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Canon responds to black dot and banding concerns

johnastovall

Deceased, but remembered fondly here...
Canon has published a statement in response to concerns raised about the EOS 5D Mk II. The announcement addresses the widely discussed 'Black Dot' and 'Vertical Banding' issues being reported by owners and potential owners who have been scrutinizing the camera's output. The company says it is investigating both issues and will work on 'measures to reduce or eliminate these phenomena.'
Canon statement:

To Owners of the EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera
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.

  1. “Black dot” phenomenon (the right side of point light sources becomes black)
  2. Vertical banding noise
We are currently investigating and analysing the causes, and examining measures to reduce or eliminate these phenomena by providing correction firmware. An announcement will be made on www.canon-europe.com as soon as measures have been determined.
Details of the phenomena and shooting conditions under which they are likely to occur are as follows.
1. “Black dot” phenomenon (the right side of point light sources becomes black)
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 extremely large prints of the images are made.
2. Vertical banding noise
If the recording format is set to sRAW1, vertical banding noise may become visible depending on the camera settings, subject, and background.
▪ Vertical banding noise is not noticeable if the recording format is set to sRAW2.
▪ Vertical banding noise does not occur if the recording format is set to RAW or JPEG.
▪ Noise can be reduced if C.Fn II-3: Highlight tone priority is set to 0: Disable.
Canon apologizes for any inconvenience caused and thanks photographers for their patience.

Canon responds to black dot and banding concerns
 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
We could publish a new comic book:
Black Dot vs. Green Streak
An epic struggle of IQ and noise.
-bob
 

robmac

Well-known member
Will be interesting to see how it plays out. Know some Mk2 shooters that will feel more than a little vindicated. Hopefully the "...reduce or eliminate..." is more than latter than the former -- doesn't adversely effect IQ otherwise.
 

Dale Allyn

New member
I hope that the early adopters who experience these problems have them resolved quickly, but this is precisely why, these days, I'm quite content to be part of the second wave of buyers. Being a part of the wide-beta is no longer my cup of tea. I guess I'm more of a gamma guy now. And sometimes even delta is looking good to me. ;)

The 5D2 looks to be a good camera, but it may be more attractive to me after a firmware tweak or two.
 

robmac

Well-known member
Ahem Dale. When Canon/Nikon/Leica et al start sending me pay cheques, I'll start Beta testing for them.
 

Dale Allyn

New member
Ahem Dale. When Canon/Nikon/Leica et al start sending me pay cheques, I'll start Beta testing for them.
Agreed. Or even beta testing without the pay check, but also without the invoice. ;)

Whenever possible, I try to be a "rev. two" guy, but I have been pressured to buy in early (Macs, mostly) when I needed to move to something new before I really wanted to.
 

robmac

Well-known member
Good point - free gear is just as good.

Me, I only buy used and then only after 6-12 mos on the market. With the current turn-over cycles in DSLRS, you never have to wait long for the 'latest and greatest' to become available. Suckers depreciate like a rock off a cliff face.
 
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