Modern Vespa

Need help here from expert camera folks...
This camera returns photos like this.....with the star-burst effect from the lights.
It is a purchased used Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS-50.

What is going on?
How do I stop it?

Camera takes pretty good photos, otherwise.
And, yes, the lens is clean.



Thanks much!
O.S.

A lot of factors involved in lens flare. I found this article that has some suggestions but it is hard to eliminate completely. http://www.the-photography-blogger.com/lens-flare-night-long-exposure-photography/

Is there the possibility to screw filters in front of the lens?

That is real life to me... only a lot more clear. That's why I don't like to drive at night.

What is causing those starburst patterns is the aperture of the camera. As the blades that restrict the amount of light coming in close they can form a shape like that - notice how the flare is consistent from each light source. For night stuff I would shoot in "A" mode and make sure the aperture is as wide open as possible - that means the smallest number it'll allow. Not sure for that lens but it's likely between 2.8 and 4. That will hopefully give a more circular pattern as those blades don't encroach (cheaper lenses like those on point-and-shoot cameras may be lazily engineered such that they still poke in some, but Lumix is generally decent).

The flare is caused by reflections inside the lens. A wide open aperture, if your camera let's you control that, makes the flare less defined and sometimes more pleasing. To avoid flare, the easiest way is to re-position the camera in relation to the lights and it's best to avoid including very bright lights in the frame. A lens hood can also help to keep down flare and the better the lens, the more likely that it was created with the aim of reducing unwanted flare. Keep in mind that the flare also can be used deliberately to great effect.

The lumix model I have has a couple scene settings "SCN" on the wheel that create this effect. Is there a chance you're shooting in scene mode?

As Trenchleton says, that’s aperture flare, aka starburst. It’s not the classic lens flare, which is a different phenomenon.

Here’s an article on creating the starburst effect, which gives some background. Doing the opposite should reduce the starburst effect.

https://www.outdoorphotographyguide.com/article/how-to-create-a-starburst-effect/

EDIT: This article might be better: https://www.slrlounge.com/diffraction-aperture-and-starburst-effects/

It should be symmetrical though, not more pronounced vertically.

I'm guessing some horizontal scratching on the lens. Maybe some over enthusiastic cleaning?

OS can you share the exif data?

Could be vertical because the shape of the aperture blades at that f stop are not creating a round circle but are more oval. Or more likely the lens is not perfect and it's distorting the image overall, but you only notice it in the flares where it's prominent.

Funny that this effect is normally sought out by those whose cameras and lenses are too precise and images too perfect. Never heard anyone trying to get rid of it before so it's an interesting thought process to reverse engineer the effect. Unfortunately with imagery, both video and photo and also audio..in my job, i usually have to bear the bad news that once an issue is baked in, it's not really fixable. Any attempts to fix it might help, but more probably will make it worse. It's a permanent issue with the camera itself.

All these suggestions are good ideas and worth it to try as they all are basically individual tricks to create the effect, but in reverse.

Low budget filmmakers have been trying to recreate anamorphic lens effects for years.. the easiest effect of which is linear/oval light streaks from light sources. The various ways to replicate some of these effects in camera are:

Fine fishing wire stretched over a blank filter.

A neutral filter which you very lightly create directional scratches over, keeping them parallel as possible.

Similar Bokeh effects:

Front lens Filters with shapes cut out in them which creates a matte for the light to go through. Lighting Bokeh takes on the shape of the cutouts.

Some companies make lenses with rear lens shape mattes similarly, which is the better option for this technique as it's more like the aperture blades this is replicating.

Specific older lenses are known to have very unique aperture blades that creates beautiful Bokeh shapes and patterns so people seek them out used to use on their newer digital cameras whose image capture is too precise and sterile.


But unfortunately i don't think most of these reverse engineered suggestions will get you fully there. They will help but the effect will not disappear completely.

Don't take this this wrong way because i think all cameras are valid in their purpose and with their target customers.. most customers don't need or want thousands of dollars of camera equipment. This camera is perfectly suitable for 99% of users. Just so happens your skill and eye are beyond the target customers for that camera you have.

Your camera is a small less expensive point and shoot zoom lens which has multiple design features inherent in this style of camera which cause this effect baked in that are not really possible to reverse. It's got the tiniest of sensors in it, with specifically low cost aperture blades and lens in it that is a result of the compact automatically retractable lens style. To make a camera body in that style at that time with higher quality materials would have been a fortune and not been marketable to the consumers that they targeted. They had to cut costs to get those cameras small and affordable.

As a result, the really short distance between the less precise lens and tiny sensor as the light passes through those less accurate aperture blades really serves to exaggerate the problem.

It may be ridiculous to suggest, but now that you are noticing some of the inherent design issues with your camera and you are trying to fix it, a better option might be to replace the camera with a modern camera in similar style, but the technology has improved greatly in the meantime, which has solved some of these issues. Specifically look at mirrorless camera styles from Sony or Canon. They are compact high quality cameras with swappable lenses which are of higher quality than the permanently attached mechanical lens on your current camera. The sensors are also much bigger with greatly improved image quality like orders of a magnitude better! Plus these mirrorless cameras have been iterated on for about a decade now so you can get really good quality cameras for less new, or really great quality cameras for used.

I'm just suggesting another option based on the greatly improved tech and the fact that cameras have gotten less expensive while tech has improved. Similar to how i keep telling my parents to get rid of their hd tv whose motherboard has been dying for months and creates strange color effects over everything. 4k tvs are cheap and huge now compared to when they spent a lot on their big 3d hd tv. And the quality is vastly improved. Makes no sense for them not to just get a much better tv!

Wow!

Yep, especially in these point-and-shoots they sometimes get "creative" with design in terms of integrating the aperture. May well be that the blades come in more from the sides.

OK, thanks all for your feedback!
I'm too dumb to sort out F-stops, ISO, etc., etc. for manual photos.
I can set my camera (s) to "night scenery" but the better Lumix flares everydamthing.
The little $28 Lumix FH20 does not have that problem.
I can set my 'better' Lumix to stop flaring lights on night photos - but other than the light source the photo is too dark see the subject..

The little FH20:


The bigger ZS-50:


I use the tripod and self-timer to get the clearest night shots.


Anyway - since 'night shots' are my bread & butter - I think I'll just keep firing away with the little FH20, until the sun comes up.
No problem admitting that a camera is too smart for me.

O.S.

to me that looks a lot like lens abberation which is a physical shape of lens issue, not anything you can really fix. Like the lens is not so spherical but more cylindrical on the light transmitting surfaces.. wide angle lenses present this issue more than telephoto lenses. If you have a zoom on it, try zooming in so the lens isn't so wide. This will crop out the outer edges of the lens which cause the distortion.

BTW, a lot of camera's have automatic distortion correction built into their software as the optical abberation can be mapped using a test chart.. and then reversed in software. So many camera manufacturers either automatically apply abberation correction, or have a setting to turn it on or off in the menus. This is specifically for cameras with permanent lenses. Higher end cameras have the distortion map coded into the lens data transferred from lens to camera through the lens mount. This way they can apply the correct abberation correction based on the lens that is on the camera at capture time.

You can also apply your own abberation correction for your own lenses if the camera doesnt have that option. This requires shooting test chart with each specific lens and then creating a distortion map which can then be used in photoshop or other high end photo app to reverse the distortion.

But alas, this will only help the distortion presented on the building straight lines that bend toward center. Not on the lens flares.

I have a Lumix.

As mentioned earlier, that is, 100%, absolutely, undoubtedly, the setting in the SCN menu.

That happened to me inadvertently once and a bunch of vacation photos have that damn star effect.

Easy-peazy just turn it off.

Well, actually - no it is not.
I know what you are talking about. I never use that setting on any of my 4 Lumix's.
But thanks for trying to help.
My ZS-60 does it to a lesser degree, as well.


So, since the issue is beyond my camera/moxy ....the 50 & 60 will no longer be used for night photos....only the little FH20.

O.S.

Oh well… that sucks.

If you send me your camera, I will correct the settings and send it back to you.

(Kidding, but only a little bit).