Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
65,684
34,320






Apple.pro has posted photos comparing parts of the iPhone 5 camera components alongside the iPhone 4 camera components. Notably, the iPhone 5 rear camera does not come with an integrated Flash attached to it. This would suggest that the case photo posted earlier today may be accurate, and that the next generation iPhone's camera flash will be located separately from the camera.

Apple.pro offers this photoshop mockup of the camera and flash in separate locations:






Article Link: iPhone 5 Camera Parts Show No Attached Flash
 

Born Again

Suspended
May 12, 2011
4,073
5,341
Norcal
Steve jobs on the new flash - on stage - black turtleneck..

"so our friends in the industry have been placing the flash close to the lens creating washed out photos. Well we said we can do this better. Well we've been working out butts off on this new flash - looks great - no red eye - no washed out look - we call it - iflash - isn't that great guys?"


And before u say it my friends

Yes it has seams!
 

rikscha

macrumors 6502a
Mar 8, 2010
806
449
London
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Born Again said:
Steve jobs on the new flash - on stage - black turtleneck..

"so our friends in the industry have been placing the flash close to the lens creating washed out photos. Well we said we can do this better. Well we've been working out butts off on this new flash - looks great - no red eye - no washed out look - we call it - iflash - isn't that great guys?"


And before u say it my friends

Yes it has seams!

Try again
 

NinjaHERO

macrumors 6502a
Aug 29, 2008
973
1,253
U S of A
I don't know anything about photography, but if moving the flash provides a better picture, hooray for us all.
 

Born Again

Suspended
May 12, 2011
4,073
5,341
Norcal
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)



Try again

Steve my iPhone 4s loses signal when I hold it

"You're holding it wrong..again." -steve jobs
 

bwphoto

macrumors member
May 2, 2006
68
0
Hopefully that is the case. Having the flash offset from the lens helps to eliminate redeye. Notice that in virually all point/shoot cameras the flash is to one end or the other. That's no accident.
 

fadij

macrumors newbie
May 25, 2010
25
0
moving the flash over? now thats revolutionary! :p


lol we didnt need to see a photoshop of what it would look like..... we can use our imagination!
 

NoNothing

macrumors 6502
Aug 9, 2003
453
511
Separated flash works better.

I don't know anything about photography, but if moving the flash provides a better picture, hooray for us all.

In dusty environments, it minimizes back-scatter increasing contrast and color saturation. Likewise, keeping the flash separated from the entrance pupil helps minimize red-eye.

It will increase cost since it will make a single module 2 modules and a single large hole 2 smaller holes. Might be why others don't do this and instead simply add MP. Adding MP is literally free and on these small sensors degrades IQ substantially; easily influenced spec miesters, however, don't really care.
 

mbrannon47

macrumors regular
Jun 20, 2010
117
56
People don't realize that if they put the flash off center like that, it will increase side shadow tremendously...
 

baryon

macrumors 68040
Oct 3, 2009
3,903
2,972
I don't know anything about photography, but if moving the flash provides a better picture, hooray for us all.

Actually it does, the further away the flash source is from the camera, the better. That's why professional flashes are quite tall and sit high above the camera, or some professionals even use cables to be able to place the flash further away. This allows for more natural shadows, as you rarely have the sun coming from right next to your eyes.

There's nothing wrong with shadows, as they make the subject look more real and less "flat". You get a "flat" effect from flashes due to the fact that the light source is too close to the lens, thus lighting the subject from the center and creating a very thin contour with a sharp shadow, which is very unnatural.

Though the placement of the flash is still very close to the camera, it won't change much. It would need to be 20-30 cm away to for a noticeably better effect, but the iPhone isn't big enough for that :D
 

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
Actually it does, the further away the flash source is from the camera, the better. That's why professional flashes are quite tall and sit high above the camera, or some professionals even use cables to be able to place the flash further away. This allows for more natural shadows, as you rarely have the sun coming from right next to your eyes.

Have to agree. Sometimes I notice wash-out with the current configuration. And if you have a case, then forget it. The flash then becomes a pretty severe impediment.
 
Last edited:

AidenShaw

macrumors P6
Feb 8, 2003
18,667
4,677
The Peninsula
People don't realize that if they put the flash off center like that, it will increase side shadow tremendously...

Ideally, you want something like

olympus-2.jpg

but it does make it harder to carry your phone.
 

readerbreader

macrumors regular
Jun 7, 2010
200
0
Does anyone else notice that the "ip5 rear camera" looks shockingly similar to the current CDMA iphone's front facing camera....
 

winterspan

macrumors 65816
Jun 12, 2007
1,008
0
Not to be that guy, but in the other thread I was adamant about the importance of the fact that the chinese case had a different camera flash configuration that was never mentioned in other rumors/"leaks" before which makes it appear more legitimate...
 

jettredmont

macrumors 68030
Jul 25, 2002
2,731
328
I don't know anything about photography, but if moving the flash provides a better picture, hooray for us all.

Yes, it will reduce red-eye and offer slightly more apparent "depth".

The thing is: the "best" place (from a camera's perspective) for the flash is as far from the lens as possible. That would be the opposite corner (lower-right when viewing the phone from the back with the camera at upper-left).

Unfortunately, the ergonomics don't work as well, even in "traditional" point-and-shoots, so the flash tends to be along the "top" edge of the device. It's a trade-off: more red eye tendency, but fewer failed photos where your index finger is obscuring the flash.

That having been said, being "in line" with the lens horizontally will lead to an "artificial" lighting look, so while there will be more depth cues, it will still look very plastic to most eyes. Unless, I suppose, you tilt the camera at a jaunty angle to get the flash off-axis, then straighten the image in post.

Also, while the minor flash displacement will allow for some depth in really-close-up photos (which are probably going to be washed out even with this change unless Apple has a multi-level flash to give a less powerful burst for close-up photos), for anything more than a few feet away the flash and lens are still so close together that they might as well be directly side-by-side.

The physics of cameras are rather well understood. There's not a whole lot to be invented in terms of flash placement. I'm sure Apple knows what it is doing here and is going to get the best flash photography out of the iPhone that they can, but you shouldn't expect this move to be a night-and-day fix for all the flaws of iPhone flash photography.
 

jettredmont

macrumors 68030
Jul 25, 2002
2,731
328
People don't realize that if they put the flash off center like that, it will increase side shadow tremendously...

Yeah, but you need shadows to judge depth. That's why flash photos from cheap cameras tend to look horribly "washed out".

That having been said, ideally the flash would be above, not to the side, and even more ideally you'd be able to bounce the flash off the ceiling so it effectively comes in from far above. It's not very often that the sun is shining on someone's face from the side, so our eyes don't deal well with that kind of lighting.
 

Dr McKay

macrumors 68040
Aug 11, 2010
3,524
230
Kirkland
For those who want to see what the iPhone 5 Camera MIGHT be like, Sony's new Xperia Arc phone has the new Camera that Sony developed, and is supposed to be the same camera that Apple is buying from them.

Although I hope they improve it for the iPhone, I noticed it tend to skip a frame or so when shooting video.

But the Xperia Arc's camera has better quality in low light.

So this video might be a sneak peak at the iPhone 5 Camera.

iPhone 4 vs Xperia Arc Camera Test
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.