One pixel seems to be brighter than all the others

[FlipsidE]

Ok, so tonight, I took some pictures with my new Dreb (just exchanged it at best buy because of the really loud lens...which btw sounds much better on the new one), and I noticed that, in the upper right corner of the screen I could see a white and/or off colored spot. So, I went in and found the exact location of a spot on one picture, and then looked at another. Right there...I saw another one.

So, I look at the camera, and sure enough, in the upper right hand area of the UV filter, there's a speck of dust. So, I blow it off with my lens blower, and snap a few more pictures.

Now, the spot is MUCH less evident, but it is still there...in the same place each time. But, rather than being fairly large, it's only about one pixel (usually whitish in color even if the rest of the background is black).

So, I take off the UV filter, blow off the lens, and snap a few more shots. Spot is still there...in the exact same place, and only one pixel (though it does kind of fade into the surrounding four pixels.

What could be causing this? Is there dust in the lens itself that might be causing this issue? Could there be something on the sensor itself? Could the sensor have a pixel (or a few right around that area) that just aren't reacting correctly?

Unfortunately, I have no way of testing another lens as I only have the kit lens. I might be able to nicely ask my local camera store to swap out with one of their lenses and snap off a few shots for me, but there's no guarantee that they will do it.

Crappy as it may be, the kit lens is the only one I have right now and is the only one I'll be able to use for a while. Plus, I do like the lens.

What should my next step be? Should this camera be, once again, returned to best buy for a new one (if so it would be my fourth)? Or should I send it off to Canon to be looked at? Should I take it in for a sensor cleaning at my local camera shop?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Oh and here's an example of what I'm talking about. You'll probably have to download it and zoom in on it quite a bit. I wouldn't be so concerned at all about it if it wasn't in the same spot all the time. Am I reading too much into this? Or is this something I should look into?

http://www.wesculbertson.com/somethingsnotright.jpg

Thanks in advance

FlipsidE

[Spargo]

What should my next step be? Should this camera be, once again, returned to best buy for a new one (if so it would be my fourth)? Or should I send it off to Canon to be looked at? Should I take it in for a sensor cleaning at my local camera shop?

......

Oh and here's an example of what I'm talking about. You'll probably have to download it and zoom in on it quite a bit. I wouldn't be so concerned at all about it if it wasn't in the same spot all the time. Am I reading too much into this? Or is this something I should look into?

Sounds to me like you go looking for flaws. Just enjoy the camera, I mean you've gone thru 3 already??!! It is a known fact that LCDs often have dead or sub-dead pixels. It is caused by the presence of dust during the manufacturing process. It's not uncommon.

[cmM]

here's a dead pixel test software:

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

Read the instructions and run it, it'll tell you

Make sure you read the instructions first, cause first time I ran it it found a couple dead MEGApixels :P . Then i read the instructions.

[FlipsidE]

^^^^

Thank you! That's such an excellent tool.

Just as an FYI, I took 12 pictures in a dark part of my house with the lens cap on with shutter speeds ranging from 1/30" to 20". My results are very interesting. On shutter speeds lower than 15 seconds, that offending pixel (the one mentioned earlier in this thread) does not show up the dead/hot pixel test. For shutter speeds of one second or greater, the offending pixel begins to show up on the picture itself when zoomed in at 1600%. For shutter speeds of 15 seconds and 20 seconds, that offending pixel does show up as a hot pixel on the dead/hot pixel test, and, when zoomed in at 1600%, it shows up very clearly on the picture itself.

For shutter speads one second and longer (which is where I was shooting most of the night), that hot pixel showed up in literally the exact same place as I had found it earlier tonight w/out the dead/hot pixel test.

If anyone is interested, here is what that pixel looks like:

http://wesculbertson.com/hotpixel.jpg

This is a cropped section of the 20 second shutter speed picture (the biggest offender) at 100% zoom.

So, what can I do about this? Is there anything I can do? I know that for LCD screens, you can only return/exchange them for usually 8 dead pixels or more. Though this shows up as a "hot pixel," it seems that it's quite obvious in the pictures. Not enough to be labeled as a dead pixel, but enough to make me unhappy about it.

So, after running that excellent test and getting results that point me toward a definite issue, what sould be my next step?

Thanks in advance

FlipsidE

[FlipsidE]

As a quick addendum, this funky thing also started showing up on the pictures with shutter speeds ~6 seconds and greater.

http://wesculbertson.com/bluespot.jpg

Above picture is also at 100% zoom.

FlipsidE

[cmM]

it's normal. The more you expose, the more hot pixels you will have. Now unless you have an extraordinary amount of dead/hot pixels, I wouldn't worry about it, and take the extra step of cloning that one pixel where it's REALLY necessary.

We all have pixels like that on our sensors, it very normal.

[drisley]

Yup, that's normal.
Have a look at the full size images from some of the review sites. You will usually see atleast 1 or 2 hot pixels on longer exposures.