Lens Flare - Canon 100mm macro lens

[gab]

I have just purchased a Canon 100mm macro lens and have noticed that I am getting a high proportion of photos with whitish octagonal shapes in them (what I believe to be lens flare). Is this lens defective as the 100mm macro is known to be good at avoiding lens flare or is it user error - I am relatively new to photography.

[David]

Hi Gab - Are you using a lens hood? You need to set up a shot where you get lens flare without a hood. Then take the same shot with the hood. If there is lens flare with the hood, then that would be a possible problem with the lens.

Hope this helps and welcome to the forum.

Cheers


David

[gab]

Thanks David. I have ordered a lens hood and look forward to seeing if it makes a difference.

[Geoff F]

Besides flare, I find that I often get better contrast and colour saturation when using a lens hood for macro work.

[Amberglass]

Use a good multi-coated lens filter, not single coat, to reduce flaring. I prefer using B+W's Pro F series but the higher end Hoya Pro 1 Series does very nicely too.