What Causes Dark Corners In My Pictures?

by Jenny Watts
(Ottawa, Canada)

In some of my pictures the corners are noticeably darker than the rest of the photograph. What causes this? It usually happens when I'm using my Sigma 18-200mm lens fully zoomed in on a object. If this a problem with my lens, camera, etc, how do I fix it?

Comments for What Causes Dark Corners In My Pictures?

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Vignetting
by: Anonymous

If you are shooting in RAW you can correct the Vignetting problem in post production using Photoshop CS3 or CS4. In addition, newer camera bodies have the ability to correct for this effect automatically if you are shooting JPEG files. Check out the Canon 7D

Vignetting Is A Common Problem With Wide-Angle Lenses
by: Mark McKnight

Thanks for your question Jenny.

It sounds like you are suffering from the effect known as vignetting. It is a common problem associated with wide-angle lenses.

Are you sure it is happening at the full zoom of the lens. This problem normally occurs when you use the lens's largest aperture at the wide-angle end of your zoom range.

What you need to do is move the aperture to the next stop. ie. If you are using f/4, then try something like f/8. This should stop it.

Also if you are using a screw-in filter on the lens, try removing it. As Gaurav Arora rightly pointed out, in this case, try removing the lens hood.

Hope This Helps!

Please Check The Length Of Your Lens Hood
by: gaurav arora

This could be vignetting caused by the length of the lens hood and the aperture being too largely opened at smaller focal lengths. The lens you are using doesn't seem to have any manufacturing defects. I have checked it at DP Review and it looks ok. Try taking photos without the lens hood attached to see if it makes a difference.

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