Canon 7D - Vertical Banding Noise

[ScooterGuy]

Hi,

My 7D (bought in Oct 2010) had been taking sharp, clear photos until recently when it developed Vertical Banding Noise (I believe) - on all images and videos, regardless of ISO, etc. Strong vertical black lines become very pronounced when an image is cropped. See the sample below. Any ideas for causes or solutions?

Cheers!

Tom

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Reset the camera, use a different card, and possibly even upload the image to a different PC. You might even need to refresh the firmware. If none of those work, its probably a issue that only Canon can fix.

 

[jrista]

Hi,

My 7D (bought in Oct 2010) had been taking sharp, clear photos until recently when it developed Vertical Banding Noise (I believe) - on all images and videos, regardless of ISO, etc. Strong vertical black lines become very pronounced when an image is cropped. See the sample below. Any ideas for causes or solutions?

Cheers!

Tom

That isn't vertical banding noise. Its vertical strips of missing pixels! Banding noise is FAR more subtle than that, and while it can be annoying, it isn't remotely as bad as that. I would do as Spokane says, reset the camera to defaults and see if that fixes it, and try different memory cards. If those things don't work, it seems like your camera probably needs repair.

 

[ScooterGuy]

Hi... thank you for your suggestions!

I reset the camera to manufacturer defaults... the lines were still there.

I updated the camera's firmware.... still there, almost invisible at full size, but definitely still there when tightly cropped, although the lines look a bit more subdued.

Strange that the lines are so uniformly even-spaced. On tight cropping, the lines look like groves cut into the image! An unusual, but undesired effect! Has anyone seen images like this?

I called Canon Canada tech support, and they simply suggested to send the camera in. I was told that if the sensor needs to be replaced, it will cost between $1,000 and $2,000. I hope it doesn't. I can buy a new 7D - with full warranty - for $1,500.

I've heard there is a screen on top of the sensor that can cause problems - and is much cheaper to replace than the whole sensor... but I wonder if that would cure the problem? Seems a bigger problem than that.

Any more thoughts on this?

 

[jrista]

How are you creating the images? Out of Camera JPEG? RAW? If using RAW, what converter are you using? DPP? Adobe LR? Apple Aperture? RawThearapy or DarkTable?

Have you tried different memory cards?

I forget how long the warranty lasts...is it just one year? If it will cost that much to fix (and you can bet it will cost closer to the $2000 mark), then your just better off buying another 7D. I've sent things in to Canon for repair. I've never had quite that high of an estimate, but when my 100-400mm lens was dropped and needed fixing, the repair estimate was $360-400, and it ended up coming out to $420 when they finally took it apart and figured out all that was wrong. There is absolutely no reason to spend $2000 to fix an old 7D...just find a lightly used one, and you can buy it for less than $1200.

 

[ScooterGuy]

Thanks again, Spokane and jrista.

Nothing seems to change the image... seems like it's permanent damage. I'm going to take it into the best local camera shop together with some prints just to see what they think.

I've seen some lightly used 7D's for as low as $500 (a 2011-made one... mine's 2010 - so my warranty is long expired.) If the sensor's shot, I might just bite the bullet and get a new one for $1500 and pay extra for an extended warranty. It sucks that such a relatively small part/replacement costs about as much as a whole new body!

Thanks again!

 

[jrista]

Thanks again, Spokane and jrista.

Nothing seems to change the image... seems like it's permanent damage. I'm going to take it into the best local camera shop together with some prints just to see what they think.

I've seen some lightly used 7D's for as low as $500 (a 2011-made one... mine's 2010 - so my warranty is long expired.) If the sensor's shot, I might just bite the bullet and get a new one for $1500 and pay extra for an extended warranty. It sucks that such a relatively small part/replacement costs about as much as a whole new body!

Thanks again!

You could just buy three 7D's at $500 a piece, and keep two in reserve. ;P You would pay less than a single new one with an extended warranty.

 

[ScooterGuy]

Thanks, jrista. Good idea. It would be a lot more cost-effective to just go with a single $500 body as I might want to upgrade in two or three years anyway.

 

[jiphoto]

An old PowerShot of mine had a very similar banding issue - I ended up sending it to Canon. It needed the entire sensor and lens assembly replaced. Canon's repair costs are actually surprisingly reasonable for what they do to the gear, I'd actually recommend just sending the camera in.

 

[jrista]

An old PowerShot of mine had a very similar banding issue - I ended up sending it to Canon. It needed the entire sensor and lens assembly replaced. Canon's repair costs are actually surprisingly reasonable for what they do to the gear, I'd actually recommend just sending the camera in.

The cost wouldn't be reasonable if it was more expensive than a brand new camera....or for that matter, the majority of the cost of the camera (the 7D sales for $1200 very frequently....so even the low end $1000 cost simply isn't worth it, IMO.)

 

[ScooterGuy]

If they are going to charge $1,000+ to change the sensor, plus my cost to ship it there, I won't bother sending it in to Canon. So, I posted that top photo (red car) online and a link to it - and sending that link to Canon Canada tech support to see if they will look at it and give me at least and idea of what they think the problem is. No sense sending it in if it's $1,000+.... I'll just buy another 7D.

 

[jrista]

If they are going to charge $1,000+ to change the sensor, plus my cost to ship it there, I won't bother sending it in to Canon. So, I posted that top photo (red car) online and a link to it - and sending that link to Canon Canada tech support to see if they will look at it and give me at least and idea of what they think the problem is. No sense sending it in if it's $1,000+.... I'll just buy another 7D.

I've been considering selling my 7D to build up some cash for a 5D III. If your interested, let me know. I'll let it go for a decent price under $1000...it has some cosmetic scratches, but otherwise, the thing is a damnable tank! (I hope the 5D III holds up as well as my 7D has...love the durability of this camera!! )

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Not good. Looks like one of the readout channels on the sensor has gone bad.

 

[jrista]

Not good. Looks like one of the readout channels on the sensor has gone bad.

At least one. The 7D has eight channels...looks like maybe two of them went out, given the spacing of the missing columns.