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ds1985

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 6, 2011
8
8
Has anyone noticed a “flickering” effect when recording video on the 12 Pro? I’ve tested in high light and low light settings and get the same result where the lighting seems to flicker around the subject. It‘s almost as if there is a strange filter being applied. I’ve tried adjusting to different FPS and resolution and it doesn’t seem to resolve the issue. I searched online and couldn’t find anything helpful. I didn’t have this issue with my 11 Pro, so I’m wondering if it could be a defect with my device.
 
I’ve noticed it. Seems to happen in HDR video. I don’t know how to correct for it. Surprised more people aren’t discussing it. Seems pretty bad to my eye
 
Yup. Use the front facing camera and hold it against your shirt while looking at the screen for a good laugh.
 
Has anyone noticed a “flickering” effect when recording video on the 12 Pro? I’ve tested in high light and low light settings and get the same result where the lighting seems to flicker around the subject. It‘s almost as if there is a strange filter being applied. I’ve tried adjusting to different FPS and resolution and it doesn’t seem to resolve the issue. I searched online and couldn’t find anything helpful. I didn’t have this issue with my 11 Pro, so I’m wondering if it could be a defect with my device.
Same issue here. I had something like a strobing effect in the bright areas of the video, and in some cases what appeared to be darker horizontal or vertical shadowing in the footage whenever I moved the phone during recording.

Took my phone back to Apple, the guy on the Genius Bar agreed the footage looked bad and got a replacement phone. It has the exact same issue. Maybe these cameras are just ****, or at least the software sucks.
 
Just got the 12 Pro and yep, all of my footage is getting light flickering.

I am a filmmaker by trade, so I can give some insight from that perspective.

After some rigorous testing this evening, the issue is most apparent in the default settings (the Dolby stuff is essentially in beta and HDR is a big issue). The other issue is with “auto FPS” as well as the High Efficiency mode. Turn those off and things should look better.

This could also be an issue with automatic shutter speeds (which cannot be controlled with the native camera app).

I hope that this is all a software issue and will be resolved with the actual release of RAW and DolbyVision.
Pretty sure any filmmaker (as Chivo, one of the greatest, would have 1,000% noticed this). He probably had the beta software to film with.

until this release comes out the native camera app is unusable in HDR and High Efficiency modes. I’ll try out some of my pro video apps and report back.
 

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Just got the 12 Pro and yep, all of my footage is getting light flickering.

I am a filmmaker by trade, so I can give some insight from that perspective.

After some rigorous testing this evening, the issue is most apparent in the default settings (the Dolby stuff is essentially in beta and HDR is a big issue). The other issue is with “auto FPS” as well as the High Efficiency mode. Turn those off and things should look better.

This could also be an issue with automatic shutter speeds (which cannot be controlled with the native camera app).

I hope that this is all a software issue and will be resolved with the actual release of RAW and DolbyVision.
Pretty sure any filmmaker (as Chivo, one of the greatest, would have 1,000% noticed this). He probably had the beta software to film with.

until this release comes out the native camera app is unusable in HDR and High Efficiency modes. I’ll try out some of my pro video apps and report back.
Just tested and looks like in pro apps there is no flickering.

A work around in the camera app is locking your exposure (by pressing and holding on your target exposure point until the yellow square appears). No ideal, but can help while Apple sorts itself out.
 
Just tested and looks like in pro apps there is no flickering.

A work around in the camera app is locking your exposure (by pressing and holding on your target exposure point until the yellow square appears). No ideal, but can help while Apple sorts itself out.
Thanks for your reply. It seems my problem is worse than what you’re seeing. I’ve been doing videography for a few years now and while I’m no expert I am pretty familiar with the relationships between shutter speeds / fps etc and with apps like Filmic Pro which allow you to lock and change many settings. I’m still seeing the issue no matter what I use.

It is undoubtedly worse with HDR mode turned on in the native app, but even without it things look bad. That’s also with locking the exposure.

Got a Genius Bar appointment again on Monday so gonna have a good chat with them and see if we can test out multiple models in store to see what happens.
 
Thanks for your reply. It seems my problem is worse than what you’re seeing. I’ve been doing videography for a few years now and while I’m no expert I am pretty familiar with the relationships between shutter speeds / fps etc and with apps like Filmic Pro which allow you to lock and change many settings. I’m still seeing the issue no matter what I use.

It is undoubtedly worse with HDR mode turned on in the native app, but even without it things look bad. That’s also with locking the exposure.

Got a Genius Bar appointment again on Monday so gonna have a good chat with them and see if we can test out multiple models in store to see what happens.
Really interested in hearing how this turns out. Will watch this thread. Good luck and if I figure anything out on this side I’ll post.
 
Can you try to better describe this issue? I don’t really see any issue with video on my 12 Pro and I do have Shoot In HDR turned on. What is it I’m looking for?
I’m not sure how it’ll look after compression but the video I’ve attached should give you an idea what I’m seeing. Lots of flickering and strobing in the lighter areas whenever there’s camera movement.

 
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Just wanted to update where I’m at with this issue.

So I went back to Apple and ended up spending 90 mins talking with various staff and Genius Bar workers as well as someone in store management and made a full report about the issues I was having. They’ve copied several of my videos and added them to the report and all agreed that there was definitely something going wrong with the videos recording.

Unfortunately at this point in time they are assuming the problem is a software issue (though one that clearly doesn’t affect many people given all the great looking video footage I keep seeing all over YouTube) and that there’s no guarantee it’s something that will even be addressed if it only affects a small number of people.

They exchanged my phone (again) and that’s about as far as I got. This new replacement phone has exactly the same issues so I’m in a bit of an annoying position. For what I need the video recording in this phone is effectively useless, so I have a $1700 phone whose headline camera feature is dead on arrival and unusable. I’ve already passed my old xs on so can’t even fall back to that. As much as it sucks, for the first time in 13 years I might have to jump ship from Apple phones.
 
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I have exactly the same issue. I have white walls in my living room and they are flickering like hell while moving the camera. This is not a shutter speed issue. I tried switching HDR off, different frame rates and resolutions, even in Filmic Pro I have that issue.
 
Same issue on my 12 PM. This hardware or software? Very noticeable with walls or corners. It flickers under sunlights or indoor lights

another thread here:
 
There seems to be different kinds of flickering going on with the iPhone 12 (pro/max?). It's confusing, because some cases seem to be more related to fast shutter speeds and artificial lighting, where the whole frame flickers even when the camera isn't moving.

I however have a problem similar to leecrawford's, where different parts of the image "flicker" in brightness when the camera is panned.

It looks like some HDR tone mapping going crazy, but at least in my case the problem is visible even when HDR is turned off. Locking the exposure doesn't help either.

Here's the video:

To me, this quality is useless. Hopefully Apple will come up with a solution soon.
 
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Just tested and looks like in pro apps there is no flickering.

A work around in the camera app is locking your exposure (by pressing and holding on your target exposure point until the yellow square appears). No ideal, but can help while Apple sorts itself out.
I’m sorry to say that even locking focus and exposure the issue persists (at least in slo mo videos). Same scene/light filmed with my old iPhone SE 1gen is perfect! (iPhone 12 mini here)
 
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Just got the 12 Pro and yep, all of my footage is getting light flickering.

I am a filmmaker by trade, so I can give some insight from that perspective.

After some rigorous testing this evening, the issue is most apparent in the default settings (the Dolby stuff is essentially in beta and HDR is a big issue). The other issue is with “auto FPS” as well as the High Efficiency mode. Turn those off and things should look better.

This could also be an issue with automatic shutter speeds (which cannot be controlled with the native camera app).

I hope that this is all a software issue and will be resolved with the actual release of RAW and DolbyVision.
Pretty sure any filmmaker (as Chivo, one of the greatest, would have 1,000% noticed this). He probably had the beta software to film with.

until this release comes out the native camera app is unusable in HDR and High Efficiency modes. I’ll try out some of my pro video apps and report back.
Same issue with my iPhone 12 mini, comparered with my 4year old iPhone SE it‘s a shame a brand new iPhone makes such unusuable videos. Even if you lock focus and exposure videos flickers. Thanks for yours suggestions. Tomorrow i’ll try to set my camera turning dolby video and auto fps off. I was about to return my iPhone... I’d better wait for software upgrades, I guess. Please let us know if you have any news. Thanks
 
Unfortunately i have the same problem. İ pretty much used all the settings and could not solve yhe issue. Hope apple can correct this just with a software update.
 
I think that we are a minority of users who notice that issue. I tried it with the iPhones 12 Pro of relatives and friend - they all show that problem. But when I tell them they don't get what I mean.
 
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Has this issue been sorted? Noticed this issue yesterday when shooting my daughter on her bike, while running beside her and moving the camera around under different lighting conditions
 
Has this issue been sorted? Noticed this issue yesterday when shooting my daughter on her bike, while running beside her and moving the camera around under different lighting conditions
Exact same thing here. I have an iPhone 12 Pro Max. Noticed today walking fast on the beach while shooting the ocean. Image stabilization is amazing, but the flickering is pretty bad. I also shot locking exposure and focus. Didn’t work. What do you guys think? Thanks!
 
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