rings and circles??

[nrois02]

so ive been having these problems in light thats around me and i was wondering if getting filters would help get this problem to go away. also im not using a lens hood but maybe that would help a little too. let me know thanks!

here are some pictures to describe what troubles im having.

and i dont even know what happened here all i know is that there was a lot of light due to the cop pulling up to me. and info?

 

[Flash Harry]

its lens flare, stop pointing the camera directly at the light source or bright light in general, a hood can help but not in the case of headlights facing you, the extra light is bouncing around inside the lens causing the condition. H

 

[Dwig]

...i was wondering if getting filters would help get this problem to go away. ...

No, any filter, including the supposed "UV protection" filters, will only make it worse. Also, a lens hood wouldn't help in this case as the source of the lens flare is in the picture. Hoods only block light that is outside of the frame.

 

[nrois02]

ok thanks for the help. what is the purpose of getting filters then? ive never really been into it but my friend is and he says there good but never told me why

 

[epp_b]

Some lenses just cause flare and ghosting when pointing into light sources. Some lenses are very good at handling this, some aren't. Nikon's 18-55 kit lens, for example, produces absolutely no flaring, but the 35mm f/1.8 has a bit a flaring issue.

There's nothing you can do about it but try to clone them out.

 

[Garbz]

ok thanks for the help. what is the purpose of getting filters then? ive never really been into it but my friend is and he says there good but never told me why

Filters are for protection. But they (like every piece of glass) create a reflection. These reflections are very dark <4% of the light for the cheapest filters, and <0.5% of the light for expensive ones. This means the reflections are never noticed unless you get to a very high contrast situation (bright sky with a blown-out street lamp as in your example). The cheaper the filter the nastier the reflection. The nice expensive multi-coated filters are good enough that the flare is completely gone and only a small ghosting may remain of a really bright light source.

Filters are not the solution. Multicoating antiglare on the lenses is the solution. This is not an easy process though and which is why many expensive lenses and sunglasses comes with an extortionate price tag. The coatings need to be precisely applied and baked on each element in an almost perfect vacuum.