Vignette problem

[Steven Thomas]

I'm really surprised this passed QA.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

I played the mov with Mediaplayer full screen (1920x1200), and there's definitely a blue cast on the entire leftmost part of the screen, along the left edge, culminating in the upper left corner into what can be mistaken for vignetting, IMO.

Also, could you please post a grab of what you say is "grainy" at just 12dB, Paul? TIA!

[Paul Joy]

The blue cast is there all the time though, and the error is not. As I said, I run 2 x 24" LCD's and the blue (rss news) screen saver is what was emitting the blue. There was more light coming from my monitors than any other light in the room.

Here's one of the hi gain images. I was in the middle of experimenting with shutter speeds though so you really shouldn't judge the camera by it. This is the shot where I noticed the lens problem too.

(excuse the cursor) :)

[Paul Joy]

In my initial first impressions post I did say that I thought the zoom ring felt a bit loose, maybe the problem is linked to that and there's some kind of internal problem in the lens.

Anyway, this camera will go back but I'm still impressed enough with it to get another one, I guess I was just unlucky this time.

Paul.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Thanks Paul for the grab; it's not that bad; the curtain and chair are almost grain-free, and this is the kind of object that becomes noisy very easily on my V1E (certainly at 12dB).

Frankly, if I were you and already have the camera, I'd keep it. Due to the shortages, they might not have a quick replacement for you; besides who knows how many other minor bugs will be surfacing in the nearest future! I'd keep and use it, as it can produce acceptable video (or at least use the time to master it). Then, after say 2-3 moths when hopefully everything is settled, I'd send it to Prime Support for a week to get the "vignetting" and everything else (should some more issues appear) fixed at once.

But in my position, I really don't know whether I should be pushing my supplier to ship mine from the first batch he gets, or wait for the next one...

[Steven Thomas]

That's tough, that would not be my first choice. It's bad out of the box, it needs to go back.

[Paul Kendal]

So....are all the cameras going to have this problem?
Or is this an isolated incident?

Has anyone taken delivery of a camera that they can confirm that it DOES NOT have this vingette problem?

[Steven Thomas]

There has been footage from one user whose footage does not show this issue. Also, others have received the camera, we'll have to wait and see, but based on looking at the stuff posted today, I'm thinking no. But, this does not make me feel well about their quailty control.

[Serena Steuart]

The effect mentioned is apparent but I wouldn't accept that setup as an adequate test in any way; you must have a subject of uniform brightness.

[Steven Thomas]

Serena, it's in his small video sample of footage of his family he posted. It's for real, that's for sure.

[Paul Joy]

Originally Posted by Serena Steuart

The effect mentioned is apparent but I wouldn't accept that setup as an adequate test in any way; you must have a subject of uniform brightness.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean, test or no test I'm not blowing over four grand on a camera that does that under any conditions.

The camera is going back tomorrow, I'll wait for the next batch along with everybody else.

Thanks for all the help

Paul.

[Serena Steuart]

Well of course you can take it back and that looks to be the right decision. Obviously the dealer will do the proper test and I'll be surprised if he doesn't agree that there is a problem. But I'm surprised that you didn't wish to conduct a more definitive test which would be of general interest as well as nailing the nature of the problem. Did you really get it for four grand? Ah, I see Sterling!

[Craig Seeman]

I think you have the right to give Sony an earful. Given this is coming from their professional plant and business division they should turn it around or give you a new unit within a week.

[Nate Weaver]

Why is everybody freaking about this?

Every camera I've ever used has some sort of shortcoming, usually at the extremes of it's intended purpose.

I really get bummed out about this "culture of criticism" on video message boards where a problem is discovered, and then that's all people talk about for 2 months when it comes to the camera.

When a new camera comes out, I generally am excited about what I can do with the new camera compared to what I could do before, what jobs it would be suited for. The design shortcomings I work around, and in the end I often wind up with a better product for the person that hired me than if I used the previous generation camera.

It's as if, when it comes to learning about video, people latch onto technical shortcomings of cameras and gear instead of working on what really counts, which is technique and craft.

[edit: btw, I'm betting this is a lens design compromise rather than a defect of an individual unit]

[Craig Seeman]

This is NOT a design short coming. This is a defective unit. If it looked like uniform vignetting I'd say it was a design issue. From the few other clips we've seen posted by others we haven't seen anything like this.

One does worry about QC when things like this happen. Loosing a piece of gear is always a pain for a business. Loosing it because of a defect in a single unit due to the manufacturer missing something during QCing makes everyone feel like they're in a lottery.

At least with a recall for a fix, everyone feels like they're in it together.

In this case each one of us is going to scrutinize every function just in case something was missed during QC.

Originally Posted by Nate Weaver

Why is everybody freaking about this?

Every camera I've ever used has some sort of shortcoming, usually at the extremes of it's intended purpose.

I really get bummed out about this "culture of criticism" on video message boards where a problem is discovered, and then that's all people talk about for 2 months when it comes to the camera.

When a new camera comes out, I generally am excited about what I can do with the new camera compared to what I could do before, what jobs it would be suited for. The design shortcomings I work around, and in the end I often wind up with a better product for the person that hired me than if I used the previous generation camera.

[edit: btw, I'm betting this is a lens design compromise rather than a defect of an individual unit]