iPhone 5 defective camera thread (purple flare)

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Binhex

Junior Member
Oct 1, 2012
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Took some casual photos today, out looking at halloween decorations in a store. Thought I did a good job but 3 of the 6 photos I took have the purple haze in them. I would love to know if this i just how it's going to be I have 5 days to return my phone left.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,388
5,256
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Took some casual photos today, out looking at halloween decorations in a store. Thought I did a good job but 3 of the 6 photos I took have the purple haze in them. I would love to know if this i just how it's going to be I have 5 days to return my phone left.

If it bothers you that much, either return it and get your upgrade credit back, or sell it on eBay for a profit. I'm back on the 4S now and am much happier, not only with the lack of purple flare, but also with the phone screen being a better match to my computer screen and not so over-saturated with the colors. I also like seeing a 1:1 preview instead of a cropped preview of my photos on the widescreen. I know some camera manufacturers have gone to widescreen photos, so I'm curious if the next iPhone model will have a widescreen system instead of the tradition 4:3 or whatever it is.

I do miss the better low-light and sharper image, but for some reason my iPhone 5 had more problems taking blurry pictures than my 4S as well. And I'm still getting some great shots out of my 4S:

https://twitter.com/weaksauce12/status/254707027614507008/photo/1/large

http://i.imgur.com/kCVV8.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/3YItU.jpg

Although I'm trying to figure out if they changed the grain pattern in iOS6 for the 4S...on the 5 it definitely looked smudgy instead of grainy, while on the 4S it doesn't look as pixelated, but it doesn't look smudgy either. Maybe just my imagination, I dunno. But usually my b&w Monophix edits look different, so I'm not quite sure. Anyway, happily back on my 4S, bummed about the 5, looking forward to the 5S ;)
 

Wonderful Pork

Golden Member
Jul 24, 2005
1,531
1
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Seems like Apple is just saying its normal (as people said they would) - but I'm curious if they're going to try and tweak it with a SW update and don't even mention it.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,388
5,256
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Seems like Apple is just saying its normal (as people said they would) - but I'm curious if they're going to try and tweak it with a SW update and don't even mention it.

Someone put a Tiffen UV filter in front of their iPhone 5 and it seemed to do a good job killing the purple color:

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/10/04/iphone-5-purple-flare-its-the-purple-not-the-flare/

If it's not limited to just the initial batch missing out on the UV coating, there's going to be a nice aftermarket for lens filter cases :awe:
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
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I don't know how large filters are, but how hard would it just to stick one between my case and phone? :p
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,388
5,256
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Apple has issued an official statement of sorts:

http://www.slashgear.com/iphone-5-purple-halo-gets-apple-statement-07250830/

Support document is here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4436?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Symptoms
A purplish or other colored flare, haze, or spot is imaged from out-of-scene bright light sources during still image or video capture.

Resolution
Most small cameras, including those in every generation of iPhone, may exhibit some form of flare at the edge of the frame when capturing an image with out-of-scene light sources. This can happen when a light source is positioned at an angle (usually just outside the field of view) so that it causes a reflection off the surfaces inside the camera module and onto the camera sensor. Moving the camera slightly to change the position at which the bright light is entering the lens, or shielding the lens with your hand, should minimize or eliminate the effect.

Hahahaha...apparently I was holding it wrong the whole time :D
 
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phreaqe

Golden Member
Mar 22, 2004
1,204
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wow thats bullcrap. i have only taken like 4-5 pics with my iphone 5 since i got it and it has effected 2 of them. one i can give it a little pass because it was with the sun in the top right like many of the examples shown so far, but the other was an indoor phone with regular office light and i have a purple haze coming from all the fluorescent lights. that never happened on my 4s. EVER.
 

phreaqe

Golden Member
Mar 22, 2004
1,204
3
81
Exactly. i was getting so pissed yesterday browsing through the thread on MacRumors because almost every single post was " stop whining, even my $2000 SLR lens has lens flare man people are babies" When someone who was not an idiot would post the comparison that really shows the problem they would make excuses and say things like well it was not shot at the exact same angle at the exact same time of day so the comparison is invalid. Or they would make personal attacks on that poster. They all totally ignored the fact that while lens flare is normal, the pictures being taken with the Iphone 5 are not "normal" because they are freaking purple...
 

ControlD

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2005
5,440
44
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Exactly. i was getting so pissed yesterday browsing through the thread on MacRumors because almost every single post was " stop whining, even my $2000 SLR lens has lens flare man people are babies" When someone who was not an idiot would post the comparison that really shows the problem they would make excuses and say things like well it was not shot at the exact same angle at the exact same time of day so the comparison is invalid. Or they would make personal attacks on that poster. They all totally ignored the fact that while lens flare is normal, the pictures being taken with the Iphone 5 are not "normal" because they are freaking purple...

That is pretty much par for the course in regards to any thread over there. I like my Apple stuff too but those people almost make me feel bad for owning any of it.
 

phreaqe

Golden Member
Mar 22, 2004
1,204
3
81
yah, it was kind of like going into P&N here. you kind of feel dirty afterwords.
 

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,145
10
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LOL
Iphone user are so fucking stupid. this is the 2nd phone they don't know how to hold! really first you buys bitch about dropping calls because you can't hold it right. now purple pictures? dorks!

LEARN TO HOLD YOUR PHONE!

/that is sarcasm..
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,388
5,256
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Interesting test with a sapphire filter on a 4S - definitely adds more flare:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/08/iphone5-purple-haze-explained

The only thing I find irritating is when people are apologizing for it or making excuses like "it happens to every camera and it's no big deal". Call a spade a spade.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/10/08/iphone-purple-flare-are-holding-it-wrong-experts-agree/

Anyway, now that the new iPod Touches are coming out, I'm really anxious to see if they have the same defect that the iPhone 5 does. CNET has a review up, but no sample photos yet:

http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/apple-ipod-touch-5th/4505-6490_7-35453091.html

Camera
The 5-megapixel camera in the Touch isn’t the same as the 8-megapixel one in the iPhone 5. It isn’t even the same as the one in the iPhone 4S, because that one’s 8 megapixels, too. It’s a megapixel match for the camera in the iPhone 4, but that’s not the real measure at all. It’s the same lens construction as the camera in the iPhone 5, and shares its 1080 video recording and image stabilization. It has a backlit sensor. The front-facing camera is HD, just like the iPhone 5's, taking 1.2-megapixel shots and recording 720p video.

So, it’s best to call the camera a hybrid as far as iPhone-type legacies go. What pictures can you expect? Compared with any Touch ever released before, this is a quantum leap forward. This is an excellent camera for an iPod Touch, and a great one even compared with iPhones and smartphones. This is, finally, an iPod that’s also a camera. Hence, perhaps, the wrist strap.

Just a reminder of how far things have changed in just two years: the last Touch only took 960x720-pixel camera snaps and had a 640x480-pixel front-facing camera. In terms of video recording, our CNET verdict was that we still preferred using a Flip. Now, there is no Flip. This a killer portable video recorder, too. So far, it seems to be taking impressive photos and video. More to come.
 

Youngsoo

Junior Member
Oct 10, 2012
1
0
0
The atomic arrangement in sapphire is not cubic and it has 0.008 of birefringence. It means purple can spit more than other color for side beam. Can this make the flare problem for sapphire window used iphone 5?
 

Wreckem

Diamond Member
Sep 23, 2006
9,458
987
126
Consumer reports has come down with their opinion.

http://news.consumerreports.org/ele...roblem-isnt-limited-just-to-the-iphone-5.html

Here is a snippet.

We carried out our tests in response to reports, including those from PCMag.com and DPReview.com, that the iPhone 5 had a tendency to display a distracting purple color over parts of certain shots and videos. In our tests, the phone's camera did indeed display such a haze when we shot into a bright light source in our labs.

But it didn't do so in any more pronounced a fashion than did the iPhone 4S or two Android-based smart phones, the Samsung Galaxy S III and Motorola Droid Razr Maxx, when we tested those under the same conditions. In the course of our tests, the haze was sometimes purple, but sometimes another color or even a rainbow.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,388
5,256
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So far the two most reputable sources (dpreview and CR) have evaluated the camera in an objective, non-biased manner and both were rather unimpressed over the issue. I think I'll put more stock on their assessments instead of the anecdotal and biased opinions that are flying around the web.

I think it really boils down to how much it bothers you. Here's a pic from the 5:

http://asset2.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/10/07/photo_%2817%29_610x413.jpg

And here's a shot I took yesterday on my 4S:

https://twitter.com/weaksauce12/status/256233094565208064/photo/1/large

Personally I prefer the white/yellow/orange haze/flare on the 4S to the 5's purple tint. To me, the purple looks unnatural, especially when it's over people's faces. But, it doesn't bother everybody, which is why I think it's not getting as much attention as some of us iPhone photo buffs think it should. At any rate, I'm sure they'll figure out how to deal with it and do a silent fix and make sure the 5S doesn't have it, so I'll worry about upgrading again when that time comes ;)
 

eiken

Junior Member
Oct 15, 2012
1
0
0
I've had had serveral iPhone 4 and 3GS and so on, and have never experienced it. I i think i know how to hold a iPhone

Last Friday i really had to concentrate not to get the pursle haze on my pictures while walking around the city and taking pictures with my gf..
Even on this where the light source is in the ceiling and behind a board the purple appears. This is a due-over Aplle.
foto.JPG
 

MagickMan

Diamond Member
Aug 11, 2008
7,537
3
76
No haze with our two iP5s, but they're in carbon fiber cases that have built-in lens covers.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,388
5,256
136
I've had had serveral iPhone 4 and 3GS and so on, and have never experienced it. I i think i know how to hold a iPhone

Last Friday i really had to concentrate not to get the pursle haze on my pictures while walking around the city and taking pictures with my gf..
Even on this where the light source is in the ceiling and behind a board the purple appears. This is a due-over Aplle.
foto.JPG

Yeah that's more of the level that my phone had...on closer shots, people's faces would be partially obscured by the purple haze.