Practical Photography

The Canon 5D Mark II has been causing problems with images and users have eprted found black dots appearing on the right side of some of their photos. Canon have now released a statement about these mysterious black dots and other faults affecting their new digital SLR.

Thank you for using Canon products.

We have learned that some users of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR camera have indicated two types of image quality phenomena that appear under certain shooting conditions.

1. “Black dot” phenomenon (the right side of point light sources becomes black)
2. Vertical banding noise

We are currently investigating ways to improve and/or mitigate these phenomena. An announcement will be made on the Canon Website when measures to address these phenomena have been decided.

The phenomena are likely to occur under the following shooting conditions.

1. “Black dot” phenomenon (the right side of point light sources becomes black) When shooting night scenes, the right side of point light sources (such as lights from building windows) may become black. The phenomenon may become visible if the images are enlarged to 100% or above on a monitor or if large prints of the images are made.
2. Vertical banding noise If the recording format is set to sRAW1, vertical banding noise may become visible depending on the camera settings, subject, and background. The following camera settings can reduce the phenomenon.

• Set the recording format to RAW or JPEG.
• Set C.Fn II-3: Highlight tone priority to 0: Disable if the recording format is set to sRAW1.
• The vertical banding noise is not noticeable if the recording format is set to sRAW2, but please set C.Fn II-3: Highlight tone priority to 0: Disable if you are concerned about noise.

Canon always strives to provide the highest quality products to our customers. We apologise for any inconvenience these phenomena may have caused. We appreciate your kind patronage and support.