why does my camera take foggy pics in nighttime/dark environments?

First, who "actively" encourages you to put a case on your phone? Only the manufacturers of cases, as far as I can tell. I've had iPhones since the first day, and I've never had a case on a phone, only a case to carry it in.

Second, you are targeting the wrong party; it is the responsibility of the case manufacturer to not have their case interfere with the camera. How can the phone manufacturer anticipate what stupid designs case manufacturers come up with?

I have been having the same problem with my iphone 5 in dim or dark environments. After getting ****** off at a friend's dinner last night, I made an appointment to see the "genius" before reading all these threads. After reading the threads, I rechecked my iphone.

I took pictures in a dim room with and without flash, phone in case. Problem with flash still there. I have a silver Zagg ifrogz glaze case that incorporates a mirror in the back (thought it was cute and gave in to a moment of female vanity). Case So then I flipped the mirror portion open and away from the phone. Retook all pics.. problem gone. Pictures no longer foggy, hazy or blurry. So now.. hmmm I have to open the mirror when taking dim location pics?? :-(. Since I have a gopro I dive with, and had to blacken around the lens for a similar problem, I had an "aha" moment. I used a sharpie to blacken the camera opening of the mirror portion. Closed it and retook the pics in the closed case...problem solved..no haze.

So I would suggest as simple work throughs:

1. Make sure plastic film is gone.

2. If in a case, retake the pics without the case.. that is most likely the problem.

3. If it is the case creating the problem, blacken the CASE camera opening on the inside and the internal perimeter. Be careful not to mark the iphone lens cover. You don't have to blacken the outside of the case. Hopefully that will save you having to buy a new case.

Canceled my genius appointment :-)

Hiya, your iPhone 4 could have condensation on the camera, the reason it might only happen at night is because it is too warm in the day. See if leaving it in a bowl/bag full of uncooked rice helps, this will absorb moisture and hopefully get rid of condensation and any water present in the phone. If this doesn't work, I would suggest taking it to an Apple Store and seeing what they have to say. (When you say foggy, have you noticed whether the actual camera lens is fogged up or if it's just the photos?)

Hope this helps.

David

The flash in the iPhone 4 has a range of about 5 feet. So it you are taking a photo of something further away than that the image will appear foggy, but it is actually optical noise in the sensor.

I had the same problem, and the problem was the iPhone custom case I added to the back of my phone. Pictures taken during daylight were ok, but at night they were all foggy. I had to take off custom casing from the back because it was reflecting flash light (some cases not thin enough) and made pictures that way. So the case was the problem, try removing it and take some pics without it, if you have one on the back of your phone of course. 🙂 hope it helps! good luck!

I agree, having a case of ANY description seems to be a problem :-/ Surely this cant be right, when we are actively encourged to cover and protect our very expensive phones??? I for one am not at all happy about this.

Make sure you have a large enough openning in the case around the camera lens and flash. I read a few posts where users have enlarged the opening on the and have had success. Also some clear or white plastic cases can cause flash reflections. My clear plastic case has a black edge around the camera openning and I haven't had any problems.

I had exactly the same problem so did my coleague and having seen this post we are now working corectly. I never thought it would be the case as its so slim and doesnt seem to obstruct in any way but when removed the pictures are as clear as day.

Take the protective plastic off the back. It covers the lense and is lit up with the flash making a cloudy filter for the picture.

You really need to define "foggy" better. Are you photos fine during the day just because the lighting is brighter? if so then you need more lighting at night, obviously. However, it is very easy with phone cameras to put fingerprints on the little piece of glass that covers the lens on the phone. Because the sensor is so small, a finger print is comparitively large to the sensor/pixel ratio. Hence, each time you pull out your phone you really should check the glass is clean before using...in reallity it is quicker just to clean it each time rather than spend time checking if it is clean. So just do it. If however, it is a matter of scene brightness and not foggyness, then two issues need addressing. Firstly, how far away is your subject? if it is within 1.5 meters (4-5ft) then you can use the flash supplied with the phone, any further away than that and phone flashes are pointless and only serve to confuse the phone into taking poor photos. In these instances you would be better to disable the phone flash and let the sensor compensate for the lack of light automatically, which it will do, if everything else is set to automatic. By this I specifically mean the ISO settings. You can check/set these manually. Make sure the ISO is set to the highest setting (ISO 800 or greater). This will produce more 'grain' in the photo but this is unavoidable and can even affect top end SLR's so don't feel bad. Secondly, if it is too dark to take photos then it is too dark to take photos - this is when 'reciproicity failure' sets in. Nothing can be done about this on a phone camera and is the reason people purchase SLR's, which can get around this using the 'Bulb' setting in the shutter speed dial. Remember, you only get what you pay for and there is a reason why SLR's cost thousands. It is because they produce better photos in more difficult situations than phones cameras can. So don't expect huge things from a camera phone.

If you still wish to understand more about image capture click here: http://web.canon.jp/imaging/enjoydslr/index.html

Hope this helps,

GB

The problem is with the thin transparent film covering covering the back of your iphone 5. Even the film that was already there when i bought my iphone 5 used to make all my night shots hazy. Just removed it and every night shot with flash is clear as pictures taken in day light. Hope this helps..

Jimmy