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I discovered this issue just last month trying to take a good photo of my partner sat next to our Christmas tree. No matter what I did, the iPhone kept brighten

I discovered this issue just last month trying to take a good photo of my partner sat next to our Christmas tree. No matter what I did, the iPhone kept brightening the image and losing the darkened look I was going for. Even after disabling every "smart" feature I could, it still uniformly brightened everything and reduced the contrast. What was perhaps the most infuriating thing was that what I was seeing in the viewfinder preview looked great. I could see the photo, as I desired it, but when I tried to capture it, I got something else.

corobo 4y ago
I had a right laugh with this one. Taking sweet shots in the moonlight, that sort of ethereal white blue glow over everything. Phone took 5 seconds or so to take each picture and it came out looking like it was just daylight. The only way you could tell I took it at night was the creation time of the file. The photo had things visible that I couldn't even see with my naked eye! Technologically impressive, sure. What I was taking a picture of? Not at all.
- foldr 4y ago
  You can turn night mode off and drag the exposure slider down if you want a more atmospheric look.
  - corobo 4y ago
    Aye when I got back I googled why the hell the camera was doing superman night vision mode but the moment was lost. I'll know for future reference but there's been no more combos of frosty and full moon so far. Ah well. Wasn't an important picture or anything, just seemed neat. My phone encouraged me to enjoy the moment instead :)
- volker48 4y ago
  I would assume you would turn it off if you knew so you could take the type of night photo you wanted, but this feature can be disabled https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211306 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211306.
- astrange 4y ago
  Cameras don’t know what time of day it is and can’t see in the dark like we can. Usually you want night mode on, because the alternative isn’t “nice dark picture”, it’s “you can’t see anything”. If you want to reproduce a complicated scene like that, use a full manual app like Halide and then edit the raw back to what you remember. Or get an a7s.
  - e12e 4y ago
    > Cameras don’t know what time of day it is On the other hand the iphone knows what time it is, your location, the location of the moon, the weather - it could probably guess if you're outside or inside - so it seems like a bit of a waste it can't do a better job at anticipating the scene...
    - astrange 4y ago
      Indeed that's true. But since people already complain that it does too much post processing, it seems like a dangerous road to try and do even more of it. Cameras do know if you're inside or outside though - at least, they know if you're shooting a landscape and if the scene is lit by natural or artificial light. That matters for boring but important things like auto white balance / auto ISO / if it should focus to infinity.
      - CamperBob2 4y ago
        But since people already complain that it does too much post processing, it seems like a dangerous road to try and do even more of it. As long as you let me turn it off, hey, party on, knock yourself out with postprocessing hackery. The first part -- the easy part -- is the problem Apple can't seem to manage.
        foldr 4y ago
        You can turn night mode off by tapping the icon in the top left.
- acchow 4y ago
  You can turn off night mode for that shot and force it to take a quick snap instead of an extended length exposure
karencarits 4y ago
I guess there are people out there who screenshots their viewfinder instead of shooting, apart from resolution that may work?
bee_rider 4y ago
I’ve downloaded the app that the Moment lens folks put out, which lets you do things like set ISO and shutter speed, etc. Generally I’m suspicious of camera apps because it seems like a low-effort way of getting access to a user’s photo reel and other personal info (oh yah sure we need to constantly track your location to help tag the photos!), but I figure they have a business model (selling lenses) and a reputation so maybe they aren’t so creepy. OTOH I don’t really have anything interesting on my phone in the first place, so it all really is a bit academic to me.
- astrange 4y ago
  Camera apps don’t need access to the entire photo library, you can give them write-only access. It does need location as long as the app is open, though you can make it imprecise.
  - bee_rider 4y ago
    Yeah, I’m just generally suspicious of these kinds of apps. I put them in the category of free apps that I don’t understand the business model of. While it is possible to use the privacy features of the phone to limit the app’s access, I don’t really want to be running apps where I think I need to do that, if I can avoid it. I’m sure lots of them are fine, but I’m not able to distinguish between the fine and not-fine ones.
mozman 4y ago
At some point I just started screenshooting the preview.
sundvor 4y ago
On my S21 Ultra the viewfinder will sometimes show a brightened image, to what I would prefer. A long hold on the focus point brings up an exposure slider, which lets you easily darken the image. It works really well, but the Samsung doesn't quite have the "flatten everything" feature that Marques talked about though (https://youtu.be/88kd9tVwkH8 https://youtu.be/88kd9tVwkH8 - recommend watching this). Also the stronger AI enhancements (auto scene detect) can be turned off with a single toggle; it's useful having the control. And if that's not enough, there's the Pro mode - everything can be made manual. I'm ashamed to say I'm generally getting better photos with my S21U than my old full frame D70s, with decent fixed lenses (35+50). Mainly it's down to the sensor; I often go for the hand held, low light kind of look, and the Samsung results are more often than not simply excellent. I intend to get a mirrorless Nikon Z6II body and a lens adapter this year (my lenses still have decent value), but nonetheless, taking the time to fully explore the tool in your hand is probably one of the best things you can do.
dec0dedab0de 4y ago
What was perhaps the most infuriating thing was that what I was seeing in the viewfinder preview looked great. I could see the photo, as I desired it, but when I tried to capture it, I got something else. A silly low-res solution would be to screen shot the camera app.
xattt 4y ago
My partner’s iPhone 11 Pro overprocessed a shot where I was wearing shorts to the point where we started calling it the “cauliflower knees” shot.
scotty79 4y ago
> I could see the photo, as I desired it, but when I tried to capture it, I got something else. I wonder if you could at least take the screenshot of the preview.

corobo 4y ago

I had a right laugh with this one. Taking sweet shots in the moonlight, that sort of ethereal white blue glow over everything. Phone took 5 seconds or so to take each picture and it came out looking like it was just daylight. The only way you could tell I took it at night was the creation time of the file. The photo had things visible that I couldn't even see with my naked eye! Technologically impressive, sure. What I was taking a picture of? Not at all.

foldr 4y ago
You can turn night mode off and drag the exposure slider down if you want a more atmospheric look.
- corobo 4y ago
  Aye when I got back I googled why the hell the camera was doing superman night vision mode but the moment was lost. I'll know for future reference but there's been no more combos of frosty and full moon so far. Ah well. Wasn't an important picture or anything, just seemed neat. My phone encouraged me to enjoy the moment instead :)
volker48 4y ago
I would assume you would turn it off if you knew so you could take the type of night photo you wanted, but this feature can be disabled https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211306 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211306.
astrange 4y ago
Cameras don’t know what time of day it is and can’t see in the dark like we can. Usually you want night mode on, because the alternative isn’t “nice dark picture”, it’s “you can’t see anything”. If you want to reproduce a complicated scene like that, use a full manual app like Halide and then edit the raw back to what you remember. Or get an a7s.
- e12e 4y ago
  > Cameras don’t know what time of day it is On the other hand the iphone knows what time it is, your location, the location of the moon, the weather - it could probably guess if you're outside or inside - so it seems like a bit of a waste it can't do a better job at anticipating the scene...
  - astrange 4y ago
    Indeed that's true. But since people already complain that it does too much post processing, it seems like a dangerous road to try and do even more of it. Cameras do know if you're inside or outside though - at least, they know if you're shooting a landscape and if the scene is lit by natural or artificial light. That matters for boring but important things like auto white balance / auto ISO / if it should focus to infinity.
    - CamperBob2 4y ago
      But since people already complain that it does too much post processing, it seems like a dangerous road to try and do even more of it. As long as you let me turn it off, hey, party on, knock yourself out with postprocessing hackery. The first part -- the easy part -- is the problem Apple can't seem to manage.
      - foldr 4y ago
        You can turn night mode off by tapping the icon in the top left.
acchow 4y ago
You can turn off night mode for that shot and force it to take a quick snap instead of an extended length exposure

karencarits 4y ago

I guess there are people out there who screenshots their viewfinder instead of shooting, apart from resolution that may work?

bee_rider 4y ago

I’ve downloaded the app that the Moment lens folks put out, which lets you do things like set ISO and shutter speed, etc. Generally I’m suspicious of camera apps because it seems like a low-effort way of getting access to a user’s photo reel and other personal info (oh yah sure we need to constantly track your location to help tag the photos!), but I figure they have a business model (selling lenses) and a reputation so maybe they aren’t so creepy. OTOH I don’t really have anything interesting on my phone in the first place, so it all really is a bit academic to me.

astrange 4y ago
Camera apps don’t need access to the entire photo library, you can give them write-only access. It does need location as long as the app is open, though you can make it imprecise.
- bee_rider 4y ago
  Yeah, I’m just generally suspicious of these kinds of apps. I put them in the category of free apps that I don’t understand the business model of. While it is possible to use the privacy features of the phone to limit the app’s access, I don’t really want to be running apps where I think I need to do that, if I can avoid it. I’m sure lots of them are fine, but I’m not able to distinguish between the fine and not-fine ones.

mozman 4y ago

At some point I just started screenshooting the preview.

sundvor 4y ago

On my S21 Ultra the viewfinder will sometimes show a brightened image, to what I would prefer. A long hold on the focus point brings up an exposure slider, which lets you easily darken the image. It works really well, but the Samsung doesn't quite have the "flatten everything" feature that Marques talked about though (https://youtu.be/88kd9tVwkH8 https://youtu.be/88kd9tVwkH8 - recommend watching this). Also the stronger AI enhancements (auto scene detect) can be turned off with a single toggle; it's useful having the control. And if that's not enough, there's the Pro mode - everything can be made manual. I'm ashamed to say I'm generally getting better photos with my S21U than my old full frame D70s, with decent fixed lenses (35+50). Mainly it's down to the sensor; I often go for the hand held, low light kind of look, and the Samsung results are more often than not simply excellent. I intend to get a mirrorless Nikon Z6II body and a lens adapter this year (my lenses still have decent value), but nonetheless, taking the time to fully explore the tool in your hand is probably one of the best things you can do.

dec0dedab0de 4y ago

What was perhaps the most infuriating thing was that what I was seeing in the viewfinder preview looked great. I could see the photo, as I desired it, but when I tried to capture it, I got something else. A silly low-res solution would be to screen shot the camera app.

xattt 4y ago

My partner’s iPhone 11 Pro overprocessed a shot where I was wearing shorts to the point where we started calling it the “cauliflower knees” shot.

scotty79 4y ago

> I could see the photo, as I desired it, but when I tried to capture it, I got something else. I wonder if you could at least take the screenshot of the preview.