Iphone 11 Pro Extreme lens flare

Agree. It’s just so disappointing that these issues are not caught during Q&A. At the end of the day Pro models are not cheap and you do expect Pro quality when buying such device. I have reached also few of my friends and all of them have same issues I do experience on my new 12 Pro Max.

I just got this 12 pro max and the flares are ridiculous I only got this phone because it’s advertised as one of the best camera. My old s10+ doesn’t have this issue at all. Is there any kind of anti reflection film I can add or should I just return it and get a real smart phone like a S20. I feel like I’ve been had by apple. This is my first iPhone and I’m not impressed with the camera or video it takes due to the flares.

We're not in "denial."

I have previously posted examples of the S20 doing the exact same thing; here's one if you don't want to have to go back and look:

That of course is one example; if you point an S20 at an array of bright pinpoint lights you will get an array of flare reflections in the same way.

this is a screenshot of the reflections in the video I have recorded since it won’t let me upload a video. I’m not talking about the annoying purple dots I’m talking about reflections. It does this indoors too like I’m filming behind a window. I’ve recorded all over my work and almost all the places I’ve been I get same kind of reflection in the video.

So whats the solution on this issue? Ive had this phone for over a year now and ive been experiencing this issue ever since. I always thought that it was just bad lighting or a dirty lens.

I was just looking at all of my photos and I say that 25% of my photos have a really bad lens flare or ghosting or just a dot on them. And that doesn’t include the ones I cropped out.

so, how do we move forward with this? I saw someone on this thread saying that apple had their phone swapped, is that the case for everyone? Or is this thread only good for ranting how bad the lens are?

Problem is not just the lens flare and ghosting it’s the unflattering quality of the flare. Sometimes you want a flare for artistic vision. However, I don’t think anyone wants a greeen glob in their photos and video. Ever!

“With the wrong focus point and exposure I'm sure you can induce flare on the Olympus, just as modifying composure and exposure can eliminate flare from the iPhone.”

A camera is a tool. A tool to capture images. My Olympus does a good job of that. Choosing the “wrong” focus point in an image will not induce flare, neither will the wrong exposure. They are simply not related to flaring. And I’m not interested in trying to induce flare.

There are many types of flaring. My complaint is ghosting, spots along with remnants. Your suggestion that theses can be eliminated by modifying “composure” (I think you mean composition) means there are photos that you can not shoot. Composition is a primary principal of photography and to change it can turn a fantastic photo into a mundane one, or a completely inferior or useless one.

‘Have you ever tried to eliminate ghosting in a video?

Modifying exposure on the iPhone can eliminate flare on the iPhone? How does that work? Love to hear about that one.

There are other types of what I call more typical flare issues, some that can be addressed by shielding the lens surface, through the use of a lens hood or the old school use of a hand casting a shadow across the lens that work fine with some kinds of lens flare.

Hi William,

I should have taken my own advice and steered away from this topic and this forum because it never seems to resolve anything or offer any hope to the growing number of Apple customers who have to live with compromised images and videos. I get your point(s) and realize you are working hard to address this issue, but you want to wrap it all up in a "Every imaging device does this" package.

When I posted many months ago that my iPhone 6 Plus did not produce these floating artifacts (call them ghosts or anomalies – but please stop calling them "Lens Flare") you told me that my 6+ did produce these artifacts. How in the world can you tell me what images "My" phone produced when it was never in your hands, the images it produced never on your screen?

Another thing that is somewhat audacious is your saying "As a Creative Director, I doubt you had the time to handle photo duties yourself...". You have taken a broad generalization. Yes, as a CD I was hiring professional photographers and cinematographers (image makers) and they were typically the one's clicking shutters and pushing buttons. But my agency was a small regional one where everyone was hands-on and I was fully involved in the "process & technology."

As I stated in the previous post there are ways to mitigate unwanted lens flare. The "pros" know this. And as I've also stated many times now I am a loyal Apple products user; not looking to argue or pretend to be an expert on this particular topic. I only re-engage on this because I get emails from Apple and Bob Needham's was one that resonated.

So for now I'm just going to say "Stay safe everyone, enjoy your devices, and spread a little cheer this holiday season."

JimP_Solvang wrote:

When I posted many months ago that my iPhone 6 Plus did not produce these floating artifacts (call them ghosts or anomalies – but please stop calling them "Lens Flare") you told me that my 6+ did produce these artifacts. How in the world can you tell me what images "My" phone produced when it was never in your hands, the images it produced never on your screen?

It is lens flare, no matter how much you want to jump up and down and say it's not. Photography magazines call it lens flare. Phone manufacturers call it lens flare. Lens manufacturers call it lens flare. If you want to call it "martian green globs," go right ahead, but it's still lens flare.

Perhaps you had a magical iPhone 6+ that didn't produce lens flare, but there are many threads on the Internet, including right here in Apple Discussions complaining about lens flare on the iPhone 6+ and photos that show the same basic artifacts as the photos here taken with the 12 family.

So, no, I don't know that your phone did, but if it didn't it was somehow made differently than every other iPhone 6+ produced.

Another thing that is somewhat audacious is your saying "As a Creative Director, I doubt you had the time to handle photo duties yourself...". You have taken a broad generalization. Yes, as a CD I was hiring professional photographers and cinematographers (image makers) and they were typically the one's clicking shutters and pushing buttons. But my agency was a small regional one where everyone was hands-on and I was fully involved in the "process & technology."

No slight intended; most CDs I've known over time haven't had the time to be hands-on, even if it was a small agency, that's why you hire pros to do that part of the job.

I get it if it's a one or two person-shop, but even then they usually farm photos and boilerplate graphic design tasks out rather than sit down with Illustrator and InDesign and crank out comps themselves.

So for now I'm just going to say "Stay safe everyone, enjoy your devices, and spread a little cheer this holiday season."

The same to you; may you and yours have a safe, happy and healthy holiday season and best wishes for a wonderful new year.

“So the sunset photo I posted above that I took with my 11 Pro Max is what, then? A composite? A Photoshop job? Or a careful job of composition to avoid flare?”

I know nothing about the 11. My comparison is the 6+ to the 12.

So what changes did you make in composition that allowed you avoid ghosting in the shot? Have you had shots with ghosting in them? I’ve had pictures without ghosting, even in the same shoot, but none where the sun was in the frame.

Hello everyone,

i have a question, does anyone have this crazy light stripes in there camera?

the photo is taken by an iphone 11. I went to the apple store and they said to me it is because my camera is dirty/ the room is to dark or because i move to much if i make a photo, but when i make photo's with the iphone 11 from my cousin this doesn't happen.

they are now fixing the camera but they said if it happens again it is because of the thing i said here before. It is also like this when i make a picture of a lamp, or light source. But it doenst happen al the time, but most of the time.

Hello everyone,

i have a question, does anyone have this crazy light stripes in there camera?

the photo is taken by an iphone 11. I went to the apple store and they said to me it is because my camera is dirty/ the room is to dark or because i move to much if i make a photo, but when i make photo's with the iphone 11 from my cousin this doesn't happen.

they are now fixing the camera but they said if it happens again it is because of the thing i said here before. It is also like this when i make a picture of a lamp, or light source. But it doenst happen al the time, but most of the time.

And what’s the use of it if you can’t take a picture of a cat in front of a fire place? I know you spend a lot of time defending iPhone’s cameras. But my question is why do you feel you need to on every post?

Perhaps you can point us on what is the right technique m. I spoke with Apple support last night and they did not indicate anything about technique.

my point was just to document that I will have my device replaced, and if there is still the flare, then I will assume the limitation of the phone.

Had the same issue on my 11 Pro Max. I just learned to live with it.

One would expect they have fixed that in the 12, but no, it got worse! My photos and videos have flares all over. Totally unacceptable.