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Awesome. Now when I take a close up of Barney outdoors, I won't have to worry about this issue.

"It's a camera phone people"
 
30+ Years In The Photo Biz...

All lenses have a tendency to flare when a light source is very near or in the frame. Some lens designs exhibit flare more than others, especially zoom lenses because of the extra lens elements. Single focal length lenses are usually much better when it comes to flare and it isn't always the fastest, most expensive lenses that do the best job controlling it.

Flare can also be exacerbated by using an inexpensive lens filter that is not multi-coated. But even some expensive filters can increase flare. Sometimes removing the lens filter will dramatically improve the amount and quality of lens flare.

Lens coatings reduce flare more or less depending on the type of lens and the manufacturer. Using a lens hood reduces flare by preventing stray light from hitting the front of the lens. If you notice flare when looking through a viewfinder or LCD it often helps to shade the light source using your hand, hat, etc.

But if you allow light to strike the front of the lens or include a light source in the image then the quality of the flare or the lack of it depends on the quality of the lens. Some lenses have stellar reputations when it comes to flaring, while others are simply awful. Most lenses fall somewhere in the middle.

People expect too much from a tiny camera that lacks a lens shade and a well-made multi-coated lens. Reducing or eliminating flare is simple: prevent light from hitting the lens with a lens hood or your hand; move the camera slightly so light doesn't strike the lens or, when possible, move the subject.

Sometimes photographers use flare for dramatic effect, using a lens that creates an agreeable kind of flare vs. flare that doesn't look very good or simply washes-out the image.

As far as flare color is concerned, it is determined by the combination of the lens coatings and the light source. If you hate purple flare then the iPhone 5 camera may not be your cup of tea... I think that the iPhone 4S camera is actually very good but I don't expect any optical miracles either. For casual photography it can replace a point and shoot if you can live with not having telephoto capability.

If you want to create photos where flare is likely and you want the best possible results, then it is time to invest in a lens that handles flare well. Such lenses often cost as much or more than the entire cost of an iPhone.

Otherwise, you just have to live with it.
 
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If you're trying to get a lens flare, you're not doing it right. The sun has to be on the edge.

I'm not a pro but i shoot approximately 25000 pictures a year and I do know what causes flare and not. The sun definitely don't have to be at the edge to produce flare and vice versa.

Example: 24 mm F/10 ISo 800. Straight from raw unprocessed.
 

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its a non-issue.

all lenses flare. in fact in modern photography, we work hard to get good flares.

also, when the sensor has come closer to the lens because of a thinner form factor, chances of a flare are higher. one way to prevent them (if you dont like them) is to get a lens hood :D

many of instagram filters actually do add a flare feel to the images.

In the movies, we flag flares if we dont need them, or work hard to include light sources at the edges of frames to get flares because they look cool. of course different lens + light sources give different kinds of flares.

in short, its a non-issue.
 
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.

It's not a coating. It's the framing and the size of the lens (can happen with a point and shoot camera as well). Such flare tends to be bluish or purple due to wavelength issues not coatings.

That said, the iPhone 5 photo is still much crisper and detailed. The coloring would be easy to tone down in post if one really just had to take a photo with that framing. Or leave it as is and turn it into the next Instagram craze.
 
Could we, some how, intelligently, separate the conversation between lens flare and the PURPLE issue?

No one is complaining about lens flare for crying out! It's the PURPLE!
 
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.

All throughout the history of photography this has been called "Flair". Apple did not inventthis problem. It's been with us for over 150 years. What's changed is that camera become more automated more people use cameras. 100 years ago you had to know a lot about photography to take a photo so few people used cameras. But now days even people who have never heard of "lens flair" can and do use cameras.

The diagram on this page explains the problem very well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_flare
 
But it didn't happen on previous generation iPhones. Tell me more.

A few other members have already posted links to tests that were done:

HTC phones (just for instance) do the SAME damn thing. Tempest, meet teapot.
But to the Apple haters it's now known as PurpleGate. Tired of the "gate" reference and it's getting old. Time to think of some other witty and mostly useless remark. (That';s my rant for the week. Hope you loved/despised it. Carry on)

http://www.macworld.com/article/2011007/the-iphone-5s-problem-with-purple-haze.html

You can see this effect on the iPad3, iPhone4S, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, etc.

It's no mystery that you hate Apple products and Apple fans. But then why do you come to this forum so often?
 
i'm curious as to what a special apology conference will be like with Tim Cook...he's already rather mellow when he's announcing a new product, i can only imagine what he's like while apologizing and trying to downplay on stage

There would never be one. A press release is as good as it gets. And as good as it should get. Unless Tim wants to get up on stage and just tell folks that if they don't like the phone to return it. Just like Steve did over the blown out of proportion antenna issue.
 
Mine does this purple flare thing too. But you have to want to do it. It's not like it shows up in the picture but not on the live view. You have to get the angle just right to get the purple, move a tiny bit either way and it goes away. It's not a big deal, and as others have suggested, happens on lots of cameras. If you see it on the screen, then just adjust the angle a tiny fraction and it's gone.
 
I had hoped that kind of cavalier attitude towards design flaws, however minor,

Design flaws aren't selective, they're universal. That's part of being a 'design' flaw.

If something is present only in 1/10th of 1% of a population, especially one that numbers into the several million and is present when there is another factor like ****** cellphone reception, outdate router specs, pointing the camera at the sun, then it's perhaps a quirk or an unavoidable side effect of said other factor but it is not a 'design flaw'. No device, no matter how brilliant the designer is going to be able to correct issues other factors create.
 
Question.......How come Gizmodo is always related to Apple negative Press. Could it have something to do with the Iphone4 fiasco

Yep the bad press they got and being shut out completely by Apple. They don't get sent press releases, they aren't allowed at events etc. They have to get everything second hand. And they are holding a major grudge over something they confessed to doing publicly and got lucky that the DA didn't think it was worth the costs to get the outcome they would likely get and didn't bother proceeding.
 
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?

Both times its BS because they simply wont admit an error and both times they try to dilute the issue with other issues.

No it's not & no they aren't. They are telling you: if you use it badly, it'll fail you.
 
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