iPhone XS Max Is there some trick to getting good photo's?

A

ashenfang

macrumors regular
This question applies to both the iPhone XR and XS Max because I am experiencing the same issue on both phones.

When trying to take pictures of our kids indoors (decent light), I can't seem to ever get a picture that isn't blurry or over-corrected (looks like an oil painting if you zoom in on it). Doesn't matter if in portrait or normal mode. Most of the time, if the kids are playing (moving around), I will snap 5-10 photos in a row and out of those 10 photos, 8-9 of them are blurry. So what's the trick to getting good photos?

Didn't seem to have this problem on my iPhone 7+. The kids could be playing, moving around and I was able to get good photo's and the noise was minimal in lower light conditions.

Any suggestions appreciated.
 
ashenfang said:
This question applies to both the iPhone XR and XS Max because I am experiencing the same issue on both phones.

When trying to take pictures of our kids indoors (decent light), I can't seem to ever get a picture that isn't blurry or over-corrected (looks like an oil painting if you zoom in on it). Doesn't matter if in portrait or normal mode. Most of the time, if the kids are playing (moving around), I will snap 5-10 photos in a row and out of those 10 photos, 8-9 of them are blurry. So what's the trick to getting good photos?

Didn't seem to have this problem on my iPhone 7+. The kids could be playing, moving around and I was able to get good photo's and the noise was minimal in lower light conditions.

Any suggestions appreciated.
Click to expand...
Talent. ;)

Just kidding. But seriously, light is likely the culprit in your situation. There may be decent lighting but compared to natural light you get outside the sensor has a lot more work to do to collect the softer light. On the other hand, the sensor size was increased with this generation of phones so I can't say for sure why you're able to capture better low light photos with your two year old 7+. Most reports I've read say low light captures have improved and I've seen quite a few articles that provide examples.
 
ashenfang said:
This question applies to both the iPhone XR and XS Max because I am experiencing the same issue on both phones.

When trying to take pictures of our kids indoors (decent light), I can't seem to ever get a picture that isn't blurry or over-corrected (looks like an oil painting if you zoom in on it). Doesn't matter if in portrait or normal mode. Most of the time, if the kids are playing (moving around), I will snap 5-10 photos in a row and out of those 10 photos, 8-9 of them are blurry. So what's the trick to getting good photos?

Didn't seem to have this problem on my iPhone 7+. The kids could be playing, moving around and I was able to get good photo's and the noise was minimal in lower light conditions.

Any suggestions appreciated.
Click to expand...

Maybe post a few so we can make suggestions but like others said, you need good light or some steady hands.
 
if you must use a phone, go outside and take pics during the day. If you have to be indoors, open all the blinds/curtains and turn on all the lights. Have them face the window where light is shining in.

Don't even try to use portrait mode on kids moving. Otherwise, you can always just stick with video.
 
Light is first and foremost, as has been mentioned, but also technique and some knowledge of basic photography helps. The iPhone is a good little camera, but in the end what matters is the person using it. One key to shooting photos of active animals or children is to try to anticipate what's going to happen, be one step ahead of their moves and click the shutter so that it actually captures the cute gestures or funny faces as they're happening, not a second or two later. Another thing to do is to try moving the camera (iPhone) along with the subject -- that is, "panning" it the way they do in movies, and following their moves, turning slightly as needed, keeping focused on them.

Indoor lighting, unless one is in a sunroom or a room filled with windows that let in lots of light, is just not going to be that great in most cases, especially when artificial light is also turned on (lamps, overhead lighting, etc.). Blurry photos are the result of moving people in low light conditions and also "camera shake" (motion blur) on the part of the person holding the camera (or iPhone). Lack of a viewfinder, meaning the the photographer has to hold the iPhone out a ways in order to see the image that is being framed and composed, and right there that leads to some inevitable motion in the arms and hands, even if it is not perceptible. Jabbing too hard at the shutter release button also can cause movement of the camera or iPhone.

The reason you see that "looks like an oil painting when zoomed in" effect is because the camera/iPhone has jacked up the amount of ISO in order to compensate for the low light in the room. What seems perfectly fine to the human eye in looking around a room may be perceived as too dim, low light for a camera lens. When ISO is elevated, unfortunately this reduces effective resolution in the image (lessens the sharpness) and introduces "noise" to the image as well, which further reduces the resolution.
 
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I have the most luck with my baby as he doesn’t move as much as my toddler
F82A1197-5C9C-464D-A631-7E777D1DEA2C.jpeg
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ashenfang said:
This question applies to both the iPhone XR and XS Max because I am experiencing the same issue on both phones.

When trying to take pictures of our kids indoors (decent light), I can't seem to ever get a picture that isn't blurry or over-corrected (looks like an oil painting if you zoom in on it). Doesn't matter if in portrait or normal mode. Most of the time, if the kids are playing (moving around), I will snap 5-10 photos in a row and out of those 10 photos, 8-9 of them are blurry. So what's the trick to getting good photos?

Didn't seem to have this problem on my iPhone 7+. The kids could be playing, moving around and I was able to get good photo's and the noise was minimal in lower light conditions.

Any suggestions appreciated.
Click to expand...

Turn off SmartHDR in the camera options
 
Thank you all for the suggestions. I will try some photo's with above mentioned suggestions. Why are these issue more evident on the newer phone's, larger senors?
 
It’s just the way the firmware is set on the newer phones, trying to remove all noise (smearing the details in the process and causing the oil painting look) and also using slower shutter speed in an attempt to use less applied gain (some people call that a lower ISO which is meaningless in digital photography) in an attempt to cause less noise but more likely to cause motion blur. People have seemed to have some sort of morbid hate for digital noise, no matter how fine which is ridiculous imo. :p
 
A few things that help me:

* As much natural light as possible
* Turn off Live Photo’s
* Before taking pictures, always wipe off the lens with your shirt - it will take away any oils that have collected that hurt the clarity
 
Not saying this is your problem but my wife bought her new Xs max and put it in her new case, started taking pictures and complaining of the poor quality compared to my pictures. I started looking at her phone and would you believe that she left the plastic on the back. She said she didn’t take it off to protect the back from getting scratched.
 
ashenfang said:
Thank you all for the suggestions. I will try some photo's with above mentioned suggestions. Why are these issue more evident on the newer phone's, larger senors?
Click to expand...
Even professional DSLR can face a challenge with moving subjects. Ask any sports photographer.

If you really must take still pictures only, then try the suggested ideas of turning off the fancy features like SmartHDR, so the phone doesn't have to do any extra processing. Also try burst mode (holding the shutter button). The iPhone will try to pick the sharpest photo.

Personally, I would just embrace the subjects (your kids), and use live photos instead and have fun with them instead of overthinking how to get a perfect still shot.
 
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