Iphone 11 Pro Extreme lens flare

Leica is not the only company having their own high standard optical / camera proprietary technologies. We also have Carl Zeiss, Sony, Canon, Nikon, Olympus with Zuiko, etc... And you also have the spectacles glasses companies who have their own lenses materials and ranges of coatings... So the technology is known and available.

Given that Apple sells the most expensive smartphones by a wide margin, all specifications remaining the same, I believe that they should have either developed their own proprietary optical / camera technology or relied on a reputable third party’s which does not imply naming it anywhere.

I see no excuses... Now, when not affected by flare or ghosting the pictures are great.

I would be keen to get a range of lenses covers made with different anti-reflective coatings and test these but the issue would be the Apple guarantee & AppleCare+ as it could mean forfeiting these... which I am not prepared to do.

It would be a rather interesting exercise given that both the salt lake and night time Apple advertising videos were made in rather difficult / challenging lighting conditions.

I very much doubt that any iPhone 11 series pass the test...

Pjphilippe wrote:

To obtain these Apple videos “direct sensor” just with some edit and only with the standard phones devoid of any special lenses, etc...

I would say impossible.

That's great; you'd also be wrong.

If you can prove Apple did otherwise, you can probably win millions of dollars in a false advertising lawsuit.

Good luck with that.

This must just be a hardware design made intentionally. I got a replacement phone and it seems the same level, therefore I don’t think it is perfect on any model. It’s just something you accept or reject and that’s it.

My take is that the severe ghosting and flare issues are the consequence of a design compromise with regards to materials of the lenses covers.

I believe, this is 100% speculation, that Apple went along with the “standard” mobile phone cameras approach meaning that the phone would not rely on protective lenses covers like the ones used on cameras whilst it had to be made compatible and durable with being slipped into pockets, handbags, etc... and rubbing against keys, coins and other small objects, etc... This meant saphir crystal lenses covers and sub-par external anti-reflective coating, if any, on same.

I believe that cases providing lenses protection would have allowed to resolve the issue and adopt more appropriate _ photography appropriate _ lenses covers materials and anti-reflective coatings. Thus less compromises in the camera... but this would involve a shift in consumers habits _ with protective cases because of more fragile materials / coatings _ which can be difficult to implement... So rather than going that way Apple may have elected to do “no waves” and get what we have today...

The attitude from Apple corporate/engineering had been beyond disappointing regarding the iPhone 11 Pro lens flare / floating artifacts issues. I personally went through 4 phones (my original purchase and 3 replacements) and ALL have these unacceptable results when capturing still and video imaging.

The hard working support representatives have done their best to help frustrated customers like myself, but the final word from Apple is that "there are no problems, change your shooting style, try removing the undesirable floaters with third party imaging software, or go buy another product."

Some of my previous comments on these community forums have been removed/censured by Apple. I hope this comment can be viewed and weighed in an unprejudiced way. I'm sure that most of us commenting simply want a phone that performs in the way Apple advertised it would. In a glaring (no pun intended) comparison, my trusty 'Ol iPhone 6S reliably captured images without any of these issues.

As an Engineer and keen photographer I have thought about the various specifications constraints which could have led Apple to this compromise and I have summarised these in my previous message in answer to LightrodSilver.

Now, I have no idea if these lenses covers have top notch anti-reflective coating and matt black surfaces on their inner side as this would help... I believe that these lenses covers inner and outer sides are same though... I shall buy some which are OEM just to check and report.

Hi LAD 72. I will still give the iPhone good marks for being a camera that the majority of users can shoot pretty cool pictures with. That you an I and millions more around the world are using smart phones to shoot photos and videos is still to me amazing. BUT, if you are like me and have to submit professional-level files to clients and publishers these image-destroying flares and artifacts are deal and career breakers.

I've been in the graphic design and advertising business since the 70's and yes, ads, commercials and now social media content is created typically with gear in professional hands and typically in controlled or selected environments. I don't have a problem with that. I do have a problem with a with a wildly successful and heretofore trusted company sweeping a serious problem (for users) under the rug.

By the way, keep shooting and experimenting with your phone camera. Remember lighting, composition and subject matter. Some of my best commercial work barely gets a nod from my friends – but my IPhone photo of last night's meat loaf is still the most-liked on my FB page.

Hey Jim,

I believe that Apple needs to address the issue instead of side-stepping as well. 

I’ve probably stated this in this forum thread or another but the only reason why I bought the 11 was for the camera. To me, it’s disappointing that it doesn’t perform to my expectations. Like I originally posted, I found out about the ghosting/lens flare issues shooting the traditional portrait Christmas tree photos. Every photo shot in low light mode had flare across the subject. It didn’t matter how I framed the subject(s) the flare followed on screen. Sure, I could edit the photos but come on...who really wants to spend time on the holidays doing that?

My feeling is that if you’re selling a product and advertising features that can’t be obtained (like some of the night mode photos) that is false advertising. Either show the consumer a true representation of the photo shot with an 11 or state image not shot with iPhone with an asterisk.

Which you could have likely COMPLETELY eliminated by changing the angle of the phone relative to the scene. The flares had to be present when you took the photo. I can see flare on my iPhone before I take a photo, which means I know I need to change the angle of the phone. This is no different than what I have to do that with my $2,000 Nikon DSLR and $1500 Lens.

I'm not being critical of you specifically, but I believe many in this thread could benefit from a photography class. I've taken several.

How would you do that with a conical object such as a Christmas tree which doesn’t have the luxury of being on a linear plane? Should I pullout a 12ft ladder to take photos from a higher elevation? What that eliminate the flare?

First of all, to everyone who has posted pictures of their Christmas tress and house lights I must say, well-done. I may need to hire you guys to do my lights next season. And particularly impressive that "rbrylawski" and "Kucharski" grabbed impressive photos of twinkly splendor with nary a lens flare or artifact in sight.

I truly hope that this discussion doesn't deteriorate into online bashing and bullying. For myself I just want Apple to admit that for technical reasons the 11Pro will produce highly-defined, specular artifacts (let's call them lens flares) that will float over your photos and videos if your camera/phone is pointed at a particular focal angle to your subject matter – in certain lighting conditions. I'd like them to admit that it is the result of some updated or new camera component that the 11Pros have that (in my case) the 6S did not have. That unless you are "rbrylawski" and "Kucharski" you may be capturing these unwanted, image-marring flares. That they are aware of the problem and are working on a fix for their next iteration phone. And ideally, that for the many who have been disappointed with this surprising technical behavior they will offer some incentive to stick with Apple products.

"rbrylawski" and "Kucharski", I've been directing high-end photography and commercials for decades and may know less that you guys do on the technical side. But I see with the 11Pro issues that truly are unmanageable when users shoot the way they did with previous iPhones – in a natural rhythm to life unfolding. Yes, we can hopefully see these problems before we push the shutter and just maybe still have the subject in-frame and in-time to grab your memory, your art, your technical image.

I'm not abandoning Apple at this point. I just hope they are not abandoning us "deplorables" who just maybe ain't hip enough to shoot with anti-flare skill and swagger.

Note that my elapsed time to plan and take my tree photo with zero flare was approximately four seconds.

Have there been occasions were I wanted to take a particular photo and couldn't eliminate flare? Yes, but once again, the same is true for a DSLR.

None of you are "deplorables." I do think with more care in composition, people can take some pretty spectacular photos, with these new iPhone's, which until recently are better than I could have ever imagined a cell phone capable of taking.

Your hope that Apple admits anything about a normally occurring artifact will most assuredly go unfulfilled. Given the extremely high praise professionals are heaping on the new camera's in the newest phones, I imagine Apple doesn't consider this an issue. I don't either and feel my phone takes the best photos of any iPhone I've ever owned. Is it perfect? Of course not. Even the best DSLR's can take crappy photos. The old saying "it's not the camera, it's the photographer" has always been true.

Hi William. You are a master!

I do agree and stated in my first comments about the lens flare issues a couple of weeks ago (they were apparently removed/censored from the forum) that you will get lens flare with the best cameras and lenses. Over the years I've intentionally built these "artsy looks" into some of my work.

But what Lad72, myself and others are talking about and struggling with are artifacts like the flaring poltergeists that are sprinkled all over the nice lady standing in front of the Christmas tree. Now I know you're going to say just move the camera and at some point they will be out of frame. But gone is the moment, the truth. And why when we shot this type of scene before with the earlier phone(s) were the little gremlins missing?

Some smart folks participating in this community forum have discussed the possibility that the culprit might be the protective glass secured over the lenses. Just not the folks at Apple.