D800 issue with Horizontal lines in photos at f2.8

DeanMoriarty

I recently sent my D800 in for the left focus issue to the Nikon Service Center. After receiving it back I started noticing horizontal lines in my photos? Any idea what could be causing this? It happens at all ISO ranges but becomes more visible at ISO 400+. f stop was a f1.4 50mm. but still get them with 24-70mm at f2.8

DeanMoriarty

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27466672@N08/11126310194/

PB_PM

What you are seeing is called banding. It has nothing to do with the lens or aperture. Banding usually shows up when you are trying to pull too much back in an underexposed image.

DeanMoriarty

These lines seem to show up even in underexposed photos preprocessing. however in another image shot at iso 6400 at f1.4 there are no lines just grain throughout the photo.

Golf007sd

@DeanMoriarty: Those lines could be, IMHO, the result of the tech having cleaned your sensor with a swap that had to much cleaning solution on it. Take your body to a local camera shop or clean the sensor yourself and see if that address your issue.

DeanMoriarty

@Golf007sd that was my first thought, but upon further inspection and test shots the lines move. So I narrowed to banding lines. However these "banding lines" seem hard and embossed into the photo.

spraynpray

=1 @PB_PM:

In the example you have given above, it is obvious that you have under-exposed due to relying on the cameras exposure system to correct for the bright window in the background. This is photography 101 and something that you should not be doing. Add a stop or two of + compensation in so that you get the exposure right in camera and don't have to drag it up in post. The real clincher here is the massive amount of noise present due to you under-exposing and then trying to find a photo among the data by wanging bars around in post.

I suggest you buy a book like 'Nikon D800: From Snapshots to Great Shots by Jeff Revell' to educate you past making basic mistakes.

TaoTeJared

That is banding, and it is straight lines so I seriously doubt it is a scratch or residue on the sensor. If you look at the verticals (window edging, corner of room) you can see a distinct "shift" of the vertical line. The only way that is happening is due to software. Even if there was a dead line of pixels, or a line of "inactive" pixels those lines would not move. Also a banding in a standard image is not like banding in video. So it is either the camera's software or Lightroom. It appears it was very under exposed, and then brought back up maybe 2-3 stops? You might try opening the original files in NX (software that came with the D800) and see if it does the same.
Also check the firmware is current and maybe even try reloading it.

Shooting at high isos and you bring back underexposed files, you will see more artifacts. You will especially if you shoot JPEG out of the camera. If you shoot Jpegs, make sure they are on high/fine quality, and compression is set to optimal quality. Shooting below those settings, the camera is processing the file, more and more, and you will get more artifacts.

Ironheart

The EXIF data shows f/2.8 1/2000 ISO3200 in aperture priority. You must have caught a bright reflection throught the window and the camera metered off of that, and the rest of the photo must have started off as almost black. Is the ISO set to Auto or locked at 3200?

DeanMoriarty

@spraynpray I only post processes the image like that to show the lines. In regards to doing that I know the lines become more visible and which is not the correct way to to process the shot. Even in the RAW image shot you can make out the banding. My friend informed me that output of the camera may be high or set wrong when the camera was in shop. And the image is very under exposed. However I also have a d700 took the same shot same setting and had no banding lines running through the image. Im going to try and reload the firmware to the d800 and see of it helps.

DeanMoriarty

@TaoTejared you were spot on with the firmware on the D800. It was up to date, but I re-uploaded the firmware the banding/lines are no longer there at ISO3200+ in the exact setting as the Sample image, as well as higher ISOs and in array of Fstops and shutter speeds despite photography 101.

Thanks everyone for the input and help, Much appreciated!
Happy Holidays!

Ironheart

Great, have fun!

TaoTeJared

Glad to hear it worked!

ChasCS

That was easy, other than some sweating...

Glad you have found the fix, a free one too,. Smile
Those are often the best!