Vertical line on all jpeg images

[olegolsh]

hi guys,

From yestarday I have issue with my new Canon 5D Mark IV, on all jpeg images I see vertical line in the midle of frame. I don't see this line on RAW images. This line can be seen on camera display when I review captured image and the same line I can see when I'm using external programm for viewing/editing image.

Please help me to recognize what can be reason for this line.

Regards,

Oleg

[ebiggs1]

Sounds like you are not USA ?  So, I have no idea how much a repair will cost.  At any rate you have to do it.  The camera is too valuable to not do it.

So, did you shoot a video light show?  Bad idea!  

[TCampbell]

Ahhh.... laser “shows” scare me.  

As an amateur astronomer, we use lasers.  In the US, it’s legal to sell hand-held lasers that are 5mW or weaker.  This is not because they are completely safe... but because the amount of time needed to cause permanent damage to an eye is longer than the “blink reflex” (your natural reaction to close your eyes and look away).

Beyond that... damage can happen before you can react.

The problem with a 5mW laser for “shows” is that the farther your eye is from the axis of the beam, the more difficult it is to see.  And you have to be fairly close to see a 5mW beam (for a green laser ... and those are the easiest to see).

For any other color wavelength or for greater distances, you need a lot more power.  Those amounts of power can do damage in just a tiny fraction of a second.  It is not safe to allow the beam to ever shine on anyone at eye-level.  

Unfortunately, lasers can (and do) damage camera sensors.  

[Cali1]

Hiya, I have this exact same problem on my Canon 5D Mk ii. Please could you let me know if you got your camera fixed and what the problem was. Really appreciate your help. Best

[ebiggs1]

" I have this exact same problem on my Canon 5D Mk ii"

You may have the same problem but you don't have the same camera.  Canon no longer supports the Mk II.  You will need to find an independent repair shop that does.  Good luck.

[Cali1]

Thank you for your reply. Yes I do understand Canon will no longer support the MK II. However seeing as this thread was about the exact same issue as I have I was hoping I could get some insight into what is actually wrong so I can source what to repair. I currently my camera with someone who has told me it's the sensor but from what I read here it's the matrix. So just wanted a second opinion to clarify what I am being told by this current repairer is correct. Thank you again for any help. I would really appreciate if the original person who started this thread could share what they had done to repair their camera as the picture they posted was exactly what is happening to my camera. Best.

[ebiggs1]

"...who has told me it's the sensor ..."

He's correct.

[TCampbell]

---

@Cali1 wrote:

 I currently my camera with someone who has told me it's the sensor but from what I read here it's the matrix. 

---

A digital sensor is “technically” monochrome.  To create color, there is a “Color Filter Array” (CFA) ... and the most common type of CFA is a “Bayer Matrix”.  But this isn’t electronic... think of it as a checkerboard of microscope tinted tiles (a “matrix”) and composed of red, green, and blue squares.  

The camera derives color from this... e.g. suppose there’s a pixel with a “green” filter in front of it.  That square will have neighboring squares ... two sides will each be “red” and two will each be “blue”.  It samples the brightness of each “red” neighbor and averages that... it samples the brightness of each “blue” neighbor and averages that as well.  The green, plus the two averages (for red and blue) create the total RGB value (by the way... there are several variations on the algorithm.  

Anyway... the “matrix” is technically just an array of colored filters (it’s like looking through stained-glass windows).  There’s nothing electronic about it.  It can’t really “fail” in any electronic sense.

Often when a sensor fails, an entire line (row) of pixels can fail.   We have had at least one or two occasions when someone was using the camera to film a laser show... the beam hits the lens, overloads the sensor, and an entire row will fail as a result of the overload.  I’m sure there can be other reasons.

[Cali1]

Thank you kindly for the education T Campbell, wow very interesting.

From your opinion when you look at the photograph posted in this thread on the first page what would you think it is?

Really appreciate you input.

[TCampbell]

You didn't mention the conditions when you were using live-view.  Also, is this a 5D IV or a 5D II (I thought it was a 5D IV but saw things in the thread that made me think it was a 5D II)?

The issue is certainly a sensor failure.  Simple resets generally wont fix this.  

This sort of failure can happen if a part of the sensor is overloaded (laser-shows are well-known for killing camera sensors.  You can do a quick search on YouTube with "<camera model> laser" and find many examples ... where you see that the moment the laser is pointed directly at the lens (the beam hits the lens), a row or column (sometimes both and sometimes many of them) will fail and give results that look just like yours.

This is not to say a laser caused your sensor failure... but just an example that overloading the sensor can result in this issue.

Regardless of what caused it (because at this point it doesn't matter) ... it's still a sensor failure.  If it's a 5D IV, you can send it to Canon service.  If it is a 5D II ... I don't think Canon services that model anymore.