M9 and Green Line- should I be concerned?

[jaques]

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I noticed an ugly green line defect in a series of images I shot yesterday.... they were the last four images before the battery went dead. I put in a new battery and the next frames were fine. Is this just a card error, related to the low battery, or something more serious?

 

 

Here is a crop showing the defect:

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[ho_co]

Could you post the whole frame? Might give a better clue. Was the original JPG or DNG?

 

I see you've posted a PNG; that might explain some of the other peculiarities in the image. Best for forum diagnosis would probably be JPG, since that would avoid screen-capture artifacts.

 

Did the battery die unexpectedly? Or had it been showing low charge for a while?

 

Is the stripe in the same place on all four frames? Does it look the same, darker on one side and becoming lighter toward the other edge?

Edited December 17, 2010 by ho_co

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[jaques]

I think most of those other 'peculiarities' are the dense 'bokeh' of the noctilux at f1

 

The green line runs across the entire frame- however it is not always located in the exact same part of the frame.

 

Not sure about the battery- don't remember noticing any low level warnings- it just died. Put in a new one and now the camera seems fine. reformatted the card as well.

 

Reading around ont he forum I found the same problem in another users camera.... strangely enough they were also using a noctilux. I can't see how there could be any connection though...

 

here is the full image in jpeg:

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Edited December 17, 2010 by jaques

[jaques]

and here is another from the series... you can see there is also a pinkish fuzzy line as well as the defined green line, and that it is closer to the edge of the frame in this image.

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[ho_co]

I think most of those other 'peculiarities' are the dense 'bokeh' of the noctilux at f1 ...

Now I got it!

 

I like the way the shallow DoF points up the mailbox(?) and suppresses the rest of the image--with the exception of the flowers, whose bright color brings them to the fore.

 

I missed the other thread you mention--does it give a solution?

 

My guess is that this is a product of the camera electronics, either in the sensor or in the data read-out. If it were a card problem (also possible), I would expect it to be more varied, both in appearance and in location on the frame.

 

But if it was battery-related, it may never happen again. I know with the M8 a number of forum users change batteries when the battery readout drops to one stripe--but I don't know how that translates to the M9.

 

Personally, I'd send the files to Leica and ask their opinion. But unless they already know the effect, they might need to keep the camera for several months hoping to see the same thing.

 

So unless Leica says they know what it is, I'd keep the camera and go on shooting. I wouldn't expect it to happen again and wouldn't worry about it, but I'd keep my eyes open.

 

But my personal understanding of how the electronics do their magic isn't as good as others,' and I'll yield to them.

 

Good luck. And do keep us posted how things develop!

Edited December 17, 2010 by ho_co

[john cleland]

Looks like a corruption on the sensor to me - my M9 has just gone back to Germany with the same problem - vertical green line in exactly the same place each time.

 

Mine only showed up as the ISO went up - nothing at 160-400ISO and then got gradually worse as the ISO got higher.

 

I would suggest thorough testing at all ISO settings and if nothing just keep one eye out for it over the next few months.

 

Cheers John

[jaques]

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Thanks for the answers guys.

 

The sample shots were at low ISO's - and I did some tests at the highest ones- so far I have not seen the defect again. Also my error seems slightly different to your John as my Green line moved around a little from shot to shot. Hopefully it was just a glitch associated with the dying battery... fingers crossed.

[Shade]

Seems like its just a low power issue in either the sensor while capturing the images or the data processing.. But good to know it hasn't happened since..

[MSUSpartan]

Same thing happened to me on the last three frames before the battery died. Looks like it's definitely a power related issue...

[01af]

Looks like a corruption on the sensor to me—my M9 has just gone back to Germany with the same problem—vertical green line in exactly the same place each time.

It definitely is not the same problem. In jaques' images, the lines are horizontal, not vertical, and they are of different widths and at different positions within the frame.

 

So I guess his own theory is correct—most likely it's just a transient error induced by low voltage.