Iphone 12 pro max odd camera reflections and glare

Gigantic signs mirrored on the sky? That’s a very powerful neon sign! I don’t think so! I have the same problem. I thought it was a glitch in the phone so I went to the store and exchanged it for another one. Same story, it didn’t help. Good thing I’m still on warranty so I will just return the phone and go back to my old phone, so disappointing!

Or they should just not promote the expensive phones for there amazing night mode function and fabulous cameras unless they also add that most of our photos are gonna be haunted by orbs. Thought the reason for these crazy good cameras in the average persons every day phones was too make amazing photography accessible for everyday users, the ones who aren’t studying photography. The problem reading through a lot of forums is that it’s not just here and there this happens, but it’s actually regularly in photos.

Is there anything I can purchase to minimize the flare? Is there a lens protector or something that could help with this issue? I love my iPhone 12 Pro Max, but I don’t want to have to worry about this every time I’m taking photo/video at night. I’m already trying to incorporate different angles when shooting, but any other advise would be appreciated.

This is not a night mode problem, even if you turn night mode off it still gives you these annoying lens flares. I never had these on my 8 plus so this is def. a problem with the coating or something on the glass covering the lens.

Returning the 12 mini and 12 Pro Max we just purchased. Upgraded from a 7 plus and extremely disappointed in the lens flare, ghosting. Taking pictures of family in front of Christmas tree, as we’ve done for years, results in colored spots in all the faces. While I understand optics this is not normal and I consider it a design flaw. Anti-reflective coatings work well and the glare should not be this strong. Our 7 plus in the exact same spot, conditions has zero flare. Crazy you spend almost $2000 for an upgrade and out of the box it’s worse at indoor photography. It’s a phone, I shouldn’t have to compose and look for the right angle to take a picture. Funny how all the reviews don’t even mention it, but google it and tons of posts on this flaw.

Sidebar

has anyone heard about issues if a lot of vibration is causing issues?

I have a Harley and a ram mount x grip on handlebars

a friend mentioned on a few motorcycle sites many folks have been returning their 12s due to issues from what is assumed too much vibration to the phone and it can’t handle it

I am having these issue too. I own DSLR, Mirrorless cameras as well. These “flares” are actually reflections. I believe there is an issue with coatings or 2 flat lens faces cause reflective “bounce back” of images. It happens in low light and in normal indoor situations. Video and photo, although it’s really horrible in video! It’s annoying. I came from iPhone XS no issues there.

Lens Flare is Normal and can be very nice “cinematically”. This issue is neither of those things.

I just brought an iphone pro max 12 a week ago and disappointed in the night shots. I try to adjust the picture but still get dots ghosting and reflection in night pictures for a very expensive phone very disappointing.I came back after 5 years to Iphone from being with Google pixel, they have no issues with night pictures and this is disappointing i feel like returning my phone because i love taking pictures and videos in low light night..

That professional photographer is in a sense right, but completely wrong. If the lenses were coated, you would not be able to take night mode photos. There is a trade-off here. Huawei, partnered with Leica, one of the worlds greatest lens manufacturers to try to coat the lenses on their phones. They failed. If the lenses were coated, night mode photography wouldn't work.

The end result means that if you return the phone and get a new one, the new one will do the exact same thing. To compare the lens of a DSLR with the lens of a small compact lens on a cell phone is an Apples to Oranges comparison. Thus not valid. And I would love to know the name of this so-called professional photographer as I would never hire him or her do to anything professional for me.

“If the lenses were coated, night mode photography wouldn’t work.”

Could you explain why it wouldn’t work? Obviously coatings don’t prevent night photography or astrophotography with dedicated cameras. Frankly night photography is not something I do. However, I do shoot into the sun when it is low on the horizon like sunsets (not very successfully with my 12 PM).

Short of significantly changing the composition of the shot, I have yet to see a way to eliminate green spots and ghosting in camera. (For background, I also shoot with a mirrorless camera, which not surprisingly does not have these issues.) If lenses from a dedicated camera performed this poorly, people wouldn’t buy them.

It's quite simple actually. Coatings would reduce the available light which can get through to the sensor. The reason Night Mode works so well is more light makes it to the sensor. Anything you did to reduce the light would make Night Mode not work well.

They don’t use coatings to reduce flaring because it would interfere with Night Mode? Well that’s a remarkable statement. So it’s a design decision, not just a limitation of the physics of lenses. And one can question their design decision. That’s the point. What’s the use of Night Mode if you can’t shoot into a light source. One might assume that people shooting in night mode would want to shoot directly at light sources.

The day will come when Apple will find a way to incorporate the same flare eliminating/reducing design and technology that lens manufacturers have so successfully utilized. Until then it will be “an expected result” as Apple told me. Notice Apple has never claimed that there is no way to build a camera in a phone with a lens with less flare/ghosting/spots.

I'm glad you have no problems with night mode. I don't use my phone for night photos. But there sure seem to be a lot of people who do have problems with photos and videos for proof. As I've said multiple times my problem is with shots with the sun in the frame.

If you're shooting with a Nixon and you're having these problems you need to update your lens lineup. I shoot with m.Zuiko lenses and have no problems. It's not mythical. My problem is not with generic flaring, but specifically green dots and ghosting. If you want to know more, google it.

Apple didn't claim it because they can be eliminated with better lens design. The problem reflects choices made by Apple in the design of the lens. That is my point. Physics doesn't limit them. Their design does.

As I've said more than once throughout this thread the expectation of the cameras in iPhone is unrealistic. If you are comparing m.Zuiko lenses, many costing far more than an iPhone itself, the comparison is completely unrealistic.

Of course the design of the lenses in iPhone limit performance. iPhone is not a standalone camera system. It's a cell phone with industry leading performance for a CELL PHONE.

And defending Apple saying the problem is a result of a limitation of physics involved is disingenuous. I’ve exclusively owned Apple products since 1983 but am not afraid to call them out when they fall short. Apple apologists seem to blindly defend everything about their products, with no regard to the disappointment of some purchasers.