I'm trying to record videos for YouTube Shorts on my iPhone 14, but even with good lighting I get this blurry picture. Stabilization is on, but it doesn't help much. Maybe I need to adjust some settings in the app?
On the iPhone 14, the main thing is not to rely solely on the built-in stabilization - it helps with shake, but not with blur from lack of light or incorrect focus.
Before shooting, tap the screen where you want sharpness (usually on the face) and make sure the camera has locked focus - often the blurriness is exactly because the phone is focusing on the wrong object.
Of course, wipe the lens (even invisible fingerprints affect it), and when shooting, try moving the phone closer to the subject, but not too close to avoid triggering focus issues - the sweet spot is roughly 30-50 cm away.
Lens cleanliness is the first thing you should check, because even microscopic fingerprints can cause that exact kind of haziness. Second - make sure you're not accidentally covering the camera with your finger while shooting, that happens a lot with side-facing shots for Shorts.
If the lens is fine, try shooting not in the YouTube app, but directly in the iPhone's standard camera app with a higher video resolution format, and then upload the finished video. The YouTube app often compresses the quality already during recording, whereas the native camera preserves more detail. One more tip - shoot from at least half a meter to a meter away, the iPhone focuses unstably when you're too close to your face and you get blur.
Blurriness in Shorts often happens because autofocus doesn't work properly when you're moving. Try locking your focus before you start recording: tap and hold your finger on the spot on the screen where your face or main object will be until "AE/AF Lock" appears - once that happens, the camera will stop jumping around and refocusing all over the place. It's simple, but it really works. Another important thing - make sure you're shooting in a mode where there's enough light. If you're in dim lighting or under artificial light, ISO goes up, and the image gets grainy and looks blurry. Move yourself closer to a window or turn on an extra light source in front of you.
As for the YouTube app itself - the built-in Shorts editor usually doesn't have any special sharpness settings, it all depends on the original video. Stabilization on the iPhone works, but it's not enough if the problem is with focus or lighting. I once filmed a video for social media with the room light on and also got a blurry image until I realized I just needed to get closer to the lamp or reshoot it in daylight. The difference was huge - literally one meter closer to the window made the picture sharp.
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