Camera Labs

I was just wondering if you could answer a really quick probobly stupid question. I just bought a 60D with the 18-200 Canon lense. I took some photo's indoor of my daughter at the lenses widest 18 and there is a shadow at the bottom center. I am assuming this is due to the built in flash not going high enough over the lense. Just want to confirm that this is what is causing this? I am assuming the fix for this is to buy an external flash for indoor pictures.

Second I am super anal and just put the camera togeather. I put the lense on the camera and then the Hoya Pro1A lense protector like a do all of my lenses. I usually do this perfectly but this time I noticed a small piece of dust or something on the inside between the lense and protector on the protector side. Would this cause any issue with picture quality or does small dust cause no issue? I figure if I remove the lense protector I will just add more dust then the one little peice in there now.

Thanks T

Welcome to the forums!

Yes, the shadow is that cast by the lens, blocking light from the pop-up flash. A shoe-mounted flash will be sufficiently high to avoid this shadow.

I do not usually use "protective" UV filters on digital cameras. The only lens on which I regularly leave a UV filter is my 10-22mm EF-S, because its hood is so short, I sometimes tend to clumsily get a fingerprint on the front of the lens. I do sometimes use filters when there is an indicated need, such as a yellow or red filter for black & white film, or a warming filter for color film, which means I will frequently change the filter as conditions change, and it is rare for dust to present a problem. If a speck of dust happens to be trapped between the filter and outer lens element, well, that is why I usually have a lens pen, with an integral brush, or a very clean lens cloth.

I am no expert on the subject of filters, but my local instructors tend to use filters only for specific purposes, and I follow their lead. Also, see Gordon's thoughts on filters, here in these forums, along with the thoughts of other experienced photographers.

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Canon 7D/5D/40D/1D2N; Nikon F6, FM3A, & Coolpix A; Canon 40mm Pancake, 135L, 50L, 35L, pre-II 50mm 1.8, 100mm 2.8L Macro, 10-22mm EF-S, 28-135 EF, 400mm 5.6L; Nikkor 50mm 1.2 AI-S, 50mm 1.4G, 50mm 1.8D, 16mm 2.8D Fisheye, 180mm 2.8D, 100-300mm 5.6 AI-S; Tokina 17mm & 100mm 2.8 Macro

Lensrentals.com had a really informative article on lens dust.
Basically though, one flake of dust is not going to cause any issues.

You can use a lenspen in order to get it out if you want.

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Canon Rebel XTi, BG-E3 Grip
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II, 24-105mm f/4L, 50mm f/1.4, 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DO, 85mm f/1.8
Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX Macro
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II
Canon 430EX II
Opteka 13mm, 21mm, and 31mm extension tubes

Filters are good if you shoot something which can cause something to hit your lens, such as motorsport. For family portraits, or shooting landscapes it is a waste of money.

Personally i don't use filters, and one time some rock with mud (i was on offroad) hit my 18-55 lens, without any damage to it, or to the protective coating (if there is any).

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I'm new to DSLR's, so please be patient and take my opinions with reserve. Thank you : ) Yes, i am Canon man.
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Canon 60D + 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 IS, Canon 70-200 F2.8L IS II, Canon 430EXII, polarizing filter 72mm,
Canon AT-1, 50mm FD F1.8
Canon A430,