Nikon D70 burned out pixels

[melbaby]

I am wondering if this has happened to any D70 owner.

I have owned my D70 since March of 2004, within 2 weeks I was getting several small blurry circles in my images, seen easily on the computer. Most visible in a blue sky.
After about 6 of them were confirmed, I called Nikon and they called it burned out pixels, possibly due to poor quality control. 2 weeks new!

Sent it to Nikon L.A, Calif. , the CCD was cleaned and the Display panel was replaced. The bill was $693 , but covered under warranty.

8 months later, Jan. 05, to my horror I saw another spot. It is now April and I have half a dozen again, and of course it is over the 1 yr. manufacturers warranty. I will fall back on my double Visa warranty, but am hoping Nikon will replace the $1,000 body. 2 repairs, at $693 is almost $1400!!! In less than 1 year. On the hottest camera at the moment.


Any advice? Thanks for reading,,,,,Melodie (and I love my camera to death).

[ponder]

Melodie,

I never experienced dark spots with my Canon G3 and I've been shooting with it since 2003. I have experienced dark spots with my new Canon 20d as pointed out by Shootem and you in my leaves photo this week. I have checked many of my other photos taken with the same lens and don't see those same dark spot even at 500% in Photo Elements. When I first purchased my camera several weeks ago I had a large black spot and using the sensor cleaning process was able to gently blow the speck of dust off of the CCD and that took care of the problem. I don't know what to tell you, but I would take some shots of light scenes like sky or a white wall and then use this as proof to Nikon that if they're not specks of dust, then the CCD is to blame and get it fixed while your Visa warranty is still in effect.

Dave

[ponder]

Melodie,

One piece of advice, since I call a lot of support help desks in my line of work as an IT Technical Support Analyst, I found that the complaint.com website really can help you with your problems with certain companies if they won't help you after you've gone through all of the proper channels. I had a problem with HP and my complaint went all the way to a special cases department and then my problem was fixed ASAP. You can find them at: http://www.complaints.com/

Also, if you contact Shutterbug magazine, PC World or PC Magazine about your continued problems with a big corporation like Nikon you will get results as most companies DO NOT like bad press because it effects their bottom lines and the stockholder don't like this. Good Luck!

Dave

[melbaby]

Thanks loads Ponder, I will definetly use those actions, if I must resort to that.

What do you mean by sensor cleaning process?

[bytethis]

Hi Melodie.

Unfortunately, this is a common problem associated with Digital SLR cameras.

It's dust on your CCD.

I have a couple of issues with this, but more on that in a sec.

I also had dust on my CCD (sensor) straight out of the box, even before I unwrapped it!

As you probably might be aware, the sensor is the 'electronic film' in a digital cam. It stays still (apart from a vibrate feature in some brands) and like the mirror and viewfinder glass in all SLR's can attract dust generally via static charge, from normal use. It's tough to remove by conventional means (i.e. blowing on the ccd) and is NOT recommended by us users.

How does the dust get there?

From manufacture to packing; everyday use, particularly continual removal and exchange of different lenses; using in a dusty environment; leaving the lens off and myriad other causes...in fact, even zooming in and out on a telephoto lens! I was told that the zooming action sucks air in and around the barrel of the lens and into the body, and if in a dusty environment, sucks that in too! And it's true...

The problems I have with this, are that the sellers of these cameras know all about this, yet do not tell us about it when we're buying the cams, and I know they know about it, cos Nikon charge about AU$100 for a 12 use sensor cleaner (home use) and about the same for their dedicated repairer to have you come in and do a one off clean. I took my D70 in to get the sensor cleaned as my repairer provides a 'first time free' clean...obviously the repairer knows about the phenomenon also...Of course Olympus knew it was a problem because their new Evolt -E100 has a vibrating sensor (as does some Canon models) which literally shakes the microscopic dust off.

Why don't film SLR's have this problem? Well, simply, film moves, and from one image to the next, dust doesn't have time to settle on the film as it rolls into the cannister, and gets brushed off anyway.

Also digicams with non removeable lenses, such as the Canon's A series or Nikon 3200 or 5400 for example, are sealed and therefore nothing but light ever touches the sensor, it's just particular to 'DSLR's

In regard to your burned pixel issue...(not related to the spots issue) every single plasma or lcd manufacturer, whether TV or pc screen or digicam, has a 'dead pixel' policy which allows for a certain amount of actual pixels to not work but still be a shippable item to the end user. Often the manufacturer will replace, but you have to be careful, cos in some cases if your plasma tv has bad dots, and it's in the policy - they won't replace. In digicams tho, cos it's so noticeable, they shouldn't have much choice...more often tho, the dead pixel tollerance is Zero as customers like you and I wouldn't stand for defects such as these.

I'm pretty careful with the dust issue and since I had a clean (and my cam lol) I haven't had any dust on my D70's ccd.

The D70 has an 'Inspect' mode, which holds up the mirror to allow you to inspect the ccd for dust (have to have good eyes), but not a cleaning mode like the Olympus or Dave's Canon seems to...our cam is a budget conscious cam after all...bells and whistles are on the D2X lol

You have to be SUPER careful also in the 'inspect' mode, as the mode uses the battery's power to hold up the mirror...if the battery 'dies' whilst in this mode, the mirror/shutter assembly 'breaks' and must be repaired - NOT a warranty fix apparently...

I guess the answer is, with regular use of your cam, expect to see spots, or invest in a home use ccd cleaner...If you're interested, I saw one on an American website...I can look for details for you when I get home from work.

I hope all this enlightens.


Graham

[RTaylor]

here is the site you are probably looking for

http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning


He gives detailed directions and pictures.
You can purchase from him as well which I did but there are also other sites that you might be able to purchase the products a little cheaper if you search hard enough

[melbaby]

Thanks so much Ruth for that connection site for the sensor cleaning kit. Scary as the process sounds, I have read allll those pages several times about it and it all makes sense what my problem is, and how it will be a necessary effort to keep up on the camera.

I have ordered the sensor kit and am looking forward to dust free sensors! Again, I am so happy to be part of byte, I have learned so much from members, it is amazing.

Melodie

[RTaylor]

Glad to be of help. Just be sure you dont clean it too often. I try to blow out the dust first to be sure thats all it might be. Then after looking at a picture taken against a white light if I dont see it, then I know I dont have to use the Eclipse. I try to only use the liquid if there is a smudge.
There are times that after just cleaning it, then going outside on a windy day an annoying piece of dust will find its way to your CCD lol.
So dont get too discouraged.

I was overwhelmed by the directions at first but felt better about it when an online photographer friend of mine who actually lives locally cleaned mine in person so I could see exactly how it was done.
Now I'm more confident and just the other day showed a guy at work who just bought the D70 a month ago, how to clean his CCD .
He has owned Nikon SLR's for years but when he used the digital was baffled to why he started to get spots on his family pictures
Enjoy

[ponder]

Ruth, Melodie and Graham,

I did a test on my Canon 20D today and I'm extremely disappointed with the results as it looks like I will be calling Canon this week to see about sending my 1 month old camera in for repair. I shot the blue sky at Noon as suggested by Shootem and have found three blown out pixels. Two are together just as people made me aware of last week in my Leaves image and one is a little bit harder to see, but it's still there. I sent a note to Canon support telling them how disappointed I am over this and I'll see how much they care when I call them too. I never had a problem with the 3 other Canon cameras I've had in the past.

Graham and Ruth, I will use your postings about cleanings in the future. Thanks for all of the great information.

Dave

[melbaby]

Hi Dave, that is sure dissapointing about your brand new camera. From what I think I "now" understand is that it is
dust on the ccd sensor, and not burned out pixels which was the term I used in this thread, because that is actually the term the technician used on the phone when I called him a yr. ago and described my problem after only 1 month's use.

You should be able to get it cleaned for sure under warranty , probably sent to Canon, but what an inconvenience, as you won't have your $$$ camera all that time.

I already have ordered the cleaning kit that Ruth wrote about on that connection. Seems the logical solution to keep the lens clean yourself, as it is extremely expensive to have to pay for. good luck with your pursuit.

Melodie

ps I have noticed occasional dark spots in others photos, now that I know what to look for.

[ponder]

Melodie,
Well believe it or not, I just received a reply from Canon support and they told me how and where to send in my camera, but they said that it will be 10 to 14 days before they will be able to return my camera to me. Luckily for me I still have my Canon G3 and it's in good working order as I will need to use is for a big expo that my pond group is holding at the end of the week. Since I'm the webmaster for the organization, I'm also in charge of shooting all of the pictures too. Check out the site and let me know what you think?
www.illianagardenpond.org

I will keep you posted on my outcome and thanks for the support.

Dave

[bejoy001]

I have a problem of black spot on the picture from D70. Initially i oberved the spot in certain situations, although difficult to debug, but a black sopt was coming. Got the piece changed. With the other new piece it was working fine until 2 days ago when i spotted another spot. Earlier when it was replaced, i replaced the body.But when it came again at a different place, now i have changed the body and lens (18-70). Can anyone suggest ??
thanks in advance
bejoy

[famjad21]

Melodie,

I'll add my experience. I have a Fuji S2, which I purchased used. After a while I noticed some spots that were always in the same place. Dust on the sensor! I cursed and went into panic mode. Then I researched it.

I learned how to clean the sensor. It's frightening but not hard. I use 3 techniques; bulb blowing (not high pressure air), charged brush and the sensor swabs. Blowing gave me the best result followed by the swab. The charged brush sometimes added dust.
When I blow I keep the opening facing down.
The swabs are expensive but seem to work when you have a lot of dust or condensation spots. Make sure you let the fluid dry before you remount the lens (and don't use too much). It may take a few swipes before you're happy.

I don't clean very often, just when the spots become a real bother to fix in Photoshop.

Good luck,

Frank

[melbaby]

Hi Frank, this thread I hope has helped a lot of people with their dust spot knowledge....I started the thread in the spring and have since had successful CCD cleaning with the copperhill cleaning kit.....
http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning

As originally referred to by Ruth and since I've since read much about it.

Bejoy,,,if you haven't read this thread from the beginning, I would suggest that, to see if it sounds like your spot problems. WE are referring to blurry dark circles, that appear in pictures , easily seen in a blue sky.

Good luck, it is a drastic move to replace body, and lens, etc... hope you got them under warranty...

I think when you see the spots and you don't know the what the cause is , it is frightening, you are sure your camera is a lemon. But it comes with the territory with digital SLR's....and there is hope to clean them off, but realize they will reappear in time, it's a continual cleaning process.

Melodie