iPhone X iPhone X blurry photos and over exposed

[DzR-BaM]

Hi all,

Took a fair few photos today in a bit of sun almost toward sunset of people and 40% of the photos are blurry.

I have hdr off and live on, wondering if I need to tune live off?

Friend also took the same kind of photos with an 8+ and they had no issues. Also the camera appears to be hugely over exposed.

Anyone else seeing this?

 

[thaghost]

I’ve been noticing the same thing. Can’t figure it out. Unless I take a portrait photo, majority of my photos with front and rear camera are out of focus and over exposed.

 

[DzR-BaM]

Yeah very disappointing, the camera appears fine as a lot of photos are good. Still a little over exposed but clear.

Other times with the exact same settings it’s jist blurry.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Can you post a few samples?

Live should be off unless you want live images.

 

[PBz]

Interested in this. Did you zoom at all?

I got slammed for this but when I did comparison shots with 8 Plus & X at the Apple Store the 8 Plus won every time. Zoom on both was barely useable. I don’t zoom 95% or the time.

In my shots the 8 Plus managed light WAY better than the X. Dynamic range seemed better as well. Limited sample to be fair.

FWIW, I think the 7+ had overexposed issues as well early on. Maybe updates can help the X. Until then you could try a 3rd party camera app and bring the exposure down for shots.

The first few shots I took with my 8 Plus just to get an idea of light and color of jpegs I was very pleasantly surprised. Almost shocked.

 

[DzR-BaM]

I will upload when I’m on a pc, but there was zero zoom.
[doublepost=1510781108][/doublepost]Here is a photo of the issue

Live On
HDR Off
Its blurry and somewhat over exposed

https://imgur.com/a/PYjfm

 

[Bojan]

I've got severe issues with blur.

What I've identified is that photos are blurrier when you use volume up and volume down button (compared to when you are using a virtual button on the screen.

The shuttering that occurs when you are pressing volume up and volume down (especially in low light conditions) literally destroys the photo.

I've taken the iPhone to replace it, and I've tried it out with the new iPhone as well, but the problem still persists.

I've been using volume buttons for taking pictures ever since iPhone 4, and I never had problems. I've just now gotten the replacement, but will probably take it to the store again today.

I am doing amateur photography, and noticed this only since I've gotten the new iPhone. In last 3 years I've taken over 15 000 photos, and most of my iPhone 7+ photos look much better than iPhone X.

 

[sean000]

I will upload when I’m on a pc, but there was zero zoom.
[doublepost=1510781108][/doublepost]Here is a photo of the issue

Live On
HDR Off
Its blurry and somewhat over exposed

https://imgur.com/a/PYjfm

The useful metadata (shutter speed, for example) has been removed so it's hard to say. I have read before, although I don't know how accurate it is, that enabling Live Photo can result in a slower shutter speed. I've always disabled Live Photo as soon as possible, so I don't know if that plays a role. I have a family member who posts Live Photos from an iPhone 7 in all kinds of light regularly and the photos are rarely blurry.

I guess the question is: Can you consistently reproduce the problem (sounds like that shouldn't be an issue if 40% of the shots you took exhibited the problem), or was this an isolated incident? If it's the former, try disabling Live and see if that makes a difference.

Sean

 

[Bojan]

These two photos were taken in the quick succession, one right after the other.

The blurry photo was taken with the volume up button. The clearer one was taken with the virtual button on the screen

 

[mollyc]

I don't have an X, but those photos are extremely low light, so the camera will use as slow a shutter speed as possible to capture as much light as it can. I know it takes a lot more pressure to take a photo with the volume button, which needs to be physically depressed, than it does to touch the red button on the front of the camera, which really just needs a slight bit of touch to engage. If you are using more pressure with the volume button, you have a much higher risk of moving the entire phone, which leads to camera shake.

 

[sean000]

These two photos were taken in the quick succession, one right after the other.

The blurry photo was taken with the volume up button. The clearer one was taken with the virtual button on the screen

Quite a difference. I've long maintained that it's easier to take handheld slow shutterspeed shots with a heavy camera, because pressing the shutter isn't as likely to move the camera. It's also easier to hold heavy objects still for short periods. Cameras and Camera+lens combos that have stabilization will usually begin stabilization and lock focus with a half-press of the shutter, which helps. My Olympus will also let me set a short shutter delay after pressing the button (I can also just touch the LCD to shoot if I have that enabled). There are probably camera apps that will let delay the shot as well, but as you demonstrate simply using the virtual button on the screen can improve the shot.

Sean

 

[Diminish82]

I have been wondering if Apple sourced camera sensors from two (or more) manufacturers. My wife and I both have an X, hers has taken absolutely stellar pictures from day one. Every picture comes out super crispy - very impressive all around. My X pictures were blurry 50% of the time with a vastly different color profile to my wife's X.

I took it into the Apple Store the other day complaining about focus problems and they swapped the phone out for me. The new phone takes pictures exactly like my wife's phone. Very happy with it now.

 

[redman042]

This almost sounds like faulty hardware, or perhaps a very specific hardware glitch on your phone. My wife and I both got the iPhone X at launch and we've been very pleased with photos taken in all the different modes. We are both photography buffs and would be up in arms if the X cameras weren't performing.

 

[Bojan]

The previous set of photos is from the old device. This is from the device I got today.

Blurrier one was taken with the volume up button. Sharper one with the virtual screen button.

Camera was held with both hands.

 

[redman042]

I have been wondering if Apple sourced camera sensors from two (or more) manufacturers. My wife and I both have an X, hers has taken absolutely stellar pictures from day one. Every picture comes out super crispy - very impressive all around. My X pictures were blurry 50% of the time with a vastly different color profile to my wife's X.

I took it into the Apple Store the other day complaining about focus problems and they swapped the phone out for me. The new phone takes pictures exactly like my wife's phone. Very happy with it now.

I wonder if some units missed the factory calibration step, or it wasn't performed correctly. I know they do a bunch of calibration on all the sensors before each unit ships out.

 

[Bojan]

Horizontal test this time. Pay attention to “Logitech” letters. Also held with both hands. One with volume up button, the other one with the virtual button

 

[sean000]

I have been wondering if Apple sourced camera sensors from two (or more) manufacturers. My wife and I both have an X, hers has taken absolutely stellar pictures from day one. Every picture comes out super crispy - very impressive all around. My X pictures were blurry 50% of the time with a vastly different color profile to my wife's X.

I took it into the Apple Store the other day complaining about focus problems and they swapped the phone out for me. The new phone takes pictures exactly like my wife's phone. Very happy with it now.

So either some obscure software setting was different (unlikely) or there was a hardware issue. This type of fuzziness is sometimes associated with bad optical stabilizers. The difference between the 8 + and the X is that the X has optical stabilization on the telephoto as well as the wide lens. Wonder if there are some issues with the new telephoto OIS that might be related to quality control?

 

[WilliamG]

The previous set of photos is from the old device. This is from the device I got today.

Blurrier one was taken with the volume up button. Sharper one with the virtual screen button.

Camera was held with both hands.

Well yes. In that light there would be no difference. Your night shot would require longer exposure thus the volume-button shutter will have more blur.

 

[-TQ-]

I have a similar problem with my iP8. Just had my first 8 replaced due to the famous microphone problem, and now got the replacement unit after 3 weeks of waiting with these camera problems.. When taking still pictures with no movement in them, the quality is good. But if someone walks past EXTREMELY slowly, and you take a pic from a camera stand, the person walking by looks like a blurry ghost. HDR off, live off, did all the boots and stuff. Using iOS 11.2. Do I have to take also this one back and wait for another 3 weeks..?

 

[Bojan]

I have a similar problem with my iP8. Just had my first 8 replaced due to the famous microphone problem, and now got the replacement unit after 3 weeks of waiting with these camera problems.. When taking still pictures with no movement in them, the quality is good. But if someone walks past EXTREMELY slowly, and you take a pic from a camera stand, the person walking by looks like a blurry ghost. HDR off, live off, did all the boots and stuff. Using iOS 11.2. Do I have to take also this one back and wait for another 3 weeks..?

I have no idea, but since I’ve changed how I take photos, it made pictures slightly better. Still not as good as I would expect them.

 

[DzR-BaM]

After the update that fixed live photo blurry issues mine has been fine. Photos are perfect.

I still turn live photo off though

 

[sean000]

After the update that fixed live photo blurry issues mine has been fine. Photos are perfect.

I still turn live photo off though

Glad to hear the update resolved the issue. I'm not a fan of Live Photo anyway. I always keep it off. Others in some family photostreams keep it enabled and it usually annoys me. There are a few rare photos where it really adds something, but most of the time it's just awful. Most people don't realize it's on and have no idea how to turn it off, so it's not like they are trying to use it creatively. The only time I ever turn it on is when I do think it will add something, but 99% of the time I leave it off.

 

[aircanman]

Glad to hear the update resolved the issue. I'm not a fan of Live Photo anyway. I always keep it off. Others in some family photostreams keep it enabled and it usually annoys me. There are a few rare photos where it really adds something, but most of the time it's just awful. Most people don't realize it's on and have no idea how to turn it off, so it's not like they are trying to use it creatively. The only time I ever turn it on is when I do think it will add something, but 99% of the time I leave it off.

Hi there, I have only just taken delivery of an iPhone X and I noticed straight away that the AF is not accurate and the exposure is off! - really disappointed!! - Something I have thought is that the haptic feedback when you take the photo may be causing it? Anyway an Apple store is miles away from me so I won't be able to get a new one without sending it away.

 

[noobinator]

Keys to non-blurry photos:

Light - the more light the better
Stability - don't shake, learn good technique or use a tripod of some sort or anything you can prop your phone up with
Motion - if your subject(s) is moving then it will be difficult to get a perfectly crisp shot most likely

 

[PBz]

I've got severe issues with blur.

What I've identified is that photos are blurrier when you use volume up and volume down button (compared to when you are using a virtual button on the screen.

The shuttering that occurs when you are pressing volume up and volume down (especially in low light conditions) literally destroys the photo.

I've taken the iPhone to replace it, and I've tried it out with the new iPhone as well, but the problem still persists.

I've been using volume buttons for taking pictures ever since iPhone 4, and I never had problems. I've just now gotten the replacement, but will probably take it to the store again today.

I am doing amateur photography, and noticed this only since I've gotten the new iPhone. In last 3 years I've taken over 15 000 photos, and most of my iPhone 7+ photos look much better than iPhone X.

This could be camera/hand shake. At the slow shutter speeds this will be an issue. When you press the button to take the shot you can’t tap it. For best images, you want to be as soft as possible. Not saying this is sole cause but using volume buttons is very likely to move phone enough to be an issue IMO. The light you mentioned only exacerbates the issue as it’s a tough shot.