Hello to all,

Has anyone else heard of this problem and have any idea what might be causing it. I have a number of pink dots on my sensor, as if my little girl has put pink felt tip pen on it. She obviously hasn't but that is what it looks like. I have checked with different lenses and the problem is still there. If you point the camera at a white wall, you see the pink dots quite clearly. Help! Does anyone know what I can do to rectify this problem or clean the sensor?

Hi James

Noa had dirt on his sensor so firstly read this thread

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-nex-ea50-all-variants/513751-dirt-sensor.html

I just checked both my sensors and they definitely don't have pink dots on them!! I also did a quick search and they seem to be common on still cameras where the owners have done long exposures especially at the sun. They seem to be called either hot pixels or stuck pixels and usually need the sensor replaced. Keep us updated but I would do a clean first.

Chris

Believe me, I don't think this is dirt, I reckon it is something to do with pixels!

Here are the dots for you all to see.

That's no dirt on the sensor, I have managed to keep my sensor clean untill now by using that arctic butterfly thing before every shoot but what I see here looks more like a sensor problem, the camera needs to be send in I think. Has the sensor been exposed to direct sunlight for a longer period? Or maybe some laser lights? Just guessing.

Don't think it is dirt.

Still no idea what caused it.

That doesn't sound very promising, I"m also not sure if this is covered in the warranty as it's not a camera malfunction but caused by external factors. I only hope for you it won't be such a case because otherwise you"ll be looking at a expensive repair if the sensor needs to be replaced, let's hope Sony can fix it by just resetting something in the soft- or hardware..

Here is 30 seconds or so of the footage that might have caused the problem

Yup, I"m almost sure that's what did it.

I guess this guy's mythbusting must be wrong then:

What happens when a high power red laser light hits your camera or camcorder sensor? - YouTube

There is quite a few examples on vimeo and-/or youtube showing exactly the opposite what this guy is claiming with clear damage to the sensor, I"m sure it must have to do with the intensity of the beam, I also read reports from people with damaged eye sight after been exposed to a strong laserlight.

see here:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=laserlight+sensor+damage&oq=laserlight+sensor+damage&gs_l=youtube.3...622.622.0.1340.1.1.0.0.0.0.80.80.1.1.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.MtQS1osK2MU

I guess this guy's mythbusting must be wrong then:
judging by the blooming, its a CCD sensor, so different technology from EA50 CMOS

I feel seriously let down by this incident, I wonder if all the other people in the room that were videoing the event on their iPhones, ipads and handicams had the same problem - I think not. It's not like I pointed the light at the lens or pointed the camera at the sun. There is something seriously wrong here, so beware all EA50 users. To quote another user, 'All that is gold definitely does not shine'

pls let us know how it turns out (I guess you'r sending the camera in for repair now?)

That is a bit scary! On your footage James, you do see quite an intense flash (sorta like a white laser or strobe) I wonder if that was the issue?

As I do stills too and have two Nikon DSLR's there were quite a few posts on Nikon forums about both pink dots and red dots and those were mainly caused by exposing the sensor for too long at a single light source.

I guess when we do the dancing we had better keep our backs to the DJ's lighting kit at all times. It will be interesting to discover what the cause was so it can be avoided in the future.

Good luck

Chris

I am now talking with the vendor about returning the camera to Sony, will let you know how it turns out. At least I have my VG30 to fall back to in the meantime. Have nw idea how I can save the footage shot on the last job I did. You couldn't see the dots on the LCD so didn't notice until afterwards. My goodness, how we put our welfare in the hands of technology.

James, First I wan't to say I am truly sorry your camera is damaged. Second, thank you for sharing because this is now one of the most important threads here! I would never shine a laser onto any sensor the way the myth-buster guy does it. On the other hand I would not have been concerned at all to be shooting around those low power DJ lights in the clip you had up. This thread will cause me to be more concerned about protecting my camera. Good luck, we are all waiting to see what happens.

Steve

Yes, I was shooting today with my vg30 and gone were any creative shots using lights, back is firmly to the wall from now on

Here are the dots for you all to see.

Hey James, can I use the image on my blog? Thought it would be worth to share.

Can we wait until the issue has been settled with Sony?

we can always wait, we have more time then money :)

hey James any word from Sony?

Sony were no help whatsoever. Sony Prime Support, more like Sony Crime Support. I have a registered Sony repair centre currently looking at the camera.

This is quite a concern considering most of us will be shooting in those conditions at some point.

Why haven't Sony prime support helped? what was the reason? And is it still being fixed free of charge or what?