Hello,have a quick question about my camera.I own a nikon D-100 and use it for every thing from macros to landscapes, and noticed two areas of bright blue pixels,one was 2x2 square and the other was a pair sitting next to each other. I found them while looking at some bug pics I took in a editing program(photo explosion) they are in the same place in my most recent pictures.Is there a long shot that dust is causing this?I also took a shot with the lens cap on,and they were still there....
would a good ccd cleaning be in order? Or a new ccd?
Thanks for any info
I'm guessing you had to zoom in pretty far to determine the pixel arrangement. What does it look like with your image at normal size on your monitor? My first reaction is that it's probably dust. Try cleaning the CCD first. Use a lens-cleaning squeeze bulb dust blower and don't touch the CCD! Afterward, take a couple of shots and see if the anomalies are gone, or if they've at least moved. If so, it's dust. If they're in exactly the same place in the frame, it may be the CCD. However, if the problem is only 6 pixels in an x-megapixel CCD, it can be easily handled in your editing program - certainly not worth the cost of a new CCD. Keep an eye on it, though, and see if the anomalies increase in number over time. If that happens, you may be headed for a CCD replacement eventually.
Well I went to a 50% crop just to look a little closer....I was shooting through a Tamron 75-300 1:4-5.8 LD tele-macro (1:3.9) @290ish(not full zoom) at F16.Like I said,I cropped a bit to take a look and noticed a blue speck,so I really dialed her in to see what it was......anyhoo,long story short,I guess I'll get her cleaned and check again.What causes pixels to go south anyway?
If you heavily and on purpose underexposed the shot with the lens cap on, then dust specks should not cause any problems because there is no light to excite any photo site, regardless of what color they are sensitive to (red, green or blue). If you heavily underexpose, but still get blue (or any other color dots) then it looks to me like one or several hot photo sites, which is a defect in the sensor. Leakage current would flow in total darkness and would cause this kind of problem. Depending on how many of such photo sites there would be, you may be able to ignore this problem or retouch when noticeable. Or you may be in for a big repair bill. Let us know how you are progressing on this!
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