GRIII - Is my sensor damaged?

churchtree said:

Hi everyone,

I've just bought a brand new GR3.

I'm so happy about the image qualities but the other day, I noticed some strange vertical stripes on the superior right corner of a picture which I took on sunset.

It's very subtle but clearly noticeable when zooming in and scroll the image.

It may be caused by some reflection from the clouds but what's buggering me is how perfectly vertical and parallel those thick stripes are.

I don't know if I'm being too picky but has anyone experienced anything like this?

Should I report it to Ricoh?

I will carry on some more tests shooting at clear sky but I'd really like to hear your opinion.

Kind regards.

Click to expand...

Shoot some more sky scenes in similar lighting and with the same exposure and see if they reoccur. If not, don't worry, but if they do reappear, then talk to Ricoh about it.

And this is visible in the picture you shared?

I have looked very hard and can not see anything which should not be there!

Yes it is...

sprouty115 said:

Shoot some more sky scenes in similar lighting and with the same exposure and see if they reoccur. If not, don't worry, but if they do reappear, then talk to Ricoh about it.

Click to expand...

May be it has to do with the high-contrast of the sky then the building.

Should should take a similar scene and reframe to check if the bands are moving with the subject, or are attached to a specific position in the frame.

Are you using the latest firmware?

Could be some internal reflection, or the sensor being not so clean, or some buggy software processing.

Well after looking very carefully I can not see any vertical stripes even viewed at 100%. I can see some light stripes on a couple of the uprights which are maybe chromatic aberration caused by the brightness of the back light. Other than that I am mystified and before you ask, I do not carry a white stick but I can read the bottom line on the opticians chart!!

Maybe you can circle it for those of us who don’t see it?

Your first post. Welcome to the forum.

Old eyes here but I see clouds.

I looked at it with the loupe but don't see anything abnormal on my color calibrated screen. I wonder if it is perhaps your screen display. And are you sure it is displaying as sRGB; the wrong color space can conceivably cause banding? But if you can maybe crop out a little piece of the picture that shows it I might see what you mean.

I do see those stripes but only when the photo is scaled/fit to the viewing size.
You see some repeating brighter broad stripes (sunlight colour).
When you are zoomed in at 100% or use the loupe you don't see it.

In my opinion the cause is the reflection of the windows. Reflected light that shines into the lens elements of the GR lens.

As the others wrote: Take a photo of a monotone homogeneous coloured sky (blue or overcast white). If you don't see any patterns your camera is okay and it was only caused by the above mentioned reason.







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churchtree said:

Hi everyone,

I've just bought a brand new GR3.

I'm so happy about the image qualities but the other day, I noticed some strange vertical stripes on the superior right corner of a picture which I took on sunset.

It's very subtle but clearly noticeable when zooming in and scroll the image.

It may be caused by some reflection from the clouds but what's buggering me is how perfectly vertical and parallel those thick stripes are.

I don't know if I'm being too picky but has anyone experienced anything like this?

Should I report it to Ricoh?

I will carry on some more tests shooting at clear sky but I'd really like to hear your opinion.

Kind regards.

Click to expand...

I can clearly see the vertical stripes.

It could be a banding noise pattern from the sensor. But it could also be related to the lighting conditions and motive of that particular photo.

If the stripes are also present in other photos with different motives under different lighting conditions I personally probably would not consider that acceptable in a brand new camera. But that would depend on how strong the pattern is in those other photos.

As you yourself and other commenters have written: take a variety of photos of different motives including uniform surfaces and look for the stripes.

Maybe also check the processing. Does the noise occur in both OOC Jpegs and processed DNGs?

In the end only you can decide for yourself what is acceptable and what would make you return the camera.

I would advice to investigate the question within an eventual free return period (such as 14 day cancellation right period according to the EU consumer rights directive) to avoid discussions with the seller in the case you decide to want to return the camera.