Ricoh Flare - is this normal?

Location
Launceston & Sydney
Name
Nick Clark
This intense spot of purple flare has been popping up whenever I get the sun slightly off axis...

Normal for the GR?

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Are you highlighting the affected area with a purple ring or is that the flare pattern? If so, wow, I have some issues with flare on my old lenses (pre-60s) but nothing like that, also I'm addicted to pointing my cameras at the sun and never heard this sort of groaning from the GR before.

Is this an in-camera jpeg by any chance?
 
Are you highlighting the affected area with a purple ring or is that the flare pattern? If so, wow, I have some issues with flare on my old lenses (pre-60s) but nothing like that, also I'm addicted to pointing my cameras at the sun and never heard this sort of groaning from the GR before.

Is this an in-camera jpeg by any chance?

This was shot raw, and processed using Aperture 3 defaults. I haven't changed anything. The in-camera preview shows the same flare pattern, so it's not an Aperture issue.
 
Seems slim that the purple ring is an artefact of the lens - a more solid purple flare pattern yes …as Nic pointed out here:

...but not this stark outline. I'd propose it's down to a 'misinterpretation' by the sensor - maybe as it's trying to make sense of the strength of light on the outside of the flare 'bubble'.

Again I've not seen this produced by my GR and I'm notorious for pointing my cameras at the sun.

You still in warranty?
 
I'd propose it's down to a 'misinterpretation' by the sensor - maybe as it's trying to make sense of the strength of light on the outside of the flare 'bubble'.

You still in warranty?

I was thinking it could be a sensor issue.

I am still under warranty and due to a completely unrelated issue (they sold me a 'new' GR with a third party battery, and then looked confused when I said that might cause warranty issues :confused:) I actually had my unit replaced yesterday. Next time there's sun I'll try again and see if it was just an issue with that particular body.
 
I was thinking it could be a sensor issue.

I am still under warranty and due to a completely unrelated issue (they sold me a 'new' GR with a third party battery, and then looked confused when I said that might cause warranty issues :confused:) I actually had my unit replaced yesterday. Next time there's sun I'll try again and see if it was just an issue with that particular body.
Definitely, please, keep us informed mate. I did some research yesterday to try and help with your post and found nothing more on this specific issue. Fingers-crossed that means it was isolated to your unit (I say that with all due respect of course). I'd hate to have another Fuji x100 sticky aperture blade or x10 white orbs scare on our hands. The GR is just too darn good to deserve that…..and I'd been thinking about buying a few new ones to resell in 20 years or so when they become cult classics ;)
 
Being one that likes to shoot low and aim high so I get light through foliage etc.. I did at times get flare on the GR but never like that. And mine were generally whitish and not hard edged and neon colored.
 
Well, I've been out and about with my replacement GR, and unfortunately I don't think this was a one-off issue...

As before, these were all shot RAW and processed using Aperture 3 defaults. I don't think it's a processing issue as the purple blobs were all highly visible on the GR LCD during review...

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It's a hyper-susceptibility to UV at the sensor level combined with specific flaring that is heavy in the UV spectrum. The current generation of the Olympus Micro 4/3 cameras exhibit this on occasion when used with the Panasonic 7-14mm lens. The remedy for it is to use a Wratten 2A or 2E filter (which, in the case of this Panasonic lens, is a pain in the rear - as the filter needs to be either taped to the rear of the lens or the lens needs to be adapter with a filter-holder), but I see that the Ricoh GR doesn't accept filters directly. I don't know if this is a general issue with the Ricoh GR, or something particular to yours.
 
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