Iphone 12 pro max odd camera reflections and glare

I also noticed in my pics there were reflections of the Christmas lights that appeared in the area of the sky. How can we stop this from occurring? It may be a normal thing that happens when something is misaligned but it ruins your pictures.

There are just too many issues with the photo you took and the fact that what you are describing (HDR, btw) has nothing to do with flare. The dog is too close to the camera to begin with. I'm not going to list everything you could have done better with this photo, but you could have taken a MUCH better photo. It's not the fault of the camera that's for sure. And I know this isn't what you want to hear. But posting a badly composed photo isn't evidence of anything wrong with your phone's cameras.

Sorry

Go the last page of this thread and look at some of the photos I just posted for reference --> https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251953166

• I can take just fine Night Mode photos, thank you. If you can't, perhaps you should learn how to better use your phone.
• Please enlighten us on what flare eliminating/reducing design and technology lens manufacturers have developed? I'm dying to learn about this mythical engineering feat.
• You're right, Apple never claimed there is no way to build a camera in a phone with less lens flare. Yet, here we are and they haven't done so, so what's your point?

There is simply no comparison between iPhone 12 and iPhone 6+ camera specifications.

iPhone 6+

• 8-megapixel iSight camera with 1.5µ pixels
• Autofocus with Focus Pixels
• ƒ/2.2 aperture
• Optical image stabilization (iPhone 6 Plus only)
• True Tone flash
• Five-element lens

iPhone 12

• Dual 12MP camera system: Ultra Wide and Wide cameras
• Ultra Wide: ƒ/2.4 aperture and 120° field of view
• Wide: ƒ/1.6 aperture
• 2x optical zoom out
• Digital zoom up to 5x
• Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth Control
• Portrait Lighting with six effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono, High‑Key Mono)
• Optical image stabilization (Wide)
• Five‑element lens (Ultra Wide); seven‑element lens (Wide)

If you prefer lower resolution to higher resolution and simpler lenses, good for you.

If this is your first phone to have Night Mode photography, you will soon learn, this is completely normal. You can avoid them easily as flares can be clearly seen on your screen before you take the photo. Simply altering the angle of the phone (camera) relative to the scene can easily fix a lot of the flares.

See this link for some guidance on this topic --> How to Fix The Green Dots

Here are two photos I took to illustrate this as well. I didn't move my location for the second photo. I altered the angle of camera relative to the scene:

There is a similar thread for the iPhone 12 Pro. It is about lens flare but also about thse refelections (called 'ghosting').

I too find the reflections very annoying. I refuse to find this 'normal'. Of the various advices some stalkers in the other thread repeat endlessly (it's normal, follow a course, ask for a refund, buy something else, call Apple support) I think the latter advice is the most useful. So today I called Apple support and presented the ghosting issue. The support employee told me that the problem is known to Apple and that it is considered to be a real problem. Apple is looking for a solution. She also mentioned the auto focus problem which is also being studied, but she did not know if these problems are related. She could not answer my question if it was a hardware or software problem, but she did say that in case of a software problem I could expect a software update and in case of a hardware problem I could expect a hardware solution.

Yep, same issue. Took a photo of my dog and the snowflake from the tree got imprinted on his face. I get that this is normal for regular photography with a DSLR. What people excusing Apple for this oversight is this: This isn’t a regular camera. NONE of the pictures you see in your photo album are RAW files, they’re processed photos. Every pixel selected from a set of 16 images that the iPhone deems best to create the image you see in the photo app. There is no excuse that the programming couldn’t have been designed to detect a ghost image, reflection or lens flare and to take them out.

yes uncomparable between mobile lens & dslr lens

but to compare 11promax, 12promax & huawei p30pro, I can compare because all three of them are in my hand right now, and the huawei has almost zero flare/ghosting12Pro Max

11 Pro Max

Huawei P30Pro

I don't mind if all got the ghosting, but if only Apple has it, then Apple has a problem

Dear Apple,

I bought new iPhone 12pro Max on Dec-21-2020.

While taking photographs at nighttime, i faced issue that there is a reflection of lights in the image which i am taking. It’s always there .. like there is light in the image, there is the image of that light in the picture i am taking.

For all this issue, i contacted with apple support team through apple support app. He checked my phone & asked me do some procedures like give reset, restart your phone. After doing all that procedures what he suggested to me. He said sir i book appointment for you at Dubai mall, Apple store.

He said in chat that sir it’s more hardware issue than a software issue, so i book appointment they will repair for you.

Ultimately i got appointment of after one week on Jan-17-2021 at 4:10 pm. 

I traveled 120 km to Dubai, i kill my time & i put fuel from my pocket. I took half day off from job.

Finally when came to Dubai Mall, Apple store.

The customer care representative said sir, its normal that reflection is coming in the image as in this iPhone 12Pro Max they are using more than 2 lenses so it’s normal. Sir i have same phone so it’s coming in my phone also. Also sir we don’t have any solution for this. I said what are you talking about.

More he added that sir its first case that we heard from you.

I said to listen this i just came here 120 Km away after killing my time and fuel from my pocket.

Why your apple support team don’t inform me that sir it’s normal & we can’t do anything.

Really this incident has questioned on Apple R&D team what kind of research work they did to produce this phone. Also every kids knows about refraction. But Apple team don’t knows about this issue. Also i am the first customer that came with issue & according to apple team they don’t have solution for this till now.

Custome reperesative also added sir try to put some filter on lens .. i said why Apple don’t put infront of iPhone lens..

In short he said I can’t do anything in that case

Really i suffered alot & for your information, issue what i am facing snapshots has been attached.

Thanks

Looking forward a kind response from Apple team

Really in vain :( :(

[Personal Information Edited by Moderator]

I know you consider me to be one of those "stalkers" but the REALITY is Apple CANNOT bend the physics of optics no matter what you were told. They couldn't do this with iPhone 11, which is the first iPhone which came with Night Mode and iPhone 12 is NO DIFFERENT in this regard. It's NO DIFFERENT, because it CAN'T be different, no matter what you think or were told. Apple CANNOT eliminate naturally occurring Flare when the camera is confronted with very bright lights in Night Mode or when photographing a very bright object, such as the sun in daylight. Simply cannot be done, no matter, by the way, how much money you spend on a camera system. My multi-thousand Nikon DSLR and lens system is no better.

You say Apple should change the laws of physics to avoid ghosting and flare. You're right as long as there aren't 100% pure and perfect lenses and coatings. But that's not what this whole issue is about. Nobody claims that ghosting and flare should be 100% absent. What does matter is that a number of users (including myself) believe that the level of ghosting is far too high.

How can you be sure that in all cases where users complain here there is no defect? Have you examined all devices? How can you be sure that in all cases there is nothing wrong with a coating or with the purity of the optical elements or any other defect?

The fact that it's perfectly normal for these kind of cameras to show ghosting and flare doesn't exclude the possibility that there is really something wrong with some of them, does it?

People keep saying Apple gave them (what I call a mercy) replacement because Apple agreed (placated actually) them and guess what? Their new phone did the same exact thing. No, I haven't examined all phones, you know I couldn't. But I'm willing to bet you the reality of defective units is so infinitesimally small as to be statistically insignificant.

The reality is people are for the first time experiencing night mode photography. Do you have an iPhone X or Xs or 8 or Xr to take a night photo with? If you did, you'd be incredibly disappointed at the night time photos they took. They will exhibit "some" flares, but likely NOT to the degree the new phones take. Why? Because in using Night Mode the shutter has to be open far longer than it was ever possible for it to be open on phones without night mode. That in itself presents issues for a camera sensor, especially one confronted with bright lights hitting the sensor for an extended period of time like what happens when you take a Night Mode photo.

I'm not trying to argue with you. I've spent years studying photography (as a hobby, I'm not a pro), learning about focal lengths, ISO, Aperture, etc., so I am pretty educated about the subject and I understand why the flares occur. And I understand as I demonstrated in the side by side photos I posted above HOW to minimize or eliminate them.

I know you're hoping to find out there is something wrong with the camera system. The reality is there simply isn't any defect. What you and others have to do is learn how to work with the camera system in your phone to minimize the flares and that takes more than just point and shoot.

Take care and I honestly mean that.

You say: "But I'm willing to bet you the reality of defective units is so infinitesimally small as to be statistically insignificant".

This is another way of saying: "the number of defective units is negligible".

But this is not a statistical study. It is about people who are not satisfied with the quality of their camera. It is quite possible that the vast majority of complainers have a perfect device, but, as you admit yourself, there may also be a small number of people among the complainers who have a defective device. And no matter how small that number is, you don't do justice to that group by treating them as negligible (or insignificant).

You've made it clear dozens of times what you think the wrongful complainers should do, but what can you offer the other group, the rightful complainers?

Where do you think the boundary lies between normal flare/ghosting and unacceptable flare/ghosting?

How can I determine if my device is one of those rare cases that do have a defect?

Oh I get that some people are not satisfied. But that doesn't mean their phones are defective. It means many don't understand photography at all and have completely unrealistic expectations. And there's nothing Apple can do with the hardware for people who don't understand the technology and are unwilling to accept reality. Nothing at all.

This is what I am getting in portrait mode. Just a random gray dot in all photos. Yes I have made sure there are no obstructions and that the lens is clean. What it is and why should I have this problem with my 12 pro max that I spent so much money on? This is ridiculous.