IPhone 12 Pro lens flare

I have contacted Apple and they are replacing my iPhone 12 Pro after I sent them sample photos of the ghosting/reflections in the images. A $300 point and shoot digital camera produces lens flare, as does a $10,000 professional DSLR kit--but neither will produce the ghosting/reflecting I and others are seeing with photos taken with these faulty Apple lenses. The problem Apple has with the iPhone lens is NOT lens flare, it's ghosting/reflecting.

I did a camera test with my iPhone X and I had nice lens flares--as was to be expected--but again I didn't see any ghosting/reflections like I am seeing with the 12 Pro. If the replacement phone has the same issue, I'm going to get a refund. There is nothing "Pro" about using a camera that doesn't work as advertised.

[Edited by Moderator]

Lens flare is expected, normal and avoidable. When you frame a subject or scene where a bright light is facing the sensor in your camera/phone, you can see lens flare BEFORE you snap the shutter. Even my VERY expensive Nikon DLSR with a camera lens costing MORE than the most most expensive iPhone 12 Pro Max will capture lens flare.

That said, in some cases, lens flare can enhance a photo. And in some cases lens flare may not enhance a photo. But by simply altering the angle of the camera lens in relation to the bright light can and will alter lens flare, often eliminating the flare altogether.

No one doubts the issue occurs.

However, it is normal for premium smartphone cameras.

Note also the reviewer is obviously a phone reviewer, not a photographer or they would know the time they were attempting to capture photos is the most problematic time of day and professional photographers and cinematographers have to go through a lot of work that time of day to avoid flare with $5000 - $50,000 camera rigs.

One easy way to do so is as you can see the flare on the screen, aim your phone in such a way to redirect the flares into a portion of the frame you will crop out later.

Perhaps the best advice is this gem on avoiding lens flare from a photography web site in response to this photo from a compact camera:

There's an old joke that goes:

Guy goes to the doctor. Says "Doc, it hurts when I do this."

Doctor gives him a long look back, says: "Don't do that."

This is kind of the same. Lens flare is intrinsic to the optics, and while some handle it better than others, shooting directly into the sun is a very hard situation for any lens. Since you can't change the lens on your camera, your best bet is to avoid this kind of situation with this camera.

If you really a drawn to this as an artistic device, and aren't really able to experiment with lenses which might render flare/ghosting more attractively, you can make the best of it by watching the screen closely and adjusting the camera angle, or possibly block some of the light a little differently, or… edit it out digitally. 

The other option is to embrace what you get. Flare and ghosting are accepted parts of the language of photography. Use it to help say what you want to say rather than fighting.

No it doesn’t have significantly more flare, it has more flare at the precise angles you are choosing to show it has more flare.

I can induce flare in any camera and lens I like if I choose to, or can change my angle and composition and avoid it.

If you want to continue to invoke flare, you may do so; Hollywood director J.J. Abrams is known for adding flare as a stylistic touch.

The bottom line, however, is independent reviewers have gushed over the last two generations of iPhone cameras. They aren’t perfect of course but they are very, very good.

To bring the discussion full circle, you can either learn to avoid it if it bothers you, or you can return your phone or sell it as applicable and purchase something that better suits your needs.

Apple, Huawei and Samsung all say it is normal. Photography magazines say it is normal. Reviewers who have been reviewing cameras and lenses for decades say it’s normal.

Pick the phone and camera that is best for you, that’s what a consumer economy is all about.

For a variety of reasons I chose the 12 Pro Max, and wouldn’t change except for those times I need a camera to do something my iPhone can’t, and then I use my Nikon FX format DSLR.

No problem, I’m new on these discussion boards and just thought to give an answer to question here, but been reading a few pages here today.. which I didn’t before providing feedback, my bad.. I was just looking for some answers my self about my new phone here about 5g settings, anyway..

The new camera’s are not defective, as you say.

It’s just physics. Even professional crazy expensive cinematic lenses have this flare/orbs. For a smart phone it’s incredible what is possible nowadays in such a small lens.

I’ll try to explain again to others, not you lobster, here in this thread, hopefully without getting too much hate here.

It’s physics, when the light goes through each element of the lens it gets scattered and that is what is visible as flares/orbs put on the sensor, showing it your screen.

Now in a tiny lens of a phone the elements are (much) closer to the sensor compared to a professional cinematic lens. That’s why a bigger cinematic lens can have a much wider aperture which gives the flares more bokeh (blur) making it less noticeable. Why? Because the their elements are further from the sensor physically compared to a tiny phone lens.

On such a small phone lens the flares/orbs will always be more in focus and more noticeable as the lens is tiny in comparison. This is true for any phone camera even in the year 2021.

One can avoid this by aligning the flares into the the direct light source so the flares “disappear” into the direct light source or avoid to shooting in direct light sources.

So my answer to the Original Question, if his result is normal when shooting into a bright light source?: Yes, it is normal. That’s my take on it.

For all the others here, if you are disappointed and don’t believe it’s normal I can’t say much more then return the phone and get another one, different brand, other model that makes gives you satisfaction for your hard earned money. But my answer remains the same to the original question: YES, this is normal on any phone camera.

I do apologize for my incorrect English, I am not a native English speaker

Hi, thank you for taking the time to recap this for me. Understand why some are unhappy (paid a lot of money and marketing of any product makes you think it will be perfect and meet unrealistic expectations, etc) but

I can only confirm the lens flare/green dots is normal and not because of a defective camera issue.

I get them the same lens flare as everyone else on the iPhone 12 Pro and would get it on any other smart phone. I’ve attached two photo’s casually from my balcony shot with 12 PM; one with the lens flare and one without by changing the angle slightly.

Apple maybe a multi billion dollar company but even they are still bound to physics :)

You may choose to ignore that phones before the iPhone 11 had this same issue, but photos have been posted to this very thread from phones going as far back as the iPhone 6 showing the same forms of lens flare.

You keep fighting the fact that this effect is common to all premium digital cameras, both smartphones and others.

You also ignore the fact that on the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the effect is just as pronounced as on the 12 Pro Max, showing that as cameras improve, the effect will become more obvious (because low light sensitivity increases, making the flares more obvious.)

It's not "gaslighting" it's presenting you with evidence which you can feel free to accept or not, but that doesn't change the fact that it is factual evidence.

There are ways around it - you may have to move, reframe your shot, change when you take the shot or resort to post-production. This is true regardless of whether you are taking a snapshot, a wedding photo or are making a multi-million dollar production for television or theatrical release.

You don't like how it manifests on the 12, and that's fine. But don't upgrade your S20, either.

Or buy a high end DSLR or mirrorless camera.

No one here is trying to "look like an expert," we're providing you with facts and data.

Since you like sun shots, Google Pixel 5:

Samsung Galaxy S20:

Huawei Mate 40:

Sony Xperia 1 ii:

While less common than the green dot type of lens flare, this is called veiling lens flare or veiling glare.

This is the type of flare that can be reduced or eliminated using a lens hood on larger lenses or placing your hand off to the side to block the bright light source inducing it on the iPhone.

Wikipedia shows an example from the Cassini spacecraft.

However, if you see this effect affect on all photos regardless of the light source, then there may be something wrong with your camera and you should have your phone (re)examined by your Apple authorized service agent.

I have here 2 pcs iPhone13 Pro. I read this post and tried it myself. Camera facing sun side and move a bit. You see the green dot coming in the picture. When you make the picture you of course see the green dot and a violet blur over the picture. I tried both phones. Both exactly the same result at the same spot. This is not exemplaric, all 13 pro have this. So no worries and keep your phone. If you do not want this to happen, create a sun block over the lens with your hand and the blur is gone. Why do you think photographers with a big lens also use a sun cap on their lens 😀

About Lens Flare.

I've long maintained in the previous thread and now this thread that when you frame a photo of a brightly lit object, lens flare can be easily seen BEFORE you take the photo. And it can. While I don't yet have iPhone 12 Pro Max (because you can't even order one yet), these photos taken moments ago were taken with my iPhone 11 Pro Max. If I still had an Xs Max or X, I'd have gotten the same flare issues. Here is a quick photo I took (not a great photo, but one to illustrate how easy it is to capture lens flare):

Now, I did NOT move my position at all for this next photo. I DID alter the angle of the camera on my phone in relation to the bright light. And what did I get? An almost identical image, with NO lens flare:

So, in the photo with lens flare, is the phone at fault or is the person behind the camera at fault? To all those upset about the camera capturing lens flare and saying the cameras are faulty and lens flare is not acceptable in such an expensive iPhone, I maintain that it can be avoided simply by altering the angle of the phone in relation to the scene.

These forums exist to help users with their Apple products.

Users are complaining about things that are completely normal for the device. They can exchange it, but the replacement will do the same thing, because you can’t fix normal.

What alternative would you propose other than a return within their 14 day return window for people who find the issue objectionable? No product is suitable for everyone, and Apple very helpfully allows you to return it for a full refund.

The solutions are precisely two:

• You can take a photography class and learn to minimize the issue

• If you believe the device absolutely should not be doing what it is, return it for a refund and purchase something else

How is that not helping users with their issue, which is precisely what this forum is for?

You literally can’t get more constructive than that.

I’m not responding in a personal way, but to reiterate the facts:

• Do all copies of the model do it? Yes.

• Have the lenses been changed and improved each year? Yes.

For example, from a third-party site:

The standard wide camera on the ‌iPhone 11‌ series offers the same 12 megapixels and f/1.8 aperture as on last year's iPhone XS devices, while the new 12 megapixel ultra-wide camera gets a f/2.4 lens. Apple has also widened the aperture of the telephoto lens on the Pro models to f/2.0 – an improvement over the f/2.4 lens found in the iPhone X and XS – which allows more light to hit the sensor and grab more detail.

• So does that mean it’s expected and normal? Yes.

• Have I personally experienced the issue on each iPhone going back to at least the iPhone 6? Yes.

• Does that mean if you don’t like it or think it is somehow easier to provoke than on other phones, you should return it/sell it and get something else if it bothers you that much? Also yes.

I’m not sure what else you would expect to read.

As far as the iPhone 6 Plus series:

Green dot issue with iPhone 6 plus when t… - Apple Community

The dots absolutely and correctly correspond to each bright light in your photo. They are reflected off the sensor in the camera and as I've said over and over in this thread, all you have to do is angle the camera appropriately to eliminate them as I've also shown with these two photos I've posted now a few times. I didn't move my position at all. I simply altered the angle of the camera:

While neither photo are particularly great photos, it demonstrates how EASY it is to eliminate the flares simply by altering the angle of the camera.

There is truly no way to get rid of the green flares when taking Night Mode videos, save avoid facing the cameras at bright lights. If you want to take as close to great videos at night, you'll need a tri-pod and set up your phone by testing the angle against bright lights. Professional videographers would never just take a small camera and sensor and make a night time video handheld. But the expectation here is the phone should be immune to these reflections. It's simply NOT possible.