Is this sensor damage?

[Andri Peetso]

I've suspected for a while that my red's sensor is damaged somehow. I get unusual amounts of noise and sometimes I notice weird lines in my footage. I turned on the gio scope with the sensor cap on to see what's up after a shoot. Notice there are both parallel and vertical lines there and all sorts of other crazy.

Is this normal? What should I do?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2fa9rnd7m6za2jp/redwtf.mov?dl=0

 

[David Battistella]

Have you tried calibrating the sensor at a higher temp like 65 degrees?

You really should post an R3D file of what you are talking about.

 

[David Battistella]

Also,

The manual for the camera is a great resource if you take the time to read through it.

1. CHECK NOISE PROFILE
   To check the current noise profile, follow the instructions below:
   1. Ensure that the camera reaches the temperature you want to use for your shoot.
      
   2. Set the exposure to the exposure you want to use for your shoot.
      
   3. Put a lens cap on the lens (if a lens is attached) or a front body cap on the camera (if a lens is not attached).
      
   4. Go to Menu > Settings > Look > FLUT.
      
   5. Set FLUT to 8.000.
      
   6. Check the noise that displays on the monitor:
      • ‒ The noise is random, with no fixed patterns or lines. The sensor is calibrated.
        
      • ‒ The noise has patterns or lines. Calibrate the sensor. For more information, go to “Calibration Capture
        (Black Shading)” on page 111.
        

 

[Anthony Berenato Jr]

You'll find those lines on every Dragon sensor when you blast the ISO and use the false color tools. I even tried to contact support about it before and sent my camera in, came back "in spec". Was worried then, but barely bothers me now.

Though, as David said - get your camera up to temp before shooting (and make sure it's calibrated high, around 65). The lines definitely lose their definition when the top end temperature is reached, though I have seen some remnants of them sneak through some shadows in low light footage.

Not sure if Weapon changes this with different conversion boards. Would love to know some of the science and tech to explain those lines though, just the nerd in me.

 

[Andri Peetso]

I've always calibrated on the lowest temp.. Didn't know it mattered. I'll test this out tomorrow and let you know how it went. Thank you!

 

[Patrick Tresch]

Strange thing is the yellow noise bar and the 4 gray bars in the histogram.

edit: oups Gioscope...

 

[Charles Bergquist]

This is normal. I submitted requests when I first received my Dragon Sensor upgrade and it's the same. Mine is actually worse in some cases. This type of noise is "within spec".

 

[Cameron Currier]

I've always calibrated on the lowest temp.. Didn't know it mattered. I'll test this out tomorrow and let you know how it went. Thank you!

Definitely do a calibration at a higher temp, that should hopefully take care of your issue. I like to power up my camera for a good 10-15 minutes to get it up to temp before calibrating.

 

[Andri Peetso]

Thanks! Your tips (calibrating at higher temp - 65) really helped bring my amount of noise down. Somehow I missed that in the manual.

Maybe I'm over-analyzing this, but there seems to be a fixed vertical line (or multiple) on the left side of the screen on this FLUT8 test https://vimeo.com/156001438 (pw: red)