Hazy, rainbow-halo camera blur/ lens distortion on P4 camera

[MrJxn007]

I've noticed a lens distortion on my phantom 4 camera. My first thought was that the lens or uv filter was foggy or dirty but I've inspected the lens and it is perfectly clean and free of any particles or dust as is the uv filter.
This distortion is always present around lights even when flying at night. It seems to be getting worse.

I'm attaching a photo taken indoors for illustrative purposes.

Has anyone else had this problem, and if so what can be done to correct this issue?

Thanks so much!

 

[MTO]

What are your camera settings? Is it set on vivid?

 

[MrJxn007]

What are your camera settings? Is it set on vivid?

I've tried it on all of the preset camera settings and in every case the "rainbow halo haze" was still present. I didn't mention it in the original post but it is there in both video and picture modes.

 

[MTO]

Hmmm...seems like the shutter is allowing too much light in, mine does that on vivid which is why I don’t use vivid. Maybe make sure the shutter speed isn’t set too slow or try a ND filter.

 

[MrJxn007]

I've tried adjusting the shutter speed and it is still present. The intensity of the "halo" changes with the shutter speed but never actually goes away.

 

[Meta4]

Has anyone else had this problem, and if so what can be done to correct this issue?

It's called lens flare.
To stop it, don't shoot directly at bright light sources.
Understanding Camera Lens Flare

 

[Dacon Productions]

Moisture effect on the lens.

 

[Samuraiz]

The meter is trying to get an average exposure for the room and the lights are overpowering the sensor. Check out the attached DirtyBird video. Go to his channel all his night flights have blown out highlights with halo.

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[Scatterbrained]

I've noticed a lens distortion on my phantom 4 camera. My first thought was that the lens or uv filter was foggy or dirty but I've inspected the lens and it is perfectly clean and free of any particles or dust as is the uv filter.
This distortion is always present around lights even when flying at night. It seems to be getting worse.

I'm attaching a photo taken indoors for illustrative purposes.

Has anyone else had this problem, and if so what can be done to correct this issue?

Thanks so much!

Have you cleaned the lens lately? A haze on the glass will give that effect, which is essentially an exaggeration of the flare you get from shooting into direct light.

 

[MrJxn007]

My first thought was humidity or a dirty lens / UV filter as well. But it has developed some other quirks. I'm thinking there's something mechanically wrong with the camera gimbal.

 

[Meta4]

My first thought was humidity or a dirty lens / UV filter as well. But it has developed some other quirks. I'm thinking there's something mechanically wrong with the camera gimbal.

It's lens flare.
That's what you get when you point your camera straight at a bright light source.

 

[MrJxn007]

UPDATE

I just want to take a sec and say thank you to everyone who submitted a response to my question. There was apparently something wrong with my drone mechanically. Shortly after my last post, I noticed while flying that the horizon was not level. I calibrated the IMU and compass successfully and updated the firmware on the aircraft and remote. After completing this process, I was disappointed to see that the "foggy rainbow haze" had made no improvement. On my next flight I found that it had become more erratic. Whereas once I could allow it to hover and it would remain perfectly still in "P" mode it had started drifting as if it were in "A" mode... Shortly after I observed this drifting, the drone became sluggish and got tangled in a low pine limb and crashed as a result of erratic flight patterns... At this point it became clear that I had to send it in for repair... I just got it back and the first thing I did was try to recreate the pic from my original post to see if the hazy distortion had been resolved. I'm very pleased to announce that the problem indeed has been resolved! I haven't flown it yet because by the time I got home it was dark but I'm hoping to try it out tomorrow. I'll upload before and after pics to illustrate the improved photo quality.

 

[Dacon Productions]

What P4 do you have?

 

[MrJxn007]

I have the regular 1st generation phantom 4.