Is it me or is it the cam/lens.

[rah]

Hi, new d80 and 18-200 VR lens
I get an annoying shadow at 18mm with built in flash. Also get dark areas on top R and Left if I use the flash or not.
See examples.
one with flash one hand held.
There is no lens hood. I have a UV filter only.
(hmm. I'll try some shots without the filter too)






Hope its just me

edit: without the filter the problem is the same although the bottom shadow is about 30% smaller and 50% lighter

[Alpha_7]

rah this is fairly expected when using popup flash at wide angles, you'll also get barrel shadow with the super wides, like the 10-20, 12-24

[Paul]

Rah,
Thats just your flash not being "high" enough to clear your lens, there's not much you can do about apart from buying a flash gun (SB-400, 600 or 800)

[losfp]

To get rid of the dark shadows, try stopping down the lens a bit.. for the 18-200 @ 18mm, try f/5.6 or f/8

[chrisk]

the vignetting is quite common at 18mm for this lens, try and go up a little to 24mm and you'll be sorted, or stop it down to 5.6+. its pretty easy to correct in PP anyway. btw: what are you doing using PUF for still subjects when you paid a fortune for the 18-200 !! use VR mate, thats the exact situation VR was made for !

[rah]

thanks, feel better.
What is PUF?

[seeto.centric]

Pop Up Flash i think?

those dark corners you see are just the light fall-off characteristics of your lens. my 18-70DX does it a little too.

as suggested, by stopping down the aperture or zooming in a little, you'll be moving away from the light falloff range and not notice it.
-j

[big pix]

pop up flash will work well with lens at about 22-24mm, which is all you need to shoot people........ I have shot partys using this method with good results.......

[gstark]

The shadow at the bottom is what is know as an "expected outcome", and I expect that it's even mentioned in your camera's manual.

You have read the camera's manual, haven't you?

As already noted, your lens setting is too wide, and your flash location too low, for the combination to effectvely operate at all focal lengths available with that lens, and this shadow at the bottom is exactly the result you can expect to see.

You need to learn to work around this in order to overcome the problem: use an off-camera flash, or don't pull the lens back quite as wide ....


The vignetting - the dark areas around the corners - seems to be shadowing caused by your uv filter. I don't believe it to be light falloff from the flash. The cure is to remove the filter, and also to make sure that, in these sorts of circumstances, you don't use the lens hood.

One might choose to ask why you're using a uv filter indoors, and with flash, but I certainly wouldn't even think of suggesting such a question.

[olrac]

You might want to be careful with a lens hood as well I have fallen into the trap of just leaving it on and getting shadows in my pics.

[Mr Darcy]

It is the way you use the camera & lens.
I get the same vignetting & I don't use filters
It is a limitation of the lens, but that does not mean it is a bad lens. It just means you need to work out the limitations of your (any!) lens and work within them. (i.e. the way you use it)

As already mentioned, stop down, zoom in, crop or eliminate in PP

The centre shadow IS mentioned in the manual (for the lens I think)
Solution: don't use the Pop with this lens zoomed right out. Remove the hood and/or get the flash further away from the camera. I recommend the SB800.

Another annoying trait of this lens is for the zoom to drop when it is pointed straight down. I keep a rubber band on the ring to stop this, but a finger works as well. Again, Learn your lens and work within its limitations.

It remains an incredibly versatile lens, and is the only one I carry when weight or space is an important issue.