"Bloom"/flare around highlights

[jackbaty]

Hi,

This snapshot was taken with a (new to me) Linhof Technika on HP5+ developed in D76 1+1 for 11:45 at 21c. Lens was a Rodenstock APO-Sironar-S 135mm. The sun was hitting the decking and rear of picnic table. You'll notice significant bloom or flare around those highlights. My question is whether this is avoidable via processing or lens choice or if it's inevitable given the over-exposed highlights. Thanks.

[Jim Jones]

Make sure your lens is perfectly clean. Lens coating eliminated much of this problem in good lenses, and today's multi-coating is perhaps the most significant advance in photographic optics in my long lifetime.

[Vaughn]

If your camera was in the sun, there is a chance that you created steam inside the bellows which slightly fogged your lens inside the camera, causing flare.

[jackbaty]

Thanks. Looking at the lens, it wasn't as clean as I'd like, so that may have contributed. I'll keep testing.

[Doremus Scudder]

Scanning artifact? Check the neg and/or make a darkroom print?

That said, I had a single-coated Schneider 135mm convertible lens that flared like this in similar situations. I got rid of it.

Doremus

[Joe O'Hara]

If your camera was in the sun, there is a chance that you created steam inside the bellows which slightly fogged your lens inside the camera, causing flare.

This is a very sneaky problem. It's prone to happen if you keep your camera and lenses in an air-conditioned house, and then start working outside where the dew point is well above where you had the AC set.

[lassethomas]

Scanning artifact? Check the neg and/or make a darkroom print?

That said, I had a single-coated Schneider 135mm convertible lens that flared like this in similar situations. I got rid of it.

Doremus

If it was scanned from a negative wouldn't it be the other way round where dark(transparent in negative) areas would bloom and darken highlights(dark in negative)?

[Vaughn]

This is a very sneaky problem. It's prone to happen if you keep your camera and lenses in an air-conditioned house, and then start working outside where the dew point is well above where you had the AC set.

Happens every time I take my view cameras out of Humboldt County. I'll set up the camera in actual sun, get the GG image roughly composed and focused up, then notice that the image starts to mellow out and rot, sort of like Woody Allen smoking weed. I then pop off the camera back to see the back of my lens all fogged up! Happened with my 5x7 in Yosemite this past June.

On a positive note, the legs of my Ries become very easy to adjust in dry conditions.

[Bernice Loui]

Might be a "stuff on the lens" problem as the overall image is no where near as crisp overall as it should be (even with a low definition/resolution scanned post). Not just the red circles areas that are diffused, the overall image is soft. This does not appear to be a lens flare issue, suspect stuff on lens problem or problem with lens elements. This is NOT a demanding image to be made by a lens as the highlight areas do not appear "hot" enough to flare stress test most any view camera lens.

Do check else where starting with a magnifier on the negative to scanner and the entire process system that produced this digital image file.


Bernice