shooting a sunset

[Guest Cameron Young]

wanted to time lapse a sunset.....ran about 30 minutes worth....had ND filter on......got an interesting star burst and what looks like some kind of red flaring at the bottom of the lens...the only lens filter besides ND was a UV.....would a polarizing filter cut down on the star burst and any kind of "flaring" or is this part of the built in glass?

 

Thanks all!

[G McMahon]

If a light source is definitely in shot (you cannot cut it), in your case the sun, then it is impossible to get rid of the flares (especially if it?s a point source). It all comes down to optics then. The better the lens and the less glass elements involved (use of primes) then the less flaring. I know, fixed lens. Try, please get back to me as this is based on theory as I usually like the intrusive and serendipity from flaring, playing the aperture more wide open, kick the ND up ( I believe this will reduce some of the staring ). Get rid of the UV, less glass elements. The pola will not help. Also try posting the question in general discussion, I find if it?s a question that is not camera specific you will get more responses.

 

G McMahon

[Guest Cameron Young]

thanks, G, for responding.....next time I'll try losing the UV filter and play around with the iris in combo with the ND....I did find that pushing in all the way cut the glass refraction quite a bit, but, that was also when the sun was just starting to dip.....you're right in that the star points are pretty cool, but the rest is distracting......I'll also post this in general discussions.

[John Pytlak RIP]

If a light source is definitely in shot (you cannot cut it), in your case the sun, then it is impossible to get rid of the flares (especially if it?s a point source). It all comes down to optics then. The better the lens and the less glass elements involved (use of primes) then the less flaring. I know, fixed lens. Try, please get back to me as this is based on theory as I usually like the intrusive and serendipity from flaring, playing the aperture more wide open, kick the ND up ( I believe this will reduce some of the staring ). Get rid of the UV, less glass elements. The pola will not help. Also try posting the question in general discussion, I find if it?s a question that is not camera specific you will get more responses.

 

G McMahon

 

Certain digital sensors will show "streaking" artifacts from strong speculars. Be careful not to damage the sensor shooting into the sun for long periods --- if the sun is too bright to look at comfortably, it may have enough energy to cause damage. The UV filter is added protection, as the IR and UV in sunlight often do the damage first.

[andybiz_2005]

Cameron, you're right that pointing the camera lens directly at strong sunlight can damage the sensitive CCDs & other light-sensitive components in the DVX. Remember as kids we used to burn dried up leaves with a magnifying glass where the sun's rays were directed into a tight sun spot that eventually burned up the leave? Well, the camera lenses act similar to a series of magnifying glasses. So I would think that pointing the camera lens directly at strong sunlight can fry the CCDs. Just excercise caution when shooting the sun. I'm not sure if shooting a reflection of the sun through a body of water would lessen the ill effects on the camera lens. Can anyone verify this? Thanks.

 

Andrew