Pansonic Customer Service - A Camera Odyssey

UPDATE -

It just occurred to me that it's pointless for them to ship my camera back seeing as I can't shoot those tests this weekend.

So, I just left a message with the shipping department to NOT ship the camera to me until next week. We'll see if I caught them in time.

My plan now is to shoot the same setup with their Loaner camera as well as another HVX I have access to - and see if either of those exhibit the red cast I get with my camera.

I will send them the results on monday - and if 2 other HVX cameras don't show the same problem in the same situation then they can't tell me it's a reflection issue and that I need a Matte box.

You know - the amount of time and energy this has taken is really starting to wear me down. I have WAY too much work to do to have to worry about whether or not I can trust the image I'm getting out of my camera.

This 'issue' has already put me behind a bit - and every moment I spend dealing with it costs me money.

Deep breath....
We'll see how it goes.
 
Oh I know.
Just aggravating.

But - what customer service experience isn't aggravating?
How sad is it that I expect customer service for any company to be a pain in the ass?
 
UPDATE -

So i cancelled the shipping on my camera - then got a call from the engineer at Panasonic.
He is insisting that EVEN IF I shoot the same setup with 2 other HVXs and don't find the red cast on the footage that it won't really prove anything to them unless I have my camaera in the test with a matte box.

I told him - if your thinking its an issue of light reflection, and I shoot it with 2 other HVXs and see NO red cast, doesn't that prove to you that it is something with my camera specifically? He said he didn't think it woudl be a valid test without my camera and there is nothing they can really do with that information. He REALLY wants me to shoot a test of my camera with a matte box on it.

He insisted on shipping the camera back to me - and said he could hold onto it until Monday if I wanted to, or he coudl ship it out today. But either way they were sending it back to me.

So - my camera is coming back.
I will SOMEHOW find the time to shoot the appropriate tests next week - and then we'll see if I wind up sending it immediately back to them.

The only silver lining to this situation - they are paying for the shipping.
 
I agree that you need to have your camera there for side-by-side comparison and a with/without mattebox test would satisfy the engineer's curiosity. There are too many variables that can't be controlled if you shoot same lighting setup with your camera at a different time.

If possible, you should do the test with all three HVX cameras at the same time. Also, try a sample shot with the mattebox on each camera for comparison.

I feel your pain, but it looks like you're going to have to invest more of your time in order to get to a solution.

edit: It might be good to shoot a few wide shots with a still camera showing how you lined up your cameras in relation to lighting and subject during your test if only to prove the cast isn't coming from a flaring backlight.
 
I agree terry - it would be ideal to ahve all 3 side by side, and that's what I was going to do.

When I spoke to the engineer yesterday at 3pm my time (Central) we had agreed on doing exactly that - and he was going to overnight my camera to me.

For some reason it never got shipped and when I called the Panasonic shipping department this morning I was told "Oh, that hasn't gone out yet, its sitting right here, going out today 2 day air - you'll get it by Tuesday."
TUESDAY?
That's why I originally told them to hang on to it - at this point I don't care if it gets back Tuesday or a month from now.
Doesn't do me a whole lot of good.

So while I'm not claiming it's an IDEAL test - I think the thing to take into account is that I've shot at that location with the same lighting setup on THREE seperate occassions...and have seen the red cast on my footage every single time. So there aren't that many variables in the mix as to make it happen one time and not another.

While it may not be the ideal test - I still think something useful can be taken away from it
 
Luis Caffesse said:
So while I'm not claiming it's an IDEAL test - I think the thing to take into account is that I've shot at that location with the same lighting setup on THREE seperate occassions...and have seen the red cast on my footage every single time. So there aren't that many variables in the mix as to make it happen one time and not another.
Click to expand...
Understood. I'm sure you know what you're doing. However, at this point, you need to satisfy the curiosity and whims of the lead scientist (Panasonic engineer). That way, if the problem persists (or at least goes the way you anticipated), you can answer "yes" when the engineer asks if you carried out his test. Then, you can move on to the next question on the troubleshooting flowchart. :)
 
Terry_Lasater said:
at this point, you need to satisfy the curiosity and whims of the lead scientist (Panasonic engineer).
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more.
I had a matte box reserved for rental for this weekend - but cancelled due to not having my camera back.

As soon as I get my camera - I'm doing some tests with and without matte box.
I will, of course, keep you posted.
:)

(no pun intended)
 
UPDATE -

So - I got my camera back from Panasonic tonight (delivered at about 7pm via UPS)

I also still have the loaner HVX that Panasonic sent me, as well as ANOTHER HVX from the company I'm under contract with at the moment.

So I waited until the sun went down (so I could be certain that there was no daylight spilling in to ruin my testing). I set up the 9ft white backdrop I have and I lit it evenly from both sides using the same types of lights on both sides. I also made certain to turn off every other light in the house.

I put the three cameras side by side - just far enough apart so I could still open the LCD on each one.
I set up the first camera - then took the SD card and loaded up the settings onto the other two, so all three camera are set up exactly the same.

I then checked the exposure on the backdrop with the zebras - and it was nice and even all the way across.
I did tests both with manual white balance as well as the in camera presets (not that it should matter)

Here is what I found -

CAMERA #1
Panasonic Loaner Camera
HVX-1-PANLOAN.jpg


CAMERA #2
My Camera
HVX-2-PITCH.jpg


CAMERA #3
Borrowed Camera
HVX-3-ONN.jpg



Now, is it just me - or shouldn't these images look the same?
EVEN IF there were some uneveness in my lighting, wouldn't all 3 cameras show the same uneven lighting?

If you can't see what I'm seeing - take a look at the same images with the levels pushed to extremes. Since I exposed these shots at between 60 & 80 IRE, there was nothing going on in the highlights or shadows - so I took these frames into photoshop and changed the input levels from 0 and 255 to 100 and 200.

Here is the result, which makes the color casts much more apparent:

CAMERA #1
Panasonic Loaner Camera
HVX-1-PANLOAN-levels.jpg


CAMERA #2
My Camera
HVX-2-PITCH-levels.jpg


CAMERA #3
Borrowed Camera
HVX-3-ONN-levels.jpg




I see 3 different HVX cameras with 3 different color casts.
Considering my camera clearly shows a red cast on the left - and the borrowed camera shows a red cast on the right - this is obviously NOT caused by lighting.
This was one lighting setup with all shots recorded simulaneously. So it seem that this has to be coming from the camera. My guess is, the lens.

I'll be sending these stills, along with some video, to the engineer at Panasonic that I've been talking to. I'll let you know what they say.
Right now - I'm getting some sleep.
 
Last edited:
This thread is fascinating. It's like a TV mini-series. My girlfriend and I can't wait to see how it ends.

:)

Luis - It's obvious your camera has issues and that you have done more than enough to prove your case. IMHO Panasonic should just exchange your camera with another one with similar hours. Bam! Problem solved for you and Panny. BUT something tells me you're going to have to jump through a few more hoops before they "really" cooperate.

I've had numerous problems with computers here. Some would not even boot upon arrival. Each time I've sent them back to their respected businesses they would always say the same thing, "Hmmm It works fine here. Are you sure you plugged it in? Well... we'll send you back a different one, if you'd like." You see what they did? They made the customer happy but they never admitted their computer had a problem (even if it really did). But those were relatively small businesses compared to Panasonic. Big businesses won't do exchanges or replacements as easily because then every customer might want "a replacement" ($$$). That's why they make customers wait or jump through some hoops first. To test you.

Remember how nobody would even contact you at first? That, and the red tape you've been "patiently" dealing with, is typical BIG business lack of accountability. They're interested in only making a profit, so they can keep their stock price high, and will ignore anything (or anyone) that might have bad news or threaten their profits. It's kind of like when your girlfriend "wants to talk", so you avoid seeing her because you know it's going to be bad news. lol

If you want proof then simply call any big company and tell them you're interested in buying something VERY expensive. I guarantee you'll be connected, or at least contacted, VERY quickly. Now try calling their customer service with a problem. Then compare the responses you get. I did this with Dell, Qwest, and Citibank. The difference was like night and day. If you want to buy something, you can be connected with a sales rep almost immediately. But if you have problems, its nothing but voicemails and waiting.

But don't listen to me. I hate all big businesses.

Good luck with your camera. I'm on your side.
pk
 
Just a quick idea: have you tried turning the camera on its head? This would clearly show whether the color cast is because of lighting or because of the camera...

just 2 cents, ScrollLock
 
Luis,
If the next time you speak with them they are less than helpful as they have been so far, it's time to go full on wookie on them and start tearing limbs. And by tearing limbs I mean asking for supervisors, saying I will not accept anything less than replacement at this point because I have lost X dollars in business and I need to have this resolved already.

While it's true you can catch more flies with honey, when that doesn't work a big ass shoe can also do the trick.
 
PK Gillock said:
Luis - It's obvious your camera has issues and that you have done more than enough to prove your case. IMHO Panasonic should just exchange your camera with another one with similar hours.
Click to expand...

What gets me is that after setting up the 3 cameras side by side I got 3 different results.
I'm starting to wonder if its not just MY Hvx that has issues - but ALL Hvxs.

How is it that my cameras has a red cast on the left while another HVX is getting a red cast on the right given the same exact lighting situation?

Just doesn't make sense.
 
ScrollLock said:
Just a quick idea: have you tried turning the camera on its head? This would clearly show whether the color cast is because of lighting or because of the camera...

just 2 cents, ScrollLock
Click to expand...

I did turn the camera on its head when we were shooting in the studio a while back - and The cast definitely stayed with the camera.

Also - looking at the shots I took last night - it seems clear that it wouldn't be lighting as the 3 cameras gave me 3 different results, each with its own type and intesity of color cast.
 
Terry_Lasater said:
Terrible news...
Click to expand...

It COULD be...
I am one guy and this was one test - so I don't want to wind up sounding like chicken little here.

But it's definitely something that got my interest.
What's funny is, if I hadn't had THREE cameras to compare, I never would have noticed the differences, because I would have assumed one was the 'control' in the experiement.

Now I wish I'd called another friend of mine and tried to line up 4 cameras.
 
I just did a shoot on white and also found a color cast gradient that did not make
sense. Initially,I thought it was because of my white balance. But I was really careful
to make sure that I did it correctly. the light source was consistent (daylight) After reading this thread I now realize the problem is inherent in the camera somewhere. I
don't know enough about these cameras to know where the problem lies.
I think Panasonic shoould look into this and tell us what they know.
 
As much as I would like to hear everyones results - its a bit too difficult to have any control when trying to compare our cameras, as everyone is going to have slight variations in their light and/or backdrops.

It seems the only real way to test for these variations in the color from camera to camera is to set up multiple cameras and shoot simultaneously under the same conditions.

I'm not saying you didn't find a color cast on your camera MCLL - just that it's hard to take away any real and logical conclusions from your test given that it was a single camera test. There are too many factors involved to be able to really compare your image to another camera.

Like I said - i'm not trying to start a panic here.
But in my opinion this is DEFINITELY something that I think is worth Panasonic's time to look into.
 
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