Is there an issue with Canon’s T6s and T6i sensor?

While most of us only buy one, or maybe two of a certain model camera, high-volume rental houses have the benefit of seeing many of the same model camera, allowing for great comparisons and troubleshooting. In just such a case, the good folks over at LensRentals.com have come across an interesting issue with the APS-C sensors on a couple of hot new DSLR cameras out of the Canon camp. Of their stock of Canon T6s and T6i cameras a somewhat common defect was discovered, where spots were found within the glass layer stack of the sensor.

In their words, “The bottom line is that 4 of the Canon T6s and 2 of the T6i cameras we received had to be sent back because of a defect in the sensor stack (the layers of filter glass over the sensor). This is out about 10 copies of each; the others were absolutely perfect.”

This image is a shot of the sky taken at  f/16 from one of the affected cameras. (Image: LensRentals.com)

 This shot is over-contrasted to show the bullseye patterning a bit more clearly. (Image: LensRentals.com)

First mistaken for dust or oil on the sensor, techs quickly realized the spots were underneath the surface of the sensor, within the stack.

ProductionWorld.net will be following this story with great interest, but we don’t want to spoil all of the hard work of Roger Cicala and Aaron Closz at LensRentals.com, who were kind enough to let us use their imagery for this post. If you think you might have one of the affected cameras, read LensRentals.com’s full article here to check out their findings, and figure out how to know for sure if yours is ok or not.

If you’re worried that this issue may affect your beloved T6-series Canon in the future, according to an addendum to the LensRental.com article, the issue appears to be a “defect in the sputtering process used to coat the glass in the stack. Assuming this is the case, the problem would be visible immediately, it’s not something that would show up later after originally appearing normal”.

So if your camera is awesome now – and we’ve heard great things about the T6s and T6i – it will be awesome going forward as well.

How’s your T6-series DSLR? Let us know in the comments or tag us on Twitter @ProductionMag