Possible scratch on M9 sensor?

[mszargar]

Hello RFiens,

I tested a M9 last week with the intention to buy, and I took some test shots with it. Upon close inspection of the shots today, I found out that there is a hair-thin vertical line with a width of just one pixel showing up only on the shots that I have taken at higher ISO levels (1600) and only in the darker shots. The line is always at the same place, around the one-third line at the bottom left and it goes from the edge to the middle of the image (or further, but I don't have images with a dark upper half to investigate). Initially I though it might be a scratch, because the owner told me that he has cleaned the sensor several times. But this line is yellow as you can see in the picture below (100% crop). What can this be then?

And apart from that, how much would you pay for a M9 with 27000 actuations, decently brassed bottom plate, minimal brassing on the corners of the top plate, a high-end leather case, a lens marker kit and a spare battery?

 

[CameraQuest]

scratch, perhaps

that is also a possible cracked sensor.

Look at the sensor with a magnifier.

Stephen

 

[swoop]

Is that a JPG or converted RAW? A RAW converter like Lightrroom will automatically nix out something like that. It's kinda the reason no one has complained about dead/hot pixels in a few years because lightroom deals with it so the user doesn't even notice.

Also the M9 has a tendency to band at high ISO's. You can't shoot at 2500, push it 3 stops, zoom in 100% and expect it to look pretty.

A kit like that is probably around $4k.

 

[mszargar]

I shot this in RAW and got the jpg output from ACR.

I hadn't considered the possibility of banding. But can banding happen at the exact same position every time?

I didn't see any crack on the surface, but if it is I can ask the owner to send it to repair while it is under warranty.

 

[swoop]

I hadn't considered the possibility of banding. But can banding happen at the exact same position every time?

Just a quick sample. So this was shot in a pitch black room, the only illumination coming from two 50" televisions. This image is at ISO 2500 1/30 f2 with a pre-asph 90mm Summicron.

Here's the image with exposure pushed 2.5 stops in Lightroom 4, along with other adjustments. If you look around you can see some signs of banding. Not awful, but not subtle either.

I don't know if it's in the exact same place always and my images aren't displaying a definite fine line. But I do know banding is an issue if you push the camera to extremes.

 

[flash]

Vertical lines usually mean the CCD has a blown line. That's what your example looks like to me. On my M9 banding issues are 90% due to the card in use (i just found banding on my new Lexar 32GB which I'm not happy about so I'm back to my old 16's). On my camera banding is horizontal across the frame. I have never had vertical banding.

I've had a cracked sensor and it's instantly noticeable.

Gordon

 

[jaapv]

Flash has it right. It is a simple dead pixel line. Nothing dramatic like scratches and cracks! Negiotate a discount and send the camera in to be remapped. Or if you want to play it safe have the seller do it. Depending on Leica´s assesment and discretion it is not too expensive to free.

 

[mszargar]

Great guys, thanks a lot! The owner is a very nice person, almost becoming a friend, and I think he still has some time left on his passport. Also, we both know our local leica dealer. I guess we can both go there and demonstrate the issue. I am pretty sure a whole line of dead pixels falls under guaranty terms (maybe not a single dead pixel).

Thanks again for your great help.