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I recently switched from a Pixel 2 to an iPhone 12 pro. I'm guessing this wont fix the issues I'm running into. Apple support basically told me I'm taking the pictures wrong, and the flare I'm getting is "expected".

Mind you not all photos are like this. Its just the ones when its bright out.
Something isn't right. This is way more than normal lens flare.
 
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Can't the photographer just use the ProRAW version of the photo to demonstrate their own talent?
ProRAW still applies all the “computational photography” like bracketing, noise reduction, etc. It’s basically the same photo but saved as uncompressed .dng instead of jpeg/heif. You probably mean regular RAW but you need a separate app for that.
 
Apple knows best. Can't have some photographer using their own talent and skill when composing and taking a shot.

EDIT: Somebody's reader has clearly misconfigured the [sarcasm] [/sarcasm] tags.
A. Unless you like crappy looking green orbs/dots, the quality of lens flare you're going to get on a small piece of glass like the iPhone camera is not worth it anyway.

B. I'm a photographer myself. If I want more control, I shoot using Apple's raw format so if there really ever was a time where I'd for some reason want that crappy looking little green orb to show up in my photo, I could still do it.

C. Lens flair is usually (and by usually I mean the vast majority of time) something people try to avoid anyway. Yes it is sometimes utilized for creative purposes, but basically every modern lens you buy advertises itself as having some kind of "Nano" anti-reflective coating on it. Sony calls it "Nano AR Coating". Canon calls it "Subwavelength Structure Coating". Nikon calls it their "Nano Crystal Coat". They all do the same thing. Reduce reflections that cause flare and ghosting. By your logic, they're taking away a photographer's ability to use their own talent and skill when composing and taking a shot by getting rid of lens flare in their products.
 
This could have implications for press photography, much of which is done on iPhones nowadays (remember the Chicago Sun-Times famously fired their photographers and replaced them with reporters holding iPhones). When I worked in a law school, I had an intern who was also getting also getting a dual journalism masters, and she was telling me that they're pretty strict about photo manipulation in press photos. Typically you're allowed to adjust color, contrast, etc to a certain extent, but removing anything entirely from a photo violates some sort of guidelines they're trying to uphold and is a serious thing. Perhaps they could make an exception for this lens flare thing, but she was telling me that there was some prestigious competition where a guy photoshopped a tiny bit of trash out of the lower corner of a photo who won the competition and later when they found out about the manipulation they stripped him of the win, even though it was fairly insignificant. There are forensics tools that can spot such changes, and would probably even work for this unless Apple is really good with the ML.

But what if you were going for a lens flare effect photo?
No iPhone lens flare has looked any good. It's usually just oddly-placed, strange green orbs.
 
Your sample actually shows it's kind of bad. It's distracting.
There is a significant difference between opinion and truth, (a).
(b) “distracting” is your opinion to which you are entitled. But it is not the truth, it simply cannot be.
(c) Thank you, scrm, for sharing. Nothing in your photo distracts me. i like the shot!
 
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This could have implications for press photography, much of which is done on iPhones nowadays (remember the Chicago Sun-Times famously fired their photographers and replaced them with reporters holding iPhones). When I worked in a law school, I had an intern who was also getting also getting a dual journalism masters, and she was telling me that they're pretty strict about photo manipulation in press photos. Typically you're allowed to adjust color, contrast, etc to a certain extent, but removing anything entirely from a photo violates some sort of guidelines they're trying to uphold and is a serious thing. Perhaps they could make an exception for this lens flare thing, but she was telling me that there was some prestigious competition where a guy photoshopped a tiny bit of trash out of the lower corner of a photo who won the competition and later when they found out about the manipulation they stripped him of the win, even though it was fairly insignificant. There are forensics tools that can spot such changes, and would probably even work for this unless Apple is really good with the ML.


No iPhone lens flare has looked any good. It's usually just oddly-placed, strange green orbs.

"But but muh journalistic integrity!"

I actually think this is a step in the right direction.
 


As Apple prepares to launch its upcoming iOS 15 operating system to millions of iPhone users this fall, the latest beta for the update has seemingly improved how users' iPhones take and process photos in certain lighting conditions.

ios-15-lens-flare.jpg

Image Credit: Reddit

The camera hardware inside iPhones plays a significant role in the quality of photos that users can take with their devices, but another factor affecting image quality is the iPhone's on-device processing done by the Image Signal Processor, or ISP.

In the latest iOS 15 beta, Apple has possibly improved iPhone processing when users take photos in conditions where lens flare is sometimes an unwanted artifact. The change was first brought to light on Reddit and further publicized by the popular iPhone camera app Halide on Twitter.

Two side-by-side photos appear to show that Apple removes lens flare from photos during post-photo processing on the newest beta. The photo below shows the final still shot from a Live Photo without lens flare.

ios-15-no-lens-flare.jpg

Same image as above, after iPhone processing

This is not a change Apple has promoted or commented on, so it's not clear what exactly is going on. However, the latest beta could be improving the system that the iPhone uses to detect different indoor and outdoor scenes, and using that information to compensate and remove unwanted lens flare.

One Reddit user points out that they could see noticeable lens flare after taking a photo on their iPhone 12 Pro. When revisiting the image later on in the day, though, they noticed it had automatically been removed from the photo.
iOS 15 is still in beta testing with developers and public beta testers and won't be available to all iPhone users until later this fall. Apple is also testing iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15.

Article Link: Latest iOS 15 Beta Appears to Automatically Remove Lens Flare From Photos in Certain Conditions
Ooh. Need to sneak this software into JJ Abrams camera; then I won’t get a headache watching his movies and can finally see the actors. 😂
 
Some of us think reality is beautiful enough without the Apple's extra touch.
 
There is a significant difference between opinion and truth, (a).
(b) “distracting” is your opinion to which you are entitled. But it is not the truth, it simply cannot be.
(c) Thank you, scrm, for sharing. Nothing in your photo distracts me. i like the shot!
I mean instead of enjoying a nice scenery of a sea in golden hour people will say “we got 2 sun?”. That’s distracting from the focus of the picture.
 
It's no different than blurring, bokeh
The difference between bokeh and lens flare is lens are designed to give a beautiful bokeh. The more expensive the lens is (on the same focal length) the likely more beautiful bokeh you’ll get. This is the opposite of lens flare so no, they’re quite different.
I didn’t say lens flare has no place in photography but it’s a defect. Some people like it and think it’s artistic and kind of nostalgic since old lens produce it more than modern ones. Still it’s an opposite of bokeh which is universally love. The fact that Apple try to get rid of it should have been a clue.
 
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The difference between bokeh and lens flare is lens are designed to give a beautiful bokeh. The more expensive the lens is (on the same focal length) the likely more beautiful bokeh you’ll get. This is the opposite of lens flare so no, they’re quite different.

They are both artifacts of lens design that photographers can use to create a picture. My point however, was having the device decide to "fix" a picture should be left to the user, not the device. Set it by default if but at least make it a setting not automatic, if that is how it is implemented.

I didn’t say lens flare has no place in photography but it’s a defect. Some people like it and think it’s artistic and kind of nostalgic since old lens produce it more than modern ones.

One person's defect is another's desirable feature in certain situations. Spherical aberation is also a lens defect but some photographers like soft focus for portraits as an example.

Still it’s an opposite of bokeh which is universally love.

I would not say bokeh is universally loved for all shots; though it is quite useful in highlighting the subject. Apple rightly decided not to automatically add a bokeh effect to shots but made it a separate setting, even if most people find bokeh pleasing.

The fact that Apple try to get rid of it should have been a clue.

I get Apple is playing to the masses, and the iPhone (and its Android competitors) has essentially replaced the P&S as the mass market camera of choice. However, I still think it should be a feature that can be turned off without resorting to RAW. Apple deciding to add or remove something does mean the decision is correct.
 
Yeah, that looks like there could be physical damage to or soiling of the lens.
I have seen this before. The phone needs to be replaced. A green dot when shooting into the sun is expected, but large green streaks are not. There are posts regarding this a while back.
 


As Apple prepares to launch its upcoming iOS 15 operating system to millions of iPhone users this fall, the latest beta for the update has seemingly improved how users' iPhones take and process photos in certain lighting conditions.

ios-15-lens-flare.jpg

Image Credit: Reddit

The camera hardware inside iPhones plays a significant role in the quality of photos that users can take with their devices, but another factor affecting image quality is the iPhone's on-device processing done by the Image Signal Processor, or ISP.

In the latest iOS 15 beta, Apple has possibly improved iPhone processing when users take photos in conditions where lens flare is sometimes an unwanted artifact. The change was first brought to light on Reddit and further publicized by the popular iPhone camera app Halide on Twitter.

Two side-by-side photos appear to show that Apple removes lens flare from photos during post-photo processing on the newest beta. The photo below shows the final still shot from a Live Photo without lens flare.

ios-15-no-lens-flare.jpg

Same image as above, after iPhone processing

This is not a change Apple has promoted or commented on, so it's not clear what exactly is going on. However, the latest beta could be improving the system that the iPhone uses to detect different indoor and outdoor scenes, and using that information to compensate and remove unwanted lens flare.

One Reddit user points out that they could see noticeable lens flare after taking a photo on their iPhone 12 Pro. When revisiting the image later on in the day, though, they noticed it had automatically been removed from the photo.
iOS 15 is still in beta testing with developers and public beta testers and won't be available to all iPhone users until later this fall. Apple is also testing iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15.

Article Link: Latest iOS 15 Beta Appears to Automatically Remove Lens Flare From Photos in Certain Conditions
In the olden days, we had to add a flare lens filter to get a flare.
 
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Zooms? 🤣

No competent photographers will want to use zoom if they can avoid it.
🤣🤣🤣 Tell that to professional sports and wildlife photographers. Or wedding photographers. Or, well, any pro photographer who works outside a studio. Heck, Canon and Nikon will be interested to hear they can stop making their pro-level weather-sealed zooms since no one competent wants to use them.
 
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🤣🤣🤣 Tell that to professional sports and wildlife photographers. Or wedding photographers.
Umm.. Yes, they use zoom, and prime. They’re professional. They don’t have to sacrifice. They can carry many camera and use BOTH. The fact that they also carry prime despite having zoom should tell you enough if you have enough knowledge in photography which you clearly don’t.
Again, no competent photographers will want to use zoom when they can avoid it. If you understand English then you would understand that, of course, it means there are times they have to use it .. out of necessity of convenience.
No one said nobody is using zoom. Learn to read before making a conversation.
 
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