Modern iPhones feature incredibly advanced camera systems with multiple lenses. When you take a photo, especially using the Ultra Wide or Wide cameras, the physical shape of the lens naturally creates a slight “fish-eye” or barrel distortion effect around the edges of the frame. By default, iOS applies an automatic “Lens Correction” algorithm in the background the moment you press the shutter button, artificially stretching and warping the edges of your photo to make lines appear perfectly straight. While this usually improves architectural shots, it can occasionally distort the faces of people standing near the edges of a group photo. If you prefer the raw, unedited perspective of your lens, you can turn this off.
How to Disable Lens Correction
You can turn off the software correction algorithm deep within your iPhone’s camera settings.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down the main menu (past the general settings and default apps) until you find Camera.
- Tap on Camera to open its specific settings.
- Scroll down towards the bottom of the page to the “Composition” section.
- Locate the toggle switch labelled Lens Correction.
- Tap the switch to move it to the Off position (the green background will turn to grey).
Your iPhone will no longer apply automatic geometric fixes to your photos. Keep in mind that depending on your specific iPhone model, you may notice slight curvature on the extreme edges of your photos when shooting in the 0.5x Ultra Wide mode.