What would cause this?? HELP!

[OwenS]

Hey people, no comments on the photo here but was starting out with my first sorta off camera lighting and when i uploaded them i noticed this pattern on a few of them (the reddish thick line at top third of screen). Any idea what is causing it? I dont think its a sync problem as im shooting at 1/200 sec (max sync speed). Any idea what else? Its not good. Cheers in advance.

[Tannin]

Can't see anything here. Where is the line?

[JM Tran]

I can see the red line, its quite big and runs through his head from left to right, like a big tread mark

whats the settings u were shooting with Owen? looks like banding to me, what ISO and what other settings?

[ricktas]

does look like banding, but as the light in your shot is coming from the left. Were you using a filter on the lens? or a lens hood, cause I am wondering if it is not something caused by a lens flare type cause.

[HerveyBayShutterBug]

From a rank amateur's perspective:

I'm sure i can see a clear pattern appearing immediately above the red band - same pattern but without the discolouration and there's also a whitish/blue band of the same pattern when you look closely at the bottom margin of the red area. Even on this big screen i'm using it's only about 2-3mm wide.

I've not seen this exact type of thing on a pic before, but my first thoughts would be noise.

Did it appear in a bunch of pics using different settings?

Martin

[MarkChap]

I am with Tony ??

No Line ??

[ricktas]

For those that cannot see it, drag it into your editing software and adjust the brightness upwards

[mithrandir]

Hey people, no comments on the photo here but was starting out with my first sorta off camera lighting and when i uploaded them i noticed this pattern on a few of them (the reddish thick line at top third of screen). Any idea what is causing it? I dont think its a sync problem as im shooting at 1/200 sec (max sync speed). Any idea what else? Its not good. Cheers in advance.

Were you near any electronic devices (high intensity lighting, transformers, etc.) that could have caused RF interference with the camera's processor? I have seen that happen.

[I @ M]

Owen, due to some members not seeing the issue I took the liberty of exaggerating the problem and reposting it.
Sorry, I don't have an answer either.

[I @ M]

After a bit more thought, I'll ask a few questions that Canon knowledgeable people might have an answer to.

Which way does the shutter travel on a 5d?
And do the shutter curtains sometimes show up in photos when "slow" remote flash triggers are used?

Owen, what sort of trigger are you using for the remote flash as I have had a similar problem when using cheap ebay triggers on monoblocs at max synch speed (1/250th) on a Nikon.
I haven't been able to reproduce the problem since buying the new 2.4 GHz Yongnuo triggers.

The effect there looks similar ( but not identical to ) what I was seeing with the cheap flash triggers.

[ricktas]

Other thing it could be is a read/write error to the memory card, or on transfer to the PC

[Speedway]

I have tried everything in PS Elements and still cannot see any red line.

[swifty]

I'm also not really sure what the cause is either but in continuing with probing questions that might get to the bottom of this:
if I've missed this, what camera brand/model and memory card? Poss known camera/card issue?
Was this an issue isolated to this one photo? U may have to try an exaggerate it but go through some of your other shots in the series and look for common patterns. Then look in photos outside of the series.
Which trigger did u use?
Can u reproduce the prob? If so, is it isolated to only when using the particular trigger?

[OwenS]

Ok thanks for replies people.
Camera is a Canon 5D mark 1. Lens is a 24-105L. Flash is a 580ex ii and trigger system was Cactus V4.
I also tried it without the flash system at all and get the same effect. It is not a sync issue, as i tried at all different shutter speeds and without flash at all. I was shooting RAW and used several different programs to open the files (PS and lightroom). I think iso was 100?
It appeared in some 70+ images in this sequence though did not seem to appear in shots shot in portait orientation. (Even though the equivalent would be the side of the screen as opposed to the top third).
I also tried it with other shots from different circumstances and had the same effect.


UPDATE: I just took it to Camerahouse and tried a few shots, JPEG and RAW and the effect seems to be gone. Is it possible it is caused by my transfer cable on my PC? Or something else like that?
It does not appear to be the CF card.

[OwenS]

Thanks I @ M btw. Makes it a lot easier to see.

[JM Tran]

try a different memory card and see if it replicates itself on it or not!

[ricktas]

Do you still have the files on the CF card? See if you can get to another photographer and transfer to their computer. That might tell you if issue is on the card, or happening during transfer to your PC

[OwenS]

No i dont still have the images....

Only have one cf card at the moment...have heaps of SD cards though. How could it be the transfer though? Cheap cable?

[ricktas]

data transfer can be corrupted at any time for a whole range of reasons. It could well be a faulty card, the cable, even your hard drive. Only way to eliminate each one is to take them out of the loop one by one and see where the problem goes away/exists.

[OwenS]

Ok well i tried a few things tonight. Im pretty sure its my Cactus v4 trigger thats doing it. It only ever seems to distort on the part of the sensor closest to the hotshoe which hold the v4 trigger and antenna. It always on the top, and on the LHS when in portrait orientation. Not sure why though? Noise from electrical current or something? Time to stop using the Cacti i think....