boyd_hobbs

<p><p>I know it has been several months, but I should bring conclusion to this thread.</p><br>

<p>I shipped my camera off to canon, and they said it was abnormal behavior. They kept the camera for several weeks and ended up replacing the sensor.</p><br>

<p>So it was a defective. Thanks for everyone encouragement to send it off to get repaired.</p></p>

<p>Hey</p>

<p>I had a similar problem with my 5D Mark II. I would consider myself somewhat familiar and versed on the problem, as I did a lot of research when I thought mine had a problem. I started a forum on the subject <a href="../canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00Tn1a">here</a>.</p>

<p>Eventually it was confirmed by Canon to be an issue and they replaced my sensor after several weeks of being away.</p>

<p>Having spent a lot of time on the issue, and having had a bad sensor myself, I would say your camera is actually behaving normally, as it should.</p>

<p>Every camera, no matter how new, or expensive has dead pixels. It's just a fact of life. And with 21 million pixels on a sensor that's a two postage stamps across, it's reasonably to have a few die out on you. It's why both the camera and the software used to process your images with will try to hunt them down and find them, and usually do so with mild success. But even then a few will escape to your print. That's life.</p>

<p>But what does a bad sensor look like? Well with mine, there were several THOUSAND dead pixels. I estimated nearly 20,000 dead pixels across an entire frame. And if I had held longer exposures, I could have found more.</p>

<p>Here is a 100% crop of mine.</p>

<p><img src="http://www.boydhobbs.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/IMG_00081.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>2 Min, f/22, ISO50, RAW, Noise Reduction OFF, 100% Crop, Of Lens Cap</p>

<p>Note the settings. These are safer settings than yours. ISO 50 is slower than 100 and 2 minutes is less than 5. Yet, my 100% crop has hundreds more than yours. From this, I conclude that your sensor is OK. However, you did spend nearly three grand on the camera. If you feel it's defective in the slightest, exchange it. What's $50 return shipping in the long run, if you have a broken camera?</p>

 

<p>I have had a 5D Mark II for about a year now and just recently got a Sekonic L-758Cine for metering. It has a nifty custom dynamic range feature that allows you to install camera profiles via their Dynamic Transfer Software. <br>

<br />However, I don't have or want to buy their expensive cards to calibrate it. So, does anybody in this community want to share or know where I can download a 5D Mark II profile for the Sekonic?</p>

<p>I found one of my friends 5D MK II's today and officially tested the difference myself. The results are undeniable. I took 100% crop comparisons of the two with the exact same camera settings.<br>

On his there is only 1 Hot Pixel visible. On mine, well over fifteen. And these results are multiplied across the frame. Mine has hundreds, his has maybe a dozen total.<br>

<img src="http://www.boydhobbs.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Hot-Pixel-Comparison.jpg" alt="" /><br>

At this point, I think the conclusion is undeniable. My sensor is damaged on some level.</p>

<p>I should also add the photo was taken in RAW and processed in Aperture with RAW Auto Noise Compensation off.<br>

And this is a 100% crop of the image. The hot pixels are clearer here. These hot pixels do not change from picture to picture.<br>

<img src="http://www.boydhobbs.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/IMG_00081.jpg" alt="" /><br>

2 Min, f/22, ISO50, RAW, Noise Reduction OFF, 100% Crop, Of Lens Cap</p>

<p>A while ago, I shot night photography with my 20D. The noise reduction feature was on and caused the camera to process a 30 minute exposure for another 30 minutes before it would even preview. I turned it off just to save time, but even then I never saw one hot pixel.</p>

<p>I went out to take pictures of the night sky with my new 5D Mark II. And found hundreds of red and blue dots on my shots. The 5D isn't my first SLR and these weren't my first star shots. I found out later they were "Hot Pixels" and should be expected. But I had HUNDREDS of hot pixels.<br>

<a href="http://www.boydhobbs.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/IMG_0008.jpg">I went home and took a test shot with a two minute exposure at ISO 50 of the lens cap. The results where astounding. I posted the photo on my site here.</a> Take a look and tell me what I should do.<br>

I know these results are abnormal. I have owned a 10D and a 20D before and have never seen anything like this even on 30 minute exposures. Should I take it in, call the manufacturers?</p>