Working with digital images

[kpo]

A friend has told me that I have broken pixels on my camera. I don't really understand what is broken or if it can be fixed when he refers to this. He says that in a picture that I took of Scorpio there are a couple of strange red and blue dots. I assumed these were stars or something. I have read on the internet that sometimes these dots are caused by noise from long exposures.

Is there any way of checking if the pixels are broken?

The photo details are as follows;

Temperature was minus 30 celsius.

File Name
   Scorpio.jpg
Camera Model Name
   Canon EOS 10D
Shooting Date/Time
   28/06/2005 18:00:47
Shooting Mode
   Manual
Tv( Shutter Speed )
   20
Av( Aperture Value )
   3.5
Metering Mode
   Partial
ISO Speed
   200
Lens
   28.0 - 105.0mm
Focal Length
   28.0mm
Image Size
   3072x2048
Image Quality
   Fine
Flash
   Off
White Balance
   Auto
AF Mode
   Manual Focus
Parameters
   Contrast          Normal
   Sharpness         Normal
   Color saturation  Normal
   Color tone        Normal
Color Space
   sRGB
File Size
   1461KB
If needed I could  email the picture in order to recieve feedback or opinions.

[Mike54]

Hi kpo, "hot pixels" are a normal byproduct of digital cameras, we all have them. The question of course is how bad they are. If they're serious enough I would suggest getting the camera back to the manufacturer for repair. To learn more about hot pixels Google hot pixels or take a look at this article. It's from Nikon but it applies to your CMOS sensor as well. A quick search also found this article on removing the effects The Gimp (a free image editing software) though I'm sure similar steps can help remove them using PSE, PS or PSP.