It seems like Apple has a new official stance on the purple lens flare. Despite being a relatively common phenomenon, many people are still up in arms about the purple flares popping up in iPhone 5 photos. For the uninitiated, the purple flares occur when a light source is just outside of the photo frame, on the periphery of the camera’s lens.
According to Gizmodo and one of their readers, AppleCare support is now telling people that the purple flare is “normal behavior for the iPhone 5’s camera.” In a support email sent to Gizmodo reader Matt Van Gastel, AppleCare Support writes:
Our engineering team just gave me this information and we recommend that you angle the camera away from the bright light source when taking pictures. The purple flare in the image provided is considered normal behavior for iPhone 5’s camera.
Here’s the thing, though, Apple’s not wrong. The lens flare, while more pronounced in the iPhone 5, is a pretty normal occurrence for all cameras. Pointing your camera lens in the direction of any light source is going to cause a flare of some kind. Instead of rehashing the details here, we recommend reading this article on lens flares. Apple’s not lying when they say angle the camera away from bright lights. That’s actually the solutions for any camera if you’re having flare problems.
It’s not ideal, but it’s the reality of taking photographs.
