Advice on Hot Pixel Test Results, Please

[Chris]

I need help, please, evaluating results from a test of dead/hot pixels on my new R-D1. Should I be concerned that various exposure and ISO combinations give anywhere from 0 up to 775 hot pixels?

Much detail follows below, including exact results from Dead Pixel Test at 24 different exposure/ISO combinations.

Advice greatly appreciated, as I only have until Thursday to decide whether to return this to the dealer and ask for a replacement or keep it as is. Thanks!

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Hello from a new member who’s trying to evaluate an R-D1 in the mid-4000 range. I’ve got until 11/10 to make a keep or return decision.

First, thanks to all of you who have posted to this forum! I discovered it when Googling for whatever tests and reviews of the R-D1 I could find. There’s tons of great information in the various threads here. You are a very sharing bunch!

By way of background, I’m an amateur photographer, pure and simple. But I’ve been a rangefinder guy for some 40 years now because my introduction to photography was from an uncle who loved and collected both Leicas and Alpas. I primarily shot rangefinders (my uncle’s on occasion and my dad’s Montgomery Ward’s camera, which may well have been a Cosina) during grade school and high school. Since my college years, I’ve shot both SLRs (Alpas, thanks to uncle) and an M6 that I bought in the late 90s when I found I missed the compactness of a rangefinder.

My digital experience is limited to a little Canon S400 Digital ELPH that I bought to have a camera with me on frequent business travel. I love the instantaneous nature of digital photography. That said, I’ve been strictly a point & shoot digital photographer. PS Elements is on my Mac, but I’ve rarely used it. I shoot, download, and show my “slides” on-screen with Graphic Converter. So all of what I’ve read about hot/dead pixels and digital manipulation to eliminate them and things like that are still Greek to me. Not for long, I guess, if I actually keep the R-D1 I’m evaluating and start to learn the full version of Photoshop!

With all the comments in the forum about the return of R-D1s because of dead/hot pixels, I started my research and tests there, using various threads to learn what to do and (I hope) how to do it.

Since I’m on a Mac, I loaded Dead Pixel Test onto my wife’s PC. In a very dark closet, with lens cap on and viewfinder covered, I made 6 RAW exposures — 1/60, 1/30, 1/8, 1/2, 1 second, and approx. 4 seconds — at all 4 ISOs. The film settings, by the way, were at whatever the R-D1 defaults are, as I’ve made no changes to those.

I opened the RAW files in Photoshop Elements 2.0 using the EPSON RAW Plug-In, then saved them as TIFFs (with settings: embed EPSON sRGB Color Space color profile; no image compression; IBM PC byte order). Dead Pixel Test results:

ISO 200:
1/60 – 0 dead/1 hot
1/30 – 0/1
1/8 – 0/0
1/2 – 0/1
1 – 0/4
4 – 0/24

ISO 400:
1/60 – 0 dead/2 hot
1/30 – 0/2
1/8 – 0/1
1/2 – 0/5
1 – 0/12
4 – 0/49

ISO 800:
1/60 – 0 dead/3 hot
1/30 – 0/3
1/8 – 0/6
1/2 – 0/23
1 – 0/34
4 – 0/123

ISO 1600:
1/60 – 0 dead/7 hot
1/30 – 0/14
1/8 – 0/23
1/2 – 0/53
1 – 0/56
4 – 0/775

At the longer exposures and higher ISOs, this seems like a lot of problem pixels to me… but I have no experience on which to make such an evaluation. Do these numbers represent a problem? By the way, I do have a Nocti; and one of the appealing things about the R-D1 is the ability to shoot it in low-light environments. So, I plan to be using 1600 quite a bit.

Pending my understanding of the pixel issue, I haven’t done a great deal of focusing/rangefinder accuracy tests. However, horizontal adjustment does seem to be off, as a distant object lines up in focus, and then I can turn a bit beyond it to the infinity stop on the lens and it goes slightly out of alignment again. This happens with all 4 lenses to what appears to be the same extent. It is not a problem on the M6 with these lenses. But I understand that DAG can take care of this problem.

I’m just back from a long walk around the neighborhood, however, shooting both a 35mm 'cron ASPH 2.0 and my 50mm Elmar 2.8. The shots I took specifically to check focus seems spot on (a bit surprising, considering how rusty my rangefinder technique is after far too much autofocus shooting). I do, however, need to do some ruler tests if this particular body stays in consideration.

Also, I’ve not tried to judge whether the bright-line frames are dead on. I do note that the focusing rectangle seems a bit off-level (catty-wompus, my wife would say) in relationship to the framelines. Also, as I change from 28 to 35 to 50, I see that the framelines shift toward the bottom right of the viewfinder, putting the focusing rectangle more and more toward the upper left-hand corner. That’s normal, I assume.

So, two questions at this point…

1. Do I seem to be doing the pixel test correctly?

2. In and of itself, do these pixel results say “avoid this body” or do they say “no real problem”… or are they indeterminate?

Depending upon what you can tell me, I’ll either continue on to various rangefinder accuracy and focusing tests or return this and continue my hunt for a better R-D1. I do want one of these!!!

And if there are other tests you'd recommend, I'd be happy to hear them. I've combed the threads pretty thoroughly trying to find what various members have done, but I'm sure I've not found everything.

Sincere apologies for the long-winded message here. This appears to be a very friendly forum, so I’ve taken the risk of overwhelming you with some newbie angst in the hopes that one or more of you might be able and willing to offer some guidance.

Thanks!

Chris

 

[Jim Watts]

Hi Chris,
Welcome to the Forum.

Even with your excellent analysis of the problems with your R-D1 it’s difficult to give an absolute yes or no answer to as to whether or not to go for an exchange, it depends on how much you think its degrading your photographs and the wait and hassel you are prepared to go through to get a better camera.

I think as you have both a focusing problem, a rangefinder spot level problem as well as the Hot Pixel problem it probably is better to try for an exchange but be prepared (as you know from what others have found here) that you might have to do this more than once. I think I would tend to judge any replacement with regard to if it has any effect on your final output and not get too hung up on trying for an absolutely perfect example.

My view of your Hot Pixel problem is that your figures do seem high, especially at high ISO's and long exposure times, but I think the Dead Pixel Test tends to exaggerate the effect and you are unlikely to see this many hot pixels (or need to clone them out) in a print. I think a more real world test is to photograph a plain wall setting exposure to give Zone V, 1600 ISO at about 1/30 sec, then print this out at A4 and do a count. On my R-D1 I only see about 5 Hot pixels clearly visible like this even in jpeg mode (which exacerbates the problem) and on proper subject matter with texture and up to A3 prints rarely have to cone any of these out, much less work than spotting dust on silver prints from enlarged negatives. Clearly if you take a lot of pictures with extended exposure times then it is much more of an issue for you and you will need to be more critical.

As all 4 of your lenses move past the infinity point at a distance you probably do need to get the focus adjusted. If it’s slight, depth of field probably covered it for your shots on your walkabout at a distance, but close up and/or wide open it would probably be an issue. The ruler test is worth doing as it can also show up other focus issues with certain lenses.

The movement in framelines relative to focus spot is normal, but a "catty-wompus" (nice expression) rangefinder spot is not, although a few here have reported this problem and as it’s not easily fixed this is another reason to exchange your present example if out by much. Check the level of your framelines as well by shooting square to a bookcase etc. as this has clearly been an issue for a number of people here and again its not easily remedied.

If you go for an exchange I hope they get it right with your second R-D1. It is a great camera and it’s a pity it is still showing these QC problems. Persevere its worth it.

Regards
Jim

 

[Chris]

Thanks, Jim – Other comments welcomed!

Thanks, Jim – Other comments welcomed!

Thanks for the comments, Jim. Much appreciated!

I'm continuing tests. The focusing rectangle being a bit off kilter is not of great concern, I've decided. It sounds like it's similar to what others have experienced... just a bit off level (and that may be in comparison to framelines that themselves are not level). Most importantly, I think, is that it seems to focus very well. There's a certain "you've nailed it" change in how it suddenly looks when it comes into focus, a 3-D appearance. And my test shots wide open at 1 meter or less with my 35 'cron ASPH 2.0 seem spot on.

Framelines appear not to be level, but it doesn’t seem like all that much. An adjustment of 0.5 degrees to the right seems to straighten all of the test images I’ve taken (albeit handheld) of a level sitting on a tripod. I'm trying to decide how big a problem this really is, if it’s a problem at all. I tend to agree with what jlw pointed out, however: in real-world, handheld shooting, we're not going to be holding perfectly level all that often anyway.

I think I'm trying to convince myself that this one is sufficiently adequate to keep, avoiding the hassle/expense of a return, and the chance that the replacement won't be as good. If it turns out a problem, I can always avail myself of the U.S. Epson warranty.

But I've still got another day before I have to call for an RMA, so I'll keep shooting to see what's up.

Gosh, 7 days isn't really a whole lot of time when you're trying to figure out so much... and having such fun doing it!

Best,

Chris

 

[Jim Watts]

Hi Chris,
The focusing retangle was well off level in a friends first R-D1 making it difficult to focus quickly and this together with out of level framelines was his main reason for an exchange. As you get the "you've nailed it" experience that most of us have noted here with a a well adjusted R-D1 it seems that yours is not too bad.

It's worth testing all your lenses close up and wide open to see if there are any front or back focus problems connected to a particular lens. My 35mm Cron (type 3) is my only lens that gives a slight front focus problem. I can also just see it with my 21mm Avenon (whats happend to Mike lately - I miss his posts?) but depth of field covers it even wide open below 1 meter.

What ever you decide I hope enjoy your R-D1. I'm sure you will.
Jim

 

[fgianni]

I actually don't think your dead/hot pixel figures are that bad, you are not that likely to use both high iso AND long exposures at the same time, if you can nail the focus I'd say you have a keeper.