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Lens Elements – the more lens elements, the more ghosts will show up in images.Let’s take a look at these in more details: In addition, there are other factors I have mentioned above that could also seriously affect images. That’s because the position of the light source in the frame and the angle at which the light reaches the lens (and subsequently camera film/sensor), have a drastic effect on how flare shows up in images and at what intensity. While most modern lenses are designed with special multi-coating technologies to reduce flare, even some of the best professional-grade lenses can render images with visible ghosting and even veiling flare. Red dot flare produced by modern mirrorless camerasĪside from the polygon-shaped aperture ghosts, you can also see a bunch of red dots surrounding the sun – those are microlenses on the digital camera sensor that are amplified in the image.
![photox sun reflex photox sun reflex](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/sun-tree-leaves-reflex-water-pothole-91722330.jpg)
Here is how the red dot/sensor flare looks like in images: Unfortunately, it seems like the newer mirrorless cameras with short flange distances are particularly prone to this problem, as described in detail in my “ red dot flare issue” article. Unlike lens flare, the red dot flare is not just light getting reflected by lens elements and diaphragm, but also light getting reflected from the imaging sensor to the lens, then back to the imaging sensor. I have been referring to flare occurring as a result of light bouncing between the imaging sensor and the lens elements as “red dot flare”, but it could be called “sensor flare” as well.
![photox sun reflex photox sun reflex](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/lgbt-color-close-up-sun-ray-shining-window-glass-work-as-prism-reflex-colorful-spectrum-floor-lgbt-color-close-179384707.jpg)
So if you see polygon-shaped ghosts in your shots, just know that those are coming from the lens diaphragm. The effect is greatly amplified when the lens is stopped down to its minimum aperture, which is why aperture ghosting is typically not visible at large apertures like f/1.4, but quite noticeable at something like f/16. In addition, as I have already pointed out above, when a lens is stopped down, the lens diaphragm can cause internal reflections. Since 70-200mm zoom lenses have a complex design with a dozen or more elements, you can see that pretty much every lens suffers from veiling flare and ghosting, with Nikon 70-200mm lenses leading the game with a minimum amount of ghosting in images. Typically, the more elements, the more ghosts will appear in images. The total number of these ghosts varies by how many elements there are within each lens. Take a look at the below portrait that was captured using the Nikon 58mm f/1.4G lens:Īside from the visible veiling flare visible in the images, you can also see various circular artifacts/orbs in each image – those are referred to as “ghosts”. For example, Nikon’s proprietary Nano Crystal Coat technology used on professional-grade lenses helps a great deal in keeping veiling flare under control.
![photox sun reflex photox sun reflex](http://www.thetopfree.com/d/file/free-vectors/background/images/sun-xperia-on-blue-sky-background-about-graphics-digital-single-lens-reflex-camera-4684.jpg)
High-quality lenses with multi-coated lens elements can help in reducing veiling flare. This results in very noticeable haze/lack of contrast, where dark areas of the frame become brighter with bleeding colors and appear washed out. absent from the image, but its light rays still reach the front element of the lens. Veiling flare usually occurs when the bright light source is outside the lens angle of view, i.e. While both typically go hand in hand, good lenses with multi-coated lens element surfaces can significantly reduce veiling flare in images. While traveling through the lens, light can also be reflected off the lens diaphragm if it is stopped down, resulting in even more noticeable flare.Īlthough the above illustration shows lens flare in general, manufacturers and photographers usually identify two types of lens flare: veiling flare and ghosting flare. As you can see, regular light rays (red) follow their normal path, directly reaching the image plane (green), whereas bright light rays (blue) can split and reflect off lens surfaces and end up in different parts of the frame (dotted blue).