Lens flare in the viewfinder?

[FlipsidE]

Ok, so this is more out of stupid curiosity than anything else. But, I am curious. I was takin some indoor test shots today when I noticed that as I was about to line up the shot, I would see something that looked like a couple of specs of well reflected dust. Not sure where they were coming from. But, as I moved further away from the viewfinder, I noticed that it seemed to be reflecting the main light in that room...in a lens flare type way. It became more prevalent as I got closer to the light...and holding it straight down under that light showed a rainbow of different colored light bulb looking things in different areas.

My guess is that it's just reflecting the light from the ceiling as I only saw it when the camera was facing mostly or all the way down. But, I didn't know you could see lens flare in a viewfinder. Is that what I'm seeing? Or is there dust on/in my viewfinder?

FlipsidE

[robertwgross]

Lens flare can happen just about anytime. In general, it happens most when the brightest light is directly into the lens, or just slightly off from the axis. It can happen just about anytime the brightest light is up to 90% from the axis. Once the light is beyond that, it is very difficult to have flare.

A good lens hood will cut out most of it, but in nasty cases it is impossible to completely eliminate. The shape of the flare "spots" will tell you something about the shape of your lens diaphragm, and the quantity will tell you about how many lens elements are catching that light. Sometimes the color of the spots will tell you something about the type of anti-reflective coatings inside the lens. Sometimes not.

Once in a great while, you can use these problems as constructive artsy elements of your composition. Usually not.

---Bob Gross---

[ron chappel]

I've tried to teach myself to recognise flare in the viewfinder but it's abit of a lost cause due to the focus screens own hazing/reflecting effects.
The focus screen has lots of tiny seperate lenses on one side (freznel) to save space.The rainbow effects were mostly caused by them i'm pretty sure.

[Jon]

Did you see them in the completed pictures as well? From your description, it sounds like you're seeing light entering through the viewfinder and reflecting off the DR's penta-mirror surfaces.