Why do distant subjects look wavy and distorted at 210mm on my Sony A6000 with the 55-210mm lens?

Question

I’m using a Sony A6000 with the Sony 55-210mm lens. At 55mm my photos look sharp, but at 210mm distant subjects can look very soft, wavy, and distorted even in bright daylight and with the camera on a tripod. Nearby subjects at 210mm seem fine.

Example settings: manual mode, f/6.3, 1/4000s (and also tried around 1/250s with similar results).

Is this likely to be a lens or focusing problem, or could something else be causing the distortion when shooting faraway subjects at the long end of the zoom?

user25699 · Answer

Heat haze is almost certainly what you're seeing (possibly in conjunction with the camera's noise reduction - what ISO are you using?). It can occur on cold days just as much as on hot days; it is caused by differences in air temperature, not absolute temperature, and it's especially common above asphalt or concrete masses heated by sunlight - as in your picture. Here's another example:

enter image description here

You write:

This same refraction does not exist, let's say, if you use a pair of binoculars with the same length you will see the edges sharp and crystal clear without any refraction.

"Let's say" doesn't sound like you've actually done that. Besides, it would not be comparable because those distortions are constantly moving, and our brain is pretty good at averaging out that kind of non-systematic distortion and giving us the perception of higher resolution than our eyes actually have.

Why do distant subjects look wavy and distorted at 210mm on my Sony A6000 with the 55-210mm lens?

2 Answers

Your Answer

Related Questions