IPhone 12 Pro lens flare

Don't forget to include the new Pixel 5, which also captures lens flare:

https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/ji0l3b/pixel_5_camera_lens_flare_issue_at_night/

As we both know and keep trying to tell people here is lens flare is a normal occurrence in ALL cell phones and cameras.

It’s true that all cameras have lens flare and some have reflections. Phone cameras are obviously more prone to them because there is little or no lense shield.

But the point here is that the new iphones ( I don’t know about the older models) have it to such an extent that it is way beyond normal and acceptable.

To give some realism to the argument I went to the local phone store to check it. I tested the 12 pro by shooting in the showroom which had of course very bright lights on the ceiling. To my disappointment it was immediately obvious from the phone screen: terrible ”light tails” from the bulbs to different directions no matter how I held the phone. I then tried with my Galaxy: completely clean picture with no flare, reflections or ”tails”. Also tried the S20 in the showroom. Same thing. I’m not saying other phone cameras don’t have problems with bright lights. It’s just that in that situation IPhone did, Samsung did not. Disappointed because I wanted to change and know that in other circumstances the pq would be very good, but night street photos are important to me and iPhone clearly is not ideal for that.

So I ended up getting another pro and also tested the same on store models and same thing. I get that it’s normal, and I love my phone. Gotta just work around it. That domlee guy did seem to have it worse on some of those flares, however all the angles were slightly different and who knows what cam settings he had as well. Maybe that phone in particular was actually defective. I will say that people are correct that on the new 3 lens setups on the 11/12 pros... the “issue” is compounded. I wonder if Apple will ever do something on the hardware end or maybe software. Until then, I’m loving the quality of good photos/video.

In part.

A more sensitive sensor in conjunction with a more complex lens design may lead to more artifacting, that's where optics and physics come in.

Thats also why it's an issue industry-wide as phones push the edge of what's possible to achieve.

Older designs were less sensitive to the issue due to lower resolution sensors and less complex lenses, but it was still possible for the artifact to present itself; I have concert photos taken with an iPhone 7 that clearly show the issue.

In the last 3 years, I have used the cameras on Note 9, S20 Ultra, Note 20 Ultra, S10 5G, OnePlus 6T, OnePlus 7 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, and iPhone 12 Pro, all belonging to within my household members, including myself.

My iPhone 11 Pro Max/12 Pro also have this tendency to display severe light streaks and ghosting images/orbs. I would have to say that the severity and frequency of these anomalies are greater on my iPhones than any of the other devices, including my own Note 20 Ultra. Let me make it very clear that none of these phones are completely free of these anomalies, but they happen with lesser severity and less often than my iPhones.

I am sure the concerned users are saying just that. None of them are expecting that these anomalies be completely absent in all conditions; they are comparing their experiences with other phones they have used. I completely understand and can relate to them.

The poster by the name of William seems very determined to reply to every single post of concerns, telling them to "return if you don't like it," and claim that any anomalies of any kind are all completely normal no questions asked. That seems silly to me. I am sure I will get the same kind of response, which I will be happy to ignore. People aren't dumb. They don't expect absolute perfection, but when they observe something different than what they were used to, they know it, for themselves. Ignoring all of that is simply disrespectful.

The ghosting and lens flare issues get much worse when shooting videos. With still photography, one can try to adjust the angle and try to eliminate these in the viewfinder before snapping photos. With videos, it is very difficult, almost impossible to avoid.

The lens flare and ghosting are, yes indeed, anomalies that happen on all smartphone cameras. The real issue is the severity and the frequency at which these take place. And I can confirm from my own experience that such anomalies seem to take place with more severity and more frequently on iPhones than other phones I have used.

Like it or not, that is a fact for myself. I don't find my 11 Pro Max/12 Pro cameras to be bad because of this, as I find them quite excellent at many things, so I never contemplated a return. But I will be lying if I didn't say that was a weakness, and I would also be lying if I said it was 100% completely normal, as "somebody" keeps insisting in this thread.

Can I please reconfirm something here? If lens flare mean something like sun rays, I can accept coz that’s quite normal and yes to avoid it you’ll have to adjust camera angle. But if we’re talking about green dots or orbs even when it’s dark just like these 3 dots in this video then it’s not on. They should have done something about it since iPhone X.

I can't say it is the most reliable (of course there are far more superior DSLRs and mirrorless in existence) but yes, to every single camera can have "lens flares." What changes each camera is possibly the aperture and lens coating. What changes each photo is it's angle to an light source. If we were to set up an closed environment and test light hitting the lens of any camera at the perfect angle to create a solar flare (which is quite wide), every camera in existence would fail.

The blue dotted line - Camera lens flare

On a more complex lens with more elements - red line = lens flare

For this reason, you'll sometimes use a "guard" in front of lens for cameras. (Actually called hood but oh well)

I'd say solar flares probably did show on your previous photos, probably just not as prominent as it was restricted to a higher aperture. (Refer to previous post)

My few words (and two images) about the topic: I have bought the iPhone 12 Pro Max and I will be returning it. I am a semi-professional photographer and I understand the engineering behind the photo lenses - I know flares and other artifacts are to be expected, but what's going on with the iPhone 12 Pro Max is way too much - I consider this camera to be useless if I cannot take a panorama photo (see one of the images, it is a panorama, various artifacts).

Panorama:

Standard photo:

I had several iPhone before - I did not notice anything that strong on the photos. And I own a Huawei P30 Pro - with this phone I can take panoramas with the sun in front of me and they are clean, no strange lights/shadows or green dots on the photo.

miguelfeal wrote:

Do not try to defend it because Apple is investigating the matter and they do recognize that there is a serious problem.

They are normal.

Every time someone says "my (other phone) never did this" I've posted photos showing that the same thing happens on the phone they said didn't do it.

Apple may exchange your phone, and the replacement will do the exact same thing.

I honestly don't care if Apple says it's abnormal; every other phone maker - Google, Huawei, LG, Samsung - say it is normal. I've posted photos taken with iPhones and Androids showing the same symptoms.

If Apple had managed to change the laws of physics, they would have advertised that.

Anyway, let us all know what happens in the end with Apple Support.

Read this thread and you will see photos with the same issues taken on an iPhone 8 as well as every other premium smart phone sold.

For example:

iPhone 8 Plus horrible lens flare and ref… - Apple Community

Review describes the problem exactly....

https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/apple/1412601/apple-iphone-12-review

“I’ve also spotted the iPhone 12 does have issues with lens flare as well. I attempted to capture photographs with a low setting sun just out of the frame to the right and simply couldn’t avoid the phone capturing a distracting crescent of light across the left half of the shot At dusk, streetlights and car headlights can also cause weird, floating reflections to appear across the frame.”

That's a strange advice, because if all smartphones have the same flaw (as some stalkers keep repeating here), there's no point in exchanging them.

My advice is to contact Apple support and ask for advice from the real experts. That's what I did and I was told that there is a problem. The problem is acknowledged by Apple and they are working on a solution. If you don't want to wait or don't trust them, you are of course free to ask for your money back.

But I wouldn't accept the opinion of those self-proclaimed experts here for granted that none of the complainers on this forum have an iPhone with a defect.

albert312 wrote:

So waiting for a while and doing a warranty claim might solve it if they fix the defect on the bee batch?

There is no defect to be "fixed" here.

If Apple exchanges your device under warranty, the replacement will do the exact same thing.

Having lens flare and reflections are common issues, especially with small aperture cameras as are present on cell phone cameras.

There I fixed that for you.

You're suggesting you have a problem which you somehow think someone can wave a magic wand to fix. They can't. It's not possible. So you either learn to use the tools you have to their best ability or you don't. But your problem is a normal problem.

The purpose of these forums are to provide technical solutions to technical problems, as defined in the Terms of Use, not to be a commiseratory general discussion site.

As such, when people post photos of lens flare and ask if it is a problem, the correct answer is no, it’s is normal for the optics involved.