Video quality GY-HM600 at DVinfo.net

Randy Johnson · May 15th, 2015, 10:58 PM

I got a GY-HM600 and I love the cameras layout and lens but when I got home from my first job with it I was a little disappointed with the footage. Compare to my Sony and Panasonics the footage looks noisy and overly sharp. Does anyone else have that experience? If so did you remedy it?

Scott Berrington · May 17th, 2015, 05:32 AM

This article might help in setting up your camera.

https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/tech/tech3335_s07.pdf

William Hohauser · May 17th, 2015, 08:35 AM

You can experiment with the negative db settings which are accessible in the menus. The camera is slightly noisy compared to other cameras, I wonder if that's because it's tuned more for news and on the run doc filming than studio work.

Yvo Haex · May 18th, 2015, 01:27 AM

I'm often disappointed by my image recording at live evenements on the HM600. My impression is that the lens hard to focus, and auto focus is less trustworthy and is slower than with a Sony.

Randy Johnson · May 18th, 2015, 11:31 AM

Thanks for the input guys its nice to know it just wasnt my shooting that document is some solid info thanks

William Hohauser · May 18th, 2015, 02:17 PM

The auto focus is not trustworthy if the subjects are small in the frame and the lighting is low but that's a problem with many cameras. I find the focus to be easy to do on the fly and the numerical focal indicator in the viewfinder is a big help.

Pete Cofrancesco · May 19th, 2015, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yvo Haex

I'm often disappointed by my image recording at live evenements on the HM600. My impression is that the lens hard to focus, and auto focus is less trustworthy and is slower than with a Sony.

The method for theatrical performance is to set focus manually before hand and leave it.

My biggest issue and it's the same for all cameras in this category is the focus ring is too sensitive at a distance. ie 34m to infinity is 1/50 of turn. It's nearly impossible to adjust the focus in the middle of a performance.

Op: noisy well compared to what? I think it's performance is comparable to other 1/3" cameras.

Yvo Haex · May 25th, 2015, 02:27 AM

I once again able to make a comparison with Sony PXW-X160 with a 25x zoom lens. I felt a similar problem, very small depth of focus at moderate exposure, and the speed of focus, were virtually identical. If a recording of live events with a large zoom, often a disappointed out of focus image. But this comparison it made me realize that I still want to keep the GY-HM600. Manual focus is definitely the best solution, but it remains a very small depth of focus and to live everything moves.

Rob Stowell · May 26th, 2015, 11:31 PM

I'm disappointed with the image quality of the HM850. Feels like a big step backwards from the HD100/200 range - which is weird, because almost every spec is better on paper. Noisy, soft facial tones, viewfinder seems harder to read and the camera tricky to manually expose. I'd dump it if that was an option - might work on it myself!

Paul Anderegg · July 6th, 2015, 02:39 AM

The HM600/650 have two modes, STANDARD and EXTENDED in the menu. STANDARD is, well, a normal camera, with an f9@2000 (60i) sensitivity at 0db gain. EXTENDED mode ads 6db of base gain, while keeping the "0db". This makes the camera f11@2000 (60i) for advertising purposes, but ads 6db of additional gain to whatever you see on the display.

So, to say that again, the HM600 series is an f9@2000 camera, not an f11@2000 camera. My Panasonic HPX2000 had a similar function that could be assigned to a switch, added 6db of gain but called it something different, not the SuperGain or DSG. I set the switch and used it as a way to access more or less gain than what I had on the triple toggle. :-)

Paul

Rob Stowell · July 19th, 2015, 04:56 PM

Just an update :)
Finally sent the HM850 back to the seller. Very relieved the engineer confirms there was a major picture problem. He'd have sworn it was the lens. I was positive it wasn't (I'd used two lenses.) I thought it looked like a circuitry problem.
However he upgraded to the latest firmware (v2 I think) and did a lot more tests. He reckons the picture is now ok. Only a tiny softening/diffraction problem at f22 (instead of anything past f8) and the horrible noisy picture gone.
I should get the camera back this week and will test it pretty hard before I trust it again :)
Neither of us can work out how old firmware could cause these issues. It had the same firmware as, eg, all the demo cameras which were fine. Noone else who's bought one has had this issue.
I guess it's possible the firmware was or became corrupted somehow. Maybe the CA correction (which I think is in firmware) was working all wrong.
But I am wary - because without a clear of what the problem was, it's hard to believe it's completely fixed. Will post again when I've had the camera in action for a few weeks.

May 15th, 2015, 10:58 PM	#1
Randy Johnson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Newark, Delaware Posts: 1,067	Video quality GY-HM600 I got a GY-HM600 and I love the cameras layout and lens but when I got home from my first job with it I was a little disappointed with the footage. Compare to my Sony and Panasonics the footage looks noisy and overly sharp. Does anyone else have that experience? If so did you remedy it?

May 17th, 2015, 05:32 AM	#2
Scott Berrington Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Posts: 86	Re: Video quality GY-HM600 This article might help in setting up your camera. https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/tech/tech3335_s07.pdf

May 17th, 2015, 08:35 AM	#3
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Re: Video quality GY-HM600 You can experiment with the negative db settings which are accessible in the menus. The camera is slightly noisy compared to other cameras, I wonder if that's because it's tuned more for news and on the run doc filming than studio work. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

May 18th, 2015, 01:27 AM	#4
Yvo Haex New Boot Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Belgium Posts: 8	Re: Video quality GY-HM600 I'm often disappointed by my image recording at live evenements on the HM600. My impression is that the lens hard to focus, and auto focus is less trustworthy and is slower than with a Sony.

May 18th, 2015, 11:31 AM	#5
Randy Johnson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Newark, Delaware Posts: 1,067	Re: Video quality GY-HM600 Thanks for the input guys its nice to know it just wasnt my shooting that document is some solid info thanks

May 18th, 2015, 02:17 PM	#6
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Re: Video quality GY-HM600 The auto focus is not trustworthy if the subjects are small in the frame and the lighting is low but that's a problem with many cameras. I find the focus to be easy to do on the fly and the numerical focal indicator in the viewfinder is a big help. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

May 25th, 2015, 02:27 AM	#8
Yvo Haex New Boot Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Belgium Posts: 8	Re: Video quality GY-HM600 I once again able to make a comparison with Sony PXW-X160 with a 25x zoom lens. I felt a similar problem, very small depth of focus at moderate exposure, and the speed of focus, were virtually identical. If a recording of live events with a large zoom, often a disappointed out of focus image. But this comparison it made me realize that I still want to keep the GY-HM600. Manual focus is definitely the best solution, but it remains a very small depth of focus and to live everything moves.

May 26th, 2015, 11:31 PM	#9
Rob Stowell Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand Posts: 55	Re: Video quality GY-HM600 I'm disappointed with the image quality of the HM850. Feels like a big step backwards from the HD100/200 range - which is weird, because almost every spec is better on paper. Noisy, soft facial tones, viewfinder seems harder to read and the camera tricky to manually expose. I'd dump it if that was an option - might work on it myself!

July 6th, 2015, 02:39 AM	#10
Paul Anderegg Trustee Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: San Diego, Califonia Posts: 1,559	Re: Video quality GY-HM600 The HM600/650 have two modes, STANDARD and EXTENDED in the menu. STANDARD is, well, a normal camera, with an f9@2000 (60i) sensitivity at 0db gain. EXTENDED mode ads 6db of base gain, while keeping the "0db". This makes the camera f11@2000 (60i) for advertising purposes, but ads 6db of additional gain to whatever you see on the display. So, to say that again, the HM600 series is an f9@2000 camera, not an f11@2000 camera. My Panasonic HPX2000 had a similar function that could be assigned to a switch, added 6db of gain but called it something different, not the SuperGain or DSG. I set the switch and used it as a way to access more or less gain than what I had on the triple toggle. :-) Paul

July 19th, 2015, 04:56 PM	#11
Rob Stowell Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand Posts: 55	Re: Video quality GY-HM600 Just an update :) Finally sent the HM850 back to the seller. Very relieved the engineer confirms there was a major picture problem. He'd have sworn it was the lens. I was positive it wasn't (I'd used two lenses.) I thought it looked like a circuitry problem. However he upgraded to the latest firmware (v2 I think) and did a lot more tests. He reckons the picture is now ok. Only a tiny softening/diffraction problem at f22 (instead of anything past f8) and the horrible noisy picture gone. I should get the camera back this week and will test it pretty hard before I trust it again :) Neither of us can work out how old firmware could cause these issues. It had the same firmware as, eg, all the demo cameras which were fine. Noone else who's bought one has had this issue. I guess it's possible the firmware was or became corrupted somehow. Maybe the CA correction (which I think is in firmware) was working all wrong. But I am wary - because without a clear of what the problem was, it's hard to believe it's completely fixed. Will post again when I've had the camera in action for a few weeks.