R1 hot pixel cluster after 18 months

[obl918]

I've had my R1 since December of 2024. It gets very little use -- I just dabble. When I first got it I did some basic astrophotography with great results.

Tonight I decided to do some more -- and to my dismay, noticed that I now have extreme hot pixels in a cluster that were not visible before. I can actually see a white splotch in live view at just 2" and 1600 ISO.

The cluster is so bad that stacking with darks does not remove it.

Claude tells me this is 727 pixels pegged at the sensor's max in that one spot.

I'm attaching a hard-stretch so you can see what I mean.

I'm guessing I am entirely on the hook for this as an out of warranty repair. Anyone have any insight, suggestions, or condolences?

 

[obl918]

Here are three raw images. The first is a lens-capped calibration dark I took 17 months ago. The sensor was cooler because it was an outdoor winter shoot.

• Jan 2025 baseline — 2.5s, ISO 12800, 15°C — clean, no spot: https://filedump.vexelfire.com/-x7qKSw77EJ/088A6821_clean.CR3
• Body cap, 15s, ISO 1600, 31°C — spot at its largest: https://filedump.vexelfire.com/-AMpQC97mhD/088A6018_clean.CR3
• Body cap, 2s, ISO 1600, 27°C — spot visible even at 2s: https://filedump.vexelfire.com/-SjCRqQVKM2/088A6019_clean.CR3

 

[scyrene]

Warranty length depends on your location doesn't it? I think in some countries you would still be covered.

 

[obl918]

Warranty length depends on your location doesn't it? I think in some countries you would still be covered.

Definitely not for me, I already checked. One year in US.

 

[obl918]

CMOS assembly replacement. $4,524.40 plus labor.

I am a CPS Platinum member, so there's a 30% discount on that.

I doubt anything else in the camera costs more than that to fix.

 

[obl918]

The only thing I can think of is that someone intentionally hit my lens with a laser pointer at one of the recent public events I shot. I had the camera cap-off for almost a whole ren fair, and again walking the street for Fiesta De Mayo. Plausible that someone did this while I was seated and composing shots. If this were a festering problem on the sensor I wouldn't be the only one crying over it, and I know for a fact the sensor was fine the last time I was doing night sky photos.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Ouch. That level of damage might be worth an insurance claim.