Issues With Lens Flare

[saadhameed]

Hi. So I'm having issues with getting some pretty bad lens flare. Really strange issue

Shooting Canon 5D Mk. III w/ a Canon 24-70mm L series lens. I have a lens hood that came with the lens attached. When I shoot in landscape orientation, no issues. Yet when I sometimes shoot in portrait orientation, somehow the sun is hitting the lens giving me a bad flare. And this is at the 70mm end of the lens. No sun is in the shot, but somehow still getting crazy lens flare. And this isn't just one location but multiple locations throughout the day. Only when in complete overhead shade is there no flare. 

I attached some examples. 

I'm thinking, somehow, since the lens hood doesn't cover much when you shoot portrait orientation, that the sun is somehow shining from above and hitting the very bottom of the lens at an angle, causing this crazy flare. I can sometimes use my hand to block the flare as best I could, but obviously that's not an ideal solution. 

Anyways, any ideas of what might be wrong. Is there something maybe wrong with the lens itself that is causing strange internal flare issues? Is the lens hood itself causing the flare somehow? Love to hear your theories and thoughts.

[RobertTheFat]

Is that the Mark I or Mark II version of the 24-70? I read somewhere that because of its odd configuration (it gets physically longer at the wide end of its range), the Mark I has to make do with a somewhat abbreviated lens hood. Presumably that could make it less flare resistant. If you're using the Mark II version, all I can suggest is that if the hood has "ears", make sure it's mounted in the proper orientation relative to the camera.

Incidentally (and maybe presumptuously), if those were my pictures, I'd worry as much about the overexposed flesh tones and busy, distracting backgrounds as about the flare.

[saadhameed]

It's the Mark II version. Yeah I think maybe it was the mounting of the lens hood in portrait orientation. 

As for the background and flesh tones, these aren't really edited, and the background wasn't my favorite, but we had variety in later shots. These shots just happened to show the flare the best.

[ebiggs1]

What you are seeing is not lens flare.  Something is in the way.  Filter or lens hood slipped element or something.

[saadhameed]

Don't have any filters in. Had this issue on the past shoot so I took the filter off, still haven't this flare like issue. I do think it's a flare, because I see it through the viewfinder and am able to sometimes flag it off with my hand. Later in the day when I noticed the issue, I was able to minimize the amount of shots ruined by this flare, or whatever it might be.

I do maybe suspect the lens hood is not on properly or warped someway that it's causing this. Gonna be busy today but plan on doing some tests, trying to recreate what happened, see if I can finally get to the bottom of this.

[saadhameed]

Did some test. Pretty sure got to take the lens/camera in. Getting crazy flares and there is something obviously wrong. Here are the tests. Also, flare gets worse the longer I zoom in on the lens, lens hood helps but doesn't solve the problem completely. And added a picture of the actual lens with the flare on it.

[ebiggs1]

Is all that crap on the inside or out side?  Did you use something harsh to try and clean it.  It looks like the multi-coating is smeared.

[saadhameed]

Yeah the lens is dirty, forgot to clean it. Was in a bit of a rush. I usually clean my lens with a lens cloth/shammy and maybe a camel hair brush for dust. Don't think it has anything to do with the coating being stripped, more think it's an internal optics thing.

[Tomobil]

Did you end up finding out what the issue was? My 5DMk3 is having the same problem.

[RobertTheFat]

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@Tomobil wrote:
Did you end up finding out what the issue was? My 5DMk3 is having the same problem.

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IIRC, some early 5D3's had a light leak. Could that be the problem, or at least a contributor to it?

I don't know what the light leak symptoms were. That problem was fixed long before I bought my 5D3. I think it might have affected the reliability of the camera's metering, but there may have been other effects as well.