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Nikon have confirmed the 'banding problems' that some Nikon D200 users have been reporting recently with the following Q and A statements:
Question 1: Why do I occasionally see vertical lines in my images?
Patterns of vertical lines, sometimes referred to as banding, are a digital imaging artifact.
Lines can be vertical or horizontal, depending on the orientation of the camera at the time that an affected image was captured. Banding can become visible only in specific shooting conditions that include particular combinations of high contrast scene content, lighting, camera settings, substantial enlargement and the shooting environment.
Banding can be further described as long banding or short banding. Long banding will generally appear throughout an image. Short banding will not appear throughout an image. Commonly, if certain variables coincide, short banding can appear most prominently at intersections of extreme contrast and when an image is enlarged substantially. Appearance of short banding may typically be a pattern of physically short lines and will usually not affect the vast majority of images.
It is important to note that banding will generally be greatly exaggerated when an image is enlarged and viewed on a computer monitor. A useful printed image, even when enlarged to a size that relates to a substantially enlarged monitor image, will not exhibit the same banding (or for that matter, many other artifacts) that may be visible on a monitor. Therefore, artifacts that may be visible on a monitor often have very little practical correlation to the realistic use of an image file (e.g., an image viewed on a monitor in its entirety and enlarged prints).
Question 2: Do some cameras exhibit more banding than others?
The digital imaging artifact commonly known as banding can, in specific and unusual conditions, such as extreme exposure and/or exposure compensation settings and high contrast scenes, become visible.
Nikon has discovered that a limited number of early-production D200 cameras may, in specific and uncommon shooting conditions, record images that can present an excessive pattern of fine pitch lines throughout (long banding).
Question 3: If my D200 exhibits long banding, what can be done to minimize it?
If you experience this, Nikon will, without charge, evaluate your camera to determine if adjustment to the camera’s image output level is required. Adjustment, if required, will optimize the camera’s image output level, thereby reducing visible banding to a minimal level.
Nikon Technical Support personnel can evaluate an affected image file to (1); confirm that your concern is associated to vertical line artifacts and (2), if adjustment to the camera’s image output level will address the condition.'
Posted by Darren in our News category on February 11, 2006
Sigh...I've had a D200 for about 3 months and I've done nothing but fight with it and Nikon since the day I got it.
Background is that I am new to digital and bought and Olympus E300 in Sept of 2005. I found it incredibly amazing right out of the box even though the camera itself was so inexpensive compared to other 8mp DSLR's. In the beginning I never did post processing (didn't even have the software to do it or the knowledge if I did.) I used Picasa to sort and save all my images. It was more than adequate for my first forrays into digital. I shot JPEG only and the images were fantastic straight from the camera.
So a few months down the road I figured if this cheapo DSLR was that good with it's limits and having come as far as I had, and getting more work my way, it seemed it was time for me to get a serious camera. So I looked at the D200 and read great things about it etc. So I bought one.
I noticed right out of the gate that this camera was going to fight me every step of the way...OK chalk it up to a learning curve. Called Nikon almost every day with new issues. Nikon convinced me that it was something in the computer, 3 comps had the same issue so I found that a little more than co-incidence (arched banding Not the vertical that I had read about and color abberations that are hard to describe, hazy issues and focus problems, and Noise issues even at ISO 100 and 200 in daylight) So I get a new comp, this time a Mac...well, still issues, call Nikon...this time they blame the fact that I wasn't using their software, so I loaded up their software (several versions, including Nikon Picture Project (no good) Nikon View (no better), Nikon Capture (same issues). Contact Nikon again. Now they start getting rude. One even hung up on me. I was in tears having spent so much money on the camera and I cried to him that he had to help me fix this, his reply was "I don't have to help you with anything!" and he hung up on me! I hadn't yelled, I was upset and crying clearly distressed. Now I am pissed so I call and ask for s supervisor to which they respond that there is none, which is pre BS. I finally get another tech on the line and this one starts blaming the card reader I was using which still works fine with the Olympus, so fine I stop using the card reader, no change still get the noise even in daylight with ISO of 100 and 200, the color banding, the soft hazy photos that have become the norm from the D200 for me. Apple even exchanged the computer with full credit towards a G5 when it was brought to their attention that there may be an issue with the Intel based processors that were in the Mac I originally got.
So now several months into owning the D200, a new Power Mac G5, Photoshop CS2, and I am still getting very inconsistent, disappointing results from this camera. Rare conditions yield OK results but not without post processing the stuff out of the images (which I hate, I am not into post processing at all, I like the behind the camera work not the in front of the computer work, in fact I despise it (except for enhancing portraits of people to soften signs of aging, remove teenage acne and other blemishes...etc, that I enjoy. But My passion is landscape, and nature photography, which shouldn't require gobs of post processing, at least with theOlympus it never did for me.)
I am convinced based on what others have said that this unit is defective, which is what I had argued with Nikon from day 1. But of course now it is too late to return it even though I experienced issues from the moment I took the first shot. Kind of like leaving the shoe store putting on your new shoes only to have the heel fall of with your first step.
I have argued with Nikon that repairing isn't an option, I want a replacement since the issues had been documented from day one and it was the Nikon tech support that staved me off from returning the camera to the store to the point where it was beyond the stores return policy date...totally unfair.
I have since sent blind uneditted samples to people of identical shots taken with the Olympus and the D200 and as I expected the Olympus has been selected as the better quality image hands down over the D200.
I have a faulty camera and Nikon is not being fair about it at all. They could take a lesson from Apple. Apple stood behind their product, and it wasn't even defective per se, it was a language conflict, something about the Universal Binary Code with the Intel chip and some of the software I was using. Apple based the return, full credit exchange (I owned the comp for a month) on the premise that I should have been steered to a diferent model based on my needs. Apple Tech support actually contacted the store and arranged the exchange for me. Apple has even had their business team contact me to check up on things to make sure all is well with the comp, which it is. Nikon hangs up onme when I even suggest such a thing as exchanging the camera and have called me ignorant and said that I must be the one who is doing something terribly wrong for the camera to yield the results I get. They are rude and don not care about you after you purchase their products.
A few weeks ago the Nikon rep was supposed to meet with me on a specific Wednesday to look at and discuss the issues, well as you can imagine, they never confirmed the appointment and never contacted me again. I made another appointment with them for September 7th at 4pm...we'll see if they honor it this time. I have my doubts.