Help! Is it just me, or is there something wrong?

[ktang]

I brought a Panasonic FX9 a few days ago, and I started taking a few pictures, until I realized that there were some pink stripes coming down from the light source, which was the sun outside the window. When I tried taking pictures at a different angle, the pink stripes weren't there anymore. Half the time they are there, half the time there isn't. According to my friends, it is actually the light sources 'fault' and there is nothing wrong with the camera. Is this true? And if it isn't, what should I do? Please help!

[SmartWombat]

You may find what you see on the screen on the camera isn't in the final image.
It's a built-in limitation of the sensor.

I've seen that on my Monlta A2 screen when taking the photo, but when reading it into the computer off the memory card, the streak wasn't there.

The signal from the CCD gets shifted off the sensor, like a bucket brigade, passing it down the line.
And what you see is the overload from something too bright, overflowing the buckets as it's read out.