There were many camera improvements with the April security patch for the S23 and S23+. It improves video stability and dynamic range, as well as video sharpness. The S23 and S23+ still have significant issues with focusing on close-up subjects. The algorithmic tweaks they made didn’t help.
It was confusing since the S22 and S22+ had the same 1/1.56″ GN3 sensor as their primary sensor. This was mainly a software issue since those two had no problems with close-up focusing.
Many reports on the Samsung Community and Twitter about “banana” focus issues on the S23 and S23+. Some areas look permanently out of focus with close-ups. If you take close-up photos of objects a lot, this will seriously affect your daily use.
Many tasks like document scanning and QR Code scanning require your phone to focus close up, and this banana-focus issue isn’t helping with that. We’re unsure why 799$ and 999$ have these problems several months after a global release. It also appears widespread since there are numerous reports, though it doesn’t seem to be happening to all units.
Fortunately, Samsung is now indirectly hinting at a solution with a future software update. In the Polish Samsung Community forums, they described why they think the issue happens. They say they’ll solve this problem with a future update.
Samsung officially acknowledged that users are facing problems with focusing on close-up subjects. They explain that a bright f/1.8 is the reason for this focusing issue, causing blurry focus on the S23 and S23+.
This explanation makes no sense since competing phones like the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus have an even brighter 1.5 Aperture. There aren’t any reports of banana-style focus issues on those phones, so it’s not the f/1.8 aperture.
The post mentions that Samsung plans to improve the focus with a future update. If you have such problems, you can use the ultra-wide camera instead. Stepping a bit back and using the telephoto sensor is another alternative.
Samsung suggests you move about 30cm away from a subject. You’ll have to keep moving your camera back until it gets the entire subject perfectly in focus. You might still get some slight fringing at the edges, but it’s common with larger sensors.
Samsung also says the photos may look blurry if you hold the phone horizontally or diagonally. Keeping your phone vertically will solve the focusing issues.
Fortunately, for S23 Ultra users, this problem doesn’t even happen. The phone automatically switches to the ultra-wide camera. The ultra-wide camera has autofocus to focus on closer subjects; you don’t have to use the primary camera.
However, these solutions from Samsung are just temporary solutions. You’ll have to wait till the official June update to get a proper fix for your problems, hopefully. There are rumors that the June update will bring major camera updates, too.
The entire S23 series could get a 2X zoom option in portrait mode. While 2X digital zoom and sensor crop can never replace a 50mm optical lens, it’s still suitable for those who want flexibility. You can only take 3X zoom portraits on the entire S23 series. We might see other improvements to the camera performance overall, too.