Canon 5D Mark III - problems with fluorescent light

Question

This is brand new Canon 5D Mark III. There's green light banding when taking photo or video in the environment with fluorescent light. The first Canon 5D Mark III was returned to the shop. And this is the second one. But it still has the same problem.

So, I think this is a general issue with fluorescent light. I recorded a video clip of this problem here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOer6WPnPDM

There is also a yellow banding here http://www.learningdslrvideo.com/yellow-banding-high-iso/

Is there any way to fix this problem? Should the Canon release anything to fix it?

Answer 1

fluorescent lights flicker, they change both intensity and color 50 or 60 times per second (depending on where in the world you are).

This produce inconsistent colors, banding at high shutter speeds and confuses the auto white balance feature.

but the solution is simple, just make sure to only get complete flicker cycles during the exposure - the cumulative light of a complete cycle is consistent, you do this by setting a shutter speed according to the electricity frequency of your country.

In the US the frequency is 60Hz, so 1/60 shutter speed will catch a complete cycle, 1/30 will take two complete cycles, 1/15 will cover 4 cycles, etc.

In most of Europe the frequency is 50Hz, s0 1/50 for one cycle, 1/25 for two, 1/13 fo4 four, etc.

I've written a longer version of this answer with sample pictures on my blog at this post: photography under florescent light