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Q2 Monochrom "stuck" bright white pixels


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Perhaps I spoke too soon about which program I will use with the Q2M.  After significant testing on sample images from dpreview, it appears that Capture One may be best at handling files from that camera.  The tonality is superb.  Got to think about the cost and whether to go with a perpetual license or a subscription.  Any advice on that subject will be appreciated.

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44 minutes ago, robgo2 said:

Perhaps I spoke too soon about which program I will use with the Q2M.  After significant testing on sample images from dpreview, it appears that Capture One may be best at handling files from that camera.  The tonality is superb.  Got to think about the cost and whether to go with a perpetual license or a subscription.  Any advice on that subject will be appreciated.

This interesting but helpful news. I have been using Lightroom exclusively, as I only have a FujiFilm license for Capture One at the moment, and $500 for the full version is not an easy thing to spring for at the current moment. 

As far as perpetual/subscription, I went with perpetual for the FujiFilm license, and generally have a tendency to purchase my software outright whenever it is an option, as opposed to subscribing. I believe the perpetual license includes access to Capture One 22 and beyond as future versions are available, correct? If that’s true, like I said, I tend to lean towards perpetual.

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32 minutes ago, anuncastshadow said:

This interesting but helpful news. I have been using Lightroom exclusively, as I only have a FujiFilm license for Capture One at the moment, and $500 for the full version is not an easy thing to spring for at the current moment. 

As far as perpetual/subscription, I went with perpetual for the FujiFilm license, and generally have a tendency to purchase my software outright whenever it is an option, as opposed to subscribing. I believe the perpetual license includes access to Capture One 22 and beyond as future versions are available, correct? If that’s true, like I said, I tend to lean towards perpetual.

I bought C1 v20 ('perpetual' license), as I was curious about the claimed improvements over Adobe. The upgrade to v21 is about $160. I do not think there are free upgrades to v20, e.g., in order to support newer cameras or OS-s.

I find C1 interesting, but do not  plan to switch from Adobe's tools.

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44 minutes ago, SrMi said:

I bought C1 v20 ('perpetual' license), as I was curious about the claimed improvements over Adobe. The upgrade to v21 is about $160. I do not think there are free upgrades to v20, e.g., in order to support newer cameras or OS-s.

I find C1 interesting, but do not  plan to switch from Adobe's tools.

Let me first preface this by saying I have C21, but have as of yet not determined it’s differences to C20. Not to say they they are not there, it’s just that my time with the Q2M has me preoccupied with Lightroom and Photoshop lately instead. 

I found C20 to take some getting used to, for someone who was previously familiar with Adobe’s environment and toolset. But, once I found a workflow I was comfortable with (I am a very minimal editor: Exposure, white balance, sharpening for the most part) I found C20 to be only slightly more “complicated” than the streamlined workflow you get with Lightroom (whose emphasis is on that simple, fast kind of workflow I think). 

I found https://reddit.com/r/captureone/comments/ezmx7c/a_simple_capture_one_pro_20_workflow/ this link on developing a C20 workflow to be very helpful, but for what it’s worth, this is in the context of shooting in color with a FujiFilm camera but would apply nicely to a Leica or other camera system as well 

With the Q2M I used Lightroom exclusively, and found it to be really fast and easy, almost akin to how it feels with editing on a mobile device? All the essential tools are present without having to hunt too much, they sync automatically via Adobe Cloud, saving versions is straightforward and convenient, and while they kinda force you into a subscription based membership, the value is evident. 

Saying all of this, I really do continue to enjoy C21 with my Fuji, but haven’t spent enough time to determine yet what advantages C21 presents for my use over C20. I do feel like it’s a nice blend of what you get with Lightroom/Photoshop in an all in one package, but I wish I could be helpful further. 

One thing I might recommend is checking out the large number of tutorials, videos and other online instruction provided with C21 in the help section. I find those to be put together pretty well, and their YouTube channel goes very deep into some of the new tools as well I believe.

 

 

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I used Capture One as my main photo editor years ago but never really bonded with it.  I hated the catalog and I found the program to be clumsy, though quite powerful.  That's how I feel about it today also.

Nowadays, I use ON1 Photo RAW for almost all of my work, but I was surprised by how much better C1 is with Q2M files.  It is also better than ACR.  So I bit the bullet and purchased a perpetual license (actually got the upgrade price).  I believe that I will work with Sessions rather than catalogs and then output the most worthy photos to ON1 for stylizing and local edits.  It is much better at those tasks than C1, IMO.

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18 hours ago, Jantoni said:

I face the same problem. Many "stuck" pixels at ISO 800 and above. They are really annoying.😞
Does anybody at Leica read this forum? I'll contact support next week.

Shortly before Christmas I emailed Leica about the issue, who then asked me to send along DNGs exhibiting the pixel phenomena. I haven’t heard back since that second email yet. 

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I have also sent two emails to Leica with no response.  Perhaps it’s the unfortunate timing of the Christmas/New Year holidays.  Regardless, I now have a paperweight.  I feel my camera is handicapped in shooting at higher ISO’s.  If Leica can’t repair/replace it very quickly, I’ll just sell it for parts and get on with life using my Q2.  Obviously there are members here who own Q2M’s that have no stuck pixel problem.  That leads me to think it is a sensor mfg defect rather than a software issue.  

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11 hours ago, Leica28 said:

I have also sent two emails to Leica with no response.  Perhaps it’s the unfortunate timing of the Christmas/New Year holidays.  Regardless, I now have a paperweight.  I feel my camera is handicapped in shooting at higher ISO’s.  If Leica can’t repair/replace it very quickly, I’ll just sell it for parts and get on with life using my Q2.  Obviously there are members here who own Q2M’s that have no stuck pixel problem.  That leads me to think it is a sensor mfg defect rather than a software issue.  

My stuck pixels only appeared when anuncastshadow started this thread 😉.

I hope it is not a design issue. I would love to see one Q2M DNG file that was shot with the lens cap on and with ISO 800 that does not have stuck pixels (message me if you need a dropbox location). Warning: once you know about stuck pixels, they will start to bother you :(.

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18 minutes ago, SrMi said:

My stuck pixels only appeared when anuncastshadow started this thread 😉.

I hope it is not a design issue. I would love to see one Q2M DNG file that was shot with the lens cap on and with ISO 800 that does not have stuck pixels (message me if you need a dropbox location). Warning: once you know about stuck pixels, they will start to bother you :(.

not sure if qualifies under design issue, but LeicaRepair tech told me that the Q2M automatically remaps pixels via its own system, but does not know how long that takes. He also asks to contact him again, if after a week of shooting the issue still is present.

I took "cap-on" test shots at #408, per exiff ( last week). After a week of playing around and extended weekend shooting, last image  is #696 , plus a couple movies too. Later I will try again a few cap-on shots at same settings as before.

Maybe there is something in this - iow, a shutter count before and after ( with after -after a somewhat substantial amount of shots, although the tech did not specify how many actuations one can/should have after one week of shooting) can be an useful piece of info to be added

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29 minutes ago, nwphil said:

not sure if qualifies under design issue, but LeicaRepair tech told me that the Q2M automatically remaps pixels via its own system, but does not know how long that takes. He also asks to contact him again, if after a week of shooting the issue still is present.

I took "cap-on" test shots at #408, per exiff ( last week). After a week of playing around and extended weekend shooting, last image  is #696 , plus a couple movies too. Later I will try again a few cap-on shots at same settings as before.

Maybe there is something in this - iow, a shutter count before and after ( with after -after a somewhat substantial amount of shots, although the tech did not specify how many actuations one can/should have after one week of shooting) can be an useful piece of info to be added

I bought my Q2 Monochrom on Friday, November 13th. That explains it 😉

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Leica will solve this issue - everything takes extra time these days. As it stands the Q2M should in theory map out some pixels after some use; otoh Leica might have miss mapping some pixels too, and the fix right now seems to have them inspect the camera, and use their special equipment & software to fix. Unfortunately it's not a built-in with camera software as with some M's.

Contact Leica, explain the issue and request repair/inspection - they will stand by their product; it's an awesome 📷. I am not giving up or back😎

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Hi, I too have this same issue.

leica replaced my first q2m after a strange visible light through the border to the rear display 

the second one I’ve noticed has approx 12 of these bright white “dead” pixels

To be honest I’m a bit deflated as after two now I’m a little concerned.

my Leica store have been great but not something I’d expect off a £5k camera 

Adrian 

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I feel quite bad for bringing the issue to light, especially if it is indeed just a software/firmware thing. But I suppose I’m glad to know I’m not crazy.

I’m still waiting on my replaced unit to arrive from the seller, and Leica Germany has not yet reached me with comment (and likely will not until after the holidays). But, I really do love this camera and look forward to whatever the permanent solution is. 

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3 minutes ago, anuncastshadow said:

I feel quite bad for bringing the issue to light, especially if it is indeed just a software/firmware thing. But I suppose I’m glad to know I’m not crazy.

I’m still waiting on my replaced unit to arrive from the seller, and Leica Germany has not yet reached me with comment (and likely will not until after the holidays). But, I really do love this camera and look forward to whatever the permanent solution is. 

...and you shouldn't - might taste a bit sour right now, but alerting other owners to issue was the right thing to do. Now, it seems that indeed you have a more severe case. As the pixel test done on images from my camera did not reveal ant damaged pixels, I am still wondering what are indeed the white spots I see in the cap-on shots. Furthermore, now with more actuations in the camera, they are still there and yet I don't see showing up in normal pictures. So I am still in doubt and looking for an explanation - and above all waiting for hearing officially from Leica.

Camera was sent to LeicaUSA, and I am truly looking forward to hear their findings and opinion. The point being made is not to tarnish Leica and Q2M reputation but to bring awareness to them and  camera owners; make enough 'noise' 'to leave them no choice but to take action asap

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My Q2M arrives today, and I'll add to the conversation as I can. The suggestion to use Capture One and the Single Pixel slider in the Noise Reduction panel should work. Since Capture One never automatically applies single pixel fixes to images like Lightroom does, I have to occasionally use this slider on all my cameras depending on the ISO and amount of dark areas in the shot. A setting of 1-pixel in the C1 slider can be set as the default applied on import for the Q2M – that should fix the issue for C1 users. The single pixel reduction doesn't affect the image IQ at low settings of 1-2 pixels – the slider makes C1 search for and apply fixes to only the single pixel spots, so it's not like noise reduction that is applied to the entire image.

It sounds like two things are at play here that need fixing: 1.) Leica could fix by adding a pixel mapping function or by improving its current auto-mapping, and 2.) it sounds like Adobe needs to update Lightroom so that it applies single-pixel fixes to the Q2M at ISO 800 and above.

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