Horizontal lines appearing on photos but only in low light

PeetyPeet

PeetyPeet

Messages
26
Name
Robert
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi guys,

Recently got myself a second hand Nikon D3. Works great......until used in low light at which point horizontal lines appear across the images. Have tried different memory cards, memory slots, and shooting modes but same result.

Know what this is? Any advice?

Many thanks

Peety

. DSC_10233839 low.jpg
 
Looks similar to high iso banding.
What was your camera settings
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Aperture priority, 24mm, f2.8, 1/80, ISO-4000 (auto) no exposure bias, 24mm
 
Your ISO is high but i would expect a D3 to start banding at say 25560 and certainly not 4000.
Is that a SOOC umage or has it been processed?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yes pretty much. Shot in RAW, converted to jpeg for posting. It looked just like this on the camera display. Is my D3 faulty?
 
It may be faulty but couldnt say for sure.
Does the banding disappear if you shoot low light at say 1600/3200 ISO?
 
Just tried. There still banding at 1600 although not as noticeable.
 
Sounds like a definite ISO banding issue but a potentially problematic one.
 
Thanks, yeah, as it stands my D3 is useless in anything less than good light. Any suggestions on a potential fix?
 
Im not sure there is a fix other than avoid high ISO situations.
Someone with more experience of the D3 might be able offer a better solution.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
LongLensPhotography said:
Did you ever shoot into the laser beams?
Click to expand...

The OP says he bought it S/H so it may have been a previous owner. I have used a D3 at hundreds of gigs over the past eight years since the D3 first came out, and whilst never deliberately pointing it at lasers I have never seen any ill effects even though I know it has caught laser beams at times.

Are you sure it is not a damaged sensor due to inappropriate cleaning that shows primarily at high ISO due to the sensitivity of the photosites on the sensor?
 
Last edited:
Personally, no I've never shot into laser beams. I've only had it month and this is the second time I've used it. First time was in daylight, with low ISO and no problems. How could I tell if the sensor is damaged? (it looks okay to look at with the naked eye). You can see banding at at least 1600.

Just tried a factory reset but made no difference.
 
Had a D3S with a similar issue but less severe, was advised by fixation that it would need sensor replacement to fix.
 
jpw said:
Had a D3S with a similar issue but less severe, was advised by fixation that it would need sensor replacement to fix.
Click to expand...

Yep, agree that whatever the cause, it probably needs a serious look at it.

Did you buy it from anywhere that has a guarantee?

Looking at it with the naked eye will tell you little. Anyway you will not be looking at the sensor, but the low pass filter on top of it. You would probably need a x8 - x15 eyeglass to see it properly.

http://www.fixationuk.com/Fixation/Fixation - Home/Fixation - Home.html
 
Last edited:
Man, that's a shame. I wonder if the previous owner knew? Hmm.

Okay, so actually, I have another D3. The rear display is faulty, however it still takes photos fine. Unfortunately it's stuck in Auto-iso 5000. I can't change this without accessing the menu. Would it be overly ambitious to change the sensors myself?
 
Thanks, I think it's fair to say I shouldn't try to change the sensor myself.
 
shreds said:
The OP says he bought it S/H so it may have been a previous owner. I have used a D3 at hundreds of gigs over the past eight years since the D3 first came out, and whilst never deliberately pointing it at lasers I have never seen any ill effects even though I know it has caught laser beams at times.

Are you sure it is not a damaged sensor due to inappropriate cleaning that shows primarily at high ISO due to the sensitivity of the photosites on the sensor?
Click to expand...

The lines are too straight to be caused by physical damage whilst cleaning.

It could be some bad, oxidised sensor contacts, not sure. One way or another it is probably best to pack them both and send to a good repair specialist.
 
Thanks for your input everyone. It seems it's the sensor that's at fault. It's a shame, cosmetically the camera is in great condition with only 10,000 actuations. I'm attempting to return it to the seller but they're being awkward. Anyone have any idea how much changing / repairing the sensor might cost?
 
Look on the Fixation website via the above link.

They have a list of sample prices (plus parts) so don't expect to be cheap unfortunately.

(I would guess that the £170 plus parts plus VAT is the absolute minimum....probably take it up to £400-600?. Might just be cheaper than buying a good condition D3 in perfect order.
 
Thanks, it's clearly not worth my hanging on to it. I'll continue the battle with the seller.
 
You could ask if by scrapping one for parts, they could create one good camera? Then you only have the labour charge and vat. Sell the remains on eBay. :D
 
Thanks, that's a good idea. I think I'd prefer the £800 refund for the most recently purchased one, but if that falls through I'll consider an amalgamation of the two. It's such a shame! Ostensibly it's in great condition and under 10,000 actuations!!

I also just discovered that with my older D3 with the faulty display, I can access the menu screen via my TV with an HDMI lead. I'm hoping this is a sign it won;t cost too much to repair.
 
Hope you are right, but it is usually the disassembly, and reassembly time that costs. Could feasibly be some duff electrical connection. Good luck anyway.

Of course you could just save for the forthcoming D5 :rolleyes:
 
shreds said:
Of course you could just save for the forthcoming D5 :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Man, what I wouldn't give for a D5! Alas, my current 'part-time-pro-hobby-with-benefits' status just doesn't justify it. If it weren't for this recent bad experience, I'd consider a second-hand D4 though.

LongLensPhotography said:
If you are going the amalgamation route then I'd consider replacing the LCD from the "new" one. Change of sensor is far worse job.
Click to expand...

Thanks, yes, I agree. The D3 with a faulty monitor has over 80,000 actuations however. So it's a shame I'll be abandoning a camera which under normal circumstances would most likely have a long life ahead of it.


The seller continues to refuse a refund upon return. His main issue is that I failed to report the fault until almost a month after receiving it. I've sent him images showing the problem - but to a lesser degree - which were taken within a few days of receiving the camera, and offered to send him SOOC versions for closer inspection. He claims he has images taken in low light proving the camera was in full working order at time of sale.....but has ignored my request to send them to me for inspection. I feel a little stupid for not testing the camera more extensively upon receipt, but having said that, surely it would be quite tough to check for every eventuality.

But anyway.......this is off-topic. Thanks again everyone for your help.
 
PeetyPeet said:
Thanks, yes, I agree. The D3 with a faulty monitor has over 80,000 actuations however. So it's a shame I'll be abandoning a camera which under normal circumstances would most likely have a long life ahead of it.


The seller continues to refuse a refund upon return. His main issue is that I failed to report the fault until almost a month after receiving it. I've sent him images showing the problem - but to a lesser degree - which were taken within a few days of receiving the camera, and offered to send him SOOC versions for closer inspection. He claims he has images taken in low light proving the camera was in full working order at time of sale.....but has ignored my request to send them to me for inspection. I feel a little stupid for not testing the camera more extensively upon receipt, but having said that, surely it would be quite tough to check for every eventuality.

But anyway.......this is off-topic. Thanks again everyone for your help.
Click to expand...

If its ebay / paypal I would simply push on with a formal claim.

BTW 80,000 is NOTHING for a camera of that caliber. 300,000 is quite common and they still keep shooting. It would be helpful to know why LCD failed though.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
If its ebay / paypal I would simply push on with a formal claim.

BTW 80,000 is NOTHING for a camera of that caliber. 300,000 is quite common and they still keep shooting. It would be helpful to know why LCD failed though.
Click to expand...

If its 'almost a month' means its under 28 days, then your case is far more likely to succeed.

Lodge a dispute with Paypal/credit card company, and eBay as they can in some circumstances reverse a payment if the goods are 'not of merchantable quality'.
 
Yes, I've opened a return-refund request, which the seller refused virtually straight away. I've just received some images from him via ebay and assuming metapicz.com can be trusted, 2 were taken a month before I purchased the camera, and 2 (the very low light ones) were taken on a different camera entirely (based on the embedded serial number). So I suppose I'll be waiting until I can get Ebay to step in.

Anyway, onto my D3 with a faulty LCD. It failed outside during a job. It wasn't raining, but it had been very foggy earlier in the day and there was still a damp atmosphere. Went to look at a preview and the screen started glitching - the picture was moving upwards and flickering. I let it run it's course and then tried to access again, this time just faint grey lines came across the screen. It's been that way ever since.
 
shreds said:
If its 'almost a month' means its under 28 days, then your case is far more likely to succeed.
Click to expand...

Alas, it's under a month since I received the camera, but over a month since I bought it. I have to wait until 12.2.16 before Ebay will step in apparently.
 
PeetyPeet said:
Alas, it's under a month since I received the camera, but over a month since I bought it. I have to wait until 12.2.16 before Ebay will step in apparently.
Click to expand...
Thats still near enough, hope you get satisfaction.

Regards the viewfinder, sounds like an electrical issue, possibly with the moisture shorting out some circuit. I cant say that water has ever bothered me with the D3, it has been bomb and waterproof as Pro stuff should be, but I suppose water has a way of finding its way in unfortunately.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top