iPhone5: The Purple Haze

Would you still buy an iPhone5?

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Mine is on order. This purple haze non-problem is nothing more than user error. Shade the lens with your finger or move the camera a few inches and you won't see the problem. Every cheap, simple lens exhibits flare when strong light hits the front element.

Lightcraftsman said:

Mine is on order. This purple haze non-problem is nothing more than user error. Shade the lens with your finger or move the camera a few inches and you won't see the problem. Every cheap, simple lens exhibits flare when strong light hits the front element.

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Going to disagree a bit. Lens flare is one thing, but CA (purple fringing) is quite another issue all together, and does not have to be a result of shooting directly into the sun. The shot of the tree shows this. The problem is with the glass its self when paired with a specific aperture. Stopping down will help, but since the iPhone doesn't offer any manual way of adjusting aperture, one is stuck with the CA until they edit in something like Lightroom etc..

CA is nothing new, even with big manufacturers like Nikon and Canon. I had Nikon's 35 1.8 AFS, and it was quite the purple fringe machine. If the scene didn't have much magenta or purple in it, I'd simply desaturate those specific channels, and all was well. Got tired of doing that however, and returned it.

I'm quite surprised though, as this is one of those things that really aught to be tested extensively before release.

Doug

I think the issue is excessive CA and not mere flare that could be eliminated with some shading. Doing more research before purchase.

Doug, I have 25 years professional photography experience and am something of an equipment geek. I have used everything from old two-element view camera lenses to the latest 17-element zoom lenses. The lens flare issue on the iPhone 5 is endemic to simple achromatic lens designs. Eliminating flare and chromatic aberration requires expensive glass and complex designs.

PC Magazine has a good test showing the flare on various smartphones.

Purple Flare Shootout

Let's please put this to rest. Expecting a cheap lens in a $200 smartphone to not exhibit flaws is unrealistic.

Lightcraftsman said:

Doug, I have 25 years professional photography experience and am something of an equipment geek. I have used everything from old two-element view camera lenses to the latest 17-element zoom lenses. The lens flare issue on the iPhone 5 is endemic to simple achromatic lens designs. Eliminating flare and chromatic aberration requires expensive glass and complex designs.

PC Magazine has a good test showing the flare on various smartphones.

Purple Flare Shootout

Let's please put this to rest. Expecting a cheap lens in a $200 smartphone to not exhibit flaws is unrealistic.

Click to expand...

LC, while I do appreciate the article, suggesting that the article puts the issue to rest, is certainly not the conclusion of the article.

This is a thread about the iPhone 5 purple problem:

The conclusion of the article: "Of the phones tested,...the latest and greatest iPhone 5 was clearly the worst offender of the bunch."

"Modern photographers complain about purple fringing when shooting dark objects against a black sky, but that goes away with a few clicks in Lightroom—that's not the case with large flares."

And, I will editorialize: iPhone 5 has a very large flare when it occurs.

Obviously, as a photographer I am well aware of ways to reduce or eliminate the flare; ****, I could just not take the image. I set up a lens protection system to make sure the lens is in the shade. And, as Apple suggested, I could "hold the camera differently".

That is not the point; at the end of the day the iPhone 5 is a point & shoot. If you have to take steps to avoid the flare exhibited that ends spontaneity.

I started this thread as an investigation to decide whether to continue with my purchase of an iPhone 5. I have written to two iPhonography Masters: Jack Davis and Dewitt Jones. When received I will post their answers.

And I'll do my own tests and post the results when my iPhone 5 arrives.

Lightcraftsman said:

And I'll do my own tests and post the results when my iPhone 5 arrives.

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Great! When do you expect to receive your phone; soon? ;D

I ordered it one week ago, so it should be here in two to three weeks. I'm replacing a Nokia 3120 dumbphone.

Oh well, I hope to make a decision before then. I am going to Hawaii to spend a week in a Jack Davis: Photography For The Soul Workshop which includes a lot of iPhone play.

Carrying my new Mac; would like to be "cool" with also carrying an iPhone 5.

All was a go until yesterday when I read about the flare issue.

Currently in Oz; hope to decide when I arrive State-side on 10/15.

Cheers,

That workshop should be fun. Wish I had my iPhone already to help you make a decision, but for me it was a no-brainer. Yes, the iPhone 5 has more purple lens flare than other smartphones, but they're all pretty bad anyway. The solution is to not let strong light hit the front lens element. Someone needs to make an iPhone 5 case that has a collapsible lens hood.

Totally agree; it is all about shading the lens. Simply another issue to deal with.

I have only played with dumb phones up until now; waited through the 4 and 4S for the 5.

Oh well, time will tell. ;D

I have by far the least photographic chops of anyone who has yet posted in this thread (aspiring enthusiast), but having said that:

1) I would and have bought (ordered actually) 2 iPhone 5's and the CA/Flare issue hasn't changed my mind
2) Having the ability for the iPhone to act as a high quality P&S would be nice, but is far down my list of priorities
3) If the photo quality was the major factor, I wouldn't be buying an iPhone simply because there are cheaper (not neccessarily better) alternatives

Bottomline: The iPhone 5 is worth buying despite the "Purple Haze" because IMO it is the best phone currently available.

I agree with all your points, Razormac.

I'm keeping my Canon S95. I'll play with the camera in the iPhone 5, but the zoom lens and RAW shooting mode on the S95 make it far more versatile than any smartphone, even though the tiny sensor makes the files unusable above ISO 800. Hmmm... Maybe I should demand Canon recall the camera and fix that. ;D

Razormac, we are at opposite end of the specturm!

If I wanted a phone to talk to someone; I would buy a phone.

Since I am carrying an iPad, I am not buying a phone for the Apps.

As a photographer, I am most interested in playing the iPhonography - Instagram two-step. Carry the iPhone instead of a G12 accomplishes two purposes; a quick P&S and communiction - in that order.

I do know that the iPhone isn't even close to my g12; however, it is sooo much smaller and lighter.

Horses for courses.

If you are just interested in the camera function, you might be better off with the iPhone 4s (cheaper) and I think I remember seeing some tests showing it was a tad better than the iPhone 5 on pics.
FWIW I have an iPad too, and have considered just getting a dumb phone. So far I am sticking with my iPhone.

Am no photographer - would a UV filter take care of the flare? If so, someone should come out with something like a peel and stick that you could just put on the lens cover.

bobtomay said:

Am no photographer - would a UV filter take care of the flare? If so, someone should come out with something like a peel and stick that you could just put on the lens cover.

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Flare you could handle with some kind of stick-on shade. Chromatic Aberration (CA) is a tougher nut to crack, since it results from the characteristic of light of different frequencies bending more or less when passing through a refractive medium (same thing that causes a prism to do its stuff).

EDIT: DPReview has an article up doing a quick review of the iPhone 5. The argue that most of the problem is due to Flare

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/6867454450/quick-review-apple-iphone-5-camera/3

I have the phone and haven't seen this behavior. Granted, I haven't put it through various tests, but I'll try to take some later this week and post pictures.

Lightcraftsman said:

Doug, I have 25 years professional photography experience and am something of an equipment geek. I have used everything from old two-element view camera lenses to the latest 17-element zoom lenses. The lens flare issue on the iPhone 5 is endemic to simple achromatic lens designs. Eliminating flare and chromatic aberration requires expensive glass and complex designs.

PC Magazine has a good test showing the flare on various smartphones.

Purple Flare Shootout

Let's please put this to rest. Expecting a cheap lens in a $200 smartphone to not exhibit flaws is unrealistic.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure of what your experience or stock of equipment has to do with the issue at hand, considering that it is a very common issue which you already stated. I'm not disagreeing with you, but you seem to think that I am? We can not ignore that the lens design has not changed much, except for the new glass that has been incorporated on top of it. If it is indeed the new glass, then I fail to see why there is any debate.

As for flare and CA on various smartphones, it is hardly the issue either. We are talking about comparative CA on the iPhone models, not other smartphones. And please don't expect me, of all people to put anything to rest just because one says so. That's not in my nature. And frankly speaking, from one tech and gadget geek to the next, I rely on my own observations, plus those of others, not just one OR the other. Touting years as an photographer with a ton of equipment doesn't do much for me in the way of credibility. That's not a personal snub, just that I don't know you from Adam and this is of course, the internet.

Not saying you're lying or that you can't offer solid advice, I'm just a cautious person is all. Anyway, as already said.. it seems as though we're not in disagreement. I never said that a "cheaply made lens" in a $200 phone should be flawless. What is implied however, is that the new lens "seems" to exhibit more axial chromatic aberration than in previous models.

Doug