Vignette problem

Spencer Dickson · January 2nd, 2008, 09:38 PM

Great!! Do you know if your camera was recalled or had any repairs done to it, or was it perfect directly from the factory?

Steven Thomas · January 2nd, 2008, 09:47 PM

Spencer, I'm willing to believe the new stock EX1 cameras should be fine.

Spencer Dickson · January 2nd, 2008, 10:15 PM

So am I Steven...I just have no clue when the new-stock ones will be available. If I were to buy one in a few weeks, I'd imagine I would be getting one from the first batch.

Steven Thomas · January 2nd, 2008, 10:18 PM

You would think so.

Vince Gaffney · January 2nd, 2008, 10:36 PM

I was told that mine was held up for additional QC. It was part of a batch of 28 cameras delivered to my dealer. Their second batch after an initial delivery of 5.

vince

Steven Thomas · January 4th, 2008, 08:31 PM

Well,
It's definately better, but it's still there. The top image was before, the bottom is after adjustment upgrade. I just received my camera back from CA yesterday.

Granted these images are extremely different exposures. I believe the lower the exposure the more obvious the vignette. So, it's possible that it might not be as obvious if exposed the same way as in the before repair image.

I've seen and and heard from others who have said they now do not have the vignetting issue after the adjustment.
What do you think?

Paul Joy · January 4th, 2008, 08:59 PM

Sorry to hear that Steven. I would be inclined to ask for a replacement too, especially after sending it off to be fixed once.

I don't know if mine was fixed after production or not, I suspect it was fixed as the box had been opened and the camera showed 40 minutes of usage.

regards

paul.

Steven Thomas · January 4th, 2008, 10:34 PM

Thanks Paul.
The odd thing is I sent the camera in the original box to Sony for the adjustment and they returned it in a different box. I must admit, the box they sent it back in is better than the original, but will not have room for all the accessories it came with.

This will make it interesting in sending it back for replacement. Hopefully Sony will work something out directly with me. I talked to the Sony tech repair facility in CA during my initial adjustment and they seemed very helpful.

Krikor Djevahirdjian · January 5th, 2008, 01:24 AM

Steven,
Did you send the SxS memory card (with a clip of the vignette on it) and the battery with your camera to the Sony Repair Service?

Tom Hardwick · January 5th, 2008, 07:00 AM

What do I think Steven? I think that you have cause for concern on a couple of fronts. The first being that quite possibly your camera has now been tampered with on some workshop bench, and as much as we all imagine the camera has been serviced by a young (good eyesight, steady hands), well experienced technician who has done many hundreds of these repairs, in all probability the bench is cluttered, the light and pay could be better and 'It's Christmas, so what am I doing here?'.

The second cause for concern is that once opened on a workshop bench in rather heavily polluted downtown Whereversville, the camera will more likely develop other faults further down the line, rather earlier than a factory produced and factory sealed product.

But are you (we) are all putting so much emphasis into this very minor technical failing? When will you ever film an evenly lit surface such as this, hold it for 10 seconds for the viewers to contemplate exposure variations and display it on a totally non-overscanned display?

My wideangle converter just vignettes the very corners ( maybe 4 pixels) of my Z1's frame, but so what? When I use that 17 mm equiv beast, I assure you the viewer will not be perusing the frame for vignetting.

It's long been said that you shouldn't buy a new car in the first 6 months of its production run, that is not unless you want to finish off the prototype testing for the company. Same with the EX1, good people. Take heed from the length of this thread.

tom.

Steven Thomas · January 5th, 2008, 09:15 AM

Thanks Tom.
Some of my work will involve needing the entire image. It's not all broadcast. Also, I have seen the vignette in plenty of footage I shot. All it takes is for the corner to have a flat color surface.

Steven Thomas · January 5th, 2008, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krikor Djevahirdjian

Steven,
Did you send the SxS memory card (with a clip of the vignette on it) and the battery with your camera to the Sony Repair Service?

Krikor,
I did not send a clip with a memory card. Also, Sony made it clear they understand the problem and know the fix. I believe them since others had their cameras adusted without a problem. My camera seems to be different and apparenty can not be fixed. I just wish they had sent a letter stating this. Now, I have to wait out the camera replacement.

Paul Kellett · January 5th, 2008, 09:32 AM

I've just got my EX1,serial number 0400594,i can't see any vignetting on lcd,or pc screen or when rendered to dvd and played on tv.
I got it from a shop in south west UK and was told it was from the 2nd batch.I won't name the shop because i don't think it's a sponsor.I will say it was cheaper than anywhere else,they had a few EX's in stock,also big batteries,and plenty of 8gig cards.
Also.,no need to send off for 2nd 8gig card,it was taped to the side of the box,they said all their EX's came with 2nd card.
If anyone wants to know the name of the shop,email me on paulkellett1971@hotmail.co.uk
Paul.

Steven Thomas · January 5th, 2008, 12:19 PM

I'm starting to think it's worse than it was before sending it in.
Here's a frame grab of my boring living room..LOL

1080 24P HQ
1/48th shutter.
Approx. 12mm focal length
fstop: 1.9 (open)

http://members.cox.net/proaudio4/EX1...f19_24P_48.tif

I can see the issue in many of my shots.
Again, it's there between 8-25mm focal length and does not disappear until you close down
the aperture to at least f4.

Bob Grant · January 5th, 2008, 03:52 PM

Just a random thought on this issue which also affects my camera.
The EX1 has a Safe Area overlay. Well that seems pretty irrelevant to me as almost all HD displays display all of the 1920x1080 frame. The one exception might be the HD CRT monitors. It's quite possible that the techs doing the work and checking the cameras aren't seeing the problem depending on the monitors they're using.
As to suggestions it doesn't matter I'm not so certain. Something in the corner of the frame that comes and goes across cuts or wobbles around thanks to the OIS might be very distracting. While we don't consciously see things in our peripheral vision we do react to them. If it was a static vignette that was always there it would perhaps be less of a problem.

January 4th, 2008, 08:31 PM	#426
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	Well, It's definately better, but it's still there. The top image was before, the bottom is after adjustment upgrade. I just received my camera back from CA yesterday. Granted these images are extremely different exposures. I believe the lower the exposure the more obvious the vignette. So, it's possible that it might not be as obvious if exposed the same way as in the before repair image. I've seen and and heard from others who have said they now do not have the vignetting issue after the adjustment. What do you think? Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Steven Thomas; January 5th, 2008 at 10:52 AM.

January 4th, 2008, 08:59 PM	#427
Paul Joy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Norfolk, UK Posts: 627	Sorry to hear that Steven. I would be inclined to ask for a replacement too, especially after sending it off to be fixed once. I don't know if mine was fixed after production or not, I suspect it was fixed as the box had been opened and the camera showed 40 minutes of usage. regards paul. __________________ Blog: www.pauljoy.com Company: www.videotrader.co.uk

January 5th, 2008, 09:32 AM	#433
Paul Kellett Trustee Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Bristol UK Posts: 1,273	No Vignetting in 2nd batch (UK) I've just got my EX1,serial number 0400594,i can't see any vignetting on lcd,or pc screen or when rendered to dvd and played on tv. I got it from a shop in south west UK and was told it was from the 2nd batch.I won't name the shop because i don't think it's a sponsor.I will say it was cheaper than anywhere else,they had a few EX's in stock,also big batteries,and plenty of 8gig cards. Also.,no need to send off for 2nd 8gig card,it was taped to the side of the box,they said all their EX's came with 2nd card. If anyone wants to know the name of the shop,email me on paulkellett1971@hotmail.co.uk Paul.

January 5th, 2008, 12:19 PM	#434
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	More on my issue I'm starting to think it's worse than it was before sending it in. Here's a frame grab of my boring living room..LOL 1080 24P HQ 1/48th shutter. Approx. 12mm focal length fstop: 1.9 (open) http://members.cox.net/proaudio4/EX1...f19_24P_48.tif I can see the issue in many of my shots. Again, it's there between 8-25mm focal length and does not disappear until you close down the aperture to at least f4. Last edited by Steven Thomas; January 5th, 2008 at 12:57 PM.

January 2nd, 2008, 09:38 PM	#421
Spencer Dickson Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 141	Great!! Do you know if your camera was recalled or had any repairs done to it, or was it perfect directly from the factory?

January 2nd, 2008, 09:47 PM	#422
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	Spencer, I'm willing to believe the new stock EX1 cameras should be fine.

January 2nd, 2008, 10:15 PM	#423
Spencer Dickson Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 141	So am I Steven...I just have no clue when the new-stock ones will be available. If I were to buy one in a few weeks, I'd imagine I would be getting one from the first batch.

January 2nd, 2008, 10:18 PM	#424
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	You would think so.

January 2nd, 2008, 10:36 PM	#425
Vince Gaffney Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 146	I was told that mine was held up for additional QC. It was part of a batch of 28 cameras delivered to my dealer. Their second batch after an initial delivery of 5. vince

January 4th, 2008, 10:34 PM	#428
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	Thanks Paul. The odd thing is I sent the camera in the original box to Sony for the adjustment and they returned it in a different box. I must admit, the box they sent it back in is better than the original, but will not have room for all the accessories it came with. This will make it interesting in sending it back for replacement. Hopefully Sony will work something out directly with me. I talked to the Sony tech repair facility in CA during my initial adjustment and they seemed very helpful.

January 5th, 2008, 01:24 AM	#429
Krikor Djevahirdjian New Boot Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: New York NY Posts: 11	Steven, Did you send the SxS memory card (with a clip of the vignette on it) and the battery with your camera to the Sony Repair Service?

January 5th, 2008, 07:00 AM	#430
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	What do I think Steven? I think that you have cause for concern on a couple of fronts. The first being that quite possibly your camera has now been tampered with on some workshop bench, and as much as we all imagine the camera has been serviced by a young (good eyesight, steady hands), well experienced technician who has done many hundreds of these repairs, in all probability the bench is cluttered, the light and pay could be better and 'It's Christmas, so what am I doing here?'. The second cause for concern is that once opened on a workshop bench in rather heavily polluted downtown Whereversville, the camera will more likely develop other faults further down the line, rather earlier than a factory produced and factory sealed product. But are you (we) are all putting so much emphasis into this very minor technical failing? When will you ever film an evenly lit surface such as this, hold it for 10 seconds for the viewers to contemplate exposure variations and display it on a totally non-overscanned display? My wideangle converter just vignettes the very corners ( maybe 4 pixels) of my Z1's frame, but so what? When I use that 17 mm equiv beast, I assure you the viewer will not be perusing the frame for vignetting. It's long been said that you shouldn't buy a new car in the first 6 months of its production run, that is not unless you want to finish off the prototype testing for the company. Same with the EX1, good people. Take heed from the length of this thread. tom.

January 5th, 2008, 09:15 AM	#431
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	Thanks Tom. Some of my work will involve needing the entire image. It's not all broadcast. Also, I have seen the vignette in plenty of footage I shot. All it takes is for the corner to have a flat color surface.

January 5th, 2008, 03:52 PM	#435
Bob Grant Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 1,570	Just a random thought on this issue which also affects my camera. The EX1 has a Safe Area overlay. Well that seems pretty irrelevant to me as almost all HD displays display all of the 1920x1080 frame. The one exception might be the HD CRT monitors. It's quite possible that the techs doing the work and checking the cameras aren't seeing the problem depending on the monitors they're using. As to suggestions it doesn't matter I'm not so certain. Something in the corner of the frame that comes and goes across cuts or wobbles around thanks to the OIS might be very distracting. While we don't consciously see things in our peripheral vision we do react to them. If it was a static vignette that was always there it would perhaps be less of a problem.