GH1 vertical and horizontal line artifacts

Essami

Essami

Well-known member
Hi,

Im seeing both vertical and horizontal artifacts on my images and I did a few rough tests tonight to determine best ways to work around this.

Vertical artifacts are visible mostly on skin areas at all ASA numbers if I'm underexposed even slightly. Vertical lines are sharp, a few pixels wide and always fixed.

Horizontal line artifacts appear roughly after you are at or go higher then 400 asa. Its on all of the image but more visible on dark areas, they are thicker then vertical line artifacts, blurry and also seem to fluctuate slightly.

So to me at the moment my conclusion is if you want clean image you need to shoot under 400 asa and do not underexpose. If I'm going to be under exposed and there is no alternative but to go higher asa I find 400 asa just about usable for my own art stuff but not for pro work. If it's pro work prepare to light it up :)

Sami
 

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I just got mine about 30 days ago, and just recently had a chance to capture video. I see vertical lines also, more visible when in low light, they are yellow like and seem to some what discolor the overall image. I noticed them since day one but I thought it may be the lcd display but now I see that it is the actual captured video that has them. I did tests in low & bright areas in different ISO but if you look closely, the lines are always present but it is just not as dominant when there is more light. Do you know if this is normal, I looked around but no one has any input, some people say that they fade after time, another guy said he sent his back. I wonder if it may be the lens but does not seem like this would be the cause, I am waiting on my Kikon lens adapter and will test again.
 
Those lines are part of the way the CMOS sensor operates. They will occur in areas that are 3 stops underexposed. Really dark areas (near true black) or properly exposed areas are unaffected. These lines are more noticeable when a high ISO is used to brighten under-exposed areas.

You can still shoot high-contrast if you do it right. This camera may be good low light but that is no excuse to take it into crazy conditions where you would not dream of taking another camera.
 
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cant' see anything in the 2nd image? first is barely visible unless you look for it. i see two vertical lines next to her index finger. then there's some horizontal in the 3rd in the background. illya has said a few times already, don't go past 400 iso.
 
Car3o said:
cant' see anything in the 2nd image? first is barely visible unless you look for it. i see two vertical lines next to her index finger. then there's some horizontal in the 3rd in the background. illya has said a few times already, don't go past 400 iso.
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Theres some lines in the 2nd pic as well but it's true you can't see them on a still that well. It more pronounced when actually looking at the footage. But yeah, Im getting good stuff out of the camera. Like with everything you need to find the limitations and work around them :)
 
Okay I have taken 3 screen caps, so you guys can see what I am looking at, one is very low light the other 2 are outside. The vertical lines are present and after looking more closely, they are yellow like , red and blueish. Again they are fixed so they do not move.

I even tested at all ISO's and it is present. Here some pictures of what I am looking at.

LOW LIGHT:
i39.photobucket.com/albums/e162/liquidchild21/Picture1.png

OUTSIDE DAYLIGHT:
i39.photobucket.com/albums/e162/liquidchild21/Picture2.png

i39.photobucket.com/albums/e162/liquidchild21/Picture3.png
 
Yes I read it. The thing is that the lines seem to always be there only when there is a transition in light to dark or just dark is when they become really noticed, as you can see from the pictures the bike is well lit but the background is not and this is where the lines become visible. The problem with this is, that even if you have a well lit subject the background will have the line issue, but if it is just a draw back in the overall camera I guess I an deal with it. I wish that Panasonic would perhaps would note it for the user, however It does concern me that other users have sent in their GH1's to Panasonic for having a vertical lines and the fact that Panasonic took them in for repairs. I guess I am left with decision of send it back or not, this is the reason why I seek the councel of the community. Thank you guys.
 
Just keep an eye on the ISO. If you set the ISO to auto, GH1 will be very reluctant to go to ISO 400 and rather underexposes the scene by 1-2 stops. This intensifies the banding/line problems in the shadow areas. You should manually control ISO so that it does not underexpose and pay attention to the shadow. However as the ISO rises, noise will eventually creep in. I think in generally you should be able to get relatively clean images at ISO <800 -1250. Not sure about ISO 1600. If you have a fast lens, such as the 20/1.7 and 50/1.4, you never really need to shoot at such high ISOs.
 
I'm getting serious vertical, yellow streaks down my image even on lower ISO settings. Screw it, I'm returning this camera and going for the 7D.
 
dominichicks said:
I'm getting serious vertical, yellow streaks down my image even on lower ISO settings. Screw it, I'm returning this camera and going for the 7D.
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kit lens? what iso? even on lower iso settings such as iso what? listen, not to offend you but the majority of people are getting these so called streaks, yellow lines are because they're pushing the limits on their lowlight. i've plenty shot and haven't run into to issues that some are clamoring on and on about. if you're expecting to have the night vision gh1, then yes, return it for the 7d.
 
John Caballero said:
People want to shoot Hollywood worthy movies with a couple of bulbs shinning by. Sorry can't be done.
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Apparently. I get vertical banding when I severely underexpose my shot..i.e. I shoot weddings and I'm using the slow kit lens during the ceremony...and not using any lights...and it's super dark in the venue. This is NOT a good wedding ceremony camera. But at the reception, I slap on the 20mm f1.7 and a Switronix TL50 LED on-cam light (which I use VERY RARELY and at the lowest settings), and the footage blows me away. It's an awesome wedding reception combo...and no banding in the darkest shots. :happy:
 
Usually at churches you are going to find the light sources a bit troublesome. Very dim by the nature of the venue. Also most of the time the type of lights used will cause worst banding in low light. And if you can't get very close you are going to need to zoom in a bit thus loosing even more light with the kit lens. Some churches allow you to add your own lights others forget about it. For that type of situation the GH 1 is difficult to use.
 
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