Canon to break silence about SLR's 'black dot' issue
Chuck Westfall
(Credit: Canon)Some photographers have been frustrated with Canon's silence on the "black dot" issue that's afflicting its new EOS 5D Mark II camera, but the company plans to speak soon.
"Watch for an official Canon comment on this issue in the very near future," said Canon USA technical adviser Chuck Westfall in a Wednesday response to a question posted on his monthly question-and-answer column at The Digital Journalist.
The black spots appear to the right of very bright spots in some occasions, and many are wondering whether the issue is an unavoidable consequence of the sensor or something that can be altered with the camera's more mutable firmware.
Judging by Canon's earlier statements about issues such as the EOS-1D Mark III autofocus saga, though, it wouldn't be wise to count on a terribly revealing statement. This could well be at the stage of just acknowledging the issue still.
These magnified close-ups that Stephan Hoerold took with his Canon 5D Mark II show lights on a building at night. The dark spots appear to the right of the very bright areas. The three shots show images taken at ISO 100, ISO 200, and ISO 3,200. Photo used with permission.
(Credit: Stephan Hoerold)
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank. 
- by davidtb823 December 11, 2008 10:05 AM PST
- There's a wavy line that runs down the right side of the Powershot G9 and G10 as well
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
-
- by Philips December 13, 2008 11:33 AM PST
- JPEG? JPEG has always artifacts on edges.
- Like this
-
(3 Comments)