Flare, LF or lens problem?

[Kevin Thomas]

I agree with GS in that using a lens hood for night shoots helps guards against flare from extraneous light sources. It would also give some protection to the lens against light drizzle (UK term for light rain/mist) which may be the cause of the flare in this case.

As for the question about LF lenses compared to other format lenses handling of flare in my experience my LF lenses are the equal if not superior.

If you can I would shoot the same scene again on a dry night and compare the results. As GPS asserted the flare seems to originate from the light sources in the shot and hopefully the results should be different.

[Peter K]

It would also give some protection to the lens against light drizzle (UK term for light rain/mist) which may be the cause of the flare in this case.

Drizzle can only add some diffuse flare by diffraction in the water dropplets but images of the diaphragm are only produced inside the lens.

[engl]

Thanks for all the replies!

Im fairly certain it is not due to not using a hood, since there were no other light sources except the two in the frame. Rain/mist being the culprit seems possible but not certain.

I tried just setting up a bare bulb in my dark living room and looking at (and shooting with a DSLR) the scene on the ground glass. I could see none of the funky aperture shapes around the light source, but there was a very strong standard greenish lens flare. It stood out as a glowing ball, compared to the faint bright spot that my DSLR produced with either of two zoom lenses mounted, framing the same picture.

As the spot where I took the picture in the original post is very close to my house, Ill guess Ill go back on a dry night and see if the rain/mist caused the strange visible aperture shapes around the light. Usually Id not be too concerned about flare, Ill use a hood and just not shoot into the sun, but now I know there will be streetlights in the pictures I hope to take so Id rather know if my lens has a flare problem.

[Helen Bach]

I suspect that it is mostly caused by small water droplets behaving like point light sources on (or near) the front of the lens, and hence forming very out-of-focus images that look like the aperture.

Ghost images of the aperture caused by internal reflections are not usually so disorganised.

Best,
Helen

[ic-racer]

Any haze on the inner elements?

[engl]

Im just updating this post to say that I have now used the lens for a while and I have never again seen anything like the flare in that one picture. Probably it was due to moisture on the front element. The lens does not seem to be excessively prone to flare, I have had strong light sources in the picture with no problem.