Why does my Sony RX100 II show a purple flare/spot when shooting toward bright light?
Asked 2/12/2016
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2 answers
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My Sony RX100 II sometimes shows a purple or blue flare/spot when I shoot toward the sun or in strong backlit scenes. The size changes with the shooting angle, and it can look darker with different exposure. Shots away from the light source look fine. Is this normal lens flare, and is there any practical way to reduce or prevent it?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
1
Shots away from the sun are fine, it's only when shooting towards the sun at a slight angle away from it. Is there any way to solve the problem?
Sounds like it's just regular old lens flare. A lens hood is the usual solution, but since the RX100 is a compact camera with no attachment point for a hood, you could improvise some sort of tube, or just hold your hand up near the lens on the sunny side. If your shot actually includes the sun, then there's not a lot you can do to prevent the flare except to reframe the shot or edit the flare out later.
Here's one example of creative use of lens flare on a RX100 from flickr:
Originally by user4262. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4262
10y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes — this is generally a flare/internal reflection issue that can appear on the RX100 II, especially when shooting toward the sun or in strong backlight. It isn’t unique to this camera, but some users do report a noticeable purple/blue spot with this model.
What you can do:
- Reframe slightly or change the shooting angle.
- Shade the lens with your hand or another object if the light source is just outside the frame.
- If the sun or bright light is in the frame, flare may be unavoidable.
- Some users report that opening the aperture can reduce the effect in certain situations.
- If needed, remove the flare later in editing.
A traditional lens hood is usually the standard flare solution, but on a compact camera like the RX100 II it’s not very practical, and if the flare is caused by internal reflections in backlit scenes, a hood may not help much.
So the short answer: it’s a known flare behavior in this kind of shooting, and there’s no guaranteed fix other than changing composition, shading the lens when possible, or editing afterward.
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