Galaxy S25 Ultra Camera Focusing Problems – Is Anyone Else Noticing Issues?

[gjw89]

I’ve upgraded from the S21 Ultra to the new S25 Ultra, expecting a noticeable step up in camera performance. However, I’ve run into some issues that feel a bit odd, especially since the cameras are supposed to be better. So far, I’m not massively impressed, and I’m curious if anyone else is seeing the same problems. They've happened quite a lot in the last week but I've noticed these examples:

• Foreground focus issues: Today, I was taking a photo of someone with a menu in the foreground on the table just below the camera. The camera really struggled to focus on the menu text, leaving it completely blurry. I never had this issue with my S21.
• Unnecessary background blur: Last night, I was taking some food photos. The dish at the front was sharp, but the two dishes behind it were extremely blurry, even though I wasn’t using portrait mode.
• Inconsistent results: I’ve tried switching modes and adjusting focus settings, but the results seem unpredictable.

I’m presuming this isn’t how the cameras on the S25 Ultra are supposed to perform, so I’m curious—has anyone else experienced these kinds of issues? If you’ve found a solution or a setting that helps, feel free to share. I'm not a pro photographer by any means.

[Joeeye]

Not noticing anything like that with my S25 Ultra. I typically compare it side by side with my S21 Ultra too and they usually perform very similar.

[Pvai]

Mine starts to buzz and vibrate how fast camera tries to focus, jumps from one camera to another and still can't focus. This happens when taking pictures of objects at 4-15in range

[Babishko]

Hello there @gjw89. Is this problem only apparent on your main 1x lense, or is it occurring on all your lenses?.

[gjw89]

Yes it seems to be on the 1x lense @Babishko

[Babishko]

In my experience @gjw89, sometimes a new device needs to be put through it's paces to get it's features working. Especially camera features. The Ultrawide on my new S25 Ultra gave results in video that looked a little soft at first, so I really gave it a workout. I had it repeatedly focusing from close up to distant about 10 times, and at a quick speed. I then did nothing but record video on the Ultrawide for a full afternoon. By the end of this day, it was working brilliantly with zero apparent flaws. I recommend you clear the cache on your camera App, and then reboot your device before giving your 1x lense a good focus workout from near to far taking many pictures. Hopefully this can put your device back on the right track for you. Fingers crossed.

[AlphaCygni]

I managed to recreate focus issues with my .6 (ultrawide camera) in my S25 Ultra. You launch the stock camera app in photo mode, switch to .6 camera. put your hand close to the lens, it focuses on the hand. you move the hand out of the frame, focuses on background as it should. put the hand back close to the lens, it focuses close on the hand and then it won't go back to focus on the background the moment I move my hand away (You have to repeat the process 2-4 times before it gets "stuck" on a certain focus point and won't automatically budge). you can tilt the device, get the hand close again and then move it. nothing. you either have to physically touch the screen to let it focus on the background again, or switch to video mode (there it seems to work fine) and then switch back to photo mode. I managed to recreate this issue each time I launch the camera app (after I cleared it from "recents menu") in photo mode and switch to the .6 camera.

[gjw89]

I'll give this a try @Babishko. I also had a chat with a support expert on samsungs live chat and they suggested I could have a hardware fault 😬

[Groovygranny]

Blurry and the camera flash is out of sync

[arrahul_khare]

Same here I have the problem going on with my new s25 ultra the moment I capture any shot on 50 m or in 200 m it's gets blurred because of auto focus and the result is blurry