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troy12n
04-06-2010, 08:05 PM
Anyone have some tips for controlling lens flare? I know some lenses, especially wide-angles are more prone to it than others, but I have been trying to capture sunset and sunrise scenes (RR and non-RR) and certain angles it flares just awful. Specifically my EF 17-40 lens seems to be about the worst. Even a passing locomotive headlight will do it sometimes. What are some of the things you do to get around this? Polarizing filters may help?
John Craft
04-06-2010, 08:19 PM
Anyone have some tips for controlling lens flare? I know some lenses, especially wide-angles are more prone to it than others, but I have been trying to capture sunset and sunrise scenes (RR and non-RR) and certain angles it flares just awful. Specifically my EF 17-40 lens seems to be about the worst. Even a passing locomotive headlight will do it sometimes. What are some of the things you do to get around this? Polarizing filters may help?

Flare is the result of light bouncing around in the lens itself. So,

1. Remove all filters, which can be thought of as an additional 'rogue' lens element.

2. Zoom lenses have more complex internal designs, and are more likely to generate flare, than primes.
travsirocz
04-06-2010, 08:23 PM
Better lens quality, period. By 24-105f4L has less lens flare then my 50mm 1.8. Do not shoot head on. You can see lens flare in the viewfinder and usually all you need to do is reposition just a hair to eliminate it.
Remove all filters as John said.
bigbassloyd
04-06-2010, 08:23 PM
A hood may help a little. I try not to line up a shot head on with the center of the light source when shooting at night as well. Some lenses just suck in the flare department though. I don't even fool with taking my EF50mm f1.8 out of the bag when shooting any shots where glare my be a concern. My EF18-55mm kit lens does the best with handling glare.

Loyd L.
troy12n
04-06-2010, 09:20 PM
The lens I have the most issues with is the EF17-40L, which is a pretty good lens, I dont use filters usually. What sucks, is sometimes I shoot bracketed, and 2 of the 3 have lens flare, but it only shows the last shot, so unless you review all 3 you might not see it. Longer exposures exacerbate the issue.