Can anyone tell me what this is?
 

Out shooting today and found on all my clips a purplish smudge at the bottom of the frame to the right. Looks kind of like a lipstick smear in some of them. I assumed it must be something on the lens and gave it a thorough cleaning but the problem didn't go away. I'm not sure what to think. The spot doesn't move, stays in the same position, but becomes invisible over some backgrounds/lighting conditions and very visible in others. Could this be a sensor problem? Appreciate any insight. Thanks- Unedited stills attached.

My first thought was that you might have inadvertently focused the sun on your sensor, but then I realized that it would be impossible when I saw that you're in Seattle ... ;-) (sorry, I grew up there and couldn't resist!)

You didn't mention it, but do you have a filter on? If so, try it without the filter.

Did this just start? Can you correlate it with anything odd happening?

Call Sony right away and send them the pics. Looks weird to me.

Kind of looks like sun damage to me, but it's hard to tell.

Could it be a tiny bit of dust or a hair on one of the sensors perhaps ??.

Stuart

Hi Mark,
I had a very similar thing happen to me with one of my other camera's and it turn out to be dead pixels. I think Alister is right but before you panic, one of the Sony Tech that was servicing my camera said turn the camera on leave it running for an hour so all componets are up to temperature. Now do a white balance then a black balance and another white balance and repeat the process about ten times. The camera's firmware and black balance circuit is where the bad pixel masking takes place.

I did this and got rid of them, now I got into the habit and always do white,black and white balance regardless of what camera I use. The problem with the EX3 is the black balance is set in the menu and not by external switch.

That camera is now a backup and if it is not used for some time or the CR2023 internal battery runs flat the dead pixels come back and I have to repeat the process.

Try it if Sony are true to form they may have of included the feature in the EX series. I have not seen this feature mentioned in the manuals.

Thanks for your responses, wish something more definite had turned up. Brook- I did consider the filter and tried it with the filter off with the same results, unfortunately... The problem did just start, came out of nowhere it would seem. My last shoot a few days ago (spawning salmon in the North Cascades) looked great, no sign of this at all. The only thing I noticed even a bit odd was that when I removed the lens hood to remove the filter it seemed a little stuck. That's it. I'll try to get Sony on the phone today. The last time I had to send a camera to them for service it was gone a solid month. What a drag...

Update- And the winner is (drum roll.....) Stuart Wilson with "dust on the sensor". (You can pick up your prize in the lobby on your way out).

The solution: replace the prism block. Ouch. Will hopefully have it back from Teaneck by the end of next week.