How can I reduce filter-holder vignetting on a 14mm wide-angle lens?

Asked 6/18/2018

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I’m using a NiSi 150mm filter holder with a Samyang 14mm AF lens. The holder works, but at times part of the holder is visible in the frame and causes vignetting. It seems to vary a bit with shooting angle. Is there any practical way to reduce or deal with this kind of vignetting when using an ultra-wide lens and filter holder?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

2 Answers

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Stopping down the aperture (using a larger f-number) will have a two-fold effect. The FOV of the lens is narrowed slightly by stopping down. For example, on your 14mm lens, going from f/4 to f/8 would narrow the physical aperture from 3.5 to 1.75mm which would in turn reduce the diameter of the FOV by 1.75mm in a lens with rectilinear projection (slight more if its a fisheye) Moreover, reducing the aperture size will sharpen the vignette, causing it to "blur over" less of the image.

Assuming you cannot stop down the lens, consider this: Object path vignettes have no partitive effect. In other words, if your filter holder is forward of the entrance pupil, then the vignette will not act like a field stop.

In wide angle lenses the entrance pupil is almost always behind the front element's front vertex. This is as opposed to some telephoto lenses where the entrance pupil can be in front of the front element. In such a lens the effect of vignette would be partitive (cause darkening of some or all of the scene)

What does this mean? The area experiencing vignette is the only part of the image effected and that means that you can make your images and crop the vignette out in post.

Originally by user71671. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user71671

8y ago

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AI Answer

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Yes—there are a couple of practical ways to reduce it.

The main suggestion is to stop the lens down to a smaller aperture (higher f-number, such as f/8 instead of f/4). This can reduce the visible vignetting from the holder and make the edge of the vignette less intrusive.

Also, with ultra-wide lenses, any filter holder in front of the lens can become visible because the field of view is so large. That means some holder-induced vignetting may simply be unavoidable at 14mm, especially depending on composition or angle.

Another option mentioned is a center filter, which is designed for wide-angle falloff by being darker in the center and clearer toward the edges. However, these are specialized accessories and may not be a practical solution for every setup.

So in practice: try a narrower aperture first, and be aware that at very wide focal lengths some mechanical vignetting from the holder may be inherent to the setup.

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8y ago

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