What causes a bright halo or "glow" around subjects in my wildlife photos?
Asked 3/23/2020
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I’m seeing a soft bright halo/glow around high-contrast edges in wildlife shots, especially around bright feathers against a darker background. I’ve noticed it with the same Tamron 100-400mm lens on both a Nikon D5200 and a rented Nikon Z6, so it seems unlikely to be caused by the camera body alone.
Example settings were 400mm, f/6.3, 1/500 s, ISO 320, handheld. The sample image was shot JPEG straight out of camera, but I’ve seen the same effect in RAW files too.
Is this most likely lens flare, shooting wide open, dirt on the lens, or something else? Would stopping down or changing shutter speed/ISO help reduce it?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
6y ago
2 Answers
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You appear to be using your lens (100-400/5-6.3) with the aperture wide open. I would expect the glow in your photos to be significantly reduced or absent stopped down to about F8.
Many lenses "glow" when used wide open, especially in bright light with high contrast. It is likely associated with spherical aberration and is typically reduced or completely gone when the aperture is closed a stop or two. Increased familiarity with the lens' behavior and characteristics will allow you to predict when the glow will and won't be present. You will then be able to select apertures to match your artistic intent.
Originally by user75526. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user75526
6y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Because it appears on two very different camera bodies, the lens is the most likely cause. The effect is consistent with flare/loss of contrast and haloing at bright-dark edges, which can be more noticeable in long zooms with many lens elements. Another possibility mentioned is wide-open performance: at 400mm and f/6.3, your lens is being used wide open, and some lenses show a soft “glow” from aberrations that improves when stopped down.
Most likely fixes:
- Stop down about 1 stop or two if possible, e.g. try around f/8.
- Check and carefully clean both front and rear lens elements.
- Learn when this lens shows the effect most strongly, especially in bright, high-contrast scenes.
Shutter speed and ISO mainly affect motion blur and noise; they’re not the primary cause of this kind of halo. If you need a smaller aperture, raising ISO may be worth it to maintain shutter speed for handheld bird photography.
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AI6y ago
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