Lens flare I have never seen

[wpastl]

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Hi,

i recently bought my first Leica Q2, and it's a Monochrom. So excited and happy. Until I saw these weird lens flares, coming from the sun right outside the frame.

Is this normal or known? 

Thanks for your help. 

Best wishes

 

Wolfgang

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[jaapv]

Rather normal-looking to me, given the torture test situation. Did you use a filter? This dotted effect has been described often, with many cameras from many brands. It is the red dot flare in monochrom.

[wpastl]

Thank you. I didn't use a filter, but I used the hood. 

[jefe]

I was a delighted Q user for about 3 years. Deciding the upgrade was worth it to me, I bought a Q2M about 6 months ago and had precisely the same issue with ugly lens flare you are having now. Identical. I also voiced my concern on relevant online forums and got responses to the effect that this was not unexpected in certain light conditions ....... move along ..... nothing to see here ...... just get used to it and work around it. Given the frequency and negative impact of this horrible flare, I had completely lost confidence in the Q2M. To be clear, in 50 years of shooting a wide range of quality cameras, I had never encountered such a serious ongoing flaw in my images.The sunburst it yielded with these streaked artifacts in a grid-like pattern looked like light reflecting off the sensor. It was completely unacceptable. With the Leica name for quality and the $6,000+ USD price tag for this camera, I was completely and utterly dissatisfied with this unfortunate feature of my Q2M. I arrived at the conclusion that, at best, the Q2 I had received must have incorrectly passed through Leica quality control. Or, at worst, it was an indication that the Q2M sensor or engineering was not ready for prime time. A month after purchasing the camera, I was reaching out to both the dealer and Leica demanding a refund in full. The dealer, thankfully, was excellent and I did receive from the dealer a full refund. (perhaps with the support of Leica behind the scenes ..... I do not know). I ended up replacing the Q2M with the Q2 and I am generally delighted with that camera. No issues with ugly lens flare. I convert almost all my Q2M images to monochrome in Silver Efex Pro 3, but having the color option is nice for the occasional image that, in my shooting style, is best represented in color. 

So, it all worked out in the end but it was disconcerting and unnerving after dropping $6,000 on a camera.

Best of luck to you!

 

[clasami]

I have seen it in some images of mine, too. When I can't avoid it by shielding the lens with my hand or turning away from the sun a bit more, I just accept it. It is like the "Color Polygon" that appears in images taken with Sony a7xx cameras in certain shooting conditions. It can't be avoided unless you cut electronic communication between the lens and the camera, and it can't be fixed inpost. Learned to live with it, too.

The good news is that with a little crop, your image will look fine.

[evikne]

If you can't fight against it, then play on teams with it.

I love flare, and often shoot straight against the sun to provoke the effect. This is an old lens that is well known for its flare:

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M10 / 35mm Summilux-M pre-ASPH v2

[hdmesa]

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On 6/8/2022 at 3:30 PM, jefe said:

I was a delighted Q user for about 3 years. Deciding the upgrade was worth it to me, I bought a Q2M about 6 months ago and had precisely the same issue with ugly lens flare you are having now. Identical. I also voiced my concern on relevant online forums and got responses to the effect that this was not unexpected in certain light conditions ....... move along ..... nothing to see here ...... just get used to it and work around it. Given the frequency and negative impact of this horrible flare, I had completely lost confidence in the Q2M. To be clear, in 50 years of shooting a wide range of quality cameras, I had never encountered such a serious ongoing flaw in my images.The sunburst it yielded with these streaked artifacts in a grid-like pattern looked like light reflecting off the sensor. It was completely unacceptable. With the Leica name for quality and the $6,000+ USD price tag for this camera, I was completely and utterly dissatisfied with this unfortunate feature of my Q2M. I arrived at the conclusion that, at best, the Q2 I had received must have incorrectly passed through Leica quality control. Or, at worst, it was an indication that the Q2M sensor or engineering was not ready for prime time. A month after purchasing the camera, I was reaching out to both the dealer and Leica demanding a refund in full. The dealer, thankfully, was excellent and I did receive from the dealer a full refund. (perhaps with the support of Leica behind the scenes ..... I do not know). I ended up replacing the Q2M with the Q2 and I am generally delighted with that camera. No issues with ugly lens flare. I convert almost all my Q2M images to monochrome in Silver Efex Pro 3, but having the color option is nice for the occasional image that, in my shooting style, is best represented in color. 

So, it all worked out in the end but it was disconcerting and unnerving after dropping $6,000 on a camera.

Best of luck to you!

 

Hopefully you were told the truth – that all mirrorless cameras show this flare when using a lens with a rear element that is close to the sensor. ALL my GF lenses for the GFX show this flare sensor pattern in certain light. Same for my Canon R5. There is/was nothing wrong with your Q2M. This is simply the IQ choice mirrorless lens designers make in order to increase lens IQ. If you want nice sunstars, you need to shoot with adapted lenses designed for cameras with mirrors in them.

[jefe]

On 6/12/2022 at 8:53 AM, hdmesa said:

Hopefully you were told the truth – that all mirrorless cameras show this flare when using a lens with a rear element that is close to the sensor. ALL my GF lenses for the GFX show this flare sensor pattern in certain light. Same for my Canon R5. There is/was nothing wrong with your Q2M. This is simply the IQ choice mirrorless lens designers make in order to increase lens IQ. If you want nice sunstars, you need to shoot with adapted lenses designed for cameras with mirrors in them.

Thanks for your response, hdmesa. Much appreciated. I understand what you are saying and I have heard the same from others, including Leica as well as users of other mirrorless cameras like yourself. I shot Fuji mirrorless before I got into Leica mirrorless and I never experienced horrible lens flare like I had on that Q2M. When I shot my Q for 3 years or so before I got the Q2M, I never experienced severe problems with lens flare. And in the year or so that I have been shooting the Q2, I have never had the same sorts of problems with lens flare that I had with the Q2M. Understanding everything you are saying, I still believe the particular Q2M I received was faulty in some manner and I am delighted that the Leica dealer got me out of the Q2M and into the Q2. About 99% of the images I produce are monochrome (I convert Q2 images to monochrome in post) and I wish I had a better experience with the  particular Q2M I received. I bought the Q2M shortly after it was introduced. Many quality manufacturers have problems with newly released product, and possibly Leica had some of that with the Q2M. I will likely try the Q2M again in a few more years, to give time for any possible bugs in the Q2M to be engineered out of the system. Cheers. Jeff.