UV filter causes lens flare?

[fWord]

To me, I guessed the only plus point is that you get to filter out harmful UV rays when photographing sunset. However, if it degrades photo images, esp during night scene, I think I'm going to forgo it. Dust on lens is not much of a problem, oily grime is more of a concern I think.

So to put it on 24/7, nope, or maybe never if I can't find any advantages to outweigh the flare or ghosting factor.

I was hoping that someone could say that it could be a faulty UV filter, and then I won't feel so wasted on having spent that $ on this. But it appears to be something that cannot be rectified.

Dust will hardly affect image quality, and apparently even pros use scratched lenses without any issues. The risk is that, if left there for long enough, or if they start to 'stick' because of other contaminants, moisture etc, they may not be easy to remove with just a blower or a brush alone. And when the cloth goes over that, the lens is certainly going to get scratched.

The choice is up to you, but personally, I'd rather take the safer route and not let any dust on the lens in the first place. Best defence is not to get hit, as they say.

Just out of interest, are you doing long-exposure night photography or handheld? How badly does the flare degrade your image? Any examples?

 

[LittleWolf]

To me, I guessed the only plus point is that you get to filter out harmful UV rays when photographing sunset.

At sunset, there should be very, very little UV around. If you think about it, sunsets get their orange/red colour because shorter wavelengths (blue, and UV even more) are scattered/absorbed during the long passage of the light through the atmosphere at a grazing angle. Plus, sunset shots tend to be especially prone to lens flare.

 

[wong1979]

At sunset, there should be very, very little UV around. If you think about it, sunsets get their orange/red colour because shorter wavelengths (blue, and UV even more) are scattered/absorbed during the long passage of the light through the atmosphere at a grazing angle. Plus, sunset shots tend to be especially prone to lens flare.

Ya, paiseh :embrass: , all my physics textbook burnt away liao. But still when staring at the sunset purposely will bound to get your eyes spoilt rite?

 

[wong1979]

Dust will hardly affect image quality, and apparently even pros use scratched lenses without any issues. The risk is that, if left there for long enough, or if they start to 'stick' because of other contaminants, moisture etc, they may not be easy to remove with just a blower or a brush alone. And when the cloth goes over that, the lens is certainly going to get scratched.

The choice is up to you, but personally, I'd rather take the safer route and not let any dust on the lens in the first place. Best defence is not to get hit, as they say.

Just out of interest, are you doing long-exposure night photography or handheld? How badly does the flare degrade your image? Any examples?

Cropped the top and bottom, shutter 30 secs. That thing appears somewhere in the center when there's a bright light source. Later, I did a test on a nearby street lamp, which is brighter and with a dark background. That thing is even bigger, but too bad I didn't keep the picture.

Here, whether it's handheld or not, how fast the shutter is not important. I can just see that thing thru my viewfinder and hence will be captured by the sensor.

 

[NMSS_2]

1) if you are serious about your lens, use the best multi-coat uv filter you can find.

2) if you are serious about photography, take them out! :bsmilie: buy new lens every ten outing :thumbsup:

i am a poor man, so it got to be option 2 for me!

 

[fWord]

Cropped the top and bottom, shutter 30 secs. That thing appears somewhere in the center when there's a bright light source. Later, I did a test on a nearby street lamp, which is brighter and with a dark background. That thing is even bigger, but too bad I didn't keep the picture.

Here, whether it's handheld or not, how fast the shutter is not important. I can just see that thing thru my viewfinder and hence will be captured by the sensor.

:think: I see what you mean. At that angle, even a lens hood wouldn't help, since the light is essentially heading straight towards your lens rather than high above or low down. I'm assuming the glass pane itself at the airport wasn't the thing giving you the flare here.

If that is the case, removal of the filter is just about the only other possibility, or changing to a coated filter as the others suggested.

I was only interested to see the photo and know if it was tripod-mounted because I am aware that bright lights create an ugly 'halo' effect around themselves especially when I do handheld night photography, with the aperture wide open. Stopping down gives the very nice starry effect instead. Of course, this isn't the case in your photo.

It's a great photograph, BTW, even with a bit of lens flare inside.

 

[LittleWolf]

Ya, paiseh :embrass: , all my physics textbook burnt away liao. But still when staring at the sunset purposely will bound to get your eyes spoilt rite?

Depends on how bright it is (weather, time). The danger of staring into the sun is not really the UV, but the sheer intensity. The equivalent of this is burning a hole into the film.

If you look at a white surface illuminated by daylight, you get the same sunlight - just at reduced intensity.

 

[LittleWolf]

if you are serious about photography, take them out! :bsmilie: buy new lens every ten outing :thumbsup:

To put things into perspective: My manual focus primes are all 20+ years old. I've been carrying them around all over the world, sometimes in backpacks, sometimes in jacket pockets, when strolling in the city, mountain hiking, or skiing, from humid tropical climates to -30C, from sunshine to rain to snow to sleet. Apart from the occasional polarizer, they've rarely ever had a filter mounted. They got mostly cleaned using tissue paper. There are some small marks on the outside, and there may be a teeny bit of dust on/in the lens, but the optics all still in very good shape.

Affordable modern lenses may not be as well built any longer. But I'd be more concerned about plastic lens mounts/barrels, stripped autofocus gears, etc. than the front element, as long as you use the lens cap.

 

[wong1979]

Ok here are some sample photos taken just now. The first one is not fitted with UV filter, image clean. The second one is mounted with UV filter, positioning, camera settings, focusing all same. The others are with UV fitted but panned.

As I twist the filter without changing the focussing, the ghost spots remains as they are, so I don't think its defect or dirt on the UV filter. Someone mentioned internal reflection, I think that's the most likely cause.

See how bad it is? How to use for night photography???

 

[wong1979]

To put things into perspective: My manual focus primes are all 20+ years old. I've been carrying them around all over the world, sometimes in backpacks, sometimes in jacket pockets, when strolling in the city, mountain hiking, or skiing, from humid tropical climates to -30C, from sunshine to rain to snow to sleet. Apart from the occasional polarizer, they've rarely ever had a filter mounted. They got mostly cleaned using tissue paper. There are some small marks on the outside, and there may be a teeny bit of dust on/in the lens, but the optics all still in very good shape.

Affordable modern lenses may not be as well built any longer. But I'd be more concerned about plastic lens mounts/barrels, stripped autofocus gears, etc. than the front element, as long as you use the lens cap.

Now I feel quite safe. I also use tissue paper on my kit lens. I'm not worried about dust actually. Just that I've noticed a lot of people using and selling their lens with UV together. Seems like it is a must, or something, to put UV on all times.

 

[NMSS_2]

To put things into perspective: My manual focus primes are all 20+ years old. I've been carrying them around all over the world, sometimes in backpacks, sometimes in jacket pockets, when strolling in the city, mountain hiking, or skiing, from humid tropical climates to -30C, from sunshine to rain to snow to sleet. Apart from the occasional polarizer, they've rarely ever had a filter mounted. They got mostly cleaned using tissue paper. There are some small marks on the outside, and there may be a teeny bit of dust on/in the lens, but the optics all still in very good shape.

Affordable modern lenses may not be as well built any longer. But I'd be more concerned about plastic lens mounts/barrels, stripped autofocus gears, etc. than the front element, as long as you use the lens cap.

depends on how u use/take care of them. i dont even put lens cap or bother about cleaning dust on the filter (unless oily stains). the front elements definitely wont last more than ten outings with my kind of usage.

 

[fWord]

Ok here are some sample photos taken just now. The first one is not fitted with UV filter, image clean. The second one is mounted with UV filter, positioning, camera settings, focusing all same. The others are with UV fitted but panned.

As I twist the filter without changing the focussing, the ghost spots remains as they are, so I don't think its defect or dirt on the UV filter. Someone mentioned internal reflection, I think that's the most likely cause.

See how bad it is? How to use for night photography???

Well, I'm fairly sure those are internal reflections...just like the ghostly candle flames I encountered before. But besides those, I have never had any issues photographing at night with a UV filter on.

 

[exhibitj]

I think this idea is very reasopnable. Now, here's a secret tip (it's so secret that camera sales people usually won't tell you): most lenses come with a little accessory called "lens cap" that doesn't add extra cost, protects the lens even better than a UV filter, and is easier to remove and reattach than a threaded filter.

I believe that when a lens cap is on, you can't take any photo, whereas when a UV filter is on, you still can take photo and have protection for the lens.

I leave my UV filter on 24/7 and so far no probs for photo shoots except like what fword encountered, some ghostly image of the candles on the image appeared. Somehow, when i changed the filter to a Hoya one, no more such prob. So, i think it depends on the filter. Cheapo filters like KONIX, produces such ghostly reflections I guess.

 

[aloyteo]

is a b+w haze MRC filter good enough? will the multicoating prevent lens flare during night photography?

 

[LittleWolf]

is a b+w haze MRC filter good enough? will the multicoating prevent lens flare during night photography?

Coatings reduce the intensity of the reflections. This gives you a better chance of tolerable results, but does not really eliminate the problem.

 

[sigg]

Try clean your filter with the lens liquid... both side of the filter.... it should help. Last time i encounter similar problem and I tried clean the filter, the effect disappear.

what brand and where to buy the lens liquid to clean any UV?

 

[Reno]

what brand and where to buy the lens liquid to clean any UV?

There is not particular brand... just pop by those reputated camera shop and ask them for the price of the lens solution.

 

[smallaperture]

To put things into perspective: My manual focus primes are all 20+ years old. I've been carrying them around all over the world, sometimes in backpacks, sometimes in jacket pockets, when strolling in the city, mountain hiking, or skiing, from humid tropical climates to -30C, from sunshine to rain to snow to sleet. Apart from the occasional polarizer, they've rarely ever had a filter mounted. They got mostly cleaned using tissue paper. There are some small marks on the outside, and there may be a teeny bit of dust on/in the lens, but the optics all still in very good shape.

Affordable modern lenses may not be as well built any longer. But I'd be more concerned about plastic lens mounts/barrels, stripped autofocus gears, etc. than the front element, as long as you use the lens cap.

Yeah, very true from a well experienced guy. Cleaning with an ordinary tissue paper - readily available and :thumbsup:
Just like me using tissue paper for my spectacle lens as well after every wash - the multi-coating last me more than 3 years of daily cleaning. For lens front element, and if the coating is as good as my specs, it should last you more than 21 years if you just clean it once a week! Got it?

However, dust getting inside the lens is another problem. Dust will bring along fungus, which is the enemy No 1 of lens coatings.

 

[noom69]

Actually I have the same problem.

I am using Hoya 58mm UV-Guard for my 18-55mm lense on EOS350D, and it gives me the same flare problem. See the samples:

1. There's a "ghostly" upside-down merlion image on the left (f4.5, ISO 1600, 1/125s)

2. There's a green flare at the top right corner of the lamp, and if you do measure from the centre of the picture, you can tell it's at the reverse directions (f40, ISO 100, 4s)

I guess it's either removing UV filter from night shooting (especially at bringt light source condition) or avoid pointing at strong light source.

Cheers!!