Apple has owned up to the purple haze problem with the iPhone 5 -- but says that the problem is normal, advising you to just point your phone in a different direction.
"Most small cameras, including those in every generation of iPhone, may exhibit some form of flare at the edge of the frame," Apple says in a new note in the support section of the Apple website, acknowledging complaints that a purple glow appears in some pictures taken with the new iPhone.
The purple haze problem is described by Apple as "a purplish or other coloured flare, haze or spot is imaged from out-of-scene bright light sources during still image or video capture".
"Moving the camera slightly to change the position at which the bright light is entering the lens, or shielding the lens with your hand, should minimise or eliminate the effect," Apple advises.
Purple fringing is indeed, as Apple notes, a common problem in digital cameras. The technical term is chromatic aberration, which refers to different colours of light coming into the camera lens and focusing in different places. The result being a ghostly purplish colour where dark and light edges meet, like a tree against the sky or a person standing in front of a light.
In this case, the issue only appears to be affecting some iPhone 5 handsets, making it difficult to judge whether Apple is right, and this is a case of normal purple fringing, or something else -- perhaps a flaw with the new sapphire cover for the iPhone 5's camera.
Apple has also previously described the iPhone 5's propensity for scratches and scuffs at the edges as normal. The US company has, however, admitted that the failings of the new Apple Maps app are far from normal, apologising to customers in an unprecedented open letter from boss Tim Cook.
We haven't managed to recreate the problem with the iPhones in our office. Have you noticed the purple problem, and have you found a way to avoid it? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
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Comments 22
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grandcruclasse 8 October, 2012 12:38
Translation:
'you're pointing in wrong. What are you, stupid or something?'
grandcruclasse 8 October, 2012 12:39
'....pointing "it" wrong' obviously. Sheeesh, I'll get my coat on the way out.
AppleRocks16 8 October, 2012 12:48
"just point your phone in a different direction.
Thats laughable. Same thing was said in 2010 regarding the antenna. Absolute nonsense from Apple yet again.
anonymous 8 October, 2012 12:59
Yes you get haze and lens flare, that much is true, but to see in an extreme purple colour is simply not normal. Sounds like bull to me!
I get the occasional lens flare on the DSLR with my 80-200 lens on it, it is nothing like the examples I have seen on the iPhone5, but to be honest it's just a phone camera and should never be used as a substitution for a real camera in any case.
You want a camera, buy a Canon/Nikon/Olympus/Sony or Fuji Point and Shoot from your local electrical store.
anonymous 8 October, 2012 13:14
Oh no. You get lens flare when you point and focus a Phone camera towards a bright light.
I believe the same thing happens with your eyes -.-
jayce35 8 October, 2012 13:38
looks like iphone quality is falling
anonymous 8 October, 2012 13:43
could it be that people are not holding the Iphone correctly?
;)
anonymous 8 October, 2012 13:59
"All right, All right, I'll let you go to France, but you have to take a picture of the Eiffel tower with you in it, with your new phone!"
"How was your trip"
"it was great, thanks"
"Can I see the pictures?"
"Where is the eiffel tower?, I can't see no eiffel tower, you went to amsterdam didn't you?, I knew it"
"Noo, no , I didn't, My phone was showing purple when I was taking a picture, here"
" I paid good money for that phone don't tell me you saw purple haze thats BS, thats photoshopped, and I know it"
"I was skeptical, so I checked on Apple Maps to see where you were, and you did indeed go to Amsterdam, that's it your grounded!"
anonymous 8 October, 2012 14:11
It is normal, though I must say it has been a while since I has seen evidence of it, that is as bad as the iPhone examples I have seen. Upgrades in sensors etc have pretty much removed it so that you only really see it when zoomed into the picture at around 100%, and those occasions are pretty rare too.
I reckon the phones that are experiencing it on the level of the examples I have seen i.e. really large purple hazing even on image not zoomed in, has to suggest there are issues somewhere.
anonymous 8 October, 2012 14:16
Lol @ anonymous 8 October, 2012 13:59.
Summed up the iPhone beautifully! Can't argue with that.
anonymous 8 October, 2012 17:37
There are no rules in photography just good and bad photos... and opinions. Sometimes people purposefully point their camera at the sun - have you ever seen a photo of a sunrise or sunset?
It is true that all cameras will get a certain flare when light goes directly into the lens - as most people who take photos will be aware of. Although the Purple Haze is definitely a design flaw and not what you would expect from a high end smart phone. I've even seen a comparison between the 4S and the 5 and where the photographer from the same position gets the purple haze with the 5 and not with the 4S:
http://mashable.com/2012/10/07/apple-response-purple-haz/
Guessing CNET will not be adding the Purple Haze along with the iScratch Proneness to their iPhone 5 review. I'm seeing that they would prefer to NOT investigate these issues first hand, as if you haven't seen it then it hasn't happened, right?
Stuart Perchard 8 October, 2012 17:54
sounds to much like the past arial sketch to me, you know the one which they denied at first and then made out that you didn't hold your phone correctly before bringing out a " " frer rubber cover to put it in.
Wonder what they'll do this time " a free clear plastic lens cap to correct the Pointy thingy inside. You know the one that doesn't exist.
Glad I still have my trusted Sammy SII
anonymous 8 October, 2012 18:54
I call BS Apple, my Samsung Note's camera takes great images and I've never had any "Purple Haze" Sounds to me like the iPhone 5 needs a 's' to sort this and the map issues out.
I can never understand why they don't just fess up and apologise then sort it out. I would respect a company for doing that.
anonymous 8 October, 2012 18:59
The last thing that I want to hear when my phone is taking bad photos is that it is normal. bad photos = bad camera . If Apple expected this to be a regular occurrence, how in the world do they consider the phone a finished product and ready to hit the market? Not to mention the Apple maps they touted at the announcement that completely flopped. Glad I went with the GS3.
anonymous 8 October, 2012 22:20
Wierd, I studied photography in college and this symptom is of low quality, badly put together cameras. It has never happened on any camera I have owned, including my Samsung Galaxy 2 and my new Galaxy Nexus.
Seems like Apple can't keep up anymore, shame, shouldnt have mugged off your best parts supplier (Samsung)
iam a wp7 9 October, 2012 02:08
It's nice to see apple starting to crack :) wonder if teenagers still think the iPhone is the best phone because it is made by apple...
anonymous 9 October, 2012 13:09
I've had some cheaper phones like the LG pop and the camera was only 3MP and the photos are fine for that camera. no haze or anything
Something is wrong with a company when they say hardware faults are not a problem, just accept it and the fanboys do!
Daniel Rawr 9 October, 2012 18:04
This what happens when comapny spend more money on patent lawsuits and not r&d ...
Their reply is a joke... theyve got the cheek to charge £650 for a phone... ridiculous.
anonymous 10 October, 2012 03:38
yeah... totally normal, the hunger for money and the disrespect for users, that is totally normal for apple, i will wait for the lumia 920, for me the most complete phone ever.
anonymous 10 October, 2012 12:13
Consumer Reports which famously said it could not recommend the iPhone 4 because of reception problems caused by the phone’s wrap-around antenna design has concluded its assessment of Apple’s latest iPhone, naming the iPhone 5 the best iPhone yet, and ranking it among the best smart phones in our Ratings.
Read more : http://www.bmgcreative.com/tag/fort-lauderdale-website-design/
anonymous 10 October, 2012 13:25
Classic Apple reaction to an issue - Deny it completley. Tell the customer that it is them who is at fault beacuse they don't know how to take a picture properly. Apple treats it's customers poorly, it's competition poorly(who are also the people making the parts for it) you would think that if the fanboys were to come to their senses and stop paying overinflated prices for Apple tech when cheaper and better alternatives are out there and Apple were to find themselves in a bad financial position that no one would be coming to their aid liek Bill Gates did beore.
anonymous 16 October, 2012 17:10
I found 2 things with camera vertical like static colour lines an the purple flare . Spoke to apple simple fix for both resulted simple rest all settings .... Did not think this would work but yep ....sorted