Optical Effect! Not VR or banding, guess what it is.

[dave_dube]

Thanks Shun! I had been somewhat lead in the direction of VR from what

other's were saying but it didn't quite fit.<P>So, many photos later ~ while

looking throught the view finder, I could see the same verticle line effect.

As it turns out, it's all out of focus fir needles. I can manually bring them

all into focus but they have to be backlite for the effect and they have to

cover a depth of 20-30 feet, have a shallow DOF and a tree line of firs about

600 feet in the distance for more verticle lines.<P>Kind of interesting how

this played out.<P>Again, thanks for all of your thoughts on this, Dave<div></div>

[ShunCheung]

So, another Nikon "banding" mystery resolved. :-)

[eajames]

In this example the effect is rather nice - especially now that you know it's not your 80-400mm giving you grief. Thanks for the follow-up.

[erik_loza]

Weird bokeh. What lens, again?

[bjørn rørslett]

Any object having a distinct outline and being quite close to the lens can be "replicated" into the OOF areas. Oldest trick in the book and used by nature photographers for ages. Try a flower next time. You'll be surprised if you havent't seen this before.

[dave_dube]

Erik, 80-400.