# Is there something wrong with my camera? (Sony Nex 5N)



## erotavlas (Feb 8, 2012)

I noticed this banding when I point towards brighter objects - when recording video.  This does not look normal to me..


http://flickr.com/gp/44293976@N07/9Z9849




Untitled-1 by _erotavlas_, on Flickr


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## o hey tyler (Feb 8, 2012)

The photo is small... and it's private. So I really can't tell you.

What kind of lights do you have in the room?  And what was lighting the paper?


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## erotavlas (Feb 9, 2012)

o hey tyler said:


> The photo is small... and it's private. So I really can't tell you.
> 
> What kind of lights do you have in the room?  And what was lighting the paper?



i enlarged it and provided a link that should work.

 the lighting over the paper was an incandecent desk lamp maybe about 60Watts, there was also a room light on (ceiling halogen)


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## kassad (Feb 9, 2012)

Where else are you seeing this effect?   Also the Orion Nebula shot is awesome.


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## Sw1tchFX (Feb 9, 2012)

Despite that it's a Sony, It looks like you shot it under florescents. Fluorescents aren't continuous lights.


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## erotavlas (Feb 9, 2012)

kassad said:


> Where else are you seeing this effect?



I went to the Sony store today and tried to duplicate the effect on a demo of the same camera.  I was actually able to reproduce it, which makes me feel a bit better.   However not sure what the chances are that the camera I tried also has a defect.  I'm thinking maybe they all behave this way - I haven't seen it in still images.  

I wonder if anyone else here can reproduce it on their cameras...



kassad said:


> Also the Orion Nebula shot is awesome.


Thanks  It was my first attempt at prime focus astrophotography,


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## erotavlas (Feb 9, 2012)

Incandescent lights are still flickering, although we don't perceive it.  Since they are powered by alternating current there is a constant spike and drop in the power making the bulb go brighter and then cool down very slightly.  

Do you think these cameras are sensitive enough to detect this?


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## dxqcanada (Feb 9, 2012)

Hmm, I think that is typical with video caused by shutter speed and frequency of the light source.
I don't use video on my camera so I cannot say much more than that.
Video DSLR Basics: Shutter Speed


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## erotavlas (Feb 9, 2012)

dxqcanada said:


> Hmm, I think that is typical with video caused by shutter speed and frequency of the light source.
> I don't use video on my camera so I cannot say much more than that.
> Video DSLR Basics: Shutter Speed



thanks!  that explains it.  I tested different shutter speeds and its true, there is no banding with certain speeds, and lots of banding with others (particularly the higher shutter speeds, in my case anyway) - even under incandecent light.  I'll post a You tube video later to demonstrate in case anyone is interested.


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## erotavlas (Feb 9, 2012)

I finished my video.  I cycle through all the shutter speeds between 1/4s and 1/4000s.  You can see as the shutter speeds become greater the banding gets worse - past around 1/80 s it starts to get more prominent.

Camera Sony NEX-5N
24p HD video (AVCHD mode)  shot under a 40 Watt incandescent lamp.
White Balance set to Incandescent
ISO set to AUTO
Shoot Mode set to Shutter Speed Priority


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## SJGordon (Feb 10, 2012)

erotavlas said:


> I finished my video.  I cycle through all the shutter speeds between 1/4s and 1/4000s.  You can see as the shutter speeds become greater the banding gets worse - past around 1/80 s it starts to get more prominent.
> 
> Camera Sony NEX-5N
> 24p HD video (AVCHD mode)  shot under a 40 Watt incandescent lamp.
> ...



Coming from an Electricians (and photographers) point of view your video is exactly what I would expect to see.  Even incandescent lights have flicker due to the nature of AC power.  The banding gets worse due to the number of frames increasing that is capturing the portion of the power wave feeding the light that is closer to the center or 0 voltage part of the cycle.  Of course at 60 cycles per second we cannot see it with our eyes, but anything capturing images at speeds close to or above that 1/60" you increase the odds of capturing that "darker" moment.  Because of the way a digital sensor captures images it shows up as bands of light and dark.  Remember that even with an increase in shutter speed the number of frames captured remains the same per second, so you have the problem of capturing that power fluctuation easier.  Same thing for all us still shooters who capture a couple images in the exact same lighting at virtually the same time (at 3-10 frames/second, faster shutter speed than 1/60") how there sometimes seems to be one or two that is slightly different light... yep, captured the flicker of even an incandescent. Florescent lights just multiply the problem.   

Just think of all those old Westerns where the bad guys were chasing down the stage coach (or the Heroine was trapped n a run away carriage) and it looked like the wagons wheels were turning backwards.  Same principal really.


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