Canon EOS 760d - sensor issues resolved?!

Hello all

I am thinking about upgrading from my 550d to a 760d. However, while looking into that, I read on a few (mostly German) forums or reviews that the 760d has some sensor issues. One seemed to concern spots or points on the sensor. Canon seems to have addressed that issue successfully.

A second issue, however, appeared to point towards a design "flaw" in the sensors used which results in horizontal stripes in pictures. Canon claims this only happens when the pictures are edited heavily; yet reviewers claim it is visible in unedited or weakly edited pictures.

There is even a thread on here that brushed the question. I have, unfortunately, not found any information whether that is still a problem or if it was a problem at all.

Could any one of you point me in the direction of useful information in case it has been answered or resolved? Thanks in advance.

M.

I've had my US version, the T6S, for a few months and have taken hundreds of shots with it.  I have not seen any artifacts with either unprocessed or processed pictures.  On my sample, the images are very clean with no indication of any sensor issues.

Kaso wrote:

In some units of the models listed below, the following phenomenon may occur due to irregularities on an optical layer located in front of the image sensor:

White spots may exist on the optical layer which may result in the appearance of dark circular patterns on the captured image under certain shooting conditions.

Thank you for the information. This refers to the circular patterns on the sensor. That seems to be resolved. What I was further interested in was the reports that you might get stripes in the pictures due to this supposed sensor flaw. Something to do with the two layers for AF.

But it seems that so far nobody here has encountered this problem. So I am not sure what I actually read or whether people were making stuff up.

Will keep my mind open, but the 760d seems to get closer.

M.

I haven't noticed any issues with my 760D (that aren't a direct result of my own making/stupidity), and I'm into 1000's of images so far.

My T6s was bought in December of 2015, I have over 4k pictures taken now and have had zero issues with anything you have described.

The sensor defects occurred with some of the initial Canon 760D units.  I thought Canon was really sloppy with their quality control and did a poor job of handling the recall.  Canon wanted the whole issue to vanish rather than acknowledge or explain the issue.

Anyway that issue was long since resolved.  In terms of an "upgrade" you might think twice.  You are not going to see much improvement in image quality or camera capabilities.  Unfortunately the rate of improvement in digital cameras seems to have all but halted.  The 760 series is likely to be replaced in the near future.  You might want to wait a bit longer to see what upgrades are coming.

jrkliny wrote:

The sensor defects occurred with some of the initial Canon 760D units. I thought Canon was really sloppy with their quality control and did a poor job of handling the recall. Canon wanted the whole issue to vanish rather than acknowledge or explain the issue.

Anyway that issue was long since resolved. In terms of an "upgrade" you might think twice. You are not going to see much improvement in image quality or camera capabilities. Unfortunately the rate of improvement in digital cameras seems to have all but halted. The 760 series is likely to be replaced in the near future. You might want to wait a bit longer to see what upgrades are coming.

Thanks for everyone's kind words. I did check again and found the report about stripes in the pictures on the German Amazon from last year. That's what made me unsure. However, I did not really find widespread evidence of this problem; only occasional mentions without any solution. So it seems it was either a fluke or maybe an older unit the reviewer had.

Concerning the upgrade: I was mostly impressed with the accurate AF when I tried the camera in the store. I really have the feeling it is way above my old 550d. But maybe you are right. The 760d is already 2 years old, a new model seems likely. Or maybe I will invest the money in better lenses instead.

mensreaTHR wrote:

Kaso wrote:

In some units of the models listed below, the following phenomenon may occur due to irregularities on an optical layer located in front of the image sensor:

White spots may exist on the optical layer which may result in the appearance of dark circular patterns on the captured image under certain shooting conditions.

Thank you for the information. This refers to the circular patterns on the sensor. That seems to be resolved. What I was further interested in was the reports that you might get stripes in the pictures due to this supposed sensor flaw. Something to do with the two layers for AF.

But it seems that so far nobody here has encountered this problem. So I am not sure what I actually read or whether people were making stuff up.

Given that this is the complaints department for Canon, it's a good sign that we haven't come across this...

Will keep my mind open, but the 760d seems to get closer.

M.

photosen wrote:

Given that this is the complaints department for Canon, it's a good sign that we haven't come across this...

I am not quite sure what you are trying to say. But thank you.

I would actually consider an upgrade to the Canon 80D instead, if your budget allows for it. Going from the 550D to the 760D isn't that much of an upgrade; going to the 80D makes more sense.

There is an argument that says that when the new camera is released it will be expensive, but the remaining examples of the previous model might get cheaper.

I think we've reached the point when any DSLR is "good enough". There will always be a newer model to tempt us, but I think the differences between old and new are getting very small.

there's another reason to get the 760d over the 80d - the 80d is heavier than the 760d.

and for me, there are a couple reasons i prefer the t6i (760d) over the t5i - two control dials instead of one plus that handy top screen.  depending on how you shoot, that could make moving up worth doing.

patticake wrote:

there's another reason to get the 760d over the 80d - the 80d is heavier than the 760d.

and for me, there are a couple reasons i prefer the t6i (760d) over the t5i - two control dials instead of one plus that handy top screen. depending on how you shoot, that could make moving up worth doing.

I replaced my old 40D with a T6S, and chose it over the 80D.  The 80D is a superb APS-C camera, but I also wanted something smaller and lighter.  The price difference is not huge, but the T6S is a bit less.  I have been very pleased with the T6S overall, but the small battery can be a handicap on an otherwise excellent camera.  The 80D has much better battery life, which is a big advantage.  With the T6S, I won't go out with it at all unless I'm carrying two batteries.  For now, the T6S can do everything I want it to so, even with its relatively poor battery life,  it's not going anywhere.

patticake wrote:

there's another reason to get the 760d over the 80d - the 80d is heavier than the 760d.

and for me, there are a couple reasons i prefer the t6i (760d) over the t5i - two control dials instead of one plus that handy top screen. depending on how you shoot, that could make moving up worth doing.

The 800D will have the latest sensor with DPAF. That could also be a viable alternative.

http://photorumors.com/2017/02/09/canon-eos-800d-pictures-and-specifications-leaked-online/

ThePointblank wrote:

I would actually consider an upgrade to the Canon 80D instead, if your budget allows for it. Going from the 550D to the 760D isn't that much of an upgrade; going to the 80D makes more sense.

Hello

thanks for the advice. I kind of followed it, but with the 70d. I looked around and also thought that 550d to 760d might not be the biggest step. So I looked further, found the 80d and saw it is outside my budget. But I found a used 70d from a photo studio that was rarely used even with the screen protection intact and the price was more than acceptable. So I went and bought it.

Now, however, I have to get used to the weight difference, which is significant. But it seems I am beyond the point-and-shoot holiday snaps. So so hopefully, it will work out fine.

Thanks to all who shared their insights.

M.

Congrats, excellent choice. You won't regret it.

There is currently a thread on a Canon forum with a report of banding on a T6S that was purchased in December.  One of the responses quotes a Canon explanation that this is caused by low pixel density in the AF section of the sensor, and is only visible with very heavy processing.   So, it is apparently not a defect but rather a characteristic of the sensor.  I have done some heavy processing on a large variety of pictures, and I have not yet seen this effect.  The poster who started the thread posted two pictures which do not appear to have been heavily processed, so this one may actually be a defective sensor.

Kameratrollet wrote:

Stan in NH wrote:

There is currently a thread on a Canon forum with a report of banding on a T6S that was purchased in December. One of the responses quotes a Canon explanation that this is caused by low pixel density in the AF section of the sensor, and is only visible with very heavy processing. So, it is apparently not a defect but rather a characteristic of the sensor. I have done some heavy processing on a large variety of pictures, and I have not yet seen this effect. The poster who started the thread posted two pictures which do not appear to have been heavily processed, so this one may actually be a defective sensor.

http://community.usa.canon.com/t5/EOS-Rebel/Rebel-T6I-Sky-Banding/td-p/200363

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30169

http://www.exclusivearchitecture.com/?page_id=1332

About focus pixels in raw video https://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=m5gblvgvgbeoetubm4akiudh67&topic=16054.0

I have now read quite a bit about this banding issue.  Although it appears to be part of the sensor design, not everyone has been able to replicate the problem  There are reported cases of this showing up in normal RAW or JPEG files, but most appear after heavy processing and/or stacking.  There may be two issues here ... one an actual production defect in the sensor, and the other an inherent design issue.

On my own T6S, I have been unable to produce any visible banding even after heavily post processing some sample pictures.