Weird overexposure problem (odd pattern) D300

[nina_myers]

Hello! <br>

Went out last night, to a dark park with a bright light. <br>

Had my D300, the Nikkor 35mm f/2 on it, and it was the first time i've done a long exposure with this lens.<br>

Now, i've done MANY (Over 1000) long exposures with this D300 before, using the 50mm 1.8 and the Tokina 12-24,

and i have NEVER seen this before. It looks like an Egyptian pattern of sorts. <br>

this photo was taken at 2.8, 1/3 of a second. I had taken another one shortly after at f/8 and 13 seconds, and

the same thing showed up, in the same area around the light... and now that i think about it, in the same area of

the sensor... <br>

Take a look, and let me know what you know about this. <br><br>

 

Sensor gone bad?<br>

Normal for overexposure?<br>

Should i be scared, or do more tests, using different lenses?<br><br>

 

AHHHHHHHH <br><br>

 

1800x1200 <br>

500k<br><br>

 

<a href="http://www.gogo7188.ca/extra/uhoh.jpg">Take a look</a>

[paul_b.1]

Looks like some kinda of CA + (or) lens flare....Try a slightly diffrent angle of view. I don't think the sensor is the problem.

[seismiccwave]

Not knowing all your history it is pretty hard to nail down what caused the problem. However from reading your post I can

tell you that the problem is associated with your lens. More specifically your Nikkor 35 mm f2. Since you have never

seen the symptoms with your other two lenses in the past thousands of times that ruled out a lot.

 

Did you have a filter on your 35 mm f2 lens. Do you have a smudge on the front element of your lens. Did you use a lens

hood?

 

I don't see any Egyptian pattern from your image. I do see some purple blotches in the area you have blown up. As Paul

said that looked like some chromatic aberration. Try to do the same with your other lenses and see if you see the purple

blotches again.

[nina_myers]

Hmm, i also think it's the lens, but i'm scared to do more tests, just in case it 'harms' the sensor.

I used a marumi UV filter, then took it off, and it did the same thing. No hood, but that's not the problem, since the light source is in the frame...

 

Here's the egyptian pattern i was talking about...<div></div>

[walterh]

Two possible explanations come to mind:

 

1) flare - you have a number of bright light sources in the frame. Is there any reason not to assume the obvious?

 

2) Old Egyption goddess? Somewhat stealthed but magically visualized by modern technology :-)

 

I personally would go with explanation #1 even though as occasional viewer of star gate command I fancy

explanation #2 :-)

 

Unless you get the same sensor area to show similar patterns in very different scenes with no bright light

sources in the frame I would not worry.

 

By the way if the light sources are "strong" for a night time shot and not "strong" for a daylight shot you

cannot harm the sensor.

[nina_myers]

OK thanks.

I'm just worried about these electronic thingies... I never know what, short of an eclipse, will harm my sensor... lol.

So, assuming it's flare, and this 35mm f/2 doesn't like it, i'm still wondering what that pattern is...

Is it the sensor?

Is it some sort of filter?

It's kinda neet eh?

Has ANYone seen that before?

 

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... SHUN! Help!

 

lol

[ShunCheung]

Looks like flare to me.

[dwight200]

The pattern looks to me like jpg artifacts. You can see some artifacts on the column on the left side of the blowup. The strange purple lines look similar, but more pronounced.

[dwight200]

Another possibility: it does look like there's a strong light source in there. It's daytime. Could the light source be some strange color temperature? That would produce white balance problems locally, and therefore generate the purple cast.

[mats nilson photography]

<p>Flare, yes there's flare, but that must be some otherworldly flare if that should be the only problem. Just look at

that second image! It's the darndest thing I've seen! And I haven't seen jpeg-artifacts behaving like that, either. They

just simplify things into blocks of eight pixels, but this looks like a multicolour printed circuit board!</p>

 

<p>Looking forward to a plausible explanation, 'coz I can't think of one.. How about asking <a

href="http://support.nikontech.com/cgi-bin/nikonusa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?

p_faqid=238&p_created=1031157067">Nikon support</a>? (assuming you live in the USA)</p>

[nina_myers]

Mm, another thing, this is straight from RAW. I didn't shoot RAW+JPEG, so i'm not sure if it's just a RAW thing...

The purple, i understand. The pattern is something i've never seen before. Shun, did you see the second image?

Also, this was a long exposure, taken at night.

[ShunCheung]

Not sure about the 2nd, but the 1st one is clearly flare.

[phule]

[[Not sure about the 2nd, but the 1st one is clearly flare.]]

 

The second one is just a crop of the first, is it not?

[phule]

Nina,

 

This is what some call "Maze Artifacts"

 

http://hannemyr.com/photo/defects.html#maze

 

It's recommended you try a different RAW converter.

[phule]

B.t.w. in browsing posts on dpreview.com, it seems like the D70/D70s are more likely to produce results like this than other Nikon cameras possibly due to a weaker anti-aliasing filter. As mentioned in the defects site I linked to, there is some connection to moire.

 

Because the flare in your image is the larger of your problems, a different RAW converter is the solution to reducing the maze artifacts only. Had you not had flare in your image, you probably would not have seen the maze artifacts in the first place.

[nina_myers]

Wow Rob, you found it!<br>

Thanks so much...<br>

I tried two other RAW converters, and they showed the same maze pattern, however, all the patterns were

different. Capture NX showed a more grid like maze, while Bibble showed something more similar to Lightroom. <br><br>

 

Well, as long as it isn't harmful to the sensor, that's all i was worried about.<br>

Thanks to all who contributed, and yes Shun, the second image is just a better crop of the first.<br><br>

 

And BTW, after seeing the flare produced in the first image, i shot it again at f/8 to see the difference.<br>

The maze was still there, even with flare reduced.<br>

here is that image :) the maze is barely visible, but there<br><br>

 

<a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3200/3058613179_4ffaf1f928_o.jpg" title="Untitled by NinaMyers, on

Flickr"><img

src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3200/3058613179_4ffaf1f928_o.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="" /></a><br><br>

 

 

Thanks all! <br>

If anyone knows anything else about this maze pattern, please, i'm all ears.

[phule]

I'm not seeing any maze in the reduced size image. Can you provide a crop of the area similar to your "uhoh2" upload?

[nina_myers]

here's a crop of the zame area... it's darker, zo you have to zoom in to zee the maze... lol<div></div>

[dean]

Nice scene. :)

 

Kind of a bizarre occurrence. I just don't trust that Lightroom. :D