Iphone 11 Pro Extreme lens flare

Well that’s not true at all. It appears in my photos when there’s any sort of light source in front of the camera. Light from a window. Light from a bulb in a fixture. It doesn’t even have to be direct exposure to light. It can be indirect and the flare is there. And in my case, it’s pretty bad. Very large. I haven’t even tried it with “strobing/carnival lights”. It happens with normal daylight coming through a window.

My 11 pro max has really bad flaring, the part was ordered to replace the camera unit, hopefully it resolves the issue, because if not I can’t recommend this phone to anyone wanting a good phone camera despite its promotion of deep fusion.

Right now I can’t recommend swapping the lenses out. It doesn’t really help, I’ll have to give more time, but i don’t really notice a difference after the repair. Just gotta know how to use the camera properly I guess to avoid flaring

Hope it helps. I've not had any unusual amount of flare with my 11 Pro Max. Nor any smearing problems. Haven't wiped the lenses since I bought it 6 weeks ago. I use a clear case, the surface of which is almost two millimeters higher than the lens cover surfaces. The lenses are still perfectly clean. I never touch them. I keep the phone in cargo pants pockets, jacket pockets and shirt pockets.

Channels that, for the most part, are not specifically oriented around photography, how lens flare is produced and why the growing complexity of very small glass lenses on devices like the iPhone (and Android small cameras) makes it more likely to occur.

Then you have hawaii with sensors more then double the size of the current iPhone... Regardless, I won’t sell the device for one complaint that can be avoided. If I sold every device that I had a complaint about I’d have nothing because no product is “perfect”. And like I mentioned, Apple should be able to counter flare, maybe not remove it, but reduce it with post processing.

Once again, for those with an issue with lens flare:

• If it's been less than 14 days since your purchase, return it for a refund.
• If it's been more than 14 days since you purchased it, sell it and buy something that is acceptable to you.

Multiple reviews, users and yes, professional photographers have stated the iPhone 11's cameras are the best ever made available on an iPhone.

It doesn't matter what your last iPhone did; as lenses on iPhones become more complex and more like cameras, lens flare is going to become an issue, especially when you do something that specifically induces lens flare.

“Professional” photographers can say whatever they like if they’re sponsored by Apple to say it. Regardless, it IS an issue, and IS affecting users who bought the phone. People like me are trying to see if there is a way to get around this defect by adding additional glass coverings to the lenses and even repairing their lenses. We enthusiasts care about the quality of products.

[Edited by Moderator]

Yes - small flare artifacts.

Not flares that make the camera useless for its intended purpose or bad in any way, e.g.:

It's not possible to take video footage at night without ghosting

It most certainly is.

I didn't say there was zero flare; that is the case with any complex lens design.

I get the frustration, and I know you didn't say it was unusable, but other posters have, and that's what I was providing information to counter.

The "Pro" name is just that, a model identifier like the MacBook Pro or Mac Pro - it denotes a level of features, not that the features are necessarily suitable for say professional photographers.

Regardless, you are correct, it is the same lens used across the iPhone 11 family.

Personally, I hope Apple does not try to correct for flare in software, as such approaches inevitably get it wrong and we will end up with areas of darkened or blurred photo when the processor misinterprets areas as flare.

Even the flare correction in Photoshop is far from perfect and often causes more damage than it repairs.

They are incredible cameras for a smart phone, perhaps the best ever.

So from that point of view, they are correct.

I also know of many professional photographers who use the iPhone for their work.

But "Pro" doesn't mean "usable in all situations without artifacts" - no camera or lens can meet that standard.

I'm having the same issues, of all the phones I've owned over the recent years this one is by far the worst when it comes to lens flare. I've noticed on one lens in particular it looks like a poorly finished coating of some kind that you can see when the lens is either dirty or foggy (shown below). Anyone else have a lens that does this?

Maybe, just got to realize that Apple will probably not do anything regarding it. I mean you could go get another lens and hope for the best. I wouldn't say the lens replacement even fixed mine, rather it's all in my head. I think it is just bad design to be honest. Next year we get a new look for the iPhone so hopefully that new look includes a more versatile camera lens.

As Steve Jobs once said, “products are not perfect, and neither are we. We make mistakes”. He said that after the iPhone 4 antenna issue., and told consumers that that it was an algorithm error in the software that would be fixed in a future update, but he also told consumers that Apple would distribute cases to make everyone happy. I remember when a product that Apple made was criticized it wasn’t left unnoticed and unacknowledged. I wish Apple had the mindset to make its consumers happy again.

This lens issue should be addressed first hand so us consumers aren’t stuck debating amongst ourselves if this is normal behavior. So far it’s been a riot of opinion vs fact, and although good points are thrown around, that doesn’t mean they hold true.

An update cannot fix a flaw in design, and it shouldn’t be hinted to consumers that it can be. I am thankful for those Apple stores and authorized venders for being compassionate and offering a free lens replacement to try and correct the issue.

[Edited by Moderator]

Lol, I looked at that, I was thinking the same thing. Unfortunately that’s an Anamorphic Lens that actually creates the flare effects that we’re all trying to avoid. I was looking at hoods too, but the wide angle lens will not work with any type of hood.