Poor qc of fuji, it seems

[Breathe]

well, i've got a F11 2 months back and i've been wanting to make some comments on what i think is poor QC on the part of fuji. Given that this cam is made in Japan i really expected better.

No doubt, this cam is very good in terms of ability and sensitivity for a pns. I am happy with the quality of pics i got. Heck, i'm happy, i think it's a really versatile cam.

what i got to say about its QC is merely an impression on my part. with all this issues going on...i.e. different banding problems for different cams, different ChrAber for different cams...

as a particular person, i've got even more to say. i have gone through a few of the cams and i must say each of them showed me different problems. for one, the mechanical case was not screwed properly, leading to a larger than normal gap on one of the sides. for another one, there was an usually high number of hot pixels (or is it dead pixels?). I dont know whether it was random or truly dead pixels for that cam..i changed it immediately.

..just ranting....

well i'm living with one that has a single dead pixel that i happened to notice.

 

[yanyewkay]

could you elaborate on the problem of your particular F11 you own?

if the mechanical case was not screwed on properly, i have no idea how it could pass fuji's QC. which shop did you see it? I should avoid it in future purchases then. hot and dead pixel is 2 different issues. If you have a dead pixel on your sensor, you can try asking fuji if they can do anything about it. Some sensors have the ability to remap dead pixels.

 

[cse1000]

Any idea what's Fuji warranty's T&C for hot pixels - how many before they will repair/exchange ?

 

[yanyewkay]

hot pixels are not sensor defects. All sensors will suffer from hot pixels. Some cameras have built-in software to rid the hot pixels by performing a dark frame subtraction internally. This should be more adaptly termed 'noise' instead of defect.

You won't see hot pixels appearing unless you shoot long exposures like 1sec or more. The pattern is dependent on ambient temperature and sensor temp.

 

[Breathe]

maybe i was too unspecific...well, i was only ranting.

to elaborate on the case problem. it was not a big gap (didn't intend my words to imply that). just that i noticed its bigger (slightly not a lot, at one corner) than normal (normal meaning evenly spaced, and almost seamless). i just didnt want dust to get in through the gap, so i changed it.

as for my f11, there is a dead (definitely dead) pixel that stays white. can't be seen in normal usage of course, unless at 100%. really, i don't think much of this problem now. i suspect many cameras out there also have dead pixels, just not noticed. i saw another camera (Casio) that had a a dead pixel that can be seen clearly (AND DAMN UGLILY) in a 4R print. The owner didn't even notice it before (i didn't tell the owner).

as for the other camera with hot pixel (or dead which i will never know because i didnt test it thoroughly), in a 0.1 to 1 sec exposure shot i could already spot 10-20 white dots scattered across the photo.

well, 1 dead pixel is better than many white dots (in a <1 sec exposure) i thought.

 

[hardcore]

Any idea what's Fuji warranty's T&C for hot pixels - how many before they will repair/exchange ?

For DEAD pixels on the LCD SCREEN, they will change the LCD.

I had one hot pixel near the middle of the screen. Can be seen if you on the camera and cover the lens (black image), the pixel will be bright green.

But I have to agree. It seems most F11s have the vertical banding problem, whereas most older F10s dont (newer F10s also seem to have the banding). It sure sounds like a SuperCCD QC problem to me.

 

[wind30]

dead/stuck pixels can be fixed. Just need to remap it. I assume fujifilm can do it as this is what they are doing for years

You are bound to get dead pixels. just need to remap it. Dead pixel is NOT a QC problem.

 

[Breathe]

to clarify, i'm not saying dead pixel is a qc problem. what i originally meant was the "very inconsistent" differences for diff camera. the variations of the banding problem is very different for diff cams (i read), as an example. For another example, the sensor in one of the cams i tried got too many hot pixels, too easily (vs my current one which i have not seen any hot pixel, other than the dead one).

perhaps these "big variations" in camera characteristics are normal ? ( i don't know, don't have that much experience in buying and using DC) maybe it can't be even more controlled due to factory process limitation? makes me feel like i'm playing russian roulette when buying cams in that case.

p.s. as for vertical banding i don't know much about this issue, either my cam is good or my lcd sucks (or my eyesight sucks).

 

[ultrazoom]

dead/stuck pixels can be fixed. Just need to remap it. I assume fujifilm can do it as this is what they are doing for years

You are bound to get dead pixels. just need to remap it. Dead pixel is NOT a QC problem.

The white pixel really makes the whole PP work more tedious that I couldn't stand it anymore. I sent mine in for repair on it. I was told it cannot be remapped, and the CCD has to be changed.