purple splotch in view finder and on footage at DVinfo.net

Randy Wimberg · May 25th, 2009, 09:30 AM

Hi anyone,
I'm seeing a purple splotch like birthmark or brush stroke through the view finder on my EX1. I ran a test and it's recording to the material. Any one have any idea what this might be? I thought at first it was a burn mark but it's not like anything I have ever seen and I know it was never in a situation to have that happen. Scary

Alister Chapman · May 25th, 2009, 09:53 AM

Have you pointed the camera at the sun by accident? Could be damage to the sensor or one of the ND filters : (

Craig Seeman · May 25th, 2009, 12:04 PM

I've heard someone else had a similar problem. It was sensor related. I believe in that case Sony replaced it under warranty.

Alister, that would make doing time lapse sunsets very difficult if you couldn't point the camera that way. Your thoughts on that?

James Venturi · May 25th, 2009, 12:35 PM

we had that with a rental ex1, except yellow instead. It behaved differently depending on the aperture or the zoom. Regardless it sucked.

Matthew Hurley · May 25th, 2009, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randy Wimberg

Hi anyone,
I'm seeing a purple splotch like birthmark or brush stroke through the view finder on my EX1. I ran a test and it's recording to the material. Any one have any idea what this might be? I thought at first it was a burn mark but it's not like anything I have ever seen and I know it was never in a situation to have that happen. Scary

Could you possibly have your cameras internal ND filter partially in? I had my ND switch NOT all the way off once. This made for a strange image both in the eyepiece and on the recorded subject matter. A small corner of the ND filter was in the frame. Operator error on my part.

Alister Chapman · May 26th, 2009, 01:16 AM

I've shots lots of stuff directly into the sun with my EX's. Sunsets, cloudscapes, timelpase etc. In each case the iris has been stopped down or ND's used or a combination of both to get a sensible exposure. This have always been wide shots. So far no damage done. When you point the camera towards the sun with no ND or the iris wide open is when you are at most risk of damaging things, zooming in is even worse.

I did see a purple splotch on a very early pre-production EX1 but never found out what had caused it.

Benjamin Eckstein · October 29th, 2009, 06:40 PM

Not to rehash an old subject, but while finishing up a shoot today (thank god it was the end) I saw a nice shot of the moon, went to shoot it, stopped down the lens a little and saw a purple, hair-like image on my screen and VF. Exactly as you described it Randy.

Pain in my stomach as I zoomed in and saw no change to indicate this was sensor damage.

And yes, unfortunately this may have been my fault as I was shooting some people walking on a hill as the setting sun was behind them (very low). I was all the way zoomed in and had no NDs as it was very late in the afternoon. I take it from what Alister said that this deadly combination may have done the number on my sensor. I have shot so many sunset shots that it never even occurred to me that this could happen, especially with such a late in the day sun.

So I will send it in tomorrow to Sony, and I am praying that this is not a fortune to fix.

Anyone know what the cost of a replaced sensor (guessing that will be the fix) is?

Anyways, use this as a cautionary tale.

Kevin Spahr · October 29th, 2009, 08:15 PM

Did you read this post?

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...l-me-what.html

Benjamin Eckstein · October 30th, 2009, 06:44 AM

Thanks Kevin. I had not seen that. Looks very similar.

May 25th, 2009, 09:30 AM	#1
Randy Wimberg Tourist Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bozeman, Montana Posts: 2	purple splotch in view finder and on footage Hi anyone, I'm seeing a purple splotch like birthmark or brush stroke through the view finder on my EX1. I ran a test and it's recording to the material. Any one have any idea what this might be? I thought at first it was a burn mark but it's not like anything I have ever seen and I know it was never in a situation to have that happen. Scary

May 25th, 2009, 09:53 AM	#2
Alister Chapman Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bracknell, Berkshire, UK Posts: 4,957	Have you pointed the camera at the sun by accident? Could be damage to the sensor or one of the ND filters : ( __________________ Alister Chapman, Film-Maker/Stormchaser http://www.xdcam-user.com/alisters-blog/ My XDCAM site and blog. http://www.hurricane-rig.com

May 25th, 2009, 12:35 PM	#4
James Venturi Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: NYC Posts: 81	Sensor problem we had that with a rental ex1, except yellow instead. It behaved differently depending on the aperture or the zoom. Regardless it sucked.

May 26th, 2009, 01:16 AM	#6
Alister Chapman Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bracknell, Berkshire, UK Posts: 4,957	I've shots lots of stuff directly into the sun with my EX's. Sunsets, cloudscapes, timelpase etc. In each case the iris has been stopped down or ND's used or a combination of both to get a sensible exposure. This have always been wide shots. So far no damage done. When you point the camera towards the sun with no ND or the iris wide open is when you are at most risk of damaging things, zooming in is even worse. I did see a purple splotch on a very early pre-production EX1 but never found out what had caused it. __________________ Alister Chapman, Film-Maker/Stormchaser http://www.xdcam-user.com/alisters-blog/ My XDCAM site and blog. http://www.hurricane-rig.com

May 25th, 2009, 12:04 PM	#3
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	I've heard someone else had a similar problem. It was sensor related. I believe in that case Sony replaced it under warranty. Alister, that would make doing time lapse sunsets very difficult if you couldn't point the camera that way. Your thoughts on that?

October 29th, 2009, 06:40 PM	#7
Benjamin Eckstein Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 380 Images: 1	Not to rehash an old subject, but while finishing up a shoot today (thank god it was the end) I saw a nice shot of the moon, went to shoot it, stopped down the lens a little and saw a purple, hair-like image on my screen and VF. Exactly as you described it Randy. Pain in my stomach as I zoomed in and saw no change to indicate this was sensor damage. And yes, unfortunately this may have been my fault as I was shooting some people walking on a hill as the setting sun was behind them (very low). I was all the way zoomed in and had no NDs as it was very late in the afternoon. I take it from what Alister said that this deadly combination may have done the number on my sensor. I have shot so many sunset shots that it never even occurred to me that this could happen, especially with such a late in the day sun. So I will send it in tomorrow to Sony, and I am praying that this is not a fortune to fix. Anyone know what the cost of a replaced sensor (guessing that will be the fix) is? Anyways, use this as a cautionary tale.

October 29th, 2009, 08:15 PM	#8
Kevin Spahr Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Carlisle, PA Posts: 451	Did you read this post? http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...l-me-what.html

October 30th, 2009, 06:44 AM	#9
Benjamin Eckstein Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 380 Images: 1	Thanks Kevin. I had not seen that. Looks very similar.