# Is this a faulty camera/lens or something that can be "expected"



## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Flares .. Flaw ?/ Is It something that I should complain about ?? Camera's new just had it 2 weeks .. It 
seems that when the light comes in at a certain angle, left or right, these flares appear ..

I've check the camera and see no dirt, even tried cleaning the glass a couple of times with no joy ..

around the palm tree .. 









near the mast of the ship .. blue colour ..











In the tree slightly above centre and two thirds across the photo left to right 











Near the light at the stern .. like a bit of haze 











bluish mark on the twig .. 











looked hard after taking this shot, trying to see if there really was something in the sky .. could see nothing at all .. 











here it appears to be shining through the tree


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## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

"It seems that when the light comes in at a certain angle, left or right, these flares appear .."

This is exactly the cause of lens flares - when light comes in at certain angles it is reflected within the lens elements and doesn't reach the sensor correctly if at all causing those anomalies you have pointed out.

With DSLR's you can use a lens hood to shade the lens from the wayward light - with point and shoot you can use your hand or move a little so that the offending light source is blocked by an object - hard to tell though sometimes as the lens flares may not be obvious in your LCD but show up when looking at full size images on your computer.

The level of zoom can affect lens flare as well as it changes the element's position in the lens array - in general high zoom lenses have more propensity for lens flare because they have more elements and therefore more surfaces for light to bounce off - you can use this by trying the same shot with different zoom levels - this in turn means altering your composition, though you can then correct this in post by cropping.


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## Mack (Nov 8, 2004)

My own point and click has a lens hood. Maybe you can get one also. Most of the shots you took above are looking into the light so a lens hood will make little difference in that circumstance. When I do night shoots with my dslr I sometimes get flares similar to image 6. Coincidentally I am shooting tonight if the weather permits so we will see.

The quality of the lens can contribute so can dust on or inside the lens. Not much you can do except clone it out.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Many years ago, I purchased a second SLR, Chinese Origin, called Seagull, and I experienced Flares using it .. I never had any problems (that I remember) with my First ever SLR purchase, Praktika, and never had any problems with a subsequent Praktika B200. Since my taste of photography has not changed (I remember using either the Praktika or more likely the Seagull, at night, clambering around the lower stages of the Eiffel Tower trying to get steady shots) and have always associated "flares" with poor quality lenses .. 

Thanks for your input so far .. seems I might have to rethink my ways of getting my shots. Also I spoke with a colleague today who tells me that he also has similar problems with his DSC-TX5, although nowhere as bad as those I have had. 
However I haven't had a chance to see many of his photos ..


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

been taking more photo's and not sure if this is related to flares or to weather conditions, humidity .. I have had a lot of "lighthouse" effects 

this is the night before the recent full moon, full zoom, trying to catch the moon and the stars with the shadows of branches .. that flare is still there bt the moon has that "lighthouse" effect of beams of light ..











here there is a bright light just outside the picture which seems to have projected itself into the main part of the picture 










Street lamp acting like it has headlight beams 










a similar effect here with a beam of light "lighthouse" effect and in parallel.










By the time I had taken this one I was beginning to feel a bit frustrated at the light effects that I was seeing 










and continued to see.



















The effect seems to be due to the lens and whilst it can be endearing to the photo . it's quite annoying having an effect that can't be controlled. I thought at one point about turning the camera sideways the opposite direction and for a couple of photo's I thought I had found a solution .. but possibly not .. 










only by zooming in and under the light source seems to help 











these photo's btw were taken at a different Marina to the one where I was "informed" that taking photos is not allowed ..


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Isn't it related to exposure time?

It's been a log while but for 35mm I seem to remember a filter to stop lens flare?


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## yustr (Sep 27, 2004)

Classic lens flare WIKI

A polarizing filter might help but probably not much. The best defense is a lens hood. Even if that's your hand.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Thx .. will have a read up .. it's not a DSLR but it does have a wide angle lens and unfortunately even on zoom I am getting the same problems, which I wasn't expecting .. in all other respects it's a great little addition to my bag


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## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

another cause of the haloing flare around the lights at night is humidity and/or what we used to call "sea mist" water droplets in the air are lit up - not seen so much by the naked eye because we constantly scan, whereas night camera shots are longer still exposures. Crisp cold dry winter nights won't have quite as much fuzziness around a light source. 
These were taken a few nights ago35C day with 85% humidity and a strong onshore breeze made everything slightly hazy by day and again at night. Quite possibly a bit of this on the lens itself after a while too :sigh:




























I quite like the fuzziness around the lights and in particular with the ship one - unfortunately fuzzed the smaller writing in the Harry's Cafe de Wheels one - it is a take away food outlet on the harbour foreshore, well known for its pies and mushy peas - ugh


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

D_F dont fret too much. All lenses will show up flare one way or another. Usually when there are 'blown' areas with dark backgrounds.

These were taken with a very expensive lens (£2250) all at 25 seconds. Notice the circular & star flare on the 'blown' highlights. The star type are caused by defraction on the iris leaves - count the star rays, they will equate to how many leaves... 

f/6.3









f/7.1









f/4.0









f/14


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

OBSERVATION:
The extra long horizontal fare, does seem excessive. The first thing I would look for is an oil type contamination on one of the surfaces of the lens. It may not be very visible to the human eye but.... 

*This excessive flare IS NOT present on your images in your FIRST post above, only on those you posted yesterday!*

Are you using a Daylight or UV filter? If so take it off and try some more exposures and see if the fare is still there.

If no flare then the filter needs properly cleaning using the circular cleaning technique. If the flare is still there then it is the lens itself.

The extra long flare seems to indicate that the lens or filter was cleaned with a wiping in one plane only (horizontal or vertical wiping.) 

Try cleaning all optical surfaces that you have access to with a circular cleaning technique. That is; apply some lens cleaning fluid and starting in the center of the optical furface, wipe gently in a circular fashion from the centre to the edge.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

I had noticed that the effect was more pronounced, have tried cleaning the lens (actually an outer glass window) and I will try again 

this is the camera 










the fact that I see reflections in the image above and my camera if I peer into the window makes me think .. also I am now thinking about how to introduce a "hood", how deep it would have to be, diameter of opening etc.. so that it will be effective and not intrusive .. one thing i have noticed is that It's very easy to get a finger in the picture when holding from the corner by the lens.

Thanks for all input guys .. & what might be the best cleaning solution .. so far just used a lint free cloth .. breath and clean or surgical alcohol ? don't want to spoil the finish really with chemicals


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

I have some commercial lens cleaner (unbranded) that contains 20% Methanol.

I use the 'breath' method most of the time. However, now I see the type of camera and lens assembly, I am fairly convinced that is is oily contamination on the glass. (oil from finger print where 'breath' condensate does not 'cut' through the oil?)

Maybe a single drip of mild washing up liquid in a cup of warm water will be enough to break down the oil and remove it.

A home made lens hood may also help. The lens is a very short focal length, therefore will only take a shallow hood to be effective the bottom diameter needs to be just wide enough to allow the lens to 'peep' through. Make it in a shallow cone shape perhaps an inch deep.. Make the first one out of black cartridge paper or similar and use sticky tape to put it together. Then use something like 'blue tack' to hold it in place. (Watch out not to get blue tack on the lens as It is an oil based material!)

When you have it rigged up, take a couple of shots (in daylight) at both ends of the x4 range of the lens. If you see any evidence of masking in the corners then you need to trim it back with some scissors. Repeat until no masking!

Once you have a rough shape and diameters make a duplicate out of some more substantial material. Mounting can be done using elastic bands etc...


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

Another thought...

I take it that the front shield of the camera slides up & down, protecting or revealing the lens.

Look carefully at the inside of the sliding assembly where it covers the lens. Is there some sort of 'wiper' that is intended to keep the lens glass clean? Could that be contaminated in some way?

As I say, just a thought...


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

did the breath treatment a short while ago and am waiting impatiently to get out and see if there is any improvement .. can't see anything behind the slide although there is a sealing ring of sorts which is close to the glass but the glass itself is slightly recessed, so it doesn't appear to make contact.

back later with results .. really should go down to the same place but it's getting really cold tonight and has been raining all last night until early this afternoon .. lots of humidity ..


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## Mack (Nov 8, 2004)

Had a family photowalk on the weekend. The images my wife took were very hazy and very over exposed. She had wiped the lens to remove a finger print and thought it was gone but she had simple spread it about the lens. Very difficult to clean this type of lens. I used a little water with a drop of washing liquid and applied a small amount with a q-tip and finished with a lens cloth. Did the job, just don't over saturated the q-tip.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Cleaning worked .. lint free cloth from my glasses and a bit of warm breath seemed to have done the trick. Got out last night after a couple of delays, one of which was that after returning on my bike doing a quick bit of shopping, I got back on to go out again and found that I had a puncture. eventually got out after 10 pm and took the quick route down to the Marina. Got back after midnight only to find that somehow I had switched into VGA mode 640x480 pixels but no signs of the "lighthouse effect". I'll have to go back again tonight now to retake some of those photos and a video .. this time I'll use the tripod too!

Photo's later, after I have uploaded them


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

That is good news D_F - Why not try taking the photos with the camera in vertical orientation and then stitch 'em together as a pano. That way you will get the top of the masts in both direct and reflected...


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

have yet to get back out tonight and go again to the other Marina where I grabbed the earlier shots .. but here is a taste of the pictures taken with the wrong settings .. 

One thing that comes to mind now is that I can always place a starburst into a picture with a dirty hand now then clean up to continue :smile: and did I really need to remove the effect ..


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## yustr (Sep 27, 2004)

Nice.

Suggestion: I think it would be interesting to exploit the difference between the old, well used, sail boats (as in the foreground of pic 4) and the sparkling new yachts. The juxtaposition could make a nice composition - me thinks.


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