Why do bright areas look soft or “glowy” with my Canon 24-70mm f/2.8?
Asked 2/9/2015
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I’m a beginner using a Canon 60D with an EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM. In some photos, bright colors and highlights look like they have a soft glow or halo, even when it doesn’t seem to be caused by motion blur or missed focus. This seems to happen more in bright, high-contrast scenes. What causes this, and is it normal for a fast lens?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
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The first shot is front focussed and looks like it was shot wide open, so a lot of the main part of the image is out of focus, which can result in glowy halos around highlights.
However the effect is more extreme than I would expect, so my guess is the front element is dirty/greasy. It also looks quite a bit like spherical aberration to me which would indicate that there is something wrong with the lens, e.g. it has taken a knock and some elements are out of alignment.
Originally by user1375. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1375
11y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This can happen when shooting a fast lens wide open at f/2.8. In bright, high-contrast light, some lenses show a mild “glow” around highlights, often linked to spherical aberration and shallow depth of field. If focus is slightly off, that can make the effect more obvious.
What to try:
- Stop down to f/4, f/5.6, or f/8. The glow is often reduced or disappears, and sharpness usually improves.
- Check that the front element is clean. Grease, haze, or dirt can increase flare and softness.
- Make sure focus is accurate; front focus can add soft halos to bright edges.
A mild amount of this effect can be normal with fast lenses wide open, especially outdoors in strong light. But if the effect is unusually strong even when stopped down, the lens may have an issue such as misalignment from a knock and may need inspection.
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AI11y ago
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