# 5D Mark III Green frames on the footage - is it dying?



## carolbellyflop (Jan 27, 2018)

Hello,
Recently I had, on multiple video files, a green flashing frames - sometimes at the beginning of the clip, sometimes in the middle of it. 
I was wondering if anyone here had a similar problem with footage filmed on 5D Mark III and how it can be resolved.
The shutter speed is at 60% of its life so I know we will have to get a new camera but I was hoping it will be later rather than sooner. We also use the camera mainly for filming but occasionally we take photos too - no problem with the jpgs though, photos looks good.
Do these green frames indicate camera dying or is it something else? Please help!
Thank you!


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jan 28, 2018)

You might contact canon. This is the first time I recall hearing that particular issue. Usually weird colors are related to lighting.


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## Valvebounce (Jan 28, 2018)

Hi Carol. 
Were you recording to a card or sending straight to pc (not sure if that is function available), if to a card have you tried a different card as this seems similar to corrupted images threads that have been raised before, also were the files downloaded via card reader or directly from the camera via usb to computer, card readers have been at fault before! 
I would say that on a video it is unlikely to be the shutter as the mirror would be locked up and the mechanical shutter opened before recording started whilst you were framing up etc, the video uses an electronic shutter to create each frame.
If you eliminate the card and reader by swapping out with alternatives then it is possible that there is something electronic dying within the camera! Perhaps a visit to Canon for a repair is in this camera’s future! 

Cheers, Graham.


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## YuengLinger (Jan 28, 2018)

Link to video?


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## Don Haines (Jan 28, 2018)

If you record at a lower rate, does it still happen?


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## carolbellyflop (Jan 28, 2018)

Hi, recording on to SD card (6$GB) then card goes to AVID for import. 
I'll check with different crad tomorrow.
Got in touch with Canon support too but they take 7 working days to reply so will see what they think.
Will let you know if the problem occurs on a different card.
Thanks!



Valvebounce said:


> Hi Carol.
> Were you recording to a card or sending straight to pc (not sure if that is function available), if to a card have you tried a different card as this seems similar to corrupted images threads that have been raised before, also were the files downloaded via card reader or directly from the camera via usb to computer, card readers have been at fault before!
> I would say that on a video it is unlikely to be the shutter as the mirror would be locked up and the mechanical shutter opened before recording started whilst you were framing up etc, the video uses an electronic shutter to create each frame.
> If you eliminate the card and reader by swapping out with alternatives then it is possible that there is something electronic dying within the camera! Perhaps a visit to Canon for a repair is in this camera’s future!
> ...


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## carolbellyflop (Jan 28, 2018)

Here's the link - https://youtu.be/FUqozLo1AYU 



YuengLinger said:


> Link to video?


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## carolbellyflop (Jan 28, 2018)

To be ho est, I didn't try that. Will check!



Don Haines said:


> If you record at a lower rate, does it still happen?


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## Don Haines (Jan 28, 2018)

carolbellyflop said:


> To be ho est, I didn't try that. Will check!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



What I am wondering about, is how does it behave when writing to the card at a lower rate. The problem you have may be that the card is loosing or corrupting frames, and that the software used to play the video is replacing the corrupted frames with green frames. 

That said, on any camera, if you are having weird faults, you may wish to restore the settings to factory defaults and use a known good Canon battery and a known good quality memory card that you are absolutely sure is not counterfeit.


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## carolbellyflop (Feb 4, 2018)

Hi, a little update.

So filming on lower frames didn't change anything.

We managed to solve the problem temporarily - we cleaned the heads and restored factory settings and changed SD card for micro SD. The camera is few years old so the upgrade will be happening but first, need Canon to reply to see if they have any solutions to this problem.

Thank you all for your replies and ideas. It's much appreciated!


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## Yiannis A - Greece (Feb 5, 2018)

carolbellyflop said:


> Hi, a little update.
> 
> So filming on lower frames didn't change anything.
> 
> ...


Dear Carol,
being a 5d Mk3 user for four years, i came across green and purple and (more often) black frames while recording video, quite a few times. I usually faced the issue when recording in Magic Lantern RAW "mode". Being an extremely skilled computer user and tech freak myself, i first thought it should be a card problem (i never thought anything bad about the sensor and (thankfully), it prooved i was partially right). I say "partially" because there was no problem with the sensor but also, no problem with the cards themselves! 
The problem was the card reader and the cord (USB 3.0) i used, to transfer the footages between the card and my hard disks on the PC!
In your case, using an SD card on a high bitrate camera could also be a problem; especially a micro-SD card! Although they claim "write speeds" of 10+ MB/s, they usually are much slower (5 Mb/s or even less). A 5D Mk3 needs an SD card of, at least, 88mbit/8= 11 MB/s "write speed" to be capable of letting the camera record at 1080p "ALL-I" mode, not to mention using Magic Lantern, where you need a 1066x Compact Flash card to be fast enough to handle the 80+ MB/s the 1080p RAW puts through the on-board card reader! I never use SD cards to record video on a 5D Mk3.
What i did to solve the problem was, buying a Lexar USB 3.0 card reader (for both CF and SD cards) and using it to transfer my photo and video files to the PC. I don't use the USB out of the camera because it's only of USB 2.0 protocol and gives me headaches trying to move large RAW video files or 128gb of card space to the PC!
That's my own experience with weird coloured frames on my 5D Mk3, try doing what i recommend above and give us some feedback if possible.

All my best wishes from sunny, spring-like Greece. Enjoy loving the ones you like the most and mostly enjoy being loved by them 

Yours
Yiannis


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