Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
Can the purple haze issue on the iPhone 5 be solved with a software fix?
iPhone 5, iOS 6
hmm... interesting.
If you noticed an improvment with swapping out the device for a new one, that would indicate that it's a quality control problem.
do some more tests... also try testing your rear camera with a TV remote. I'm curious if you'll see any flashing.
My iPhone 4S rear camera does not show any flashing at all. Front camera does show pink light from the IR diode in the remote.
Just tested and its the same results as you had. Nothing for the back camera, puple lights for the IR on the front camera. I shot a lot of low light images at Sea World yesterday and they are all pretty much garbage.
I am going to carry the 4S with the 5 but I continue to post updates. I had a few shots that excelled the 4S but they were in full daylight and no movement.
@Mattstoelt: How much convincing did you have to do to get Apple to swap out your phone? Would just like to know before I make a Genius appointment and ask to have the same happen for me.
Just for the record, I have had every version of iPhone and iPad. I've got multiple of each in my household.
I also have professional grade Canon equipment: I know what I'm doing. I'm also not interested in now taking my Canon systems with me everywhere I go because I can't rely on the convenience of my 5 like I was able to do with all predecessor devices.
The purple issue with the 5 is completely unacceptable. It for the first time has me saying to myself that I am no longer committed to Apple. I will look at new products, but have already started doing my homework on Droid and Windows 8 products. I think that the loss of Jobs is proving to be too much for the company. The emotional connection is eroding quickly with the release of the 5.
In addition to this being an equipment or perhaps firmware issue and not a user issue, Apple's suggestion to reposition the camera is ridiculous when you think about video. It's the same camera. So even if I position "perfectly" to deal with the purple issue for photos, once I move the phone while taking videos, I risk bringing purple into the video.
Remember, Jobs sold us on the experience. The experience with the 5 is just awful. And for those who say that say that photos are not important, you are completely in denial. This is such a visual world today and photography - still or motion - is so important to the experience.
Lastly, think about what people will be saying who see the photos. Imagine what our social net people will be wondering when they see these purple photos showing up on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and so forth.
Apple needs to resolve this very, very quickly.
Please let me know how much effort it was to get your 5 swapped. I'm hoping that other 5's are fine and I can get the same to be done with mine.
@josephavellino: To be honest, it was easy and the process proved to be very interesting. I am based in LA and have a business account with Apple so there is a lot of inventory near by.
I like you have all versions of iPhone and iPads, MacBook Pro's, iMac’s, Apple TV and the list goes on. Point being that I too have been very passionate about the brand and their products since being introduced to them going all the back to the early 90’s.
Much like you, once I identified the camera problem, it seems almost not real that we would have not only a camera issue, but multiple issues with one of the most anticipated devices in the last 5 years.
I think that Apple is challenged in many ways right now, with Steve being gone topping the list. Beyond that however is the demand for inventory, product evolution, and quality control. It’s seems unthinkable to have to deliver 10mm units in a 4 week window and have them all be working as planned, especially with a $199.00 price tag to enter the iPhone 5 world.
I try and keep perspective by looking back 5 years and looking at all of the things that we can do remotely, never possible before or with any other device. I know that statement is subjective but we use our devices non-stop in the field of event production and what I get outside of the convenience of my camera is pretty unbelievable, with remote machine management, assets access and transfer, real-time reporting from the field and so many other things that once required a laptop. Bottom line, I have yet to be introduced to any device that even comes close to an Apple product for what I use it for. As to the Samsung Galaxy III, I think that its amusing that they call themselves a competitor. I feel like it’s just a different consumer.
Back to the matter at hand, I called the store at the Groove in LA [their flagship] and asked a business associate to check if they had a replacement device as mine is white 64gb. After checking my serial number, he checked and they did have a replacement in stock. I asked if it was b-stock and he said that it was new, but not in a box. To that end, they had none for sale but devices to swap out. I was told to setup a genius bar appointment, which they could make for me 2 days later. I did not feel like I needed to wait or argue about the situation, I just wanted a new device.
A day later, I checked with the Beverly Center store [as I just purchased 30 iPod touches for a project] and they too gave me the same info, none for sale but they had a replacement. I’m not going to speculate as its prohibited in the T & C’s but you can read between the lines. The big difference though is the replacement device did come fresh out of the box.
In conclusion, I don’t know if you will meet any resistance but based on your brand loyalty, it seems like they would take care of you.
Good luck and I hope this helps.
SuperRevber2 wrote:
Took this photo DIRECTLY into the setting sun back in June with my IPhone 4 (upgraded to the IPhone 5 software at the time) without any problems or undue "purpleing" or "fringing." Don't think I could take the same shot after doing the upgrade to 6. Do you?
Yes, I do actually. Those shots you posted do not accurately portray the problem because the sun is not on the edge. Look, the purple tint only occurs when a very narrow set of circumstances occur together, and neither of the shots you posted have that.
I don't understand what all the fuss is about on this issue. Even the self-proclaimed "pros" here, who frankly should know better, are drinking the Kool-Aid. The purple problem can be fixed by simply moving the camera so it doesn't happen. This is what you do with ANY camera. People are throwing hissy-fits over non-issues that are the result of, wait for it...... user error! Shocking!
User error? Mmmmmmmmmm. I think not. 🙂 I phoned my local Apple Store this morning asking if I could exchange my IPhone 4 for a new one (that hadn't been upgraded to anything past IPhone 5.1.1) or in lieu of that, find out how I could downgrade my IPhone back to 5.1.1, and I was told to wait for the SOFTWARE FIX that they have been told is coming soon from Apple. I find it interesting that a SOFTWARE FIX is now coming for an obvious problem that so many don't want to admit is there. Bizarre to say the least.
Again. For the record. I have over 500 pictures on my camera roll that were taken BEFORE the IPhone 6 software upgrade. They ALL look great and are very natural looking with vibrant, real colors. Never had a problem taking pictures with my IPhone 4 IN ANY CONDITIONS, and always enjoyed the fact that I could leave my Cannon Power Shot SD980 IS at home and be confident in taking GREAT pictures with my IPhone 4. That all changed this past Sunday (after I had upgraded to the IPhone 6 software) when I took 40 PURPLE hued pictures at a local charity motorcycle Toy Run. In a nutshell the pictures are terrible and don't even resemble the same pictures I took last year at the same event, at the same place, under that same lighting conditions. Our local Toy Run is held every year at this time and runs from a local shopping mall to our PNE grounds) The weather was clear and sunny this year and last. The ONLY difference was the software in my camera.
Awaiting the Apple software fix with great anticipation. 🙂
@SuperRevber2: I have 2 4S' that have iOS 6. I have run tests of my 5 and the 2 4S' side by side, exactly the same positioning for photos. With the 4S', you have to look very, very hard to see any purple. With the 5, the purple is so bright and so pronounced. So I'm not sure that iOS 6 is necessarily the problem.
I am stunned that Consumer Reports and others are passing over this so lightly. No one is saying that other phones don't show any "flaring" or "purpling." The issue with the 5 is that the purple is so bright and pronounced. It takes over.
I am going to post a photo later of a shot from the Jets game the other night. The entire stadium is purple. Would be great if this were the Vikings, but that was obviously not the case.
Tgara:
Regardless of what the pros say, a camera should be able to point at whatever the user wants in the photo outside of direct sunlight of course which is a limitation of all Cameras. If you reference the photos that I posted, you will see that there was no way around the flaring. I was in NYC and it was very heavy overcast. Herein lies the problem that even if it were a situation that could be cured by moving the device slightly [which I would be willing to do in lieu of better photos overall], all of my photos had the issue thus making the camera non-usable. I am sure that your kool-aid commentary would be much different if you laid down $600 for a 64gb device that you rely on daily, just as you had on your older, more outdated device.
This is why we're are all so verbal and concerned about the situation. If you're not experiencing the issue, I really don't understand why your weighing in.
Here's an example of one of the "purple" pictures I took last Sunday. I realize that taking a picture from dark to light is not optimum..........but. 🙂
Here's a picture I took a year ago at the same parking lot, under the same lighting conditions (dark to light), at the same time of day, with the same weather conditons, at the same event. The only difference in my IPhone was the software. Personally I think the pictures are night and day. One (last Sunday) is VERY purple and the one last year is vibrant and alive with the color that should be there. 🙂
mattstoelt wrote:
This is why we're are all so verbal and concerned about the situation. If you're not experiencing the issue, I really don't understand why your weighing in.
I'm here just for the comedy value. 😉 This whole thing is overblown. Deep down, you know it too.
It's all relative. The devices are not working properly.
I can see how some would say that. It's not a big deal to many, but to a few, it is. Just like the Maps episode. I hope it gets sorted in some way soon.
I couldn't agree with you more on this issue. I sell iPhones' for a particular provider. My sales pitch typically begins with "this is my camera that also happens to be a phone".
I received my new iphone 5 and I am devastated that the iPhone 5 out of the box is having this issue with the camera.
The new lens in itself lends a "purple" tint to some photos that aren't a haze. Showing a customer how to work the camera, I brought her outside to our flower box that we have some "Heavenly Blue" Morning Glory's. To both our surprise, the picture portrayed not the pretty blue flower, but a purple...ish hue, unlike the accurate blue that the 4S produced.
With iPhone 4S I have well over 4000 photos with not a one producing any "Purple Haze". In addition, I also agree that the iPhone 5 also has focusing issues as well. I have to be extremely deliberate when I take a photo, whereas with the 4S it was easy peasy!
If there isn't a fix soon, I will be selling my iPhone 5 and may consider keeping the 4S or changing altogether and may also change my sales approach as well.
The iPhone 5 purple haze camera issue is epic... The 4s never had a problem such as this and it's shocking that apple did not pickup up on the downfall... Will there be a software fix to color map the spectrum that glass blocks but saphire does not?
