stephan_hoerold

<p>Well, I'm one of those who usually doesn't buy v1.0 either (particularly cars). But I really wanted to upgrade ASAP as I'm selling my photos online. I thought Canon learned from the 1D debacle (focusing issues) and wouldn't release another camera that has problems. But I'm quite certain this will be fixed in firmware, so I'm not particularly upset.</p>

<p>I've just posted a new blog in response to the many comments found here and on other sites. In case you are interested (I compare it against an ISO 50 crop), you can read it <a href="http://glubsch.wordpress.com/2008/12/07/eos-5d-mark-ii-the-black-dot-phenomenon/">here</a> .</p>

I didn't realize my photos would create such an interest. I signed up with Photo.net just to participate in this thread :-)

 

Let me answer some of the questions here, even if they were already answered in my blog or somewhere else. The shots were taken in RAW format only. These spots show up even at ISO 100, though not as black holes. I've turned off all in-camera post-processing operations (though I don't think they apply on RAW shots anyway). My picture settings were set to "neutral" and Highlight Recovery was turned off. I Used ACR 5.2 in PhotoShop CS4 (trial version). I can see the same black spots using DPP (version 3.5.1.0) that came along with the camera.

 

Scott, I'm happy for others to pixel peep in my photos. That's why I posted them, albeit for demonstrating the camera's great noise performance, not to talk about the black dots :-)

 

I took a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge last Saturday during the golden hour. The photos were taken at ISO 100. Unfortunately the black holes are quite visible in that photo. It's early in the morning right now, but I hope to add another blog entry with an example later today. Since I set the camera to save RAW+JPG, I will be able to see if the spots occur there too.

 

I wish I knew who to contact at Canon to make them aware of this camera behavior. Not just an email that will get absorbed in the bowls of the corporate monster, but really to someone who's a subject expert. So if you know the right person, post it here. If you are hesitant to leave the contact info here in this thread, leave me a comment on my blog at glubsch.wordpress.com. I won't publish it (I have to approve all comments before they become public).