How can I stop/fix this sort of thing?

[MikeHoyer]

It's so annoying, a pretty cool photo spoiled by the reflecting of the lights, or whatever it's doing...

http://www.mdh-photography.co.uk/Spa24/saleen_aston.jpg

Anyway of preventing it happening, or at least fixing it to some degree in PS?

Same with this one, not so noticeable though.

http://www.mdh-photography.co.uk/Spa24/corvette.jpg

[GolddustMini]

clone it out in photoshop?

[Tim Falce]

Do this with it
http://www.tkracing.co.uk/saleen_aston.jpg

[b0d]

Did you have a filter on the lens? That can cause internal reflections like these.

[KennyG]

That is why we don't use filters.

Hey Tim, missed you on Sunday. Got caught up in the press office, darn it.

[MikeHoyer]

Looking good falcemob! How exactly did you do that?

Yes I was using a filter, but I took it off at some points, didn't seem to make a difference. Generally only happens at dusk/bad weather.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by MikeHoyer

Looking good falcemob! How exactly did you do that?

It took about 2 or 3 minutes, I enlarged the image to about 200 to 300%, used the clons stamp tool on the offending bits and then used the Auto Levels tool for colour and contrast. I did try sharpening it but it went a tad OTT. If I had spent a bit more time and effort on the clone stamp it would be a lot better.

[Aysedasi]

Surely that's not a filter issue at all - but curtain synch? I got it a lot during the night at Le Mans this year. Its easy to use Photoshop's clone stamp tool to erase it.

[Peter Mallett]

A polarizing filter would stop it but I guess that's a bit steam age now you can mess with the original in photoshop or whatever.

[Jaxs]

Just a couple of questions.

Does it happen with all your lens or a specific lens@

Only in poor light conditions?

Film in date?

[Jaxs]

Or on more than one lens

[Groupc]

My low light shots at Le Mans suffered from it badly last year. I read in this forum that it was a filter causing it. So this year I removed it (polarising) and I still got the reflection. Baffled.

[MikeHoyer]

Same as you Groupc. It's not just the one lens either. Low light seems to cause it.

[Aysedasi]

I get it all the time with my 10D, but don't remember it at all with my previous EOS100. I personally didn;t think it had anything to do with the lenses or filters - I had it in my head that it was a first or second curtain synch thing - but that's probably just stupid..... Anyhow, I use the clone stamp tool and it sorts it most times.....

[David L]

The effect you see is caused as follows..

During exposure, light coming into the camera reflects off the shiny surface of the camera's sensor, back out and up the barrel of the lens.. If there is a flat plane element in the lens then it can reflect back off that flat element back down the lens and back onto the CCD.. That causes the effect you see..

Front filters are flat planes, so are rear filters and protective elements.. They can all cause it.. Cheaper lenses have more flat planes in them..

If you have the problem then you have it all of the time, it's just that it's less noticeable when there's more light around and you're stopped down and don't have bright light sources.. More noticeable in low light and where you have a high contrast (i.e. with car headlights)..

The xenon headlights are brighter and they have a bigger effect..

The pro lenses deal with this effect better and some are starting to introduce so-called meniscus elements to eliminate the problem (Nikon).. The Canon long primes don't seem to suffer anything like as much as the Nikon primes.. I put this down to the fact that the current Canons are more "up to date" than their Nikon equivalents and the issue may have been noted before the redesign.. Nikon are in the process of updating, starting with the new 300 last year..

A slip in polariser usually does the trick in a long prime, but you have to deal with the light fall off.. Great at Sears Point.. Not so great at Spa in April..

The effect, whilst not wanted, can add atmosphere in the right circumstances though..

[Aysedasi]

So now we know.

What I don't understand is that I'm using exactly the same lenses as I did with my EOS100, but the "flare" (for want of a better word) is much more in evidence - and that's not because I'm taking different shots either.......

[Hugewally]

Using a polarizer won't stop it either. Trust me, I know...

[David L]

Originally Posted by Hugewally

Using a polarizer won't stop it either. Trust me, I know...

Well. that's not my experiece, nor the experiece of Nikon tech in the UK who carried out some tests for me.. A slip in polariser works fine for me in the 500..

[Hugewally]

Originally Posted by David L

Well. that's not my experiece, nor the experiece of Nikon tech in the UK who carried out some tests for me.. A slip in polariser works fine for me in the 500..

Well, having never used a filter on the 500, you could be right with that. Mught be the phyiscal location in the lense has something to do with it? I get it all the time with the shorter Canon lenses I use, 28-70, 70-200, 100-400, etc..

[David L]

Originally Posted by Hugewally

Well, having never used a filter on the 500, you could be right with that. Mught be the phyiscal location in the lense has something to do with it? I get it all the time with the shorter Canon lenses I use, 28-70, 70-200, 100-400, etc..

I am right, but not trying to be cute (although I am.. )

Perhaps I ought to explain my original post..

Of course, the polariser has to stop the light on the way back down to the CCD and so a front filter will not work as it's not in the way of the pesty reflections.. A slip in filter is near the end of the chain and therefore stops the reflection as it's not polarised itself..

A front filter may very well add to the problem as it's another flat plane for the light to bounce back from..

I only have this as a problem on my 500 as it's an older design (the front protective glass is a flat plane and there's nothing in the lens to encourage reflected light to disipate) .. the 300 and the 70-200 VR are fine (more modern designs)..

The shorter lenses will flare I expect, but I've never really noticed the problem as I cannot think of an opportunity where I've shot into headlights with those short lenses.. Maybe pit stops but i have not really noticed the problem then..

Don't confuse the effect Mike is showing us with flare, which looks like this..

Flare example from Le Mans

[GolddustMini]

very interesting, very interesting indeed.


i might inspect some of my band shots for similar light "bounce" to see if its present

[MikeHoyer]

It's probably something to do with what David said about it bouncing off the sensor, maybe it's more pronounced than with film.

[gi_gav]

Precisely. A digital sensor reflects much more light than film.

[Aysedasi]

I get an awful lot of this when I shoot during the night at Le Mans. I end up spending hours in Photoshop getting rid of the worst of it. I've had some good photographs ruined by it when it's proved impossible to remove the alien lights......

[djb]

I used to use a Tamron 90mm macro lens that when shooting closeups of jewelery, if you were not ultra careful with black cloth around the object and good gobos for the light sources, it would do a weird "thingee" reflection too--- did it with slide film and on digital as well--so I figured it was some weird internal reflection in the lens although one didnt see anything with the naked eye looking through the lens if it was off a body.

I have noticed with a Nikon 80-200, this sort of thing is less with the front filter off. But oddly I have never noticed this effect with any theatre stuff I do (with wide zooms or medium fixed focal lens) when sometimes lights are in my framing. I suspect it is the focused aspect of car headlights that play the part more. Have only had it with racecar headlights, and with other non race track situations shooting into a low sun (again, no filter seemed to help sometimes if I recall)