1. A method for detecting a defective camera array using an image processing system, where the camera array comprises a plurality of cameras, the method comprising: capturing image data of a known target using the plurality of cameras, where the image data forms a plurality of images; dividing each of the plurality of images into a plurality of corresponding image regions using the image processing system; identifying the presence of at least one localized defect in at least one of the plurality of the cameras by evaluating the image regions in the plurality of images in accordance with at least one predetermined localized defect criterion using the image processing system; detecting a defective camera array using the image processing system when the number of localized defects in a specific set of image regions exceeds a predetermined threshold, where the specific set of image regions is formed by: a common corresponding image region from at least a subset of the plurality of images; and any additional image region in a given image that contains at least one pixel located within a predetermined maximum parallax shift distance along an epipolar line from a pixel within said common corresponding image region within the given image, where the epipolar line is defined by the relative location of the center of the camera that captured the given image and a predetermined viewpoint.