A Fix for the 5D Mark II Black Dots? *UPDATED*

Strange – It comes disabled by default… Are this many people turning it on?

Yeah I never turned any of those on…

I think that is pretty silly since those are the major features with the 5D mk2! Then, why even have such faulty features if we are just going to shut it off. I will be testing the 5Dmk2 with different combination (i.e. some turn on and some turn off).

In any case, Canon must be informed and their QA team needs to issue out a recommendation till a fix can be delivered.

Let’s hope Canon can resolve this ASAP.

People are talking about a firmware fix for this problem, but surely the problem is hardware otherwise every camera would have it, since I assume all canon 5d mark II’s for now are shipped with the same firmware. It looks like a problem with the CMOS photosites retaining charge, maybe canon could use a firmware fix to kill those blackened photosites in a given picture and replace them with a color interpolated from nearby pixels but that woul mean a loss of image quality and might not be technically possible.
I’m buying a mark II mostly for architectural photography and this is going to be a real pain in the ass for my style fo shooting, I hope the issue is sorted out fast.
What a pain in the butt…

I have processed a series of RAW files that I have got from DPREVIEW and all has black dot, even I saw them in the D700 but in much less quantity…

if Canon doesn’t mind releasing faulty, not-ready cameras like last years 1D3 or the 50D with Err99 and now this. No wonder they are cutting back and firing everybody. They should fire their tech team and executvies that make bad choices.

>I have processed a series of RAW files that I have got from >DPREVIEW and all has black dot, even I saw them in the D700 >but in much less quantity…

This is interesting, can you post the link for D700 sample with black dot?

I shot a concert last night with the 5DII and did not see these issues on any of the images I took

http://www.headheldhigh.net/images/2008-12-07-SP-230.jpg

bummer, my copy of the 5D Mark II has the black plague, too.

It is most noticeable in this image when viewed 1:1. One characteristic of the problem is that the dots appear always to the right of the highlight (unless shot vertical), strange. You can see it in this image if you view the full-size shot:

http://flickr.com/photos/flickravatar/3092365236/

I also checked files from my 20D and don’t see the same behavior so from my perspective this is a new feature.

I’ve taken a number of candidate pictures, mostly with lots of Christmas lights in focus and not. I don’t see the black dots. Yes, I do see them in some samples posted on the net, even in a Vincent LaForet sample image, so I am sure that my camera isn’t displaying it.

I wonder if there is a specific setting (the one that should be labeled the “Display Black Dots” setting) that needs to be turned on. I certainly haven’t tried all the settings I could change, and I actually modified the camera custom functions before I took the first shot…

“People should learn to keep their calm and use their brains instead of acting like a flock of sheep.

If it has been proven the black dots are in the RAW data, how would TURNING OFF POST PROCESSING effects like highlight tone priority, LTO or NR eliminate the artifacts?

I swear, every time you go and read DPR forums you lose more brain cells than a Friday night pub crawl.

Go and get drunk people. Or go out and take pictures… Sheesh!”

Have you tried IT??

All photos with the blown highlights I’ve looked at on DPR have the problem. Those that were downloadable in raw can be processed in DPP by turning off Auto Lighting optomizer and adding noise reduction. That makes sense, since they are a form of noise, likely generated in the hardware. The lighting optomizer just brings them out to be seen better.

My 5D2 finally arrived last night, I hope to try it tonight and see what I find.

Ed

actually to correct myself, it would be leakage from the neighboring cmos – since the artifact only shows up on the edge of highlight and a dark area

I finally started playing with my 5D2 tonight just to learn all the functions. I have had a 5D MK 1 which I sold because I didn’t like it, (Replkaced with 40D) but this one is great. So far, I’ve been pleasantly suprised with everything I’ve tried. Autofocus in a almost dark room is amazing, and on my black doog, with little contrast in dim indoor light, it locks on great, and the resulting DR was amazing. This was at ISO 3200. Since its night and I only have incandesent house lighting, I as amazed that it can even take a photo.

I’ve mostly used my 24-105L, which was great on my 40D, but its shortcomings in edge sharpness are apparent with the FF camera. I’ve also took some quick shots with my manual focus 90mm TS-E. No edge softness with it!!

Right now I’m wishing I had a 135mm F2 to try on it, The FF Format really pushes the edge softness with lenses that are great on my 40D. I’ll be using my 70-200 f/2.8 IS tomorrow for the most part.

I have a couple of photo sessions tomorrow,(No Pay, so Semi Pro:-) ! One is my son’s high school play dress rehearsal, and the other is for the Christmas party at the assisted living residence where my 91 YO father lives. I plan to do these without flash (Mostly).

I should be able to duplicate the black spots then.

As far as per pixel noise is concerned, the camera is about the same as the 40D, but when reduced to print size it is difficult to see. It also cleans up nicely with noise ninja or noiseware. I haven’t decided which to buy yet, I find that it depends on the scene as to which works best.

I took a batch of 5D MK II photos tonight mostly using available light at ISO 3200. While the noise was really low, the shutter speeds were also too slow to get sharp photos. Many times, the subjects were moving which made some pretty awful shots. Tomorrow is another session, so I’ll setup better lighting. I wasn’t happy with the sharpness of my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens either, even at f/4, it was not pinpoint sharp. I’ll use my 70-200 f/4 IS tomorrow. I was really wishing I had a 135 F/2 tonight.

At my fathers Christmas party, I did not attempt to make black dots, but did find them in the reflections of ceiling lighting in the dark windows. They were pretty insignificant, and very hard to spot. Of course, they were not visible at normal viewing levels.

Ed:

I was looking for black dots with 135f2L. Very sharp at 50-400ISO even at f2. At 800 ISO the noise starts to impact the sharpness, although at f8 and 3200 ISO I can still make out good detail. All taken on a tripod. Hand held shots turned out pretty good, but not as good as the tripod shots.

Based what I have read about the 1Ds Mark III, it was to be expected that lens sharpness would be an issue at 21 Megpixels. There is also the common error of mistakening pixel sharpness with overall image sharpness. I take comfort in the fact the sharpness is lens limited not camera limited (at least with most of my lenses).