Galaxy S21 5G photo distortion

[Members_ZBF9jPA]

Hi.

The photos from my new S21 5G are badly distorted around the outer sections, not just at the edges.

Happens with normal photos not just wide angle.

Effect is so pronounced that faces look stretched and distorted and lines look curved.

My old phone is just a budget Moto G8 but it doesn’t produce distortions like this.

Have had to go back to my old phone for now as the S21 is making people’s heads look stretched and alien like!

Unsure if this is a faulty phone or an inherent problem with this model.

Is anyone else having similar issues? And has anyone got any fixes?

Bought this phone just for the camera and am really disappointed that the photos are so distorted.

[GoanGeek]

Unless you most some samples is hard to say.
You do need to be at a certain distance .
Try further away and see if it helps or even use the 3x for portrait shots.

[Members_ZBF9jPA]

Think I'm being strung along 😞

Samsung support suggested that using a different aspect ratio would fix the distortion. Of course it didn't,  so I emailed them back and got a set of generic suggestions not related to the issue I raised: 

"Can you please check if the camera lenses are all clean and nothing is blocking it? If you have any cases, please remove them and try to take a photo. Also, we recommend you to tap on the screen when you are taking a photo as it may not focus immediately. We also recommend you to reset your device camera settings. I hope this resolves the issue, if not, please do not hesitate to contact us back again".

They appear not to have read or understood the issue I raised: distortion of subjects in the outer parts of the frame, made worse by even minor tilting of the phone when taking the photo.

Have now found some other threads in this forum describing other people having the same issue and having to give up and buy a different phone as Samsung would not help or even acknowledge the problem.

Will try writing to Samsung head office and post the outcome here but for now I've gone back to using my old phone and my dslr 😞

[Members_ZBF9jPA]

Thanks. Here are two photos of my toy dog. When he's in the outer part of the frame he's stretched and distorted as compared to when he's in the centre of the frame. This is why people's faces /heads at the edges of the frame look odd and distorted compared to people in the centre. Gets much worse if the camera is tilted by just a few degrees. Photos taken on 1.0 in normal photo mode. 

 

[Members_ZBF9jPA]

 

[GoanGeek]

I would suggest turn on shot suggestions under camera settings.

You need to learn to keep the phone perpendicular to the subject.

The above settings will help you to align your shots.

[GoanGeek]

Attaching two photos to show how it affects your photos

[Members_ZBF9jPA]

Thanks! Given that I've been using mobile phone cameras for 15 years without any problems or any stretched elongated heads around the edges of my shots, I do feel it's a problem with the software rather than with me! The distortion is certainly worse when the phone is tilted even a little but is also present when the phone is straight. When I get time I'll put the phone on my tripod and take some shots of a distortion chart. Thanks for your suggestions though

[GoanGeek]

I believe its to do with the optical stabilisation and that these new phones have movable lens inside.
Nothing to do with older phones as they probably had fixed lenses.

Also the wide lens and the normal lens is probably wider compared to your older phones hence more distortion.

I'd also recommend you play with distance as the further you are away the less it will be distorted.

Anyways Best of luck with whatever you wanna do.

Personally I have the ultra version so can't really mimic your situation.

Iam also quiet happy with the camera.

[smcapps]

This sample is a collinearity distortion that happens when any rectangular object is photographed at an angle (like a building photographed from street level).  Member "Journeyman" had a legitimate, unrelated question about the horrible edge distortion of the Samsung lens.  This reply is not relevant.