iPhone 5 defective camera thread (purple flare)

[fishbert42]

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

Sure it does.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdvortex/7401415456/

Samsung Galaxy S III
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dianasphotoart/8027066104/

iPhone 4S
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamieanderson/7750259758/

iPhone 4
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cynthiakphotography/7722339242/

Canon Powershot G9
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sexykitty/3130106978/

 

[Kaido]

Sure it does.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdvortex/7401415456/

Ooh that's fairly purple, thanks for posting. Galaxy Nexus, correct?

 

[fishbert42]

Ooh that's fairly purple, thanks for posting. Galaxy Nexus, correct?

That's what Flickr tells me on the right.

 

[eelw]

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?

Yes it's a nuisance to slightly readjust the shot when you get that perfect angle. But the finer details and colours that the iPhone 5 captures is worth it over the 4s.

 

[Kaido]

Yes it's a nuisance to slightly readjust the shot when you get that perfect angle. But the finer details and colours that the iPhone 5 captures is worth it over the 4s.

Yeah, that's why I've been on the fence about the whole thing - keeping it vs. returning it vs. going back to the 4S. The purple is annoying. I accidentally get it in a lot of shots outdoors where I don't notice it because the screen is hard to see in daylight conditions. But at the same time, I get better low-light and better sharpness. This flower was in the shade, and all I did was a couple tweaks in Camera+:

https://twitter.com/i/#!/weaksauce12/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com/2mhz3IsZ

I'm not super crazy about the new smearing effect instead of the pixel grain, but as I've looked over my i5 photos, if you don't crop a ton, I think it actually looks better. The bokeh looks more natural and it has more of a film effect as a whole vs. the 4S's pixel-style noise.

 

[mjs31]

After reading all of this earlier today I looked back at my picts. Several had a bad purple area somewhere in the image. Did some testing and you can definitely see it near a light source. No need to actually take a picture as you can see it through the camera app. I had read someone called Apple support so I said what the heck. I will get my name in the mix. I spent well over an hour with low level support and then was moved the the technical higher ups. They did not say that had a bunch of calls like some poster had said, but they did do a Google search and said they saw all the posts coming through on the issue. Either way...they decided they wanted to replace my phone using express (no charge for the express). I really don't think it will help, but I had already been so far with them that I went ahead and did it. They put a hold on my CC as protection and will send a phone out asap (yes, they said they had a few to do this with). I then have 10 days to return a phone. I asked them if I could just return the one they sent if it does the same thing and they said absolutely.
I really doubt it will make that much of a difference, but we shall see. If it is similar to my current phone I will send the replacement right back. Everything else is working to good on this phone to attempt a a swap.

 

[Kaido]

I have the same issue on my Verizon (if that matters) iPhone 5.

It's pretty easy to test and definitely doesn't require the sun. My room is dark at the moment, and all I did was put the camera to the left of my computer monitor and then move it over toward the monitor. When a monitor is about to enter the field of view, the right side of my screen definitely got a purple hue on it. Interestingly enough... it wasn't nearly as vibrant with my left monitor (ASUS VG278H -- LED Back-Lit) as it was with my right monitor (Dell U2709W -- CFL Back-Lit).

EDIT:

I was curious about the focus problem, and just opened up my camera while looking at still objects. It definitely did seem to want to refocus a bit more than necessary. Although, it didn't seem to cause a problem. Unfortunately, I can't recall if what I saw is abnormal compared to my old iPhone 4S, which I don't have anymore.

Hey, you're famous:

http://www.latinospost.com/articles/4625/20120926/iphone-5-problems-camera-flaw-displays-purple.htm

 

[Kaido]

Sure it does.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdvortex/7401415456/

Samsung Galaxy S III
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dianasphotoart/8027066104/

iPhone 4S
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamieanderson/7750259758/

iPhone 4
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cynthiakphotography/7722339242/

Canon Powershot G9
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sexykitty/3130106978/

How prevalent is this issue on other cell phones? Are people complaining about it?

I've been shooting with my 4S for almost a year now, pretty much daily. Again, I can see purple in some photos as I scroll through them, but nothing that really stands out like my iPhone 5 does. I don't really mind it in lens flare or anything like that, but when it's at the point where it's covering the faces of my family and friends in the photos I take, I start getting annoyed. Some people would dismiss it as simply a cell phone camera, but it is, after all, the most popular camera on Flickr, and that's saying something. Smartphone cameras are here to stay, and if it's an issue, let's call it an issue and not try to sweep it under the rug.

Also thanks to everyone for chiming in on this thread, I appreciate your feedback & discussion. I'm bummed that mine isn't the only "defective" one (was hoping it would be isolated & I could do a return), but at the same time it looks like we need a resolution from Apple on this. I'm crossing my fingers that a software patch will do the trick

 

[mjs31]

How prevalent is this issue on other cell phones? Are people complaining about it?

I've been shooting with my 4S for almost a year now, pretty much daily. Again, I can see purple in some photos as I scroll through them, but nothing that really stands out like my iPhone 5 does. I don't really mind it in lens flare or anything like that, but when it's at the point where it's covering the faces of my family and friends in the photos I take, I start getting annoyed. Some people would dismiss it as simply a cell phone camera, but it is, after all, the most popular camera on Flickr, and that's saying something. Smartphone cameras are here to stay, and if it's an issue, let's call it an issue and not try to sweep it under the rug.

Also thanks to everyone for chiming in on this thread, I appreciate your feedback & discussion. I'm bummed that mine isn't the only "defective" one (was hoping it would be isolated & I could do a return), but at the same time it looks like we need a resolution from Apple on this. I'm crossing my fingers that a software patch will do the trick

I agree with you about the purple getting on to peoples faces etc. Shooting into sunlight is not an issue. Even some slight purple around light sources is no big deal, but some photos the purple just goes to far.

 

[Kaido]

After reading all of this earlier today I looked back at my picts. Several had a bad purple area somewhere in the image. Did some testing and you can definitely see it near a light source. No need to actually take a picture as you can see it through the camera app. I had read someone called Apple support so I said what the heck. I will get my name in the mix. I spent well over an hour with low level support and then was moved the the technical higher ups. They did not say that had a bunch of calls like some poster had said, but they did do a Google search and said they saw all the posts coming through on the issue. Either way...they decided they wanted to replace my phone using express (no charge for the express). I really don't think it will help, but I had already been so far with them that I went ahead and did it. They put a hold on my CC as protection and will send a phone out asap (yes, they said they had a few to do this with). I then have 10 days to return a phone. I asked them if I could just return the one they sent if it does the same thing and they said absolutely.
I really doubt it will make that much of a difference, but we shall see. If it is similar to my current phone I will send the replacement right back. Everything else is working to good on this phone to attempt a a swap.

I think they're in a tough situation where a production deadline had to be met, so they shipped them out and now they're stuck dealing with the fallout. The poor people on the customer service side of things are stuck having to manage customers with problematic cameras and don't have a real resolution available yet.

It's probably going to end up the same as the antenna issue...they knew about it in production but it was too late to do anything about it because they were committed to a ship date, so they shipped it, and while they were shipping and waiting for the media bomb to drop, they were busy producing give-away iPhone bands that would prevent the issue from happening. A band-aid, yes, but it did fix the problem and they recovered from it. You don't just magically make millions of iPhone bumper guards overnight in response to an issue that suddenly appears - you have to start manufacturing them months or at least weeks ahead of time to get the design down, the materials shipped in, the production run going, the product shipping out overseas, etc.

So right now it's a marketing game. There's no way they didn't see this in testing, especially given how the majority of users are experiencing this issue. They can play it off as something that "all smartphones do" and to "hold it different", or they can issue a real fix through software, hardware, or a recall and manage it that way. I've been a happy iPhone user since the first one came out and I'm not going to jump ship over one little issue, but I would definitely like to see this fixed, seeing as how I'm not the only one with the problem and not the only one bothered by it.

 

[Aikouka]

So, I don't have any other smartphones, but I do have three tablets: iPad 2, ASUS TF300 and a HP TouchPad. Unfortunately, the latter lacks a rear-facing camera, so I didn't use it. I ran two tests on the first two tablets and my iPhone 5 (Verizon). The first was what I mentioned earlier with my monitors in the dark. I moved the camera the left monitor was just out of view on the right side. Then I did the same with the right monitor and the left monitor was in view. The second test was with my lights on, and I moved the camera so the two bulbs were just out of view.

In both tests, the iPad 2 and TF300 did not have any purple hue. The iPhone 5 failed both tests. The TF300 did have a ridiculous "angelic effect" where the light seemed over saturated unless the focus was placed on the light source. I could actually take the photos if you would like to see the results... I was just being lazy. :$

 

[mjs31]

I do still have my Galaxy S3, but have not done any real world tests. I imagine I can get some purple but I dont think it will do the extreme purple carry over the i5 is doing. That being said, overall the i5 camera is superior to the S3

Just held them side by side with the camera on. Faced my night light which is pretty bright and slowly moved both away. Both showed purple in the image, but the i5 was probably 5 times as bad. 5x meaning in the amount and saturation of the purple.

Update again. I looked at the i5 closer as I moved it. As the purple started appearing it was not one steady flow. It was purple all around the light source, but actually had a gap between two shadows. Almost like the phone was turning any near shadows purple once there was other purple in the image. If this is the case, then this part could certainly be fixed via software. Not saying it would eliminate the total fringe, but I am talking about the carry over.

 

[fishbert42]

I've been shooting with my 4S for almost a year now, pretty much daily. Again, I can see purple in some photos as I scroll through them, but nothing that really stands out like my iPhone 5 does.

Don't rule out photographer behavior as a variable.

I'm looking at the photos in post #1, and apart from the clouds (looks normal), the only photos I think you might have attempted with the iPhone 4S are the one with the leaves and maybe the garage. The other two (lamp and firetruck) would appear to rely rather heavily on the improved low-light performance of the iPhone 5 -- in a dark environment, the definition of "bright light source" expands a bit.

 

[Kaido]

I agree with you about the purple getting on to peoples faces etc. Shooting into sunlight is not an issue. Even some slight purple around light sources is no big deal, but some photos the purple just goes to far.

Yeah, like I said - I think the i5 purple-flare issue is going to be one of "moreso than other phones", just like the previous antenna issue. It is what it is, and it is an issue.

I've got a couple more video shoots coming up this week, so I'll see how those go and how well I can manage the purple color for multiple video shots on the i5. I did some testing tonight indoors at a basketball gym and the bright fluorescents had a slight purple bloom there too:

http://telly.com/G2LY8

 

[Spicedaddy]

Was thinking about something... I noticed when I first tried the iPhone 5 camera that it would light up dark scenes a lot. (I can see stuff in pictures that are too dark to see with my eyes)

Maybe this higher sensitivity is affecting pictures with bright scenes and exaggerating the purple haze effect? Any of you phographers have an idea?

 

[eelw]

I got ever so slight purple flaring to appear on my iPhone 4 and Asus TF101.

 

[Kaido]

Update again. I looked at the i5 closer as I moved it. As the purple started appearing it was not one steady flow. It was purple all around the light source, but actually had a gap between two shadows. Almost like the phone was turning any near shadows purple once there was other purple in the image. If this is the case, then this part could certainly be fixed via software. Not saying it would eliminate the total fringe, but I am talking about the carry over.

I could live with that...I don't mind flare, in fact I use it to my advantage in a lot of my photos, it's just that the purple can be so prominent. This one isn't too bad, but there's definitely a tint on the magenta side of things:

http://i.imgur.com/5CQtC.jpg

 

[Aikouka]

Asus TF101.

Out of curiosity, what were you doing? I'd like to try it with my TF300 since I couldn't get it to haze in my rudimentary tests.

 

[badb0y]

Ahhh yes I just captured the purple haze effect. It seems to happen when the light is shining into the picture from somewhere outside the picture.

I can see how this can ruin some shots for people and it's a valid concern but I moved the camera just a bit like a mm or so and the purple haze was gone. It's not enough for me to send it back to Apple since I use the camera very rarely but it's a valid problem.

Thanks for bringing this into light Kaido!

 

[Kaido]

Was thinking about something... I noticed when I first tried the iPhone 5 camera that it would light up dark scenes a lot. (I can see stuff in pictures that are too dark to see with my eyes)

Maybe this higher sensitivity is affecting pictures with bright scenes and exaggerating the purple haze effect? Any of you phographers have an idea?

I dunno. My Canon T2i is awesome at low-light stuff. I primarily use 50/60's-era vintage lenses, which do super awesome in low-light conditions (some seem faster than advertised!) and have never run into an issue this bad in either photo or video.

 

[Kaido]

Thanks for bringing this into light Kaido!

:awe:

 

[mjs31]

Ahhh yes I just captured the purple haze effect. It seems to happen when the light is shining into the picture from somewhere outside the picture.

I can see how this can ruin some shots for people and it's a valid concern but I moved the camera just a bit like a mm or so and the purple haze was gone. It's not enough for me to send it back to Apple since I use the camera very rarely but it's a valid problem.

Thanks for bringing this into light Kaido!

I agree that being aware will help a lot. Someone posted a panorama earlier with two spots of large purple finge in it. Something like that would be a little hard to control. I just hope they can throttle back the carry over that you can get.

 

[ControlD]

My feeling on this entire issue is this: If you are counting on a small sensor device like an iPhone for your primary photo engine then you are simply going to have to live with some purple fringing issues. This is not all that uncommon. Lots of good photo review sites spend part of their reviews on the amount of (purple) fringing in photos. Many times the difference between a $300 lens and a $1000 lens is in part due to the reduction in visible fringing. There are expensive post processing engines that deal specifically with purple fringing. The iPhone has a tiny little sensor packaged in a tiny little frame, same as any other cell phone camera. The fact that the iPhone camera (or any other cell phone for that matter) can provide acceptable photos at all is an engineering marvel. That being said, if the quality of your photos is so important that some color aberration is going to be a deal breaker then you shouldn't be using a micro sensor camera in the first place. There is a reason a good DSLR + lens costs more than an iPhone.

 

[dlock13]

I was able to capture the purple haze on my sister's iPhone 5 (white, AT&T) within a relatively quick time. Literally, took the phone from her, went over to the kitchen and produced it in as much time as you think (1-3 seconds). I realize it could be a lens flare, but I still think it's kind of huge. I've honestly never noticed any kind of purple haze with my Nexus at all.

Regardless, I'm sure Apple won't do anything about it and the phone will still be a smashing success and no negative press will be drawn towards them. >_<

 

[mjs31]

Aim your camera at a light source and slightly move it away until you get the purple. Hold it there and than move your hand in above the camera and watch the haze go away. No doubt it is lens flare. Makes you wonder if some cases couldn't help shield the lens from the angle light.