D500 VR Lens compatibility, Fog per Manual

[Erik Lund]

It is not Nikon that is making a big deal out of this IMHO,,,

[charlie]

If you can make the artifact happen, it should be easy to test whether it is light from a photodiode that is causing the problem. Just insert a black piece of paper to cover the lens rear element and see if the effect disappears. If it does not, then it is probably electromagnetic interference.

Please do not hold me responsible if you do this test and end up with pieces of paper in the mirror chamber 

Good idea, I tried this by putting a micro fibre lens cleaning cloth in the deep chamber at the back of my 70-200mm, the pattern appeared regardless if there the light path was blocked or not.

This proves the theory of a photodiode emanating from inside the lens to be far-fetched indeed.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

Ups, I should have said a light-emitting diode (LED) would be the component that emits light, a photodiode is a detector that converts light into current. ;-)

If it is not due to light, then EM interference is a possible explanation for the artifact.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

...
This proves the theory of a photodiode emanating from inside the lens to be far-fetched indeed.

Good to know. I consider Nikon to be a company with rational and knowledgeable people .... Of course , with the bewildering complexity of today's electronic lenses and cameras, one apparently cannot entirely guard against interactions and side effects. This more so as true field testing is on the wane for new models in the quest to get the  newest and latest products pushed to the market as quickly as possible.

[David H. Hartman]

Do sensor heat patterns ever appear in the center of the frame? I tested my D2H and found areas alone the bottom edge of the frame at each corner and in the center. All starting at the extreme lower edge.  Then there was general noise, quite heavy.

I never tested another camera but always use Long Exposure NR.

Dave

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Noise patterns from EM (or heat) tend to be off-centre. At least that is my general experience with digital cameras up till now.

[Andrea B.]

Dave that's probably read dark noise which looks worse as exposure length increases and the sensor heats up? It is kind of blotchy.
Added: difficult to separate out the dark noise from the high ISO noise in practice.

Added:  Like Bjørn, usually I've seen this heat thing worse on the edges. Test this with viewfinder port closed to keep from contaminating center of frame during a long test exposure.