Iphone 11 Pro Extreme lens flare

Hi William K.

Unless you were monitoring my almost 3 weeks of phone conversations with Apple support, you have no idea what explanations and statements from Apple engineering (via the Support rep) were spoken to me. I won't get into it with you here on this forum, and I do appreciate your opinions, but your comment to me that "Your argument is quite inaccurate." is purely guesswork – unless of course you were monitoring my phone calls and choose to falsely recount them.

As I've stated previously, my only goal here is to hopefully nudge someone, anyone, at Apple to fix the problem or at very least issue a full public statement – and a technical report that supports & proves theirs and your position that these highly-defined, lens-flare-like floating artifacts are "normal" to ALL smart phone cameras and traditional camera systems.

And, I'll state it again, the iPhone 11Pro is a remarkable device – as are some competitive devices. But these bouncy, glowing scene-marring 11Pro image system anomalies appear in addition to the expected (or normal) results when specific types of light enters a lens and hits a digital sensor.

I doubt Apple would ever release a “full technical report,” it’s just not what they do.

A few minutes with a web search tool will bring up lens flare photos taken with newer phones like the Samsung Galaxy S10 and Note 9, along with the Google Pixel 4. Reviews on photography web sites also mention the same.

I mentioned Leica - their lenses for a Huawei phone seem to mitigate the flare issue but as I also stated the effect on low light photography is unknown.

The appropriate optics anti-reflective coatings lead to very significant improvements in light transmission whilst reducing refraction and reflection and therefore there are strictly no trade offs in terms of image quality since these anti-reflective coatings will reduce chromatic aberrations, fringing, flaring, ghosting, etc...

The on sensor image formation and therefore picture quality in both day light and low light will therefore be significantly improved.

I believe that Apple did not do their full homework on this aspect or refused to sell these iPhones with removable protective lenses caps, similar to cameras, which would have allowed the adoption of high performance but fragile anti-reflective coatings.

The compromise, which may have been adopted by Huawei/Leica, would have been anti-reflective coating of the lens covers internal faces as well as matt or satin black surfaces rather than the mirror like shiny hence reflective surfaces everywhere adopted by Apple...

I agree that some guess work was passed on whilst the devil is in the details and these details are technical. Simple, basic but technical.

These severe flare & ghosting issues yield from design issues which may be the consequence of some deliberate decisions, negligence or lack of knowledge in optics...

I bought my iPhone 11 in November 2019 and I noticed the same issue. I started reading a lot of threads at forums, watching YT videos etc.

And my conclusion is - unfortunately - everything is OK. I came back to my iPhone SE photo archive (I sold SE immediately after buying my new phone so now I can't make any live comparison) and I noticed the same ghosting and reflections; I didn't notice them earlier!

What's interesting, even at official Apple YT channel you can see an ad showing the ghosting problem (in case of iPhone XS). You can watch it below.

(EDIT: I can't post links so just go to Apple YT channel and watch: 'Florence + the Machine On Tour — Shot on iPhone XS — Apple').

During my "investigation" I discovered ghosting and flare problem is typical for all generations of iPhones starting (at least) from iPhone 5s. So why people started to complain now? It's simple - it's psychology. iPhone 11 is shown as a photographical phone so when you buy it you start to focus on its photos quality more attentively than you did it as an owner of previous generation of iPhone.

If someone says Apple fixed his iPhone 11's lens, he or she lies; it's impossible. And let's be frank - tech reviewers perfectly know the problem. They just don't show it and (in general) don't talk about it because of... guess what ;)

What can be reassuring - almost all the top smartphones have the same issue; Samsung and Huawei devices too. What's more, I'm sure even Tim's Cook iPhone 11 Pro has the same issue :D

Hi Monsterior,

Thanks for adding your comments. I have to both agree and disagree with you. I agree that those users who have had their camera component changed out or received replacement phones (3 in my case) that they likely still have the same issues with lens flare + floating artifacts. I disagree (from my personal experience) that all previous iPhones dating back to the 5S produced the same results as the 11Pro (the phone I and many others have issues with).

I agree that many of us who purchased the 11Pro expecting improved, leading-edge imaging capabilities did expect well, improvements. But I can tell you I did not have the lens flare + floating artifacts issues with my trusty, 'wish I had it back' 6S.

Yes, all cameras will produce lens flare under certain types of lighting conditions – most notably shooting towards the sun or high-power light sources. It's the addition of the floating artifacts that's at issue (for me) with the 11 Pro.

Apple most certaily knows there's a problem and have chosen to sweep it under the rug. Worse yet, they continue to deny that the problem exists.

Thanks again for taking the time to let us know your experiences.

Hi again M: Yeah, I can see the floating artifacts in the dark sky when the Florence clip first starts. BUT, my 6S did not produce these crisp critters. Yes, it did produce lens flare. I'm on assignment right now but will post the first video I shot that brought the problem to my attention when I can break-away. BTW, I've been directing photo shoots and commercials for decades now – and I'm also a freelance photojournalist. Doesn't make me smarter but I do have a keen eye for imaging.

Hi M: Here's a YouTube link to a quickly grabbed holiday video that I shot with my (then) newly acquired iPhone 11Pro.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvMJ_NNKP94

When reviewing the clip I noticed something unexpected and somewhat odd: At approx 8 secs in you can begin to see a flipped and inverted floating image of the lit portions of the carriage. As the carriage passes the artifact floats and bounces behind and to the sides of the carriage.

Now some will say that this is simply lens flare and I'll again have to disagree and call it floating/bouncing artifacts – i.e., additional lens to sensor anomalies. It was after this viewing that I went back and looked at other video and stills that I had shot and found that many were marred by these types of artifacts. Now I get it about lighting conditions: a lit carriage rolling by in the night. The imagery is bound to show some aberrations – but such a complete and bouncy poltergeist is kinda spooky. What really scares me though is Apple's dug-in position that this is normal.

Hi William. So us less technically-inclined users can better understand things are you saying that the "glass" (shall we call them "filters") that cover (and protect) the three 11Pro lenses are the cause of the centrally inverted (and flipped) artifacts?

Hi Kironet. It's beyond disappointing that Apple and well-informed contributors to this forum continue to deny that "floating artifacts" issues exist with the iPhone 11Pro. With the growing global supply-chain fears Apple will no doubt never address this. If we're lucky, perhaps the Next-Gen phones will be improved.

kironet wrote:

Now, when you got to any concert, try to record it with iPhone 11 Pro. You will probably get the whole podium reflected upside-down, not just one small little dot.

There are myriad videos online proving this isn't true unless the podium is intensely lit against a dark background.

JimP_Solvang wrote:

Hi Kironet. It's beyond disappointing that Apple and well-informed contributors to this forum continue to deny that "floating artifacts" issues exist with the iPhone 11Pro.

No one denies the artifacts exist, but rather they are normal for this device, as they were for previous iPhones and for other brands of smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S10 and the Google Pixel 4

I posted a video above showing floating artifacts in video taken with the iPhone 6 in 2014.

Tom's Guide found focusing issues:

Samsung is aware of issues involving autofocus and provided the following statement.

“The Galaxy S20 features a groundbreaking, advanced camera system. We are constantly working to optimize performance to deliver the best experience for consumers. As part of this ongoing effort, we are working on a future update to improve the camera experience.”

Further, if you scroll down to the photo of the chandelier, while the bulbs are more pinpoint than the iPhone image posted, if you look at them you will see vertical lens flare above and below most of the bulbs.

Tom's Guide: Samsung S20 Ultra Review

It cannot possibly be a software issue and the people thinking this are mislead.

It is purely an optics issue which could be addressed through optical changes / tweaks: lenses covers, camera lenses, sensors, anti-reflection coatings for all these elements and matt black non reflective surfaces... The mirror like square which contains the 3 cameras is also wrong, cameras should not have a mirror finish as this is highly reflective...

This is what ghosting looks like with these tiny lenses and sensors.

Read the reviews of any other phone camera and you will see similar artifacts presented.

For example, here’s what Samsung has to say:

Samsung: Why do lines, dots, or lights appear in my photos after using the camera app?