If your A7S has a stuck/dead pixel or two/three

benjaminreece

benjaminreece

Active member
Hey Guys,

As I was applying Kholi's plcture profile (which is amazing), I discovered a dead pixel in the lower right quarter of my sensor.

I reset the camera, cleaned the sensor, took out the battery, let it sit for a while, rinse, repeat a couple of times and it would not go away. Bummer, I called Sony, they issued an RMA. :(

BUT here is the solution I found from googling it around on NEX cameras, and it worked for my A7S:

Set the date forward on your date/time 2 months, and then turn the camera off. Wait about five seconds, the shutter will close, the sensor will re-map and the pixels should be gone!

It worked for me at least. Thought that might save someone some heart/headache.

Thanks,

Ben
 
Can you do a Black Balance on the A7s? I had a dead pixel on my FS700 and a Black Balance fixed it. I was told by a number of people to always do a black balance at the beginning of the day to avoid dead pixels, so I always do that.
 
benjaminreece said:
Hey Guys,

As I was applying Kholi's plcture profile (which is amazing), I discovered a dead pixel in the lower right quarter of my sensor.

I reset the camera, cleaned the sensor, took out the battery, let it sit for a while, rinse, repeat a couple of times and it would not go away. Bummer, I called Sony, they issued an RMA. :(

BUT here is the solution I found from googling it around on NEX cameras, and it worked for my A7S:

Set the date forward on your date/time 2 months, and then turn the camera off. Wait about five seconds, the shutter will close, the sensor will re-map and the pixels should be gone!

It worked for me at least. Thought that might save someone some heart/headache.

Thanks,

Ben
Click to expand...

I wonder if the A7s has a auto black balance or pixel refresh that gets performed every couple months.
 
gene_can_sing said:
Can you do a Black Balance on the A7s? I had a dead pixel on my FS700 and a Black Balance fixed it. I was told by a number of people to always do a black balance at the beginning of the day to avoid dead pixels, so I always do that.
Click to expand...
What is a black balance and how do you do it? Do a white balance against something black?
 
dmitrizigany said:
What is a black balance and how do you do it? Do a white balance against something black?
Click to expand...

The camera takes a picture in no light, finds the dead pixels, and remaps adjacent pixels to "project" an average value onto the dead pixel(s).

A quick google on the subject found this: http://www.olympusamerica.com/crm/oneoffpages/ask_oly/crm_e_ask_oly_03_09.asp

Its a modern solution to large CMOS sensors where pixels are bound to die over time- when I called Sony the rep said there was no way to re-map the sensor and I was baffled/upset as every Canon has a way to do it (at least I'm pretty sure, I've owned 5 bodies but can't confirm off the top of my head).

Then, with a little google, I figured out the actual solution: Sony runs an automatic re-map every month or so- and its no BS, you can hear the camera close the shutter when you turn the camera off after pushing the months ahead. Feel free to ahead and do it just to make sure your re-map is up to date. :)
 
Great tip, thanks. I discovered three bright pixels today. I applied this technique, while outputting to an Odyssey, with the lens cap on. The Odyssey screen had a light of flickering bright spots, but the three problem pixels did not flicker. Watching the process on the Odyssey made confirmation of the fix quicker.
 
OMG, I had a bright red pixel appear on me today. Thought it was the LCD, but when I saw it in the EVF, my heart sank......I just bought this camera used a week ago. :(

I set the date ahead three months, and powerd off...........the camera made a loud noise, like a mirror flapping down and up again, powered back on, red pixel gone!

Thank you!!!!

Paul
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top