{"id":553,"date":"2008-12-19T12:00:42","date_gmt":"2008-12-19T17:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/?p=553"},"modified":"2012-12-04T23:17:25","modified_gmt":"2012-12-05T04:17:25","slug":"canon-5d-mark-ii-black-dot-and-banding-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/?p=553","title":{"rendered":"CANON 5D MARK II “BLACK DOT” AND BANDING PROBLEMS"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my September 17 post<\/a> when the Canon 5D Mark II camera was announced, I wrote:<\/p>\n

“As always, I recommend that you wait to buy any new model of camera until a few months after the camera hits the shelves. That will give Canon time to work out the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153new model bugs\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that so often happen. The 5D Mark II should be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bug free\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a few months after its release.”<\/p>\n

I wasn’t picking on just Canon since cameras from lot of manufacturers are released with some bugs in the first cameras released to the public.<\/p>\n

This time around, it is the Canon 5D which has “black dot” and banding problems. A Google search for Canon 5D black dot will turn up lots of articles. A good place top start is Rob Galbraith’s article<\/a>. And example of the black dots next to white lights is here<\/a>. Canon has posted a service notice<\/a> which is reproduced below after the break.<\/p>\n

If you haven’t bought the new 5D Mark II and intend to, I would suggest, as I did in September, that you wait until the bugs are worked out.<\/p>\n

If you already have the 5D Mark II, you will need to wait for a firmware update and be aware of situations when the problem might show up. Details are in the service notice.<\/p>\n

Official Canon Service Notice . . .<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Thank you for using Canon products.We have learned that some users of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR camera have identified two types of image quality phenomena that appear under certain shooting conditions.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
    \n
  1. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Black dot\u00e2\u20ac\u009d phenomenon (the right side of point light sources becomes black)<\/li>\n
  2. Vertical banding noise<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We are currently investigating and analysing the causes, and examining measures to reduce or eliminate these phenomena by providing correction firmware.\u00c2\u00a0 An announcement will be made on the Canon Web site when such measures have been determined.<\/p>\n

    Details of the phenomena and shooting conditions under which they are likely to occur are as follows.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Black dot\u00e2\u20ac\u009d phenomenon (the right side of point light sources becomes black)
      \n<\/span>When shooting night scenes, the right side of point light sources (such as lights from building windows) may become black. The phenomenon may become visible if the images are enlarged to 100% or above on a monitor or, if large prints of the images are made.<\/li>\n
    2. Vertical banding noise<\/span>
      \nIf the recording format is set to sRAW1, vertical banding noise may become visible depending on the camera settings, subject, and background.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n