5d mark II strange black dots?

BearLeeAlive wrote in post #6832496
Wow, I just blasted through this thread. It would seem some folks have WAY too much time on their hands, and need to fill it with things to gripe about.Besides, IT IS JUST A CAMERA, nothing life threatening.

I swore I'd stay outta these equipment threads because of all the bashing in here, but my excitement (which I still feel) for the new camera I will be getting drew me here to see pictures and such. I will back out slowly and go away now.

It's a discussion, I for one am interested in this issue.
If it doesn't affect you then all is well for you.

I've been following this black dot thing and hoping Canon will fix this as soon as possible as I have interest to buy 5D mark II next year (at least waiting for some reviews). Well to be honest it's not that bad, but I don't want to spend more time trying to fix the black dot.
By the way I found interesting thread from Fred Miranda. It looks like the at least one 1D2N also has similar problem. Not exactly the same but it's there. and the bad news is Canon could not fix the problem.
here is the sample, hope the original poster doesn't mind.

Funny, I thought to try it with my 1DS2 but didn't bother. Interesting that it was only found on the 1D2N and not any other models from the same era.

And for those that can't see it in the above image, click through to the thread and see what is supposed to look like. I thought those things above the lights were the fixtures -- no -- those big black smudges are the same type of errors as the 5D2 (but apparently, worse).

Not seeing any Black Spots with my 50D.

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zman wrote in post #6832460
I did the "christmas tree" and other tests and could not reproduce it..... maybe not all cameras are affected.

Every poster thus far who claimed not to have them - have them. Post some links to full size images. This appears to be a universal problem, or feature, as the case may be. Maybe you are an exception; but I doubt it.

also it seems to happen on the right side of the image. The 100% crop you posted is from the left.

Check this out...

http://forums.dpreview​.com …rum=1032&messag​e=30276248

californiajay wrote in post #6833795
Check this out...

http://forums.dpreview​.com …rum=1032&messag​e=30276248

Thanks for the link, hopefully the "problem/disaster" will be a distant memory soon. I'll give it a try.

It's a bit heartening to see that by turning off features makes the problem go away. That seems to point to some software/firmware error and not a hardware sensor error. Firmware is easy to fix. One download and all is well. Replacing a image sensor is a nightmare.

Tsmith wrote in post #6832730
Not seeing any Black Spots with my 50D.

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I see them, bottom lights...this is only at 100%...we need 400-800 % haha for real

I think it's kinda wierd to beat dead horses, but here goes again.

To all the posts saying, "don't worry, it's only at high ISO," and "you're not going to see it in large print."...

Well, I'm a landscape photographer and a concert photographer. I remember when I used the first 5D as a back-up to my 1DSII for concert photography, and the pain in the butt it was to go through about 5,000 plus ISO 1600-3200 shots of a couple of concerts that all had that wavy set of lines that some reported in the 5D (and I wasn't aware of at the time). I'm not looking forward to dealing with the new "black spot" issue in the 5DMKII, and having to go in and use scripts to fix any issues with stage-lights or intense highlights on the performers (which are all through my concert images).

As for "it won't show up in print," I think that's a bit of a blunt statement. When making large panoramic landscape prints, I like giving the viewer the sense of being able to "walk into the picture" and see the veing in the blades of grass, grains of wood, and fine sparkles in water ripples. Sometimes, this is accomplished by printing at 100% magnification. If people are seeing it at ISO 400, and I was already excited with this camera about being able to shoot cleanly at ISO 800 if wildlife came into the mix...I'm not so crazy about the reports so far.

Am I going to get a 5D Mark II....yes, particularly because of the live-view/high resolution combination. Does that mean I should be happy with this black-spot issue, and wait months for it to be fixed? Of course not. I don't like the fact that the main reason I'm holding on to my current digitals, instead of selling them towards the purchase of the upgrade, is that I'm going to need a back-up not for physical damage or loss in the field, but because I'm not sure I can trust the processing performance of the 5DMKII until they fix it.

Is it possible that they'll have this fixed in the latest firmware fix in the coming weeks? Sure. Is it also possible that it'll take months, and I might be put in a position where I can't send it in to get fixed because I need it overseas for a shoot, and I can't chance waiting for them to return it in time before I go? You betchya.

Yes, it appears to be a wonderful camera. But please don't glibbly dismiss people's concerns. The less we bring these issues up, the slower it will take for Canon to fix.

Pete.

P.S. Here's a couple of shots (on a 1DSMKII and 5D respectively) that might be issues with this problems (sans the black&white conversion on the second pic):

californiajay wrote in post #6833795
Check this out...

http://forums.dpreview​.com …rum=1032&messag​e=30276248

Quick summary: turning off some settings eliminates the problem... now it's a matter of tracking if it's: highlight tone priority, lighting optimizer or noise reduction.

My totally wild guess would be highlight tone. Because.

I'm number two on the wait list at my local store. If the fix is this easy, then I'm in. Now to convince them that they can't jump the price to $3100 CDN when my special order I placed in September says $2700.

That's encouraging.

no issue with mine and looked at some overexposed and blown out highlights on very high ISO shots and I zoomed to 300%...because that's what we all do, right?

col4bin wrote in post #6834170
no issue with mine and looked at some overexposed and blown out highlights on very high ISO shots and I zoomed to 300%...because that's what we all do, right?

Pretty much, like what was done with Nikon's D200 in the initial release phase when banding was discovered on some of the D200 bodies. Never mind that it took extreme exposure settings and large blow ups to find it, and that 99+% of the users would never see it in the final prints.