Larry Rutledge
Fest Master
Have you tried smacking it really hard on its side? It always worked for our old black and white TV, you know, the kind with the knobs you had to turn for like 20 minutes to get through the UHF dial? :grin:
Pansonic Customer Service - A Camera Odyssey
- Thread starter Luis Caffesse
- Start date
Have you tried smacking it really hard on its side? It always worked for our old black and white TV, you know, the kind with the knobs you had to turn for like 20 minutes to get through the UHF dial? :grin:
Luis Caffesse
Admin
UPDATE -
So last week I talked to an engineer at the West Coast Service Center for Panasonic (Jan helped in getting me in touch with him).
I'm not sure he'd appreciate me putting his name on here for all to see - but I'll tell you he was abosolutely helpful. He definitely knew what he was talking about, was responsive, and attentive. I sent him some images showing off the problem, and on his follow up call he told me to send the camera in.
So I shipped it this morning - and it will arrive at their office by 10:30am tomorrow.
They've promised to try to turn it around as quickly as possible, as I have a shoot scheduled for Saturday. Of course that would mean they'd have to overnight it to me on Thursday - so we'll see if that can happen. Otherwise I'll probably cancel the shoot - or talk to them about overnighting me a loaner cam.
Of course if I have to pay for the shipping on that - I may as well rent a camera.
It cost me $142 to overnight the HVX to their offices.
OUCH.
Of course, it's better than buying a new camera.
We'll see what they say.
So last week I talked to an engineer at the West Coast Service Center for Panasonic (Jan helped in getting me in touch with him).
I'm not sure he'd appreciate me putting his name on here for all to see - but I'll tell you he was abosolutely helpful. He definitely knew what he was talking about, was responsive, and attentive. I sent him some images showing off the problem, and on his follow up call he told me to send the camera in.
So I shipped it this morning - and it will arrive at their office by 10:30am tomorrow.
They've promised to try to turn it around as quickly as possible, as I have a shoot scheduled for Saturday. Of course that would mean they'd have to overnight it to me on Thursday - so we'll see if that can happen. Otherwise I'll probably cancel the shoot - or talk to them about overnighting me a loaner cam.
Of course if I have to pay for the shipping on that - I may as well rent a camera.
It cost me $142 to overnight the HVX to their offices.
OUCH.
Of course, it's better than buying a new camera.
We'll see what they say.
HorseFilms
Look ma no hands
I hope everything works out well for you, Luis!:beer:
it will be fine dude.... but while its there, see if they can fix the "clunk"..... that damn clunk....
Luis Caffesse
Admin
Hehehe.
Yeah, while I"m at it I'll see if they can throw an HDSDI output on it.
:thumbsup:
Luis Caffesse
Admin
UPDATE -
So I just got a call form the engineer at Panasonic.
They've done some quick tests with my camera and can't seem to recreate the same issue - which means they need more time with it. So I won't be getting it back this week - which is sort of a problem because I have shoots lined up on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.... and who knows about the rest of the week.
But - I'd rather they take their time and get to the bottom of this than shoot one more frame with that weird red cast on it.
So they said they can send me a loaner camera - but they charge for them.
The cost is VERY reasonable - so i said yes (what else could I do?)
$225 for the entire time they have my camera.
Plus shipping (which could easily be another 100 dollars as I need it by friday).
So that means that so far this repair is going to cost me close to probably over $500.
(shipping the cam to them, renting loaner cam, and shipping loaner cam back to them).
NOT money I wanted to spend...but what can I do?
Makes it all the more important that I have a camera - as now I need to make sure I can cover the cost of getting my camera repaired.
I'm glad they're looking into it - and I'd rather they take their time.
But I have to say, I did not expect to wind up spending over $500 on a camera that is still under warranty.
Can't blame them though, I guess.
I'll let you know how it all turns out.
Right now I'm waiting for a Panny rep to call me back to set up the loaner cam shipping, etc.
PS.
As an interesting side note - I had two other cameras that I might have been able to borrow in the meantime from people I know.
The first just discovered his firewire port is not working (and I shoot with a Firestore, so can't use it)
The second has a short in both XLR audio inputs and is shipping their camera to Panasonic service this week.
:thumbsup:
just my luck
So I just got a call form the engineer at Panasonic.
They've done some quick tests with my camera and can't seem to recreate the same issue - which means they need more time with it. So I won't be getting it back this week - which is sort of a problem because I have shoots lined up on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.... and who knows about the rest of the week.
But - I'd rather they take their time and get to the bottom of this than shoot one more frame with that weird red cast on it.
So they said they can send me a loaner camera - but they charge for them.
The cost is VERY reasonable - so i said yes (what else could I do?)
$225 for the entire time they have my camera.
Plus shipping (which could easily be another 100 dollars as I need it by friday).
So that means that so far this repair is going to cost me close to probably over $500.
(shipping the cam to them, renting loaner cam, and shipping loaner cam back to them).
NOT money I wanted to spend...but what can I do?
Makes it all the more important that I have a camera - as now I need to make sure I can cover the cost of getting my camera repaired.
I'm glad they're looking into it - and I'd rather they take their time.
But I have to say, I did not expect to wind up spending over $500 on a camera that is still under warranty.
Can't blame them though, I guess.
I'll let you know how it all turns out.
Right now I'm waiting for a Panny rep to call me back to set up the loaner cam shipping, etc.
PS.
As an interesting side note - I had two other cameras that I might have been able to borrow in the meantime from people I know.
The first just discovered his firewire port is not working (and I shoot with a Firestore, so can't use it)
The second has a short in both XLR audio inputs and is shipping their camera to Panasonic service this week.
:thumbsup:
just my luck
Luis Caffesse
Admin
UPDATE -
So I just got off the phone with the engineer at Panasonic.
They've had the camera for about a week and a half, and haven't been able to find anything wrong with it. He says they've tested it every which way - in heat, in cold, etc etc and they aren't seeing anything like what is showing up in my footage.
So, their best explanation at the moment is that it is being caused by a reflection and that I need to use a matte box to fix the problem.
I don't doubt that they tested the camera thoroughly, he definitely sounded like they ran it through the ringer. So I'm pretty confused as to what is going on. But I seriously doubt the idea that a matte box is going to fix the problem. Especially given that I have seen this same problem in footage from 3 different locations, with 3 different lightign setups (one of which was available light)
Also, it seems odd that I would HAVE to use a matte box to get clean footage, doesn't it? Does this mean anytime I shoot anything I will need to use a mattebox or risk getting that red cast again?
So - this is what I proposed. I have a shoot this weekend in the same location, with the same set ups, of the footage that I sent him as a sample (Stump the Chef - the frame I posted at the start of this thread is from that shoot). This is where the red cast is most obvious, bc we shoot against a flat white backdrop.
So - he is going to overnight the camera back to me.
When I asked if I was going to be expected to pay for the shipping, he said he would take care of it, which I thought was nice (considering I've had to spend about 325 dollars so far on this).
Now what I'm going to do is get my hands on a matte box.
I'm going to shoot the same set up with a matte box and without - and see what happens. In the meantime I'm keeping Panasonic's loaner HVX until Monday.
If the red cast is still in my footage, then I'm shipping back my camera monday.
And if not, then I'm shipping back the loaner.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Now - anyone have a mattebox that'll fit the HVX in austin they want to lend me?
So I just got off the phone with the engineer at Panasonic.
They've had the camera for about a week and a half, and haven't been able to find anything wrong with it. He says they've tested it every which way - in heat, in cold, etc etc and they aren't seeing anything like what is showing up in my footage.
So, their best explanation at the moment is that it is being caused by a reflection and that I need to use a matte box to fix the problem.
I don't doubt that they tested the camera thoroughly, he definitely sounded like they ran it through the ringer. So I'm pretty confused as to what is going on. But I seriously doubt the idea that a matte box is going to fix the problem. Especially given that I have seen this same problem in footage from 3 different locations, with 3 different lightign setups (one of which was available light)
Also, it seems odd that I would HAVE to use a matte box to get clean footage, doesn't it? Does this mean anytime I shoot anything I will need to use a mattebox or risk getting that red cast again?
So - this is what I proposed. I have a shoot this weekend in the same location, with the same set ups, of the footage that I sent him as a sample (Stump the Chef - the frame I posted at the start of this thread is from that shoot). This is where the red cast is most obvious, bc we shoot against a flat white backdrop.
So - he is going to overnight the camera back to me.
When I asked if I was going to be expected to pay for the shipping, he said he would take care of it, which I thought was nice (considering I've had to spend about 325 dollars so far on this).
Now what I'm going to do is get my hands on a matte box.
I'm going to shoot the same set up with a matte box and without - and see what happens. In the meantime I'm keeping Panasonic's loaner HVX until Monday.
If the red cast is still in my footage, then I'm shipping back my camera monday.
And if not, then I'm shipping back the loaner.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Now - anyone have a mattebox that'll fit the HVX in austin they want to lend me?
Last edited:
Luis Caffesse
Admin
Just some more samples so you guys don't think I'm crazy.
3 different locations
3 different lighting situations
The first two are from DVCPro50 footage shot in 4:3
The last frame is from DVCProHD footage shot in 720P
All of them show a higher level of red on the left side of the frame.
3 different locations
3 different lighting situations
The first two are from DVCPro50 footage shot in 4:3
The last frame is from DVCProHD footage shot in 720P
All of them show a higher level of red on the left side of the frame.
Terry_Lasater
All about the Caption
While you're at it, shoot some side-by-side comparison tests with both cams to further help with troubleshooting.
Luis Caffesse
Admin
Will do
:thumbsup:
Of course, this is all in addition to my actual shotlist - which entails shooting 4 episodes of "Stump the Chef" in two days.
We'll see how it goes.
Luis Caffesse
Admin
Luis Caffesse
Admin
Ken,
From what I heard from the engineer today that's what they did.
They claim they aren't seeing anything like what I'm getting.
So - hopefully the camera gets here on time tomorrow - and I can shoot side by side with my camera and the panasonic loaner camera this weekend.
From what I heard from the engineer today that's what they did.
They claim they aren't seeing anything like what I'm getting.
So - hopefully the camera gets here on time tomorrow - and I can shoot side by side with my camera and the panasonic loaner camera this weekend.
Jason Ramsey
Admin
You are really handling this all very well Luis. Thanks for being professional and thorough in your description, and not just... well, 'bitchy'.
Next time, just send it straight to Spec-Comm. They are authorized (as Jan mentioned) and they rock, and they are a bit of a smaller establishment than say a Panny So you can expect thorough and personal service from them... Oh, and b/c they rock...
Next time, just send it straight to Spec-Comm. They are authorized (as Jan mentioned) and they rock, and they are a bit of a smaller establishment than say a Panny
So you can expect thorough and personal service from them... Oh, and b/c they rock...
Luis Caffesse
Admin
Well, I realize nothing is going to get done by being 'bitchy.'
And I do believe they tested the camera - I'm not trying to insinuate anyone is trying to mislead me here. In fact, they've been very responsive and communicative since they've had the camera.
The only thing that burns me up is having to pay hundreds of dollars to get a camera back that will probably still exhibit the same problem. We'll see tomorrow. First thing I'm doing when I get on set is setting up the loaner and my camera side by side and shooting that white backdrop.
In fact, if I get a chance, i might do it tonight when we're done rigging the set.
I have to admit that I think it inappropriate for Panasonic to both leave you to pay for return shipping, and charge you for the use of a replacement camera. If you were sent a defective-out-of-the-box piece of equipment, I think that all charges, etc should be on them. If not up-front, than at least they should reimburse you, once the problem has been identified and corrected.
FWIW I always insist upon an RMA# and a shipping account number, when returning defective equipment for repair/exchange/refund. Sometimes it's a fight, but I think it fundamentally unethical for any company to take your $$$ for a bad chunk of hardware, and then require that you lay out more of your $$$ for them to correct a problem that is 100% their responsibility.
Of course I don't mean to single out Panasonic. Most companies try to do business this way. It's up to you to decide whether or not they get away with it.
FWIW I always insist upon an RMA# and a shipping account number, when returning defective equipment for repair/exchange/refund. Sometimes it's a fight, but I think it fundamentally unethical for any company to take your $$$ for a bad chunk of hardware, and then require that you lay out more of your $$$ for them to correct a problem that is 100% their responsibility.
Of course I don't mean to single out Panasonic. Most companies try to do business this way. It's up to you to decide whether or not they get away with it.
Luis Caffesse
Admin
Sad Max - I agree, but honestly I didn't have the time or energy to deal with it at the time. I just needed a camera.
So... UPDATE
I didn't hear back last night with a tracking number - so I waited here until 11am for the camera (was supposed to get here by 10:30am viaI told him at this point he may as well walk it over UPS Overnight). It did not arrive, so I called Panasonic for the tracking number.
Just got off the phone with Panasonic Shipping and Receiving and found out that my camera has not shipped yet - and they were sending it out today via 2nd day air.
When I expressed my displeasure at this - the guy offered to overnight it with Saturday delivery - of course being as I'm going to be gone all weekend on a shoot, that doesn't do me any good. So... I'll get it on Tuesday.
This means I won't have the ability to recreate the side by side tests that I wanted to do in the studio this weekend.
This also means I"m not going to bother getting a matte box.
This also means that I am keeping Panasonic's loaner camera as long as I need to until I am completely satisfied that my camera is fixed.
What I WILL do is shoot the same shot with the same lighting setup in the same location with the LOANER HVX from panasonic.
If it truly is a reflection issue that a mattebox would solve, like they think it is, then their camera should show the same red cast.
So... UPDATE
I didn't hear back last night with a tracking number - so I waited here until 11am for the camera (was supposed to get here by 10:30am viaI told him at this point he may as well walk it over UPS Overnight). It did not arrive, so I called Panasonic for the tracking number.
Just got off the phone with Panasonic Shipping and Receiving and found out that my camera has not shipped yet - and they were sending it out today via 2nd day air.
When I expressed my displeasure at this - the guy offered to overnight it with Saturday delivery - of course being as I'm going to be gone all weekend on a shoot, that doesn't do me any good. So... I'll get it on Tuesday.
This means I won't have the ability to recreate the side by side tests that I wanted to do in the studio this weekend.
This also means I"m not going to bother getting a matte box.
This also means that I am keeping Panasonic's loaner camera as long as I need to until I am completely satisfied that my camera is fixed.
What I WILL do is shoot the same shot with the same lighting setup in the same location with the LOANER HVX from panasonic.
If it truly is a reflection issue that a mattebox would solve, like they think it is, then their camera should show the same red cast.
Sure; you have to pick your battles.
I actually semi-enjoy going to war over that sort of thing. You're probably saner than I am.