D700 issue/malfunction: yellowish bar in photos

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D700 issue/malfunction: yellowish bar in photos

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Exen

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My D700 was acting up over the weekend, and I figured if anyone had any knowledge of what happened/how to fix it, it was you guys.

Basically, I was shooting a wedding, and towards the end of the day I looked at my LCD and there was this strange "yellowish" line across the picture (just came in from outside). I thought it was just something weird at first, but it continued to happen - though it was random. What I figured out I could do was take two quick shots: one shot would have the yellow bar and one would be clean. After about 10 minutes, it stopped altogether and the pictures were fine.

We needed to go outside again (it was around 35 degrees outside), took some shots, came back inside, and the yellowish line came back again. Went away after about 10 minutes. The only thing both situations had in common was that I was outside in some chilled weather. Anyone ever experienced this? What do you think caused this? How can I go about making sure it doesn't happen again? I'm shooting another wedding this weekend, and we'll definitely be going outside...

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Posted 3 years ago #
shivaswrath

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well. . .I'm not sure how much capital you have on reserve, but I would rent a D700 for this weekend and send your existing in for repair. . .the yellow line was LCD only, not on pics, correct? have you downloaded them yet to see?

Posted 3 years ago #
Exen

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Thanks for the reply.

It was definitely the pictures and not the LCD, which worries me more. When I had some down time, I went back to look through them (and deleted them too), and the bar/line was still there. I'll have to check and see if I missed any so I can show you. Either way, though, it wasn't the LCD :(

What is the best way to go about contacting Nikon?

Posted 3 years ago #
NikoDoby

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Were you using any filters on your lens? It kinda sounds like maybe your filter was reflecting some of the lighting indoors at the wedding maybe? Can you post a picture?

Posted 3 years ago #
Exen

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No filters. Switched lenses in order to try and isolate the issue (the issue was present with an 85mm and 50mm). I'll definitely run through the pictures tonight and try and see if I can locate one of the pictures (but I may have deleted them all...we will see).

Posted 3 years ago #
NikoDoby

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Was there any "special" lighting at the wedding that might of been bounced into the lens?

Posted 3 years ago #
Exen

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Nope. Both places were available light and the light was coming from the ceiling. Nothing special with the positioning of the camera for the shots either (in fact, a few of them were facing away from the light more than anything). Thanks for thinking outside of the box, though. I've been trying to think of other things it could be too and I can't come up with anything.

Posted 3 years ago #
NikoDoby

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We'd really need to see a photo in order to diagnose the problem. See if you can recreate it some how if you deleted all of the wedding photos that showed it. You haven't had any problems since then?

Posted 3 years ago #
Exen

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I'm going to try and recreate it tonight (by testing to see if it had anything to do with the cold). The wedding was this past Saturday, so I haven't used the camera since.

Posted 3 years ago #
NikoDoby

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Good luck Exen, I hope it's a very minor hiccup. Hey we joined the forum on the same day so I guess we're forum brothers or something :^)

Posted 3 years ago #
Exen

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Thanks, forum brother :)

There were two pictures that missed being deleted (thankfully). I didn't get a chance to attempt to recreate the problem today (long birthday party) - but I will try to do it in the coming days. Either way, though, this is what I was talking about:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_eW4wfX_JPKA/StPtQfaCFMI/AAAAAAAAAoc/uh9OQo_hM8o/s1600-h/_DSC0958.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eW4wfX_JPKA/StPtmUmFsiI/AAAAAAAAAok/B7pkLT4ZS1U/s1600-h/_DSC0959.jpg

Posted 3 years ago #
alphanikonrex

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Oh wow, I did not realize it was that serious. I have no idea what it could be!

Posted 3 years ago #
Exen

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Yeah, I was quite scared when it happened...and quite thankful when it went away! Though there is still a big issue to be resolved.

Posted 3 years ago #
alphanikonrex

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Unless somebody comes up with a solution, I would send it to Nikon right away, even if it's just to take a look.

Here's a list of Nikon authorized shops in the US: http://nikonusa.com/Service-And-Support/Nikon-Authorized-Repair-List.page

You can contact service and support online from here: http://support.nikontech.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/238 I would ask a question—I've done that loads of times.

Posted 3 years ago #
NikoDoby

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I'm still not convinced this is a camera problem Exen. The angle of the yellow band seems to be different in each of those shots. This yellow band also showed up across peoples faces or the brides dress?

Have you tried shooting at the exact same settings? F/1.4, ISO 4000, 1/2500 of a second?

Posted 3 years ago #
Exen

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alphanikonrex: thanks, I'll get on that right away and I'll be sure to update this thread with anything relevant.

NikoDoby: That's what was strange. For the most part, the yellow band stayed in the same area, but every now and then it would move - either slightly up, or it would jump to the top of the image instead of the bottom. It almost seemed like it was something with how the shutter was working. But yes, the band would go through anything and my only work around was to take two immediate shots: one would have the band, the other would be clean.

Posted 3 years ago #
NikoDoby

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you were only shooting with available light and you weren't using flash right? To me it keeps sounding like some kind of reflected light coming into the camera. This was at a church? I can't think of a camera issue that would cause this yellow bar to move around your image like that? Maybe you captured a spirit?

Posted 3 years ago #
alphanikonrex

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Of course. That's it, a spirit! Which kind, NikoDoby, supernatural or liquid? ;^)

Posted 3 years ago #
bmxdad

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Did you check RGB histogram on pictures with band in comparison to picture without the yellow band, it would be best if you could try to get the same shots again, it is tough to get great repair results if nothing is clearly shown to be wrong. Then again I am not a tech and maybe they could discover what is wrong anyway

Pete

Posted 3 years ago #
NikoDoby

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Seriously, I can't think of anything that would cause a yellow bar on one photo but not the next one. Or in one direction but then a different direction and then in the center of the photo but then at the top of the next one?! That's just plain strange. Unless it was a shadow from a light source?

A sensor that is going bad does give you strange colors but not like this it doesn't. Malfunctioning white balance wouldn't be it either. Not in a certain spot in the picture only. Bad flash sync could give you a dark bars in your photos but Exen hasn't said if he was shooting flash. Judging from his exif I don't think he was.

Anyone want to offer up a theory?

Posted 3 years ago #
alphanikonrex

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This may be a little crazy but here it is: Maybe there was some sort of object on the sensor that was a transparent yellow color. As he went from picture to picture, the object moved around on the sensor. It disappeared from shot to shot because it got stuck on the shutter?

Posted 3 years ago #
jimjim

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No flash and just available light? What kind of light? If it was flourescent and your shutter speed was high, you can get very odd color casts - flourescent light is terrible.

Posted 3 years ago #
NikoDoby

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Shutter speed was 1/2500 but effecting only a certain portion of the shot and not the entire scene?

If something was flopping on the sensor I think it would look more obvious.

Posted 3 years ago #
alphanikonrex

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In that case...

I GIVE UP!!!

Posted 3 years ago #
NikoDoby

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Shouldn't you be asleep already alpha? Don't you have school tomorrow?

Posted 3 years ago #