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Apple Publicly Responds to Complaints of Purple Lens Flare on iPhone 5 Photos

Anuba said:
"Users raise concerns over lackluster fidelity of iPhone microphone"

In another blow for Apple's problem-ridden iPhone 5, reports are now coming in from worried and disappointed users suggesting that the iPhone's built-in microphone may be of subpar quality.

Mike Rofoni, 33, of Columbus, OH was among the first to report the possible defect, after attending a Metallica concert which he recorded in its entirety on his iPhone 5. Says Mike, "I was in a perfect spot some three feet away from the speaker stack and recorded the entire gig on the iPhone 5 in my pocket. But when I came home and opened the audio file, I was shocked to find that the sound was distorted and muffled. Then I looked at the waveform and realized there was no dynamic range at all."

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Other users have chimed in, pointing to the microphone's apparent incapability for near-field recording of grenade impacts, low-flying passenger jets and Harley-Davidson engines with the muffler removed.

"Apple claims to know tech and be cutting edge and all, but it's simply not true. I have a 50 year old Neumann mic that sounds way better than the iPhone 5 mic. I see no option but to go class-action. Apple quality ain't what it used to be. Steve Jobs would never have allowed this", Mike concludes, with tears in his eyes.
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The Onion-worthy.
 
Anuba said:
"Users raise concerns over lackluster fidelity of iPhone microphone"

In another blow for Apple's problem-ridden iPhone 5, reports are now coming in from worried and disappointed users suggesting that the iPhone's built-in microphone may be of subpar quality.

Mike Rofoni, 33, of Columbus, OH was among the first to report the possible defect, after attending a Metallica concert which he recorded in its entirety on his iPhone 5. Says Mike, "I was in a perfect spot some three feet away from the speaker stack and recorded the entire gig on the iPhone 5 in my pocket. But when I came home and opened the audio file, I was shocked to find that the sound was distorted and muffled. Then I looked at the waveform and realized there was no dynamic range at all."

Image

Other users have chimed in, pointing to the microphone's apparent incapability for near-field recording of grenade impacts, low-flying passenger jets and Harley-Davidson engines with the muffler removed.

"Apple claims to know tech and be cutting edge and all, but it's simply not true. I have a 50 year old Neumann mic that sounds way better than the iPhone 5 mic. I see no option but to go class-action. Apple quality ain't what it used to be. Steve Jobs would never have allowed this", Mike concludes, with tears in his eyes.
Click to expand...
I assume you are pointing out how Mike et al are trolling. Any digital recording is subject to clipping if the sound level in any given frequency exceeds the sensitivity set for a source. This applies equally to $20 toy microphones and multimillion dollar recording studios. The issue is that the sensitivity of the iPhone microphone is set for normal conversation, not for recording grenade explosions or rock concerts at 3 feet away from the speakers. Being located 3 feet from the speaker stack would have actually been the worst place to record the concert from, next to actually placing the phone on the stack.

The difference between the iPhone and a recording studio is that when you have an equalizer for your source, you can adjust the input levels. As far as I'm aware, in iOS6 there is no built-in way to do this (but there is a potential that such a feature could be provided by third-party apps, or could be added to a future iOS). But if the iPhone microphone's sensitivity were optimized for recording such extremely loud sources, then it would be useless as a phone microphone.

Sound experts such as Studio Six Digital have praised Apple for removing microphone limitations such as low frequency roll-off in iOS6.

But in the end, a tiny microphone will, due to physical limitations, never approach the fidelity of a full-sized microphone.

Edit: Mike might want to think twice before launching a lawsuit seeking damages for being unable to record a live concert without permission from the artists and the music's rights holders.
 
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SvP said:
Blissful ignorance, you must be happy, no?
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No, i like apple have plenty of apple stuff and dont like at all the attitude they have latetly .

As for ignorance? Do tell wheer I am uninformed?
 
What colour should it be if not UV purple? lol... I think some people were not meant to be born on this planet.
 
MVRL said:
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These two photos prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that they were NOT taken exactly the same way. Notice the position of the trees, and the road in the foreground of the iPhone5 picture. If the position of the sun is only slightly different at the frame's edge, the flaring will vary as well.

inscrewtable said:
.....It should also be pointed out that the human eye also has lens flare when pointed at a bright light source. So who are you going to complain to?
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APPLE apparently. :rolleyes:
 
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yrsued said:
Really??

You get Lens Flare and Chromatic Aberrations when you point your camera at the sun??

DUH!!!

This happens with ANY camera!! I have made my living behind the lens for the past 27 years and this happens with every lens!!

Y
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Sure it does. This bad? To a good camera? No. Hold on while I check my 4S photos, all 400+ of them. Nope, not a single bit of purple. Now to my 30 or so 5 photos, ah yes.... 9 purple photos.
 
Not (yet) owning an iPhone 5, but owning an iPhone 4, and looking at these comparative photos of the iPhone 4S vs the iPhone 5: the 5 quality is still better than the 4S, even with the "purple bloom". Not sure what the deal is. It's said that this is a common flaw of digital cameras in general, so are people just nitpicking or what? Seems like it to me. My twin just got a 5, I'll ask him if he sees this and will report back.
 
1. Why is a lens flare when pointing at the sun even news?

2. Thank you Apple for responding

Why do I say this? Because before I switched to iPhone 4S, I had 2 "good" android phones that were highly promoted (Droid and Droid X), and both took terrible pictures in all situations, unless it was outside (and not pointing at the sun). It didn't make news, and Motorola didn't care that they were junk cameras and surely wouldn't have responded to criticism. I've never seen Samsung or HTC respond to criticism of their junk cameras either (not talking about GS2-3 here)
 
econgeek said:
I think its astounding that people are taking bad photos and blaming it on Apple.

Lens flare happens with every camera in the world. It is intrinsic to the physics of glass and light. It is intrinsic to photography.

People getting upset about this--like those idiots complaining about Apple maps-- just show me that people really *are* getting stupider as time goes on.
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You can't compare the 2. The maps issue is legit .the lens issue is just petty. People can't expect their iPhone camera to be as good as a dedicated digital camera.
 
I noticed it before I read this, but it's not a huge deal. It's a phone. It takes great photos for what it is, just don't point it directly at a bright light - makes sense as a photographer.
 
canadianpj said:
Sure it does. This bad? To a good camera? No. Hold on while I check my 4S photos, all 400+ of them. Nope, not a single bit of purple. Now to my 30 or so 5 photos, ah yes.... 9 purple photos.
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Camera != Lens. The lens is different between 4s and 5 so you're going to see different behavior. And yes, extremely expensive lenses can show CA/LF on extremely expensive (and inexpensive) cameras.
 
MacinDoc said:
I assume you are pointing out how Mike et al are trolling. Any digital recording is subject to clipping if the sound level in any given frequency exceeds the sensitivity set for a source. This applies equally to $20 toy microphones and multimillion dollar recording studios. The issue is that the sensitivity of the iPhone microphone is set for normal conversation, not for recording grenade explosions or rock concerts at 3 feet away from the speakers. Being located 3 feet from the speaker stack would have actually been the worst place to record the concert from, next to actually placing the phone on the stack.
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I almost screamed when I saw that 3 feet from Metallica's speaker stack was the best place to record ! Damn bozo clowns...


Anuba said:
"Apple claims to know tech and be cutting edge and all, but it's simply not true. I have a 50 year old Neumann mic that sounds way better than the iPhone 5 mic. I see no option but to go class-action. Apple quality ain't what it used to be. Steve Jobs would never have allowed this", Mike concludes, with tears in his eyes.
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Oh, I get it... irony :p
 
I have 780 photos on my photo stream at the moment, many back lit, lots of lens flare etc. none of them show this distinctive purple flare, and I am unable to replicate it with my 4s. This is in spit of the assertions i keep seeing on here that ugly purple flare is a fact of life and unavoidable.

I would like to end up with an iPhone 5 which seems equally immune to this "fact of life". Perhaps Apple might like to consider what makes some phones more susceptible than others and work on avoiding this phenomena where possible.
 
Who cares? Get a real camera. Every time I read someone posting that the iphone takes better photos than ____ dslr I'm not sure if they are being sarcastic or just incredibly stupid.
 
Gemütlichkeit said:
I imagine it's some coating of the lens. If you want to take a picture with the sun slightly out of frame then I guess you're screwed. Big deal.
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Huh? It's normal for any lens... If anybody wants I can go take a picture with my L-series canon 70-200 glass with high-end coatings and top notch glass and demonstrate the same effect. This is normal physics people! Welcome to photography. Lens hoods can help with this, and more importantly use lens flare as an effect in your photos (like we all do - heck you can even add the effect in Photoshop!). Or more importantly don't point your camera at the sun!
 
This is an issue

Everyone seems to rush to reply to say how flaring is normal. I don't think this is in the news because it's flaring, it's because it's drastically showing purple flaring.

I've had every iPhone version since the first, including the latest, as well as a Canon SLR. While taking shots that had sun rays coming down always had a typical white flare, only in the iPhone 5 have I experienced the "purple flare" and have it be so noticeable.

Just like with the scratching, every iPhone has been susceptible to scratching, however only the iPhone 5 has been so easily scratched on the edges. Within the first two days there were cheaps and scratches on the sides. Yet, I have old versions such as the iPhone 4 that have never had a case and still has no noticeable scratches. Overall, I think the iPhone 5 is the most durable in the sense if you drop it, it is most likely not to crack the screen and of course is the lightest. But it does scratch incredible easy and that is what customers are complaining about. If apple made a iPhone out of paper and people all of the sudden complained that it gets destroyed with even a drop of water, Apple and commenters would say well of course water drops will destroy paper. But what customers are saying is, the iPhone shouldn't have been made out of paper, or in this case a material that scratches so easily. Or they should have made the black version, black on the front (so the screen blends in) but silver on the sides and back (like the white model) since then the scratches wouldn't show through as noticeably.

So please commenters don't be so quick to mark all customers as dumb, and listen to what they are actually complaining about.

Easy marks is a new issue in the iPhone 5 (compared to old iPhones), noticeable purple flare in photos is a new issue in the iPhone 5 (compared to old iPhones), Maps are notcieably less accurate in iOS 6 (because of the new data set).
 
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