Lenses and Ghosting: Filters and Lens Hoods

Submitted by maz on Wed, 01/05/2011 - 13:57

I was slightly worried after taking some pictures with my Canon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IS USM lens: there was some blurring which really should not have been there.

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Vertical Blurring on Image

This isn't something I've seen on this lens, but I've not done any photography with it fully out at 300mm recently. I began to wonder if it was the cold weather, or perhaps it had been damaged somehow in transport? It didn't get any better with exposure or aperture, was still present when taking pictures using a tripod, and didn't appear to be a function of whether image stabilisation was on or off or in vertical mode.

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70-300mm IS USM Lens at 300mm with UV Filter (100% crop)

On a hunch I decided to remove the UV filter screwed to the front.

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70-300mm IS USM Lens at 300mm with no filter (100% crop)

...and extending the lens hood again...

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70-300mm IS USM Lens at 300mm with Lens Hood (100% crop)

Conclusion: some UV filters just aren't up to it.

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