Black Sun Problem on A7s II? Faulty Camera or a whole batch?

I

Icke84

Member
Hi,

got my A7s II yesterday and just went out to make some testshots.
And what did i see. Not a Black but a violett sun. Thats not nice. I asked a friend you bought the a7s II also and he didn't have the problem.
Anyone else notice this? It's just on direct sun. Not on lightsources, not even when i film the sun reflecting in a window.

Here is a Screenshot:

Sequence 01.00_00_01_18.Still001.jpg
 
Yes, i've seen this too, with a light bulb filament too. I think it applies to all of them and it's the one thing so far that is clearly a problem.

However i have shot with the sun in view without it too.

It happens both in XAVC and ProRes, so it's not an XAVC issue.

cheers
Paul
 
But when it applies to all of them, why didn't we see more people having the issue? And why do i have it again today and not just sometimes?
I found out today that it's just present in 4k mode. When i film in 1080p, it's gone. Doesn't matter if it's 100, 50 oder 25p.

Sequence 01.00_02_14_22.Still002.jpg

cheers
Marcus
 
I tested my copy and didn't get the issue. Send it back and get a replacement. Hopefully your vendor has a 30 day return policy.
 
Icke84 said:
But when it applies to all of them, why didn't we see more people having the issue? And why do i have it again today and not just sometimes?
I found out today that it's just present in 4k mode. When i film in 1080p, it's gone. Doesn't matter if it's 100, 50 oder 25p.

View attachment 106740

cheers
Marcus
Click to expand...
Is it only with S-log mode or it also does it in non s-log?
 
Erik Naso said:
I tested my copy and didn't get the issue. Send it back and get a replacement. Hopefully your vendor has a 30 day return policy.
Click to expand...

That's interesting. Either that's the case or it only happens in certain modes and we've not compared like for like.

I believe it's a firmware issue, meaning it should be fixable but at the same time i would expect all cameras to show it.

Worthy of more investigation

cheers
Paul
 
Those of us having this problem should all try to document the settings in effect when it happens -- not only to determine if there is a common scenario -- but also to report it to Sony (not that they update firmware).
 
Here's a thought, but are all the cameras with the problem in PAL regions?

Erik says his does not have the problem and he is using NTSC I guess.
 
Curnsie said:
Here's a thought, but are all the cameras with the problem in PAL regions?

Erik says his does not have the problem and he is using NTSC I guess.
Click to expand...

Yes NTSC. I tested again today and no issue. Bad batch?

Try reseting the camera to factory settings and test again.
 
Jon Neely said:
look like all these videos are from PAL cameras. No Issue so far with my NTSC US model.

Jon
Click to expand...

+1.

I've noticed only PAL camera owners reporting this problem. So theoretically it could be fixed by firmware? I'm afraid to pull the trigger until this is sorted.
 
I can't do anything this second but aren't all the A7sIIs switchable between PAL and NTSC? I'm pretty sure mine is?

cheers
Paul
 
Erik Naso said:
It's been confirmed it's a 25P PAL issue. If you switch the camera to NTSC it goes away.
Click to expand...
Is it officially confirmed, so Sony knows now und hopefully will fix it? I do have (like all?!) a switchable PAL/NTSC model, but since I live in Europe I do use PAL only. And I do film such bright things only.
 
Erik Naso said:
It's been confirmed it's a 25P PAL issue. If you switch the camera to NTSC it goes away.
Click to expand...

Where are official confirmations made? Just curious.

That's really odd, i don't quite see from a tech perspective where the code paths for debayering/colourwork would be different from PAL to NTSC. That gives rise to questions such as whether the image quality is better in one or the other too :)

cheers
Paul
 
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