Folks -

Having a weird problem with red dots showing up on my DNGs.  I've attached an example below.  This shot was run through the DNG cleaner, imported into LR and exported as a JPG.  I've shot LOTS of times at dusk -- this seems to be a new issue.

* They're in the darkest parts of the image.  Look in the lower right corner.
* I can't guarantee it, but the problems seems to have gotten worse over the course of the flight.  Nothing on the first couple of shots, many on the last few shots.

Any ideas?  Thanks.

Looks like noise.  It would get worse as the sensor heats up.  Could it be overheating?  Did you have the camera switched on for a long time?

nigelw Posted at 2016-2-8 08:05
Looks like noise.  It would get worse as the sensor heats up.  Could it be overheating?  Did you hav ...

The camera was running for about 2/3rds of the flight --- a movie for 4:00 minutes,  followed by a bunch of still shots.  The weird thing is that I've NEVER had these artifacts show up in earlier flights.  Short flights, long flights, day, dusk, the height of summer or the coldest days of winter.

Did you shot too many pictures facing the sun?
You can fix manually the pictures, but I would like someone's explanation of this, as looks odd as heck.

LordNeo Posted at 2016-2-8 14:06
Did you shot too many pictures facing the sun?
You can fix manually the pictures, but I would like s ...

Run the raw files through the DJI RAW cleaner and see if they are still there. link to zip file here Sorry just re-read and saw that you had. sorry.

flyingpoint@gma Posted at 2016-2-8 00:13
The camera was running for about 2/3rds of the flight --- a movie for 4:00 minutes,  followed by a ...

Nothing unusual then & the air temperature's obviously low so you may have a fault.  Unless it was very underexposed & adjusted in Lightroom too much to compensate, I'd say you need to contact customer support.

I would agree with Nigel, it looks like you have the camera aettings flat out and have boosted the image in post production. That is the noise floor of the sensor showing up.

Geebax Posted at 2016-2-8 18:20
I would agree with Nigel, it looks like you have the camera aettings flat out and have boosted the i ...

That shot might have been underexposed by 1 stop.  And I boosted exposure by the equivalent amount in LR.  All other setting were zeroed.

Starting to think that I need to call DJI.

Can you post the original DNG file right off the card (ie, not processed in any way)?  Then maybe someone else can try loading it to see if its in the DNG or in something you did afterwords.

flyingpoint@gma Posted at 2016-2-8 22:52
That shot might have been underexposed by 1 stop.  And I boosted exposure by the equivalent amount ...

I'll have a look at some of mine.  I've never tried pushing one stop, always use bracketing & manual exposure.  Best to overexpose so the highlights are just beginning to burn out, but not quite, then adjust it down in LR.


Update: Nope, nothing as bad as yours.  I tried + 4stops & still couldn't get close.

nigelw Posted at 2016-2-10 04:22
I'll have a look at some of mine.  I've never tried pushing one stop, always use bracketing & manua ...

Thanks for doing this -- truly appreciated.

I went through the agony of contacting DJI customer service last night.  Two suggestions -- 1) Reinstall latest firmware.  If I'm still having the issue, 2) Downgrade the firmware.

I'll give it a go...  Thanks again.

Wolfiesden Posted at 2016-2-10 02:23
Can you post the original DNG file right off the card (ie, not processed in any way)?  Then maybe so ...

I've dropped a DNG of that file on dropbox.   Thanks for taking a look.  (And this version is -- I believe -- SOOC.)

DJI DNG file

At first I thought it might be black clipping.  But that didn't pan out either.

Here is camera raw with the DNG:


And here I have enabled black clipping hightlights.  Notice that the red areas are not in clipping zones.


I just don't know about this one.  Have you contacted DJI to see what they say about the spots?

Wolfiesden Posted at 2016-2-12 02:31
At first I thought it might be black clipping.  But that didn't pan out either.

Here is camera raw  ...

That was clever.  I should have thought have that.

I spoke with DJI.  They were "less than helpful."  I was asked to reinstall the latest firmware (1.6).  If I was still having the issue, go back to 1.5.

If those things don't work ------- call back.

And thanks for taking a look.  Truly appreciated.

Try this.

Dead/stuck/hot pixels.
https://photographylife.com/dead-vs-stuck-vs-hot-pixels

Kit Walker Posted at 2016-2-14 18:18
Try this.

Dead/stuck/hot pixels.

If it's dead pixels the camera's scrap.  3 or 4 pixels are ok, not 3 or 4 thousand.

I'm getting this problem. Same red dots in DNG files. I set to raw + jpg and the jpg's look fine. Did you find a solution?

It is only the HDR DNG Images.  AEB and jpg are fine. I also shot at night like @flyingpoint. Any solution?

I just started having this problem too. Any solution? My problem is on a phantom 3 professional.

YES i am having this problem as well ...

I just got my drone last tuesday. So sad ... i hope it is not a defective product ...

However are you guys using MAC to view the DNG file ???