Iphone 11 Pro Extreme lens flare

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Hello JJoe15,

Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities. I understand you have concerns regarding lens flares with your new iPhone.

I suggest ensuring your iPhone is updated: Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

If the issue persists after testing the behavior in different lighting conditions, then I suggest reaching out to Apple Support for additional assistance: Get Support

Have a great day!

Hey Joel, lens flare is definitely something Ive noticed on all iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max phones. Its also very noticeable in well lit scenarios. Unfortunately it seems to just be a characteristic of the phone. Can be cool if you want it in the photo, but pretty annoying if you don't.

Have the same issue on my iPhone 11. Contacted support thru the Apple Support app. Show the support this thread and they say they are aware of this issue. Booked an appointment at my local authorized service centre to check it out this coming Saturday, hope they can replace the camera/unit and the problem can be solved. Really liking this phone right now, except the annoyingly obvious camera flare.

I'm not sure why this is not coming up on the sites like Engadget. My impression is that there are millions of phones with faulty cameras. I think the anti glare coating that professional lenses use to prevent this problem was either not applied or applied wrong. If the phone is replaced and the camera element has a camera from the bad batch it will not solve the problem. Only replacing the camera will

I have a case on so smudges are never an issue since no contact is made with the lens, either way this phone has excessive lens flare. I understand the complexity of the lens, but I owned a note 10 as well and did not notice this issue with that phone. It’s an issue with the way it’s designed. I don’t believe any repair will fix it. Hopefully in the years to come manufacturers will focus on usability more

No one is going to sell their $1000 phone for a little bothersome issue. The flaring is due to the sensor size and way the lenses are designed on the back of the phone. Other phones in this price range show similar quality photos while handling flaring better. All I can hope is Apple adds some algorithm that can reduce it in post. I disagree in saying the iPhone 11 has the beat overall camera setup. It does provide promising hardware, but for example, it’s ultra wide is IMO and other tech enthusiasts, lacking compared to its competitors in image quality. Deep fusion is a good technique being used to allow more definition into the final shot

RatFace82 wrote:

Guys i have the same in my video recordings. Its not nice buying something you really wanted for a long time and then it does not work as advertised. Apple claimed its the best camera yet on A Apple device. I have had at least 5 or 6 iPhones before this and never once come across this issue.

That's because newer i{Phones have real lenses as opposed to the lower resolution units on older phones. It's easier to induce lens flare on a DSLR than an iPhone 5 as well.

TheJolly Fellow wrote:

Same.. refund

If it's been less than 14 days since purchase, get a refund.

If it's been more, sell your phone and buy something else.

To me that Galaxy 10+ photo looks boring and bland, but I'm sure Samsung would be thrilled to have your money and then you can go on with your life.

But whatever you do, don't click on this link:

Anyone else getting terrible lens flare on S10+?

It is NOT easier to induce flare on DSLR. There is a reason we call it DSLR camera instead of phone. The flare is barely noticeable on my EOS RP and 5D Mark III for the same picture. The coating and the design of lens minimize the flare. Just admit it, the flare of iPhone 11 is more extreme than normal. It happens even when there is no strong lighting source in the picture.

Buying a lens glass cover. Hopefully this can A. reduce flaring by having an extra layer of glass, and B. decrease smudge marks. This camera gets smudges from being in the pocket. I will post before and after pictures to show if it helped and if it degrades the image quality.

i’m having the same problems too, and I get serious light flare if taking pictures at night. It is horrible. And addition, If there’s anything to do with the sun, they’re serious players across the pictures. They should’ve used anti-reflective lenses, instead, the lenses are concave in picking up reflections and capturing lens flair

TheJollyFellow wrote:

Apple ! where are you to answer us?... to debate it's cool, but.... we want clean pictures / videos !

Apple is not here. This is a user-to-user forum. If you have having a hardware issues with your phone, I recommend you contact Apple directly. You can start with the Contact Support link at the top right of every page of these forums.

For those with photographic experience it's pretty easy to avoid such flares or at the very least you know it will be an issue and you will need to mitigate it.

I've mentioned before that if you use a DSLR with a multi-thousand dollar lens under the same conditions, you will also get lens flare.

SKYLUM: 12 Steps to Achieve Creative Lens Flare

DigitalMonkeys wrote:

why are you defending a major screw up. Most of us here commenting are not fools and agree that this phone has by far the worst bizarre flaring artifacts any of us have ever seen.

Then if it's been less than 14 days since purchase, return it.

If it's been more than 14 days, sell it as used, iPhone 11 models bring great prices on eBay.

Then purchase something else.

The Galaxy S10+, Note 10 and Google Pixel 4 also have pages of threads elsewhere devoted to lens flare complaints, but if one of them works better for you, it's worth it just in aggravation saved.

The only thing you can do is not point your camera or anything that has a light source behind it. I got a replacement refurbished phone and had the lenses replaced and still it didn’t help. Apple tried fixing it with a firmware update but it didn’t work. when I took it to the Apple Store, the manager was combative and refused to replace the phone for a new phone. No one will help so try your best and keep on fighting.