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iPhone 8 Plus Images lack sharpness zoomed in

H

happyhippo1337

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 3, 2013
260
143
Hey !

Just like Austin Mann http://austinmann.com/trek/iphone-8-camera-review-india described in his (paid) Apple iPhne 8 Plus camera review, when I take a picture with my 8 Plus and zoom in on it on the device, details are not present, sharpness is severely lacking. Deactivating Live Photo doesn't make a difference.

What makes a difference is just hitting edit on the iPhone and tweaking anything on the image, even just by a minimal amount, like turning brightness up a notch, decreasing contrast by one or whatever.

Also, if I take the picture with a filter applied, they look way sharper and better.

I have tested this on iOS 11, 11.01, 11.02 and 11.1 Beta 1

I have also done a complete wipe and fresh reinstall of 11.02 yesterday - same problem. Super annoying.

Anyone else? We've discussed it on a German Apple board where a few people have the same problem.
 
When I had my 8 Plus (returned it because it was too big), the few pictures I took with it felt like they were done in oil painting after zooming in on them. Couldn't tell if it was just something with the 8-series camera modules, or just overly aggressive post processing in iOS 11, but they definitely didn't look "good".
 
I am not using HEIF and it’s still bad. I noticed this with some recent shots of my son playing baseball (not action). I am going to try some zoom images in better lighting and see how they go.. as the wide angle has the better aperture.

I have to say though.. they are pretty bad and borderline useless. The watercolor effect is severe.

While I love the big screen of the Plus I don’t LOVE carrying a huge phone.. and this has me wondering if I should just get the regular 8.
[doublepost=1507219575][/doublepost]I have tried edits.. I love post-proc.. the images are still NOT good. I returned the 7+ because of this issue. Seeing it in the 8+ is not cool... not cool at all.
 
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Not to be "that guy", but by nature anytime you take a photo and zoom in on it, you're going to start to lose detail and sharpness.

All the pictures I've taken so far seem to be business as usual in that regard, but better than any other phone camera I've used.
 
Been the case for a while...

A phone like the HTC u11 seems to resolve more detail when zooming in compared to other phones.
 
Yeah Apple has been pretty aggressive with noise reduction since the iPhone 6, which results in the oil painting look when zoomed in. Not much you can do about it if you only use the default camera app. I’m not sure if using a 3rd party app to shoot RAW and then developing the picture in post might yield better results. I haven’t tried it myself but it would at least give you some control over how much detail you are losing to noise reduction.
 
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sdwaltz said:
Not to be "that guy", but by nature anytime you take a photo and zoom in on it, you're going to start to lose detail and sharpness.

All the pictures I've taken so far seem to be business as usual in that regard, but better than any other phone camera I've used.
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That is more of an issue with digital zoom. The zoom of the non-wide angle lens on the Plus has some level of optical zoom (specs don’t say) but before going digital it should give images of decent quality.
 
PBz said:
That is more of an issue with digital zoom. The zoom of the non-wide angle lens. The Plus has some level of optical zoom (specs don’t say) but before going digital it should give images of decent quality.
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I see what you're saying, and you're correct, but unless I'm misunderstanding OP that's not what he's talking about.

I believe OP's talking about taking a regular picture at 1x zoom, going into the photos app to view the photo, and then zooming in on the photo he already took. Of course the picture quality will decrease as you zoom in. That's how it's always been.
 
I know what you're talking about and sadly it seems like its been Apple's conscious decision for a while now. I, like you wish they'd lean more towards details than a smooth looking image.
 
serialiphoneuser said:
Example zoomed in pics?
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They are of my kids, and honestly don’t have to be zoomed very much to be affected by the watercolor brushes. I don’t post pics of my kids so hopefully someone can provide examples. IMHO, if the light isn’t optimal the non-wide angle lens creates trouble.
 
Will upload them for you guys tomorrow morning.

They are fine when a filter is aplied or when I retouch anything on them through the app. Out of camera, they look horribly bad. And I don't know why. When someone like Austin Mann, who gets paid to do the review for Apple, has the same problem, there is definitely something wrong. Because the pics CAN look good, but they dont without a filter.

On my iPhone 7 with iOS 11 the pics look the same - as if they were in a slighter worse resolution after taking them. Then a few seconds later after zooming in they look fine - this step doesnt work on the 8 Plus without the said retouching.
 
Last edited:
Straight out of my 8+ and focused on closest eye. Just check out the whiskers! I think plenty sharp!

Tiger.jpeg
 
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What can I do about it? It is super annoying because the pics are good - but not without extra work. Which should absolutely not be necessary. The details are there - just not showing up.
 
Guys - it is not the general quality of the camera. It's the fact that the pictures look like a lower res version straight ooc. Aply anthing to them and they look fine. It's a little hard to capture it - but I'll do my best to get them up for you in a few minutes.
 
happyhippo1337 said:
Guys - it is not the general quality of the camera. It's the fact that the pictures look like a lower res version straight ooc. Aply anthing to them and they look fine. It's a little hard to capture it - but I'll do my best to get them up for you in a few minutes.
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The problem is is showing really good in images on a Internet site. I have had decreased quality just to get MR to accept the image.
[doublepost=1507236164][/doublepost]
PBz said:
Any zooom?
Click to expand...

Portrait mode.
 
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Same here - trying to upload the stuff for you guy but I'm getting constant security warnings. It is annoying af
 
happyhippo1337 said:
Same here - trying to upload the stuff for you guy but I'm getting constant security warnings. It is annoying af
Click to expand...

I find I have to decrease the quality to get MR to post the image. Looking at images here does not come close to the quality I see on my desktop when I look at a full resolution image. I can actually see myself reflected in the eyes!
 
The oil painting effect tends to happen if you use digital zoom or are in a low-light situation where the sensor tries to let in light to compensate for the situation.

In ideal situations (outdoors, stills) you should be ok. In darkness + motion the oil painting effect is exaggerated. Is this occurring in your low light photos or in brightly lit situations?
 
Suckfest 9001 said:
ew no that looks like an oil painting ugh

cute kitty by the way
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If you zoom in all the way, kitty looks like an oil painting. However, I would think the average picture taker is not going to be zooming in all the way on every shot, and then using said zoom as the main focus of the picture. I do get the point of complaint. I think the stock camera app has a long way to go.
 
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