Pics at night/in the dark have a bright greyish tone?

[amyinnc]

Missed so many good shots trick or treating last night, as anytime i take photos at night, they are blurry with a greyish light tone to them? Any ideas how to fix that?
Have a new Iphone..but had same issue with night pics on my other one! Frustrating....i switched from auto, on, off in flash..same prob (well flash off they were just totally dark..)

 

[Deckyon]

sounds like too much movement and/or a case is getting in the way of the flash led.

An example of a shot as well as what kind of case and what app you are using would also help.

 

[amyinnc]

Im using the built in camera..no movement as it was alot of posed pictures...i have a cheap case on it..but that means i need to take the case off every time i want to take pics??

 

[Deckyon]

your hands were moving, that is part of the blurry part. you can see that movement in the lights behind the people. Those large circles are reflections of the flash off the case. It looks like the case may cover the lense and/or the flash. get a better case, or no case.

 

[amyinnc]

well the subject and I were standing still..i never have the problem in daylight pics. The lense/flash dont seem obstructed...but maybe thats it..can't afford a "good case"....

 

[Deckyon]

the lighting in the background shows the camera was moving slightly when the shutter closed.

Looks like you may have to run without a case for night shots.

 

[Skull One]

amyinnc which case are you using? And do you remember to clean the camera lens before using it?

 

[amyinnc]

amyinnc which case are you using? And do you remember to clean the camera lens before using it?

I have just a cheap case I bought off amazon (I change them often, so I dont buy exepnsive ones) I do clean it often, and Ive only had the phone 2 days!

 

[Skull One]

Would you be so kind and post the Amazon link to the case please. I would like to see it to see if it broke one of the design rules for the area that has the flash.

 

[amyinnc]

this one at the moment...but ive noticed this same issue with other case when i had my other phone too...
Amazon.com: eForCity Hybrid Case compatible with Apple® iPhone® 4 / 4S, Black Skin / White Meshed Plastic: Cell Phones & Accessories

 

[Skull One]

this one at the moment...but ive noticed this same issue with other case when i had my other phone too...
Amazon.com: eForCity Hybrid Case compatible with Apple® iPhone® 4 / 4S, Black Skin / White Meshed Plastic: Cell Phones & Accessories

Ok, that case has the camera/flash cutout way to "tight" or "close" around it. So when the flash goes off, the edge of the case (which looks at least to be 2 to 3 millimeters thick) will reflect the light and bounce it towards the lens. The lens is actually expecting the light source to be coming from straight ahead. But this "off angle" light is coming in almost flat from the side and at a very high intensity. The CCD (camera's eye) tries to process it along with the rest of the light that it is seeing. And if you look really close, the majority of the "light bubbles" are on the left side of the photo which is where the flash is positioned.

When you get a chance, you should take a picture with basically the same night condition with the case on and off. Odds are the picture is going to clean up really well with the case off.

The case I use is Amazon.com: OtterBox Commuter Series Case for iPhone 5 - Retail Packaging - Bolt: Cell Phones & Accessories and you will notice that the cut out is a lot larger to cut down on the flash issue. Otterbox learned this the hard way when they tried to use their iPhone 4 design on the improved 4S camera and flash. They ended up switching a lot of cases out in the early days of the 4S. I was one of them

 

[amyinnc]

Well it makes sense..wish I could afford a good otter box..(in a decent color/design!) thanks for the info!

 

[amelie123]

may be this one helps:
How To Take Night Photos With iPhone 3G - YouTube

 

[pfin514]

Ok, that case has the camera/flash cutout way to "tight" or "close" around it. So when the flash goes off, the edge of the case (which looks at least to be 2 to 3 millimeters thick) will reflect the light and bounce it towards the lens. The lens is actually expecting the light source to be coming from straight ahead. But this "off angle" light is coming in almost flat from the side and at a very high intensity. The CCD (camera's eye) tries to process it along with the rest of the light that it is seeing. And if you look really close, the majority of the "light bubbles" are on the left side of the photo which is where the flash is positioned.

When you get a chance, you should take a picture with basically the same night condition with the case on and off. Odds are the picture is going to clean up really well with the case off.

The case I use is Amazon.com: OtterBox Commuter Series Case for iPhone 5 - Retail Packaging - Bolt: Cell Phones & Accessories and you will notice that the cut out is a lot larger to cut down on the flash issue. Otterbox learned this the hard way when they tried to use their iPhone 4 design on the improved 4S camera and flash. They ended up switching a lot of cases out in the early days of the 4S. I was one of them

I experienced a corner flash flare with my iPhone5 in an Otterbox Defender case. Happened in a dark setting. The opening seems adequate, but it picks up a vicinity reflection from the case thickness. Removed case, works fine. Going to try a matte to absorb incident reflection.