Odd shutter problem with D610

Stu Meech

Stu Meech

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I wonder if anyone might be able to tell me what the problem with these photos are - I took the following shots at a friends wedding with my D610 & 70-200, and as you can see (if you view them in quick succession) that there is something odd going on but I am not sure what.

All shots had the same exposure (1/320th f/4 ISO6400), WB (Daylight), focus etc taken in very quick succession so I am absolutely perplexed as to what it is.

The same effect is happening with my 50mm lens too.

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No, bracketing was turned off. Yes, I am referring to the exposure being different, but also you can see on Shot 2 that the right hand side is darker than the left, even though the left hand side basically matches Shot 1.

If that makes sense! :-)
 
hmm, on 2 yes, there does look to be a slight graduation, maybe the teeniest amount on 3 but I can't see it at all on the other two, just the variance in apparent exposure. Are all your shots from the day exhibiting the same thing? It couldn't have been the sun going from out to in affecting ambient inside the church just at that moment? [sorry, just trying to eliminate the obvious first] Have you tested on a more evenly lit subject first of all? a blank outside wall for example on a cloudy day?
 
No worries, don't mind the obvious being pointed out! :-) The day was completely overcast (except for a couple of mins of light well before the ceremony) so I don't think it was that.

I have got loads of sequence shots from the day doing the same thing, so I think it was a problem I was suffering from all day.

I haven't tested it on a more evenly lit subject but could some time tomorrow.

(Thankfully I am not destined to make it as a wedding photographer, but I am so cool with that!!!)
 
It does look odd if it's occurring across the day and it may well be that you end up having to have it looked at/repaired but I would definitely try and do a more controlled test first so you can see properly exactly what is happening.

As for the pictures, I have seen much worse from people that get paid to do it ;)
 
Yv said:
It does look odd if it's occurring across the day and it may well be that you end up having to have it looked at/repaired but I would definitely try and do a more controlled test first so you can see properly exactly what is happening.
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I'll have a look tomorrow then and see if I can work out what might be happening.

As for the pictures, I have seen much worse from people that get paid to do it ;)
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Haha, you are too kind. Let's put it like this, I much prefer landscapes... But nothing a little straightening, cropping etc on the 1st shot wouldn't solve!
 
Fluorescent lighting?

Edit: Shutter speed is too fast and it's picking up only part of the light, that changes in brightness and colour during the cycle. New Canon 7D2 has a very clever feature that times the shutter opening to sync exactly with the cycle.
 
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HoppyUK said:
Fluorescent lighting?

Edit: Shutter speed is too fast and it's picking up only part of the light, that changes colour during the cycle. New Canon 7D2 has a very clever feature that times the shutter opening to sync exactly with the cycle.
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Hmm yes that's a good point, and one I hadn't thought of. The church was mainly daylight at the time but there was a (horrendous) mix of lighting sources supplementing this, a mix of tungsten, fluorescent, mercury halide etc.
 
Just read a couple more articles online that say the same thing about the refresh rate of florrie tubes with photography.

That's actually quite embarrasing as I work theatre industry as a Lighting Technician and I know exactly how florrie tubes work and their pitfalls etc! Every day is a school day....
 
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Bother! Richard beat me to it.
 
stumeech said:
Hmm yes that's a good point, and one I hadn't thought of. The church was mainly daylight at the time but there was a (horrendous) mix of lighting sources supplementing this, a mix of tungsten, fluorescent, mercury halide etc.
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There's the answer then. Just drop the shutter speed down to 1/100sec.

Modern light sources can be a nightmare, all sorts of colours and those flickering issues to work around. If you're using flash, you can at least try and balance that to the colour of the main continuous light source. But otherwise, I find the local adjustment tool in LightRoom can sort out most things pretty well. You wouldn't want to do that with a few hundred wedding pics though ;)
 
HoppyUK said:
There's the answer then. Just drop the shutter speed down to 1/100sec.

Modern light sources can be a nightmare, all sorts of colours and those flickering issues to work around. If you're using flash, you can at least try and balance that to the colour of the main continuous light source. But otherwise, I find the local adjustment tool in LightRoom can sort out most things pretty well. You wouldn't want to do that with a few hundred wedding pics though ;)
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Haha very true, I am working through the few hundred I took so once I've binned useless shots etc it shouldn't take too long.

Thankfully we lit the group shots (done in the Church as the wedding finished at gone 4.30pm so was dark outside) using speedlights so it hasn't affected them.
 
i had the exact same problem at my daughters wedding with different type of light bulbs in the same area
some came out nice colours some with different casts
i think i begin to understand now
 
That's the great thing about TP. One member's problem is an education for the rest of us.
Like you say, everyday is a school day.
 
As a vaguely interesting aside, this is a digital problem - never had it with film. Simply because film rarely got above ISO400, maybe ISO800 tops, so we never used the kind of faster shutter speeds that show the problem with fluorescents.

And fluorescent tubes/bulbs vary a lot in the overall colour they put out, and the extremes of colour from one end of the cycle to the other. In the kitchen for example, the small tubes above the worktops look quite natural to the eye, but take few pictures of them at 1/1000sec and they change from pink to green.

Also, the way that focal plane shutters scan over the sensor (running from top to bottom of the camera, which is bottom to top of the image) will often change the colour of the cast down the frame, or from left to right in a vertical shot.
 
I came across this when I started using a Nikon Df at weddings, previously I had to have a low shutter speed indoors due to ISO limitations but the Df allowed for much higher speeds to be used so I left it at 1/250s for most of the day. It was only when I reviewed the pics later that the annoying colour shifts became apparent, the ceremony and speeches sections were a pain to correct!
 
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