Camera lens flare/washed out fix?

[Mooncatt]

I was on one of those top bazillion (ok, there's a word I didn't expect to be in my dictionary. Lol) life hack lists and saw one about camera phones. It suggested putting transparent tape over the lens to reduce things like the washed out effect that plagues the M8 camera when there's a bright light in the background. They showed using scotch tape, that's more translucent than clear, and had an apparent before and a after pic tar showed a drastic reduction in the washed out effect.

I'm aware many of those so called life hacks don't actually work, but this one sounded intriguing. Has anyone tried it, or would be willing to try? I would, but don't have any tape handy.

 

[rekkid]

I havent tried or seen anything like that before... but I would say that it would be the opposite... especially scotch tape.

One of the "tricks of the trade" in photography for a soft-focus, dream like picture is to put something in front of the lens... like Vaseline or pantyhose.

Now... I see the theory behind this... thinking that tape would act like a Neutral Density Filter (ND filter)... so maybe ultra clear tape, but I've got to imagine that the adhesive material isnt clear enough not to effect focusing/sharpness. Ever read those reviews of phones (especially Samsungs) where the reviewer said they were disappointed by the camera only to retract it after finding they left the clear film on top of the lens on?

 

[Mooncatt]

That's kinda what I was thinking, but figured I'd ask anyway. I'm debating checking with a camera store to see if they suggest anything. It's not a huge deal for me because I rarely have those kinds of lighting issues.

 

[Mooncatt]

Well I tried with some clear scotch tape, and I didn't notice a difference. I know some scotch tapes are more translucent than transparent, but that may risk diffusing the whole shot.

 

[tryatt]

I don't think the issue is conventional lens flare (ie stray light). I think its either the way the picture is processed (less likely as I believe we have received a few camera software/sense updates over the months), or its fundamental to the sensor - I reckon the lower MP count is part of the issue.

Its quite funny how people go on about how the M8 camera is the best thing since sliced bread with its ultrapixels, but the amount of complaints about washed out photos and inability to deal with high contrast/mixed light scenarios is quite high. There was a camera thread a few months ago where I mentioned something similar and pretty much got shot down to criticising the camera!