CCD Going Bad?

IRollman · June 15, 2004

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post, it looked like the best for me.

I have a Nikon Coolpix 995, and all the pics I've taken over the past month or so has 2 green pixels and 1 red pixel at the same place on each pic.

- Is my CCD going bad?

- Is it worth repairing? (I would like a more compact camera, recommendations appreciated)

Thanks!

- Irv Rollman, Denver

HarveyMushman · June 16, 2004

Can you show us a sample image?

IRollman · June 16, 2004

HarveyMushman wrote:

Can you show us a sample image?

Look at www.sextant.cc/test2.jpg. I down-sized it, but you can still see the green pixels. Red arrows point to them.

- Irv

DewrGleision · June 18, 2004

Go for the Sony cybershot DSC W1... 5MPs, small, has adaptors for a telephoto conversion, and a giant LCD screen for playbacks... Plus its cool.

Other than that, I dont think its worth replacing, personally... But then, I dont really know anything about digital camera repairs and their related costs...

Some other nice cameras are the Canon Powershot G5 or G4, or even the G3 (if you can still find it around)... And the Nikon Coolpix 2400, 5400, 5700, or even 8700...

DewrGleision · June 18, 2004

Did I mention the Carl Zeiss lens? Or that it has that nifty slow-synchro flash mode? Thats all I really know about it... I did hear, though, that the max f-stop number (smallest aperture) is only 5.2... And its not too quick of a camera, either...

Sorry, I forgot that youd wanted references for smaller cameras, and the those coolpixes, and event the powershots for that, are not as small as youd probably like...

IRollman · June 19, 2004

Thanks for the info! What do you thinkl about the Sony DSC-T1? My only reticence about that one is that it does not appear to have an eye viewfinder, just the screen, which is a disadvantage in high light situations, I find. (And it doesn't have the lower F-stop the W1 has either.

DewrGleision · June 20, 2004

No problem!

As far as Im concerned, anything with as narrow an aperture range as the T1 is a tad frightening when you consider its more expensive than its counterpart, the W1... The T1 looks like a solid camera, but I dont know if Id trust it to focus in low light, or even capture low light pictures without a longer exposure or absurdly batter-draining flash... The other camera I have experience with first hand is the DSC-P10, another smallish 5Megapixel point and shooter... I would recommend this camera on the basis that its a pretty good "on a whim" picture-grabber. My mother has one of these, and during our trip to Italy she kept taking off-the-wall pictures (shes a bit eccentric:D

) in a moving car that kept--inexplicably--coming out moderately well! The only thing that you might have a problem with is the fact that the flash is located a good half-an-inch to the left and a bit up from the lens barrel! That would really bite in porttraiture that requires the flash and that kind of stuff...

Then theres always those Coolpix's! The one that looks like the sweetest one there, but is a bit less compact than the W1, is the Coolpix 5400! I especially think that one is sweet since the lens at its widest is 28mm! Thats what my f828 gets to, and the zoom on the 5400 is pretty decent! It has a lens thread, a very good aperture range (almost as good as the f828's), a pretty damn good burst ( 3fps?! NICE!), and you can shoot in TIFF mode! All in all, by the numbers and the features, a very sweet machine! Thats one camera I might choose over the W1 for several reasons, if only just to try out (Im only familiar with Sony's setup right now...).

Well, hope that helps some!

DewrGleision · June 20, 2004

Oh yeah, plus that Cooplix 5400 has that AWESOME flip out LCD! That thing is so sweet! The only other cameras that have that are the Canon Powershot's G3 through G5 (that I know of).
Manual focus, a hot shoe, four quality levels, four flash modes (not counting "off")? Mmmmm... Looking very tasty to me... :slurp Plus, with the lens thread, you can use filters and stuff!

wxwax · June 20, 2004

Interestingly, Canon skipped right from G3 to G5. There is no G4.

DewrGleision · June 21, 2004

Really?! How many MPs is the G3 then?

wxwax · June 21, 2004

DewrGleision wrote:

Really?! How many MPs is the G3 then?

4.

Makes sense, right?

DewrGleision · June 21, 2004

lol... I have a friend that had what I could of sworn was a G4, and it was 4MPs... Guess I just misplaced a brain synapse (also known as a brain-fart by my 8th grade teacher, an extremely funny Polish man with apathetic moredom to run on!)!Hey wxwax, what does it mean when I get that line under a word Ive typed? Is it because it might be considered rude or inapropiate?

BrianJR · June 21, 2004

Looks like you have a "hot pixel" problem. This is something that can occur at any time to any digital camera (new or old). Since I'm not an expert on the issue, may I suggest the following links:

1) http://webpages.charter.net/bbiggers/DCExperiments/html/hot_pixels.html

- this is a long discussion using your specific camera as an example...a lot of good info here

2) http://www.mediachance.com/digicam/hotpixels.htm

- this is a software program that eliminates hot pixels...I found this with a google search, and I don't know how good it is

In my opinion, I don't think it is worth getting a new camera over this problem since there is no guarantee the new one won't have a hot pixel as well! However, I might be singing a different song if I was the one with the hot pixel in the first place!

DewrGleision · June 22, 2004

Yeah, I kinda jumped right to the whole replacement thing... Sorry. Is the camera still under warranty? Or, do you have a place where the people are nice, the prices are right, and you dont have to be dead to get there? If so, I wonder what it costs to either repair the sensor youve got, or just stick a new one in there (is that possible, by the way? Adding a new sensor to the same camera?)

Why hasnt anyone invented the upgradable digicam?! The same body you know and love, but with a certain "unit" that consists of certain electronics (sensor, processor, and sensor/processor-specific electronics) that can easily be replaced with a new "unit", kinda like a cartrigde of sorts... That would rule! Maybe they could even have slightly more advanced "retro-fits" for old film cameras! *Sigh* Alas, I dont think the industry would support this, as there a few too many people unqualified to do more than tie their shoes and drink coffee that would ruin their stuff trying to follow the directions...

Anywho, Ive convinced myself, inadvertently, that the Nikon Coolpix 5400 may just well be my next point and shoot, if its not the CyberShot DSC W1... Im leaning towards the Coolpix, though... So if ya' gonna upgrade, make it a good one!

Have fun.

CCD Going Bad?

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