K100D banding problem

Hello everyone,
I've been reading this board for a while now and very helpful it's been too, so I decided to take the plunge and register.
Now then, I have a problem with my K100D which, despite extensive searching, I can't seem to see any answer to.
Occasionally I get "banding" on my images. I've posted an example here in my flickr account http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2028/2065346535_30b8533e7b.jpg?v=0
This banding comes and goes and sometimes it's bad like, you see here, other times less severe. I'm using a 2gb sandisk extreme SD card and without changing any settings the next image could be fine.
I've just spoken to the person in the shop where I bought the camera from and they say it could be an image transfer problem? Perhaps I need a new card reader? I'm reluctant to send it back to Pentax (it's still under warranty) as the person in the shop reckoned it's 6 - 8wks to investigate the prob and then maybe repair. I'm going away on xmas day and wanted the camera for that, hence the reluctance.
Right, I think I've waffled enough, I do hope somebody has an idea what's going on and can help. If not, just thanks for all your previous posts that have helped in the past

That's an odd looking problem...
I would check out the following:
* Does it occur at all ISO ratings (might be worse at ISO1600)
* Does it still occur when you use RAW mode and process using Pentax Browser?

It's possible that there's a problem in the CCD transfer internally. I have seen card issues before, but they don't generally look so regular.


Matt

Thanks for the speedy reply Matt.
I have to be honest here and admit I've not used RAW mode at all and I use Photoshop CS2 to process the pics
and yes, the problem occurs at all ISO ratings.

The most frustrating thing is, when I took the camera back to the shop today, the assistant took about 20 pics and not one of them had any banding on them when I got back home and transferred them to PC.

It's baffling me for sure

Let's not forget George's banding problem which was (eventually) traced to the video card on his PC.

Does your problem sound like this ?

Thanks for the reply ammonyte but the banding is horizontal, not vertical.
I never even considered the graphics/video card on the pc, so that's an avenue to pursue.
Thanks for replying

Have you another PC or can you borrow a mates? That's sort out whether it is a PC problem. Try a different SD card too as some problems have been traced to the card too. Try formatting the card. If all of that doesn't sort it, it'll probably be down to the camera

Thanks again ammonyte.
I've used a different SD card and then formatted both within the camera. I've not tried the different PC yet, so that's my next stop. The strangest thing was, that the assistant in the shop yesterday, took about 30 random pics and when I got back and transferred them to PC, not one of them had banding on them

Do you have any more examples of the problem? Most of the bands seem to line up with the light bulbs on the left-hand side. Or is that co-incidence? Are the bands always in the same place?

Once again, thanks for the reply ammonyte. The lines in other pics stay pretty central but sometimes there are less lines.
I've sent the camera back to Pentax now, so let's see what they say
Thanks again, for all your responses.

It does seem rather similar to my problem, and to set the record straight, I am still not sure what the precise cause is, except that it is a computer problem, not a camera problem.

I sometimes get similar banding when looking at a picture on a web page. I don't think it can be the video card because the banding is recorded permanently on a JPG file converted from a PEF, but may appear in different places on the same PEF on different days.

I suspect it is really caused by memory, or the main processor. The computer is failing to process certain large image files properly.

PEFs which exhibit this problem work correctly when viewed on my Dell laptop, so it is almost certainly the desktop machine.

The machine is three years old, and starting to fall over more often than it used to, so I reckon a new motherboard, cpu, and RAM are in order.

G

just an update.
I sent the camera back to pentax and they have just returned it after carrying out a repair.
However, the problem still exists
I'm going to inquire about getting my money back. I'm afraid I'm a bit disillusioned with them now.

Have you considered the other possibilities? Faulty SD cards, card readers, video cards....?

Thanks for replying.
Well, I've changed SD cards (I'm using sandisk extereme III)
I was going to change card reader next but pentax made no mention of that when we spoke. They actually said they had replaced "a part"...whatever part that was.
I'll phone tomorrow and speak to someone I think.
Thanks again for replying

I'm confused or dumb (often both) - why are you using a card reader? Why not use the USB port to transfer the files?

I'd eliminate all possible causes of the problem - you'd think that Pentax tseted the camera before returning it and I bet they used the USB connection.

Does your computer have USB 2, is it quite modern and finally what operating system does it run?

Can you see the banding on the camera rerview as high magnification?

Mike

Firstly, thanks for replying.
How about this then. I've always used a card reader to D/L pics but, after you mentioned that, I looked at the USB port and it's broken.
Now that poses a whole new set of questions:
Would that be my problem?
Was the USB port broken when I bought it?
If it was already broken, surely the engineer would have seen that when he/she tested it?
Oh, I'm totally confused now.
I'll phone pentax tomorrow and speak to a person I think.

thanks for the guidance