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SonyHDcam 700A Dead Pixels Suddenly


Guest TJ Williams

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Guest TJ Williams

We are in the midst of shooting several projects in 1080I which is the only format supported by our HD 700A Sony Camcorder. Yesterday as my partner was getting ready to go out on a shoot He hooked the camera to his big screen and whoooops 14 dead pixels Of course he ran the dead pixel hiding process several times with no results. Then this morning there were 16. This from a camera that had no dead pixels just days ago.

 

The camera has been stored dry and warm. Not stored near electrical power boxes or magnetic effects. Our most recent shoots look good as far as we know but we will be down at the post house, checking tapes tomorrow to try to find out when this started happening.

 

We previously had other problems with this camera, which was completely redone by Sony less than 100 drum hours ago. The camera made dancing white dots all over the screen at random intervals, for no reason. Whether we shot: interior exterior hand held or on sticks hot or cold after running for hours or at startup. After a pretty involved process Sony repair declaired this camera as fully repaired. and it worked fine until now.

 

We looked on the Lucke site but it doesn't look like he does HD cameras. So we have a call in to Sony.

So meanwhile:

 

Has anyone else had similiar experiences of sudden dead pixels on Sony cameras of this series?

Is there anyone reading who might have ideas of the cause of this?

Is there any other fix than a new sensor block? ..... (About the price of a good used Benz)

Does anyone make aftermarket parts for this?

 

Thanks for any help

TJ

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We are in the midst of shooting several projects in 1080I which is the only format supported by our HD 700A Sony Camcorder. Yesterday as my partner was getting ready to go out on a shoot He hooked the camera to his big screen and whoooops 14 dead pixels Of course he ran the dead pixel hiding process several times with no results. Then this morning there were 16. This from a camera that had no dead pixels just days ago.

 

(...)

 

Has anyone else had similiar experiences of sudden dead pixels on Sony cameras of this series?

Is there anyone reading who might have ideas of the cause of this?

Is there any other fix than a new sensor block? ..... (About the price of a good used Benz)

Does anyone make aftermarket parts for this?

 

Thanks for any help

TJ

 

Try doing three or four black balances in a row and see if they come back. You should be doing this at the start of each shooting day as a matter of course.

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Has your camera been flying recently :blink: , sometimes the atmospherical radiation can cause damage to the CCD Sensors.

 

Have you been recording lasers or any type of high-powered diode device? This can cause damage to the sensors if it is directed threw the lens.

 

Microwaves from some towers can damage the CCDs.

 

Over time you will get dead pixels, sometimes it may be (but not common) a spec of dust or dirt behind the CCD glass make sure to inspect filterwheel filters for any dirt or matter that does not belong there if the 700A has a filter wheel of course.

 

Put on your CCD Port Cap then hold down the black balance till it says executing APR I believe, however I'm not sure if the 700A has this function.

 

Goodluck.

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  • 2 weeks later...

the pixel buffer can only handle a few dead pixels. I think your total amount of pixels is a lot higher and you are only seeing the overflow. gotta send it back to SONY. however they will not be able to turn off all of them.I don't think?? have had to do this to my 900/r3

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  • 1 month later...
Guest TJ Williams

As I said in the original post we did the extended black balance thing.

since then we have had a tech at Bexel work the same process internally to the camera

and had the tech at Sony supposedly fix this it came back last week still not fixed despite

Sony Teaneck reasurrances.

 

I've been in discussion with Sony. From their perspective it's just my bad luck to have purchased this

"SONY LEMON" It's one thing when the pixel fix is so low on a cheap sd camera that LUCKE can make a living fixing them. At this price you'd think they would stand behind it. After 30 years of buying Sony we are looking at Panasonics new HD

 

TJ

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Guest TJ Williams

Cosmic ray damage? Put it in a plastic bag n freeze it? Hey I'm desperate I'll sure put in a bag and freeze it. Any idea why this might work? As for the cosmic ray thing I've flown cameras all over the world without this happening on any other camera? Maybe one should wrap it in tin foil when shipping a Sony HDCAm? Thanks for the responses.

 

TJ

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Foil will not stop cosmic rays. They are very light helium and hydrogen nuclei for the most part that easily pass through the earth so foil isn't going to do much. Higher altitudes mean you have better chances of having one affect a CCD. The camera in the freezer trick was taught to me by one of the head engineers at one of the networks. He said he has had some success wrapping a camera then putting in in the fridge or freezer overnight. Always make sure to let it thaw for 24 hours before trying it. If it's a major problem there are engineers who specialize in repairing the problem. But then again you would have to have it diagnosed as there are different kinds of problems that everyone seems to clump under the term "dead pixel".

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Foil won't do anything but, 4 foot thick "LEAD" shipment containers should stop any radiation except for krytonite (that only works in the movies) :blink:

 

I will file that freezer idea next to the file "Tiffen & Microwave Ovens"

 

Dead Pixels: I have learned to deal with, most editors deal with them as well, some not so well as others.

 

You could also try supergain +30DB to even see more dead pixels :)

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"4 foot thick "LEAD" shipment containers should stop any radiation"

 

Actually lead, regardless of how thick will not stop cosmic rays which pass very easily through the entire earth. Imagine the energy of a subatomic particle moving as fast as a baseball. Magnetic fields can deflect them though. In the time it took for you to read this a couple thousand pased through you too like butter.

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Guest TJ Williams

Clearly we are going the wrong way. How much lead equals the thickness of the earth we need cosmic ray mirrors. Or perhaps I could fly over Teaneck NJ and drop it on their heads...

 

Clearly we are going the wrong way. How much lead equals the thickness of the earth we need cosmic ray mirrors. Or perhaps I could fly over Teaneck NJ and drop it on the heads of the Sony folk.....

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the pixel buffer can only handle a few dead pixels. I think your total amount of pixels is a lot higher and you are only seeing the overflow. gotta send it back to SONY. however they will not be able to turn off all of them.I don't think?? have had to do this to my 900/r3

 

 

The F900 can store 255 dead pixels per channel, so 255 red, 255 blue, and 255 green. If the automatic pixel restoration doesnt work (APR through the black balance) you can try to turn the pixel off manually, which isn't really that easy, I would recommend taking it into service. Which they would probably quote you 2 hours of work at about 125 an hour (I'ts been almost three years since I've worked in service so don't quote me on that). Sometimes they will get it done faster, but 2 hours is the average amount of time it can take.

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  • 4 weeks later...

The F900 can store 255 dead pixels per channel, so 255 red, 255 blue, and 255 green.

 

Hi Elhanan,

do you know if the HDW 750p can also handle 255 dead pixel per channel? I had some dead pixels on my brand new HDW 750p while shooting today for the first time. I got them fixed after 5-6 times of black balance.

 

Is it usual to have several dead pixels on the first day of shooting whith a brand new unit (6 OP hours), or shall I contact Sony technical support?

 

Thank You,

Kind regards,

Hubert

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