Nikon has today officially acknowledged an issue exists with a limited number of earlier production Nikon D200 cameras and has provided a Nikon D200 Banding FAQ.

Q1: Why do I occasionally see vertical lines in my D200 images?

A1: Patterns of vertical lines, sometimes referred to as banding, are a digital imaging artifact. Lines can be vertical or horizontal, depending on the orientation of the camera at the time that an affected image was captured. Banding can become visible only in specific snapping conditions that include particular combinations of high contrast scene content, lighting, camera settings, substantial enlargement and the snapping environment.

Banding can be further described as long banding or short banding. Long banding will generally appear throughout an image. Short banding will not appear throughout an image. Commonly, if certain variables coincide, short banding can appear most prominently at intersections of extreme contrast and when an image is enlarged substantially. Appearance of short banding may typically be a pattern of physically short lines and will usually not affect the vast majority of images.

DigitalReview.ca has the complete Nikon D200 Banding FAQ