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IPhone 12 Pro Max Lens flare

Love the cameras. But horrible lens flares.

And it seems it’s defective:

One the right, above the window. Green flares from tube lights to the left.


In the middle of the picture:



On the TV screen:



Will try out during the day and post

Posted on Nov 13, 2020 11:18 PM

Reply
451 replies

Nov 20, 2020 2:53 PM in response to Florian Wardell

If you're really that unhappy with the camera on your phone, you can take it back to Apple and get a replacement phone, which will do the exact same thing. That leaves you with two choices.


  1. Learn to work around the limitations of the camera on your iPhone OR
  2. Return the phone and get something else.


Just realize that every other high-end cell phone camera system from Samsung to Google Pixel will do pretty much the very same exact thing.

Nov 21, 2020 11:05 AM in response to scorproy

I have at home a Huawei P20 Pro, iPhone 7, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone XR and an iPhone 12 Pro Max. The latter is the only one that makes terrifying flares, like no other. One thing is flares and another that the whole photo is full of spots. I am a professional photographer, I have Nikon and Sony cameras, lenses of all kinds and no, a photograph of streetlights does not show spots like the iPhone 12 Pro Max does. The photographs that I have seen of Huawei, Xiaomi or Samsung are not as exaggerated as those generated by the iPhone. They certainly have a serious problem with the lenses. Some say here that a professional photographer would know how to avoid them. No, those flares on a mirrorless or DSRL camera don't appear. A photograph of streetlights, as some people have shown, does not make those spots.


One thing are flares and others are stains. For those who speak of professional photography, indeed, professional lenses solve this by adding internal layers that avoid these problems.



Nov 22, 2020 11:42 AM in response to miguelfeal

miguelfeal wrote:

Another problem are the spots and reflections that appear at certain times and that do not appear on other mobiles. I keep sending photos and videos to Apple with these cases and it seems like a difficult problem to solve, because it is a design flaw: the problem is in the protective glass. It is the one that creates the reflections. But it cannot be solved unless they are replaced.


You keep saying this, yet a simple search of this thread, let alone the Internet will turn up multiple photos taken from a wide variety of smartphones showing the exact same issue.


I've done Samsung and Huawei phones, so let's do the Google Pixel 3XL this time:


Ghosting:



Perhaps reflections of street lights:


Nov 22, 2020 3:50 PM in response to jtcannonball

Just for you. I took these two photos moments ago. You say I don't show many flares. We put up lights on our deck this afternoon.


In both photos, I did not move my location. I DID move the camera angle relative to the lights. In the first photo, the green dots are easily seen before I took the photo. I took it anyway. In the second photo, I simply angled the camera differently and you can see the results.


Is my phone defective? Of course not. Do I understand how to minimize or eliminate the lens flares. Yes.




I would take the time to edit out the tip of the chair you see in the bottom of the frame, but this was just to show you how easy it was for me to get rid of the flares by simply angling the camera to remove them.


Learn how to use your camera system in your phone. You just might find out it's pretty terrific.

Nov 24, 2020 7:28 AM in response to jtcannonball

I can't remember if I showed these two photos here in this thread or in another one on this topic.


Here's a picture I took with flare. I could easily see the flare on my iPhone 12 Pro Max screen before I took the photo, which you could have seen if you were holding my phone as well:



Is my phone defective? No, of course not.


Without moving my position at all, I moved the angle of the camera relative to the scene and took this photo seconds later. Notice anything different? The flares are gone.


Nov 27, 2020 3:06 AM in response to scorproy

Completely agree. Started using my new Max pro this week with some awful results. Been on twice to support without any answers. Sadly its not good enough. If you look at the photos you can see that I failed to take a number of shots without a mark or flare appear. The ones in the mist are actually at night with only a quarter moon, so not really that bright. Are apple saying that you can only use this camera during daylight because that is how it seems. Any feedback from anyone who has resolved this would be greatly appreciated.

IPhone 12 Pro Max Lens flare

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