XL1s- Video noise issues, very annoying

[Jason Wyatt]

Anyone out there have any difficulty getting a quality image out of their X?
I mean, I also have a gl2, which seems to consistently tape better looking footage than its big brother. I am getting noise in the dark areas of the picture, usually on black colored objects, or in shadows. Subject is well lit, I put the gl2 right next to the xl1s, ran s-video cables to both cams from a passive switcher, out of the switcher, I ran into a studio monitor, and from there, output again to a waveform monitor. When switching back and forth, I was not surprised to see that the gl2 was outputting better video. Anyway, after 2 hours of tweeking with custom presets, sharpness, color gain, color phase, and the setup level, I still could not get the X to quit with the noise in the dark areas, not to mention the fact that the gl2 simply looks better, with more resolution and clarity. I could get the noise to go away mostly when I brought the black level up, but it washes out and looks to hazy, and when I’d crush the blacks, picture went to hell, and so did the definition. Do I have to shoot everything with boosted black levels only to take them out in post? I don’t know the answer yet, but I will try it. I purchased the X because it seemed to have more image control than the gl2, better lens, XLR input capability( Of course, with the purchase of the MA 200 for a measly $350) Perhaps I am not setting it up correctly, but on two cam shoots, its a real headache to match the 2 cams. And the gl2 has a noticeably better picture- ALWAYS. I WB on the same card, same settings in the menus, matched custom preset values, but still, no bueno. I don't want to have to put the gl2 behind another teleprompter again, clients kinda laugh at that. It is funny looking though. In the client’s eyes, the bigger the cam, the better they feel about spending their money. (another reason I bought an XL1s)

Thx for any Input on this issue, I wonder If this is a problem with the camera, bought it new from B&H, have a 4 year warranty on this bad boy. Im thinking I may put it to good use. Any one else have this problem?

jonboat

[Rob Lohman]

First: the GL2 is a newer camera as the XL1S, so yes, it no doubt
will perform better (sometimes). However, the chips are smaller,
no removable lens etc. etc.

You say the scene(s) is/are well lit. What do you define as well lit?

What is missing is the settings you where using on the XL1S:

- what shooting mode? auto/priority/full manual

- lens aperature (f stop)

- shutter speed

- (video) gain level

Did the camera ever gets serviced by Canon? If you shoot often
with a camera it is good practice to send the camera to Canon say
once every years for service and maintainence, like a car.

[Jason Wyatt]

lit with two 400 watt lights, and a 200w hair light. background was lit with scimmed 1000w through gels and blinds for that morning sunrise look. Ive shot outside w/ the ND filter on as well.
I tried without the ND but DOF was too great for what I was doing. I like my backgrounds to be soft.

I usually shoot in manual mode, sometimes in auto, never in full auto(green box)

I tried all the other modes, but it doesnt seem to matter.

I like to keep the iris around 5.6 if possible. I think on the day I was testing, it was from 3 to 6 f stop

shutter speed was set from 60 to 125.
I try to stay around 60 when I can

I never use any gain, that looks horrible, like a Hi8 or worse.

I had to send the camera back to canon 2 months after I bought it.

It quit working. I think they replaced the CCD board or something.
I never really got an answer out of them on what was wrong, I was just happy to get it back after a month.

I will be testing another XL1s this week to see if indeed the cam is bad again. but the gl2 has always looked better, so my hopes are small.

thx for reading

jason

[Don Palomaki]

What was the setting of the gain control knob?

[Jason Wyatt]

I gain is set to 0

[Andrew Petrie]

some argue that setting gain to -3 will yield better picture, especially in controlled lighting conditions.

[Rob Lohman]

With those settings I never really had a problem with noise myself
Jason. Would it possible to put up an exported frame showing the
noise?

[Jason Wyatt]

I tried -3 on the gain, wasn't any better. I had a guy come down to the studio yesterday, he brought an XL1, 1st generation model for me to check out for him, met him on this board actually. The picture from the XL1 was fine, it even matched the GL2 with only a white balance. This tells me that my cam needs to go and visit the canon people. I plan to put together a little video, Footage shot from all three of the cams, doing a split screen thing to show the differences, I think once the canon folks see that, they will have no excuse when it comes time to fix it!!! I am actually glad to know that the cam is messed up, not just an overglorified Hi8, or something of that sort. I was ready to sell it off. It's really been a thorn in my side, for the last month, that noise problem has had me afraid to use the cam for the shoots I've been on. We spent hours lighting a clients office, and the footage looks a dynamically lit set, taped with a handycam. Luckily, we were rolling the trusty GL2 on a wide shot, so its not a total loss. Hopefully after It returns from its visit to canon, it will live up to the "reputation" the XL series have.

jason

[Jason Wyatt]

Yes, I will see about throwing up a .bmp on the server, I will post a link once I have done it.
THX for everyones concerns here.
perhaps It will help someone else out down the line.

jason