Problem with picture on XL2

[gconjar]

I have two XL1s, and two weeks ago I bought new XL2. But the picture is not good like on XL1s. Red color is not clear or really red. Something like darkly red and a little bit purple there is in red. Picture has no contrast and full color like XL1s and there is some greenish film. What can I do? With custom presets is something better but not like on XL1s! Sorry for my english.

[johnnyspacecommand]

There is something wrong with it. Maybe the shipping to wherever you live. Time to call Canon :)

[scharky]

could you post a grab, that might help us to see better what your seeing.

[gconjar]

Here is the link where you can see pictures from both cameras. On left side is XL1s picture, right is XL2 picture. There was the same light conditions, the same places, gain =0db, shutter 1/50 (PAL), iris is set to 1,6-2,2. WB was manual.
Camera is now in Canon authorized service in Zagreb, Croatia and yesterday they called me and told me thet is everything OK with camera! For me, it isn't OK! Please, took a look at my pictures and if you can help me, what can I do!

http://www.gamma-video.com/xl2/

[Isaac_Brody]

Looks like you need to adjust your color settings in the menu.

[scharky]

Yeah, I wouldn't say that ther is something wrong witht the camera. The default settings I believe are set up to maximize dynamic range and give a pretty flat picture. Nothing a little post prod cc can't fix.

[gconjar]

In three weeks I made many difference settings with custom preset picture control. With which option can I set picture to bring it close to XL1s picture:
Knee point adjustment (High, middle, low)
Black (stretch, middle, press)
Colour phase (G.........R)
R Gain
G Gain
B Gain
Vertical Detail (normal, low)
Sharpnes (-....+)
Coring (-....+)
Setup level (-....+)
Master pedestal (-....+)
NR (off, high, middle, low)

I would like to hear some explanations of some options, or where I may make a change, where no. Please, if you can help me with it, or send some link, or text about master pedestal, setup level, coring, black stretch and knee point. In user manual, there is very poor explanations of those options.

Thanks!

[vamshi]

hi guys my view in this area as follows

take the original images to adobe photoshop and just add autocontrast, autolevels to the image you get outstanding film image. this is is because the saturation levels are perfectly set on xl2 than xl1s

it can be easily achieveable in adobe premiere pro 1.5 adding auto color,auto levels, auto contrast etc.you will get more results than xl1s.

from long time i observed this type of problem with mpeg codecs..mpeg codecs are composed of more white levels than black levels, if you perfect yourself adjust black and white levels in the image ...results extreme.

one advantage with canon xl2 type of color is it tends towards green levels more...green saturation is highly acceptable than red saturation levels which mostly appears on xl1s and other cameras.

the thing is canon xl2 footage if you watch in windows media player looks different....compared to powerdvd. its the matter of codecs you use.

the thing is the resolution counts a lot on canon xl2 than xl1s, one more thing what i observed is canon xl2 pal images are completely different to canon xl2 ntsc images... coz, in the mpeg codecs as the resolution increases the image quality is perfect. as resolution decreases the image quality definately suffers.

cheers
vamshi

[chalbers]

Hi gconjar !

I did some color correcting that you could maybe try on your camera. Except for the yellow bag. XL2 seems to add a lot of blue to it.

Try to change your gains:
R = 1.28 or +28%
G = 1.18 or +18%
B = 1.15 or +15%

Frank

[gconjar]

Than you, Frank.
With this setting picture is really better and more close to XL1s. But, I did it in AP 6,5 with Canopus Storm Color setting filter. Camera is at Canon service so I cannot try it on camera. But I think there is only 6 steps to - and 6 to + to add color, so I cannot do set exatly 15% or 18%.
I would like that I can set all picture parameters on camera, because in postproduction, to do this is waste of time for me. I'm working with 1 to 3 hours projects, with more than 500 clips. Adding filters and setting picture on every of them is for me one step back in my job! I was buy this camera for one step up!

[gconjar]

Yesterday I get my Canon XL2 from service. They say that is already in manufacture setting OK, but they set picture especially for me to look as close as possible to XL1s. For me it is really better than before. But I must to do many test on camera. You can see two pictures at my web site gallery www.gamma-video.com (click on GALERIJA and than IN ACTION - two pictures at top) or direct link is here:

http://www.gamma-video.com/galerija...bum=1&pos=0
http://www.gamma-video.com/galerija...bum=1&pos=1

Please, reply with your comment.

[lacuna]

Your direct link doesn't work, should be:

http://www.gamma-video.com/galerija/displayimage.php?album=1&pos=0

At first glance the XL2 image seemed more pleasing to me, I like the flatter, matt look, and the XL2 just does a better all round job of resolving the image...

but then I looked at the wallpaper - do you have green wallpaper? That certainly is a nasty green tinge. It would be good to see a skin tone comparison.

[gconjar]

No, I haven't got green wallpaper. That is the problem. Wallpaper is exatly color showed in XL1s picture! I will upload today some other tests, so you can view it.
But now, after service, picture is really better than was be before as you can see at

www.gamma-video.com/xl2/

[sink]

are both samples white balanced to the same white?

[gconjar]

Yes! The same white from the same distance!

Today I upload on my site some old and new test pictures before and after service settings, with and without custom preset setting. Main problem for me was greeny picture without contrast and undersaturated red color. On service they say that is already in manufacture setting OK, but they set picture especially for me to look as close as possible to XL1s.

You can see pictures here:

http://gamma-video.com/xl2/

[Cliff Meador]

I found this thread a tad late - looks like nearly a year since the last post - by doing a search on the very color problem with my XL2 vs my XL1s described here.

When I purchased my XL2 I expected it to take the same images as the XL1s did. I was wrong. The images are drastically different, even with the same lens. Of note, is the real problem with colors. Setting manual white balance on all three side-by-side yields hugely different results between the XL1s and the XL2. Auto white balance on the XL2 actually improved it slightly. This is inside a studio with consistent temp lighting from a 4-lamp Lowell Kit.

My colors with the XL2 look washed out, and with a real problem with the blues.

Another major problem has been that the XL2 required a different F-Stop setting to come close the the XL1s. I have to set the XL2 to 2.8 for it to roughly match 4.0 on the XL1s...again, with the same lens.

Something just seems wrong here and I've suspected a defective camera and was planning on sending it back to Canon. Now that I read this thread, I wonder if that's going to resolve anything.

Anyway...as I say, a bit late on this one here but I've obviously had similar problems and I suspect it's a Canon problem with these cameras.

As for fixing things in post, that clearly seems like a last resort approach. Doesn't one want to start with the best image possible in the camera?

Cliff
Fresno, CA
USA

[jaegersing]

As for fixing things in post, that clearly seems like a last resort approach. Doesn't one want to start with the best image possible in the camera?



Hi Cliff. Granted the XL2 is different from the XL1S (I have heard this from several people). But is this actually a problem when the XL2 allows you to adjust everything in-camera?

Tweaking the seetings for particular lighting conditions should produce great results, and you can save these settings as custom presets. If you need more than 3 custom presets there is free software available for preset storing and loading on a PC.

Or is it that your camera is defective and you can't adjust it to the point where you are satisfied with the results?

Richard Hunter