Do I have a banding problem?

[johnd]

Hi all, I think my D200 has a banding problem.
This is a 200% crop of a high contrast image that I'm pretty sure shows severe banding.
Could I have your opinions please based on this image?



Cheers
John

[shutterbug]

Yes you do...send it back for service...should be a simple software update.

[Alpha_7]

Well I can see the banding, but at 200% thats some fairly serious Pixel Peeking. I haven't actually looked at any of my shots, I figured If I don't look for it, I won't find it.

[shutterbug]

Both my D200 have banding when I purchased them...all is good now after the software update by Maxwell.

[mark]

John - I couldn't honestly say, it looks like a form of banding but might more likley be a badly exposed shot.

Here is a link to what Ken Rockwell has to say about D200 Banding.

I was considering purchase of a D200 but was worried about all this talk of banding. After having read this artical, I ordered a D200.

[gstark]

John,

What's the contrast range here, as in what is the scope of the EVs that the sensor is trying to deal with?

This image seems to me to be so far beyond the expected range that the sensor is supposed to cope with, and it's a 200% crop, which as has already been suggested, is serious pixel peeping. How does the whole image look as a print?

Yes, the image is not perfect, but to me, I'd respectfully suggest that for the extreme conditions this small crop depicts, we're actually looking at an expected outcome.

If you see this problem in more "reasonable" (for want of a better word) situations, then yes, this might be an issue. But in this case I don't think so.

[shutterbug]

Do some test at home...

What I did was capture an image of my LCD corner, LCD is bright and frame of LCD is black.

Went into PS and the banding was just there. After the tune-p by Maxwell, it is all good now.

[johnd]

Thanks for the quick reply all.

The particular image was taken under extreme conditions. A dark forest with bright light coming in thru the trees.
As was noted by some, 200% is pretty serious peeping, but I was only doing that to demonstrate the problem.
Gary, I reckon it's about a 8 EV range, well beyond any CCD sensors capability. The image itself is a throw away, I was more worried that I might have some inherant problem.
I read Rockwell's article (thanks Mark) and it describes the exact sequence of setup, including ISO400 which I used in the particular shot.
In 8,000 other shots I haven't seen this banding, so it's clearly not a problem in normal circumstances.
I don't particularly want to part with my D200 while it goes back to Nikon for a couple weeks, so I'll let my "banding issue" drop.

Thanks for all the replies.
Cheers
John

[gstark]

John,

In 8,000 other shots I haven't seen this banding, so it's clearly not a problem in normal circumstances.

I think that's an important point that you've noted here: normal circumstances.

IMHO this image falls some fair distance beyond that scope, and I applaud your wisdom in choosing to accept this as an aberration brought about by the less than optimal conditions under which the image was made.