Travel emergency! Lens leaking light?

[Gusnyc]

Hi everybody!

I am in China, happy to have my E-PL1 and the 40-150 lens which i bought as soon as it came out. Now I noticed a "ghost of light" in one corner, when i take pictures at the widest angle. When i zoom in, the "ghost" disappears. It also helps to put my hand on the side of the lens, extending the hood with my hand. Sometimes, I can take pictures without problem, but that is just 20% of the time.

Please help! There is anything I can do to fix this?

Thanks in advance!

Gus

 

[Streetshooter]

Gus,
It sounds like flare. Does this happen when there is no strong light on angle to the lens?
Also, try shooting with the flash pointed on different angles to a mirror...

 

[Gusnyc]

It happens when I take a picture to a bright subject, on the street, with or without sun.

Isn't the hood supposed to stop flare? This looks like a dirty whitish area on the top, right corner of the frame (btw, the lens is clean).

Gus

 

[PeterB666]

You haven't posted any images to illustrate the problem but I suspect that Streetshooter has it right. What you are referring to is light reflecting off the internal surfaces of the elements of the lens and is always more prone at wider angles than when zoomed in. Any point source of light will do that.

The more complex a lens (i.e. the more glass surfaces), the bigger the problem. There are specialised lenses that have been produced specificially to minimise internal reflections from point sources of light, for example the Nikon 58mm f/1.2 Noct-Nikkor, now out of production and worth much more than the USD $3,000 it use to sell for (which incidently was aroud 6 times the price of Nikon's other f/1.2 standard lens).

If you want to shoot wide with that sort of light, you are best off with a lens of quite simple construction (or you can go the whole hog at pick up a lens like the Noct-Nikkor.

 

[Gusnyc]

Hi Peter: you can see some samples here:

MobileMe Gallery

Ignore the one with my opinion about the show "Viva Elvis" and the full frontal of my dog, Mack.

 

[Streetshooter]

Gus,
Still looks like flare to me, certainly the 1st 2.
Don

 

[PeterB666]

If you are using a 'protection' filter or UV filter, throw it away. As for the last shot, I am just glad it is not in focus.