HPX500e SD lens issue

J

Jonnyiwright

New member
HI All

This is My first Post sorry if its in the wrong place?

I have moved Cameras from a Z1 to a new AG-HPX500e Its a whole different ball game:shocked:

The Camera is great i got 2 64 gb cards and 2 switt batteries , and the Fujinon a20x8.6BRM-SD lens an seemed fine

However I think this Lens is not doing the camera justice there is no CAC files for it
and it is not very sharp when wide. Its 20x but the last bit of the lens say 165-172mm has the worst chromatic aberrations I Have seen, Is it the lens? or something to do with pixel shift? and no CAC file?

I even tried it wide open and fully stopped down but still lot off blue channel offset
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=378&pictureid=2456


I Know it was a cheap lens and you get what you pay for but I didn't expect this to be so bad,


http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=378&pictureid=2455
Thanks for any advice

Jonny
 
sounds like a faulty lens. HD lenses will be a bit sharper than SD and having CAC obviously helps but an SD lens on the 500 works great (or should). i used SD lenses on my 500 and always had great images. i did a short with it, using a second 500 as b-cam. it had an HD lens with CAC. they cut together just fine.

as far as losing sharpness in wides, the camera itself has that characteristic. no matter which lens you use, wides will always be softer than tight shots. i think it's the dvcpro codec...

you said you shot wide open, and fully stopped down. both of these settings will produce softer images. the lens will be sharpest closed down a couple stops from wide open.

still, seeing your pics, unless your focus was off, something is definitely wrong. they were incredibly soft.

i see bad CA in the high contrast areas (where snow meets leg in pic #2). these high contrast areas will always be somewhat of a problem but not as bad as what i'm seeing.


try a different lens and see what that does. it's possible one of your chips could be misaligned....
 
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Thanks

Thanks

Thanks for your good advice Cheezweezi

It is pretty bad CA

luckily I was only filming my kids sledging, Im using it next week for real I will try and get it exchanged its only 2 months old.

I love the 500 though

When I pick up my z1 it feels like a toy! although its been a helova work horse.

Jonny
 
Ca

Ca

Cheezweei

I tried it in lots of different apertures

picture.php


If you look at the whole image all over there is an offset in the blue channel this is why it looks so soft (it was as sharp as i could get it)

picture.php


Thanks again

Jonny
 
yes, this is either the worst ca i have ever seen or something else is wrong. maybe your blue sensor is misaligned. the easy way to test is throw another lens on and see if the problem persists.
 
Check your rear element on the lens, you may have smudges on the coatings on the rear element. That could cause it to bloom like that at the wider zooms when the internal elements change position and refract light differently towards the rear. If that is clean, it could also be an internal element. Take the lens and check to make sure there arent any internal elements that have smudges or lube that has dripped on it from the internal gears. It doesn't seem that bad, I've actually seen worse... Just looks like a cheap lens.
 
Tried a diffrent lens on

Tried a diffrent lens on

I went up to my local ITV Studio today and was helped out by a very helpful camera man
we did some direct tests with a nice cannon sd lens, similar in focal length. It was a lot sharper on the wides and looked 10 times better.

On the cannon there was a tiny bit of CA but not a big deal, It was an f1.8 the same as the fujinon but seemed alot brighter? I had to stop it down at the same focal length.

He showed me some footage on an edit suite of a cheap lens on dvcam and it was full of CA to. I Think its just the case that a cheap lens on a dv camera look ok maybe, but on a HD cam it looks awful

I will get a new lens but which one do I buy? Ideally I want a selection of primes but that will be a fortune

Are the HD Cac lenses a great deal better than an old sd cannon lens?



Ps anyone with bad CA and not a lot of blues in there image try the FinalCutPro filter under KEY Spill Suppressor - Blue set on about 75 it works a treat.
 
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sounds like it's not your camera. that's good news. my last lens was a canon j13x9. it was really sharp and gave me a nice image overall. it did have some CA but only bothered me in ultra high contrast areas.

yes, HD lenses are better, no doubt about it. but consider the price difference. for me the choice was SD over a low end HD cac lens. for high end clients that demand the best, the low end CAC lens doesn't stack up. it's so easy to rent a nice zoom or a set of digiprimes and then the client, not you, pays for it...

then again, if dropping $15k-$30k on a nice HD lens is no big deal for you then by all means...
 
i'd say this is all lens... in some conditions sd lens may give acceptable/normal results, in some - extremely bad... so if you went for 2/3 hd camera, invest in some good lens. even if you change the camera, lens is here to stay for another camera.
 
This sounds simple, but have you checked he back focus? I have used a Fuji 17x7.8 SD lens on my P2 Varicam with very good results. I recently took the plunge on an HD lens and am selling the SD, if you are interested drop me a note.
 
You might want to take a look at the Fujinon XA17X7.6BERM lens that is around $8000. This lens is CAC compatible, very low CA error without CAC correction, very good edge to edge focus and is sharp. It really is an amazing value and designed to be the Panasonic kit lens. The Fujinon ZA17X7.6BERM is the exact same lens for around $5000 more! You could save more money by going to an XA17X7.6BRM if you don't need the doubler. I have seen CAC work miracles with an HPX500 and low-end Canon HD lens, so I think a Fuji XA17 with the 500 is the hot setup.

I no longer believe that you need a Fuji HA series lens to get a very good image on an HD camera after seeing two XA17's and a ZA17. They all looked great on my HPX2700--better than my HA18X7.6BERM.
 
I have been using the XA17X7.6BERM lens for three years and have shot a dozen or more docs with it from 10 to 90 minutes.

I like this lens a lot, especially for the price. As a matter of fact, about a year ago I removed the zoom motor (I don't like them) which, unfortunately, disables the CAC function. I was worried at first, but after some tests discovered that there is very little increased CA except in extreme situations, and even then it's more acceptable than I've seen in some higher priced glass.

One thing I like about this Fujinon is the concaved front element. At first it looks odd, unlike any other lens I've owned. But it dramatically decreases flair when shooting into a light source, which I do often.

For a dramatic feature I might opt for another lens. But the quality of this lens - and the fact that it didn't cost an arm and a leg so I don't have to worry about it in the less-than-secure situations I often shoot in - makes it a perfect companion for the HPX500.
 
yes iv checked the back focus, its fine

Im looking at a Fujinon XA17x7.6BRM its around £4500 thats my max budget

has anyone tried the canon kj20x8.5B KRS at around £4000
thanks guys

Jonny
 
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I have the KJ16x7.7 on my HPX500, CA only an issue in extreme situations with the extender in use. Also used the KJ20x8.5, but on a SD camera for live broadcast...
 
Hello all

Iv got my hands on an old canon J8x6B4 IRS SX12 Iv been shooting all week end with it and its very crisp I also borrowed a J16ax8b4 IRS SX12 which is also superb
 
Jonnyiwright said:
yes iv checked the back focus, its fine

Im looking at a Fujinon XA17x7.6BRM its around £4500 thats my max budget

has anyone tried the canon kj20x8.5B KRS at around £4000
thanks guys

Jonny
Click to expand...

I've been shooting with the 17x7.6BRM a lot, and I really like it. I never tried better HD lenses though, but this one seems really good for the price.

I like the handling, the focus wheel moves smoothly and the motor zoom is very good (adjustable speed, programmable start and end points, a button for quick focussing, etc). The maximum zoom speed is really high, nice for sports and other action stuff.
 
It just looks like the same CA I have on my vision, I have a 500 with the real cheap Fujinon 8.6x20 berm. It is not even considered a broadcast lens, but I have always managed to work around the lens limitations by not zooming in more than about 17x instead using the doubler and even going down to filter 1 just so I can shut the lens up to f11 or f16. I have even shot 1080i and the results are fine for most clients.
I hope to purchase a Fujinon XA17x7.6BERM (Panason P2 OEM) lens soon.
 
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