iPhone 5 defective camera thread (purple flare)

[TuxDave]

Hahahaha...apparently I was holding it wrong the whole time

Sounds more like we need a lens hood attachment. Even on my 4S when the sun is just off the frame I ended up with a white haze (not purple). It doesn't really matter what color it is since the white haze basically ruined the shot too. But it made me more aware what the point of a lens hood was.

 

[MagickMan]

Out of curiosity, what case are you using?

http://www.droconcepts.com/iPhone5/carbon-fiber-iphone-5-cases.html

It says it's a pre-order, but we have ours already.

 

[Aikouka]

http://www.droconcepts.com/iPhone5/carbon-fiber-iphone-5-cases.html

It says it's a pre-order, but we have ours already.

Holy cow! Those are expensive, and they leave so much of the phone's vulnerable side exposed. Although, that's to be expected with a hard material as your shell... they can't cover buttons like silicon cases can.

 

[Kaido]

Sounds more like we need a lens hood attachment. Even on my 4S when the sun is just off the frame I ended up with a white haze (not purple). It doesn't really matter what color it is since the white haze basically ruined the shot too. But it made me more aware what the point of a lens hood was.

For me, the color is the problem. I don't mind the white haze - it looks reasonably normal in most shots. Purple is such an oddball color for a lens flare, it just stands out more to my eye. That CamHoodie case looks like it does a good job though:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/12/purple-flares-got-you-down-camhoodie-case-for-iphone-5-can-help/

 

[MarcZ]

The color doesn't bother me as much as how distorted pictures are with zoom. They really need to fix this in order to truly compete with point and shoot cameras.

 

[Kaido]

The color doesn't bother me as much as how distorted pictures are with zoom. They really need to fix this in order to truly compete with point and shoot cameras.

Distorted as in pixelated, or what? I don't think they'll solve the pixelation problem until they either go to an ultra-high megapixels and can just do a 1:1 pixel zoom, or add some sort of optical zoom system.

 

[Zink]

The color doesn't bother me as much as how distorted pictures are with zoom. They really need to fix this in order to truly compete with point and shoot cameras.

That is why we have point and shoots. They have bigger lenses and sensors so there is no way a smartphone will ever compete with a camera from the same year. The iPhone is all digital zoom so the quality of a zoomed shoot will be very close to if you had just cropped the picture in editing. Good zoom lenses are big and cost thousands of dollars so a phone with a super thin lens that costs a couple bucks is never going to be able to zoom well.

 

[FerrelGeek]

So, I couldn't pass up Best Buy's $50 off deal and finally sprang for an iPhone 5 last night. What I noticed was that the blue sapphire lens cap seems to have been replaced by a standard class cap. It looks different than on the early models I played with back in October. I did a little playing with the camera in my office this morning. I was able to readily reproduce the 'purple haze' issue on the original phones, only notice a very tiny amount with this phone. Just a sliver right at the edge of the pic.

 

[jacktesterson]

I had a Nexus 4 I played around with for 2-3 days before deciding to flip it on ebay to make some cash off it.

It had quite noticeable purple flare in pics too, so my previous comments I now take back.

 

[bigrash]

Happens on my iphone 5 all the time. Sucks that Apple won't admit it, but it doesn't matter to me that much.

 

[FerrelGeek]

They quietly changed the lens cover back to clear glass. Reduces the problem significantly. Apple won't admit it cuz that means they might be asked to replace all of the early phones.

 

[joshhedge]

They quietly changed the lens cover back to clear glass. Reduces the problem significantly. Apple won't admit it cuz that means they might be asked to replace all of the early phones.

And you know this how? Feel free to share the source.

 

[Tweak155]

And you know this how? Feel free to share the source.

I think the source is common sense.

 

[Kaido]

They quietly changed the lens cover back to clear glass. Reduces the problem significantly. Apple won't admit it cuz that means they might be asked to replace all of the early phones.

I'd be interested in a source as well - the primary reason I dumped my iPhone 5 was due to the purple flare, as I use it as a camera most of the time. Plus, Camera+ updated for the aspect ratio issue, so that would solve most of my complaints! Eh, maybe I'll just wait for the 5S...

 

[FerrelGeek]

So, I couldn't pass up Best Buy's $50 off deal and finally sprang for an iPhone 5 last night. What I noticed was that the blue sapphire lens cap seems to have been replaced by a standard class cap. It looks different than on the early models I played with back in October. I did a little playing with the camera in my office this morning. I was able to readily reproduce the 'purple haze' issue on the original phones, only notice a very tiny amount with this phone. Just a sliver right at the edge of the pic.

And you know this how? Feel free to share the source.

Maybe you didn't read my prior post? I looked at the phones when they first came out; the lens cover was blue sapphire. I went into the Apple store in December to buy a lightning to 30 pin cable. I had already noticed that my new phone had a clear glass lens cover, not the blue sapphire cover. I commented on it to my son in the Apple store and one of the workers there confirmed my observation - Apple did indeed change the lens cover. Voila! Purple flare problem virtually gone! I never hear any fanfare from Apple saying, 'Hey! We screwed up on the lens cover thing, k? So we fixed it! Yay us!'

They had an issue; they quietly fixed it.

 

[FerrelGeek]

I think the source is common sense.

Common sense isn't very common these days. Which is why I spelled it out for him in my last post.

 

[WelshBloke]

Maybe you didn't read my prior post? I looked at the phones when they first came out; the lens cover was blue sapphire. I went into the Apple store in December to buy a lightning to 30 pin cable. I had already noticed that my new phone had a clear glass lens cover, not the blue sapphire cover. I commented on it to my son in the Apple store and one of the workers there confirmed my observation - Apple did indeed change the lens cover. Voila! Purple flare problem virtually gone! I never hear any fanfare from Apple saying, 'Hey! We screwed up on the lens cover thing, k? So we fixed it! Yay us!'

They had an issue; they quietly fixed it.

Sapphire glass isn't blue.

 

[joshhedge]

Common sense isn't very common these days. Which is why I spelled it out for him in my last post.

Sapphire glass isn't blue.

As a Chemical Engineering undergraduate, I enquired with one of my materials lectuers and she informed me that it is not visibly blue, you must have had a reflection or been imagining it.

Again, please provide a reputable source and don't be so scolding.

 

[WelshBloke]

As a Chemical Engineering undergraduate, I enquired with one of my materials lectuers and she informed me that it is not visibly blue, you must have had a reflection or been imagining it.

Again, please provide a reputable source and don't be so scolding.

Are you asking me?

 

[joshhedge]

Are you asking me?

Actually yes :sneaky:

Couldn't tell the sarc? I still would like to see an actual source though.

 

[WelshBloke]

Actually yes :sneaky:

Couldn't tell the sarc? I still would like to see an actual source though.

My source would be for you to go to a posh watch shop and ask to look at a watch with a sapphire glass face.

 

[FerrelGeek]

As a Chemical Engineering undergraduate, I enquired with one of my materials lectuers and she informed me that it is not visibly blue, you must have had a reflection or been imagining it.

Again, please provide a reputable source and don't be so scolding.

The only mistake I made was going by someone's explanation that the blue cover was sapphire glass. If you read back on this thread, I believe it was referred to as something like that. And as I said, a sales person in the store told me directly that Apple changed the lens cover. It wasn't a reflection as I saw the blue color in more that one phone in more that one store under different lighting conditions.

 

[Kaido]

So my brother just picked up an iPhone 5 (Verizon). Still has the purple flare. Doesn't appear to be as bad as my model, but a lot of his shots of his kids have very visible purple on them.

 

[Kaido]

My new 5S has purple flare, but only sometimes & not really that bad: (pardon the crop shot)

http://i.imgur.com/MYPWcLZ.jpg

From a slightly different angle, no purple haze:

http://i.imgur.com/WVPFx1n.jpg

I don't know if that's from the sapphire lens or what. I can deal with it. Not nearly as bad as the 5!

 

[Rakehellion]

Why is this such a big deal? It's a cell phone camera.