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Liam Coleman
Liam Coleman
Known Participant
July 28, 2022
Answered

P: Camera overexposing photos

  • July 28, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 8072 views

Hello,

I have been observing for some time that the LR mobile in-app camera seems to consistently overexpose photos. It is most obvious when shooting DNGs (either on automatic or HDR modes) before making any adjustments in post. See attached photos for examples right out of the LR app camera with no adjustments made; these strike me as quite bright and look more properly exposed to me if I dial back the exposure slider in LR by about 0.50. I have been sure to confirm that I have not altered any other settings that might cause this and I have been using the most recent app versions over the past several updates. I am using an iPhone 14 Pro and an iPad Air (it happens on both devices) on consisterntly the most recent OS software. Can someone from Adobe please look into this and confirm whether there might be a bug here? Thanks very much.

    Correct answer Charlie.D

    Hi @Jeff Bellune 

    This issue is being tracked by the Lightroom team as an Apple Feedback issue.  I have not ETA for a fix date.  In the LR app export menu, you can use TIFF as a high fidelity rendition of your image that won't have the same display issue.

     

    Also, I'll convert this to a bug, so I can tag this internally for tracking.

    3 replies

    A
    Aksa8
    Participating Frequently
    April 19, 2025

    I agree. The dng's created with iOS Lightroom App are grossly overexposed. Is this a bug or a settings issue?

    KR Seals
    Community Expert
    KR SealsCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 10, 2025

    This thread is almost two years old. There are quite a few solutions mentioned if you read all the replies.

    Are you working in Pro mode? Is you exposure set to "0". I just tested it on my iPhone 14 pro max. No issue and have never had the problem.

    Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-14700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.
    A
    Aksa8
    Participating Frequently
    May 11, 2025
    In pro mode, I have to set exp to -1 or -2 to prevent an overexposed dng.
    C
    Community Manager
    Charlie.DCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    June 13, 2023

    Hello @Liam Coleman 

     

    Apologies for the slow response.  We've been busy getting the June app updates ready and released.

     

    In short, what you describe is expected behavior per our LR developer team.  JPGs (even ones LR Camera captures) are heavily processed by the iOS platform, whereas LR camera DNGs and HDRs and other raw images you may import into Lightroom may require significant processing to reach a similar look. With the newer, larger sensors in the recent iPhone models, the apparent over-exposure you're talking about may seem more pronounced than old iPhone models.  A developer told me the LR Camera is simply recording the raw image data the iOS platform provides.  When you compare to Apple ProRaw images in the Photos app, what's not obvious is that Apple does apply a fair amount of processing.  Lightroom applies less processing upon capture/import.  The LR Mobile app's camera profiles are ment to help one get to a good starting point for editing, but some work is required to get the image to a desirable appearance.  A couple Presets I use often serve to decrease exposure after raw capture.

     

    I find Lightroom's HDR capture mode more often provides me a good starting point for editing.  In the LR in-camera options that are opened by 'gear' button, I sometimes toggle on Save Unprocessed Original -- this saves the middle DNG image of the 3 bracket images that are merged for the HDR capture.  Sometimes that middle bracket image ends up being the one I keep, though I usually purge them as unwanted duplicates.

     

    I do also use exposure compensation at times, especially in outdoor or very bright environments, to under-expose the image a notch or two.  I often snap a couple photos at different exposures if I'm worried about uneditable overexposure.

     

    Posts like yours are appreciated, as it reminds the team to keep discussion going on how to improve this.

     

    Kind regards,

    Charlie

     

    P.S.  Lightroom recently updated the help article on the LR Camera.  Maybe there's something in it that's useful to you: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-cc/using/capture-photos-mobile-ios.html 

      Ineedafingscreenname
      Ineedafingscreenname
      Known Participant
      December 21, 2023

      Hi Charlie,

       

      I've experienced the same problem on my iPhone 14 for some time now. Typically, I try to remember to underexpose the raw image by -.7, which tends to yield good results. However, sometimes I forget, which can caude problems with lost details in the highlights. Is there a way to create a preset so that all camera exposures are initially set at -.7 as a default (and that I can modify only if needed for a given photo)?

       

      Thanks,

       

      Scott

      L
      Lanther13
      Participating Frequently
      February 8, 2025

      Hey @Lanther13! 👋

      Sorry to hear about the frustrating experience with the integrated camera in Lightroom Mobile. Could you let us know what version of the app you're using? Are you in HDR mode by any chance? Also, check if you have Auto Exposure locked or unlocked.



      Thanks!
      Alek


      Hi i am using v 10.1.3.

      I tried with both lock turned on and off. by the way every time i launch the camera, the settings are reset. meaning, if i lock exposure. then close the camera, then open it again, its unlocked again, same with EV +/-. anyway, no matter what i do to lower exposure before taking a picture, the picture i get in the camera roll is much more over exposed than what was on the screen. maybe i should reinstall the app? i am on iphone

      Jeff Bellune
      Jeff Bellune
      Legend
      July 28, 2022

      Premiere Pro guy here, but still a long-time user of Lr (classic and cloud).

       

      I've got some DNG images taken with the Lr Mobile camera that I'm trying to get into Apple Photos as RAW files. The images were taken with various iPhone models, starting with the iPhone X. When snapped, I usually preferred the hdr-dng version to the regular dng version, so I deleted most of the regular dng's.

       

      When I export now from Lr (either macOS 12.5 or iOS 15.5), the few regular DNG files I have export and add to Apple Photos perfectly. The hdr-dng files end up a blown-out white & magenta mess.

       

      For reference, here are 2 screenshots of what the regular dng's look like in Camera Raw 14.4 and Apple Photos.

      Camera Raw

      Apple Photos

       

       Now here is what happens with the hdr-dng's:

      Camera Raw 

      Apple Photos (and in Preview on Mac, and in RAW Power, and in Pixelmator Pro, and so on): 

      If I export as a DNG from Camera Raw, I get the same result as exporting from Lr.

       

      I'd be grateful for any help or insight, even if that help starts with, "Hey Stupid!" 😀

       

      Cheers, 

      Jeff

        C
        Community Manager
        Charlie.DCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
        Community Manager
        July 28, 2022

        Hi @Jeff Bellune 

        This issue is being tracked by the Lightroom team as an Apple Feedback issue.  I have not ETA for a fix date.  In the LR app export menu, you can use TIFF as a high fidelity rendition of your image that won't have the same display issue.

         

        Also, I'll convert this to a bug, so I can tag this internally for tracking.

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