Green artifacts on Nex 6 ?

[nexmax]

Hi all,

My Nex 6 is brand new but I shot some videos and took some pictures in low light with the 16-50. Unfortunately in some of the pictures and some of the videos I get green artifacts!
This looks to be caused by artificial lights but it shouldn't be normal in my opinion... In other low light videos or pictures this doesn't seem to show up. What do you think?

Here's a sample video of the issue (from 0:11), shot at 1080p 25fps:

Sony Nex 6 green artifact with lights - YouTube

Another one:

Nex 6 green artifact 2 - YouTube

Pictures, green artifact(s) around the center of the image:

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s2/s...46b6b0a8aec3/5bc4b39d8b245e532d362422f4fb25d2

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s2/s...522d8049e9cc/6b04283b013cd1f6f96be12f81789228

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s2/s...a719a665ca89/d32f0a2cc4f367f8044abec25d944151

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s2/s...a06ae88275b7/02e70ce6e327a55d5980c71bd7c973d6

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s2/s...32dda6c874ce/74e8bef9ffbcb92075de7e886fa45b2e

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s2/s...a7908469f8e6/81a904aa9f46e008e6e4e207b19fa268

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s2/s...ee4c85260a38/8438ab0a3c27288110d2012d03c05a62

 

[Deadbear77]

Do you have a filter on your lens?

I've noticed with my 5n and cheap filters this does happen.

 

[Ad Dieleman]

This looks to be caused by artificial lights but it shouldn't be normal in my opinion... In other low light videos or pictures this doesn't seem to show up. What do you think?

This is almost certainly caused by internal reflections in the lens, possibly also interacting with the sensor. There are some very fierce light sources in the image, I'm actually surprised that so little ghosts appear.

 

[Dioptrick]

This is a lens characteristic... the camera itself (or the sensor) is not causing this.

What lens are you using?

 

[nexmax]

I'm using the stock, new 16-50 lens without any added filter. So this is "just" flare ghosting caused by the lens only? If this is the case I wonder if the new Sony 18-200, 10-18 and 35mm 1.8 have this issue as well or if one has to buy the Zeiss...

Did you see all the pictures and videos? There are other pics in the same exact environment and lights setup that don't exhibit this issue... Particularly the first video (at 0:11) made me think that this was an issue with the sensor being too sensible with this kind of lights in an otherwise dark scene.

So you say I shouldn't return the camera and any recommendation on how to avoid that? Frankly not an enthusiastic day one with it, although I do like some features. What do you think of the pictures detail and noise wise?

Thanks

 

[Dioptrick]

Yes, I had a good look at all the pics and vids. Your photos are great and the IQ is good... but I can't comment on the new 16-50 lens as I haven't got one or tried one. I have to say that the 16mm and the 18-55 kit lenses don't flare up this easily - and I often like to shoot directly into the light.

Perhaps, it's the inherent characteristic of this new lens - or maybe it's a defective copy. If you often take these sort of shots it might pay to look at exchanging your lens with another equivalent? If it's brand new, your seller might be able to find a solution for you without having to fork out any more money...

 

[nexmax]

The page on Wikipedia about lens flare states, at the end (See also): Lens flare - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Anti-reflective coating, used to reduce lens flare and produces the red and green colors common in lens flare."

So that green artifact is the result of the anti reflective coating of the 16-50 maybe...

I just want to make sure the camera and lens are not defective and that those bright artificial lights of the first video didn't damage the sensor.

 

[Deadbear77]

I'm using a canon 1.4, I noticed the same thing when I took some pics the other night at a jazz bar. Lighting was poor with neon and holiday lights. I was getting flare with my filter on, but when I took it off I would not. I'm sure it's the anti reflective coating on the lens.

Here are some samples

   ---            

   ---            

   ---            

   ---            

 

[Dioptrick]

Great Jazz Bar shots Deadbear, flares and all!

Yes, I've learned that lesson too. When shooting dark scenes with multiple light sources in the composition, it has to be strictly bare front lens (no filter). The background lights in your third shot (I really like that shot btw) show "peacock feather halos" which also happened on one of my earlier hand-held nightshot attempts with a UV filter on...

NEX-5N    ---    0mm    f/1.0    1/60s    ISO 2500

Takumar 55mm, f1.8, 1/60 sec, with UV Filter (note the green flares at the lower left in the water).

NEX-5N    ---    0mm    f/1.0    1/60s    ISO 2500

A close-up of the peacock feather halos on the street lights and car headlights, further back.

---

With the UV filter taken off, the green flares and halos are gone....

NEX-5N    ---    0mm    f/1.0    1/60s    ISO 400

Takumar 55mm, f1.8, 1/60 sec

 

[Dioptrick]

I just want to make sure the camera and lens are not defective and that those bright artificial lights of the first video didn't damage the sensor.

I think you're pretty safe with those shots.

I really enjoy the art form of contre-jour so sometimes I would even shoot directly into the mid-day sun if a composition warrants it... but it's not something I would recommend. However, I do it all the time to deliberately coax lens flares as part of the composition - and so far I've not noticed any damage to my sensor's IQ.

NEX-5N    ---    0mm    f/1.0    1/125s    ISO 100

More Contre-jour here...

 

[nexmax]

An UV filter is present on the NEX at the sensor level, I wasn't using any added filter...
I wonder why people talk about pixel peeping and noise if a couple of lights at night can bring artifacts that render the photos and videos pretty much unusable out of the box

 

[Bimjo]

An UV filter is present on the NEX at the sensor level, I wasn't using any added filter...
I wonder why people talk about pixel peeping and noise if a couple of lights at night can bring artifacts that render the photos and videos pretty much unusable out of the box

Unusable is a qualitative rather than a quantitative term. Flare itself on the other hand is quantifyable- we can measure it.

Let's assume you place a value on lens flare, say on a scale of 1-10 ( 1=good, 10=bad). Now let's assume a lens produces a flare score of 6 in a given situation. What is unacceptable to you might be perfectly accecptable to me based on the shooting conditions.

As has been pointed out previously, lens flare is a function of the lens. Some flare badly, some barely flare at all even in the worst conditions. It is what it is. If you aren't happy with it get a different lens. Life is to short to stress over something so easily fixed.

 

[Dioptrick]

An UV filter is present on the NEX at the sensor level, I wasn't using any added filter...
I wonder why people talk about pixel peeping and noise if a couple of lights at night can bring artifacts that render the photos and videos pretty much unusable out of the box

I took the time to watch your videos and study your photos carefully and I totally understand your sentiment. I appreciate why you feel that those videos are unusable and why this is disappointing as your first experience from a brand new camera. The photos could be easily repaired with software (as the flaring isn't as bad as the video) but that's not your point and I can sympathize.

Flaring from night lights or stage lights can be exacerbated when a UV filter is used (we have shown examples for your benefit), but clearly this is not the case in your situation... so we have eliminated that possibility. So the culprit here is not you, nor the camera... but it's clearly the inherent behaviour of that particular lens (not good for night light photography). Your observation regarding the bad flaring most especially on those short video clips are valid - and as far as I'm concerned, you are NOT by any means a pixel peeper in making a comment about it.

Unfortunately the only solution you have is to replace the lens with something else - if you do a lot of night or stage light photography and video. Perhaps your seller can exchange your lens with something else while your purchase is still new? The SEL 18-55 from my experience doesn't flare up that badly under those conditions, but you'll have to check this for yourself.

I hope this helps...

 

[rich815]

I have this issue in vids with my 6 and 16-50 lens with the UV filter on.

 

[nexmax]

Thanks Dioptrick. I guess I'll keep the 16-50 for casual shooting as it is small and handy. I'll buy either the SEL35F18 or wait for the new Zeiss lenses, hopefully both of those will be exempt of this issue!

Rich815: UV filter on? My understanding is that the uv filter is at the sensor level and you can't disable it...