Any idea as to what might be causing this?

[Manfred M]

A friend was out taking pictures of the moon with a simple P&S camera and got this result:




She asked what might have caused this. It's an outdoor shot so there is nothing between her and the subjected. Any artificial lights are behind her and would not be hitting the lens / sensor.

My guess is it has to be some internal reflection issue involving the lens elements and the sensor (IR filter = the red colour??) and the bright light of the moon. Any thoughts or educated guesses? Sorry this is low quality, but it is the best quality image I have access to (download from Facebook).

[ccphoto]

Light can enter through the viewfinder and cause such a reaction on the sensor. If I am doing long exposures (x10 ND), I always use the viewfinder blocker to avoid this kind of issue. I suspect it is a viewfinder/light issue.

[Manfred M]

Light can enter through the viewfinder and cause such a reaction on the sensor. If I am doing long exposures (x10 ND), I always use the viewfinder blocker to avoid this kind of issue. I suspect it is a viewfinder/light issue.

It's a P&S - no viewfinder (that was one of the first things I asked). So the only light hitting the sensor can come from the lens, unless there is a light leak, and this does not look like any light leak I've ever seen.

[Black Pearl]

That looks identical to the flare you get with an iPhone 4. I'm out at the moment but I'll post a couple from my Mac when I get back in.

[DanK]

looks like simple flare to me: a bright light (the moon) in front of the camera will cause it if the lens doesn't have good anti-flare coatings. Also, it's not clear where the camera is focused.

[ionian]

Is it a Fuji? The X-trans seems to produce a patterned flare. My wife has an xq1 so I could try to reproduce it if it's helpful.

[george013]

To me it looks like a night shot with small aperture. You get a star from the light sources. I count 8 radials, so maybe a 8 bladed diaphragm? And then the red balls at the end....?

George

[Black Pearl]

As I said above the only time I've seen this pattern/style of flare was with my old iPhone 4 - to be honest I kind of missed it when I got the 5 as it had more typical ghosting flare which was easier to deal with but a bit dull.

Not a great shot but demonstrates what I used to get when pointing the iPhone 4 at a point of light - I'm guessing its a weird quirk of the lens/sensor combo...

[Manfred M]

Thanks Robin - the effect does look quite similar.

[pnodrog]

Condensation on front element of lens?

[Black Pearl]

Paul I know with the old iPhone it wasn't condensation or dirt or anything atmospheric it was just the particular sensor/lens combination that produced very distinct red ghosting when you pointed directly at a bright light source. I know at the time I never got to the route of the problem (assuming it was a problem) but knowing it was there made for some fun shots...

[george013]

Ok,something alike is reproduced. But what is causing it. I see a regular pattern in it.

George