Problem with E510(Hot pixel?)

[slypower50]

Hi all, recently just brought the E510 from a bro here.. was happy with the camera until one day when i took some night pic then i discover this issue.. Does a search and it is more commonly known as hot pixel ( please correct me if i am wrong ) Not sure if it is a problem with E510 coz i had seen several same issue online..
Need advise from users on what to do if you are too experiencing this.
Had tried the following :
1) Tried using different lens
2) Using pixel mapping ( at least 3 times)
3) using NR

took the following pictures with the lenscap on.. To my horror, all like star wars..

first pic : ISO 100 , 8 sec , F3.5



Second pic : ISO 400, 8 sec, F3.5



Third pic : ISO 1600 ( to show it more clearly ) , 8 sec , F3.5



Not sure if i should send it to oly for servicing.. or this is a known common problem for E510 ( which i seriously doubt )

Thanks in advance!

[Oly5050]

This has been posted before. It is not normal. Send it in for fixing.

[schon]

is noise reduction in the menus turned 'on' (not noise filter)?

[nerfwings]

What i suggest you try is this.

1) switch off the camera (not standby) and leave the camera alone for at least a couple of hours. (let the ccd totally cool down)

2) switch on the camera, straight away go to pixel mapping and map it from a "cold" start.

See if this helps.

[drewdam]

is normal.

[slypower50]

Originally Posted by nerfwings What i suggest you try is this. 1) switch off the camera (not standby) and leave the camera alone for at least a couple of hours. (let the ccd totally cool down) 2) switch on the camera, straight away go to pixel mapping and map it from a "cold" start. See if this helps.

Tried this and it works already.. not sure why got this problem.. but seems quite common with E510..

Originally Posted by schon is noise reduction in the menus turned 'on' (not noise filter)?

Yupz.. thanks bro.. switch on already.. If we did not switch off, will the above be normal?

[cater]

Go to the menu & see if u have NR turn on. U shdnt have hot pix when NR is turn on.

[spheredome]

Sounds familar. I would appreciate if you can update the status. Yes, do send it to Olympus, nothing much you can do.
For mine case, there is still dots after repair but much better, still certain black color situation cannot be used. Perhaps the repair knowledge has improved since.

[drewdam]

Originally Posted by cater Go to the menu & see if u have NR turn on. U shdnt have hot pix when NR is turn on.

there's still hot pixel if is between 1.6s to 3.2s..only effective from 4s onward if i am right.

[nerfwings]

Originally Posted by slypower50 Tried this and it works already.. not sure why got this problem.. but seems quite common with E510.. Yupz.. thanks bro.. switch on already.. If we did not switch off, will the above be normal?

Glad to hear that it works fine now. I also faced this problem recently but it was with the E-500 so dun think it has anything to do with the Live-MOS Sensor in the 510.

My logic is this. Every CCD got defects one in fact they map it in the factory before selling the camera. Its just fortunate that olympus have included the pixel mapping function for us. pixel mapping will only be accurate on cold CCDs so perhaps if they detect a hot CCD (heat related noise more and a certain threshold) the camera will "void" the mapping to "save" good pixels which only produce artefacts when hot.

Well that what i think.

[viewwing]

i just thought of one more thing... when you do this... did you cover up the view finder?

It should help. Cause i got almost a clear black screen on mine when i tested it at 100-800 ISO...

only saw some small stars when i'm at 1600. Noise filter off and noise reduction off for all.

I still prefer to have both the noise thingy off... they tend to blur off the image too much for my liking... (sunfish bro i know... u gonner frown again )

[Oly5050]

Originally Posted by nerfwings What i suggest you try is this. 1) switch off the camera (not standby) and leave the camera alone for at least a couple of hours. (let the ccd totally cool down) 2) switch on the camera, straight away go to pixel mapping and map it from a "cold" start. See if this helps.

Olympus has pixel mapping. But I think that if u mapped it, u just covered up the problem. Should have brought it in to Olympus. I tried it on my 510 when I first got it as I was aware of this problem. I dun have those pixels and the guy that had the same problem had it fixed by Oly.

[cjtune]

Originally Posted by Oly5050 Olympus has pixel mapping. But I think that if u mapped it, u just covered up the problem. Should have brought it in to Olympus. I tried it on my 510 when I first got it as I was aware of this problem. I dun have those pixels and the guy that had the same problem had it fixed by Oly.

Erm, how did Oly fix it? They might just do pixel mapping in the backroom and then give it back to you. Not sure if they will replace the entire imaging sensor.

[spheredome]

Originally Posted by cjtune Erm, how did Oly fix it? They might just do pixel mapping in the backroom and then give it back to you. Not sure if they will replace the entire imaging sensor.

According to Olympus tech, it is not the sensor problem. Although different units were compared, normal ones will still hv smaller grey pixel at <4sec, without blue but red appears very dim.
Similar cases encounted were in other forums too but the reason was unknown.
I wonder why the E510 did not have a clean black as that of Nikon and Canon...hmm

Actually, DCRP reviewed unit already have this problem. IMO its not the NR thing. Problematic units will have the blue/red dots.
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/ol.../nightshot.jpg

I was surprised that mapping was successful in slypower50's case, lucky you

Just a recap, those with high contrast monitor will not get to see the red/blue pixelation, just like the moon shot.

Increasing image contrast by 15% will iron off most of the colored ones.

[cjtune]

Time to check my E-3...

[slypower50]

yupz lucky me.. haha.. but hope nothing will happened to it again.. will visit the service centre sometimes next year so to confirm.. i think if i am not wrong, there are quite a number of users who also experience this problem for E510.. was wondering why.. prehaps the new firmware will solve it?(hopefully)

[slypower50]

just did a testing again.. With NR on, everything seems ok, noise not very visible at even 30s.. but with NR off, it is very visible even at 5s ( i know NR is not on at iso100 at 5s) but the amount of hot pixe or noise is quite visible... should be bring the camera for servicing and see what the tech will say.. will keep you guys inform..

[drewdam]

Originally Posted by slypower50 just did a testing again.. With NR on, everything seems ok, noise not very visible at even 30s.. but with NR off, it is very visible even at 5s ( i know NR is not on at iso100 at 5s) but the amount of hot pixe or noise is quite visible... should be bring the camera for servicing and see what the tech will say.. will keep you guys inform..

did u try NR on at 1.6 - 3.2s?

[slypower50]

Originally Posted by drewdam did u try NR on at 1.6 - 3.2s?

Yupz.. just tried.. NR was set to on and at 3.2, the write time was fast which indicate that NR was not activated.. when viewing the pic on the computer, noise/hot pixel can be view quite visible even without cropping...

[drewdam]

Originally Posted by slypower50 Yupz.. just tried.. NR was set to on and at 3.2, the write time was fast which indicate that NR was not activated.. when viewing the pic on the computer, noise/hot pixel can be view quite visible even without cropping...

ya...that's my pt...NR only take effect from 4s onward..which is the same as e500.