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I have an Olympus FE-190. When I take a picture with flash in Digital Image Stabilizer (DIS) mode, I get white spots in pictures. This doesn't happen always.

There is an option called Pixel Mapping, but I am not sure what it does. I have attached two pics, to give you an idea. The dots can be more prominent than what you see.

enter image description here

enter image description here

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Can you do some tests to make sure that image stabilization is involved? \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Mar 11, 2011 at 13:48
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    \$\begingroup\$ Also, I wanted to note that pixel mapping isn't going to help here. See photo.stackexchange.com/questions/2078/… for what that's for. (Unrelated, but kudos to Olympus for including that feature in an entry-level camera.) \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Mar 11, 2011 at 13:51
  • \$\begingroup\$ @mattdm how do I do a test? Does taking a picture while I am moving count? \$\endgroup\$
    – theTuxRacer
    Mar 11, 2011 at 13:56
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    \$\begingroup\$ Take a picture with the "DIS" mode on that demonstrates the problem. Leaving all other settings the same, turn off stabilization and take the same picture. Ideally, do this a couple of times in different situations. \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Mar 11, 2011 at 13:58

7 Answers 7

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I think it would also be interesting to share some ideas on avoiding those spots.

When the spots are in different places on each frame as it seems to be, it's dust in the air combined with a flash too close to lens. The strong light near the flash makes the particles visible and the closeness to lens front makes them very out-of-focus and therefore blurred bigger than they really are.

Using an external flash would avoid the spots, unfortunately most compact cameras do not have any means for connecting one and while using one off-camera is still possible (by using manual mode, an optical slave and shielding the on-camera flash), it's too awkward and inconvenient in social situations where a compact camera is typically used.

Sometimes it might be possible to find another place with less dust or more light so that flash would not be needed.

You could try holding a credit card between the flash and lens as a shield keeping the flash from lighting the immediate front of lens; when doing so, check that the lower part of photo is still correctly illuminated.

Bouncing the flash away (using a reflective surface) or using a diffuser might also help. In those cases, maximum reach for the flash will be shorter.

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It's either a dirty lens, or particulate in the air (moisture or dust).

Image stabilization has nothing to do with this.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Dirt on optics being a more probable option. \$\endgroup\$
    – Robert Koritnik
    Mar 21, 2011 at 19:52
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This looks to me like it might be dust spots or speckles on the lens, which are getting highlighted by the reflection of the flash back onto the surface of the lens.

Obvious first step: try cleaning the lens with lens cleaning fluid / wipes.

If this doesn't work, we might need more information. You mention this happens when using the flash with the Digital Image Stabilizer (DIS) switched on. Does it stop happening when the DIS is turned off?

Also, do you get a similar effect when shooting towards a bright light?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ That was my thought too, but the outside of the lens is clean. And since the lens is not removable, I am going a to hazard a statement, and say that there wont be dust inside it :) If I give the camera to repair, what exactly do i tell the guy to look for? 2. I will take a few pics in different modes, in combinations flash and w/o flash. \$\endgroup\$
    – theTuxRacer
    Mar 11, 2011 at 13:58
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Kaustubh The fact that it doesn't have a removable lens is no guarantee that there isn't dust inside the camera. Unless your camera is weather sealed (and the vast majority of P&S cameras aren't...) it's completely possible for dust to get into your camera based simply on using it... \$\endgroup\$
    – Jay Lance Photography
    Mar 11, 2011 at 17:03
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This isn't terribly likely but I'm going to put it out there: It is possible that there's a light leak inside the camera. Light from the flash is getting through a crack and hitting the back of the lens and bouncing around in odd ways, causing the weird artifacts.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Can i open it up, and check? Or will it be TOO complicated an unclean in an home environment? \$\endgroup\$
    – theTuxRacer
    Mar 11, 2011 at 13:59
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    \$\begingroup\$ If this were the case, I'm afraid you'd be most likely to make the problem worse. These things really aren't made to be user-serviceable. \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Mar 11, 2011 at 14:12
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Taking pictures with compact cameras using built-in flash often results in such bright spots. They are usually caused by reflection of the flash off small particles in the air (dust, water droplets etc.) I don’t think stabililization has any effect on this.

See also Orb (optics) on Wikipedia.

It might also be caused by dirty lens or sensor, in which case, you would probably see similar patterns of those spots on all photographs.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ What I find is strange is that the dots are so big. Especially in the upper image it looks like on the inside of the lens -- or like snow. \$\endgroup\$
    – Simon A. Eugster
    Mar 12, 2011 at 16:47
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I have similar issue with a Panasonic DMC-3D1K 3D camera. On 3D this is a big problem since the white spots are not identical on both left and right pictures.

After some investigations, I have found that most of the compact camera with the flash very close to the lens present this issue.

http://faq.fujifilm.com/digitalcamera/faq_detail.html?id=110200137

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Fingerprints on the front lens (especially of a point and shoot) can cause this. The light from the flash bouncing around outside the lens' field of view or other light sources at high angles will emphasize them. You are not actually seeing the skin oil from the fingerprint itself, you are seeing the high angle light refracted by the shape of the oil on top of the lens. Since this light is grossly out of focus, the points look larger due to bokeh. The brighter the high angle light, the larger the "spot". The reason they are different in different shots can be due to zooming the lens as well as the fact that not every spot is catching bright light from the edges in every shot. They will also be more visible in darker areas of the photo, and that changes from one picture to the next.

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