Strange image taken today - another bug?

[philevans]

Hi All, I'm new to this forum and have been listening to all of the coverage regarding some of the image problems. I didn't think my M8 was suffering from the banding, although it is suffering from the purple hue on synthetic blacks. I received my M8 last week (Saturday) as part of the new batch from BH Photo in NYC. It has firmware v1.09.

Anyway, I was out with friends at dinner this evening and I took the following picture. It was taken at ISO 320 and after I looked at the picture in the preview (play) a strange thing occured. The image came up and after about 3-4 seconds it switched to a light colored exposure on the left and a dark colored exposure on the right, split right down the middle.

I attach the JPG, however the RAW (DNG) image is exactly the same (except in color). This is the only time this has occurred, and none of my other pictures are affected.



Any clues what may have happened? Should I be reporting this to Leica?

(I recorded how the transitions occurs on the camera as an AVI file, but can't post it on this site though due to file constraints)

Thanks Phil

[guy_mancuso]

Was the camera asleep and than woke it up and immediately took the shot or just turned the camera on. Looks to me a power up inbalance to the sensor

[philevans]

Hi Guy,

No, I took a few images before and after, none with this problem. I took a screenshot of the files on the card and as you can see, the file in error has a much smaller file size.

[khanosu]

Hi Phil,

Sean, Eric and others have encountered ths very same problem. See post# 34, 35, and 37 in the thread “Poll for Article - M8 Vertical Band”.

Furrukh

[wilfredo]

Phil,

I've already annoyed some of the clan for expressing my dissapointment with the launching of the M8 before it was fully baked, but it seems new problems are reported on this forum every day. Good luck to you and I hope this will not be an ongoing problem. I've never seen anything like your image before. GOOD LUCK!

Wilfredo+
Benitez-Rivera Photography

[reven]

I think some of the problems are really getting pushed tooo much. As long as something only happens really rare and not all the time I wouldn't care. My 1DsMk2 still freezes some time. With the lovely Error 99 ^^. It happens and it's life.

[pelikan1931]

sometimes, when I turn on my R-D1s or wake it up from sleep, and immediately press the shutter, I get a blank capture (all in black) ... maybe sensor is like hard disk, it needs to spin up to certain rpm first.

[erl]

Phil,

I have had the same effect, only at 320ISO and above. On my M8 the RH 1/2 had a distinct magenta cast. I reported it to Leica, via my dealer, who said something about the sensor being divided into two halves and that this was related.

My camera is currently back in Solms being 'upgraded'. It will be interesting to see if that problem is addressed, or will be part of a future 'fix'. Notwithstanding that, it still is a bloody good camera.


Wilfredo,

I am still undecided about your contributions. I realize you are a dedicated leica user, but your posts consistently go very close to being a 'knocker' of the M8. That I find difficult to digest as to the best of my knowlege, you have never even handled one, but base your comments on the comments of others on the internet. Now how reliable is that?

Please understand I intend no disrespect to you, I am just curious about the "real" knowledge you have about the M8. Also, putting it into the context of other brands "problems", I am left wondering if Leica is as bad as some of them. OTOH, that is only a relative argument and I am the first to dismiss such techniques, since the real performance is what matters, not how it compares.

In my limited experience to date, the M8 performs exceptionally, with some teething problems that will be fixed. It is the attitude of the Leica Company that needs a makeover.

Cheers,
Erl

[RaySwan]

Originally Posted by erl

It is the attitude of the Leica Company that needs a makeover.

Cheers,
Erl

Obviously you don't own a Nikon D200! Leica has been far more respondant to their problems than Nikon has. I am not too sure if Nikon has ever owned up to the banding problems they have publicly. I found Nikon's attitude shameless and I own a closet full of nikkor gear.

I do not own a Leica, but I will likely own an M8 in the future. It is not only the camera I am keen on but Leica's treatment of their clients. No, I don't expect Leica to be coming out with a press statement every 5 minutes. I think they may have gotten a bad break on seemingly an early release but I still think the character of the corporation is solid, well intentioned and honorable.

[robsteve]

Phil:

Was the SD card on the approved card list?

Was the battery fully charged?

With problems like this it is always good to start with the simple things.

This half and half exposure has been seen in most digital SLR's. I don't remember what the cause was but it may have been low batteries in the case of the Nikons that did it. The Canon 1D would do this too, but I think it was in every shot and required a trip to service to have a processor board replaced.

If you get it again, it might be easier just to bring it back to B+H for an exchange or refund before you have it too long and the only option is a trip to Leica service.

[philevans]

SD card is Sandisk Ultra II and the battery was full.

[etienne_werner]

Perhaps a silly question but did you use flash. It doesn't look like it. If so it could be a sync problem between flash and shutter. Though have to admit that I don't know if the shutter travels horizontally or vertically.
Kind regards,

Etienne

[marknorton]

This has nothing to do with the shutter which runs vertically. The data on each side of the sensor is being read out through two distinct channels and it looks like the camera has set the exposure/amplification/gain of the A to D converter incorrectly for each side of the image.

Tough to know what's causing it though...

[twf]

I have never owned a camera or a computer where I have not had some problems. I have things happen on a computer once that never happens again. When you are dealing with electrontic itmes expect problems. If all the photographs looked like the example you showed I would be worried, but one, forget it.

I might add their has never been a perfect camera or computer, and I expect we won't ever see one.

Tom

[fotografr]

Split exposure aside, I must say the electric yarmulke is rather unique.

[AGeoJO]

It happened to me one time out of a few hundred shots. On mine, however, the darker side is on the left while on yours on the right side of the image. That was the only one, so far. It was immediately noticeable on the LCD display. The battery was fresh and I used a Sandisk Ultra II 2GB, at ISO 320, 1/1000 sec.

[baloo]

Hi!
It happend to me on a couple occasion that I had the split frame and to one of my friend to too m8 with the new firmware 1.09...

so what’s next...

regards, Steve

[booggerg]

Steve, besides the vertical banding, why do these pics look so bad to begin with? Did you turn up the levels in Photoshop? Or is this straight out of the camera?

[baloo]

Originally Posted by booggerg

Steve, besides the vertical banding, why do these pics look so bad to begin with? Did you turn up the levels in Photoshop? Or is this straight out of the camera?

Yes I pused up the exposure in C-1 about 2 stop on the first shot the second about 2/3...

Steve

[wilfredo]

Erl,

To answer your question, I did get a chance to handle the M8 over at Samys Camera. Ebi was very helpful in demonstrating the camera. This was before all the craziness broke out. I haven't had a chance to work with it but I am impressed with some of the images I've seen posted on the photo-forum especially the Black and White work. I am also impressed by the fact that you can make 20X30 prints (although I haven't seen one personally) with this camera without loss of detail. The consensus seems to be that it does an exceptional job producing big prints.

What has disappointed me is the fact that this camera was simply not street ready and it hit the markets any way. I've never read about a camera having so many problems before, and I guess my disappointment comes from the desire I had to purchase the camera. I was really reallly really really looking forward to the M8! I like the Leica rangefinder thing, I don't get excited about using my DSLR although it delivers, and thus my disappointment.

I would have liked a digital M now rather than later, but I am not one of those people who can lay out $4800.00 for a camera that still needs significant fine tuning. I think Leica blew it. They should have been honest about disclosing the magenta problem before it was discovered by the Leica community. I still maintain that was a FIASCO for Leica.

My strategy now is to wait. Perhaps I'll have to wait for an M9. What ever the situation, I won't be buying a Leica digital M until all this stuff is cleared up. Perhaps next year???? Time will tell.

For those of you who are happy with what you got, I'm happy for you! As I said earlier, in the Black and White arena I am really impressed, which only makes the wait harder.

Cheers,
Wilfredo+
Benitez-Rivera Photography