iphone 12 pro max camera issues

I switched from Android just for the camera on the 12 Pro Max. I got it last night and I am so disappointed. My phone also picks up light reflections that move around when I move the phone. It’s worse than what is pictured here when you see the video it took. That’s not stars in the sky. It does the same with indoor pictures as well, as you can see on my window shade and the wall, a pattern of 3 green dots. I will be taking the phone back today. I think I will be taking the phone back today.

i am finding the 12 pro max camera disappointing as compared to the 11 pro max It doesn't focus as well. both still and video. I hope apple comes out with a software solution. My guess its the new Lidar

I can confirm that some iPhone 12 Pro Max’s seem to have defective cameras or software. We have two iPhone 12 Pro Max’s in our house. When shooting videos (4K 60 Hz) of the exact same scene, at the exact same time, with the built-in Apple camera app, using exact same camera app settings one produces “normal” videos and the other produces videos with horizontal lines or banding across the top.

In the pair of screenshots, the screenshot from the “bad” camera is on the left.

The single screenshot is a bigger version from the problem camera to show more of the horizontal line details.

Hi, I have also camera issues at the top. I think Lidar is acting not right but can't afford to send it in for review (no apple store in my country) anyone a fix for this ? It is also happening for video and in 3rd party apps

Thanks in advance

I get those lines too. This was "take photo while filming", but have gotten it in a photo taken too (but heic couldn't be added, this was jpg) Most images are fine, but if I put my hand in front of the cam I get green lines over the screen, and as seen here they do capture them in dark environment too.

Difference between me and my sister's phones, both iPhone 12 Pro Max. Trigger low light by blocking the light.

I fixed it though!!

Not sure how long it will last, or if it should still be changed, but, Switch it of ans switch it on again ;)

Gave the phone a good restart =P

**UPDATE** (Horizontal Lines)

I emailed the following still frame to Filmic Pro developers and this was their response regarding the horizontal lines over the guitar:

“Aha, thanks for sending in that info and the screenshot! That definitely helps me understand what's happening here. The lines that you're seeing are a hardware limitation of iOS devices that we occasionally see in oversaturated footage. While I don't fully understand the technical cause of it, our CTO has referred to it as "diode gain artifacts". This happens when ISO is at a high gain or the tonemapping system is pushing on a single-channel dominant color. The effect is visible in highly saturated footage, especially in the reds (as you discovered).

This is an effect that occurs on both mobile devices like iPhones and is an issue occasionally found in DSLRs (particularly in astrophotography), so it's unfortunately not something we're able to really fix as it is caused by the way the sensor hardware functions, but luckily this effect is avoidable by watching the preview screen when you're using high saturation as the grid lines do appear in the preview. Lowering saturation should minimize or remove the grid lines entirely.

Hope that helps!

Best Regards, FiLMiC Pro Support”

Hi! I know that I’m late to the conversation but I wanted to weigh in as well. I bought the iPhone 12 Pro Max on pre-order and received it the day that it came out. I started noticing when I would try to take pictures of a TV or something with lights it would reflect like a “mirror”. (See images below) I made an appointment with Apple and took it in to show them and they replaced my phone for me immediately. Once I got home and set up the new phone because of Covid you cannot set up your new device in the store anymore. It started having the same issue so I will be bringing it back yet again tomorrow. You would think they would be on top of this kind of stuff for a $1200 phone. I guess the 12 an iPhone 12 only stands for $1200 as opposed to how far the phone has come since it’s first release. 😂 i’ve always been team apple and I hope that they fix this ASAP.

My 12 pro Max has the same issue. Also having horrible focus issues, I’ve gone back to using my Pixel 4xl camera which has an absolutely fantastic camera. I know Apple is trying to catch up with Google when it comes to cameras. This is embarrassing for the $$. Below are pics taken with the Pixel 4 using nite shot.

I disagree Apple has always had crappy camera’s. These pics were taken with a $600 Pixel 5 in Astronomy mode!! Don’t get me wrong I love my 12 pro Max but ****!! I’ll keep carrying around My Pixel I guess. When it comes to video my 12 Max pro absolutely rocks

My 12 pro max when I open a social media app like Snapchat, TikTok or Instagram I have tiny black lines going down my screen (top to bottom) if my camera is open. Only in the apps though, My regular camera app they don’t appear. The app’s IT people want me to take a screen video of it but when I try to record my screen they go away and I tried using a different phone to record it but the video isn’t clear enough.

Matyby99 wrote:

My 12 pro max when I open a social media app like Snapchat, TikTok or Instagram I have tiny black lines going down my screen (top to bottom) if my camera is open.

Do you see these in the Camera app or just in third party apps?

If the latter, those apps may need to be updated to work properly with iOS 14 and/or the new phones.

For issues with the 3rd party apps it’s possible the apps need an update to support certain settings. Possibly an issue handling the 4K (can’t recall which option but may include the videos Dolby feature since I notice those do not appear to upload to 3rd party social media apps correctly all of the time). The flares...this is a complaint that happens not just with Apple but with a lot of higher quality smartphone cameras...but it’s a complaint that gets amped up at each iPhone release.

That is why I returned my 12 pro max when I got it on 11/13. I preordered at 11/6 5am.

The camera has issues as you will see the 12 pro had camera issues when closing up on object it would not focus.

My camera for the 12 pro max did not focus and actually my xs max camera is a lot better than the new iPhone.

I returned mine before it was too late.

I just spoke with Apple Support about my wife's iPhone 12 Pro and they believe it to be a software issue at this time.

The good news is, a lot of these phenomena actually show how high quality the camera is, which is frustrating that there are software issues, but hopefully a little patience goes a long way in this case.