How many have compared 2 HVX 200's side by side?

TedRR

TedRR

Well-known member
I just got our second HVX and put them side by side. They didn't match as close as I thought they would.
Have you guys had perfect success?

Firmware is updated on both although one is 1+ years old and the other is 1 month old. (No, not the 200A).
All settings are the same....I'm pretty sure. :)
White and Black balanced.
Exactly lined up side by side and framed.
Even color correction doesn't get them exactly matched as much as I'd expect being that they are the same model.

Any way, I'm fairly picky so maybe that's part of it. :)
But one has Warmer tendencies than the other and slightly different contrast personality.
I've got to do more testing, running them solo and through other gear as well. But if you guys have found this let me know.
Thanks for yoru thoughts.
 
The cool/warm thing should be easy enough to correct for. Are you comparing the footage on the same monitor? I know the HPX500s weren't matching coming out of the factory and Panasonic offered to repair them.
 
Yup, I have it going through a TriCaster system and switch them back to back on a 25" Sony Broadcast monitor.
I even tried swapping the inputs on the TriCaster to make sure it wasn't an input issue.
I played with color correction but the two cameras just seem to have different personalities.
Thanks,
 
Could be that the front end of the camera where the white and black shading take place could be different. Perhaps a call to the service guys in La on Monday to see if there is a wayt to adjust the older one to have a refresh on the white shading circuit. Have no idea if this is possible but on a large camera that is where I would go.

Best,

Jan
 
Jan, thanks for jumping in. Not sure what you mean, :) but there was a lot of time between when these two were manufactured. Are you saying there was a change, or maybe? I'll make a call next week.
 
Last edited:
I am saying that the white and black shading circuits are in the analog domain as they are on most CCD cameras and over time they could change. Not saying that this is true, but I would at least ask the guys in service if this were possible. Two of them made at the same time frame seem to match more closely than what you describe.

Best,

Jan
 
Jan, Thanks for the clarification.
Now that I have a second one I've got to send in the first one anyway, so I'll gitter done.
Thanks.
 
I always let the HVX do the black balance after white just to make sure. But thanks for making sure I had covered that.
 
Yeah, now that I reread I see you wrote that the first time. I should know better than to post early in the morning.
 
Yeah, I shot a multicamera set with 2 HVX's this past weekend, and with identical scene file settings... and the color that each of them gives is *nothing* alike!

We manually white balanced, but I think that was the problem... the colors are so far off that I think a different white must have been used....

Is there any way of fixing this in post? Desperately hoping that there is a way of doing so... Thanks!
 
It should be as simple as tweaking color balance settings. All real NLEs have at least a few options to get you close. If you didn't clip on any of the channels, you should be able to recover almost any white balance mistake.

If you have an issue that warrants professional help, PM me and we can talk business.
 
Thanks, Professor!!!! I'll try to tweak the color balance settings and see if we can get it all to match... Much appreciated!
 
ajwwong said:
Yeah, I shot a multicamera set with 2 HVX's this past weekend, and with identical scene file settings... and the color that each of them gives is *nothing* alike!

We manually white balanced, but I think that was the problem... the colors are so far off that I think a different white must have been used....

Is there any way of fixing this in post? Desperately hoping that there is a way of doing so... Thanks!
Click to expand...

Manual white balance is tricky because the *exact* placement of the card in the light will cause it to vary in color and luminance, which the camera will then respond to accordingly. Furthermore, two cameras won't "see" it identically since they're in different locations, so a difference would seem inevitable under almost any circumstances.

So, like ProfessorU said, it would get corrected in post. Given that that's a noprmal part of the process anyway, as long as you're reasonably diligent about white balancing you should be in a workable ballpark.
 
Good point about the possibility of differences due to WB discrepancies. Granted when I tested my cameras I mostly used the preset WB. When manually white balancing I put the card on a music stand, marked the position of the 1st camera and then put the 2nd camera in that exact spot to White balance it. This may be where the difference lies for you. I even checked with scopes and the two were reeeeeeeeally close.
Good luck.
 
In our case we had the camera lenses just inches from each other when we did the white balance. I'll have time tomorrow to play with it some more.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top