Are these horizontal bright bands normal?

Clifford60 · Post by **Clifford60** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:40 pm

I thot banding can be fixed by firmware. How long was the exposure at what ISO?

Anyway, CheeYiun used to use D700, not sure if he saw such problem?

wucheeyiun · Post by **wucheeyiun** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:46 pm

I did not have any banding problem to start with ( i think is there is very slight banding ... but i have seen worst ones that need Nikon Service Centre attention) , and Clifford is right, the latest firmware update tends to resolved this type of problem. What is your firmware?

Here is my m42 at iso 8000...i understand iso above 6400 have have slight banding )

Out of your 4 photos, the 1st 2 is consider ok or slight banding .. the next 2 will require NSC to service.

kensou · Post by **kensou** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 pm

i tot canon is better than nikon in terms of shooting? well I dunno last time I always tot nikon is better.. but now I find canon might actually be better

cloud_cover · Post by **cloud_cover** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 3:15 pm

Sadly, the 1st 2 were taken BEFORE servicing.
After returning from servicing and having the firmware updated, the last 2 are the result.
ISO 6400, 1/40, ISO6400, 1/2.5
The rep told me that ISO6400 causes overheating of the sensor hence is nor suitable except for extreme cases. He also said that in low light conditions I should lower the ISO to "Native ISO" and use a tripod instead.

kensou · Post by **kensou** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 3:33 pm

cloud_cover its as good as dialing 1633 and the customer service repeats ur problem to u wif no solution

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 3:34 pm

well that's the thing Kevin. You should stick to around ISO 800 (or 400 even) and not use those crazy high ISO's.

Pentax K20D also has a banding problem at very high ISO (ISO 3200-ish).

Almost all the serious DSLR astrophotographers use ISO 400 to 800 (check out Hap Griffin's gallery).

cloud_cover · Post by **cloud_cover** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 4:53 pm

The clubsnap people are nice. Someone's helped me highlight this to the manager so I'll pop down next week.
At least I know someone will give me a reasonable explanation even if its deemed normal rather then say silly things like not to use ISO6400 or not to take photos of lights at night.
Although I still think the issue is more severe than normal.

Post by **rcj** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 6:13 pm

cloud_cover wrote:The clubsnap people are nice. Someone's helped me highlight this to the manager so I'll pop down next week.
At least I know someone will give me a reasonable explanation even if its deemed normal rather then say silly things like not to use ISO6400 or not to take photos of lights at night.
Although I still think the issue is more severe than normal.

sounds good....do let us know how it goes then!

Clifford60 · Post by **Clifford60** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 7:24 pm

The are many Clubsnapper know Jimmy (manager) very well, that is why Nikon always loan Clubsnapper new equipments for molest session + food too.

It is good to hear that Jimmy or other manager is looking into your problem.

timatworksg · Post by **timatworksg** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 7:36 pm

Yeah that Banding is to consistent in all images which shows a CCD or Firmware issue. A Firmware update should have resolved it. Did you check your firmware to ensure it's the latest? Just to make sure.

If the banding was periodic, then we can assume it's due to the high ISO's and quality of the CCD when used here. But then again, one should just get lotsa noise and not banding!

Clubsnap is very helpful and glad that you got help there. Sometimes must "bang Table" (joking) to get attention to something that is seriously wrong with the equipment. I remember when the Fuji S2 was out and I had one, which after about 8 months of use, the display showed me nothing but a Green Screen!! Happens that Fuji Japan issued a FREE CCD change to all S2's due to a manufactured batch shipment that had bogged CCD's! Mine was not part of the batch but Fuji Singapore changed it FOC anyhow. Which was good so I had a full reset on CCD use...hehe! Before the announcement I had some friends spend $1200+ to have the CCD changed for their S2! Which was crazy when you can but a new DSLR for that amount of money!!

Thats the prob with electronics. You either get the good one or the bad few with hiccups! Hardest part is trying to convince them that the QC was terrible! But keep at it, though tiring, they SHOULD get it fixed! If not email Nikon Japan as a last resort! The Japanese take pride in what they make...so with some similar examples, they may take notice and help! Worth a try and be diplomatic!

Keep in touch on this here. We all would like to know how it worked out! The prob with Nikon's is they have lots of parts in there that they have to figure out how to work with each other. Film cams are no issue as they are like Pioneers. But when digi came along, they had to rely on 3rd party stuff where Canon had an IT background as well as Fuji! Hence why the Fuji S2 outsold the D100 back then when they both had the same body, but S2 had more pixels, better color range and cheaper!!

Hang in there!