Sensor problem on H6D-100c At ISO 3200 or above: Split Photo

[mistercohen]

Has anyone experienced this: At higher ISO I get some sort of a horizontal division right al the center, looks like 2 picture with either a different exposure or white balance.

[pahciao]

On my monitor, it looks like a line across the center rather than two pictures (I put my hand across the dark band to cover it -- the top and bottom sky looks the same to me). It's horizontal banding.

Banding sometimes happens at high ISO in the shadows for CMOS sensors. It is due to a variety of reasons -- sensor readout sequence, ADC conversion, signal amplification etc.

If it happens all the time under natural light, especially in the midtones and at lower ISO, then it could be a sensor defect.

Artificial lighting sometimes produces banding e.g. coloured LED billboard screen, due to the nature of the light.

[mistercohen]

The banding is horizontal landscape mode. I have included the same picture with higher exposure to see it better. I have not noticed the banding at lower ISO. The only reason to use a higher ISO is because there is little light. So if you can not take pictures at higher ISO 1600 and above,  this would be  false advertisement from hasselblad!. I expected some noise at higher ISO banding is unacceptable. I have requested more information from hasselblad. As soon as they answer I will let everyone know. BTW this  is obviously not a good pictures but banding is something I'm really worried about.

[jerome_m]

You need to contact Hasselblad service for new calibration of your camera. I think (but I am not sure) that they can send you new calibration data. If that is not possible, you will need to send your camera in.

[NickT]

Yes it's not banding it's to do with the dual readouts from the chip not reading equally. As Jerome said a new calibration file should fix it.

[mistercohen]

Thank you Jerome_m and NickT. I'm waiting for hasselblad reply.

[mistercohen]

I will be sending the camera to Hasselblad for calibration. They do not provide a file for that.

[studio0791]

I too have this issue, although much worse it would appear. It is visible even at lower ISOs (although much more subtle) if there are any dark areas of the image. Anything above ISO 800 is practically unusable even on a properly exposed mid tone image. I have been in contact with Hasselblad and they are going to resolve it soon. So far they have been stellar in trying to resolve this quickly.

[mistercohen]

Is your camera with Hasselblad already? If yes, for how long?

[studio0791]

Not yet. The Factory is on minimal staff as they are mostly gone on vacation. I was told 4-5 weeks. Fortunately I still have my H3D-39II!

[mistercohen]

Here is an update. Hasselblad is sending the H6D to Sweden, they requested my credit card even though I'm in theory totally covered under warranty. I will take the attitude to wait and see. They said 3 - 4 weeks for the repair, I find this too long but I have no choice. My Nikon camera is with a family member and the Nikon D850 is not for sale yet. So I'm without a backup. Hopefully they will have it on time for a trip to Iceland with a Better-moment Hasselblad Master class that I will be taking.

[mistercohen]

Yesterday I got my H6D back from Sweden. Everything seems to be in working order. Thank all for your advice.