Sony A7R5 strange color artifacts.
p.1 #1Sony A7R5 strange color artifacts.
This is a screen shot of part of a recent photo from my A7R5. I've been using this camera for several years and have never seen this color artifact before. Can anyone identify what it is and what might be the cause? Thanks, Len.
Aug 01, 2026 at 11:55 AM
p.1 #2Sony A7R5 strange color artifacts.
It's either media card corruption or a sensor issue. The issue way to distinguish between the two is to analyze the embedded jpgs of the image (which is present for both raw and jpg images) and see if those embedded copies have the same issue - if they don't then it's media card corruption - if all copies have the same issue then it's likely the sensor.
If you PM me the original out-of-camera file I can check this on your behalf.
If you PM me the original out-of-camera file I can check this on your behalf.
Aug 01, 2026 at 12:31 PM
p.1 #3Sony A7R5 strange color artifacts.
Thanks very much but the out of camera file is 71 MB. How do I check the embedded jpg?
Aug 01, 2026 at 02:33 PM
p.1 #4Sony A7R5 strange color artifacts.
Len R wrote:
Thanks very much but the out of camera file is 71 MB. How do I check the embedded jpg?
Try this:
exiftool -b -JpgFromRaw -w embedded.jpg <out-of-camera filename>
Thanks very much but the out of camera file is 71 MB. How do I check the embedded jpg?
Try this:
exiftool -b -JpgFromRaw -w embedded.jpg <out-of-camera filename>
Aug 01, 2026 at 02:54 PM
p.1 #5Sony A7R5 strange color artifacts.
Thanks but Mac OS blocks installation of exiftool and the open anyway button does not work.
Aug 02, 2026 at 10:24 AM
p.1 #6Sony A7R5 strange color artifacts.
Len R wrote:
Thanks but Mac OS blocks installation of exiftool and the open anyway button does not work.
Ok. If you upload the file to a share site like Google Drive, Dropbox etc and PM me the link then I can have a look.
Thanks but Mac OS blocks installation of exiftool and the open anyway button does not work.
Ok. If you upload the file to a share site like Google Drive, Dropbox etc and PM me the link then I can have a look.
Aug 02, 2026 at 10:32 AM
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p.1 #8Sony A7R5 strange color artifacts.
There is small possibility that it is the software, but more likely as described above with the card, reader or camera. Does the artifact show when zooming on it in camera?
EBH
EBH
Aug 02, 2026 at 12:35 PM
p.1 #9Sony A7R5 strange color artifacts.
No, the artifacts are not visible when viewing in the camera, whether zoomed in or not. What does that indicate?
Thanks,
Len
Thanks,
Len
Aug 02, 2026 at 03:14 PM
p.1 #10Sony A7R5 strange color artifacts.
Len provided me the raw file and I was able to extract the the two embedded JPGs (full size and preview), neither of which had the artifacts present in the raw file. This indicates media card corruption in the raw data portion of the file. This is the common manifestation of media card corruption, since statistically the probability of corruption in the raw area is higher than the jpg area due to the size differential.
Aug 02, 2026 at 04:07 PM
p.1 #11Sony A7R5 strange color artifacts.
Len R wrote:
No, the artifacts are not visible when viewing in the camera, whether zoomed in or not. What does that indicate?
Thanks,
Len
The camera playback uses the embedded jpg, and considering how we've established the embedded jpg is fine in this image, this explains why the image appeared normal during playback in the camera.
No, the artifacts are not visible when viewing in the camera, whether zoomed in or not. What does that indicate?
Thanks,
Len
The camera playback uses the embedded jpg, and considering how we've established the embedded jpg is fine in this image, this explains why the image appeared normal during playback in the camera.
Aug 02, 2026 at 04:09 PM
p.1 #12Sony A7R5 strange color artifacts.
Thank you so much for this. Good to know it is the card and not the sensor. Does that mean the card is toast?
Len
Len
Aug 02, 2026 at 04:29 PM
p.1 #13Sony A7R5 strange color artifacts.
Len R wrote:
Thank you so much for this. Good to know it is the card and not the sensor. Does that mean the card is toast?
Len
That's a difficult question to answer. Transient errors are not entirely unexpected even on "good" cards - it's even a quoted quantity (bit error rate, both correctable and uncorrectable) - although these rates are extremely low. I personally never continue to use a card that has ever exhibited corruption, and this is especially true when not using a dual-card backup setup. The risk for future loss is simply too high relative to the small cost of a new card.
Many cards have long warranties so you may be able to argue for a free exchange, although many times the exchange is from used/refurbished stock which has its own risks.
Thank you so much for this. Good to know it is the card and not the sensor. Does that mean the card is toast?
Len
That's a difficult question to answer. Transient errors are not entirely unexpected even on "good" cards - it's even a quoted quantity (bit error rate, both correctable and uncorrectable) - although these rates are extremely low. I personally never continue to use a card that has ever exhibited corruption, and this is especially true when not using a dual-card backup setup. The risk for future loss is simply too high relative to the small cost of a new card.
Many cards have long warranties so you may be able to argue for a free exchange, although many times the exchange is from used/refurbished stock which has its own risks.
Aug 02, 2026 at 04:39 PM
p.1 #14Sony A7R5 strange color artifacts.
Thanks, I will toss the card, a SanDisk Extreme Pro 128gb 300 mb/s UHS II SDXC. Not so inexpensive anymore as they cost $190 if you can find them in stock. Not an issue for me as I recently switched to CF-A express cards. But I will note that I've been using these cards for many years and this is the first time I've ever had a problem. Snapsy you've been incredibly helpful and I very much appreciate it.
Regards,
Len
Regards,
Len
Aug 02, 2026 at 04:59 PM