Diglloyd claims the Sony A9 has Pattern/Banding Noise at ISO 100
Digglloyd shared a worrying finding on the Sony A9 he is testing:
I noticed some unexpected streaking in an image with a good exposure at ISO 100. The red channel is overlaid with horizontal lines/streaks in 12-pixel-high bands. Pattern noise is disturbing in any case, but to have it at ISO 100 with a good exposure is a huge negative for any camera, high speed shooter or not.
I’ve not seen noise this egregiously bad for years now. Possible diagnosis: the high-speed readout of the A9 sensor does not read out groups of rows evenly; there is some difference in gain between the rows. The pattern noise repeats in row groups that are 12 pixels high.
I have no way to verify his detailed test yet as you have to pay to read the full article. And I have to say I have found none such issue on the RAW files shared by DPreview and Imaging Resource.
I find it strange none of the reviewers so far has ever found any banding issue on the A9 at low ISO. My bet yet is that either he got a faulty production camera or he made some sort of setting error. I ask testers and readers to peer review this. Thanks!
If indeed his findings prove to be a general issue I am sure Sony will work to fix this very soon via the next firmware update. It’s very normal that new camera may have some issues that will be fixed quickly. Don’t panic yet ;)
By the way, that firmware update will likely bring S-LOG on the camera too. This is what Sony support wrote on the BHphoto Q&A page:
Sony A9:
Sony A9 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon, BestBuy. FocusCamera. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 with Grip Extension Kit at BHphoto, Adorama and Amazon.
Sony A9 battery grip at Adorama, Bhphoto, Amazon. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 Glass screen protector at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
NP-FZ100 battery for the A9 at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Jessops.
GP-EX1 grip at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
FDA-EP18 eye cup at Adorama, BHphoto.
MQZ1 multi battery charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
BCQZ1 Z-series Battery Charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
The new Sony FE lenses preorders:
16-35mm GM at Bhphoto, Adorama, BestBuy, Focus and Amazon. In EU at Calumet DE, WexUK, Jessops.
12-24mm G at Bhphoto, Adorama, BestBuy, Focus and Amazon. In EU at Calumet DE, WexUK, Jessops.
Sony 100-400mm GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.