iPhone 4S picture quality poor

[larrymcj]

I don't know if I'm just the lucky one to get a bad phone or what, but I'm a decent photographer and what I'm seeing out of the iPhone 4S is not very good. The ONLY pictures that are good are taken without zooming or without flash indoors. If I add flash to anything, it immediately turns crappy. Even taking an outdoor shot on a beautiful day works fine until I zoom in even one notch, and then everything turns grainy. I have nothing turned on in options and the phone is setup in it's default mode. If this isn't normal, perhaps I need to exchange the phone. Does anyone else get graining pics when using zoom or flash indoors in normal night room lighting? One of the world's best photographers was on the NBC Nightly News awhile back and said the iPhone 4S could easily replace the average Point & Click. Not the case for mine.

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[Skull One]

You have made one very large assumption. And if you are a decent photographer, I am rather shocked you made it.

The iPhone 4S doesn't have an optical zoom. Which means if you do any zoom at all it is an interpolation, which will fail under even the lightest of scrutiny. I highly recommend you stop using the zoom since that is the cause of any issues.

The second issue with the flash is rather interesting. One of two things is possibly occurring:

1) You have a case on the phone.
2) You are shooting the subject at too close a range.

If you have neither of those two conditions, please elaborate on the exact condition you are using the flash and a sample of the issue.

[larrymcj]

@Skull One: I've only been am amateur photographer for about 50 years...so I'm sure you can teach me a thing or two if you're a pro. Also, not seeing where I assumed anything about how the zoom worked...just said that adding even one "+" notch of it caused pics to be grainy. Using the camera without zoom the pics are fine. Regarding the flash, it has a case but nothing is obstructing the flash...in fact, there is a very generous sized opening for the lens and flash. Nonetheless, I had already tried it without the case just to see if it made any difference...it does not.

My major complaint about the flash is during an indoor setting, ambient incandescent lighting, perhaps like you'd have if you were eating dinner. Then I take a pic anywhere (no zoom) and if the flash fires (in Auto) or if it's ON...the pictures are grainy. The effect I see is as if using VERY high ASA film indoors without flash in the old days...just grainy enough to not be a decent picture. The closer I get to a subject with the flash...the worse it gets.

Are all these symptoms normal...or could I have a defective unit? Maybe I'm expecting too much, but I moved to the iPhone from the original Incredible, which had a wonderful flash, took great pics in low light (such as a wedding reception) and the zoom worked equally as good at both ends of the spectrum. Thanks for any insight you might have.

[fransi]

deleted.. see below

[fransi]

I, also, am wondering if I got a bad phone. So much banter about the high quality of the photos and mine are ALL grainy, some blurry, and just poor quality in general. I have used a Blackberry camera for three years and got pictures equivalent in quality, size, focus, etc to my D50. .. even with zoom. (the zoom on this 'smells', regardless of what you are trying to shoot. it is basically useless)


I use a lens specific micro-cloth for cleaning the cam before shooting. I have tried with and without case, with and without flash, with and without HDR setting, long shots, close shots, sunny shots, inside house shots, people shots, inanimate objects, sunrise, building across the street. The issue is the same with the front-facing lens.. still grainy. I may have 3 decent (decent only) shots out of 500 attempted.


Tired of trying and want Apple to know that there are some of these phones (4S) that have bad cameras,


Now have to decide if I want to go through hassle of getting a replacement and reloading all the apps etc. or just start carrying the big camera around again.... or take my blackberry with me simply for its camera..lol..


Another real weird phenom... Sometimes, the photos are gradually pixelating over time. i.e. degrading for some reason. This is THE strangest thing ever.


...f...

[larrymcj]

@fransi: before getting too excited, as I did, I think Skull One brings out a good point, in that this camera does not have a true optical zoom and using it for anything other than photos taken at default settings can present problems. I found that if not using my zoom, or not using my flash, I get absolutely excellent pictures. I downloaded a few to myself and looked at them in PhotoShop and they're VERY good.

So, to resolve the issue of having a camera that "should" have all the other features we want in a P&S camera, I tried the app Camera+ and I have been absolutely blown away. It adds a true optical zoom and a myriad of other options and features that make this camera what it should have been to begin with. I've taken pics with the basic camera app and then taken them again using Camera+ and the difference is astounding! The app simply replaces the basic camera app so you use it whenever you want to take a picture.

Hope this helps...I think you'll find it's not a bad camera, but that we all were just expecting too much from it.

[Rocko]

Ha. You truly have no knowledge of basic cameras if you think an app will add optical zoom. Optical zoom requires the lens to be physically moved. This does not happen on the iPhone 4s or any other iPhone. You are seeing digital zoom only.

[iCrank]

Ha. You truly have no knowledge of basic cameras if you think an app will add optical zoom. Optical zoom requires the lens to be physically moved. This does not happen on the iPhone 4s or any other iPhone. You are seeing digital zoom only.

Loading....plusone..etcetera..etcetera

إيكرانك...المسطرة

[larrymcj]

Ha. You truly have no knowledge of basic cameras if you think an app will add optical zoom. Optical zoom requires the lens to be physically moved. This does not happen on the iPhone 4s or any other iPhone. You are seeing digital zoom only.

@Rocko: Actually, I "meant" digital zoom (which the iPhone 4S doesn't have...but Camera+ adds)...and it truly works better than the iPhone 4S inherent zoom. I have been an amateur photographer all my life and I know the difference between optical and digital zoom...I just used the wrong word. Glad I could provide you the opportunity to be snide.

[adjuvantjfoster]

@Rocko: Actually, I "meant" digital zoom (which the iPhone 4S doesn't have...but Camera+ adds)...and it truly works better than the iPhone 4S inherent zoom. I have been an amateur photographer all my life and I know the difference between optical and digital zoom...I just used the wrong word. Glad I could provide you the opportunity to be snide.

It may be a problem introduced by the file transfer details. Here is what work best for me.

1) I connect my iPhone 4S to my MacBook Pro running the latest updates of software on The Liom OS
2) I navigate to the Utilities folder in the Applications folder and open the Image Capture application.
3) The Image Capture screen shows all the photo and video files in Camera Rool.
4) I create a folder on my desktop in Finder
5) I drag the pictures and videos from the Image Capture window into my newly created folder on the Desktop.
6) I quit Image Capture
7) I look at the images in Apple Preview or in Adobe PhotoShop or any other Apple or Adobe image manipulation software. Why Apple or Adobe? Because Appe and Adobe use the EXIF orientation data for presenting images upright no matter which of the four possible physical orientation the iPhone 4S was in when I took the picture.

The steps I outlined here provide as lossless procedure as I have been able to figure out. But then, hey, I am only 75 years old, with a lot to learn from folks on these forum topics.

A lot of alternative ways of extracting files from Camera Roll are quite lossy by accident or by design.

Your mileage in copying what works for me, may vary.

Respectfully,

John Foster