black dots, black dots everyewhere…
by AFS on Dec.09, 2008, under cameras
So, the internet seems to have exploded with “black dot syndrome” complaints about the Canon 5D Mark II.
As it happens I came across a 1Ds3 image from Paris last year – and wouldn’t you know, there are some artifacts similar to this “BDS.” And if you zoom in close enough, and tweak the levels enough, they will become more clear. This image is at a mere 100% view so you can not see them that clearly 
1Ds3 lights, ACR conversion
Fact is, these 1Ds3 cameras have taken millions of images which have been published untold thousands of times, used for international advertising campaings, etc. And as far as I know, no one has complained about “black dots, lines, etc.” Why? I think it’s because pixel peeping at these levels (200%, 400%,) is not useful and has no purpose out here in the real world. After all, when looking even at a 100 percent view, you are effectively looking at what would be a 6.5 foot print (as rendered on your 72ppi screen) from 12 inches away and then complaining about the image quality. Have you ever looked at a print that large from that close? How’d it look?
Anyway, while Canon may try to fix this “problem,” I do not think any new technical flaw has been uncovered here. I think we are just witnessing a slew of new eyeballs using Photoshop to view images which are zoomed way in, exposures jacked up, over-sharpened, etc. to reveal digital characteristics which for the most part are not really relevant in the real world.
I encourage everyone to zoom their images back out to a proper viewing size, and get back to work. Your time is probably better spend working on improving your lighting skills :-O
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December 10th, 2008 on 12:03 am
Reading a camera forum makes you wonder if their are any people with brains left in their heads.
December 10th, 2008 on 8:21 am
Yes, it’s pandemonium over what looks like a minor, minor issue…
December 10th, 2008 on 6:59 pm
It’s unreal how online forums will make a tiny wart (if even a wart) into a full blow cancerous tumor…. My mark II so far has been clean of those black dots. Funny reading how people will cancel their orders because the 400% zoomed image appear to show some artifacts…
I guess it’s those same people stating ISO 6400 isn’t good enough compared to Nikon’s offering when in fact, 98% of their subjects are shot in daytime. Internet pools people of similar problems together making us all think “WOAH, wait a minute, there’s something wrong with product X”…
Keep up the great work Ron. At least you’re shooting instead of peeping some pixels.
December 18th, 2008 on 9:20 am
Vadim, agreed, it gets a little nutty. In response I try to focus on things creative – try to get people out of gear-head mode and back to thinking about making interesting pictures.