New ML user. Can anyone tell me what happened to my video?

[mandygirl77]

Just installed on my T1i.  Didn't change any settings and started shooting this video....can anyone tell me why the fire had a sort of ghost of itself? 

[Malcolm Debono]

Strange.. don't know of any settings that may leave this effect. Are you using any filters in front of your lens by any chance?

[a1ex]

Looks like lens flare, it's normal.

[g3gg0]

yep, lens flares.

if it were a filter in front of the lens, the ghosting flares would just have an offset.
these are reflected somewhere deep inside the lens.
you can see the ghost image being greenish due to the anti-reflective coating.
but the fire is so bright, you can see these reflections.

which lens did you use?

[Walter Schulz]

I have to agree, this is lens flare caused by internal reflection. The reflections are centrically symmetric. Draw a line between flare "source" and flare. The line will go through the center of the frame. The distance from center to flare and flare source is the same.

Some protection/UV filters are prone to flare and nocturnal photography (extreme contrast and all black background) is really demanding in this respect. If you have such a beast for protection: You better go without at dark.
If it is the lens itself: Sorry, this one won't do the job. Old lenses (for example) are not designed for digital age sensors. CMOS and CCD chips are more reflective than analog film emulsions ... by far. Lenses designed for digital photography therefore have to use better coatings. Tokina will have to learn this lesson, too ... some day, I hope.

There is an UV filter review I would recommend for those looking for non-beastly ones:
http://www.lenstip.com/120.1-article-UV_filters_test_-_supplement_Introduction.html
http://www.lenstip.com/113.1-article-UV_filters_test.html

Ciao, Walter

PS: If you're shooting stills with identical settings used for your video (ISO, aperture, exposure) under the same conditions you will have the same flares showing up.

[mandygirl77]

Ahhhh!  I had a UV filter on the lens that I've never used before!!  Thank you all so much!  I used Tiffen 58mm UV Protection Filter on a canon 50mm f1.4 lens.

Besides shooting fire, in what other conditions do you think this will happen?  Or will this only happen at night?

[Walter Schulz]

Flares are common when shooting the sun (liberately or not) and other very bright light sources working as spot. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_flare
As explained in the article the effect is sometimes added to CGI and other flare-free scenes to create a documentary look.

Even if the sun is outside the frame you may get some contrast reducing effects. If sunlight hits the front lens some will find a way to the sensor. A lens hood may not be able to block it out all the time. Just google around for
- veiling glare
- veiling flare
- ghosting
- lens flare
if you want to learn more about the subject.

In still photography it may be a solution takeing two shots when dealing with flare. One with a gobo (just some opaque stuff put between light source and front lens. Gobo = go between), one without and combine them in post.

www.lenstip.com and www.the-digital-photo.com have a flare/ghosting section in their lens reviews.

[Rant]It is a pity there is no standard test procedure covering flare/ghosting performance of a lens.[/Rant]

Ciao, Walter