Another 5D Mk-II sensor problem?

My good friend Dave Smith (some of you met him last fall) recently purchased a 5D2, and when he came through town on the way back from the dunes the other day, I popped a CF card in the camera and took a couple snaps to check out what 21mp looks like. I took a shot of the outside of a restaurant, with perfectly clean blue sky above. When I looked over the photos later, I noticed a very subtle, but very real line of tonal difference almost right in the center of the sky at the top of the image. Sure enough, Dave called me later to ask if I'd noticed a line in the sky of my images, as he had noticed it in his. He just sent me a few shots, and it wasn't my imagination. He has slightly darkened the sky in this shot, which has equally slightly enhanced the anomaly. (The shot also shows the brutal wind Chris and Grant mentioned earlier.) The line is just left of the top-center of the image, and appears to dissipate about a third of the way down from the top of the image.

Any other 5D2 owners out there notice anything like this? Obviously this camera is going back to Canon, but I hadn't heard any other reports of this (unlike the ubiquitous "black dot" issue), so perhaps it's a lone instance of inferior quality.

Thanks Todd, my MKII is "in the mail". Will be looking for this possible flaw. Line is quite visible.

Bill Brennan

Yikes! thats not cool at all.... have not seen this on my camera...looks like a CMOS problem in the dump. Canon has an image submission site he can send the RAW files to.

I haven't seen this with my 5DII or heard about this anywhere else. So I'm guessing your friend just got unlucky with his camera.

I'm a Canon dealer and have not come across this issue. I haven't seen anything like this on the other photography forums either. It will be interesting to learn what is causing the problem.

That is definitely not right. My first reaction would be that image processing software at home was misbehaving or maybe the compact flash card but since two of you got the same results independently, the camera would be the most likely culprit. Time to contact Canon.

Haven't had that problem with mine either.

My 5D2's OK, too, but I'll keep a watch on it. WEIRD!

Thanks for posting this.

I haven't seen this on mine either.

I wonder if it's a shutter problem; it kind of reminds me of the results one gets when flash/shutter speeds aren't properly synced, or with improper second curtain sync issues? Though if it was the shutter I might expect the line to be visible all the way down the frame.

Might be worth further analysis to determine if it really does go all the way down and it's just not noticeable to the eye in different tonal ranges/hues.

Is it exactly in the center of the frame?

Please keep us informed about this as you find out more. Disturbing indeed...

Thanks Nat. I don't think it's a curtain-synch issue, although the inner workings and operation of today's digital cameras are a lot different than an old film camera. The line is almost exactly in the center, but not quite. I measured it before posting, and it's just a bit to the left of center. If this were an 8x12 print, it would be about 1/8th" left of center. He sent me a few images, and while there's far more detail in the lower portions of each, making it hard to see the problem if it's there, I don't think it goes all the way through the image. However, I think it's time to suggest he take some shots of a clean blank wall full-frame.

I haven't seen this on mine yet, but will be on the look out for sure. Thanks for the heads up.

Dave sent the camera to Canon, so I'll keep y'all posted as to the outcome.

I have not seen the problem in mine either, although I don't use it as much as I do the 4x5.