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Tiny, bright colored spots appearing in my images - not from the lens.

On the lastI am experiencing the presence of about 6 or 7 tiny, red, blue and green spots in my images. They are consistently in the same areas.

They are present regardless of which lens, I attach, so I know they are due to an issue with the camera body.

I will attempt to clean my sensor - the first time I have tried this nerve wracking procedure - but am wondering if there could be an electronic/digital issue here instead?

I am NOT a camera guy, and am learning this all as I go.

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Goblin close up - spots.jpg, 189 KB

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Permalink Reply by Strider on October 27, 2012 at 4:11pm

That's definitely electronic/digital - don't try to physically clean your sensor! You made this thread while I was posting possible solutions to the problem on your other thread (just putting the link here for completion's sake, so in the future people can find the info - and so it doesn't look like this thread just went unanswered for no good reason! )

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Permalink Reply by David Geister on October 27, 2012 at 10:20pm

Thanks! I will try the video "fix" first thing in the morning.

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Permalink Reply by Hendrikus De Vaan on November 1, 2012 at 4:40am

Worst case scenario, there are plugins that will automatically remove the burnt pixels I believe.

Otherwise you can do it manually in after effects fairly quickly also.

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Permalink Reply by David Geister on November 1, 2012 at 7:12am

I may need to investigate these plugins - though I am not sure what I would look for. After Effects would be nice, but I am not sure I can afford to purchase that at present. Ah, the joys of being a self-employed artist!
Hendrikus De Vaan said:

Worst case scenario, there are plugins that will automatically remove the burnt pixels I believe.

Otherwise you can do it manually in after effects fairly quickly also.

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Permalink Reply by Strider on November 1, 2012 at 9:49am

I'm just gonna drop this in here - from a different thread. David's report on the results of his morning after testing:

The pesky stuck pixels are still there - I tried the video fix several times, with no luck. ( May try it a few more times for good measure)

With my Nikon, apparently there is no way for one to do a home-fix. I will end up taking it to a licensed dealer and let them send it to one of the few Nikon repair shops left in the country.

So people in the future franticlly searching for a way to fix bad pixels can find all the info on one thread.

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Permalink Reply by Hendrikus De Vaan on November 1, 2012 at 3:23pm

Burnt pixels can not be repaired. If nikon "fixes" it (or canon or whoever), what they do is they map those pixels out.

Burnt pixels are pretty common, and it is rare to have a dslr without at least a couple of them.

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Permalink Reply by Jack Liddon on November 1, 2012 at 4:17pm

It's the price we pay for such high resolutions on tiny chips. My JVC HD100U camcorder, right out of the box, has 4 or 5 dead pixels. You can imagine how horrible that looks at 1280x720 resolution! JVC was smart enough to include a hidden menu option for "dead pixel compensation." Not entirely sure how it worked, but it would get rid of the white dots. I'm curious to know if Canon and Nikon have similar options on their DSLRs?

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Permalink Reply by Hendrikus De Vaan on November 1, 2012 at 4:31pm

I can map them out on my 550d (t2i) canon to a certain extent. It's as simple as putting a body cap on, going into the menu and selecting "mirror lock-up" as a cleaning function, then, once the mirror is locked up you turn the camera off. Leave it for a minute or two and then turn it back on again.

I found this on a photography Forum somewhere when I had the same problem.

I don't know if there is a similar fix for nikon DSLRs?

Either way, NEVER touch the sensor!!! Most modern DSLRs have self cleaning sensors and there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to touch the sensor.

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Permalink Reply by David Geister on November 1, 2012 at 4:45pm

My Nikon has colored "stuck" pixels, I believe, and I don't think I have the option to do what you can do to a Canon.

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Permalink Reply by Strider on November 1, 2012 at 5:22pm

Hey David - I feel for ya man, and please don't take this the wrong way - but there is a plus side to this (for anybody who doesn't have a Nikon camera I guess)..

At least we're learning some good reasons to always recommend Canon cameras over Nikons!

Ok, doesn't help you I guess. Hey, I was trying to look on the bright side...

On a more serious (and less depressing for you) side - have you googled for mapping pixels on a Nikon? A bit of searching might turn something up.

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Permalink Reply by David Geister on November 1, 2012 at 5:45pm

I appreciate it . . . even if I really have to squint hard to see the bright side!

It seems that there isn't much out there for my "old" Nikon D5000 when it comes to mapping pixels at home. Sigh . . . .

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Permalink Reply by Hendrikus De Vaan on November 1, 2012 at 5:49pm

The D5000 is still a nice camera though.

This is probably not the place to mention it, but, there are always ways and means to acquire After Effects if you can't afford it. For the purposes of staying within forum guidelines I will suggest you get a trial version...

Otherwise I guess you could use the spot healing brush frame by frame in photoshop (or The Gimp - which is free).