iPhone 16 Pro Max Ugly Circles in ProRAW photos!

[BrettApple]

I noticed this first tonight while shooting a once in a lifetime (or close to) event from the back yard. Check this out!
There are circles dead-center in the images each time on long exposure shots taken in ProRAW (or so I thought only ProRAW, I just checked and ONE I shot in standard HEIC and it is still present).

Has anyone seen this before or do I have some kind of crazy hardware defect? Or is there some photo-destroying software bug in the processing? It shows up in Lightroom as well, not just on-device or in Apple Photos....

Wild... Took some in May on an iPhone 14 Pro - no such circles present. Nor my 13 Pro prior to that...

 

[ToddH]

The dehaze tool looks like it uncovered an optics issue. This is the only time you see it when you stretch that dehaze that far? I took photos of the Aurora this evening as well and using Lightroom, I pushed my dehaze tool all the way & I did not see those rings. It could be a software problem or a camera issue. I would call Apple and email them a copy of that photo and see what they would recommend. Also test the camera on other subjects to see it the rings still exist

 

[black_knight]

You do realize that we’re in the midst of a pretty substantial geomagnetic storm, correct? This is why you have such a pretty picture that you posted. It’s entirely possible that this geomagnetic storm is doing something funky to the camera in your phone, doing something funky to the phone itself, or the camera is picking up something funky.

 

[cratterbury]

I didn't notice it originally, but after seeing your post, I zoomed in on one of my photos and I also have them. I used ProRAW on iPhone 16 Pro Max. Mine do appear slightly smaller though so perhaps to do with the angle of the light.

 

[chrfr]

Turn off the lens corrections that Lightroom is applying- this is basically stretching out the image data and sometimes it had negative effects. It can happen with other cameras besides phones, too.

 

[cratterbury]

Turn off the lens corrections that Lightroom is applying- this is basically stretching out the image data and sometimes it had negative effects. It can happen with other cameras besides phones, too.

The rings are on my photos on the phone. I don’t use lightroom or any editing software, it’s just on the stock photo

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Looks like Newton’s Rings to me - light bouncing around in the lens elements. Ensure the lens is completely clean.

 

[BrettApple]

The dehaze tool looks like it uncovered an optics issue. This is the only time you see it when you stretch that dehaze that far? I took photos of the Aurora this evening as well and using Lightroom, I pushed my dehaze tool all the way & I did not see those rings. It could be a software problem or a camera issue. I would call Apple and email them a copy of that photo and see what they would recommend. Also test the camera on other subjects to see it the rings still exist

I am seeing them in completely untouched photos (the first two are straight out of camera). I used Lightroom to zoom in and the dehaze tool to bring it out for the purposes of this thread is all. Makes it that much more obvious!

You do realize that we’re in the midst of a pretty substantial geomagnetic storm, correct? This is why you have such a pretty picture that you posted. It’s entirely possible that this geomagnetic storm is doing something funky to the camera in your phone, doing something funky to the phone itself, or the camera is picking up something funky.

Yup, which apparently does have something to do with it. After I looked up Newtons rings per the latest post, I found a separate thread on Apple’s community forums for the same thing! I does seem to be a 16 Pro/Pro Max problem though it looked like someone on a 14 Pro Max was seeing it too. However my 14 Pro did not exhibit the same problem. I’ll upload a shot from May with a similar storm in the same location. Could just be different level of CME storm.

Turn off the lens corrections that Lightroom is applying- this is basically stretching out the image data and sometimes it had negative effects. It can happen with other cameras besides phones, too.

They appear in untouched photos, not using any lens correction here. On my 14mm on my DSLR camera, perhaps

The rings are on my photos on the phone. I don’t use lightroom or any editing software, it’s just on the stock photo

View attachment 2435905View attachment 2435906

Aha, another joins the club!

Looks like Newton’s Rings to me - light bouncing around in the lens elements. Ensure the lens is completely clean.

Seems like it’s something like this, very similar effect! Lens is completely clean and I tried cleaning it with a brand new microfiber cloth while I was out shooting too.

 

[BrettApple]

Check it out: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255792494?answerId=260820717022&sortBy=rank#260820717022

 

[BrettApple]

Here are a few from my prior iPhone 14 Pro, I can’t say that it wouldn’t have done this since this was from the storm in May. The first time I had ever seen this in real life here in Kansas. Originally shot in ProRAW and processed to JPG on the 48MP primary camera.

Took one with my iPhone 13 mini too since that was my daily driver (and still holds my main SIM)… No issue there either other than an inferior sensor.

Not too bad for a 2021 non-Pro iPhone…

Anyway I’m glad I found the other thread, and also confirmed here it is NOT just my device, thanks all!

What a strange situation.

 

[cratterbury]

Check it out: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255792494?answerId=260820717022&sortBy=rank#260820717022

This makes sense as i can only see the rings in some photos where it’s a particular colour, mainly green!

Very interesting!