iPhone 5 Camera Purple Haze

[Retconaddict]

I have the purple fringe thing too. It's not just in sunlight, it's also in the dark if there's a small light source just out of shot. Worryingly easy to replicate. Never had this issue on my 4s.

 

[CrackedBarry]

Worryingly easy to replicate. Never had this issue on my 4s.

That's cause you've never tried to replicate it. It's not exactly a common way to take a picture.

I've also just replicated it on my HTC One X, which supposedly has one of the best cameras out there, because THIS IS NOT AN APPLE ISSUE OR EXCLUSIVE TO THE IPHONE5, IT'S NORMAL!

If you want to blame somebody, don't blame Apple, blame God for having designed the laws of nature the way he did.

Aberration affect all cameras/phones/lenses once you get down to a certain thinness, heck, you can even reproduce it on a DSLR or digital autofocus camera in some cases. The only reason its an issue all of a sudden is because of

A: iPhone 5 being such a great story, that the media loves to report on it. (If It's a negative or controversial story, even better!)

B: Journalists at the above mentioned media outlets aren't photography experts and/or don't do their job properly and talk to somebody who is, who can explain chromatic aberration to them.

and...

C: iphone5 owners reading about this, rushing out to reproduce a commonly occurring effect and posting about it online.

It's a self-fulfilling circle of fail....

But yes, unless you want a thicker phone, you live with it, or avoid shooting pictures in this way. Somehow it wasn't a problem before you knew about it, right?

(And no, I'm not an Apple apologist, and I certainly don't mind criticizing them when they're wrong, like in the patent case. But EVERYBODY who is an expert on this will tell you that chromatic aberration is normal/common with very thin cameras. It's one of the tradeoffs cellphone manufacturers are forced to make, to make phones less than a cm thick!)

 

[ls108]

Lens fringing also known as chromatic aberration is an image defect that is caused by the inability of a lens to focus all wavelengths into a single point. White light is made up of the combination of different colors of light. The rainbow colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet all make up white light. The apparent differences between the angle of refraction of the wavelengths of light cause a shift wherein some colors are not refracted into the right point. This causes what is known as purple fringing and yellow fringing.

It happens on High End DSLR cameras also. But is corrected with various software ( Photoshop etc)its not an apple defect at all. It happens on my Cannon EOS Rebel T3 depending on the day and light surrounding the area of the images,

 

[Alldaybreakfast]

Sorry but it has nothing to do with the camera. Body, it's a lens issue. Plenty of examples of canon "L" lenses flaring. That's why they sell lens hoods. My Leica lenses also flare. My zeiss lenses are the best against flare but they'll flare too on occasion.

Oops struggling here to use an unfamiliar forum. This was in reply to the person who said they tried their higher end Canons and didn't see the issue.

 

[Alldaybreakfast]

Not purple haze but another camera issue?

http://i45.tinypic.com/2927k20.jpg

But with low light, no purple fringing..

http://i45.tinypic.com/rcpylx.jpg

What your first pic shows is burned out highlightst, the light from the bulb was brighter than the sensors ability to record light. This will happen with any digital camera and even film cams. Basically the scenes lighting goes over the sensor's dynamic range. The iPhone is trying to show the main subject in a good light and the highlights around the bulb are brighter than what the sensor can handle. The alternative is a very dark shot with the bulb looking ok

Still struggling I guess, don't know if reply with quotes usually brings the images with it but it didn't here. My reply was to the top pic with the lamp with the big white burnout spot where the bulb was

 

[JCRocky5]

Could it be due to the use of the sapphire lens crystal cover? or the smart filter that the A6 chip applies to each image?

As I have an iphone4, ipad2 & cannot reproduce this purple haze.

 

[Alldaybreakfast]

The basic problem in almost all of the posted images is lens flare, something that happens on lenses right up to the most expensive lenses from Canon, Nikon, Leica, etc. Google lens flare and click Images and you'll see a never ending array of shapes and colours. Or read this: Understanding Camera Lens Flare

If you don't feel like reading the above link, what is happening is that light from a strong light source is coming in at an angle to the lens, passing through the glass of the lens and then striking some part of the internal side of the lenses. Depending on the angle of incidence and the coating on the internal part of the lens, you get slightly different effects. Lens hoods are one way of combatting lens flare. You'll see even the most expensive lenses have lens hoods and professional photographers routinely use them. Unfortunately smartphones don't use lens hoods. Another way that lens manufacturers fight flare is by using coatings on lenses. I'm not sure but I'm doubtful that smartphones use coatings on lenses because smartphones are stuffed into pockets and purses and that would damage the coatings.

It may be that the thinness of the new iPhone contributes to the problem. I don't think anybody has ever made such a thin camera for mass use. But I'm sure that Apple engineers are up against all kinds of physical laws by trying to get a camera into such a thin object.

Some people have mentionned purple fringing or chromatic aberration but that's something different. You can read more about that here: Purple Fringing - Chromatic Aberrations

 

[AdamChew]

It appear to happen with any major light source in the shot. Here is a shot I took at a friends house and the purple glare is evident. I can say that I could not replicate it with his 4S:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...9-A865-B837C0C7F3AD-1260-000000643B236E09.jpg

Really kind of sucks, and I doubt there is a fix for it. Most likely a hardware issue with the lens used. Where the hell is quality control on this stuff. I will only ever use Apple, but there seems to be some major issues with this phone.

Now all of sudden people has taken an interest is doing what most professional photographers don't do that is shoot at the light source, I know this is deliberately looking for fault but then they are some very clever people out there trying to make a new way of living by shooting pictures against a light source.

I wonder how many people love pictures with lens flare.

The only lens I know of that can shoot pictures against a light source is the ones used by Rollei medium format cameras and each one is worth many iPhones, so go figure.

 

[chevysales]

hello all,

new member here but over 35 vears of hi-end slr/dslr use (currently with nikon D700 and D4 along with the usual Nikkor lens one would l have with these pro line bodies which with $2 bucks will get me a cup of coffee.

this issue while not brought to light originally on the website I am linking too was most definetly the first to explain it and is probabaly one of the better sites I would send anyone looking for camera purchase (then i would say order it from B and H) anyhow please read the following for an explanation by those who do it for a living and have no axe to grind in any direction. If you want to check other Photography sites that have been reviewing and talking about phone cams my I also suggest Fred Miranda
Quick Review: Apple iPhone 5 Camera: Digital Photography Review

it thoroughly explains what it is and who or what is at fault.
also you may want to read their entire review comparing cameras on 4s to 5. it may suprise many of you, it did me when I compared my prints on 4x6 and 100 crops from centers, and edges.

I had a 4 month old black 16gb 4s (ATT) that I sold for $430 and promptly decided I had to have white 32gb iPhone 5 and got in line at 10 pm sept 20th at my local Apple store. I was second in line that at 8 am when they opened line was about 200 plus long. while they had enough phones i will say not enough 16 gbs as it seems lots of apple stores overloaded on 64gb models (hmmm) many in line complained of the lack of ATT 16 gb you could see the stacked cards on the cart they pushed down the linetoo many sprints, not enough ATT or Verizen on 16gb as an informal poll showed most in line were doing the end of contract upgrade and wanted the $199 deal, me ehhhh I just wanted the phone as its a tool for my job, a toy at times and a companion on my daily runs along with my $20 sensor I have to keep swaping daily from shoe to shoe (runners know what I mean).
Anyhow I got mine and have yet to experience the purple issue (but it does exist and very strange as one of the supposed Apple points was to make camera better in low light situations or so I read prior to release) but if you read the article it hopefully will stop the pages and pages of mis-information I am reading in so many apple forums across the web and understandbly so as DSLR photography is a very different hobby to understand.

Anyhow I love my phone (BTW we are a Windows 7 family in our home I happen to have a Puget Systems Desktop desigend for my photograpy work and my audio work), I spent $400 out of pocket including ATT's $30 to "activate" again but to get LTE at home and around town now and for that I am happy.And props to iMore for directing me to spigen/spg screen protectors i got the olephobic (sp?) and love it.I was only 3 months into my Family Talk with only one daughter left with me as wife ran to Verizen and older daughter did months ago. I never jumped as I was "sold" on unlimited data... but would have loved to have facetime on cellular just wonder if would would have worked out with the shared data nonsense.

I hope the link above explains in laymans terms what is giving off the purple and there is NO software change that can overcome it. Hardware issue.

Thanx hope this is some help....

 

[Retconaddict]

That's cause you've never tried to replicate it. It's not exactly a common way to take a picture.

I've also just replicated it on my HTC One X, which supposedly has one of the best cameras out there, because THIS IS NOT AN APPLE ISSUE OR EXCLUSIVE TO THE IPHONE5, IT'S NORMAL!

If you want to blame somebody, don't blame Apple, blame God for having designed the laws of nature the way he did.

Aberration affect all cameras/phones/lenses once you get down to a certain thinness, heck, you can even reproduce it on a DSLR or digital autofocus camera in some cases. The only reason its an issue all of a sudden is because of

A: iPhone 5 being such a great story, that the media loves to report on it. (If It's a negative or controversial story, even better!)

B: Journalists at the above mentioned media outlets aren't photography experts and/or don't do their job properly and talk to somebody who is, who can explain chromatic aberration to them.

and...

C: iphone5 owners reading about this, rushing out to reproduce a commonly occurring effect and posting about it online.

It's a self-fulfilling circle of fail....

But yes, unless you want a thicker phone, you live with it, or avoid shooting pictures in this way. Somehow it wasn't a problem before you knew about it, right?

(And no, I'm not an Apple apologist, and I certainly don't mind criticizing them when they're wrong, like in the patent case. But EVERYBODY who is an expert on this will tell you that chromatic aberration is normal/common with very thin cameras. It's one of the tradeoffs cellphone manufacturers are forced to make, to make phones less than a cm thick!)

Actually I've just tried on my mums 4S in the same light conditions (my room, in the dark, like a creepy loner) and I couldn't get the purple lens flare. I realise its a fault of lenses in general and not Apple's fault, but it seems like the camera on the 4S is higher quality than the one on the 5. It's not so bothersome and you're right, I had to actively seek it out, it's never happened by accident, but still a tad annoying for the 1/100 shot that will end up having it. Just means I need to be more careful. (And the phone is awesome enough to more than make up for it)

 

[iEd]

I don't have a i5 but this purple haze thing is no good. It was the same kind of deal with the HTC EVO 3D except the haze was green and it wouldn't happen all the time. I think there is something wrong here. I taken a crazy amount of pics with my 4s since I got it because of all the talk about how great the cam was and I never have gotten any kind of lens flare. Even with my Nikon Digital I have never had colored lens flare.

It does piss me off when Apples answer to something f**k up is hold it a different way or "Step away from the light". I bet future runs of the i5 and potential i5s won't have this problem. It's hard to do but I try to stay away from the first run of any Apple product. Believe me if my contract was up I would have been in line for a i5 and highly pissed about the purple haze especially after dealing with EVO green haze for a year.

 

[cardfan]

Quick Review: Apple iPhone 5 Camera: Digital Photography Review

This review is pretty spot on. All iphones had this problem. But the iphone 5 is just a bit more prevalent and easier to replicate as this review points out and from experience.

It's a problem easily solved though as you shouldn't be taking pics with bright light sources just off the frame.

But it's this "more noticeable propensity towards lens flare" that is the complaint.

Edit: oops..didn't notice another poster had the same link. Oh well..it's worth posting again.

 

[JHBThree]

I don't have a i5 but this purple haze thing is no good. It was the same kind of deal with the HTC EVO 3D except the haze was green and it wouldn't happen all the time. I think there is something wrong here. I taken a crazy amount of pics with my 4s since I got it because of all the talk about how great the cam was and I never have gotten any kind of lens flare. Even with my Nikon Digital I have never had colored lens flare.

It does piss me off when Apples answer to something f**k up is hold it a different way or "Step away from the light". I bet future runs of the i5 and potential i5s won't have this problem. It's hard to do but I try to stay away from the first run of any Apple product. Believe me if my contract was up I would have been in line for a i5 and highly pissed about the purple haze especially after dealing with EVO green haze for a year.

Learn to read. Apples response is pretty much the only one they could give. There isn't a defect with the camera, it's just how cameras work in a very specific situation. There isn't anything apple can do to fix this.

 

[Eisforme]

Obviously, I can replicate this situation on my iPhone 5, but the conditions have to be just right.

A few observations I have made:
1) When taking a picture, I can see the spot on the screen. So, it's not like its going to be a surprise when I view my photos later.
2) HDR on seems to make the purple spot more "dense."
3) When I saw the purple spot on the screen, if I shifted the phone just slightly, it was gone.

There is a perfectly sound explanation for all of this which has been explained in previous posts and the links provided. The iPhone 5 does seem to be a little worse than other iPhone models. However, the conditions have to be favorable, and in most cases, the slightest adjustment can remedy the situation. If all we do is purposely focus on trying to replicate the problem all day, then it's going to be a lot worse than it really is.

 

[iEd]

Learn to read. Apples response is pretty much the only one they could give. There isn't a defect with the camera, it's just how cameras work in a very specific situation. There isn't anything apple can do to fix this.

It's the one the always give homey. Of course that can't fix it. Dude trust your eyes not what someone tells you not even what Apple tells you. You know you haven't seen any sh*t like that before come on. The real answer is it's f**ked up in a specific situation and I love Apple products but when something is f**ked up even from Apple I'll say it is. For example the original Macbook Pro was f**ked up. Apple has some great products but they will drop some BS every now and then like any company.

 

[baseballbert]

Their answer is to shoot the picture differently once again putting the blame on the user for an apple issue. Shocker.

 

[Guacho]

if every single iPhone does this then Apple's explanation would make sense, if this is only present in some iphone 5 units then it is obviously an issue and need to be addressed..

 

[kch50428]

if every single iPhone does this then Apple's explanation would make sense, if this is only present in some iphone 5 units then it is obviously an issue and need to be addressed..

It only happens to people that don't know how to properly compose pictures, and those that are not smart enough to properly use available light. It's not Apple's fault. I can make it happen on my 4S if I work at it.

 

[Guacho]

" It's a problem easily solved though as you shouldn't be taking pics with bright light sources just off the frame. "


Sorry but this doesn't sound right to me, if that's the way someone wants to frame a picture then they should be able to do it.
I took three identical pictures with my iphone 5, point & shoot and a dslr and the only one that came like that was from the ip5, however.. It was really small and i haven't experience the issue with my daily pics..

 

[Guacho]

It only happens to people that don't know how to properly compose pictures, and those that are not smart enough to properly use available light. It's not Apple's fault. I can make it happen on my 4S if I work at it.

With millions of iphones out there the chances are most of the people have no idea about composing , use of available light, etc and they dont have to..
This is obviously overblown but I wouldn't go as far as blaming everybody for not being photography savvy...