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Optics, Lenses & Filters

Mechanical Vignetting

Corner darkening or hard cut-off caused by an accessory physically intruding into the lens's field of view.

In depth

Unlike optical vignetting, it does not improve on stopping down — in fact it sharpens into a distinct dark arc, because the obstruction comes into focus. The usual culprits are stacked filters, a thick filter ring on an ultra-wide lens, or a hood designed for a longer focal length.

Examples in practice

Stacking a polariser on top of a UV filter at 16 mm produces black quarter-circles in every corner.