IPhone 12 Pro lens flare

I'm not surprised at all.

1. This is a user to user only forum, which Apple doesn't participate in.
2. Artifacts such as have been shown in this thread are naturally occurring and unless Apple has learned how to defy photographic physics, there's little to nothing they can do. I can find multiple posts from people with Samsung phones, complaining about lens flare on their phones. Some have been posted in this very thread.
3. A lot of the artifacts people have shown can be lessened or not included in a shot by more carefully framing bright lights relative the sensor on the camera in iPhone. I took and posted two sample photos in a post recently showing how simply altering the angle of the phone eliminated lens flare completely.
4. Many users here would greatly benefit from downloading photographic tutorials and learning about this topic more fully.

I know I'm going to regret this, but you need to search for the iPhone 11 Lens Flare thread. It's the very same song and dance from last year. People who have never had iPhones which were this capable of capturing such detail all of the sudden all up in arms they're seeing lens flare. Most of the issues are (you'll I'm sure take exception with this) user created issues. Things like taking night mode photos for the first time EVER and capturing lens flare. Taking photos of the moon at night, capturing lens flare. Taking photos with the sun directly in front of them, as opposed to behind them and capturing lens flare. Using the wrong camera to take a photo. Moving the camera when taking a night mode photo when the camera needs several seconds to capture the image and shouldn't be moved as the camera takes the photo. The list goes on and on. These are simple cameras to use for sure. But that doesn't mean they can't take poor photos when they aren't used correctly for the scene being photographed.

So what did Apple do last year? Initially, if someone was within the 14 day return window, offer to replace their phone, just like they have with some posters here. Otherwise, what did Apple do? Nothing. And that's because Apple CANNOT bend the rules of photographic physics. Period.

There is nothing wrong with these cameras on the new phones. There was nothing wrong with them on the 11 Series either. What is different for many of you is you now have phones with camera systems far more sophisticated then you've ever had and far more capable of delivering crap photos when the cameras aren't used in the best manner.

Be upset with William or me if you want. But this is the truth whether you like it or not. I would agree with his assessment if the cameras do not meet peoples often impossible expectations. If it isn't to their liking, they should return the phone and get something else. Expecting users or Apple to do something when there is nothing they can is what is unrealistic.

It's not a defect, it's physics.

You can exchange it, but the replacement will do the exact same thing.

You can try to figure out what's wrong all day, but I can all but guarantee that you will still be posting about this issue here this time next year just as the people on the iPhone 11 lens flare thread are, thirteen months after they were informed that it was not a defect but rather just… physics.

Once again, it is what it is, and there is no cost associated directly with the phone - Apple offers a full refund within 14 days of purchase. If there were carrier costs associated with switching phones, you will need to take that up with your carrier.

The phone's camera is working properly, you don't like how it works.

What you consider to be a "defect" won't change, no matter how much you want it to.

Once again, it's impossible to be more helpful and constructive than that; this is what it is and it won't be changing (but if it does, you can always buy one then and spare yourself however many months of anguish.)

I'm not trying to be insulting here, but you don't buy a steak and complain that it's not chicken, you have to buy what's right for you.

I understand lens flare are totally normal. From the get go my complaints was the shattered, non radial glare which is not normal. I compared with two other 12 pro and confirm my 1x lens is the only one with issue. So I just bought another one and it is fine now.

i never said it is a design issue just saying my camera is defective.

so out of four iPhone, only one has the issue. And I have a video to show the star burst looking glare is not from just one angle, but is continuous from all angle. But can’t post the video here.

quite disappointed with this Apple community, thought the “experts” would be more open minded and to help. Instead keep getting the issue disputed.

to clarify I took the same pic with two iPhones, the glare are diff. May not seem like big deal but at darker places the glare cover the whole photo, hence my issue..

like this one

but yes I am happy now that the blue piece of lemon is out of my way. And hopefully Apple will take it back and study which their lens supplier

[Edited by Moderator]

Now that we have an iPhone 12 and this weekend I'll be getting my 12 Pro Max, I don't see any real world difference in the green dots or flare in the 12 versus the 11. I have maintained and even posted examples of how it's easy to alter the angle of the camera relative to the scene being photographed to eliminate the green dots and/or flare, but yes, quick photos captured may not permit the time to adjust the angle.

Just an FYI, you suggest you'll leave this thread open. You actually don't have the ability any more than I do to close a thread. The forum hosts rarely if ever close any thread here. They do monitor the threads for violation of terms of use and when someone bashes another user, rants or violates what we all agreed to when we joined the forum, their post is removed. Continued violation gets people put on vacation for a period of time and can lead to a lifetime ban.

There is a bit more hysteria about these cameras than is reasonable, but sure, people are welcome to complain. Often I see photos posted here which are simply not well photographed photos. There's an old saying........"It's Not The Camera, It's The Photographer, " which is actually a very accurate statement. I think people are looking for a solution that doesn't honestly exist. At some point, people need to just accept that all cell phones, in fact ALL cameras capture these photographic aberrations. Apple can't bend the physics of photography, especially with small lenses and high MP sensors. They will show defects far better than a lesser camera with lower MP sensors. The expectations are perhaps a bit unrealistic for the medium. Overall however, these cameras produce beyond amazing photos. And I don't honestly know any professional photographer who hasn't taken some pretty awful photos and they know far more than most.

You take care and stay healthy and safe out there.

Some people have had units that needed replacing, though mostly it's inherent to the design and there's nothing to be done at this stage. If you can post photos of your photos people here can help determine if it's by defect or by design.

Regardless of what you think, the point here is that you cannot completely rid of potential lens flare for any camera. I don't know about the iPhone 11, whether it came without coating or not, but there is no solution other than to alter the angle while taking a photo.

Then you need to educate Apple how to alter the physics of optics. I'm sure they will truly benefit from your insight into that. If Apple was capable of altering optical physics, they would have by now. In the meantime, you need to accept these artifacts are normal and take more care when taking a picture to minimize or eliminate them by altering the angle of the camera relative to the scene you are photographing.

You'll be waiting a LONG time for a solution, of that I'm sure. But if it makes you happy to think a solution is coming, I guess that's at least something. You are going to have to come to terms with the fact Apple can't alter the physics of optics and learn how to better minimize these flares, which I keep telling you you can control. I've provided a link to a video you can watch. I've posted two side by side photos demonstrating how altering the angle of the camera relative to bright lights works. What won't happen is an update from Apple which can change anything relative to flairs, especially in Night Mode.

That's good you're overall happy. I'm beyond happy with my iPhone 12 Pro Max. It's a phone after all. It's not a multi-$thousand dollar DSLR with lenses costing more than the phone does (I own such equipment, btw). These are small cameras with decent sensors and for Night Mode to work as well as it does is pure magic to be honest. But it's not perfect and it simply cannot be perfect. I will tell you my 12 Pro Max is really no different than my 11 Pro Max was in regard to flares. I just learned how to alter the angle of the cameras to reduce and/or eliminate the flares.

This was taken in the room with some lights on from a different view:

And a decent night shot of the back of our home with the deck in lights and the tree inside:

Note: Flares were visible in all the photos. I simply did what I've been suggesting throughout this entire thread. I adjusted the angle of the camera to eliminate them.

There is really nothing wrong with these cameras and they can take some amazing (for a cell phone) pictures if you take the time to compose them appropriately.

Yes, and the exact same complaints were logged about past iPhones.

It's normal whether you like it or not.

You can continue to complain if you like, but just remember:

1) We're only users here, no one from Apple is reading your complaints unless you file feedback:

Feedback - iPhone - Apple

2) Even if Apple reads them, they are limited by what is physically possible, and right now, there's nothing they can do.

If you have ideas, take them to other phone vendors and you'd be a billionaire because they're searching too; even Leica who has been making lenses since 1914 has been working with Huawei to fix it… and hasn't been able to.

I’m using an iPhone 12 Pro Max, having also previously used an iPhone X for 2+ years. Like you, I find the 12 Pro Max’s camera terrible by comparison due to these constant blue-green artifacts in the images.

I’m really disappointed with the camera on the 12 Pro Max because of these artifacts or roaming dots/reflections. (I wouldn’t really consider it lens flare.) It occurs far too often, pretty much whenever it’s bright outside, or if there’s almost any light source nearby, even if it’s not in frame. I can’t even take a photo in my house at night without getting these annoying reflections. My ceiling lights are apparently too much for the 12 Pro Max.

I never once noticed anything similar in the thousands of photos I took with the X.

I find the top ranked “helpful” answer (which is essentially “that’s just the way it is, even my fancy camera does it”) rather unsatisfactory and misleading.

The answer to your “better camera = worse artifacts?” question in my experience is a resounding no. I’ve got a Canon 5Diii and 1DXii which are objectively better cameras than any iPhone ever will be regardless of how good the software trickery gets. Shooting in as identical conditions as I can manage, I’m not able to get my “better” cameras to throw artifacts like the 12 does. Obviously they will if you point them straight at the sun, like anything else would.

But personally I think it’s kind of pointless to compare a multipurpose phone that needs to fit in your pocket, with a purpose-built DSLR or mirrorless camera, which can be however big you want/need and have a huge array of lenses available. Not to mention those cameras (and lots of their lenses) cost many times more than an iPhone.

Despite the top answer suggesting this obvious flaw can improve our photos, I’ve not once felt that my 12 Pro Max photos were ‘improved’ by these artifacts. They’re distracting, unsightly blue-green dots on (almost) all your photos. Nothing like deliberate lens flare you might sometimes go for with your actual camera.

It’s poor form by Apple and something that should have been picked up on in testing. I hope they push an update to tweak the image signal processor to automatically remove them or some other software update to compensate for this glaring hardware flaw/fault with their new camera. We shouldn’t be expected to have to Photoshop them out ourselves.

Perhaps the same subject, but not even close to the same framing for both photos. The detail in iPhone 12 is significantly better and more detailed in comparison. But the photo taken with iPhone 12 could have been taken without any green dots had you simply angled the camera differently and the green dots were plainly seen in the scene before you took the photo.

Urgh here we go again!

For the benefit of newcomers so they don’t have to refer to earlier arguments, here are some key points:

• green dots appearing in photos and videos.

• some say it’s normal. most say it’s not normal.

• sunrays are ok as it is deemed normal.

• green dots are not normal. They are inverted lens reflection off other light sources in the same frame.

• this is not a defect.

• most want Apple to do something about it.

• some say Apple shouldn’t because there’s nothing to be done — asks users to angle the frame to exclude the green dots or remove with editing software.

• most can’t accept this solution — why can’t Apple figure out a way to come up with a solution to remove the green dots automatically.

• some tells most to return phone and buy better competitors phone instead

• some say can’t return phone because of deals and contracts

• a few did return phone.

• most are stuck.

• some are smug.

• some say Apple is not listening to us.

i hope they are so they can at least address this issue.