Nikon D3 Hot/Dead Pixel

cabinetbuff

I just purchased Nikon D3 and immediately noticed a hot/dead pixel which is located almost in the center of the image -- here's 100% crop (the red dot):




I contacted Nikon CS and they told me that the camera needs to be sent in for "dead pixel remapping" or alternatively "if the camera recently purchased try to exchange at the place of purchase".

Do you think it's reasonable for me to have the camera exchanged at the place of purchase since I just got it there few days ago? Or should I just have it serviced at Nikon which takes 7-10 business days?

I am also curious if any D3 owners out there have this kind of issue and what have you done about it?

Thanks for your feedback!

i_worship_the_King

To me it sounds like you need to take it back to the place of purchase. If they're a major retailer they can most likely filter it back through the system much faster than you and if it is a stocked item (say you shop @ B&H storefront) they'll probably replace it on the spot.

If it's a smaller store or they had to order the item it's probably faster to just send it to Nikon.

I would try the store first though...

Mitchell

What is the policy of your local store? Seems to me that any quality local retailer with good Nikon sales would exchange this defective body and send it back to Nikon for a replacement.

Art Scott

Mitchell wrote:

What is the policy of your local store? Seems to me that any quality local retailer with good Nikon sales would exchange this defective body and send it back to Nikon for a replacement.

EGGGGACTLY most local retailers will want to keep a customer happy as they know you can easily sit in front of your 'puter and buy cheaper online (in most cases......my local store still has D300 for 1799 and Cameta Camera in Amityville NY was showing the body for 1300)......so the locals should really bend over backwards to help a customer out.

cabinetbuff

Well, I was in the same line of thinking -- get it exchanged instead of servicing, but then I started reading up on this issue on few sites where it was mentioned that hot/dead pixels are very common problem with Nikon D3.

Practically all D3's have at least one hot pixel and some of the owners reported as many as four hot pixels -- this one guy for instance, had his camera exchanged at the local shop and when he received a new one it still had ONE hot pixel.

I've initiated an exchange process with the online retailer where I purchased this camera and let me tell you it's been 8 days and I still haven't gotten an answer from them. First they wanted me to work with Nikon to see if it was in fact an issue with dead/hot pixel. I complied and went through the process of sending Nikon some pictures and they acknowledged that the camera needs to be serviced.

I replied back to the online retailer and told them that I didn't feel it was right for me to send a brand new camera in for service and that I'd like it to be exchanged instead. On to which they said that they have to review and get back to me -- that was last Friday ...

I'd love to hear from other D3 owners to see how common this issue of dead pixel is and how easy was it to exchange a camera if you've made an attempt to do so ...

Part of the reason I purchased D3 was to simplify my PP workflow by shooting JPEG's instead of RAW -- it's just taking way too much of my time to PP RAW files even though I've gotten the process down to the bare minimum.

D3's EXPEED engine produces an incredible quality JPEG's right out of the camera -- some say it's actually better than shooting RAW! I was all set on using in camera JPEG's instead of RAW with D3. Now with this issue I have to deal with a nasty red dot in every shoot over 1000 ISO and I mostly shoot at over 1600 ISO so it will be a major PITA.

Thank you for all your feedback.

luckyrwe

My dealer gives me 30 days, and having an issue on day 30 is like having a issue on day one. They simply swap it out and change the serial number on the bill of sale.

But t day 31, it is 100% mine and I need to go to Nikon.

swintonphoto

Does the D3 have a pixel mapping function? My Olympus cameras do. I had a hot pixel show up a while back on my backup E-500. After running the pixel mapping it was not longer a problem. If the D3 has this, it could eliminate the problem!
http://www.olympusamerica.com/crm/oneoffpages/crm_pixelmapping.asp

cabinetbuff

I wish it did have an in-camera "pixel mapping function" -- that would solve a lot of problems! But it doesn't.

Harryb

I've had my D3 for awhile now with over 20,000 activations, no problems with pixels or anything else.

cabinetbuff

Harryb wrote:

I've had my D3 for awhile now with over 20,000 activations, no problems with pixels or anything else.

Harry, thanks for your feedback! This is good news, I really don't want to have to abandon my plan to switch to D3 -- I am really blown away by the IQ it produces right out of the camera.

If you are interested in running a small test for hot/dead pixels on your D3 here's a link:

http://www.starzen.com/imaging/deadpixeltest.htm

Basically in involves taking a 1/30sec exposure at say 3200ISO with an open aperture and the lens cap on (you'd use a Manual exposure). You can shoot JPEG, then save the generated file on your computer and use the above utility to analyze the file for HOT/DEAD pixels. I have to warn you though, that there will be numerous hot pixels that this utility finds and from my understanding it's completely normal, but some of these hot pixels are "hotter" than others and if you've never noticed them before they might become obvious with this test.

I actually didn't use this utility until after I found the hot pixel -- I didn't have to since it was so obvious it didn't need any software to be found. But when I ran it -- it found 26 Hot pixels, giving me precise coordinates, luminance and allowing to click on the pixel in question to preview in full size. It's rather interesting ...

jww

I've have 2, the first one for several months and got a 2nd one last month. Both work perfectly and even landed a recent magazine cover with one of them.

I think if I found a hot pixel, I would send it back to remapped as I get a bit too attached to just trade it in for another. Too bad there isn't a remapping utility available, but maybe Nikon will add that in an update down the road.

Good Luck!

BeatyPhoto

You should definitely return it. I had a hot pixel in my D300, and noticed it in regular pics as you have in the one posted. I found it after less than a week. When i contacted my local retailer, they exchanged it No Questions asked. It was very smooth, and re-assuring. They just checked inventory of the box, and handed me a new one. By the time I returned it, I had 3700 clicks on it, and they didnt even care.

I know some people say that you can work around it, or it can be fixed in PP, but when you pay for a new camera, you should get one that doesnt have an issue with it. Especially when it is a $5000 camera!

cabinetbuff

Thanks for all the feedback -- I had the camera exchanged and the new one came in already -- it's right on!

ziggy53

cabinetbuff wrote:

Thanks for all the feedback -- I had the camera exchanged and the new one came in already -- it's right on!

Sounds great and I'm wishing you smooth sailing from here on.