Upside down Ghosting in images

chirantha7777 · Jan 21, 2013

Ok, this is kind of freaky, took some photo's of the annual church feast with my new D5100... And to my surprise things were a bit ok... but reviewing my images I saw ghost... WTH!

D5100 with 18-105 VR Nikkor
SB-900 TTL mode (not BL-TTL) -1.3EV<>-1.7EV

Seriously, what is happening here

:er:

pixmedic · Jan 21, 2013

maybe the place is just haunted. cant a ghost come out and have a good time somewhere?
what do you have against ghosts having a good time? not the ghosts fault you got them in the frame.
you should make sure there are no ghosts lurking in the background before you take a picture if you dont want them in there.

dbvirago · Jan 21, 2013

Were you using a filter?

chirantha7777 · Jan 21, 2013

dbvirago said:
Were you using a filter?

Oh yea, I forgot! its a 67mm UV filter

Hoya

chirantha7777 · Jan 21, 2013

pixmedic said:
maybe the place is just haunted. cant a ghost come out and have a good time somewhere?
what do you have against ghosts having a good time? not the ghosts fault you got them in the frame.
you should make sure there are no ghosts lurking in the background before you take a picture if you dont want them in there.

lol, seriously, any idea of whats happening here?

Bitter Jeweler · Jan 21, 2013

Its the filter.

bratkinson · Jan 22, 2013

+1 for the filter.

Most filters, especially the cheaper ones, lack the quality coatings designed to reduce/prevent "filter flare". Internal reflections within the glass itself as well as reflections occurring as the light bounces off the surface of the front element after passing through air causes these inverted reflections. Lens makers go to great lengths to reduce such reflections within the lenses themselves as there are multiple layers of glass and air inside each camera lens. Putting a cheap filter on the front of a lens negates much of the efforts the lens makers did to prevent lens flare/reflections.

Also, UV filters are a waste on digital cameras, as the sensor already has a UV filter built into it. If you're looking to protect the front of your lens, use a hood designed for that lens. It's less costly than a filter (comes free with some lenses) and won't cause shards of broken glass should the lens get dropped.

Garbz · Jan 23, 2013

It's actually nothing to do with cheap coatings, though nice coatings help. The problem in this case is a flat piece of glass. Even the finest of multicoated filters have difficulty with incredible contrast because they are a sheet of flat glass and thus offer a perfect reflection.

However it may not just be the filter. There's many lenses that do it too, some cheap and some expensive ones too.

GrahamPhisher · Jan 23, 2013

dbvirago said:
Were you using a filter?

was gonna say... this happened to me b4, was confused for a minute.

Joves · Jan 23, 2013

Maybe Satan was invading the area. But the filter, and this will happen at night more that during the day. Take the UV off you do not need it. I only use my clear filters when I am shooting in adverse conditions, such as dusty, windy areas, where you could get salt water sprays, and such. Or if I am rock climbing with my camera slung over my shoulder.