GH4 Avoiding lens flare problems?

J

jnorman34

Active member
I use a GH4 with a 7-14mm to shoot architectural subjects. Whenever I shoot anywhere near a backlit subject, I get annoying lens flare. Some of it is okay, but often it results in a smoky white blob in the center of the frame. Is there a more effective lens hood available for the 7-14mm, or is there some other method of eliminating this problem? Please see shots at 1:43, 2:17, 2:44 in this video for examples of the problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQJH88jc-SM
 
Back in my large format (5x4) still photography days, my favorite lens had somewhat of a flare problem, eventhough it was a modern lens with a modern multi-coating. Just did. What I learned to do to control it was... quit shooting into the sun with that lens. Yes, this was sometimes a PITA, but different lens designs, different coatings, etc. exhibit different responses to flare scenarios. Some handle it better than others. You have to work around the limitations of the equipment.
 
You can get a larger matte box with some barn doors to provide more coverage against lens flares:
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but if there's a bright light source shining right down your lens there's always gonna be a risk of flare. Sometimes all it takes is holding your hand out over the lens in a specific spot to get rid of a flare too!

I'd say the shots in your example video are perfectly usable though. Lens flare may be annoying sometimes but people accept that they are a part of video so a subtle presence like that isn't going to be a big distraction. Also, constantly check to make sure your lens is clean during a shoot, it almost looks like instead of a flare there might be a small piece of debris that is showing up when the light is hitting it just right. Even if not, it's a good habit to prevent that.
 
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