Purple diagonals on white bar on some photos

rRnt · 11-18-2014, 03:28 PM

Hi, everyone,

I tried to search the forums and google about similar issue, but came up with nothing.
I bought a K-3 about 2 weeks ago and I have noticed, that sometimes a white horizontal band with diagonal purple lines appears on the lower part of the image (RAW). Has anyone encountered the problem and is it a memory card or camera fault? I currently use a SanDisk Extreme Pro card. Screenshot below (the image appears like that in Lightroom also).

LensBeginner · 11-18-2014, 03:44 PM

I believe that the file is partly corrupt... those lines are just a placeholder to mean "no data" or "bad data there"...

Have you checked your SD card for errors (with your computer)?
Maybe it's defective, maybe it's the camera.
Your camera has two slots, try changing slot and try another card.

hongzhibin1987 · 11-18-2014, 03:59 PM

+1 with Lensbeginner.
check your sd card first.

LensBeginner · 11-18-2014, 04:08 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by hongzhibin1987

+1 with Lensbeginner.
check your sd card first.

...mainly because it's easier to replace!
If you get the same fault with another SD then I'm afraid you should consider sending the camera for repair...

To speed up the process, set the SD slots for mirroring and test two cards at once.
If you get faults in a card, invert them.
If you get faults in the same card, it's the card, otherwise it's the slot.
If you get fault in both at the same time, I believe it's gonna be the camera.

DeadJohn · 11-18-2014, 08:47 PM

Yes, it looks like a memory fault. You see it like that on the LCD as soon as you take it or only after you load it onto your PC?

MadMathMind · 11-18-2014, 09:02 PM

If there were a sensor or other data issue from the camera image processing chain itself, you wouldn't see purple lines. You'd see pure black or some other kind of placeholder noise. Electronic nonsense is not that uniform.

Your file is corrupt, either on the card or in the process of writing to the card. Possible the whole writing logic is shot, but I'd expect unusable files if that were truly the case.

**southlander** · 11-19-2014, 04:12 AM

Not using a Micro SD card in an SD adapter by chance? Micro SD cards can give unreliable results in cameras.

LensBeginner · 11-19-2014, 04:24 AM

Originally posted by southlander

Not using a Micro SD card in an SD adapter by chance? Micro SD cards can give unreliable results in cameras.

Could you cite some sources supporting that claim?
I'm interested in that myself.

schnitzer79 · 11-19-2014, 10:54 AM

Originally posted by southlander

Not using a Micro SD card in an SD adapter by chance? Micro SD cards can give unreliable results in cameras.

was going to ask the same thing. had something similar once in an old p&s. only use the sd cards, never the micros!

rRnt · 11-20-2014, 12:11 PM

Thanks everyone for answering.

Results so far:

I did the checkdisk on windows - it did not find anything wrong with the card.

Today I received a second card (also SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s, but 32GB as opposed to the 8GB of the first one) and tested them out with the new card in slot1 and old one in the slot2. Took 246 shots until the 8GB was full (RAW+JPEG), but got no corrupt files on either of them. So I guess it is fairly random and rare event, although during first 500 shots I got 3-5 same kind of corruption on images.

As the first test was unable to replicate the problem, I will be leaving the cards at mirror mode until I encounter the problem again. One of my friends said, she has had similar corruptions also (she is a former Pentaxian but uses Nikon now and works as a photographer, so shoots a LOT), but very rare and she has not given much thought over them and haven't even seen a pattern there.

hongzhibin1987 · 11-20-2014, 01:29 PM

Originally posted by rRnt

Thanks everyone for answering.

Results so far:

I did the checkdisk on windows - it did not find anything wrong with the card.

Today I received a second card (also SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s, but 32GB as opposed to the 8GB of the first one) and tested them out with the new card in slot1 and old one in the slot2. Took 246 shots until the 8GB was full (RAW+JPEG), but got no corrupt files on either of them. So I guess it is fairly random and rare event, although during first 500 shots I got 3-5 same kind of corruption on images.

As the first test was unable to replicate the problem, I will be leaving the cards at mirror mode until I encounter the problem again. One of my friends said, she has had similar corruptions also (she is a former Pentaxian but uses Nikon now and works as a photographer, so shoots a LOT), but very rare and she has not given much thought over them and haven't even seen a pattern there.

So this is something serious.
where did you get your camera? probably contact the seller and tell them the situation and get a replacement.
Sorry for that i know this can be very frustrating.

rRnt · 11-20-2014, 03:24 PM

I got the camera from our country's biggest photographic gear retail chain, which is also the official importer of Pentax here. Still, there is no definite proof that the fault was in the camera, might have been the memory card also, I just have to wait and see if and when the symptom reappears. If I walked into the store with just a story and no corrupt images to show, every store would first blame it on the memory card. So before marching there I would like to be sure, the fault is in the camera and not the card. Both memory cards were also purchased from legitimate sources - the first from one of our biggest chain of electronics stores and the newer one from the same photo store. The camera has the latest firmware update.

LensBeginner · 11-20-2014, 03:36 PM

Originally posted by rRnt

I got the camera from our country's biggest photographic gear retail chain, which is also the official importer of Pentax here. Still, there is no definite proof that the fault was in the camera, might have been the memory card also, I just have to wait and see if and when the symptom reappears. If I walked into the store with just a story and no corrupt images to show, every store would first blame it on the memory card. So before marching there I would like to be sure, the fault is in the camera and not the card. Both memory cards were also purchased from legitimate sources - the first from one of our biggest chain of electronics stores and the newer one from the same photo store. The camera has the latest firmware update.

If you use mirroring you protect yourself from the symptoms, waiting to solve the problem (whatever it might be) at the root.
So, not a bad choice.

emalvick · 11-25-2014, 12:24 PM

I would say that if you have the corrupt images showing up randomly on both cards, the camera is at fault. I don't think I've ever had two corrupt cards simultaneously. Plus, if a card is corrupt, it is usually just flat out corrupt. It almost sounds like something is going wrong in the write process within the camera that only happens occasionally.

rRnt · 11-27-2014, 06:05 AM

Okay, today the problem occurred again, here are my findings:
Took 46 photos today, and 2 of them were corrupt, 23rd and 29th file.

The corruption does not show up on camera screen, even after using the card in the card reader and copying images on hard drive.
It does not show up on camera JPEG, only on imported RAW DNG.
It does show up on both cards.

I tried different ways of importing the files, and here is where it gets weird.
If I copy the files from SD card to my computer/external hard drive, and import them into Lightroom from there, the problem shows up in develop and also on exported jpeg.
If I import the files to Lightroom directly from the SD card or via USB connected to the camera, the problem shows itself during develop process preview for about 2 seconds, then it disappears and shows whole image correctly, and exported jpeg is perfectly OK as well.

Seems like there is some problem in the writing process in-camera, but there still is whole data available in the card that gets lost when files are copied.

11-18-2014, 03:28 PM	#1
rRnt Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 88	Purple diagonals on white bar on some photos Hi, everyone, I tried to search the forums and google about similar issue, but came up with nothing. I bought a K-3 about 2 weeks ago and I have noticed, that sometimes a white horizontal band with diagonal purple lines appears on the lower part of the image (RAW). Has anyone encountered the problem and is it a memory card or camera fault? I currently use a SanDisk Extreme Pro card. Screenshot below (the image appears like that in Lightroom also).

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11-18-2014, 03:44 PM	#2
LensBeginner Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Photos: Albums Posts: 4,696	I believe that the file is partly corrupt... those lines are just a placeholder to mean "no data" or "bad data there"... Have you checked your SD card for errors (with your computer)? Maybe it's defective, maybe it's the camera. Your camera has two slots, try changing slot and try another card.

11-18-2014, 03:59 PM	#3
hongzhibin1987 Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 464	+1 with Lensbeginner. check your sd card first.

11-18-2014, 04:08 PM - 1 Like	#4
LensBeginner Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Photos: Albums Posts: 4,696	Originally posted by hongzhibin1987 +1 with Lensbeginner. check your sd card first. ...mainly because it's easier to replace! If you get the same fault with another SD then I'm afraid you should consider sending the camera for repair... To speed up the process, set the SD slots for mirroring and test two cards at once. If you get faults in a card, invert them. If you get faults in the same card, it's the card, otherwise it's the slot. If you get fault in both at the same time, I believe it's gonna be the camera.

11-18-2014, 08:47 PM	#5
DeadJohn Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: New York Posts: 4,834	Yes, it looks like a memory fault. You see it like that on the LCD as soon as you take it or only after you load it onto your PC?

11-18-2014, 09:02 PM	#6
MadMathMind Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Houston, TX Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,717	If there were a sensor or other data issue from the camera image processing chain itself, you wouldn't see purple lines. You'd see pure black or some other kind of placeholder noise. Electronic nonsense is not that uniform. Your file is corrupt, either on the card or in the process of writing to the card. Possible the whole writing logic is shot, but I'd expect unusable files if that were truly the case.

11-19-2014, 04:12 AM	#7
southlander Site Supporter Join Date: May 2012 Location: Adelaide Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,364	Not using a Micro SD card in an SD adapter by chance? Micro SD cards can give unreliable results in cameras.

11-19-2014, 04:24 AM	#8
LensBeginner Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Photos: Albums Posts: 4,696	Originally posted by southlander Not using a Micro SD card in an SD adapter by chance? Micro SD cards can give unreliable results in cameras. Could you cite some sources supporting that claim? I'm interested in that myself.

11-19-2014, 10:54 AM	#9
schnitzer79 Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2013 Photos: Albums Posts: 1,248	Originally posted by southlander Not using a Micro SD card in an SD adapter by chance? Micro SD cards can give unreliable results in cameras. was going to ask the same thing. had something similar once in an old p&s. only use the sd cards, never the micros!

11-20-2014, 12:11 PM	#10
rRnt Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 88 Original Poster	Thanks everyone for answering. Results so far: I did the checkdisk on windows - it did not find anything wrong with the card. Today I received a second card (also SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s, but 32GB as opposed to the 8GB of the first one) and tested them out with the new card in slot1 and old one in the slot2. Took 246 shots until the 8GB was full (RAW+JPEG), but got no corrupt files on either of them. So I guess it is fairly random and rare event, although during first 500 shots I got 3-5 same kind of corruption on images. As the first test was unable to replicate the problem, I will be leaving the cards at mirror mode until I encounter the problem again. One of my friends said, she has had similar corruptions also (she is a former Pentaxian but uses Nikon now and works as a photographer, so shoots a LOT), but very rare and she has not given much thought over them and haven't even seen a pattern there.

11-20-2014, 01:29 PM	#11
hongzhibin1987 Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 464	Originally posted by rRnt Thanks everyone for answering. Results so far: I did the checkdisk on windows - it did not find anything wrong with the card. Today I received a second card (also SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s, but 32GB as opposed to the 8GB of the first one) and tested them out with the new card in slot1 and old one in the slot2. Took 246 shots until the 8GB was full (RAW+JPEG), but got no corrupt files on either of them. So I guess it is fairly random and rare event, although during first 500 shots I got 3-5 same kind of corruption on images. As the first test was unable to replicate the problem, I will be leaving the cards at mirror mode until I encounter the problem again. One of my friends said, she has had similar corruptions also (she is a former Pentaxian but uses Nikon now and works as a photographer, so shoots a LOT), but very rare and she has not given much thought over them and haven't even seen a pattern there. So this is something serious. where did you get your camera? probably contact the seller and tell them the situation and get a replacement. Sorry for that i know this can be very frustrating.

11-20-2014, 03:24 PM	#12
rRnt Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 88 Original Poster	I got the camera from our country's biggest photographic gear retail chain, which is also the official importer of Pentax here. Still, there is no definite proof that the fault was in the camera, might have been the memory card also, I just have to wait and see if and when the symptom reappears. If I walked into the store with just a story and no corrupt images to show, every store would first blame it on the memory card. So before marching there I would like to be sure, the fault is in the camera and not the card. Both memory cards were also purchased from legitimate sources - the first from one of our biggest chain of electronics stores and the newer one from the same photo store. The camera has the latest firmware update.

11-20-2014, 03:36 PM	#13
LensBeginner Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Photos: Albums Posts: 4,696	Originally posted by rRnt I got the camera from our country's biggest photographic gear retail chain, which is also the official importer of Pentax here. Still, there is no definite proof that the fault was in the camera, might have been the memory card also, I just have to wait and see if and when the symptom reappears. If I walked into the store with just a story and no corrupt images to show, every store would first blame it on the memory card. So before marching there I would like to be sure, the fault is in the camera and not the card. Both memory cards were also purchased from legitimate sources - the first from one of our biggest chain of electronics stores and the newer one from the same photo store. The camera has the latest firmware update. If you use mirroring you protect yourself from the symptoms, waiting to solve the problem (whatever it might be) at the root. So, not a bad choice.

11-25-2014, 12:24 PM	#14
emalvick Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Davis, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,642	I would say that if you have the corrupt images showing up randomly on both cards, the camera is at fault. I don't think I've ever had two corrupt cards simultaneously. Plus, if a card is corrupt, it is usually just flat out corrupt. It almost sounds like something is going wrong in the write process within the camera that only happens occasionally.

11-27-2014, 06:05 AM	#15
rRnt Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 88 Original Poster	Okay, today the problem occurred again, here are my findings: Took 46 photos today, and 2 of them were corrupt, 23rd and 29th file. The corruption does not show up on camera screen, even after using the card in the card reader and copying images on hard drive. It does not show up on camera JPEG, only on imported RAW DNG. It does show up on both cards. I tried different ways of importing the files, and here is where it gets weird. If I copy the files from SD card to my computer/external hard drive, and import them into Lightroom from there, the problem shows up in develop and also on exported jpeg. If I import the files to Lightroom directly from the SD card or via USB connected to the camera, the problem shows itself during develop process preview for about 2 seconds, then it disappears and shows whole image correctly, and exported jpeg is perfectly OK as well. Seems like there is some problem in the writing process in-camera, but there still is whole data available in the card that gets lost when files are copied.