Viofo A119_V3: anybody with green reflections like this?

_Richard

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Hello,
is there anybody that found such green reflections while using it's VIOFO A119_V3 dashcam with the sun into the frame?
The green reflection seems to position itself on the opposite side of the sunlight...

I purchased also the polarising lens but it's not changing the situation at all.

Thanks in advance
Richard

Tot.jpg
 
Not noticed it on mine. It looks like a green ball. Got anything green near the dash

Did you check both sides of the CPL for the removable protector sheet.

Not that it matters but the CPL long slot goes to the top.
 
Not noticed it on mine. It looks like a green ball. Got anything green near the dash

Did you check both sides of the CPL for the removable protector sheet.

Not that it matters but the CPL long slot goes to the top.
Thank you for the feedback.
Unfortunately the problem was there also before purchasing the CPL (that I've purchased exactly because I saw the green reflection)... so it's not a problem of protector sheets... :(
Anyway, thanks a lot for the feedback! Everything could be very helpful to solve the problem... unless I've got a broken device in my hands.
I'm in contact with support but.. in the meantime... it's helpful to understand if anybody has got the same problem (that I've never had with other cameras so it should not depend just on my car).
 
is there anybody that found such green reflections while using it's VIOFO A119_V3 dashcam with the sun into the frame?
The green reflection seems to position itself on the opposite side of the sunlight...

I purchased also the polarising lens but it's not changing the situation at all.

Thanks in advance

What you are seeing is phenomenon called "Lens Flare" It is completely normal. It will happen when intense bright sunlight enters your lens from an oblique angle and scatters around inside your lens barrel before hitting the camera's sensor. It will usually occur around sunset or sunrise when the sun is low in the sky. The shape of the flare can be influenced by different factors such as the shape of the aperture, also called the diaphragm, which can be round or in some instances pentagonal, hexagonal or octagonal depending on the aperture type. On a dash cam lens it will always be round because it has a fixed round aperture. Often lens flare is also round or curved due to the shape of your front lens surface or the shape of one or more of the curved elements inside the lens barrel. Lens flare can also manifest as streaks of light or a general loss of contrast. The phenomenon will only last a few seconds at most until the sunlight is coming from a different angle. In some situations, photographers use a lens hood to reduce or eliminate flare but dash cams rarely have one. Some lenses are better at reducing lens flare than others, but virtually all lenses will do this to one degree or another, even the finest, most expense lenses available. The lens on your V3 is actually not bad with lens flare when compared to some others. Just ignore the issue.

The color you see is caused by the multi-coating on the front lens surface, which in this case is green but can often be some other color like red or blue. If you look carefully at the front of your lens, you will notice it has a subtle coloring. You might see multiple colors. That is the ultra-thin optical multi-coating that is applied to the glass lens surface during manufacture. It is there to reduce reflections and enhance contrast. You could see several colors of flare in your images depending on the particular type of multi-coating that was used.

Read the following links and you will gain a better understanding of what I am describing.

Lens flare


UNDERSTANDING CAMERA LENS FLARE


lens flare .jpg
 
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What you are seeing is phenomenon called "Lens Flare" It is completely normal. It will happen when intense bright sunlight enters your lens from an oblique angle and scatters around inside your lens barrel before hitting the camera's sensor. It will usually occur around sunset or sunrise when the sun is low in the sky. The shape of the flare can be influenced by different factors such as the shape of the aperture, also called the diaphragm, which can be round or in some instances pentagonal, hexagonal or octagonal depending on the aperture type. On a dash cam lens it will always be round because it has a fixed round aperture. Often lens flare is also round or curved due to the shape of your front lens surface or the shape of one or more of the curved elements inside the lens barrel. Lens flare can also manifest as streaks of light. The phenomenon will only last a few seconds at most until the sunlight is coming from a different angle. In some situations, photographers use a lens hood to reduce or eliminate flare but dash cams rarely have one. Some lenses are better at reducing lens flare than others, but virtually all lenses will do this to one degree or another, even the finest, most expense lenses available. The lens on your V3 is actually not bad with lens flare when compared to some others. Just ignore the issue.

The color you see is caused by the multi-coating on the front surface, which in this case is green but can often be some other color like red or blue. If you look carefully at the front of your lens, you will notice it has a subtle coloring. You might see multiple colors. That is the ultra-thin optical multi-coating that is applied to the glass lens surface during manufacture. It is there to reduce reflections and enhance contrast. You could see several colors of flare in your images depending on the particular type of multi-coating that was used.

Read the following links and you will gain a better understanding of what I am describing.

Lens flare


UNDERSTANDING CAMERA LENS FLARE


Thanks a lot Dashmellow! Fortunately I'm also a photography lover so I perfectly get all of your (precious) points. :)

Said that, I think the reflection I'm experiencing is different from all of the other ones I usually see:

- "flare size / frame size" ratio very high;
- it's difficult to find similar flares in dashcam on the whole internet (or, better, it's difficult to find flares on dashcam on the internet); probably I'm not the best "searcher" but it seems a minor problem on dashcam, probably because the dashcams has "less structured" lenses inside (compared to photography lenses).

Anyway, same car, same road, the cheap AUKEY Dashcam (with an even wider viewing angle) had no reflections like this.

Summarizing... this seems to be a very big and evident flare, as if it could be produced by a scratch on the internal lens.
Just my two cents opinion. :)
 
You do not have a scratch on an internal lens element. What you are seeing is just common everyday lens flare. Every dash cam lens will manifest flare differently but all can experience it. This is normal. I have two A119 V3 cameras and I will occasionally also see the exact same green lens flare artifacts you are seeing. All in all, the lens on the V3 is of very high quality and is well corrected for flare, chromatic aberration and barrel distortion. No lens will eliminate flare entirely if the camera is facing directly towards the sun.
 
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You do not have a scratch on an internal lens element. What you are seeing is just common everyday lens flare. Every dash cam lens will manifest flare differently but all can experience it. This is normal. I have two A119 V3 cameras and I will occasionally also see the exact same green lens flare artifacts you are seeing. All in all, the lens on the V3 is of very high quality and is well corrected for flare, chromatic aberration and barrel distortion. No lens will eliminate flare entirely if the camera is facing directly towards the sun.
Thanks a lot for the further feedback.
Probably it's just that I've been lucky for a long time with previous two cheaper dashcams (Apeman FHD and Aukey FHD) that was not showing flares or, at lease, not so big flares even if the sun was into the lenses (just an obvious decrease in picture quality).
Problem is that, using a wide-angle lenses, the sun is into the frame not just in the early and late hours of the day and so you are dealing with flares many hours a day.
Thanks a anyway a lot for your explainations!
Regards
 
Probably it's just that I've been lucky for a long time with previous two cheaper dashcams (Apeman FHD and Aukey FHD) that was not showing flares or, at lease, not so big flares even if the sun was into the lenses (just an obvious decrease in picture quality).
The cheaper cameras don't have good anti-reflection coatings, and often have no anti-reflection coatings at all on the internal lens glasses, so instead of a few smallish lens flares on a clear image, you get a very poor image with general haze all over.

Fortunately I'm also a photography lover so I perfectly get all of your (precious) points. :)

Said that, I think the reflection I'm experiencing is different from all of the other ones I usually see:
The lens flare on the A119 is somewhat larger than you would get on a typical DSLR because it has a very large aperture for the sensor size, to obtain less motion blur and better night vision. Also, compared to expensive DSLRs, there tend to be more lens flares visible due to lesser quality anti reflection coatings on the internal lens glasses than you would get on DSLR lenses costing more than the whole A119. Viofo lenses are some of the best available on dashcams and do have good quality anti-reflection coatings, generally better than expected for the price.

Your first image in the first post is perfectly normal for a good quality dashcam without a CPL.

The second image appears to have a CPL., you are not going to get a much better image than that from any camera when looking directly into the sun through angled glass with a wide angle lens. Post some images taken simultaneously side by side if you have some...
 
Thanks a lot for the further feedback.
Probably it's just that I've been lucky for a long time with previous two cheaper dashcams (Apeman FHD and Aukey FHD) that was not showing flares or, at lease, not so big flares even if the sun was into the lenses (just an obvious decrease in picture quality).
Problem is that, using a wide-angle lenses, the sun is into the frame not just in the early and late hours of the day and so you are dealing with flares many hours a day.
Thanks a anyway a lot for your explainations!
Regards

@Nigel responded before I had the opportunity but I too was going to mention the larger size of the aperture as a factor in the lens flare you are seeing. Faster, wide angle lenses can be more prone to lens flare and the lens on the V3 has quite a large aperture at ƒ/1.6 in order to enhance low light performance which is outstanding on the V3. (The lens is well matched with the Starvis IMX335 5MP Sensor.) The lens otherwise performs extremely well at all times of day with excellent acuity, contrast and good edge to edge sharpness. These factors are far more important for reliably producing high quality images than being concerned about a small green lens flare artifact that may appear intermittently during occasional challenging lighting conditions.
 
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The cheaper cameras don't have good anti-reflection coatings, and often have no anti-reflection coatings at all on the internal lens glasses, so instead of a few smallish lens flares on a clear image, you get a very poor image with general haze all over.


The lens flare on the A119 is somewhat larger than you would get on a typical DSLR because it has a very large aperture for the sensor size, to obtain less motion blur and better night vision. Also, compared to expensive DSLRs, there tend to be more lens flares visible due to lesser quality anti reflection coatings on the internal lens glasses than you would get on DSLR lenses costing more than the whole A119. Viofo lenses are some of the best available on dashcams and do have good quality anti-reflection coatings, generally better than expected for the price.

Your first image in the first post is perfectly normal for a good quality dashcam without a CPL.

The second image appears to have a CPL., you are not going to get a much better image than that from any camera when looking directly into the sun through angled glass with a wide angle lens. Post some images taken simultaneously side by side if you have some...
Hello,
unfortunately I don't have the chance to take same videos with the old cams (I sold them because I had the new one).
Anyway, I'll deal with the "flares" or I'll try some other cameras returning the worst quality ones. :)
Thanks a lot

P.s. if anybody has the A119 it would be nice to understand if he's got the same flare...
 
P.s. if anybody has the A119 it would be nice to understand if he's got the same flare...
Yes, all the A119 V3 are the same.

The A129 Pro and A139 have somewhat smaller green flares due to being wider angle, and I think they are somewhat less bright due to the more expensive cameras having slightly better anti-reflection coatings, but given the right conditions, they are still obvious. Note that the anti-reflection coatings are also important in maximising light transmission through the lens, they allow it to work in darker conditions and with less motion blur, so they are desirable!

Here is an article on making the most of your lens flares:
 
Hello,
unfortunately I don't have the chance to take same videos with the old cams (I sold them because I had the new one).
Anyway, I'll deal with the "flares" or I'll try some other cameras returning the worst quality ones. :)
Thanks a lot

P.s. if anybody has the A119 it would be nice to understand if he's got the same flare...

I have an A119V3 (well it's in my son's car now)

I have never had that green-focused lens flare.

The pictures you posted look like the sun is focused on a spot. My understanding of lens flare is that it would be circles of light I'm guessing due to the levels of lenses in the dashcam.

I'm not a photographer just my two cents worth. (Yes I do take photos with a fancy camera but I'm not a professional)

If you have the polarising filter fitted in both those photos then I wonder if the light is entering the top of the filter on the side of the polarising lens and creating that green image?

If you placed some black tape over the top of the polarising filter does it have any effect? Or if you removed it completely?

Look forward to the answer.
 
If you have the polarising filter fitted in both those photos then I wonder if the light is entering the top of the filter on the side of the polarising lens and creating that green image?
It could be that the brightest spot is caused by a reflection off the plastic frame of the polarising filter? Ideally it would be painted matt black, but I think it is shiny black plastic?

This is an image from my A129 Pro, which shows the same green circles, but without the bright spot:

y4mBX04hyQkMBPxkW-nNosF-LRvDqnDq9Q9cjAHgniw1EltKdJyDbRkP_pJsabCF3EAz7cazHCdObaG4f0Q1aRHVs0Nu4SLD_Q4Qnnd4jGVf7HrEhOtAkV3cYbTw1Ix9qMrfSyWxGyT4HM5HV0XtOdvxu4pgkiffCEUY71NPAtEyiwmm1O2UqqAmPeBMyBeSJia


That was with a polarizer, but not the Viofo polarizer, mine does not have any shiny black plastic!

Note that the various reflection circles can also be seen on the outside of the lens, which might help to identify what is causing them:
(A129 Pro lens)
y4mmDsLUko58q4illdrNUoJP3Qd7DarYIC3-XrABKNnO54RWYxX3tNUfrHEsf1vCEE47hH51PXuMA0IDjNXQhgmfGgVvGq1sOh5VeFFS-dYIZS9Lp2ch84TzGP5Y4w4qaFieVc0t8SuEYtTDOeD-XOcfht0_bEEXJyMl8o5UgdxPX4
 
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Ideally it would be painted matt black, but I think it is shiny black plastic?

It's very late/or very early here so I will check the Viofo polariser when the day breaks. Interesting point and an odd phenomenon.
 
I did a journey into full sun on Sunday morning, must check.

My feeling is that no camera works well heading towards the sun so I've never been too fussed about quality with sun in the footage.
 
My feeling is that no camera works well heading towards the sun so I've never been too fussed about quality with sun in the footage.
While that is true, the best cameras do work even when they are heading directly towards the sun.
You can read the license plate in my A129 Pro image above, cheap cameras become almost useless in that situation.
 
P.s. if anybody has the A119 it would be nice to understand if he's got the same flare...
I'm not sure why you are asking this question again since I've already mentioned to you that I too also occasionally experience the same green lens flare on the two different A119 V3 camera I own if I encounter a situation where the sun is shining directly into the camera's lens.

I will occasionally also see the exact same green lens flare artifacts you are seeing.

Here is a short clip of a recent video that will illustrate what happens. When the camera encounters direct sunlight beaming directly into the lens from an oblique angle, it will bounce off the inside of the lens barrel and the lens elements themselves onto the opposite side of the sensor plate from the direction of the light source. Here you can see this in action as I pass through the scene and the flare moves from one side of the frame to the other in direct correlation to the angle the sunlight is coming from. Situations like this are relatively rare and intermittent. Along with the lens flare itself you will sometimes experience a brief period of lower contrast to the image as a different manifestation of lens flare. In my case my windshield tends to get sandblasted and pock marked from living on a dirt and gravel mountain road and the result of this manifests when low-in-the-sky sunshine hits the glass from an angle. You will see some of that in this video along with the green flare. In an entire day of driving, this was the only instance of this happening and as you can see, it only lasted a few seconds until I was no longer traveling in a direction where the camera was facing the setting sun.

As I explained earlier, lens flare is more common on wide angle lenses like we have in dash cams and it is especially more prone in lenses that have large apertures like the ƒ/1.6 lens on the V3. Some camera lenses are better than others in suppressing lens flare and the V3 seems a bit more prone to it than some others but it is no big deal as far as I am concerned. Personally, I am happy to tolerate an occasional lens flare for the otherwise excellent performance of this camera, especially in low light. As someone who has had personal experience with dozens of dash cams the V3 offers the best low light performance of any camera I have ever owned due to the combination of the fast lens and the IMX335 sensor and so I have no problem tolerating some lens flare for a few seconds now and again under occasional challenging lighting conditions.

FYI, the camera has a CPL installed.

 
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I just don't think you can avoid direct sun artefacts :

N5OAc47.jpg


Even not directly into the sun they appear.

rekK8El.jpg


Not a problem for me considering the above green spot lasted for less than a second between trees. I had to run in - 4x to capture it.
 
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Even not directly into the sun they appear.

Yeah, that would be related to what I mentioned previously about an "oblique angle". The sun doesn't necessarily have to be directly within the camera's field of view. If it is shining from an angle where it hits the inside of the lens barrel it can cause a flare. The wide angle lens is actually covering a wider circle than what gets projected onto the rectangular image frame created by the sensor. The sunlight is also hitting the glass lens elements from an oblique angle.

It will happen when intense bright sunlight enters your lens from an oblique angle and scatters around inside your lens barrel before hitting the camera's sensor.
 
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