"sparklies" in digital image

Can anyone please help me to identify what is going on with my Casio Exilim
s20U images?

Here's a sample:

http://home.earthlink.net/~tfkerin/sample.jpg

I didn't notice this out of the box (just a few weeks ago), but in dark
areas of the images, I am getting white speckles. They're only noticeable in
dark areas or dark photos, and they are not always in the same place (so I
assume they're not dust). Sometimes they appear to be in areas where I can
spot no pattern, whereas other times the sparklies tend to follow the
outlines or contours of an object.

It happens with different SD cards.

Does anybody recognize this type of defect? Or have an idea for the fix?
It's nothing beyond what Photoshop's despeckle filter can fix, but I hate to
have to deal with it -- this doesn;t look normal to me, but maybe somebody
here has seen something like this.

Any clues would be appreciated. Thanks!

In article et,
says...
Can anyone please help me to identify what is going on with my Casio Exilim
s20U images?

Here's a sample:

http://home.earthlink.net/~tfkerin/sample.jpg

I didn't notice this out of the box (just a few weeks ago), but in dark
areas of the images, I am getting white speckles. They're only noticeable in
dark areas or dark photos, and they are not always in the same place (so I
assume they're not dust). Sometimes they appear to be in areas where I can
spot no pattern, whereas other times the sparklies tend to follow the
outlines or contours of an object.

It happens with different SD cards.

Does anybody recognize this type of defect? Or have an idea for the fix?
It's nothing beyond what Photoshop's despeckle filter can fix, but I hate to
have to deal with it -- this doesn;t look normal to me, but maybe somebody
here has seen something like this.

Any clues would be appreciated. Thanks!


Since you didn't provide exposure info Im going to go out on a limb and
GUESS.. It was a long exposure, so I would say its caused by a few hot
pixels, though Ive not known that problem to be random, Im sure different
pixels will act differently on different exposure length.

One thing Im fairly certain sure of, its NOT the memory card.


--
Larry Lynch
Mystic, Ct.

Thanks, Larry. The camera was set in all the automatic modes -- what they
call "snapshot", with auto flash, auto ISO, auto white balance, no EV shift,
quality "fine". It's hard to say more, since everything was in auto mode,
but you're probably right that the problem images may tend to be long
exposures. But, I have also seen this effect in flash pictures at short
range (which I'm guessing shouldn't take a long exposure) -- the white
speckles appear in the darker areas surrounding or behind the subject in the
forground,....like in this second sample:

http://home.earthlink.net/~tfkerin/sample-2.jpg

I hadn't heard of "hot pixels" causing this effect -- very interesting,
although it's odd how the speckles follow a pattern around objects.

After I posted, I called Casio tech support, which suggested that I send the
camera in for repair. But the guy didn't really have a theory about the
cause, so I'm still interested in what you or anyone has to say. Thanks
again.

In article . net,
says...
I hadn't heard of "hot pixels" causing this effect -- very interesting,
although it's odd how the speckles follow a pattern around objects.

After I posted, I called Casio tech support, which suggested that I send the
camera in for repair. But the guy didn't really have a theory about the
cause, so I'm still interested in what you or anyone has to say. Thanks
again


Though I dont own a Casio camera I would be interested in any answers you
eventually get from them.

Part of my lifes philosophy is:
All knowlege is usefull.
--
Larry Lynch
Mystic, Ct.

"Ted Kerin" wrote in message
ink.net...
Thanks, Larry. The camera was set in all the automatic modes -- what they
call "snapshot", with auto flash, auto ISO, auto white balance, no EV
shift,
quality "fine". It's hard to say more, since everything was in auto mode,
but you're probably right that the problem images may tend to be long
exposures. But, I have also seen this effect in flash pictures at short
range (which I'm guessing shouldn't take a long exposure) -- the white
speckles appear in the darker areas surrounding or behind the subject in
the
forground,....like in this second sample:

http://home.earthlink.net/~tfkerin/sample-2.jpg

I hadn't heard of "hot pixels" causing this effect -- very interesting,
although it's odd how the speckles follow a pattern around objects.

After I posted, I called Casio tech support, which suggested that I send
the
camera in for repair. But the guy didn't really have a theory about the
cause, so I'm still interested in what you or anyone has to say. Thanks
again.


Dust in the air often causes white spots in flash photos. All I see in the
firts picture is some blue lines to the left; they are unlike anything I've
seen. All I see in the seocnd is a small spot above and slightly to the
left of the boy's head. It could be something on the wall back there. Am I
looking in the wrong places?

"Ted Kerin" wrote in
ink.net:

After I posted, I called Casio tech support, which suggested that I
send the camera in for repair. But the guy didn't really have a theory
about the cause, so I'm still interested in what you or anyone has to
say. Thanks again.


Sorry - but I cannot see any problems with your pictures.

There are lots of JPEG artefacts due to large compression though.

There is lots of noise in the dark areas if you increase the gamma,
but that is normal with such a small sensor.

But specs in dark areas and surrounding subjects. Nope - nothing.





/Roland

Kibo informs me that "Ted Kerin" stated
that:

http://home.earthlink.net/~tfkerin/sample-2.jpg

I hadn't heard of "hot pixels" causing this effect -- very interesting,
although it's odd how the speckles follow a pattern around objects.

It's most likely your flash reflecting from specks of airborne dust.
I've seen it many times in flash photos, especially in close up shots
like your sample. And if you think those 'sparkles' look weird, try
taking a flash shot straight after someone's just exhaled some cigarette
smoke in front of you - even if you can barely see it yourself, the
cloud lights right up from the flash & can completely block whatever you
were trying to photograph.

The worst is when you're photographing a band that thinks lots of fog on
the stage looks really cool, because it severely limits the amount of
flash that you can use. If I can't convince the effects person to keep
the fog below waist-high (or they screw up), I'll turn off the flash
altogether & get the lighting folk to give me enough light to work with.

--
W
. | ,. w , "Some people are alive only because
\|/ \|/ it is illegal to kill them." Perna condita delenda est
---^----^---------------------------------------------------------------

"Ted Kerin" wrote in message
ink.net...
Thanks, Larry. The camera was set in all the automatic modes -- what they
call "snapshot", with auto flash, auto ISO, auto white balance, no EV
shift,
quality "fine". It's hard to say more, since everything was in auto mode,
but you're probably right that the problem images may tend to be long
exposures. But, I have also seen this effect in flash pictures at short
range (which I'm guessing shouldn't take a long exposure) -- the white
speckles appear in the darker areas surrounding or behind the subject in
the
forground,....like in this second sample:

http://home.earthlink.net/~tfkerin/sample-2.jpg

I hadn't heard of "hot pixels" causing this effect -- very interesting,
although it's odd how the speckles follow a pattern around objects.

After I posted, I called Casio tech support, which suggested that I send
the
camera in for repair. But the guy didn't really have a theory about the
cause, so I'm still interested in what you or anyone has to say. Thanks
again.


Dust in the air often causes white spots in flash photos. All I see in the
firts picture is some blue lines to the left; they are unlike anything I've
seen. All I see in the seocnd is a small spot above and slightly to the
left of the boy's head. It could be something on the wall back there. Am I
looking in the wrong places?

"Ted Kerin" wrote in
ink.net:

After I posted, I called Casio tech support, which suggested that I
send the camera in for repair. But the guy didn't really have a theory
about the cause, so I'm still interested in what you or anyone has to
say. Thanks again.


Sorry - but I cannot see any problems with your pictures.

There are lots of JPEG artefacts due to large compression though.

There is lots of noise in the dark areas if you increase the gamma,
but that is normal with such a small sensor.

But specs in dark areas and surrounding subjects. Nope - nothing.





/Roland

Kibo informs me that "Ted Kerin" stated
that:

http://home.earthlink.net/~tfkerin/sample-2.jpg

I hadn't heard of "hot pixels" causing this effect -- very interesting,
although it's odd how the speckles follow a pattern around objects.

It's most likely your flash reflecting from specks of airborne dust.
I've seen it many times in flash photos, especially in close up shots
like your sample. And if you think those 'sparkles' look weird, try
taking a flash shot straight after someone's just exhaled some cigarette
smoke in front of you - even if you can barely see it yourself, the
cloud lights right up from the flash & can completely block whatever you
were trying to photograph.

The worst is when you're photographing a band that thinks lots of fog on
the stage looks really cool, because it severely limits the amount of
flash that you can use. If I can't convince the effects person to keep
the fog below waist-high (or they screw up), I'll turn off the flash
altogether & get the lighting folk to give me enough light to work with.

--
W
. | ,. w , "Some people are alive only because
\|/ \|/ it is illegal to kill them." Perna condita delenda est
---^----^---------------------------------------------------------------