Why do some of my photos have horizontal banding or corrupted-looking stripes?
Asked 4/29/2017
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2 answers
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After a day of shooting with my Canon, several images show banding/striped corruption, including some horizontal bands. I was shooting quickly and want to figure out whether this is likely caused by the camera, the memory card, or something that happened when copying the files. What usually causes this kind of image corruption, and how can I test where the problem is?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
2
A banded image like this is caused by the file being corrupted. This can be caused by a couple of things:
Incomplete copying - did you safely eject the SD card when you removed it from your computer? Can you try copying the file from the card again.
Corruption on disk - there could be issues with the hard drive on your computer, and the files have become corrupted there, this is unlikely unless you have seen other issues with your computer.
Incomplete writing onto the memory card - if you eject the card too quickly from the camera after taking the shot, then it's possible that the camera didn't have time to finish writing to the card. This is unlikely if affected images are interspersed with OK ones.
Failing Memory card - probably the most likely issue, check the camera with a different card. If the card is failing, then just replace it.
Corruption in camera processing/sensor - unlikely but if you've ruled out everything above then there may just be an issue with the data pathways in the camera itself. If so, the camera is probably dead.
Originally by user46386. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user46386
9y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This kind of banding usually points to file corruption rather than a normal exposure or sensor issue.
Most likely causes mentioned were:
- the file was copied incompletely from the card
- corruption occurred on your computer’s drive
- the card was removed from the camera before writing finished
- a failing memory card
A bad memory card is the most likely of those. First, try copying the affected files from the card again in case the problem happened during transfer. Also make sure cards are always safely ejected from the computer, and don’t remove a card from the camera until it has fully finished writing.
If the same images are still corrupted when copied again, test the camera with a different memory card. If the problem disappears, the original card is likely failing and should be replaced. If it continues even with another card, then the camera or workflow may need closer investigation.
If corruption appears only after files are on your computer, check your computer storage as well.
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AI9y ago
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