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Author Topic: A7III A7RIII banding question(s)  (Read 5557 times)

ski542002

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A7III A7RIII banding question(s)
« on: June 05, 2018, 12:10:07 pm »

Hi: Greatly enjoying my A73/A7R3 bodies although the only negative issue I'm having is with banding.  It seems to rear it's ugly head when shooting indoors under any kind of discharge lighting (can't remember the specific name of the lighting).  Usually at higher ISO's, and faster shutter speeds, above 125th/sec. Seems to be much worse when I try to use the silent shutter, to the degree that even in a quiet environment, I leave the silent shutter disabled. The Sony is a great, low light capable system, but the banding issue seems to throttle back the benefits of the cameras.  Are there any specific tips that would help with the banding issue?

Thanks in-advance for any suggestions.
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Telecaster

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Re: A7III A7RIII banding question(s)
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2018, 03:57:57 pm »

I used to see banding effects in pics taken with a Contax IIa rangefinder in my office building at (if I remember right) 1/50th sec. due to the shutter's interaction with the fluorescent lighting installed at the time. My solution was to use faster film and a correspondingly faster shutter speed. I'd try much the same thing in your case: either speed up or slow down the shutter 'til the banding goes away.

-Dave-
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scooby70

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Re: A7III A7RIII banding question(s)
« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2018, 11:57:26 am »

Stay away from the electronic shutter when shooting under flickering artificial lighting.

This isn't just a Sony A7x issue, it happens with my Panasonic cameras when using the electronic shutter too and I presume it happens with Fuji and Canon etc.
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BernardLanguillier

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Re: A7III A7RIII banding question(s)
« Reply #3 on: June 10, 2018, 06:46:17 pm »

Stay away from the electronic shutter when shooting under flickering artificial lighting.

This isn't just a Sony A7x issue, it happens with my Panasonic cameras when using the electronic shutter too and I presume it happens with Fuji and Canon etc.

The issue also occurs with the D850 when using silent shutter.

Now, I am more worried about the report by the OP that the banding also seems to occur when not using silent shutter. Could you please elaborate on this?

Thank you.

Cheers,
Bernard

Telecaster

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Re: A7III A7RIII banding question(s)
« Reply #4 on: June 11, 2018, 08:21:43 pm »

Now, I am more worried about the report by the OP that the banding also seems to occur when not using silent shutter.

Yeah, this is why I brought up the Contax IIa example. With that camera the (mechanical) shutter interacted badly with the fluorescent lighting in my office at the time. At least it did when set to a particular speed…I think it was 1/50th sec. but I'm not positive. The effect was very similar to the electronic shutter banding seen nowadays with various cameras. But with film, of course.

-Dave-
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scooby70

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Re: A7III A7RIII banding question(s)
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2018, 12:40:17 pm »

Yeah, this is why I brought up the Contax IIa example. With that camera the (mechanical) shutter interacted badly with the fluorescent lighting in my office at the time. At least it did when set to a particular speed…I think it was 1/50th sec. but I'm not positive. The effect was very similar to the electronic shutter banding seen nowadays with various cameras. But with film, of course.

-Dave-

Yup.
With the electronic shutter it's caused by the speed of the electronics and changes in lighting levels as it flickers and I'd imagine that with a mechanical shutter similar effects could happen depending upon the speed of capture so the obvious thing to do would be to change the shutter speed.

I saw banding with my Panasonic G7 and GX7 but the later GX80 and GX9 seem much better. I've not seen any with my first generation A7, that camera doesn't have either an electronic or silent shutter option.
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NancyP

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Re: A7III A7RIII banding question(s)
« Reply #6 on: September 06, 2018, 11:26:04 am »

Recent Canon cameras have had an anti-flicker program for shooting under fluorescent lighting (common in sports arenas) - I don't know how it works, because I don't shoot under those conditions. Sports photographers like the feature.
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digitaldog

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Re: A7III A7RIII banding question(s)
« Reply #7 on: September 06, 2018, 12:04:08 pm »

Are you sure the banding is in the data (raw) and not in the video display path?
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ErikKaffehr

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Re: A7III A7RIII banding question(s)
« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2018, 03:16:53 am »

Hi,

It would be helpful if you shared some images.

Some light sources flicker and they can do that with high frequency.

Best regards
Erik


Hi: Greatly enjoying my A73/A7R3 bodies although the only negative issue I'm having is with banding.  It seems to rear it's ugly head when shooting indoors under any kind of discharge lighting (can't remember the specific name of the lighting).  Usually at higher ISO's, and faster shutter speeds, above 125th/sec. Seems to be much worse when I try to use the silent shutter, to the degree that even in a quiet environment, I leave the silent shutter disabled. The Sony is a great, low light capable system, but the banding issue seems to throttle back the benefits of the cameras.  Are there any specific tips that would help with the banding issue?

Thanks in-advance for any suggestions.
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Erik Kaffehr
 

Tom Montgomery

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Re: A7III A7RIII banding question(s)
« Reply #9 on: September 26, 2018, 05:52:18 pm »

The A7RIII (don't know about the A7III) has an anti-flicker setting that the manual claims will reduce this problem. Does this not work?  I haven't tried it on mine, which I've only had for 1 week.
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NancyP

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Re: A7III A7RIII banding question(s)
« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2018, 10:03:14 pm »

Most lamps (incandescent, fluorescent, cheap LED) flicker at twice the frequency of your local alternating current/mains/wall current - so if your local AC rate is 60 per second, you will get flickering rate of 120 per second. Some LEDs may have high-frequency flicker instead, because an extra circuit is present within the bulb for converting from mains frequency to high frequency. You can imagine all sorts of interesting effects when a moving shutter slit and bulb flicker meet.
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