How to avoid lens glare in night photography?

One of the most common problems you may encounter when you click on photos or practice long exposure photography at night is lens glare. When strong light is scattered or reflected into the lens through the glass element and reaches the camera sensor, lens glare is an unwanted light effect. Lens halo usually occurs when you directly shoot a light source (such as sunlight or street lamps), which usually appears as a point or light.

1. Avoid using narrow aperture to reduce lens halo.

The higher the aperture value you use, the narrower the aperture opening of the lens. When you use f/

When shooting with a narrow aperture of 22, the lens opening will become very small, allowing light to pass through. When light enters the lens through a small opening, it will bend and produce diffraction. The bending of light may lead to the starburst effect from light sources such as the sun or street lamps.

To avoid lens glare in the photo, please try to use an aperture value smaller than the maximum available value of the lens by 1-2. Suppose the maximum aperture of your lens is f/22, f/ 1 1.

16 shooting helps to avoid lens halo.

In this practice of capturing the starburst effect with a narrow aperture, your lens may also produce some light spots on the camera sensor. The image you see below is f/

Intentionally clicking to capture the starburst effect also leads to lens glare.

2. Use the main lens to reduce lens halo.

The more lens elements there are, the more opportunities to obtain lens facula. This is one of the reasons why the zoom lens is more prone to lens flash than the main lens. Using a wide-angle lens can minimize lens halo because it can make a smaller lens light source more compact.

3. Use a hood to reduce lens halo

The hood installed on the lens can eliminate the flash by preventing the light from directly illuminating the front element of the lens. It can prevent ambient light from entering the lens through various angles, and basically does not belong to the light source of the lens.

For example, if you turn on the wide-angle lens standing under a street lamp, it is obvious that this street lamp does not belong to your frame. If you don't use a hood, the light from this street lamp will enter your lens. Therefore, it is recommended to install a compatible hood on the lens.

Mid-range and high-end lenses are used with compatible hoods, but some lenses are not supported. In this case, you can buy a compatible lens hood from the company store, or even buy a cheap replacement lens from a third party. When using the lens at the widest focal length, ensure that the lens hood will not produce vignetting.

4. Avoid using filters to reduce lens halo.

For those who click on the landscape or urban landscape, it may be a routine practice to use polarization filters or ND filters. As we discussed above, more elements mean more opportunities to capture lens halo in photos.

When you click on a photo, you should always remove the ultraviolet filter, because it is almost useless except to protect the front component of the lens. By using ultraviolet filters, you can add glass components, which makes the camera sensor prone to lens glare.

If you can manage photos without using these filters, it can help you minimize the chance of capturing lens halos.

5. Use high-quality lenses to reduce lens halo.

One should always invest in a good lens, and finding a cheap substitute will reduce the output of photos. Lens with unsatisfactory glass coating is very prone to lens glare, while advanced glass coating can prevent lens glare. Cheaper lenses may not completely cut the optical elements, which increases the possibility of glare.