How to Fix iPhone 16 Pro Max Camera Focus Issue

Apple iPhone cameras always shoot wide open because they do not have an aperture. Edges are blurred because the 1X and .5X are wide angle lenses and typically suffer from barrel distortion. The use of lens profiles and AI help with minimizing the distortion.

Looking at images at 100% (1:1) is pointless unless printing very large. If critical image quality is needed for small display mediums requires editing specifically for the viewing size etc.

Jeff Donald

>>Apple iPhone cameras always shoot wide open because they do not have an aperture.

thanks, that was news to me (I will add it to my search, it will make it easy to confirm and update my previous link)

Jeff Donald

>>Looking at images at 100% (1:1) is pointless unless printing very large

now that's a comment I would recommend someone does their own research about before baking that into their basic understanding of digital image production

my spin:

if you want to see what your lens is doing (without all the automatic ((over)) processing) shoot RAW or LOG -- open your RAW images in Photoshop or Lightroom (with color management on) and check it out on a hardware-profiled monitor at 100 percent Actual Pixels -- import your LOG clips into Final Cut or an app like DaVinci and view at full resolution with highest quality preview setting...

Worthless review. It was a comparison of iPhone 16 Pro vs. Sony $5,000+ USD camera. His review was of Apple’s marketing more than the quality of images.

His point about the digital zoom losing quality is accurate, don’t zoom, unless you absolutely have to. But the majority of his testing is flawed. A waste of my 15 minutes, but confirms my opinion of Tony Northrop.

No, my experience will speak for itself. His review was worthless in troubleshooting a focus issue. How many 16X20 images do have hanging on your walls of resolution test charts? I have none. Pixel Peepers and gear heads are concerned with test charts and 1:1 images.

Joe McNally has a great saying,

“Novices and beginners worry about the equipment, hobbyists and advanced users worry about composition, pro’s worry about the money, and the true masters and artists worry about the light.”

-g thanks for looking into the issue and researching!

Jeff great quote by Joe McNally, but still doesn’t solve the issue that; all the previous generation iPhones can take perfectly crisp and sharp text close up photos at 1x including “out at the edges” (see previous post of my iPhone comparisons) but the iPhone 16 can’t.

You can’t blame us “Novices/beginners” that we can’t take a “non- blurry” photo with the iPhone 16s when clearly no one had an issue with previous generations iPhones. And I’ve already posted many examples / photo comparisons showing the difference between the different iPhone generations with clear and crisp photos at 1x (previous posts in this forum).

So, love the quote but it can’t be that all of the sudden, all of us ‘Novices” have become “impeded people” *as a nicer word*, with the iPhone 16s in regards to taking close up photos.

I still think there is an issue with depth of field when it comes to taking a photo of a menu / pamphlet/ brochure where, if there are folds/ creases/ humps text become blurry and smudgy because of the DOF…. But if you take it with the 2x zoom which then becomes a 12MP and not 24MP it looks like it should, and matches the previous generation iPhones.

Mr Jeff

>>For one, a lens test only shows a limited set of information.

yea if it focuses proper

>>Your assumption that proper focus is goal number one is just not correct.

presumption is a better word (just sayin)

your rodeo examples -- slow shutter speed, motion blurs -- support my comment

you might notice most of them are IN FOCUS and most of them have a SHARP area

I don't think iPhones would be a good choice for that particular type of photography so I am not exactly sure your point

nice example -- I'm curious your settings info -- I would think you need a ND Neutral Density filter (rigged) and a tripod to pull that off on an iPhone -- not the handheld panning with fast moving subjects like the rodeo examples you posted earlier

Most are handheld and daylight shots. The Water shot and night sky were done on a tripod. The other shots are all around 1/1500 to 1/3000, ISO 100, f/1.8, f/1.78, or f/2.8 depending on lens.

The night sky was just night mode (30 seconds) on a tripod. The water was an app called ReeHeld. Now that I think about it, it was handheld. The app does the blur.

My point being with the rodeo shots by Ernst Hass, was the notion of sharpness is required and can produce technically proper images, sharp, in focus and properly exposed. But, like Adams said, boring. Absolute sharpness is not necessary in most cases. But when it is required, know your equipment so you can make it happen.

This is actually fairly low light levels as indicated by the high ISO (1000) and slow shutter speed (1/36 second).

A slow shutter speed often results in a small amount of camera movement, which’s blurs the photo slightly. The slight blur results in loss of fine detail in the image. Ideally when handholding your iPhone try to get the shutter speed to a 1/125 second or higher. Using a tripod will almost always produce sharper images.

Higher ISO results in more noise (digital equivalent of grain) and again, loss of fine detail. The solution is to add more light by turning on room lights and opening drapes etc. You may also need to add artificial light such as a flash or small LED light.

The addition of light will help raise your shutter speed and produce less blur if handholding.

maxvag

I see in your example what others (and myself) are complaining about

these issues have already been discussed:

lens barrel distortion (I'm not sure if that encompasses blurry corners, but blur in the corners is arguably a by product of the iPhone 16 pro optical lens design)

fixed f/stop - wide open - shallow depth of field: these iPhone lenses only shoot wide open at f/1.78, f/2.2 (so we can't stop down to extend their extreme shallow depth of field) -- we have to actually tap focus if we want any selective focus control

the correct point to tap focus lock is on a person's eyes -- and if one gets the eyes in focus the rest doesn't matter so much -- my instinct is the Apple software is excellent at focusing on eyes (human or animal) with little user effort as long as they are in a realistic space that depth of field can cover

focus plane, film plane, sensor plane (what ever people call it these days) must be parallel with the plane of focus (your FLAT surface) for optimal test results shooting FLAT documents, but only lenses designed for copy work prioritize this match up in a 'perfect' scenario

THAT MEANS if we have 2-3 or more faces in a frame of half bodies, for example -- we have to get everyone's eyes lining up in parallel with the sensor plane if we want everyone's eyes sharp -- this has never changed

these iPhone lens don't seem to optically BROKEH well -- but amazing in Apple's software processing

software (over processing): shoot RAW (stills) or LOG (video) to observe the processing...

rgaffin

>> For close ups, i used to be able to tap the subject and it would adjust focus. Not any more.

try backing away an inch at a time and re-tapping (you may be too close for lens to focus)

if indeed your tap is flaky -- within tappable focus range -- you may indeed have defective hardware (open a case with AppleCare and get your case number documented on record)...

rgaffin

>>Im not sure why there are people on this thread that are in denial about the issue. We may not all be photography experts, which is exactly why we use the iphone. We want point and shoot photography where we dont see parts of the image, or peoples faces, blurred.

I see very little denial here about the issue -- more basics 101 about HOW to focus proper and release the shutter proper to help rule out user error (no disrespect intended, I've always learned the most in forums when I was wrong or misinformed)

the iPhone shoots "wide open" and has very shallow "depth of field" by design (especially closer the camera gets to subject)

that's just how Apple designed their system -- and that's the physics how lens focusing works

REPEAT:

focus plane, film plane, sensor plane (what ever people call it these days) must be parallel with the plane of focus (the sets of eyes in your frame)

THAT MEANS if we have 2-3 or more faces in a frame of half bodies, for example -- we have to get everyone's eyes lining up in parallel with the sensor plane (within the lens depth of field) if we want everyone's eyes sharp -- this, too, has never changed

this is why you see professionals stop and move subjects in line with their depth of field -- its why they don't put fat people on the ends of a group or have tall people in front of short people -- "all the girls with nice legs up front" (if your group has the energy for that line)...

You are absolutely right; nobody has been able to prove that 16pro can take clear photos as previous models; everyone just keeps telling us to try different settings/ or use third party app etc. even Apple can’t resolve it; I went to see the Apple technician in store, they tried for about two hours with my phone and any other phones in the store - same blur; the technician (if can call them technician- because I think they are just been trained on how to use the iPhone apps ; I don’t think they know much more than the seasoned iPhone user); she was about to cry as she ran out of ideas what else to try or tell me; I told her I don’t blame her as it is problem with all the 16pro phones and it is not something she or anyone else can resolve as it seems to be a software issue. I’m sure Apple knows the issue is there; however as every business they won’t admit to it as it will make the liable. It is a real shame as overall (except the camera issue) the 16pro has an amazing performance

I exchanged mine hoping the one I originally bought was just a lemon but unfortunately the new one is doing the same thing. I was going to try a 15 pro Max instead but I would have lost my promotion as it was just on the 16. I got mine through Verizon. I have a case with Apple open now so hopefully I will hear back Tuesday. Apple keeps telling me hardware is fine and nothing is wrong however they see my pictures and clearly something is not right. They say to try different settings but can’t give me a direct answer. I’ve tried every setting and nothing works. I’m very frustrated to say the least.

So basically we need Apple to add the 4th lens to the iPhones from the iPhone 13 Pro to take proper sharp photos of menus / pamphlets / brochures at 1x zoom! Otherwise we are stuck at taking the photo with the 2x zoom (at 12MP) for perfectly sharp photos, but you will have to be standing up to take the photo of a menu on the table instead of sitting down 😅😅😅 “looks weirds though 😒”