Apple Acknowledges iPhone 5 Camera Flaw 472
An anonymous reader writes "Many iPhone 5 users are complaining that its camera is adding a purple flare to their photos. Speculation is that it's caused by the new sapphire lens cover that Apple touted as 'thinner and more durable than standard glass with the ability to provide crystal clear images.' Apple's response to those who've complained? 'The purple flare in the image provided is considered normal behavior for iPhone 5's camera.'"
Stupid human! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Stupid human! (Score:5, Funny)
Copy THAT, Samsung! (Score:5, Funny)
The iPhone5 is obviously best, because it sucks the most at taking photos.
Re:Copy THAT, Samsung! (Score:5, Funny)
No.
They are clicking it wrong. Besides. It is a feature not a bug.
Re:Copy THAT, Samsung! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Copy THAT, Samsung! (Score:5, Funny)
The Nokia Lumia 900 already had a purple hue bug! Is there nothing Apple won't retroactively innovate?
FTFY.
Re:Copy THAT, Samsung! (Score:4, Funny)
Besides. It is a feature not a bug.
Major bugs have little bugs, which, being fixed, can cause 'em.
And little bugs from tiny bugs, and on it goes ad nauseam.
The bigger bugs themselves can be pernicious, tangled creatures;
So suck it up and ship the phone and we'll just call them "features".
Re:Copy THAT, Samsung! (Score:5, Funny)
They're "holding" it wrong. Same excuse used for antenna-gate.
It's almost like the GP was obliquely referencing exactly that.
Re:Stupid human! (Score:5, Funny)
When will there be a filter for my older iPhone? Surly Instagram or Hipstamatic would add "purple haze" to their lineup... My square pictures NEED this feature.
Samsung to the rescue (Score:3)
SL: your Honor, pictures taken with our SG3 are way crappier than what a picture would like like with an iPhone, therefore we did not infringe
AL: wrong ! the SG3 pictures totally put the iPhone 5 ones into shame, which prove they didn't have time to copy the iPhone 5 flare and had to resort to copy the superior older iPhone 4 design
SL:I disagree, the purple flare makes the pic stand appart in a way we c
Re:Stupid human! (Score:5, Insightful)
That is not Chromatic abberation, that would merely be a fringing on one side or the other. It is true "Flare".
Most likely the sapphire window is letting in more UV and IR light and that is bouncing between the elements in the lens to cause the result seen.
Re:Stupid human! (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
See, this is a feature, not a bug. You spent hundreds of dollars to modify your camera for IR shooting. iPhone 5 users get this for free!
Apple is so ahead of the curve.
Re:Stupid human! (Score:5, Informative)
Since the hardware hacking crowd has already taken apart the iPhone 5 & discovered that the camera is identical to the iPhone 4S, I'd say you're on to something.
The only thing that changed was the sapphire cover.
Re:Stupid human! (Score:5, Informative)
I'd like to make a rather pedantic point of clarification here: it is a "chromatic aberration" in the general sense that the system images spurious color, but it is not an aberration caused by dispersion (the variation of refractive index as a function of wavelength), nor is it a Seidel aberration.
If the purple hue comes from incomplete filtering of wavelengths outside the visible range, then it would be easy to test this theory by simply taking four kinds of photos: one that shows the flare with the unmodified camera, one of the same scene with a UV filter placed in front of the lens, a third with an IR filter placed in front of the lens, and finally, one with both UV + IR filters.
Re:Stupid human! (Score:5, Funny)
Are you suggesting that Apple have copied Canon's intellectual property?
Re:Stupid human! (Score:4, Insightful)
It didn't take long after Jobs for Apple products to start down the corporate road to shitsville.
Apple products always were like that. It's just that since Jobs reality distortion field went offline, peoples are starting to see all these flaws as real actual problem instead of fashionable features.
Posting as AC because I don't like easy karma.
Re:Stupid human! (Score:4, Interesting)
Apple products always were like that. It's just that since Jobs reality distortion field went offline, peoples are starting to see all these flaws as real actual problem instead of fashionable features
That's bullshit. iOS is the worst update Apple has done. You can criticize previous iOS updates as being feature-incomplete, and you won't have any problem standing your ground on that, but iOS 6 is buggy. Even my wife, who does not share Slashdot's passion for getting all emotional about Apple, is wondering what the heck is happening over in Cupertino.
I do love Slashdot's view on Apple's success, though: "Oh.. uhh must be... magic?"
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I hope you mean convenience...although continence might work for some apple fanbois too! http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/continence [merriam-webster.com]
Re:Stupid human! (Score:5, Funny)
I can explain this! The directive from Tim Cook to the development team was for "more flair!" but unfortunately, Tim's iPad autocorrected that to "more flare!"
Re:Stupid human! (Score:4, Funny)
The directive from Tim Cook to the development team was for "more flair!" but unfortunately, Tim's iPad autocorrected that to "more flare!"
HAHAHA!
I wonder if that's what happened with Maps:
"Dear Team, as we head into September, our landmarks are moving closer."
Re:Stupid human! (Score:5, Funny)
Your colour perception is incorrectly calibrated!
Is it odd that I read that in Morbo's voice?
I guess I'm in the right place.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Probably meant to be funny, you are right. Color perception in humans is in fact not at all calibrated. We have this brain thing that constantly adjusts our color perception so that we think colors are quite different from what they actually are. Easy to see if you walk into a room at night with white walls. They are yellow if the light is from incandescent bulbs, green if the light is from fluorescent etc.
Re:Stupid human! (Score:5, Informative)
I think GP meant that we then generally still perceive the wall as being white. At least, I hope he did.
Best optical illusion that illustrates this I've seen to date: http://www.planetperplex.com/en/item/checker-shadow [planetperplex.com]
Transparent Aluminum! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Transparent Aluminum! (Score:4, Informative)
In 1986, James Doohan demonstrated a slight purple flare when transporting live sea creatures into/out of transparent aluminum (sapphire) aquariums.
They used a Klingon transporter to do the beaming... The transporter effect was orange [blogspot.com].
Double dumb ass.
iPhone 5 signature feature (Score:5, Funny)
Re:iPhone 5 signature feature (Score:5, Funny)
It's OK. I'm sure that someone will make an app for lessor phones to emulate this.
Re:Stupid human! (Score:5, Funny)
It's just an analog, hardware-accelerated Instagram filter.
Re: (Score:3)
More like, stupid human, don't shoot into the sun.
No lens can handle this without flaring. The type, colour and position of the flare will vary between different lenses, but none will handle this without flare.
That's more like it! (Score:3)
Re:That's more like it! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:That's more like it! (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, we expected excuses from the fanbois. Thing is, how a camera handles bright light sources in or just outside the picture is an item on the checklist for a good camera. Purple flares from the lens coating, lines from saturated CMOS sensors, etc, are things that one might expect from a cheap "has a camera because every phone must have one" cellphone, but not from the flagship product of an expensive brand. These artifacts are pathetic and the excuses even more so.
Re:That's more like it! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
Re:That's more like it! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:That's more like it! (Score:5, Insightful)
I am cool with the iPhone 5 not having a top tier camera.
But maybe they should not have touted the new lens cover as having the ability to deliver crystal clear images.
Do not advertise that which you can not deliver. If you think that telling people how awesome your camera is and then pointing to a lens cover that will throw a purple flare on images that have some light source in them and telling people it will deliver crystal clear images I have only two questions for you.
One. Do you think it is ok for HTC to lie to you about their products?
Two. Taking into account the answer from one. Do you realize that your ability to critically think has been compromised by your love of Apple?
Re:That's more like it! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
I have a $50 lg dumbphone with camera that does not have a lenses flare problem yet a $600 Iphone is supposed to get a free pass?
Re:That's more like it! (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, yeah, but being a camera with no baffling or shrouds, and a first surface designed as much for scratch resistance as for optical quality, it's going to have big ugly lens flares if the light source isn't diffuse. The only news here is that the big ugly lens flare also has some chromatic aberration.
If you want to take good pictures, get a camera. A cameraphone is for candids and recording the scene at car accidents.
Simple (Score:5, Funny)
They are holding it wrong.
Re:Simple (Score:5, Insightful)
While it's a predictable joke after Antennagate, there is a kernel of truth here. It's a challenge for all cellphone cameras, not just Apple's, to capture the light you want and to weed out the stray light you don't want.
On a dedicated camera, the lens is typically recessed. This does two things: avoids light from the side to bounce around in the optics, and avoids fingerprints on the lens itself. Light from the side, and finger oils on the lens, are big contributors to lens flare. Combining side light and oils on the optics is a recipe for DIY Instagram photos.
On a cellphone, especially Apple's, they try hard not to have recessed areas on the case. It makes the whole phone thicker than it needs to be, and it catches pocket lint and sharp objects like keys or pencils. Luckily, a really flush surface is fairly easy to clean.
So that leaves the side light. If the brightest light sources are behind you, no problem with side-light lens flare. (It may make it harder to see the preview screen though.) If you have a strong light off to your side, and it may be able to fall on the lens, then cupping your hand into a primitive gobo or shield will help a lot.
Re:Simple (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Simple (Score:5, Insightful)
How is it a challenge when this was a non-issue in the iPhone 4 / 4S ??
Apple shit the bed on quality control this time around. Everyday I read about more problems with my shiny new iPhone5 !!
Re:Simple (Score:5, Insightful)
If you're reading about them instead of experiencing them, you should probably calm the fuck down.
Re:Simple (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, the probably are -- as I posted below, the iPhone 5 picture is looking much more towards the sun (given the amount of tree in the pictures) than the others by at least a few degrees, so yes, the person is holding it wrong. No digital camera can make up for looking directly into the sun. Poor photographer = poor picture.
Re:Other digital cameras manage it fine. (Score:5, Informative)
No, other cameras do not "manage it fine". I've got $3,000 lenses, and if you catch a bright source at the wrong angle, you get flare.
Re: (Score:3)
Yes, but is the flare purple?
Who cares if it's purple? You've completely blown out that portion of the picture anyway. If you think that you've got an award winning photo otherwise (because you've been off your antipsychotic meds for a week), you can just desaturate that color locally in GIMP / Photoshop / Paint.Net or whatever and pretend you did it all on purpose.
Re: (Score:3)
You should get your sarcasm meter calibrated a bit more often.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Does it really look that bad? It seems to me like the iPhone5 is snapping a larger portion of the sun than the other devices. And the clouds are different in each picture, so it's difficult to tell if the person taking the picture wasn't purposefully misframing it.
And no, I'm not an iPhone fan boy, my Android phone has a 12 MegaPixels back-facing camera, not a measly 8 MegaPixels. 8 MegaPixels is so 2009. I would never get caught with such a cheap phone.
DEC (Score:4, Interesting)
I remember that, as a VAX/VMS Systems Manager in the 1980s, this was a fairly pervasive meme.
Re: (Score:3)
that certainly would appear to be common sense for photography...
Boom! (Score:5, Funny)
Apple's back, baby! I was worried for a moment with that "our map app sucks use someone else's till ours is better." But here is the perfect Apple response. Oh, don't like the purple flare in your pictures? Hey, bitch, that's what real life looks like. You should thank us for providing you with a way to see the world as it actually is. The only reason you don't see the purple flare normally is because you're a terrible person. Here at Apple we are very concerned with our customer. Noblesse oblige and all that.
And again (Score:5, Funny)
Re:And again (Score:5, Interesting)
You're holding it wrong, you want to get lost, these pictures should be that colour, wifi connections should use your wireless bandwidth, battery life is supposed to be that poor if you use it (especially for facebook), those scratches are normal out of the case, this new connector is far better than the old one and adapters are the best you can get.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people rush out to purchase a new product with both unreviewed hardware and software and then get upset that there are flaws.
Do you not yet understand that the price for showing off your elite toy is that you are a paying beta tester?
Octarine (Score:5, Funny)
The we're all wizards (Score:3)
Apple is about to learn (Score:5, Informative)
that returning a defective phone is also considered normal behaviour.
Re: (Score:3)
Until they add no returns to their standard EULA, right below not using it to run a nuclear power plant or manufacture biological or chemical weapons.
Is that in the EULA? (Score:4, Informative)
Early adoption problem (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
Meanwhile I got a Google Galaxy Nexus, and a friend (who is a graphics designer and a HOT girl) got the Galaxy SIII and sold her iPhone 4, and she's ecstatic about how much better it is than her iPhone. Of course she hit a wall when she hooked it up and got MTP, and had to step five feet to the right and get around it with the Android file transfer program for MacsOSX, but beyond that it's been smooth.
Girls are abandoning the iPhone. Dump stock now.
Re:Early adoption problem (Score:4, Informative)
There was no purple flare camera issue on the iPhone 4 / 4S
Not true. There was just no hysterical news vomit about it.
http://5.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/iphone-5-haze-on-the-4s.jpg [mshcdn.com]
http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/09/26/the-iphone-5s-camera-suffering-purple-haze-flaw-not-fast/ [thenextweb.com]
So the build it cheap and say sorry later (Score:3, Interesting)
Wow,
We never did see this coming, They build a cheap phone(y) (what was it again, 180 dollar to build?), sell it for triple the price and as usual everyone camps out at the iChurch to buy it. Sorry but you deserve to be cheated! Only drawback is that apple gets so much money.
Now buy a paper map to point you at the iSun, the big purple customer experience in the sky, so high you think it is Steve looking out over you, his sheep. /rant mode off, sorry, bad hair day ^^
Re: (Score:3)
Wow,
We never did see this coming, They build a cheap phone(y) (what was it again, 180 dollar to build?), sell it for triple the price ...
I never understand how people seem to expect that if all the components of a device add up to $x, that you should be able to buy the device for $x. I'm not saying that Apple don't put a big markup on their devices, but do you think that it's free to do all the design, assembly and development of the OS/software?
Read between the lines (Score:5, Funny)
The purple flare in the image provided is considered normal behavior for our flawed iPhone 5 camera design.
Apple fans will buy anything! (Score:5, Funny)
Say what you want about poor quality of hardware, software, and customer service, there can be no doubt that Apple's marketing department is the best on the planet. Apple marketing people have truly identified their market and successfully targeted them like no one else in history.
The GOP should have hired a bunch of Apple marketing people to run the Romney campaign- they've proven they can sell flawed products over and over.
Go read an actual camera site review of the camera (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Go read an actual camera site review of the cam (Score:4, Insightful)
Camera review site (known for not being slanted in their reviews) to the iPhone 5 for an initial review (longer one comparing to other phones will come later) and dedicated a whole page analyzing the flare issue.
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/6867454450/quick-review-apple-iphone-5-camera [dpreview.com]
Here's their analysis of the flare issue:
"Really, our advice is not to worry. Just do what you should do anyway, and avoid putting bright lights near the edge of the frame when shooting."
Their final conclusion on the 5's camera:
"The iPhone 5 is a fine mobile device, with an excellent camera. In qualititative terms it's not the best camera out there, and nor is it the best camera on a smartphone (the Nokia 808 has that honor, for now) but it offers satisfying image quality, some neat functions like auto panorama and HDR mode, and - crucially - it is supremely easy to use. It isn't much better than the iPhone 4S, as far as its photographic performance is concerned, but it isn't any worse (notwithstanding a somewhat more noticeable propensity towards lens flare). When manufacturers employ pixel-binning to achieve higher ISO settings we don't normally celebrate the fact, but in the case of the iPhone 5, it gives you greater flexibility in poor light (i.e., you might actually get a picture now, where you just wouldn't with the iPhone 4S) and the drop in quality is unnoticeable when the images are used for sharing/web display."
Thanks for posting this link. The DPreview camera review is what should have been posted than the usual Gizmodo anti-apple trolling to generate page views...
Re:Go read an actual camera site review of the cam (Score:4, Insightful)
The DPreview camera review is what should have been posted than the usual Gizmodo anti-apple trolling to generate page views...
And yet the unbiased and very informative post by sasparillascott still got some down mods. The anti-Apple hysteria has closed the minds of many to rational discussion of facts.
give it a little time (Score:3)
Simple optics. (Score:4, Informative)
Every optical element shows some sort of dispersion. "Simply" to control when you have the space (like in objectives of real cameras, microscopes or binoculars) but not so easy when your optical element is a simple plate with parallel faces (like a protective glass cover) or a tiny lens. Combine a tiny lens with a tiny CCD and you're out of luck when you hit a difficult to control lighting situation. 8 MP on smartphone "cameras" with tiny optics and tiny CCD-chips is a waste of storage space anyway. You can't get the required optical resolution. Simple physics.
In other news... (Score:3)
"The unintended acceleration in the car provided is considered normal behavior for Toyota's automobiles," a Toyota executive said.
One stupid question (Score:3)
Haven't Apple make any test, before putting the iP5 on the shelves?
Finely Crafted Title (Score:3)
Apple Acknowledges iPhone 5 Camera Flaw
Mike: Joe beats his wife! OMG!
Carl: Joe, why did you beat your wife?
Joe: I did not beat my wife.
Mike: Joe acknowledges beating his wife!
Of course there will be flare... (Score:3)
I'm not surprised that there will be lens flare when having a bright source like the sun near the frame. This is why we have lens hoods. I wonder if we would have the same flare if we angled the phone away from the sun by a very little and use our hand as a sun shade?
I don't care if its Apple or Samsung. When you have a tiny lens flush with the camera body and almost no blockage of off axis light sources you are bound to have lens flare. The customer support letter giving advice to angle the camera away from a bright light source is good advice for any phone camera.
Another Gizmodo troll article.
Re: (Score:3)
Flare is one thing, but PURPLE flare is rather obnoxious. Look at the examples linked from the story... iPhone4 gives a bit of flare (saturation) as expected, but iPhone 5 gives the startling purple flare.
Sounds like Microsoft (Score:3)
You say lens defect... (Score:3)
Re:What? (Score:5, Insightful)
The iPhone4 didn't do this. It took great photos, as good as most consumer-level cameras.
Apple told everybody the camera in the iPhone5 was better. Turns out they messed up and it isn't. They're being held responsible for their claims, why does that surprise you?
A Letter to our Customers Regarding the Camera (Score:5, Funny)
To our customers,
At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new sapphire lens camera last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make the camera better.
We launched an integrated camera initially with the first version of the iPhone. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with an even better camera including features such as a built-in flash and a sapphire lens. In order to do this, we had to create a new camera from the ground up.
There are already more than 5 million iPhones with the new camera, and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iPhone users with the new camera have already taken half a billion photos. The more our customers use the camera the more they will become accustomed to the new color balance. We greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.
While we can't really fix this, you can try alternatives by purchasing an additional camera from your local electronics store, Best Buy, Sony, Canon, Fuji, or use the front camera which doesn't have these issues.
Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.
Tim Cook
Apple’s CEO
Re:What? (Score:5, Informative)
The iPhone4 didn't do this.
The iPhone 4S did. Not sure about the iPhone 4.
http://5.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/iphone-5-haze-on-the-4s.jpg [mshcdn.com]
http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/09/26/the-iphone-5s-camera-suffering-purple-haze-flaw-not-fast/ [thenextweb.com]
And yet it went without comment before. Why? It's a damn good camera for a phone, but it's not a DSLR. It's impossible to have DSLR level photography from phone that's 7.6 mm thick.
Re: (Score:3)
Yes it does [pcmag.com]
Re: (Score:3)
But people on't buy a phone to take high end pictures, just a simple point and shoot to 'capture the moment' (was that someones slogan?)
I wonder if this is common across all iPhone 5 cameras or just a particular batch
Re: (Score:3)
And your computer is made to crunch numbers, stop getting on Slashdot with it.
When you buy a multi-function device, you expect all of its advertised functions to work as close to expected as possible. And the camera is one of the iPhone's big advertised functions. If you want a phone to be a phone, get the $20 Tracfone special. If you want a multifunction device that includes a phone, then you get a smartphone.
Re: (Score:3)
Exactly this. I bought my wife an iPhone 4s to replace...her camera. Cell Phone Cameras are getting firmly in the range of "Good Enough", and DSLRs are big and heavy.
Re: (Score:3)
Re:They're not expecting to take high-end digital. (Score:5, Informative)
Here are photo comparisons with the 4s that do show the 4s with purple fringing.
http://5.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/iphone-5-haze-on-the-4s.jpg [mshcdn.com] [mshcdn.com]
http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/09/26/the-iphone-5s-camera-suffering-purple-haze-flaw-not-fast/ [thenextweb.com] [thenextweb.com]
Note that camera angle to light source is critical, to get the effect to show up on either phone. In your example comparison, if the photographer tried a bit more he could probably have found the angle to make the purple flare show on the 4S too.
This is a lot of fuss about nothing. But we're used to that with iPhone stories. No other phone gets this level of close examination for flaws. Not enough people care about other phones.
Re: (Score:3)
Compare the two pictures taken. With the 4 they had the sun edging right up next to the frame but not IN the frame. Then with the 5 they actually had a bit of the sun IN the frame. It's no wonder the 5 got a huge amount of lens flare. It's very difficult to include the sun in a picture and not get a nasty flare, especially on an edge like that. Compare the position of the grey sidewalk and the tree tops in the two pictures too... the shots were placed and zoomed differently. Complete loss of control o
Re: (Score:3)
If you don't want flare, don't shoot into the sun.
This is a pretty basic principle for all lenses everywhere. It is not at all specific to the iPhone 5 lens.
Re:All the other phones do it as we'll (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.itproportal.com/2012/10/01/purple-flare-test-iphone-5-vs-samsung-galaxy-s-iii-vs-htc-one-s/
Bottom line: The latest and greatest iPhone 5 was clearly the worst offender of the bunch.
Re:All the other phones do it as we'll (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:All the other phones do it as we'll (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
Or with software color correction, like they already have in Aperture and iPhoto.
I see a software update coming that will detect the lens flare, and correct it out.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
No, this isn't chromatic aberration... this is flaring. Chromatic aberration results in color halos around objects, especially towards the edge of the frame.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
This isn't a chromatic aberration. Chromatic aberration is when an image isn't focused correctly because different wavelengths (colors) of light refract differentially when entering a new medium (like how a prism separates white light into the full spectrum). When you have chromatic aberrations, objects in the image have a slightly out-of-focus color streaked look to them, like when an old projector TVs didn't have the RGB elements aligned.
This is a flare, which is caused by the scattering of bright light
Re:Then try some other pictures, here you go: (Score:5, Interesting)
They still screwed up the outdoor one. One photo is taken at least several minutes after the other.
It looks like Apple traded a bit of flare resistance in challenging photographic conditions for other benefits - a scratch proof lens being not the least of them. Personally, I'd much rather have a sapphire lens cover for my cell phone camera than the ability to take slightly less shitty pictures in shitty conditions.