Help......flare or defect?

[Liz]

Recently I got a 2nd camera to carry around with me. It's a G3 (yea a bit heavy, but great optics!). I've noticed much more flare than normal. I sold my old G3 to get the digital Rebel. I never had anything like this - and the friend who purchased my camera never had this type of problem.

Here's a typical image - the sun was on the left here. I know some flare is normal, but is this normal? I have a bunch of others like it. Please notice the larger (but more difficult to see here) red circle on the lower right.

I have a couple more days to exchange it (while they have more left)....so I need a quick reply. I appreciate any advice I can get.