- Make sure your phone is charged. If it’s low on battery, pictures may be blurry or the camera may not work at all.
- Clean the lens of your phone if it’s been dirty. Dust and other particles can cause blurry photos.
- Adjust the camera settings if you’re using a manual mode: brightness, contrast, focus, etc. These settings can also affect how clear photos are.
- Try taking a picture in a bright environment instead of a dark one- this will help to improve image clarity indoors as well as outdoors in daylight hours. ..
1. Clean Your Camera Lens
If you’re having blurry photos or distortion with your phone’s autofocus, it may be because of a dirty lens. Dirty lenses can cause blur and distortion, which can affect the photo quality. If you’re having problems with your phone’s autofocus, it may be because of a dirty lens.
To clean your phone’s camera lens, use a microfiber cloth and a clean water or alcohol solution. Don’t spray any cleaning agent on the lens or cloth, as this could damage the phone’s outer camera lens glass. ..
If you have a water-resistant phone, be sure to gently rinse the outer camera lens glass with water to remove any mineral debris. Although modern outer camera lens glass is made from tough, hard materials, some small sand particles can still scratch it.
2. Use the Correct Mode
If you accidentally activate a special mode such as Portrait or Macro Mode, it might be impossible to get your subject in focus for a normal shot. Alternatively, you might need to turn on one of these modes, such as macro mode, when your subject is too close up to the camera to be in focus.
3. Take the Protective Film or Screen Protector Off
If you’re seeing a slightly fuzzy image in the viewfinder of your app, it might be that you have something on your screen that’s distorting the image.
If you’ve just taken a new phone out of the box, be sure to remove the protective film before you start using it. Some phones (like the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra) have a factory-applied screen protector that should not be removed unless damaged.
Some screen protectors can cause your display to look fuzzy or cloudy. To check if this is happening, open a non-camera app and inspect screen elements such as text. If everything on the screen appears slightly soft, you may want to take the screen protector off or replace it with one that has a better clarity rating.
4. Clean Your Screen
If your phone has a screen that is fuzzy or difficult to see, you can clean it with a microfiber cloth. ..
5. Check the Lens For Condensation
If you see condensation inside the camera, your phone may have suffered water damage. If the problem doesn’t go away or keeps returning, your phone may have been damaged by water. You’ll need to have a professional evaluate it.
6. Take Off Your Phone Case
Some phone cases have too much overlap in the cutouts for the cameras on your phone, which can interfere with the camera’s ability to focus properly. For phones that use special sensors to measure distance for focus, the case may partly obscure that sensor even if it doesn’t obscure part of any lens. ..
If you think your case is the issue, quickly taking it off and shooting a few test photos to rule out the possibility is a good idea.
7. Tap For Focus
If your phone’s autofocus feature isn’t always getting things right, there are a few simple steps you can take to fix the issue. Most times, just tapping on the subject you want to focus on in the camera app viewfinder will do the trick. ..
Android phone camera apps don’t have standardized focus adjustment methods, so if tapping to focus doesn’t work on your Android phone, consult the camera app’s help file for instructions. ..
8. Switch to a Different Camera
If you’re having trouble taking a clear picture, try switching to a camera with a more appropriate focal length. Even if you’re on the right camera for the shot, sometimes switching to a different camera and then switching back can reset whatever temporary glitch is causing issues. The main camera is usually the one with the best clarity, thanks to its higher megapixel count image sensor.
If all of your back cameras are blurry or switching between them doesn’t fix the one that’s a problem, you can try switching to the selfie camera and then back to the rear cameras. We’ve seen some users report that this helped them.
9. Use Manual Mode
But if you want to take a photo that the camera app can’t automatically take, you can use the manual focus and exposure settings. To do this, you’ll need to open the camera app and select one of the three focus modes: Manual, Center-Weighted, or Aperture Priority. Then, you’ll need to set the aperture (the size of the lens opening) and shutter speed (the number of seconds).
Some Android phone camera apps come with a manual or “Pro” mode, making it more like operating a DSLR camera. For example, on a Samsung Galaxy phone, you can select Pro mode and manually your camera settings using the on-screen focus wheel.
- Use a tripod or a stable surface to keep the camera still.
- Shoot in RAW format if you can. This will give you more control over the image processing.
- Use a low ISO setting if possible, and avoid using flash when possible.
- Use a wide aperture to reduce the amount of light entering the camera, and use a shutter speed that is as long as possible to capture the image without motion blur. ..
Use a fast shutter speed to reduce motion blur. Adjust the ISO for low light scenes.
manual focus modes have a visual focus guide, where the parts of the image that are in focus will be highlighted in a color so you know that the right things are in focus.
10. Try a Third-party Camera App
Some iPhone users may find that the default camera app does not include a manual mode, while other Android phone brands do not have this feature either. The best option for these users is to use a third-party camera app that allows for manual control of cameras. ..
The best camera app for the iPhone is ProCamera, although it is a bit pricey at $15. Camera+ is a good alternative at nearly half the price. If you’re on Android, the best choice in our opinion is Camera FV-5 for $4.99. Some Android phones don’t work well with this app, so either test it within the refund window on Google Play or try the FV-5 Lite app first, but there are many Android camera apps to choose from.
11. Force Close The App or Restart Your Phone
If your smartphone camera app doesn’t seem to be working as well as it used to, it might be because there are some software bugs that are constantly being introduced or discovered. If your camera app just doesn’t seem to be focusing on anything, it might just be a temporary problem with the app.
In iOS, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to the middle, bringing up the app carousel. Swipe left or right until you see your camera app, then swipe it upwards to close.
Android users can access the camera app by pressing the Android system button on the far left (three vertical lines), and it will bring up the app carousel. Swipe left or right to find the camera app, and swipe it up and off the screen to close it.
If you can’t close and reopen the app, restart your phone completely and try again.
12. Check for Camera App Updates
If your camera focus issues are caused by a bug, it may be worth checking if there is an updated version of the Camera app available for download. Camera app updates can happen either as an individual update or as part of a major operating system update.
This camera is not working with the standard app, suggests that there is something wrong with it.
13. Slap Your Phone Against Your Palm
If your phone is stuck in a particular position, try slapping it against your palm. This will help to move the camera assembly and fix some of the problems that can occur.
You take your phone out of your pocket and slap it against your heel to reset the electromechanical components.
14. Send Your Phone for Assessment
If you’ve tried everything on this list and you’re still getting blurry pictures, it may be time to have a professional look at your phone’s camera. The camera module may need replacement.
