Unfortunately, the A7III stripe artifact is very real :(

So I finally received my A7III last week. And I absolutely loved everything about it until I reviewed a few of the test shots. The stripping issue caused by the OSPDAF is very visible in many of the photos. I knew about this issue before purchasing (first shown on dpreview samples), but since there wasnt much posts regarding this issue after the product launch, I thought the occurrence was relatively rare.

However its actually happens quite often and very reproducible in day to day shooting. If you shoot into a light source, its almost guaranteed to see these stripes in the dark area near the light source. see the picture below , the artifact are very obvious.

I'm debating now if I should live with this sensor design flaw and try to avoid shooting into any light sources, or should I make an exchange/return. I love everything else about this camera, I just wish this wasnt an issue. Has anyone experienced this stripe issue as bad as mine in normal shooting? I'm also tempted to switch to A7RIII too if it doesnt suffer from this issue (or less severe).


stripes on the back of the head. shot with A7III + 55/1.8


stripes on the beam. shot on 55/1.8


stripes visible near the light source. shot on 55/1.8

Joined on Apr 29, 2018

Post: 1

Is Canon really that panic? lol

You are a bit late to the party. Several threads on the problem and fixes. I am pretty sure Dpr up-dated their comments on the subject.

Only you can decide if it is a problem you cannot live with. As a starting point check out Jim Kasson's posts which will lead you to others or do a search

If you are Trolling you need to come up with a new "Problem"

--
Anticipate the Light and wing it when you get it wrong but always have fun
Tom
http://images.nikonians.org/galleries/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/165169

Are these pictures keepers, or are they taken just to provoke the striping?

In any case, striping is pretty easy to smooth out - and we know that:

• The stripes are real
• They might be seen in backlit scenes, in areas with strong flare
• Where to look in a picture to find stripes
• That they are rare, and pretty easy to smooth out at post processing
• There is a online tool that does the fix too (prof Hank)

chrisno said:

Joined on Apr 29, 2018

Post: 1

Is Canon really that panic? lol

Click to expand...

+1, How stupid do some people think we are.

Greg.

Soultion: take better photos...

The glare from the direct light in all of those photos is far more of a 'problem' than any amount of striping.

One could ask the following questions, why is this the first time that there are those stripes so pronounced ? anyway so explicitly present in this camera, and much less on other Sony E-mount camera's ?? the A7III has a newer sensor, so is this problem there to find ? why still no officiel response from Sony ? the so called fix !!! is that just a patch for the real problem on this sensor ?

the strength of this sensor may be too far driven for speed and auto focus and therefore producing those artifacts ?? maybe, what is the real answer ??

DIGICBOY said:

One could ask the following questions, why is this the first time that there are those stripes so pronounced ? anyway so explicitly present in this camera, and much less on other Sony E-mount camera's ?? the A7III has a newer sensor, so is this problem there to find ? why still no officiel response from Sony ? the so called fix !!! is that just a patch for the real problem on this sensor ?

the strength of this sensor may be too far driven for speed and auto focus and therefore producing those artifacts ?? maybe, what is the real answer ??

Click to expand...

Have you read previous discussions on this topic? There you will find a lot of information about the striping issue, and how to deal with it.

The "real answer" is very complex, and users judge the stripes from a non issue to a smaller problem, depending on their photography and how these artifacts affect their pictures.

My impression is that you will not find keepers that is affected to such a degree that they can not be used, and none that can not be fixed. Even for most of those provoked test pictures, one has to pixel peep to find if there really are stripes.

I would rather have fast tracking AF and deal with such stripes than slow AF.

I agree,

Having to fix it in post is ridiculous and not good enough.

Sony should fix this.

Den

Kazuma said:

So I finally received my A7III last week. And I absolutely loved everything about it until I reviewed a few of the test shots. The stripping issue caused by the OSPDAF is very visible in many of the photos. I knew about this issue before purchasing (first shown on dpreview samples), but since there wasnt much posts regarding this issue after the product launch, I thought the occurrence was relatively rare.

However its actually happens quite often and very reproducible in day to day shooting. If you shoot into a light source, its almost guaranteed to see these stripes in the dark area near the light source. see the picture below , the artifact are very obvious.

I'm debating now if I should live with this sensor design flaw and try to avoid shooting into any light sources, or should I make an exchange/return. I love everything else about this camera, I just wish this wasnt an issue. Has anyone experienced this stripe issue as bad as mine in normal shooting? I'm also tempted to switch to A7RIII too if it doesnt suffer from this issue (or less severe).

Click to expand...

It actually looks cool!

I also know how to mimic those on any camera,

DenImage said:

I agree,

Having to fix it in post is ridiculous and not good enough.

Sony should fix this.

Click to expand...

Are the stripes a problem for your photography? Why not then just go for the A7rIII, or A7rII instead? This issue is well known now, and you are not forced to buy this camera.

I would not rely on a fix for the A7III. The stripes will probably be less of a problem with the A7rIV.

DenImage said:

I agree,

Having to fix it in post is ridiculous and not good enough.

Sony should fix this.

Den

Click to expand...

It is fixed by using a DSLR, but then you lose all of the other technology that comes from using the sensor as your focus / metering device too.

I love how people really expect new and developing technology to come at no cost, or to have nothing but improvement over old tech with NO drawbacks. Get real.

Magnar W said:

DenImage said:

I agree,

Having to fix it in post is ridiculous and not good enough.

Sony should fix this.

Click to expand...

Are the stripes a problem for your photography?

Click to expand...

No, but it's clearly a problem for the OP.

Member said:

Why not then just go for the A7rIII, or A7rII instead?

Click to expand...

I already have the a7rii.

Member said:

This issue is well known now, and you are not forced to buy this camera.

I would not rely on a fix for the A7III. The stripes will probably be less of a problem with the A7rIV.

Click to expand...

That's why I said "not good enough. Sony should fix this"

Den

dMw_Ben said:

DenImage said:

I agree,

Having to fix it in post is ridiculous and not good enough.

Sony should fix this.

Den

Click to expand...

It is fixed by using a DSLR, but then you lose all of the other technology that comes from using the sensor as your focus / metering device too.

I love how people really expect new and developing technology to come at no cost, or to have nothing but improvement over old tech with NO drawbacks. Get real.

Click to expand...

Yeah, thanks for your advice (Get real), duly ignored.

The striping issue exists, and it's clearly a problem for a7iii users like the OP.

Expecting those users to cop it sweet or just go back to a DSLR is ridiculous.

Listen to your own advice and "Get real".

Den

DenImage said:

dMw_Ben said:

DenImage said:

I agree,

Having to fix it in post is ridiculous and not good enough.

Sony should fix this.

Den

Click to expand...

It is fixed by using a DSLR, but then you lose all of the other technology that comes from using the sensor as your focus / metering device too.

I love how people really expect new and developing technology to come at no cost, or to have nothing but improvement over old tech with NO drawbacks. Get real.

Click to expand...

Yeah, thanks for your advice (Get real), duly ignored.

The striping issue exists, and it's clearly a problem for a7iii users like the OP.

Expecting those users to cop it sweet or just go back to a DSLR is ridiculous.

Listen to your own advice and "Get real".

Den

Click to expand...

I expect people who are about to buy a new camera to do enough research beforehand to decide if that particular camera has any problems that might affect them, no matter what camera they're considering.

The OP admits they knew the problem existed, and what conditions provoked it. They took pictures that could have been almost custom-designed to show the problem, then complained that they showed the problem.

For me, this is only a technically interesting issue, I'm not personally involved, but that's how I see it.

The OP should return the camera and buy whatever camera (and lens!) that shoots into bright lights most gracefully. ;-)

Austinian said:

DenImage said:

dMw_Ben said:

DenImage said:

I agree,

Having to fix it in post is ridiculous and not good enough.

Sony should fix this.

Den

Click to expand...

It is fixed by using a DSLR,

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Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Careful, this sounds like a troll/DSLR fanboy, I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic.

This issue could just as easily come from a DSLR.

Austinian said:

Austinian said:

Austinian said:

but then you lose all of the other technology that comes from using the sensor as your focus / metering device too.

I love how people really expect new and developing technology to come at no cost, or to have nothing but improvement over old tech with NO drawbacks. Get real.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Issues like this are not the cost of advancement in tech, it's the opposite, these issues should not be happening, if it were, film is about to have a big comeback, or the Megapixel race is over.

The reality is, Sony missed the issue in testing the sensor, they need to come up with an in camera solution quickly if they want to avoid a stigma associated with the camera.

Austinian said:

Austinian said:

Yeah, thanks for your advice (Get real), duly ignored.

The striping issue exists, and it's clearly a problem for a7iii users like the OP.

Expecting those users to cop it sweet or just go back to a DSLR is ridiculous.

Listen to your own advice and "Get real".

Den

Click to expand...

I expect people who are about to buy a new camera to do enough research beforehand to decide if that particular camera has any problems that might affect them, no matter what camera they're considering.

Click to expand...

This issue is enough for my to know it would show up too often for it to be a non issue for me, all it would take is one keeper being afflicted and I'd loose my mind, and quickly sell it.

Austinian said:

The OP admits they knew the problem existed, and what conditions provoked it. They took pictures that could have been almost custom-designed to show the problem, then complained that they showed the problem.

For me, this is only a technically interesting issue,

Click to expand...

I agree, I'm surprised it wasn't a bigger issue with earlier PD on sensor cameras, perhaps it is worse due to a change in micro lenses or pixel structure, I haven't been following the advances that closely to know the differences.

Austinian said:

I'm not personally involved, but that's how I see it.

The OP should return the camera and buy whatever camera (and lens!) that shoots into bright lights most gracefully. ;-)

Click to expand...

I bought the NEX-7 and A7r, both the more sensitive of cameras to colour shading(Magenta corners), I'm not buying another camera with sensor issues, even if the IQ of my cameras are amazing when it's not an issue.

Lightshow said:

Lightshow said:

For me, this is only a technically interesting issue,

Click to expand...

I agree, I'm surprised it wasn't a bigger issue with earlier PD on sensor cameras, perhaps it is worse due to a change in micro lenses or pixel structure, I haven't been following the advances that closely to know the differences.

Click to expand...

The A7III has many more PDAF points than the A7II.

Lightshow said:

Lightshow said:

I'm not personally involved, but that's how I see it.

The OP should return the camera and buy whatever camera (and lens!) that shoots into bright lights most gracefully. ;-)

Click to expand...

I bought the NEX-7 and A7r, both the more sensitive of cameras to colour shading(Magenta corners), I'm not buying another camera with sensor issues, even if the IQ of my cameras are amazing when it's not an issue.

Click to expand...

Everything I've read on this suggests that for the photography I do (mostly landscape and still life) this issue would be extremely rare. I wouldn't let it stop me from buying an A7III if I needed more of its advanced features; I don't, so I bought an A7II instead (since it is very well priced now).

Astrophotographer 10 said:

chrisno said:

Joined on Apr 29, 2018

Post: 1

Is Canon really that panic? lol

Click to expand...

+1, How stupid do some people think we are.

Greg.

Click to expand...

I'm not saying he isn't trolling, but why do people automatically assume that's why people are here?

I joined this site looking for a possible solution to my issues, in case I was overlooking something. I'm only one person, and one mind cannot compare to the group all focusing on one thing.

I think it does a disservice to forums in general to be hostile to newcomers. Everyone was new, at one time. Maybe just politely inform him that there are threads on the issue and let him move along?

No need to treat him like a second class citizen.

dMw_Ben said:

DenImage said:

I agree,

Having to fix it in post is ridiculous and not good enough.

Sony should fix this.

Den

Click to expand...

It is fixed by using a DSLR, but then you lose all of the other technology that comes from using the sensor as your focus / metering device too.

Click to expand...

With a DSLR you will struggle with lenses that need to be calibrated, mirror vibration, lack of tools for precise manual focus when using the viewfinder, bulk, and other problems that by far will be more troublesome than the stripe issue.

Well, if enough togs jump up and down, I'm sure Sony will fix it...

...and "star eater" will become "meteor eater" too :-D