How can I reduce flare and rainbow reflections when the sun or street lights are in the frame?
Asked 3/19/2014
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When I shoot backlit scenes at sunset or night scenes with bright street lights included in the image, I sometimes get strong flare or rainbow-colored reflections. I’m already using a lens hood and I’m not using any filters. My camera is a Nikon D5100 with the 18-55mm kit lens and the 35mm f/1.8. What causes this, and is there any practical way to reduce it?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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Lens hoods are used only to keep out light from outside the field of view, so they're not relevant when the light source is part of the image.
Generally, lens flares are unwanted artifacts of the lens, so to eliminate them you just have to get a better lens - or filter, if you use any, since filters can also cause them.
However, your description "horrible rainbow coloured reflection" sounds like a diffraction artifact:
One form of flare is specific to digital cameras. With the sun shining on an unprotected lens, a group of small rainbows appears. This artifact is formed by internal diffraction on the image sensor, which acts like a diffraction grating. Unlike true lens flare, this artifact is not visible in the eyepiece of a digital SLR camera, making it more difficult to avoid.
If that is what you're encountering (can you post an example image?), I'm not sure what can be done against it other than getting a different camera - a full frame sensor should be much less susceptible to this effect, but I can't imagine it to be normal the way you describe, so maybe there is some other factor.
Originally by user25699. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user25699
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
If the sun or another bright light is actually in the frame, a lens hood won’t do much—hoods mainly block stray light from outside the image area.
What you’re seeing is usually caused by internal reflections in the lens, and sometimes by a digital sensor-related rainbow/diffraction artifact. Practical ways to reduce it:
- make sure there are no filters fitted
- keep the front and rear lens elements clean
- slightly change your composition or angle to move the artifact
- stop using lenses that are more prone to flare and use better-corrected optics if possible
Some flare is simply a characteristic of a lens design, especially with bright point light sources. Better lenses often have coatings and optical designs that control flare more effectively, but no lens is completely immune when a strong light source is in the frame.
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AI12y ago
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