iPhone 8 Plus horrible lens flare and reflections

A few days after I got my brand new iphone 8, I noticed this issue in a night time video I took in the country, where sources of light were scarce. So then I started doing tests everywhere, and sadly, realized it happens ALL THE TIME. Very ticked off. Not acceptable Apple! I wish I had read these posts before I upgraded. I would have been better off with my old iphone6. If I hadn't upgraded the day before leaving the country for a month (I even did so for sake of having a better camera for my travels), I would have taken the phone back and returned it.

I'm including examples where it's very clear that it's not a lens flare. One can see clearly that the "dirt" takes on the shape of the source of light. It's a reflection, not a flare.

The lens flare is very obvious in night view whenever there's a strong source of light on the edge of the photo. I contacted the Apple support staff, they told me to reset my iPhone to factory setting before they come to the conclusion, which is acceptable to me since I have many data in my phone. However, I contacted an engineer that I know, he said the the reason causing the lens flare on iPhone 8 might be the upgrade of camera sensor. It became more sensitive to light, including the reflection of lens.

OMG!! I just got this stupid phone and it takes terrible pictures!! I had a 6plus and now have the 8plus. The pictures taken with my 6plus were sooo much better. I don’t care if I was pointing the phone right at a light source I NEVER had these little sparkle things on my pictures!! Plus when I zoom in the pictures look grainy not clear at. Sooo frustrated right now!! I’m taking it back tomorrow and getting my iPhone 6 back. The only reason I replaced it was because I didn’t have enough memory. I’m beginning to think I need to join the Apple Haters Club!!

Your response is nof a valid reason for this you are suggesting Apple is using cheap/low quality optics on the phones from the 6S to present. For the premium we pay a little Lens Coating goes far. High quality optic makers coat their lenses fo reduce this and you typicallu see a different type of flare based on the number of blades used to control thr Aperture. 9 blade lenses create a different flare than a 7 blade lens. Yes, its desirable in ceraian situatuons, but not all. If what you sad held merrit nobody would have come home wirh any decent or usable from the 2017 US Total Solar Eclipse.

I have the same issue!!!! Most if not all of the video footage I took at last night concert was all blurred out!!!!!

All cameras with lenses have lens flare. It is a reflection of light on the highly polished lenses. It is actually desired in certain photography. The best way to avoid it is to avoid taking photos towards bright lights. It is normal and not broken in any way.

hi bro,i have smaller iphone 8 with same ugly flare,i also have iphone 7 and se,both didnt have this flare,i am very angry now at apple,such a ugly flare on such expansive device,sorry for my bad english,i already ordered 5 inch pixel 2...

I have the same issue on my iphone 8 plus. I was frightened my iphone 8 plus is broken.

So i contact the apple support (still in contact). The answer was to do some tests. Reset the iphone and set it up as a new one.

Because first i don't want to do this effort. I made some tries on other iphones (5s, 6s, 7).

All models have the same issue. So i think we must life with them or hope it's a software issue, they can fix.

You all can reset your phones till cows fly, but your pictures demonstrate normal lens flare. Lens flare is most prominent in low light situations when the lens sees bright lights, such as your photos demonstrate. My VERY expensive DSLR and lens that cost more than an iPhone do the very same thing. Your expectations are unrealistic.

To follow some steps, like force restart, reset etc.. but it’s very frustrating, I didn’t notice at the beginning but last night it was obvious in the pictures. They should do something with lens in the future.

There's nothing that can be done to eliminate Lens Flare. You're also dealing with the limitations of a small lens. Albeit a pretty good small lens, but a small lens none-the-less. If you want better pictures, you should use a better camera. The camera and lens on the 8 Plus and X is about as good as it gets with phone cameras.

I have the same issue and it annoys me a lot. It didn't happen with my old iPhone 5s, nor on my friends iPhone 6 nor 7. Every time I take a picture or a video by night I have some horrible green reflection spots on them. I understand that it might be a ''normal'' phenomenon in lenses but how comes I haven't seen it in any previous iPhone model? The iPhone prices have been rising and I find it unacceptable in a phone for $800. I am going to the Apple Store to see what could be done with it.

Stealthzone wrote:

So if you look at all your pictures they have to do with the same setting, a night scene with lights. This is normal for all high quality lenses..

Yep. My $1500 Nikon DSLR with a more than $1,000 lens shows lens flare with night photos. The expectation that an Apple iPhone with a small lens would be immune to lens flare is unreasonable and unrealistic.

Me and my mom we were having the same problem with iPhone 8. I’ve tested out the iPhone 6 and 6s cameras and instead the quality is not so good they don’t have this ugly reflections at the photo. Apple should give an attention to that!