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White i 4s camera issues with flash - all blurry

fs454 said:
The 4S camera was much, much improved for shots where you aren't asking it to see in pitch black, instantly focus on drunk partiers and come up with magic after shining a hard white spotlight directly onto their faces.


Really, my 5D Mark II has a hard time focusing in ridiculous situations such as that. Stop relying on flash.
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My friend has an iphone 4 - and we retook the exact same photo with her camera and did not have any problem with focus at all...
 
Well I just did a test with two different iPhone 4S and cases and back shields definitely do effect the outcome of the photos.

I used my sister's which had a pink silicone type case and the picture with flash came out with a pink tint. Took the case off and took the same picture and the picture came out clear.

I used mine, with a grey silicone type case, and it was a little blurry and dull/grey tint as usual. Took the case off, and it was still a little dull, so then took the back shield off that was BARELY touching the flash, but obviously in the area, and the photo came out clear.

I am now going to try to reapply the shield so it doesn't touch anything and see if I can still get clear pics, because I want my back to remain scratch proof.
 
Backup your phone and do a hard reset on your phone, return it to factory stock. Then try.

If it is better then it would appear to be a conflict with restored data, a bad app, setting or something there, Restore your data to verify.

If it is still bad after a restore to stock it is the phone

If you get yet another phone and it is still bad then you have a focus-sucking disease and you should see a doctor.

Just my suggestions.

Scott
 
take it to an Apple store and let them try it out. They'll probably give you a new phone if they duplicate it.
 
I haven't read the whole thread, so pardon me if this has been mentioned... I had a problem with low light pictures on my 4s when I first got it, all the pictures were blurry and had a hazy whiteness to them. I realized it was the case I was using. The rim around the eye and the flash was white and causing reflection. As soon as I took the case off the pictures were perfect.

Just an FYI for if any others are experiencing the same thing.
 
I have an iphone 4 (black) and I have noticed several quirks with the focusing now. The biggest heartbreaker here for me is that it just simply fails 9 times out of 10 when focusing in the dark. With ios 4, it would send a flash to illuminate whatever it was that I am taking a picture of, focus it, and then send the flash again and take the picture.

Now it goes through the same process, but just doesn't focus. I have reset it/restored it, flicked the back near the lens, took off my case, etc, etc.

This sucks, because I like to go in to our sons room at night and take a picture of him in his crib and send it to my wife who is working, but now I can't do that. I would seriously give up all other features on my phone to just go back to ios4 and work the way it did before I upgraded. :(
 
HeatherA said:
I haven't read the whole thread, so pardon me if this has been mentioned... I had a problem with low light pictures on my 4s when I first got it, all the pictures were blurry and had a hazy whiteness to them. I realized it was the case I was using. The rim around the eye and the flash was white and causing reflection. As soon as I took the case off the pictures were perfect.

Just an FYI for if any others are experiencing the same thing.
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i had this same issue. without the case though

when i was holding my phone my finger was to close to the lens and flash and i was getting a reflection. caused the picture to be blurry and hazy. flipped the phone and took another picture. fixed
 
Stupid question, but you did take the plastic wrapping off the back of the phone right?
 
I get the blurries too.

Hey all,
I have the new 4S in white, also. And while I do not get blurry pics like bespoken is getting, most of mine turn out as if there was movement by the subject or me...regardless of how still I hold. I usually have the flash set to auto, and rarely do I need it. So most pics are shot without the flash. I've used HDR a bit, and while the HDR photo seems a bit better, the camera freezes up after about 3 shots, so I have to start the camera app over, and I lose the last shot. Also, the pics are very grainy, or pixelated. I wouldn't normally have noticed, except that my iP4 never gave me any of these issues at all. Also, the front facing camera (which I thought wasn't changed at all), on mine at least, is almost a total light washout. Pretty much unusable.
I've seen a few other blog posts complaining of this. But I'm not sure if it actually is because of the build of the white phone, or because of iOS 5, which I've read some people have found it quite buggy.
I'm no great photographer...but them changing out the aperture...to let more light in on the pic, wouldn't that equate to leaving the shutter open longer, which would then mean ~~movement would give blur or fuzzy pics?:confused
Thanks.

Oh - I do have "case friendly" invisibleshield on the front - and it has a special cut out section for the white iphone sensor. So that is not blocked. I have not put a shield on the back yet, so I'm using an Incipio barely there case that seems to allow plenty of room for the back camera. Regardless, I've tried shots with/without the case...same thing...probly 90% of my shots are typical Sony blurry. (Yes, I've owned my fair share of Sony cameras....got sick of the constant blurries, now I'm spoiled for the perfect shots from Canon, Panasonic and Nikon.) But this iPhone camera is JUST like those Sony's were.
 
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this is a valid complaint. coming from an iPhone 4 / iOs 4 (not sure which makes the difference) there is a definite difference in how the phone captures a picture that requires flash. on the 4, it would focus itself.. the 4S / iOs 5 does not (most of the time it does not, at least). of course if the room has enough light to click-focus on the subject, it will take a clear photo. but on the 4 this was not a necessary step - the majority of the time it "just worked". i think this is a software 'issue' (if you want to call it an issue).. something that was sacrificed in order to speed up the process. my preference would be for slower but focused pictures. maybe they'll change it in the future, maybe not. i would think the average person wouldn't care to focus every picture in such environments - they don't want to think about the process, just want to take pictures. there's a reason some of us use phones not slr's. :)
 
I am having the same issue with iPhone 4s as well! It takes great photos when the flash isn't needed but if i am somewhere and it is dark then my picture turns out very washy and blurry. I've held it still and I certainly know how to take a picture. I've had numerous people try it on my phone too and it all comes out the same. I've also had my friend take the same photo with her iPhone 4 and hers come out so much better than mine. I took it to Verizon and they didn't know what i was talking about but they are sending me a new one.
 
Sir Ruben said:
Well yes, seeing as this is the only topic on the matter I would say there is no problem with white iPhone camera/flash or otherwise it would be everywhere.

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I actually feel bad for saying that, its not ugly really, I would have preferred a kitten though ;)
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Because there was only one thread a whole five days after the phone had been out is your rationale for there not being a problem?! That's ridiculous.

I have this same issue with my white 4s. Well, I had the issue. Exchanged for another white one, had the same issue, and then swapped for a black which resolved the problem.
 
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