this camera is overly sensative to light ... lens flare galore!!!

[vidnewb]

Holy crap! I don't know what is going on, but the slightest tilt of the camera over 90 degrees towards the sun produces a reflection of the lens hood ridges into the picture.

Here's some of the damage:

http://www.uploadimages.com/myalbum/47657

(click on Slideshow)


I've never experienced so much flare and ghosting as with this camera! Am I doing something wrong here? or does this camera need a larger lens hood with corner holes (like the HVX200)?

I was using a screwed on UV filter and on the outdoor shots a Polarizer filter screwed over the UV filter. -- However, I unscrewed both of these and angled the camera the same way and got the same problem.

I'm literally at a loss of what to do... please help!!!

 

[henry cho]

i'm assuming these pictures were taken with the uv filter on. i've experienced results similar to your worst images with the xha1 and other cameras with a filter screwed on. my advice would be to keep the filter off, unless the situation calls for one (hazardous conditions or environments high in ultraviolet rays, like mountaintops). if you're still getting offensive stray light hitting the lens, get a matte box, ideally one with french and side flags. however, keep in mind you're not going to be able to eliminate flare shooting straight into a bright light source with any camera.

 

[vidnewb]

i'm assuming these pictures were taken with the uv filter on. i've experienced results similar to your worst images with the xha1 and other cameras with a filter screwed on. my advice would be to keep the filter off, unless the situation calls for one (hazardous conditions or environments high in ultraviolet rays, like mountaintops). if you're still getting offensive stray light hitting the lens, get a matte box, ideally one with french and side flags. however, keep in mind you're not going to be able to eliminate flare shooting straight into a bright light source with any camera.

Thanks for the info! I have some more questions...

1. If I can't shoot straight into the light, how do pros get those shots of the sun (outdoors) or a lamp?

2. How do you achieve a silhouette shot? What caused ghosting on my silhouette shot (and makes it look like her face is inside her real face)?

3. I discovered that if I held my hand over the top right corner of the lens hood (matte box) shooting that outdoor shot of them against the sea, it eliminated most of the lens hood reflection. However, I don't have to do this when using my panasonic dvx100. any insight as to why the difference?

4. also, since we're on the matte box subject (isn't a matte box the same as a lens hood), does it matter that Canon's is solid as opposed to the dvx's open corner style?

5. also, outdoor images look really good with the Polarizer screwed on as opposed to using the camera's built in ND filter. Is there another way to achieve such saturation without the screw on?

 

[henry cho]

1. If I can't shoot straight into the light, how do pros get those shots of the sun (outdoors) or a lamp?

sometimes flare is something you're going to have to deal with, especially in these types of shots. if reframing isn't an option, try closing the iris down (raise the f-stop), or use composition to minimize them or use them for effect.

2. How do you achieve a silhouette shot? What caused ghosting on my silhouette shot (and makes it look like her face is inside her real face)?

had a hard time seeing it in your compressed grabs, but i'm guessing it could be your filter, or it could be CA. take the filter off for the former, or try closing down the aperture a bit and playing with different focal lengths (zoom) for the latter.

3. I discovered that if I held my hand over the top right corner of the lens hood (matte box) shooting that outdoor shot of them against the sea, it eliminated most of the lens hood reflection. However, I don't have to do this when using my panasonic dvx100. any insight as to why the difference?

different cameras, different lenses, different hoods. it's entirely possible the lens hood that came with the xha1 may be insufficient for your needs.

4. also, since we're on the matte box subject (isn't a matte box the same as a lens hood), does it matter that Canon's is solid as opposed to the dvx's open corner style?

maybe at some angles one might have a slight advantage over another, but for most shots, the differences in the shapes of the lens hoods you mentioned shouldn't matter (that is, putting the dvx lens hood on the xha1 -- if you could -- would change very little).

5. also, outdoor images look really good with the Polarizer screwed on as opposed to using the camera's built in ND filter. Is there another way to achieve such saturation without the screw on?

it's not so much that the filter is a screw-on that's the problem. it's that stray light is hitting the glass. a larger hood or matte box will help. many matte boxes have trays that take square or rectangular filters. the filters themselves don't have a particular advantage over screw-ons except that you can stack them, where screwing one filter on top of another screw-on can sometimes cause problems, such as vignetting.

 

[srfer919]

Holy crap! I don't know what is going on, but the slightest tilt of the camera over 90 degrees towards the sun produces a reflection of the lens hood ridges into the picture.

Here's some of the damage:

http://www.uploadimages.com/myalbum/47657

(click on Slideshow)


I've never experienced so much flare and ghosting as with this camera! Am I doing something wrong here? or does this camera need a larger lens hood with corner holes (like the HVX200)?

I was using a screwed on UV filter and on the outdoor shots a Polarizer filter screwed over the UV filter. -- However, I unscrewed both of these and angled the camera the same way and got the same problem.

I'm literally at a loss of what to do... please help!!!

That's funny because I was just having a problem with lense flare the other day. I didn't think anything of it though except that I needed to move my camera.