Nikon D7000 Hot Pixels

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That is good to know. I'm ready to buy one of these cameras just want to make sure not a lot of issues. The video's of watched on Vimeo are really good.
 
A Nikon rep at Photo Plus told me that dead pixels can be fixed with software. Nikon show included such firmware if the problem is going to continually show up.
 
My roomate just got a d700 and there is a bright red pixel in the bottom corner, it appears to be only in video though and iso 6400 and up. Video to come.
 
John Caballero said:
A Nikon rep at Photo Plus told me that dead pixels can be fixed with software. Nikon show included such firmware if the problem is going to continually show up.
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its not that hard to implement, and Nikon already RMA'd my first D3s over stuck hot pixels, and my D300 has 2 or 3 that area REALLY irritating me above ISO 800. part of the reason im switching to Canons; you can remap instead of edit for HOURS on end.
 
Zissou said:
its not that hard to implement, and Nikon already RMA'd my first D3s over stuck hot pixels, and my D300 has 2 or 3 that area REALLY irritating me above ISO 800. part of the reason im switching to Canons; you can remap instead of edit for HOURS on end.
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Does remapping really "fix" the problem or does it only conceal it?
 
"Does remapping really "fix" the problem or does it only conceal it?"
​
Well, it's both. The pixel is still stuck, but you can't see the stuckiness.

I used to work for a display company when they rolled out the lcd panels, and they were getting a premium price. So the customers expected perfect panels.

Nearly all of them had stuck or unlit pixels. There were so many (millions) across the screen that some small failure rate was inevitable -- I was told. And I had to try and convince angry customers that they had to settle.

At least on the cameras they CAN "remap" and interpolate in order to make it look good. On a display monitor, it's just there, at all times, forever and ever. Quite a nightmare, actually.
 
Just got another D7000. My last had a stuck blue pixel visible at ISO 800 and was returned. So far this one looks good at high ISO settings. Hopefully this represents a stepped up QC effort on the units being shipped since they have been receiving returns with bad pixels. I wouldn't be surprised if this issue is contributing to the scarcity of D7000's in the marketplace. FWIW a local camera store rep claimed 4-6 week turnaound if one were to return a Nikon for remapping pixels. He highly recommended checking any new camera within the return period and swapping it out if anomalies are unsatisfactory.

Here's a good short article on hot pixelshttp://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/hot-pixels/index.htm
 
So mine has a stuck "pixel" in video mode. Stuck meaning it's always bluish white (dead would mean it's always dark, hot would mean it's oversensitive - maxes out too soon, but in low light might be ok, though maybe not at high iso). I put "Pixel" in quotes, because with pixel binning or line skipping or whatever Nikon is doing to get from 16 MP to 1080 lines, a dot in video doesn't necessarily correspond to one sensel on the sensor. The proof of that in my situation is that when I check still photos for a stuck or a hot pixel I don't see one. I'm very familiar how to do this with still cameras, so I'm sure I'm not missing it.
So I'm guessing that Nikon remapped the hot pixel at the factory and the remap works the way it's supposed to in stills mode. But there is a glitch in the firmware so the remapping is not working in video mode. It would make sense since Nikon knows digital stills processing as well as anyone, but is still learning about video processing. That would explain my situation. Others may have additional problems, like pixels that have gone hot or stuck since leaving the factory.
Anyway, I've contacted Nikon service. I like the camera for stills and video, and I've got some excellent Nikon mount glass I'm going to try on it - so I'm keeping it. Hopefully they'll figure it out soon.
 
Returned first D7000 for a bright blue pixel visible all the time in stills and video. My second D7000 is OK with still images so far but exhibits one extremely annoying bright blue pixel smack dab dead center in video recording, and several red ones distributed throughout. They are consistent especially at high ISO 1600 and up but are visible at lower ISO as well.

Completely annoying, Nikon's QC on these is absolutely and totally unacceptable. Total waste of time. I've been using Nikon equipment since the 70's and it's shame to see this behavior by a company that is clearly dropping the ball. They are aware and still selling them after an extraordinary volume of returns. The bad pixels on my second D7000 are clearly visible in video footage and they can also be seen in Live View mode with the lens cap on by looking closely at the rear LCD.

The number of people being inconvenienced or worse by this issue is at an extreme volume which Nikon should NEvER have let occur. I'm seeing stories of people inspecting multiple cameras and discovering their original purchased unit was not as bad as the rest of the ones in their local vendor's location. I'm looking hard at Canon's offerings. The 7D is pretty cool and it's due for a refresh.

Nikon's video QC department should be deported to Antarctica buck naked.

Here is an entire thread dedicated to this widespread issue.

http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=2662
 
I got that notice too, directly from Nikon in response to my complaint. While we'll probably never know, I still think my analysis of the problem's source above is basically right. Here's most of my original complaint to Nikon with some suggestions. Since they are upgrading firmware I hope they implement some of the suggestions:

"After reading the manual and learning to use the Manual Movie mode, I've determined that the hot spot is not actually a problem for me. The hot "spot" (I'll call it a spot since it doesn't really correspond to a sensor pixel) does not become visible until ISO 1600 and is not clearly visible until ISO 3200. It is not visible in the same area in stills mode at the same ISO, but with stills the noise is so prevalent, there are many hot pixels visible. I would guess the algorithm you use to combine pixels into the 1080p frame concentrates some hotter pixels into a hotspot in the movie (perhaps there is also a remapped stuck pixel in there as I originally guessed).
The problem I reported was on footage shot in very dim light in auto mode, so the ISO was probably automatically bumped up to near-maximum. The hot spot was even brighter than the one I observe at ISO 3200.
I also observed that the maximum ISO sensitivity setting for stills is ignored by the Movie mode.

"Several suggestions [I made to Nikon]:
(1) When shooting movies in auto mode, display the actual ISO chosen by the camera. For example, if I have max ISO set at 400 for stills, 400 is on the live view display, but if the Movie is in auto mode, the actual ISO can be much higher (I'm sure since I've compared it with manual Movie mode. Manual is the only time I can be sure I'm shooting at the displayed ISO).
(2) Enable the Auto ISO max limit to be operational in movie mode (in PSA modes).
(3) Make ISO, shutter, aperture info available in EXIF(or equivalent) data for movie modes. If the information is readable somehow, please let me know how. I tried View NX2 and Final Cut Pro, but can't find it.
(4) Unrelated to the above, it would be great to have live histogram in live view - for both stills and movie (including while recording).
 
I give up. Nikon QC is tragic on the D7000, word to the wise, avoid this thing until such time as Nikon decides that their customers matter. I have inspected and returned six of these things at Best Buy and they ALL had sensor defects. Six in a row! Every single one of them, at different times, from different stores, over a period of a month of different shipments. They all have bad pixels in either or both still and video, all the way to ISO 100, not just at 6400 for those who might assume this was merely an issue of what one might reasonably expect in terms of high ISO hot pixel appearance. The common issue across all of them was one or more pixels, stuck on bright red or blue or both, at all times. 3 of them had bad pixels at all times on stills even at low ISO settings, 5 of them had stuck pixels permanently in every frame of video at all ISO settings. It's not just me, last time I was returning one to Best Buy the guy behind me in line was returning, guess what? A D7000 with bad pixels.

None of them were without obvious, permanently visible bad pixels which Nikon by all rights should never have left the factory in that condition. The later ones have all been purchased after Nikon had been aware of the problem for at least several weeks and in all likelihood they have been aware for months.


That's not even accounting for all the other quality control related problems others have experienced with this particular release.

I won't be driving across town to do Nikon's beta testing any more.


As has been widely reported, they are working on issuing a firmware update to address the problem with hot pixels in video. However, who knows? Will it solve or merely mitigate the problem to some degree? Nikon is non-commital about calling it a true resolution to the problem... read the wording of their press release closely and you will see it is intentionally obfuscating being succinct about the exact nature of the problem and the exact nature of the resolution they will be providing.

From Nikon:

"We have received reports from some users of the Nikon D7000 digital SLR camera regarding the occurrence of noticeable bright spots with movie recording under certain conditions. Nikon believes that these bright spots are not normally noticeable, and therefore do not indicate a problem with practical use. However, with further investigation of the reports received, we have confirmed that bright spots may be noticeable when recording movies of especially dark scenes or subjects. In order to provide our customers with better products, Nikon is currently preparing to release a firmware upgrade with measures to reduce the occurrence of these bright spots for the D7000. Further details will be announced at a later date.”


And I didn't believe it was possible that Nikon customer service would actually say what others told me they had been told, until I heard it for myself. I made sure my call was escalated and still received the absolutely horrific response that Nikon is a stills company and video is not their forte, with the kicker that the customer is supposed to accept blazing red and blue pixels slashing their video footage at every ISO because video is just kind of an add on and we are supposed to accept it as-is, as a free bonus?!?

As for the Nikon advertising campaign stating "The D7000 offers high-image-quality full HD movie recording", what you will receive is a special holiday gift bonus: Christmas lighting integrated into every frame for all of your footage.
 
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I am sad to report that the new firmware does not fix the issue. My roomate recently sent his d7000 back to Nikon for the hot pixel fix. They said they remapped the sensor, cleaned it and updated firmware. The hot pixels are still there. They are "pixel peeping" noticeable all the way down to iso 200. And would be noticeable on any hdtv passed 400. Will try and post some video.
 
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Adam J McKay said:
I am sad to report that the new firmware does not fix the issue. My roomate recently sent his d700 back to Nikon for the hot pixel fix. They said they remapped the sensor, cleaned it and updated firmware. The hot pixels are still there. They are "pixel peeping" noticeable all the way down to iso 200. And would be noticeable on any hdtv passed 400. Will try and post some video.
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That is unfortunate. This camera has so much potential, but many of the bodies Nikon has produced to date are fatally flawed for video. What I have learned is that we need to inspect closely at 100% to determine bad pixels and if any are found, do not accept the camera. Best Buy has been great about returns and exchanges, at least at my local store they are aware of the problem and have been satisfyingly accommodating. Nikon, not so much. I will never touch another Nikon product unless it has an unconditional full refund policy from the vendor. Nikon quality control is in a sorry state.
 
Adam J McKay said:
I am sad to report that the new firmware does not fix the issue. My roomate recently sent his d700 back to Nikon for the hot pixel fix. They said they remapped the sensor, cleaned it and updated firmware. The hot pixels are still there. They are "pixel peeping" noticeable all the way down to iso 200. And would be noticeable on any hdtv passed 400. Will try and post some video.
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Adam,

I don't think you can know this yet because the new firmware is not out for the D7000. If you roommate returned a D700, well that's a different camera. I've had issues with Nikon repair before - a few times I've had to bring things back for a second look, so it's equally possible that Nikon messed up the repair of the D700.

Don't condemn the as yet nonexistent firmware for the D7000 because of this. At least not yet.
 
The camera has firmware 1.02 on it and it says on the repair slip that they updated the firmware...I assumed it was the new one. But I could be mistaken.

EDIT it appears as though that is the current firmware. My mistake. At any rate, sending the camera back to Nikon at this point in time will not fix the hot pixel issue. Let's hope the NEW firmware will.
 
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Adam J McKay said:
The camera has firmware 1.02 on it and it says on the repair slip that they updated the firmware...I assumed it was the new one. But I could be mistaken.

EDIT it appears as though that is the current firmware. My mistake. At any rate, sending the camera back to Nikon at this point in time will not fix the hot pixel issue. Let's hope the NEW firmware will.
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Adam - I'm not sure that I would draw that conclusion. I think remapping is a well known cure for hot pixels. Every camera has hot or dead pixels when manufactured and gets remapped at the factory. Others appear later and can be mapped out with subsequent remappings. I've worked with military grade thermal cameras and the same is true.

The first thing I would assume from your roommate's experience is that Nikon botched that repair, and not that repair is conceptually impossible, even before the new firmware is out. I recommend that your roommate give Nikon another chance to fix it. They often need one or two tries.
 
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