Stripes - how to correct?

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>Russ: Where can we buy this <em>true</em> 1600 ISO colour film you talk about?</p>

<p>When I was using film the ISO ratings seemed to stick at around 400 - no matter what number was actually printed on the box, and I got this really coarse speckled noise all over my pictures, even at 400 ISO. I think it was called "grain" or something like that. </p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>OK. I've just been able to duplicate the banding effect with my own D700 at 6400 ISO by taking the reflection of the pop-up flash in a mirror. I had to wind the aperture down to f/32 and the flash power down to 1/128th to get the light levels and exposure low enough though. At 1600 ISO the effect was there at a much reduced level, and wouldn't be noticed unless you were looking hard for it.</p>

<p>I think the real issue is one of exposure level, and the answer is to use a wider aperture to give the camera something to work with. That and not getting a very bright light in the frame!</p>

[MichaelChang]

<blockquote>

<p><em>"I think the real issue is one of exposure level"</em></p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>More specifically, I think it's the degree of pixel saturation and how the electronics handles severe overloads to avoid entire rows of pixels to saturate sympathetically.</p>

<p>The way to avoid pixel saturation is to reduce gain (ISO) or aperture so overload conditions are avoided. Given the intrinsic low noise of the D700, underexposing and bringing up the gain in post processing appears to be a viable solution without a significant noise penalty. </p>

[kari_oinonen]

<p>Russ, Tom, Joe and others. The problem seems to have been clarified, but not solved. Maybe engineers and scientist at company N are aiming to solve this at the moment.<br>

Like Tom noted, the problem needs high ISO AND very high contrast AND dark areas in the view to emerge.<br>

Cheap film cameras, yes. In my plastic box there is one FE2 and one F100. The lid is not yet closed permanently. Using Velvia 100F in F100 produces very high quality images, but I had to get D700 because they started to double the film and processing costs every second year.<br>

Now with digital I am able to crank the ISO up and down freely. That is one of the big benefits. My digital age is only little less than half a year. Not so much yet. This far the discussed blooming is the only real flaw-feature in D700, that I have seen.<br>

All the best to you - Kari</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>Let's get real here. The sort of handheld shots we're talking about would simply not have been possible 3 or 4 years ago, and yet we're moaning about the quality of them and the camera that produced them! What we should actually be doing is marvelling at their very existence and praising the gods of photography that we live in such times.</p>

<p>In ye olde days of film, 6400 ISO colour capture was the stuff of pure fantasy or self-delusion. Yet below are two shots taken in late evening light at 1/160th and 1/320th of a second at f/2. Let me repeat that: <em>one three-hundred and twentieth of a second. </em>And the shot taken at 3200 ISO is near perfect, as the 100% inset shows. I didn't even have to open the lens up to its maximum of f/1.4 or lean on a wall or use VR or anything. I just stood there and snapped them - incredible!</p>

<p>All I need now to make my boyhood dreams come true is a 10:1 zoom ratio f/1 lens with perfect edge definition and no distortion.</p><div></div>

[rustys pics]

<p>Funny how quickly people jump on any post which has to do with film. I merely suggested one possible alternative, which is a high quality color negative film and a tripod. No you can't crank color film up to ISO 6400. However I used to process Kodak Recording film at 6400 ISO, and TMAX 3200 at 12.500 ISO quite a bit.... The fact that we're here discussing an inherant problem with digital sensors in night photography proves there "ain't no free lunch". I use digital quite a bit for Night shots. I use film too. Color Negative processing has not doubled every year, and it's easy to scan. If you have not shot Kodak Ektar 100 then you really should at least try a roll.</p>

[kari_oinonen]

<p>Maybe, the lesson again is: know your tools ( skills and your subject). Now I know sensor blooming can exist and so I can avoid it in most cases.<br>

The same applies to lenses. None is perfect. Many are good. Most important is to know how to avoid situations where problems arise.<br>

And then, break some rules.</p>