iPhone 5 defective camera thread (purple flare)

[Aikouka]

I haven't run into a single person on this forum, Twitter, or in real life who does not have the issue. Out of the 15 or so phones tested, only 3 of them show it to a "minor" degree - it's still there though, just not a huge flareup.

Have you always tested in the same area? The level of "Hendrixitude" seems to be affected by a disparity between the brightness of the scene and the outlying light source. That's why I think my CFL-lit monitor had a brighter purple hue... it's brighter than my LED-lit monitor, which has adaptive lighting.

 

[ThermalShark]

Thanks - yeah it's really weird, I've seen ZERO coverage of it ANYWHERE, despite people doing camera testing and whatnot. But when you follow the procedure (bright light off-camera), pretty much everyone has it. I'm up to 10 or so iPhone 5's tested, they all look the same. Le sigh

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57520702-37/iphone-5-camera-users-reporting-purple-halo-on-certain-photos/

With a link back to this thread, Kaido, you got your 15 min of fame

 

[Aikouka]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57520702-37/iphone-5-camera-users-reporting-purple-halo-on-certain-photos/

With a link back to this thread, Kaido, you got your 15 min of fame

It's good to see. Hopefully giving this a little bit of visibility will push it along a little faster for those that are worried about being able to return the device (e.g. Verizon's 30-day return window) if it isn't fixable.

EDIT:

Although, the one thing that I would like to clarify in the article is that the purple haze effect doesn't require you to look at the light source first. It just seems to require the bright source of light to be right outside of the picture/video.

 

[Kaido]

Here's another article on The Next Web showing purple on the 4S as well as the 5:

http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/09/26/the-iphone-5s-camera-suffering-purple-haze-flaw-not-fast/

We tested 2 4S's side-by-side with 2 5's (both black and white) and none of the 4S's had purple. I'm pretty sure I've seen purple occasionally in the past on the 4S, as with pretty much any camera, but not to the extent of the 5.

So I'm guessing this is like the antennagate thing - yeah all cameras do it, the iPhone 5 just happens to do it more.

 

[Kaido]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57520702-37/iphone-5-camera-users-reporting-purple-halo-on-certain-photos/

With a link back to this thread, Kaido, you got your 15 min of fame

Haha thanks. I like how I'm the Twitter guy, the Telly guy, and the Anandtech guy. 3 in 1 bundle deal! :awe:

 

[VashHT]

Hmm interesting that they got it to happen on the 4S as well, maybe I'll try it tonight on the other phones I have and see what happens. Last night I was taking some pictures just trying to see how bad it was and I have to admit sometimes it was hard for me to even get the flare to come up so I'm not sure it's that bad, probably not bad enough for me to return the phone.

 

[FerrelGeek]

It'd be interesting to know what Apple's testing environment was. Why they didn't catch this.

 

[Kaido]

Hmm interesting that they got it to happen on the 4S as well, maybe I'll try it tonight on the other phones I have and see what happens. Last night I was taking some pictures just trying to see how bad it was and I have to admit sometimes it was hard for me to even get the flare to come up so I'm not sure it's that bad, probably not bad enough for me to return the phone.

My guess is, ultimately, this will be a problem of "more extensive purple flare" than other cameras.

 

[Kaido]

Have you always tested in the same area? The level of "Hendrixitude" seems to be affected by a disparity between the brightness of the scene and the outlying light source. That's why I think my CFL-lit monitor had a brighter purple hue... it's brighter than my LED-lit monitor, which has adaptive lighting.

Indoors, outdoors
Daytime, nighttime, low-light
White iPhone 5, Black iPhone 5
Verizon iPhones, AT&T iPhones.

So far 100% of iPhone 5's reported here and on Twitter are having this issue. I have only seen 3 in-person/online that have it to a less extent. Most are as bad as mine is.

 

[Spicedaddy]

My iPhone 5 does the purple haze thing, but I just tried with my old iPhone 4 and it also does it... (maybe a little less purple, but it's still there)

It shows on the screen before taking the picture, so not that big a deal in my case.

 

[VashHT]

My guess is, ultimately, this will be a problem of "more extensive purple flare" than other cameras.

Yeah that's pretty disappointing, it looks like this problem is getting more exposure now with Gizmodo also reporting on it. I wonder if Apple will respond to it or if they're having people look into it on their end.

 

[Lightcraftsman]

I registered specifically to reply to this thread. What y'all are seeing is called chromatic aberration, and it is a common problem with simple lenses. I have 25 years professional photography experience, and know from experience that only expensive apochromatic lenses can shoot into the Sun without showing severe CA. APO lenses requires multiple elements of expensive and rare glass, which is simply not feasible on a smartphone.

The answer to this problem is: stop shooting directly into bright light sources. The stadium shot posted earlier actually looks like Apple did an excellent job controlling CA in such a simple and inexpensive lens. Even my $1200 Canon 135/2L would show some CA under those conditions.

 

[Aikouka]

I have 25 years professional photography experience

One of the users was testing the 4S in the same conditions as the 5, and it didn't produce the same purple fringe result. Is there a reason why the 4S would work better than the 5?

 

[eelw]

This issue is going to be just as overblown as the scuffgate. Yes the effect is more pronounce on the iPhone 5, but it can still be replicated on the iPhone 4 and other cell phone and P&S cameras. And considering you can see it when you're framing the shot, just take a step to the side and get a slightly different angle to avoid having it. Problem solved.

 

[Kaido]

This issue is going to be just as overblown as the scuffgate. Yes the effect is more pronounce on the iPhone 5, but it can still be replicated on the iPhone 4 and other cell phone and P&S cameras. And considering you can see it when you're framing the shot, just take a step to the side and get a slightly different angle to avoid having it. Problem solved.

iPhone 5 vs. iPhone 4S vs. Nikon D300. I'll take the 4S, thanks:

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/180c7n48voye9jpg/original.jpg

 

[Kaido]

I registered specifically to reply to this thread. What y'all are seeing is called chromatic aberration, and it is a common problem with simple lenses. I have 25 years professional photography experience, and know from experience that only expensive apochromatic lenses can shoot into the Sun without showing severe CA. APO lenses requires multiple elements of expensive and rare glass, which is simply not feasible on a smartphone.

The answer to this problem is: stop shooting directly into bright light sources. The stadium shot posted earlier actually looks like Apple did an excellent job controlling CA in such a simple and inexpensive lens. Even my $1200 Canon 135/2L would show some CA under those conditions.

Chromatic aberration is defined as "fringes of color along boundaries that separate dark and bright parts of the image", according to Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_aberration

I've had cheap cameras in the past, in particular Kodak digital cameras, that exhibited severe chromatic aberration. I've never seen it defined as haze or flare, only as fringing, such as in this image: (the twig in the middle)

http://www.fotoblography.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/purple-fringe.jpg

 

[Kaido]

It is also not "purple fringing":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_fringing

Only happens around bright light sources: lamps, sun, glare, glints, etc.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

iPhone 5 vs. iPhone 4S vs. Nikon D300. I'll take the 4S, thanks:

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/180c7n48voye9jpg/original.jpg

That picture is ridiculous - I haven't been able to replicate it to such a degree.

Check out these 2 pictures - not as bad as other pictures...maybe its cause I don't have a case or something? Straight out of the phone, no crop or enhance. The light is a 60W single bulb and I went for worst case purple halo...

 

[Lightcraftsman]

That picture is ridiculous - I haven't been able to replicate it to such a degree.

Also, note that there is much more of the Sun in the iPhone5 photo, and very bad reflections in the Nikon photo, but that is the lens not the camera. Whoever posted it did not give any information on the lens used. Putting a professional grade Nikon lens on the D300 would improve its performance dramatically.

The only lens I have owned that did not show CA when shooting into the Sun was the 80/2.8 Zeiss T* that came with my Hasselblad 500 C/M. Expecting a lens on a $200 smartphone to have the same CA performance as a Zeiss lens is unrealistic.

 

[Kaido]

That picture is ridiculous - I haven't been able to replicate it to such a degree.

Check out these 2 pictures - not as bad as other pictures...maybe its cause I don't have a case or something? Straight out of the phone, no crop or enhance. The light is a 60W single bulb and I went for worst case purple halo...

I don't have a case either. I can see the purple in yours, but it doesn't seem to be as bad as mine. I think here is the summary so far:

1. All iPhone 5's have this purple flare/haze issue
2. Some do not have it as bad as others
3. The iPhone 4S also has it, but not nearly as bad
4. I think this will be classified as the purple haze being "far more apparent" than other cameras

In any case, I'm not real happy with mine. Unless I can get a fix, it's going back to Verizon and I'm downgrading to the 4S, where this was not an issue for me.

 

[Kaido]

News Coverage so far:

Gizmodo: Is Your iPhone 5 Camera Seeing Purple?
http://gizmodo.com/5946683/is-your-iphone-5-camera-seeing-purple

PetaPixel: iPhone 5 Has Purple Flare, Possibly the Same Issue That Plagued the Leica M8
http://www.petapixel.com/2012/09/26/iphone-5-has-purple-flare-possibly-the-same-issue-that-plagued-the-leica-m8/

AppleInsider: iPhone 5 users seeing 'purple haze' in pictures, claim camera is defective
http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/09/26/iphone-5-users-seeing-purple-haze-in-pictures-claim-camera-is-defective

Cult of Mac: Major iPhone 5 Camera Issue Is Causing Purple Halo Effect On Photos [updated]
http://www.cultofmac.com/192996/major-iphone-5-camera-issue-is-causing-purple-halo-effect-on-photos/

PC Magazine: iPhone 5 Users Report 'Purple Flare' Camera Defect
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410239,00.asp

TechCrunch: The iPhone 5′s Camera Is Faulty, Shows Purple Haze When Light Source Is Just Out Of Frame
http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/26/the-iphone-5s-camera-is-faulty-shows-a-purple-haze/

LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-iphone-5-camera-purple-20120926,0,4988730.story

Business Insider: Everyone Is Complaining About A 'Purple Haze' On iPhone 5 Photos, But It's Really Not A Big Deal
http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-5-camera-purple-haze-problem-2012-9

The Next Web: The iPhone 5′s camera “suffering” from ‘purple haze’ flaw? Not so fast
http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/09/26/the-iphone-5s-camera-suffering-purple-haze-flaw-not-fast/

etc.

 

[jacktesterson]

I registered specifically to reply to this thread. What y'all are seeing is called chromatic aberration, and it is a common problem with simple lenses. I have 25 years professional photography experience, and know from experience that only expensive apochromatic lenses can shoot into the Sun without showing severe CA. APO lenses requires multiple elements of expensive and rare glass, which is simply not feasible on a smartphone.

The answer to this problem is: stop shooting directly into bright light sources. The stadium shot posted earlier actually looks like Apple did an excellent job controlling CA in such a simple and inexpensive lens. Even my $1200 Canon 135/2L would show some CA under those conditions.

My Galaxy Nexus doesn't show purple in any shots like the iphone5 that I've ever noticed , tested today, why would that be?

 

[badb0y]

How are you guys doing this I can't seem to replicate it. Does it only occur with sunlight?

Here's some sample photos that I took trying to replicate the issue in my friends car and at home:
https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/Photo Sep 26, 7 32 21 PM.jpg?w=f673ab95
https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/Photo Sep 26, 7 32 43 PM.jpg?w=3e5e2068
https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/Photo Sep 26, 9 13 32 PM.jpg?w=8aa71af4

 

[Kaido]

My Galaxy Nexus doesn't show purple in any shots like the iphone5 that I've ever noticed , tested today, why would that be?

Yeah, in all of my side-by-side tests with 2 iPhone 4S's and 2 iPhone 5's, the 4S's don't show any purple. It's very specific to the 5, as far as the severity goes.

Is this issue getting overblown? Sort of. It's not the end of the world, but it's enough of an issue that when I scroll through my iPhone 5 photos, I see purple pop up quite often. So far I've been getting a lot of contact online through here, Twitter, email, etc. and not one person who has contacted me has a purple-free iPhone camera, so it's hard to confirm if maybe it's a batch issue or if 100% of every single phone has it. A few don't have it quite as bad, but there's still noticeable purple in the shots.

 

[Kaido]

How are you guys doing this I can't seem to replicate it. Does it only occur with sunlight?

Here's some sample photos that I took trying to replicate the issue in my friends car and at home:
https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/Photo Sep 26, 7 32 21 PM.jpg?w=f673ab95
https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/Photo Sep 26, 7 32 43 PM.jpg?w=3e5e2068
https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/Photo Sep 26, 9 13 32 PM.jpg?w=8aa71af4

Errors on all your pics, try Imgur:

imgur.com

It is a fairly specific issue - bright sources, typically off-camera. If I try, I can usually angle the camera so I eliminate most or all of the purple haze, but for crying out loud, it's a camera, why should I have to do that?