Dead pixels in LCD or defect in lens?

[Akraz]

I just got my new Nikon D3000 last sunday... and ive noticed something that may not be so good.

I was taking pictures in the dark tonight inside my room playing around with ISO settings, shutter speed and whatever; just learning about my camera..

I hooked up my camera to my PC and was looking at all the RAW .NEF files looking at quality and what settings are best for what, you know how it goes.

Then I noticed something really odd, one spot on every picture had a very bright area.. I zoomed into it and saw this:

http://michaelgiunta.com/images/content/dead.jpg

I thought it was a spec of dust but... it is not :(

This little bright spot was on every picture i took in THE EXACT SAME SPOT on each photo ... IN TWO PLACES. Meaning, every picture had two of them.. one in the middle right and one on the lower left.

I took more pictures after to verify.. and it is true. I may have to take it back to Black's tomorrow to get it checked out.

Tell me I'm not crazy and it may either be a dead pixel or something else is going on. I am very new to the DSLR scene so any help would be appreciated.

[Kasakato]

The white cross-hair thing shows up in every picture? Can you post a full size pic with the spots.

[Akraz]

I can upload the full 10mp photos, they are around 9mb each. Give me a few min.

[zatrix]

I can upload the full 10mp photos, they are around 9mb each. Give me a few min.

Export to jpeg and upload that instead of the raw.

[Akraz]

Here are the UNEDITED RAW files straight from my camera

Image 1 (http://michaelgiunta.com/DSC_0014.NEF)

Image of my Digital P&S Casio Exilim
Pixel 1: Right beside the "mm" around the lens just under the shutter
Pixel 2: To the middle right of the image where the indicator light is near the top right of the camera just outside the lens silver lining.

Image 2 (http://michaelgiunta.com/DSC_0019.NEF)
Pixel 1:Just below the Lens cleaner puffer. You cant miss it, it's pretty blatant.
Pixel 2: to the right of the "n" in Nikon on the lens cap.

If you open both images at the same time and switch back and forth you will notice they are in the same place.


Edit: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh when I open the files in photoshop they disappear :confused::confused::confused::confused:

Edit 2: when i zoom in on the picture on the camera it shows it there too.

[Winkle]

Don't think its the lens... also that's only a week so you are still within the return period, pretty sure Blacks will let you exchange if you explain to them. Maybe take a few photo files with you.

Edit: Also what software are you using to view the raws?

Edit 2: Akraz, I downloaded the first image of your Casio and I definitely see it. I had to convert it to dng using Adobe DNG Converter because Aperture does not support D3000 or D300s raws right now. Anyway I can see it in Aperture, although I see it as only 1 green pixel. Here's a screen capture... link below.

http://h.imagehost.org/view/0501/Screen_shot_2009-10-17_at_1_02_12_AM

Edit 3: Downloaded image 2, same deal, exact same location although this one looks worst then what I am seeing in image 1 through Aperture... screen cap link below.

http://a.imagehost.org/view/0945/Screen_shot_2009-10-17_at_1_08_51_AM

If it's not too much hassle I would suggest you take it back for an exchange... seems like you have a dead pixel in the sensor or something. I highly doubt its an issue with your lens.

[Akraz]

Winkle, I believe I just confirmed something may be wrong. It appears on the camera itself when I view the image. Also, this may be hard to explain however I will try:

When i zoom into the picture on my camera, it is visible and as I move the zoom window over different parts of the image BOTH the pixels blink funny colours (RGB I assume) as im moving the image view window.

[Winkle]

Winkle, I believe I just confirmed something may be wrong. It appears on the camera itself when I view the image. Also, this may be hard to explain however I will try:

When i zoom into the picture on my camera, it is visible and as I move the zoom window over different parts of the image BOTH the pixels blink funny colours (RGB I assume) as im moving the image view window.

Yup, check my post above, it's showing up in image 2 as well. I think the issue is with the CCD sensor itself. As I've suggested, I recommend you take it back for an exchange.

[Kasakato]

If its showing up when others view the image, its probably a bad sensor. Black's is usually pretty easy to exchange with. Keep in mind that dead/stuck pixels are always evident on every sensor, yours happens to be the worst.

[shoryukenz]

It's a hot pixel, it's very common in DSLR sensors since there are so many pixels. Most photo editors will automatically find them and remove these from your picture by extrapolating from the pixel beside it.

I wouldn't worry about it, it's not going to affect your pictures, but if you really want to you can exchange it, theres a chance your exchange will also have a hot pixel(s).

[Akraz]

WOw thanks for the help guys I appreciate it. I will take it to blacks today and see what they can do :). I never knew this type of issue was common

[NewsyL]

Don't take it back yet.

Most of these newer DSLR's have the ability to map out the bad pixels. With Sony bodies it happens at the beginning of every month. Perhaps Nikon has something similar. To expedite the mapping, Sony users simply set their time and date to a few minutes before midnite for the last day of the current month, turn off the camera, came back a few minutes later "after midnite", and the problem pixel is gone.

I tried a quick search for Nikon pixel mapping and nothing stood out.

Try the above technique as you never know.

.

[Kasakato]

I do not believe Nikon bodies automatically map out their pixels.

[Winkle]

I do not believe Nikon bodies automatically map out their pixels.

Nope, never heard of it for Nikon bodies.

As I've said, OP bought the camera 6 days ago, it's well within the return period so why not go for the exchange if it's not a hassle for them to go to the stores to do so?

[Akraz]

Well these "hot pixels" didnt show up on the first 200 or so pictures I taken, i looked at photos i took the day before and they arent there.. they appeared yesterday.

Edit: btw Winkle both those links you showed me contain a virus that my NOD32 caught.. you may want to use a different host.

[Qbit]

Do they only show up at slow shutter speeds or fast ones too?

[Akraz]

Went to Black's today, confirmed it's 2 dead pixels on the CCD sensor

[Winkle]

Well these "hot pixels" didnt show up on the first 200 or so pictures I taken, i looked at photos i took the day before and they arent there.. they appeared yesterday.

Edit: btw Winkle both those links you showed me contain a virus that my NOD32 caught.. you may want to use a different host.

o_0

Sorry, did not know that. Thanks for the heads up, I will not use that host again.

[WildChild]

Pretty common with DSLR. My Rebel XS has two apparent ones. Try taking a picture with a long exposure (30 sec), ISO 400+, with the lens cap unremoved so it is black. You'll see a lot of colored stars. If you exchange the camera, it will probably have some to start with or they will appear after a few weeks. Lightroom automatically detects them and hides them by extrapolating the nearby pixels.

[atb1o1]

yeah pretty common which is disappointing. If it is happening between ISO 100-400, I find it is unacceptable for a new camera. This usually happens more frequently at higher ISO. If you use any Adobe product to convert your RAW files, it will automatically fix the hot pixels for you. I use lightroom so I don't have to see those horrible pixels and worry myself by pixel peeping.