Dead Pixel

[Kaye]

Has anyone here had a dead pixel?

I am wondering whether this may be a common problem. I will google it soon also to see what I find.

My last camera, Olympus FE-370 P&S had a dead pixel which was repaired under warranty.

Now, to have my next camera (my D90) also have a dead pixel, I would have thought the odds on this would be like winning the lottery!

Many may not even notice if they have a dead pixel unless they zoom in very close in an editing software.

Here is a close up of the dead pixel (the tiny white dot in the middle of the two rings:

15132

I guess I should have this repaired under warranty, but don't want to be without my camera for weeks!
Or is it too minor to worry about?

[ronelbroderick]

Kaye, it depends on you as photographer if you feel a dead pixel is only a minor problem, a few months ago I would have commented NO, but now my advice is to get it fixed. Did you sell your previous camera? to use in the mean time. But I think your eye will always draw to that pixel when your finished with a piece of art work and want to sit back and just watch your masterpiece, specially if its on a dark background or subject. But as I say it depends on a person self, hope you can solve that pixel of yours. Ronel

[Kaye]

Thanks very much Ronel. I spoke to the shop where I bought the camera, and they told me there could be a 3 week wait to get the camera back :mad: They then suggested I could take it directly to Nikon myself which may be quicker.
Just tonight I found another one! They are difficult to see unless you enlarge your photo on screen, but I tend to notice in Photoshop. I guess also if the shot was printed in a large version, that a dead pixel would show.
On an enlarged screen it shows like a white "+" sign.

Every time I edit a shot now, I look out for them. I do still have my old Olympus P&S, but I have lost interest now with so much to learn with my new camera. Even the store offered me a P&S whilst it was in for repair.

I have another 1.75 years to get this fixed under warranty, but I will definitely get it fixed.

Thanks Ronel.

[eyerkish]

Kaye,

I have not heard of dead pixels but I would get this fixed sooner rather than later. I know you're excited about having the camera but with the money you have invested in the new gear, you can't afford to not get it fixed, especially considering the high quality of your images. Plus I know you will be looking for that dead pixel every time you shoot and it will probably bother you until it gets corrected. If the shop was nice enough to offer a P&S while yours is being repaired, I say take it out for a spin and have some fun. In the grand scheme of things, this is just a bump in the road.

[coffee]

Are you sure this is a dead pixel and not a hot pixel?

[Kaye]

Thank you Eddie & Joseph for your thoughts on this.
I just googled to find out a bit more. I had never heard of a "hot" pixel before - I looked it up here: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/hot-pixels/index.htm#
Mine does sound very similar but the two I have now found are white. The general concensus from reading on this, is not to worry about it and that many cameras have it/them.
I will probably still send it in to be repaired at some stage.

[pipedesign]

Sorry to hear about your Pixels dying off Kaye, LoL -sorry, I know it isn't funny.
How much do you have to zoom in to see them?
I would be worried that it indicates a prob with your sensor - it seems so soon to be having trouble, doesn't it?

From what Ken Rockwell wrote it could happen at any time to any of us and if it was fixed it could just come back. For someone as dedicated and prolific as you with taking photographs I think your 'D90 separation anxiety' might be worse than just fixing them on the odd photo where you feel they are that visible.

Good luck

[Kaye]

Sorry to hear about your Pixels dying off Kaye, LoL -sorry, I know it isn't funny.
How much do you have to zoom in to see them?
I would be worried that it indicates a prob with your sensor - it seems so soon to be having trouble, doesn't it?

From what Ken Rockwell wrote it could happen at any time to any of us and if it was fixed it could just come back. For someone as dedicated and prolific as you with taking photographs I think your 'D90 separation anxiety' might be worse than just fixing them on the odd photo where you feel they are that visible.

Good luck

Thanks for the reply John... I think my brain cells are dying off trying to cram so much into it at this stage of my life !

I can see them at 100% as I know approx where they are, but they are easier to find at 200%. So if a photo was blow up, it would certainly show if there was a dark/plain background. It is more difficult to see them in patterns.
From the Ken Rockwell link I posted above and other sites I looked up, this seems to be a fairly common problem, hence, there are probably some members here who have one or two dead or hot pixels and do not know. Particularly those who do not use an editing programme like Photoshop.

I don't believe they multiply like a disease.... if they do, my camera will be being repaired tomorrow!

I have yet to decide the worst pain.... send my camera in for repair and put up with the "separation anxiety" as you said, or simply clone over the spot. It is simple to do.
To me, it just seems so funny that my last camera had one also.

[coffee]

I would do a search online for a free program that will take an image and search for dead and hot pixels, and possible fix them. There is a procedure for Canon involving the mirror up/cleaning that fixes hot pixels. It's been a very long time since I've used this procedure, but it did work. I can't remember if it did anything with dead pixels. I think once they are dead, they are dead. But I do remember having many hot and or stuck pixels that this mirror procedure fixed.

Try this:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1039&message=28398176

http://www.google.com/search?q=dead+pixel+fix+nikon&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

[Kaye]

Hi Joseph and thank you very much for your ideas here.
I have briefly looked up the links you kindly posted, and from the second link I landed here: http://webpages.charter.net/bbiggers/DCExperiments/html/hot_pixels.html

Below is the info that interested me from the site above, as I do have my D90 set to noise reduction (I think on the D90 without checking now, is Noise Reduction for high ISO).

Most cameras made after 2002 now have a noise reduction technique used on longer exposures that involves taking a duplicate exposure with the lens covered that is then subtracted from the main exposure. Also note that some cameras use software noise reduction that makes hot pixles appear White instead of their normal color (Minolta and Sony do this).

My 2 hot or dead pixels are morseso white, with one being much brighter than the other, and always in the same place.

Thanks again Joseph, I will do more research on this.... it does not bother me that much as I just clone them out. I have plenty of warranty left, so if I have no results with my research, I will have it repaired under warranty.

[mingkywingky]

Hi Kaye, thanks for posting this. Turned out, my camera has a dead pixel/ hot pixel too. And they are more than two. Some are red, some are white. They only appear on the black colour. My night shots contain lots of dead pixels. My stii life pics with a black backdrop have them. But it doesn't appear in my studio shot with a black backdrop. Probably because of the smaller ISO and the lighting.
I've tried the procedure Joseph mentioned above, and took a test shot in a dark room with a very small light at ISO 400 ss 1/8s. I zoomed in upto 300pct on PS, I think they are gone. I hope so. Thanks for sharing the link Joseph. And thanks Kaye.

[Kaye]

Tenny, I am glad it worked on yours. I tried it but it did not work on my D90. I will take it to Nikon one day soon.

[photolessons]

A hot pixel is always maxed out to white, a dead pixel is always no signal and black.

Things like this should be covered under warrantee, but of course will take awhile to get fixed...

A band-aid solution is to use software to detect and fix it in all your pictures. Most decent photo editing suites will have something like this built in or someone will have made a script for it.