EOS EFS 10-18mm

[john_star_man]

Hi All,

I'm new to photography & getting to grips with my EOS80D + 10-18mm. My interest is seascape/ landscape. I've noticed that in a large % of my images I have issues with lens flare even when I have back to sun or sun is not even in image or obscured by thick cloud. Is this a known problem. I've attached a sample image to show you the issue - this is a full size crop from a problem image. In this instance sun was in image which has exacerbated problem

Really appreciate any help - thks,  John

[ebiggs1]

Oh, and BTW, remove any filter you may have attached to the lens.

[john_star_man]

Thks for all the advice - I'll try & be a bit more methodical with testing next time I shoot. Thks again,  John

[John_SD]

It looks like dried droplets to me, but I assume you've tried to clean your lens (or filter) with a microfiber cloth. 

Like you, I also shoot at the ocean and around tide pools. Get yourself a circular polarizer if you're in that environment. Used properly, you'll notice an immediate improvement in your photos, especially in terms of cutting glare and darkening the skies. And you won't be getting salt water on your lens. 

[RobertTheFat]

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@John_SD wrote:

It looks like dried droplets to me, but I assume you've tried to clean your lens (or filter) with a microfiber cloth. 

Like you, I also shoot at the ocean and around tide pools. Get yourself a circular polarizer if you're in that environment. Used properly, you'll notice an immediate improvement in your photos, especially in terms of cutting glare and darkening the skies. And you won't be getting salt water on your lens. 

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If they're dried droplets (which I sort of doubt), they'd pretty well have to be on the sensor. If they were on the lens surface, they'd be visible only as a vague fogging of the overall image. They'd be way too far from the focal plane to show up as well defined circles.

The closest I ever came to seeing what the sample picture shows was once when a colleague at work had oil droplets on his sensor. In that case the camera was a Brand N model that was known for having an overlubricated mirror mechanism that could throw oil on the sensor. I've never heard of a Canon camera with a similar problem.

[john_star_man]

Thanks everyone for all the advice & comments - Hope to get out this weekend with some more tests/ observing - I'll let you know if I figure out where the problem lies.

Cheers,  John