what's 'wrong' with vignetting?

back alley said:
just want to point out that i do not see it as a flaw.
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At the risk of being a PITA, vignetting is what you get when the shade for the 35 gets put on the 24 -- loss of light at the frame edges because the lens is shaded. Easy to control or eliminate.

Light fall-off from wide angle designs in harder to get rid of, and it works well in some pictures but not in others.
 
I like vignette. I almost always darken my corners, but not always all 4:

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I find it settles the image much better and keeps your eyes from wondering off without necessarily "forcing" them to the center.
 
back alley said:
i'm wondering how it came to be that this affect got it's negative connotation and i'm also wondering if this is still the prevalent attitude out there?

who likes the look of the dark corners?

joe
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I think that it isn't so much that it is "wrong" as it is that you don't have the choice whether to have it or not. With a lens that doesn't have vignetting, it is pretty simple to add it later if you want it.
 
First off, I almost always like vignetting.

I don't think vignetting puts the subject in the center, to me, it acts more as a buffer between the center of the picture (not necessarily the subject) and the edges. Much like a good frame/border does.

Some pictures look good with the edge sharp and bright, more often not.

Besides, my XA cameras are lean-mean-vignetting machines ;)

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I enjoy vignetting in some images because it reminds me that I'm looking at a photograph, and not a drawing or a painting. Used intelligently, I enjoy other techniques that remind me I'm looking at an imaghe on film - like printing the negative space around the frame, or printing the frame numbers, or vignetting.
 
craygc said:
Interesting as I deliberately forced light fall off on to a few images I processed lately

Seems I got a little carried away with how many I did :eek:
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I think the vignetting adds to each of these photos except for the last one in fog. To me it detracts from what fog is all about: the pervasive uniformness.
 
I've just been given the 35mm f1.8 Nikon DX lens by a colleague who just couldn't get on with the 'vignetting' effect of the optics. I've only had it one day and done some general snaps on my D3 ( the real reason for the effect.) Some shots its barely noticeable and on others it looks like the picture was shot on a Holga.

Either way its a handy, fast prime to have in the bag - especially when its free, so I'll be keeping it and banging out some of those funky/irritating photographs that have black corners.

As an aside, though more relevant to this thread than the rest of my post, I find vignetting to work on some photographs and not others. Like everything I suppose its about knowing your kit and using for the purpose you intend/require.
 
Like any technique, vignetting should not be a distraction--should not call attention to itself--should not be the first thing that even an experienced photographer/critic notices. That's one reason I'm not a great fan of IR photos.

A possible test for this is whether the word "vignette" forms in your brain before your artistic/emotional response to the photo begins to develop. Another test is whether the vignette seems to be an artifact of the medium (the lens, in particular), or is it a self-conscious "artistic" application. In the first case, I OK with it; if I get a sense that it's technique at play, I resist.

Personally, landscape and wide-angle vignetting--especially sky--correspond to my peripheral vision experience: I perceive less light "on the edges, "and often it's a real-enough atmospheric effect.

I've thought about this some in regards to flare. Flare happens----whether with a camera lens or with my eyes. There's a point at which flare is an annoying error, but often it results from a "natural" confluence of environment and the medium.
 
Vignetting brings all the attention to the centre of the picture and thats actually great for many applications. but when overdone it turns ugly like any other effect. I'm not as conservative as Martin but his opinions are correct. In my line of work as an industrial and commercial photographer vignetting is perceived as an effect to draw attention to certain subjects for example in car photography. but when it comes to pure photography (as art form) i think i will vote to conservatives and specially f/64 line of thinking and try to capture reality at its perfect shape that exists beyond the camera and not some nostalgic mechanical faults.
 
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While I don't use the technique very often, I don't have a problem with using vignetting as a technique.

It's interesting that this subject has been brought up because I've been thinking about it lately. i've been following the gallery of an acquaintance who, in my opinion, overuses vignetting as a technique. It's to the point where it is the first thing that I notice about her pictures. I assume that it's an personal choice for her to incorporate this look to her photos, but for me, it's definitely distracts from my viewing experience on her pictures.

--Warren
 
When I look at a photo, I expect artifice, I expect to be fooled. I just don't want to be aware of it. Great auto photography (for example) is when I say, "great car!" not, "great photo." So, of course, you'd apply all your craft to achieve your end. Done well, it's where art and the marketplace intersect, and I'm in awe of photographers who achieve that combination.
 
Lovely Thread idea - Joe

I happen to love it..... when it works...Adds Atmosphere & Charm
thats why I recently got a 21/3.4 SA

This was shot at Coney Island this past Summer / Neopan1600 -M4
can't remember which lens though, don't seem to have it tagged
BUT for me it works for this shot

Cheers-H
 

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helenhill said:
Lovely Thread idea - Joe

I happen to love it..... when it works...Adds Atmosphere & Charm
thats why I recently got a 21/3.4 SA

This was shot at Coney Island this past Summer / Neopan1600
can't remember which lens though, don't seem to have it tagged
BUT for me it works for this shot

Cheers-H
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What accounts for the left side vignetting, but not the right?
 
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