FS700 Black balance while in 4K raw mode

M

Martin.G

Well-known member
Hi

So, anyone else able to black balance while in 4K raw mode? My menu option is greyed out while in 4K mode.

I find myself having to switch to 100% AVCHD HD mode in order to black balance.

Does this mean that while the camera is in 4K raw + AVCHD mode that it either just cant black balance at that point, or that the AVCHD mode is skipping by the black balance data as well as the raw stream?
 
Yes, black balance in AVCHD. I had a dead pixel while shooting 4K2HD. Black balanced in AVCHD and it fixed it.
 
What does the black balance actually do? Is there an official guide from Sony? I've never done it on my FS700.

Should you do it only if you get a dead pixel or does it effect other aspects of the image as well?
 
Essami said:
What does the black balance actually do? Is there an official guide from Sony? I've never done it on my FS700.

Should you do it only if you get a dead pixel or does it effect other aspects of the image as well?
Click to expand...

i don't know what else it does, but I have read and from personally experience that it does fix dead pixels. So I now I do it at the start of the day before any important shoot. Do it before you do a white balance though, as it will change the WB if that was shot before the Black Balance. Or just dial in the WB temperature on the dial w/o card and you will be fine.
 
I have always been led to think that black balance re-calibrates the black point for the sensor. There is a sub program that maps out bad pixels in some cameras but not all cameras.

It used to be recommended when the camera is new, if it got bumped and if it had been at a different altitude, like higher up in a plane even in a pressurized cabin, or if you noticed image was not right.

We always used to go through setting black point then, back focus so lens is parafocal, and then white point. Every time we changed lenses, or if camera had not been used for a while. This was back in the days of betacams, these days imagers don't seem to need it as often.

I remember the DSR500 you had to reset black point every time after you used "hypergain" very high ISO, I think it was 28000. And this also had a tendency to cause stuck pixels, so most of us stopped using high gain.

We are pretty spoiled with how well imagers work today. There was a time you actually had to align the 3 tubes in a camera every time you bumped it even just a little or the image would make you sick.
 
So "Black Balance" might be a step to keep traditions alive.

I like to have frequent resets and re-calibrations. Therefore, it's in our regular set up workflow on location, too. Cleanup SSDs, BB, WB, Soundcheck, Macbeth chart, go.

But, as RAW output is the new normal, why do we need to switch output to HD and back, to get access to this function? Very good question.
 
Last edited:
Thanks to the OP for this. I have tried several times to do a Black Balance and it has always been greyed out in my menu. I never could figure it out, but now I know it is because I always have my FS700 set to 4K (4K2HD using odyssey 7Q).

I will change it to HD output and give it a try. Definitely a PITA, but now at least I know how to make it work.

Thank you,
Robert Pfeifer
www.pifemaster.com
 
pifemaster said:
Thanks to the OP for this. I have tried several times to do a Black Balance and it has always been greyed out in my menu. I never could figure it out, but now I know it is because I always have my FS700 set to 4K (4K2HD using odyssey 7Q).

I will change it to HD output and give it a try. Definitely a PITA, but now at least I know how to make it work.

Thank you,
Robert Pfeifer
www.pifemaster.com
Click to expand...

Thank you Robert.

I have learned so much from these forums, so its nice to know that i am also able to give something back to someone here.
 
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