Unusual Texturing in Photos

[bryan_kyan]

I had a K100D Super for 4 months and took about 5000 photos with it. I love

that camera, but I wanted the weather seals and more professional capabilities

so I picked up a K10D about 2 weeks ago and have been shooting with it. I have

used both the kit lens (18-55mm) for the K100D as well as a Sigma 17-25mm f2.8-

4.0. I like the way the camera handles, but I've noticed that there is a

distinct herringbone or diamond crosshatch pattern on all the photos. Last

week I attended a conference where I was the photographer and almost all my

photos have this visible pattern in them! It's not so noticeable in bright

light, but it shows up on dark colors quite strongly.

 

I shoot RAW and convert to TIF/JPG in Lightroom. I noticed that I could see

this patterning in the RAW file in Lightroom. I did a long, extensive Google

search on pattern noise in the K10D and noticed the VPN and HPN examples

posted, but I haven't seen this before. I get it with the Pentax and Sigma

lens both and at all ISOs and exposures. It's just more noticeable in lower

light/darker colors.

 

Below are links to full-size JPGs (about 5 to 7MB each). You can see the

diamond/herringbone pattern without zooming in.

 

 

First up is a fruit closeup with the Sigma lens. <A

HREF="http://images.bluemagister.com/IMGP0803.jpg">Fruits</A>

 

Next are shide at a Japanese shrine.

 

<A HREF="http://images.bluemagister.com/IMGP0580.jpg">Shide</A>

 

Last are some flowers.

<A HREF="http://images.bluemagister.com/IMGP0408.jpg">Flowers</A>

 

 

I really hope I am being stupid with this and it's something that won't require

a call to Pentax Japan.

[ken munn]

Hazarding a guess, but that looks like some pattern being generated by the sensor - has the

anti-aliasing filter in front of the sensor been damaged in some way?

[personalphotos]

There is something wrong for sure and I've never seen this before. Are you in Japan? Did you get the camera new or used and at a dealer? If a dealer, I'd return the unit. I'd guess you have a bad sensor.

[mc2imaging]

I tend to agree with the bad sensor theory...

 

Are you shooting at 10MP, or do you have the resolution dialed down?

[miserere_mei]

That's really weird... I assume you didn't forget to take the stocking off the front of the lens, right?

 

First thing I would do is upgrade the firmware to v1.3. If this is happening with v1.3, then I would call Pentax support.

[r.t. dowling]

That is strange. Almost reminds me of the weird pattern commonly seen on Fuji Frontier minilab film scans, except your pattern is more uniform.

[xpiotiavos]

Wow... very strange indeed. If it is a sensor issue, i'd say it looks almost like your AA filter is misaligned. it's like you have a moire pattern over your entire frame. very strange...

 

I agree with Mis, though. upgrading firmware (if you haven't already) couldn't hurt. although i'm not sure if it would help. seems like if it's a chip issue, your imaging algorithms are bugged, and i don't know if firmware would fix that.

 

 

is it possible to post a full res RAW file for us to look at?

[andrewg_ny]

Just to be thorough I would also see if the problem also occurs in in-camera JPEGs.

[ray_pulley]

That looks like the K10D grip banding.

 

Did you have the battery grip on the camera?

 

Some grips seem to create a noise or interference problem that creates that hatch pattern in the images.

 

Send the grip back to Pentax for repair or exchange.

 

You can search the DPreview site for K10D grip banding for more information about this.

 

Ray

[john_ferguson3]

I think the first thing I would do would be to use a different RAW processing program (such as Raw Therapee since it's free) just to see if the demosaicing algorhythm in the one your using is causing the problem. Chances are this isn't the problem, but it's a good idea to make sure.

[bryan_kyan]

Hi everyone!

 

 

First of all, thank you for the swift feedback! I talked to the people at the place I got the camera and they said it might be a rare CCD issue so I am taking it in tomorrow. Just to check, I called Pentax USA and talked to a product specialist and he said it might warrant a CCD replacement. He said to go ahead and take it in and Pentax Japan would definitely make it right.

 

For the record, I had firmware 1.3 on the camera the first day I got it and I have tried several RAW processors, including Silky Pix. I have no battery grip attached and I only use the genuine batteries to avoid power problems.

 

 

I'm glad I'm not just seeing things (almost had to quit my sake habit!) but I am quite sad that my new Sigma and Tamron lenses will have no playpal for the next few days in the sunny Okinawan spring weather.

[bryan_kyan]

Hi Everyone,

 

I just got my camera back today and all they did was change the sensor and test it. A few indoor test shots look OK, but I will put the camera through some paces tomorrow or Sunday and post anything interesting here.

 

As a side note: Whenever I read about someone getting "burned" by a company, I was able to sympathize, but I was never able to say that the same thing had happened to me until recently. I HAD a K100D that I took thousands of photos with and it worked like a champ, but I sold it shortly after the K10D purchase. I NEEDED that K10D to shoot photos at an international scientific conference just a few days later and 90% of those shots are not usable because of that noticeable texture. The only fix I could resort to was to wait 4 weeks, miss thousands of photos of Okinawa basking in 3 weeks of good weather AND get seriously scalded over the conference shots. Pentax's response was just a shrug. I lost money and future work because of it...and it's MY fault for picking what I thought was a quality camera and getting the one in a million defect...

 

So call me burned. I have Pentax glass, so I have to keep buying their cameras, but I swear I will only buy them in the future if I can take them out of the box and SEE that they work as I expect them to.

 

 

 

Now that I am commission-free for the next...few months, at least, maybe I can console my financial loss with snapshots of the island. I should've gone with a backup, ne?

[azemerov]

I think your fault was not picking "wrong" camera, but selling your K100D without comprehensive test of new camera. Especially if you new about upcoming events... I also had a problem with my K100D - burned flash circuit - and waited for 1 month for repair, so I understand your feeling.<br>

Unfortunately, nowadays QC of electronic, cameras, optic, etc. is much worse it used to be let say 20 years ago. "Try and replace" tactic is cheaper than comprehensive QC. Canon and Nikon follow the same approach, but they have much more facilities. So, if you are professional you should consider tech support aspect when choose the system, but also you just must have a backup camera!<br>

I hope you will enjoy your new body and after several months your grief will fade out.

[bryan_kyan]

Thanks, Alexander. I know I will feel better when I have taken a good 4000 or so photos and get them into Lightroom. I just feel irritable because I have been seeing hundreds of great shots...