D200 in repair for banding issue (3).
The previous post about my D200’s banding issue was more positive than warranted. 
I went out to shoot some pictures at the New England Spring Flower show in Boston. That was a lot of fun. The lighting was difficult; many of the halls had mood-setting lighting, low in intensity. Good practice, though. 
But when i came back to post-process my pics i saw that Nikon’s fix was not done well:
- Still have some short-type banding… a little, but not much, better than before the fix.
http://www.streetsofboston.com/photos/59563698-O.jpg (large pic!!). - High-ISO pics show vertical striping-effects in the noise. This looks like banding in noise (no highlights or overexposed areas). I’m guessing that pixel-bands alternate and that one set of bands exhibit more noise than the other, causing the striping effect. Using noise-reduction actually increases this striping effect (making it softer, but a bit more pronounced). This pic shows the issue. Note that the pic has been rotated, so the striping appears horizontal.
http://www.streetsofboston.com/photos/59564342-O.jpg (large pic!!). - Here is a composite crop of both:
I can deal with the short-type banding, using a 20% opacity smudge or blur brush. But the striping in the noise is not acceptable, i think. Nikon agrees with me and will fix the problem(s). However…
If it was not fixed the first time, what about the second time…?
I called the dealer - Bromfield Camera in Boston - from which i bought the D200 and he may be able to get me a new D200. He’s not sure yet, since the camera is effectively a ‘refurbished’ camera because it already has been ‘fixed’. But since i have the original box, the warranty, etc., he may be able to get me a new D200… If so, i hope it will not exhibit these problems.
To be continued…