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Daremo

macrumors 68020
Jul 3, 2007
2,176
307
Chicago
I believe that you can rig something up easily as long as it doesn’t have to ‘live’ on the phone full time.

Maybe something like an Olloclip ‘clothespin’ clamp with a simple small lens hood from B&H?

Now you’ve got my curiosity going so maybe I’ll give it a whirl.

Any luck with a makeshift hood?
 

Azathoth123

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2018
930
698
Fountain City
Oh, just for completeness, there are examples where a lens hood/shade doesn’t work and that’s when the sun/light source is in the image as an above example. In that case, the best you can probably do is slightly reposition the camera without changing your composition too much.
 
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benoboz

macrumors newbie
Oct 11, 2017
2
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Azathoth123

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2018
930
698
Fountain City
^^ This. Under the right conditions any lens will flare, including Hasselblad, Leica, and even Apple, which people seem to expect more of, lol. One of the ‘right’ conditions is having a light source in the image, which there is in post #104.

Cell phone cameras are at a disadvantage because the front lens element can’t be recessed 20mm or more as they are in most conventional cameras which provides some shading for the lens. If the light source is just out of the image area, shading the lens with your hand, hat, a piece of paper/cardboard are time-honored methods to reduce flare. Also keep the lens cover clean, a dirty lens cover won’t help.

It would be interesting if they tried computational methods to reduce lens flare as it is usually undesirable in casual images. But sometimes it is used as an artistic effect, so you’d need a quick way to toggle it.
 
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Azathoth123

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2018
930
698
Fountain City
Surely this is not normal !??

Yes it is normal, especially for a highly size-constrained lens group like in cell phones. But I doubt you’d get rid of all that flare with any camera.

As a long-time photo hobbyist, it’s been wonderful to see so many people taking advantage of the remarkable cameras in cell phones today. There are few downsides, but one is that people who aren’t photographers at some level are encountering normal photographic problems and don’t understand them, simply because they’re taking photos that they might never have if not for the cell phone.

The image in #104 has a lot of flare from the center light because the light in the right position to cause flare, and it appears to be more intense or colored differently. It also appears to be pointed more directly at the camera. With a light source in the image, about the only choice you have is to shift position a little so that the central light source is in a position that flares less.
 

ipedro

macrumors 603
Nov 30, 2004
6,239
8,508
Toronto, ON
Bringing back this thread because a notable director, some guy called Steven Spielberg shot his first music video on an iPhone, and is getting this mirror effect – no, it's not "lens flare".


In the video, you can see Spielberg shaking like a 75 year old while handholding the iPhone. Reflection starts around 1:25.

This is how it was filmed:

220718174101-02-marcus-mumford-cannibal-screenshot-exlarge-169.jpg


Frankly, I can't believe Apple hasn't sorted this out by now. Lens flare is normal. Instead, this is a bright object somewhere in or even out of frame being reflected on the flat glass front cover and back into the lens. A curved lens cover would fix this.
 

jcorbin

macrumors 65816
Oct 18, 2011
1,129
258
D.C.
You sure it’s not lens flare from the rectangular window at the top of the frame? Seems pretty bright
 

ipedro

macrumors 603
Nov 30, 2004
6,239
8,508
Toronto, ON
You sure it’s not lens flare from the rectangular window at the top of the frame? Seems pretty bright

No, that is not lens flare. It’s a reflection of an object, possibly the window, that is sometimes known as “ghosting”.

Lens flare is an artifact caused by light hitting the lens and causing glare. It appears as a spiky light burst, light circles or a wash over a photo or video. It does not follow every movement of the camera as it has a wide cover of influence and moves slowly with the camera.

What we’re seeing on iPhone is a full on reflection, a reproduction of a shape given off by a bright object in front of the iPhone, shining back in a feedback loop in the lens and onto the sensor. This is poor lens design and it boggles my mind that Apple has never addressed it over several generations since the iPhone X. Form over function, I guess.

This entire thread has been a series of people misunderstanding what lens flare is, including the OP. Here’s one of the best examples of this ghosting, which again, is not lens flare.


This is lens flare:

1658233542500.gif
 

jcorbin

macrumors 65816
Oct 18, 2011
1,129
258
D.C.
Ok then ghosting. But it still seems to be in line with what I’ve seen in many low light videos with a bright light source. I don’t think it’s specific to iPhone. I think one of the new galaxies did something to mitigate it though. Maybe curving the lens or something.
 
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