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Sporadic vertical lines in M8.2


philipotto

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On a recent trip, one morning my camera started producing these vertical lines:

 

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Oddly I haven't been able to find the lines in any other photos. This body, an M8.2, recently returned from New Jersey for a screen replacement, and I am reluctant to send it in unnecessarily, as I do not have a backup.

What do you think the prognosis is?

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I like the shot very much, Philip! :)

 

The vertical green lines look to me like a sensor problem, but I've got no idea where that horizontal row of colored dots below them comes from.

 

You might want to send Allendale a copy of what you've posted. :(

 

I'm not understanding one thing--you say the lines are sporadic, and then you say you've only seen them once.

 

If you've only seen them in this image, then they aren't sporadic and I'd wait to get more information before making any assumptions.

 

Definitely show NJ the files and get their opinion, but obviously if you send the camera in and the effect doesn't repeat itself, you haven't gained anything.

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Thank you, Howard,

 

I wasn't clear. The vertical lines, and the horizontal line, appear on twelve photos taken in sequential order. I haven't seen them on any photos taken earlier or later. The last photo that shows the artifact was taken five hours after the first one.

 

Is there anyone in particular I should address the email to?

Should I send it to repairs: repair@leicacamerausa.com?

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Thanks for the clarification, Philip.

 

That makes it very weird--a bunch of frames all together over a period of several hours. :(

 

Since you'll be dealing with NJ, I think your email address is fine; they'll get it to the right people. I don't know of a better address.

 

 

The one time I sent email to Solms, they sent it right back to Allendale. Then when Allendale read it and saw that it had to do with the website (Solms' responsibility), Allendale returned the note to Solms for disposition. Sigh. Hierarchies have their procedures. :rolleyes:

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This looks like the dreaded Red Line Problem which have hit thousands of M8s. Try to shoot a few shots with the lens cap on at long exposures at high ISO. If a line is stuckon the same place, often right in the middle, then you might have a problem. If these pictures you show us are taken at 160ISO and the line is persistent, then you have to send it to Solms. They have to install a 'pixel remap device'.

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Erik,

I did try alternative raw converters to no avail. The lines were also visable when reviewing the photos in camera.

 

Olsen,

I haven't seen the lines in any photos since the twelve in a row that had them. This includes a 30 second exposure with the lens cap on, as per your recommendation.

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This looks like the dreaded Red Line Problem which have hit thousands of M8s. Try to shoot a few shots with the lens cap on at long exposures at high ISO. If a line is stuckon the same place, often right in the middle, then you might have a problem. If these pictures you show us are taken at 160ISO and the line is persistent, then you have to send it to Solms. They have to install a 'pixel remap device'.

 

Thousands? That will come as a surprise in Solms...:rolleyes:

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I had the same problem with mine where I had to send it in for a sensor replacement. Leica picked up the cost of the sensor, I paid for the shutter and complete 8.2 upgrade.

 

Once the line issue surfaced, did they appear on all your images henceforth, or were they intermittent?

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Philip - The 'lines' are caused by the hot pixels that are present at the origin of the lines and the effect is a result of the charge transfer process in the CCD. The hot pixels are completely saturated by charge which then spill into the pixels in the entire column during the readout process. The hot pixels are essentially defective pixels with extremely large leakage current, and the only remedy to this problem is sensor replacement.

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Bert, what's strange to me about Philip's case is:

  • there are a number of similarly affected pixels along a horizontal row; and
  • the vertical lines starting at that row don't seem to run the full frame height.

 

Previous cases I've seen of hot pixels generated the vertical line over the whole height of the sensor IIRC, and I don't think I've seen a case where a number of pixels along a line (but only along a line) all went similarly bad.

 

Curious phenomenon.

Edited by ho_co
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Howard - Yes I agree that it is odd that the hot pixels would develop along a row as we can observe here... It suggest that the defect may be in the CCD serial register. The extent of the pixels in the column connected to the hot pixels may vary and depend on the leakage current in the pixel.

Edited by Bert N
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  • 3 months later...

I just discovered a similar issue with my "new to me" M8.2. Have had it for a little over a week. When I got it there were only 1647 actuations on the camera. Been shooting it mostly at ISO 160, but today bumped it up to ISO 320. Of all the previous shots at 160, never noticed a hot pixel or line. Then today, when shooting at 320, everything was fine until I started shooting a sequence on "continuous mode" and suddenly one or two hot pixels showed up. At 320 in "single shot mode", no hot pixels, but when the camera buffer had to store multiple shots, the hot pixels showed up.

 

So I did the high ISO test and sure enough, at 2500 there is a serious red line coming down the image, originating at the most prominent hot pixel. It lightens at 1250, and more so at 640, and is pretty much gone at 320.

 

So does this sound like a "need to send it back to Solms for a new sensor" issue. I'm afraid it does sound like that from what I have read.

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Here's a couple of jpgs to show the red line. These were shot at ISO 2500 in DNG mode. First jpg shows the whole image, second jpg show a close up of the right side of the image.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just got the camera back, all fixed. VERY HAPPY.

 

Leica helped me out since they also had my M6 TTL, which won't be finished till the end of May. So they turned this M8.2 around quickly for me.

 

Did a quick series of tests, no more red line, no more hot pixels.

 

Thanks for your advice Howard.

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