I can get. Oh well.

 

[SergioRZ]

It's pretty bad, much worse than the 11 Pro in this regard.

Best distance I can get with the 12PM is this (and this one is already starting to go out of focus):

And here's an older shot with my 11P:

 

[SergioRZ]

What would be the best way to let Apple know about this (I mean, to let them know I'm not happy about their design/feature choice)?

 

[Philljp]

You can easily log this fault with Apple using their support app. You can also report the issue here too:

Product Feedback

We would love to hear your comments about any of our hardware and software products. Send us your thoughts.

www.apple.com

it would help us all of you guys could do this to make sure they know it’s a big issue.

I’m a photographer myself and noticed this problem very quickly. My iPhone 12 Pro Max can only focus at about 6” close to an object, whereas the iPhone 11 Pro Max and iPhone 8 Plus I tested focus about half this at 3” or less. This really make a huge difference in real world photography and video.

 

[SergioRZ]

Will do!

 

[SergioRZ]

Done:

"Unlike my previous 11 Pro, my new iPhone 12 Pro Max (IOS 14.2.1) can't focus correctly up close to the object, it requires around double the distance from the object to be able to get the object in focus, compared to the 11 Pro. This is very disappointing and unexpected, it makes it useless for at least 40% of all my photos... please make it focus closer to the object (if this is a SW issue), or consider making it more usable and functional for up close shots in the next iPhone model (if this is HW limitation). Otherwise... great phone! Thanks, Sergio"

 

[firoze]

I fear we may have been doing the 12PM a disservice. Today I very briefly tried close focusing with a 12PM and a 12Pro. What I found was that the 12PM using the Tele 2.5x lens would focus with a greater magnification that the 12P with either 1x or 2x lenses. Of course the 12PM needed to be at a greater distance from the subject, but that is immaterial, the image magnification was greater which is what matters.

As I said, I could only try this briefly. Would someone who has access to both phones please try the 12PM close focusing using the 2.5x lens and report to us? Thanks.

 

[Never mind]

I've been happy with my 12 Pro Max for the last few days until.... today, when I realized that I just can't take close up photos of my wrist watches like I used to with my old 11 Pro It's just doesn't focus unless I distance the phone much more than I used to. Bummer

Found this topic discussing this issue, and I'm really sad to learn this is indeed a design feature specific to the 12 Pro Max version and there isn't much hope of any kind of fix to what seems to be a physical limitation of the device.

oh well...

Thanks to everyone here for all the information and details.

Picture taken about a tad over 3 inches. Don’t need to go closer for me.

 

[johnnylarue]

I fear we may have been doing the 12PM a disservice. Today I very briefly tried close focusing with a 12PM and a 12Pro. What I found was that the 12PM using the Tele 2.5x lens would focus with a greater magnification that the 12P with either 1x or 2x lenses. Of course the 12PM needed to be at a greater distance from the subject, but that is immaterial, the image magnification was greater which is what matters.

As I said, I could only try this briefly. Would someone who has access to both phones please try the 12PM close focusing using the 2.5x lens and report to us? Thanks.

Interesting! Are you sure your 12PM is actually using the Tele lens for those magnified shots? My 12 Pro switches to the Wide lens for any subject closer than about 2 feet away—verified by covering the top corner lens with my finger.

But the thing is, I’ve noticed a similar effect using the 2X magnification on my 12P. The results look sharper than what I get when I shoot at 1X and zoom in/crop after the fact. My working theory is that a) being zoomed in simply makes it easier to focus critically (more precise focal point, easier to spot out-of-focus areas), or possibly b) the phone is switching to a different image processing algorithm for 2X macro shots with more aggressive sharpening/noise reduction being applied.

I have no idea whether that second theory is actually possible, but there’s a lot computational power behind that Wide lens so who knows? In any case, I’m definitely noticing a difference.

 

[johnnylarue]

Picture taken about a tad over 3 inches. Don’t need to go closer for me.

I agree—I’m satisfied enough with the macro performance on my 12 Pro for it not to be a dealbreaker. It’s the Max that seems to have received a bit of a Faustian bargain, selling its macro soul for low noise supremacy. :/

 

[gtg465x]

I haven't read every post, but someone earlier in the thread mentioned being able to focus closer using manual focus in a third party camera app. It would obviously be better if autofocus worked, but at least there's a workaround if you need macro style shots, right?

 

[johnnylarue]

I haven't read every post, but someone earlier in the thread mentioned being able to focus closer using manual focus in a third party camera app. It would obviously be better if autofocus worked, but at least there's a workaround if you need macro style shots, right?

Unfortunately that turned out not to be the case. Auto- and manual focus both have the same minimum focus distance (about 3” for the Pro, 4.5” for the Pro Max).

 

[firoze]

Interesting! Are you sure your 12PM is actually using the Tele lens for those magnified shots? My 12 Pro switches to the Wide lens for any subject closer than about 2 feet away—verified by covering the top corner lens with my finger.

But the thing is, I’ve noticed a similar effect using the 2X magnification on my 12P. The results look sharper than what I get when I shoot at 1X and zoom in/crop after the fact. My working theory is that a) being zoomed in simply makes it easier to focus critically (more precise focal point, easier to spot out-of-focus areas), or possibly b) the phone is switching to a different image processing algorithm for 2X macro shots with more aggressive sharpening/noise reduction being applied.

I have no idea whether that second theory is actually possible, but there’s a lot computational power behind that Wide lens so who knows? In any case, I’m definitely noticing a difference.

I am not sure it was the Tele lens that the phone was using at 2.5x. I had very little time to try out the phones, hence I would like other forum members to do more rigorous tests. However, whatever lens the phone was actually using the image looked pretty sharp on the 12PM screen. I do not know who good it would look on a larger screen.

 

[gtg465x]

Unfortunately that turned out not to be the case. Auto- and manual focus both have the same minimum focus distance (about 3” for the Pro, 4.5” for the Pro Max).

I mean, it makes sense that it's further for the Pro Max than the Pro because the larger the sensor is, the longer the minimum focus distance is. That's just how cameras work. The only thing that doesn't make sense is that the regular 12 supposedly focuses closer than the 12 Pro, which is supposed to have the same sensor and lens.

 

[richard371]

I usually place my finger over the top lens to confirm its indeed the 2.5x. Unless you have a lot of light, Apple uses the 1x lens and just crops. If you use an app like Halide it will use the lens you choose.

 

[SergioRZ]

Picture taken about a tad over 3 inches. Don’t need to go closer for me.

View attachment 1679486

Looks a little out of focus to me... (still probably better than what I can get at 3" from my 12PM)

Did you use a 12 Pro or 12 Pro Max?

 

[SergioRZ]

I tried using the 2,5x tele for macro shots... it doesn't look anywhere as good as the photos taken on the wide lens (much less detail and also noisier). Maybe the phone was just cropping the wide to make it look like the tele? I'll have to test that again to make sure.

 

[Jkeith85]

Well, just tried it on my pro Max 12, can’t focus close

 

[johnnylarue]

I mean, it makes sense that it's further for the Pro Max than the Pro because the large the sensor is, the longer the minimum focus distance is. That's just how cameras work. The only thing that doesn't make sense is that the regular 12 supposedly focuses closer than the 12 Pro, which is supposed to have the same sensor and lens.

Right. So it’s been more-or-less confirmed that the 12 and Mini both have the same minimum focus distance as the 12 Pro. Another notch in the Win column for the optical sciences.

And yes, the ~50% increase in the MFD of the 12PM correlates with the ~50% increase in sensor size. I just get the impression a lot of 12PM buyers kind of felt blindsided just the same. For whatever reason, it’s not the kind of data point that got much lip service from the review community.

 

[johnnylarue]

I usually place my finger over the top lens to confirm its indeed the 2.5x. Unless you have a lot of light, Apple uses the 1x lens and just crops. If you use an app like Halide it will use the lens you choose.

In my case with the 12P, even in blinding sunlight, the lens switches to the Wide for anything closer than 1.5-2 feet. (I haven’t measured.)

 

[Never mind]

Looks a little out of focus to me... (still probably better than what I can get at 3" from my 12PM)

Did you use a 12 Pro or 12 Pro Max?

My hand shakes a bit from having a mild stroke. I am using the 12 pro. Perhaps I should invest in a tripod

 

[SergioRZ]

My hand shakes a bit from having a mild stroke. I am using the 12 pro. Perhaps I should invest in a tripod

oh... ok... but the 3" problem is with the Max only (requires at least 4,5"). There is no problem with the non-Max versions, or is there? Sorry, I might be unaware...