Low Light Streaks - Is my camera faulty?

So sounds like this problem might go away, but I'm not on my first day. I shot lots with it over the weekend, but all in good light. And my banding is worse than those preproduction models at lower ISO.

I'll keep trying for another day or so, but otherwise I might have to try for a replacement.
 
My banding was like a fixed pattern across the frame.

Vanished by day 2.

Very interested to see if yours does the same over time... I wouldn't return it just yet.

Frame below is shot in full HD 24p at ISO 1600... not a spec of noise!

nobanding.jpg
 
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commanderspike said:
My banding was like a fixed pattern across the frame.

Vanished by day 2.

ISO 1600 still has it sometimes though - that is kinda expectable.
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Same here, man. Weird huh?

That's when I dubbed MJPEG no good, but hadn't tried it again until later on, then it looked better. The fixed pattern was gone.

It's really strange how these cameras behave, but I learned a pretty good longterm lesson: use it for a while THEN report on it. No telling what's going on with these damned things.

I would just turn the camera on, put a blank SDHC card in it and let it record until the battery dies when I get a new one.

IN fact, that's what I'm gonna do when I get my two. Just burn them for a day.
 
Hmm - I see it faintly as well in some 1600 shots and one 800 but I don't have many flat surfaces in my footage. Judging from the 'organic' nature of the pattern, that it's static and that it vanished for people over time I wonder if it's some residue from the manufacturing on the sensor surface that's vaporizing from the sensor's heat. Just a wild guess mind.
 
Maybe some of the pixels are a little more sensitive than others out of the factory and need to settle down, similar to a Plasma TV?

Unprecedented thing to do with a camera.... burn in!! What is this... a pair of headphones?? :)
 
commanderspike said:
Maybe some of the pixels are a little more sensitive than others out of the factory and need to settle down, similar to a Plasma TV?
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you make it sound like some Emo kid with ADD and an eating disorder:2vrolijk_08:

good news though, if its fixing itself over time with some use.
 
commanderspike said:
Maybe some of the pixels are a little more sensitive than others out of the factory and need to settle down, similar to a Plasma TV?
.... burn in!!
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That sounds familiar to me. I have a 50" pioneer plasma and the first time the break-in dvd was running about 8h every day. But i´ve never heard of a similar procedure with a camera :-). But you live and learn...
 
Unfortunately all cameras with digital sensors have banding. Every time a new camera is released there are always similar complaints on forums, the inherit problem is that the noise component is also amplified at high ISO settings; random noise or pattern noise (banding) stands out in images taken at high ISO settings.

Banding usually occurs under certain conditions, its not just high-ISO, but rather a combination of the subject/environment you're taking relative to how much the noise is being amplified via a high-ISO setting. Banding noise is most noticeable in the shadows, or when an image has been superlatively brightened. Panasonic may release an update to reduce banding in future firmware updates but its probably impossible to completely remove banding under every single condition. Banding can be reduced via modification to their noise-reduction algorithms; Canon original 5D was notorious for their banding issues, where people reportedly experiencing banding at even ISO100. This was due to the how the camera handled NR as well as white-balance, but the GH1 doesn't seem to have that particular issue.
 
Very interesting. That's exactly what happened when I first used my GH1 indoors under low-light conditions. I was really shocked as the footage looked extremely awful. The room was lit by just one uncovered light bulb under the ceiling but through my human eyes it was rather bright. It was also day one with my GH1 and the little thing totally poo pooed it up: not only an awful lot of moving horizontal streaks but also fixed vertical banding. At ISO 400 it started to look really terrible and everything above made the footage totally unwatchable.

So then a few days later, getting more used to the camera, I did my first outdoor night footage (http://vimeo.com/5067969). This was really extreme low-light. To avoid streaks and banding I had to stick to a maximum of ISO 400 which is why the results look rather clean but really dark as well. At 0:45 you see a shot with 800 ISO - and there it is again. So I'm asking myself what the higher ISO is good for when it's not usable anyways...

Maybe I'll do a quick low-light test again tonight, as many of you say the issue vanished on day 2.

Crucial topic, should be discovered more deeply.

EDIT: All experience with the kit lens only.
 
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hurdy-gurdy-man said:
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Maybe I'll do a quick low-light test again tonight, as many of you say the issue vanished on day 2.

Crucial topic, should be discovered more deeply.
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Yes, every owner of a gh1 should keep an eye on this point that causes some annoyance. If it doesn´t vanish after a few days or weeks it could possibly be a reason not to buy this camera.
 
Just turned my new GH1 on and, yes, it has it too. I'll keep an eye on this and see if it's gone in a couple of days.
 
Well I'm glad it's not just me, though in a way it would have been better if I simply had a faulty model.

I've just got to hope it goes away soon.

Have people tried shooting in the same conditions and seen the image change, or could it be that you get better at using it and spotting the situations where it'll look bad?
 
I do not own a GH1 but this might help some of you who are seeing this problem.
Video is just a hobby of mine but I do have some experience in low level video hardware design. So I thought I would toss out some ideas on what might be causing this noise pattern in the video.

Apparently the noise is not random and is getting into the analog video signal before it is converted to digital. This is most likely happening in the image sensor area, and the most probable cause is the power sources in the camera do not have enough noise filtering.

Another cause could be the physical layout of the circuitry, with some of the low level video signal traces being in close proximity to high current signal traces.

The above are both hardware problems and cannot be fixed by software.
However, there can be other sources of this noise that we might be able to control.

Three areas of the camera that can generate a fair amount of electrical noise are the power sources, mentioned above, and also the LCD display and the USM focus motor.
We have control over the focus motor and the LCD display so we can try switching them off and on to see if they have any effect on this noise pattern.

I would try this test with the ISO set to at least 800 or 1600 to get the noise to be more apparent. The focus motor test is a little more difficult because you have to get the auto focus to move in and out. Turning the LCD off is probably the best and easiest test to try
and will most likely be of some help in lowering the noise floor in the camera.

These are just my thoughts and may have nothing to do with the problem, but hopefully
this may be of some help
 
Interesting info. I'll try switching the LCD on and off.

Any idea why people would be reporting that the low light image quality improves over the first few days of use?
 
nathankw said:
That is odd. So do I have a faulty camera or will it just go away?
I'm not sure I want to take the risk...
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I had the same problem on my Leica R, it turned out that the material they used to make the foam light seal on the back door deteriorated prematurely. It caused terrible streaking on my shots.

:Drogar-SunGlass(DBG
 
Finally got my GH1 yesterday, still 14 days for possible return...

I switched the LCD on and off and it's still there.

This camera has its share of problems with high ISOs. I don't know about other video DLSR's but what you're seeing in the LCD/ ViewFinder in the GH1 when not filming is actually video at a very high ISO (I'd say ISO 6400, 12800 and over), in order to maintain 1/30 or 1/60 preview, say, at night (otherwise everything would be blurry and you would really wish for an optical viewfinder instead of an electronic one). That's why there are lots of vertical and horizontal streaks when you look at the sceen, but when you press the shutter they usually disappear unless you're at a high ISO. The highest for photo is ISO 3200 and ISO 1600 for video I think.

The problem seems to be the most apparent in photos for some reason. Yesterday I shot some video at night at 1600, and although the colors seemed a bit off - yellow/blueish, it looked good, and I took a pic at the same place at the same ISO and it was much worse. I think for video the max you will get away with is ISO 1000 (you have to unluck that in a menu otherwise it jumps from ISO 800 to 1600).

I will post the night vids in a few days...
 
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PhilD said:
Finally got my GH1 yesterday, still 14 days for possible return...

I switched the LCD on and off and it's still there.

This camera has its share of problems with high ISOs. I don't know about other video DLSR's but what you're seeing in the LCD/ ViewFinder in the GH1 when not filming is actually video at a very high ISO (I'd say ISO 6400, 12800 and over), in order to maintain 1/30 or 1/60 preview, say, at night (otherwise everything would be blurry and you would really wish for an optical viewfinder instead of an electronic one). That's why there are lots of vertical and horizontal streaks when you look at the sceen, but when you press the shutter they usually disappear unless you're at a high ISO. The highest for photo is ISO 3200 and ISO 1600 for video I think.
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In full manual video mode, the LCD always shows an exact preview of the video you'll shoot. High ISO noise is just an issue in automatic modes, though I'd really like a menu option to turn it off.

PhilD said:
I think for video the max you will get away with is ISO 1000 (you have to unluck that in a menu otherwise it jumps from ISO 800 to 1600).

I will post the night vids in a few days...
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Interesting! Didn't know yet there was an option to unlock ISO. Where do I find it? Thanks.
 
hurdy-gurdy-man said:
In full manual video mode, the LCD always shows an exact preview of the video you'll shoot.
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False. At night or say in a low light area it doesn't show you what you will shoot (in fact it never does unless there's some way to alter display settings).

If your settings are say ISO 100, f22 and 1/30 and it's totally dark, your resulting video will be all black --- but before / after filming you see your stuff in the LCD / VF well lit, almost as if it's night vision, with tons of vertical / horizontal streaks. What you see in the LCD/ VF is very different between your previewing and the moment you start shooting. Try it.



hurdy-gurdy-man said:
Interesting! Didn't know yet there was an option to unlock ISO. Where do I find it? Thanks.
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In the "M" mode, under REC, turn off ISO LIMIT SET and choose 1/3EV in ISO INCREMENTS.
 
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