Iphone 11 Pro Extreme lens flare

I upgraded my iPhone 4S with the iPhone 11 Pro so yes it was a welcome upgrade and in these years between these two models one can only note the significant improvements. That is great.

I do like the functionality which allows to zoom nearly seamlessly from 0.5 to 1.0 to 2.0 whilst maintaining the same colour tones. What I like less is that all of the zooming is made through digital zoom... Some optical zoom would be most welcome.

The flare and ghosting is not great though especially that it could have been avoided (significantly minimised) by design of the camera i.e. sensor & optics. The fact that the lens covers seem overly fragile and prone to shatter extremely easily is not so good either. Time will tell is these issues are statistically significant though.

Now, it seems Huawei is doing fantastic camera phones and DXO made them the best thus far. Even though I enjoy the Apple ecosystem, for sure I shall have a look at their next P40.

And I have had mirrorless cameras ever since Sony launched the NEX-5 in 2010. Got a NEX-6 in 2013, the A7R later the same year and the A7R2 at launch in 2015. I shall get the A7R4 when I next visit Singapore. I have never had either flare or ghosting with these but I only buy Zeiss glass...

I would try the Jeep Wrangler first because it is possible.

As far as I know it is not possible to test iPhones, take some snaps, go home, check these out then decide to buy or not to buy... I would have bought it anyway as I was curious about the 3 cameras integration which I must admit is interesting and well done although I believe that there are no optical zoom in there.

I appreciate that but I read reviews, watched YouTube reviews and decided to buy. I bought it at Dubai Airport. So difficult to return an airport buy when on the move but, and that is important, I would not return a product I bought unless I feel it is a scam. As far as I am concerned Apple is not in that game at all so I would find it unfair on the shop & business to buy and return after opening the packaging especially if there is no major defect with the product.

I would return a loaner, yes. Then decide to buy or not. In this case I don’t regret buying even if there are some annoying design quirks which could have been avoided.

Huawei is banned in the US because of Chinese spy equipment in there phones. This they are not sold with any Google services. The phone might have a good camera, but if it doesn’t have Google serviced which makes Android even usable, I wouldn’t buy it

iPhone 11 Pro’s Achilles Heel

I purchased my iPhone 11 Pro at the end of November 2019 and noticed that the videos I shot had excessive lens flare artifacts floating all over the footage – and still images as well. I had been using the iPhone 6S prior to trading up for the 11 Pro and never had issues with the 6S.

Business obligations kept me distracted until January of 2020 when I decided to test the 11 Pro again in daylight, low light and evening settings. To my disappointment the “floating artifacts” issues were still present. So I contacted Apple’s online support and here’s what happened:

They did diagnostics remotely as I sat in front of my desktop and followed instructions from Apple support. Their assessment was that there were NO ISSUES with the phone or its camera components. BUT, the very obvious visual problems were still there. So after reopening the support case with two follow-up support team members, I was told to bring the 11 Pro to an Apple store to have their qualified engineer/technician look at the phone and camera system. He immediately saw the excessive “Lens flare/floating artifacts” issues and after much debate with the store manager I was sent home with a replacement 11 Pro. I was hopeful that the lens flare issues were isolated to my original phone.

Fast forward to iPhone replacement No. 3 (2+ weeks later) and the “Lens flare/floating artifacts” are still there. Same highly distractive and unacceptable outcomes with 4 iPhone 11 Pros (the original plus 3 replacements).

The last Apple Support Team member was very helpful but engineering has swept this SIGNIFICANT iPhone 11 Pro image capture problem under their rug. They sent a link to a flimsy and generic article about lens flare that had NOTHING to do with the issues with the 11 Pro that many users are encountering. For the record, I am a Creative Director in the advertising and Graphic Design fields and a freelance photojournalist. I know what lens flare is and the best camera and lenses will create them in different lighting environments. BUT the 11 Pro’s “floating artifacts” are considerably more defined poltergeists that will float and bounce over your live footage (and still images) as if they were created on an overlay layer.

I held out hope that Apple would step up to the plate, admit that there is an “issue” with their expensive new 11 Pros, and that they would address it and better yet, correct the problems. NO SUCH LUCK.

Their position as of this writing is again, that there are no problems with the iPhone 11 Pro’s camera components, software and performance. To say I am frustrated and disappointed is an understatement. I’ve been an Apple products user and fan since the early 80’s. I have spent many thousands of dollars on Apple’s Pro-Level computers and devices. They (Apple) have to know that the “Lens Flare” issues that hundreds if not thousands of users are reporting are REAL, are UNACCEPTABLE, and are an Achilles heel that – is unaddressed – will move many users to alternate solutions outside of Apple’s Ivory Towers.

STEP UP to the plate Apple. Your customers deserve better.

JP, Solvang, California

It’s a manufacturing defect. I’ve been complaining about this to my local Apple store and the extremely polite technician explained it’s because the rear camera lens are a bit further away than normal from the glass guard which creates refraction but overall it creates a better photo and video experience. I wasn’t buying it, never had an issue with such immense flares and flares on my iPhone 5, 6, or 7plus. They swapped out the camera and put a new one in but still have the same issue. I won’t accept this and will be taking the phone back. I purchased my iPhone 11 pro for the camera quality but this is a huge let down with no obvious fix

Thanks for the post Danny. Your shot is a great example of what so many of us are experiencing with the 11 Pro camera system. Apple engineers are dug in with their position that "there are no lens flare / floating artifacts" problems.

I've wasted lots of time and money going through 4 iPhone 11 Pro's that produced the same sharp "Inverted and flipped" floaters when shooting stills and videos. Like many others I bought the 11 Pro by believing Apple's heavily-funded marketing campaigns tauting the phone's leading-edge imaging capabilities.

There exists now undeniable problems with the 11 Pro's camera system, global user experiences and unbelievably, continued denial from Apple that ANY problems exist. I find this shocking.

Please Apple, do the right thing.

I don’t think they’d refund me for the trouble because it is under contract with my service provider, but I’m hopeful. I am going to start being more active with this camera to put it to a test. I scheduled an appointment for Friday, unfortunately I may end up having to go to Verizon or an Apple store directly. The closest one is a 2 hour drive away though

While I've posted two critical comments regarding the unacceptable "Lens Flare / Floating Artifacts" issues with the iPhone 11 Pro, I do want to acknowledge (again) that that almost any camera will produce some image hazing, washed-out color and/or flaring when pointing the camera towards a high-output light source – like the sun or stadium lighting against a dark sky – but the problem here is (1), the sharply-defined "Inverted and flipped" floating artifacts that are vandalizing our images and videos and (2), Apple's dug-in position, vis-a-vis the hard evidence presented by users, that there is NOT a problem.

This upsets me, Apple won't do anything about it. My phone has been repaired but it's worse and there's nothing I can do. I've been logging all of the events and I did a test the other day, I just took a picture of the snow outside, no direct light source in front of me but it was picking up the reflection from my side light. My phone has been repaired but it's worse and there's nothing I can do. I've been logging all of the events and I did a test the other day, I just took a picture of the snow outside, no direct light source in front of me but it was picking up the reflection from my side light. I tried all three lenses, and these are my results. It's so disappointing. I wish there was a solution for this. Look at this horrible lens flare, and almost takes up the whole picture.

https://youtu.be/lbIi_eFYhLE

JimP_Solvang wrote:

Thanks for the post Danny. Your shot is a great example of what so many of us are experiencing with the 11 Pro camera system. Apple engineers are dug in with their position that "there are no lens flare / floating artifacts" problems.

I don't think anyone has ever said there are no artifacts.

However, the artifacts that are produced are expected and normal for this device given the design tradeoffs that were made (and need to be made to produce any product.)

Given that, if you don't want to modify your technique to avoid artifacts, the only other solution is to return or sell your phone and purchase something else.

Just gotta keep trying. I’m under contract with Verizon. They might swap me out with another phone since it’s not payed off. I don’t expect Geek Squad to be much help. I sold my Samsung note 10 for this. I already lost money from that, so I can’t sell this one. Maybe next your iPhone will fix it and I’ll just upgrade. Who knows

Hi William K.

Thanks for your comments relating to my comments.

Unless you are the one of the engineers or one of the many Apple Customer Support reps I spoke to or received position statements from regarding my personal issues with the 4, iPhone 11 Pro's I handled and owned over my Lens Flare Odyssey since December 2019, you wouldn't know that yes, these Apple professionals are the ones who were tasked with the job of telling me there is nothing wrong, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing (artifacts included) that would suggest there are real concerns and issues with the iPhone 11 Pro's camera system, then you wouldn't know that this is Apple's position on the lens flare / floating artifacts problems as it relates personally to me.

When you suggest that I or other users modify our "technique" to avoid artifacts, are you saying never point your phone's camera towards or in the vicinity of a light source? And if you are an Apple representative (I would be thrilled if you are; at least that would be some consolation knowing that someone at Apple is addressing this issue), are you saying (on record) that "the only other solution is to return or sell your phone and purchase something else."?

I'm not looking for an argument or to pontificate on an online discussion board. What I am looking for is a solution – not a work-around – to this real, iPhone 11 Pro camera system problem.

William, you also state (with inside knowledge perhaps?) that "the artifacts that are produced are expected and normal for this device given the design tradeoffs that were made (and need to be made to produce any product.)". So you're saying that there were design trade-offs made with the 11 Pro. And you're saying that myself and others who purchased the 11 Pro "expected" these "normal" lens flare & floating artifacts issues. Well, I can't speak for the others, but I can assure you that had I expected these serious problems I simply would have waited for the next "improved" iPhone iteration or purchased a competitor's phone.

At the end of the day I hope we can all harness the energy expressed here to better this unfortunate situation. It may not be important to you William, or to many others and that's OK. I work with my cameras and smart phones in professional settings and my clients are looking to me for a quality product. Discovering these problems was the last thing I expected or needed.

Best, Jim

William Kucharski wrote:

“I don't think anyone has ever said there are no artifacts.

However, the artifacts that are produced are expected and normal for this device given the design tradeoffs that were made (and need to be made to produce any product.)

Given that, if you don't want to modify your technique to avoid artifacts, the only other solution is to return or sell your phone and purchase something else.”

William,

Now it seems clear that you are in the know whilst most of us here are not. Then please let us know specifically which technical design trade offs were made for the 11 series iPhone cameras optical & sensor system which are leading to these severe flare & ghosting issues.

The limitations involve using state of the art lens technologies without access to specialized proprietary knowledge like that used by Leica to co-design the camera on the P20.

This is why the artifacts on the 11 Pro Max are very similar to that seen on competing flagship phones like the Galaxy S10 and the Pixel 4; those companies also don't have access to Leica's proprietary technologies.