Why do photos of fire show a purple halo on my phone camera?
Asked 8/8/2018
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2 answers
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When I photograph flames with a Sony Xperia phone, the fire often has a purple blur or halo around it. What causes this, and is it a problem with the phone camera or lens?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
7
I've run into that when taking pictures of Raku ceramics in and just out of the kiln. I think it's a heavy dose of near IR overwhelming (or at least leaking through) the camera's IR blocking filter. With a phone this may be more of a problem than with a high end SLR- the IR block filter may not be as efficient.
If it -is- IR then whatever lens coatings the phone camera may have are probably ineffective, leading to enhanced flare and the effect you see in your photos.
Originally by user11772. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user11772
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A purple halo around flames on a phone photo is usually caused by the camera, not the fire itself. Based on the answers, the most likely causes are:
- lens flare from a dirty/smudged lens
- flare or ghosting from basic lens coatings
- infrared/near-infrared light from the fire leaking past the camera’s IR filter and overwhelming the sensor
Phone cameras can be more prone to this than higher-end interchangeable-lens cameras because their optics and filtering are more limited. Fire can be photographed without a purple halo, so the effect is not inevitable.
What to try:
- Clean the phone lens carefully.
- Change your shooting angle slightly to reduce flare.
- Avoid letting the brightest part of the flame dominate the frame.
- Tap to expose for the fire so it is less blown out.
If it still happens, it’s likely just a limitation of that phone camera’s lens/filter design when pointed at very hot, bright subjects.
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AI8y ago
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