Black levels jumping on EX-1 at DVinfo.net

Leonard Levy · December 3rd, 2010, 12:50 PM

I had an odd experience yesterday with my EX-1. Wondering if anyone has had a similar experience or knows what button I accidently pushed ( hope its op error but I've owned this cam for years.). I fear its a camera problem and will try to replicate it again today.

When setting up an interview against black B/G in the morning I noticed my blacks in the waveform were elevated up around 5 . I played with various settings and capped the camera (I think I capped it ) but they didn't go down. At some point in fumbling around they suddenly dropped down to 0. (BTW - My PP setting is std Gamma 3 and Black at -6 .) Don't know what I did to drop it down though. I was shooting in PP3

Later, after lunch and powering down the camera we shot more - all being fine then switched to playback mode to check a shot and when I returned to camera mode the blacks were up at 5 again. I played around with everything I could find to no avail - then switched to another PP2 (which was very similar setup) and the blacks popped backdown to 0 again. Switched it back to PP3 and they stayed correct. Finish shooting and they never popped back up again.

Scary problem. If I didn't have a monitor I wouldn't have seen it. I'm not sure it was only the blacks changing though that's what I noticed most.
Its possible I hit the "all auto" button but I don't think that would change the blacks would it? Also i tried hitting that when it was elevated and didn't help.

Any ideas?

Olof Ekbergh · December 3rd, 2010, 01:27 PM

I am not sure about this, but it sounds like that particular PP is corrupt.

I would recreate it on another of the six available. And use that for a while. Check if it works all the time.

It is a computer and we all know computer files sometimes get corrupt.

I seem to remember there is a reset to factory defaults in the menus, I would try this too. Don't forget to write down your PP settings. I would not back them up to a card and then reinstall them as they may still be corrupt.

If this keeps happening I would contact Sony. I have talked with Sony Repair center in NJ a few times and they are very helpful.

Good luck let us know what happens. I have personally never had this happen on either of my EXcams.

Juan McFarland · December 17th, 2010, 03:42 AM

Are you using the composite out to feed the waveform monitor? If so make sure your termination is correct.

Leonard Levy · December 19th, 2010, 02:00 AM

Oddly the problem has apparently disappeared . I did an all-reset twice. After the first one it was definitely still happening but somewhere along the line it stopped. I really can't say exactly what fixed it. May have been the all reset .
I did contact Sony repair and had an email exchange with a tech I've dealt with before. He had no idea at all.

There's no question it was a genuine problem though why its gone I can't say. My guess is Olof was onto something when he talked about it being a corrupted PP file though it wasn't just one PP. Anyway that's all I can say about it. Weird

December 3rd, 2010, 12:50 PM	#1
Leonard Levy Trustee Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,684	Black levels jumping on EX-1 I had an odd experience yesterday with my EX-1. Wondering if anyone has had a similar experience or knows what button I accidently pushed ( hope its op error but I've owned this cam for years.). I fear its a camera problem and will try to replicate it again today. When setting up an interview against black B/G in the morning I noticed my blacks in the waveform were elevated up around 5 . I played with various settings and capped the camera (I think I capped it ) but they didn't go down. At some point in fumbling around they suddenly dropped down to 0. (BTW - My PP setting is std Gamma 3 and Black at -6 .) Don't know what I did to drop it down though. I was shooting in PP3 Later, after lunch and powering down the camera we shot more - all being fine then switched to playback mode to check a shot and when I returned to camera mode the blacks were up at 5 again. I played around with everything I could find to no avail - then switched to another PP2 (which was very similar setup) and the blacks popped backdown to 0 again. Switched it back to PP3 and they stayed correct. Finish shooting and they never popped back up again. Scary problem. If I didn't have a monitor I wouldn't have seen it. I'm not sure it was only the blacks changing though that's what I noticed most. Its possible I hit the "all auto" button but I don't think that would change the blacks would it? Also i tried hitting that when it was elevated and didn't help. Any ideas?

December 3rd, 2010, 01:27 PM	#2
Olof Ekbergh Sponsor: Westside AV Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Mount Washington Valley, NH, USA Posts: 1,365	I am not sure about this, but it sounds like that particular PP is corrupt. I would recreate it on another of the six available. And use that for a while. Check if it works all the time. It is a computer and we all know computer files sometimes get corrupt. I seem to remember there is a reset to factory defaults in the menus, I would try this too. Don't forget to write down your PP settings. I would not back them up to a card and then reinstall them as they may still be corrupt. If this keeps happening I would contact Sony. I have talked with Sony Repair center in NJ a few times and they are very helpful. Good luck let us know what happens. I have personally never had this happen on either of my EXcams. __________________ Olof Ekbergh • olof@WestsideAV.com Westside A V Studios • http://www.WestsideAVstore.com/

December 17th, 2010, 03:42 AM	#3
Juan McFarland Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Honolulu HI Posts: 50	Are you using the composite out to feed the waveform monitor? If so make sure your termination is correct.

December 19th, 2010, 02:00 AM	#4
Leonard Levy Trustee Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,684	Oddly the problem has apparently disappeared . I did an all-reset twice. After the first one it was definitely still happening but somewhere along the line it stopped. I really can't say exactly what fixed it. May have been the all reset . I did contact Sony repair and had an email exchange with a tech I've dealt with before. He had no idea at all. There's no question it was a genuine problem though why its gone I can't say. My guess is Olof was onto something when he talked about it being a corrupted PP file though it wasn't just one PP. Anyway that's all I can say about it. Weird