Dead pixel?

HeldDown · October 19, 2005

So today I noticed a nasty white pixel in the lower-left/middle of my 300D -- at the same time, I noticed a cruddy red one middle near the bottom. Not impressed, I called Henrys (where I bought it as Open Box/As New) but could only speak to someone at another store -- they told me that I only 21 days to exchange faulty products. I bought the camera 31 days ago, exactly. Also, they don't have any black 300Ds in the store that are new/ob and with no dead pixels (I checked when I bought this.) Canon said they'll gladly "remap" he pixels (Whatever that means?) but that I would have to wait a month to get it back. That's definetely too long -- I need my camera every day!
I realized a little while ago that the dead pixels have been there since day one, but only my RAW pixel-peeping today brought them to my attention. So, does anyone have any suggestions? Seeing as how I just noticed, should I just leave well enough alone and live with a couple cruddy pixels?

Seymore · October 19, 2005

Well, if they're on the LCD, I'd be less worried than if they were on the CCD/CMOS chip. If they show in your image on the puter, I'd get Canon to replace the CMOS chip.

JCDoss · October 19, 2005

They don't replace CMOS chips for that. They will map out dead pixels for you, though. I had one on my 20D, and that's what they did.

Konica-Minolta apparently has an automatic function that locates and maps out stuck pixels on the Maxxum 7 CCD monthly. Wouldn't that be sweet if Canon put that functionality into the next generation?

HeldDown · October 19, 2005

It's definetely the CCD. What does "mapping out" a pixel mean though? The guy on the other end of Canon support kind of implied it didn't fix the problem, it just kind of fudged it.

JCDoss · October 19, 2005

Essentially, "mapping out" means that the software will identify which pixel is dead and will ignore its contribution to the image. So, the dead pixel will be replaced by data from the surrounding pixels, and the surrounding pixels will not gain any contribution from the dead one.

Each pixel is either R, G, or B, and the data that one individual pixel provides affects the surrounding 20 or 30 (or more?) pixels. Ignoring one, or even a dozen dead pixels in an 8 megapixel image is undetectable.

Dead pixels happen, and in fact it is likely your camera shipped with a few on board and mapped out before you even bought it. What sucks is when new ones start popping up.

ScottMcLeod · October 20, 2005

Oh really... Hrm.

Looks like i'm going to have to call canon and ask them how to map out these pixels, because my 10D has one pretty effing obvious one.

JCDoss · October 20, 2005

It's not something you can do. You have to send it in for service. It's free, and my turnaround time (from central Arkansas to the NJ service center) was about a week.

ScottMcLeod · October 20, 2005

JCDoss wrote:

It's not something you can do. You have to send it in for service. It's free, and my turnaround time (from central Arkansas to the NJ service center) was about a week.

Our turnaround time up here for Canon Canada's head office repair center is about... 3-4 weeks.

JCDoss · October 20, 2005

Ay caramba! Can you send it to a US factory service center?

Some people are capable of living with a dead pixel and simply editing the blemishes out in Photoshop... of ever single photo they take. I'm not one of those people.

HeldDown · October 20, 2005

Store I bought it at offered to let me trade my 300D in for the full value I paid and get a deal on an open box 350D -- costs me a little more than $200 to upgrade. I'm considering it.

ScottMcLeod · October 20, 2005

HeldDown wrote:

Store I bought it at offered to let me trade my 300D in for the full value I paid and get a deal on an open box 350D -- costs me a little more than $200 to upgrade. I'm considering it.

Dooooo itttttt....

... but bring your laptop and do a sensor check.

HeldDown · October 20, 2005

Went and tested it, brought the card home for inspection. Sensor is 100% spotless -- absolutely zero dead pixels, and I do mean zero. No hot, no dead, no lazy. I'm going to go get it tonight or tomorrow.

Also, I got a 'v' shaped bit of dirt on the sensor in my 300D - it looks like there's always a bird in the background!

Peter Dumont · October 20, 2005

Stupid Question ?
Instead of shipping your camera back to Canon for a month, Can't dead pixels eassily be corrected by a little pixelcloning in pp ?

Bye

Dead pixel?

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