iPhoneography after iOS7

[Jason DeBacker]

I’ve posted this a couple other places, but haven’t gotten a reply. I know many of you often use the iPhone for photography so I’ll try here…

I have noticed a significant decrease in the quality of my iPhone5 images after updating to iOS7. The problem is most apparent when trying to use the flash as fill in outdoor shots. But almost all shots seem to be underexposed and generally have lower image quality and less dynamic range. Has anyone else noticed this? It appears on all the camera apps I have.

My thought is that the new operating system is not working well with the old photography hardware – my wife’s 5s has none of these problems (they updated the flash and sensor on the new model). If this is true, it’d be nice if they have a patch. If not, any fixes for what I am experiencing?

Obviously not apples to apples, but here are a couple shots that are representative of my efforts when trying to use fill flash.

iOS6:

iOS7:

It was nice to have such good images off the iPhone and not have to carry a larger camera, so this is really disappointing. I wish I could go back to iOS6!

Jason

[J A Y M O R R]

Jas,

Thanks for the update. I will do some testing this week. I upgraded to the new iPhone 5s before I had a chance to play with the iPhone 5 using the new update.

I still have my old phone and gave it to my Son. I loaded iOS on it for him and I can do some experimenting. I have not checked into it, but has there been wide reports of this happening to others?

Curious.

By the way the new sensor on the 5s is fantastic. Getting some great results and the 10fps is crazy for a pocket camera.

[Jason DeBacker]

Jay,
I’d be interested in what you find.

I have not seen widespread reports of this happening – not sure if that is because if it something specific to me/my phone or if the issue is just subtle enough that most don’t notice it. Internet searches have turned up a number of complaints about the camera and/or flash not working at all on the5 or 4s, but that appears to usually be fixed by resetting the phone and is not something that I’ve experienced.

Jason

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