Luis Caffesse
Admin
I wasn't sure where to post this - so the cafe seemed as good a place as any.
I thought it might be good to share this story so far, in case anyone had any advice or similar experiences.
I bought an HVX from Spec Comm back in Februrary (and I can't recommend them enough by the way).
About a month later we were shooting in a studio, and looking at the monitor saw that we had what appeared to be a red cast on the left side of the screen, and a greenish/cyan cast on the right side of the screen. I assumed at first it was an issue with the lighting, but once I panned the camera around and saw that the cast was staying with the image I realized it wasn't the lighting at all.
I then jumped to another wrong conclusion and assumed it was my monitor. The camera was brand new...the monitor is rather beat up... etc etc. Well, once I got back to the edit room it was clear it was on the footage itself. So, it was coming from the camera.
After much testing I found that the problem is occurring behind the lens. The color cast is there at every focal length as far as I can tell - so it's not a lens issue.
Clearly this wasn't something I was going to solve on my own.
Luckily the camera is still under warranty - so, after going out of town for a while, and waiting for a break in my schedule, I finally was able to get on track with getting the camera looked at.
I emailed Jan and she responded to me almost immediately and told me where to go on the Panasonic site to find the right place to call, etc. She was helpful as she always is.
The Panasonic site said to call the "Panasonic Broadcast DV" service center.
In fact, it said:
As the owner of a Panasonic Broadcast DV Product, you're entitled to our special DV Product Service. Please call 1-800-524-1448 and our representative will give you all the information on this service and they will issue you a special RA #.
They are open saturday, so I called on 6/23 in the morning (the first day I wasn't shooting in a very long time). A customer service rep answered and I gave her my story. She said that an engineer would call me back at the start of the week to go over the problem with me. Sounds good.
By the following wednesday I hadn't heard from anyone - so I called back around noon that day (6/27). The woman I talked to this time told me that they had no record of my original call and that she would have to enter the info again. This kind of thing happens, and she apologized for the oversight - I'm okay with that. We all make mistakes. She assurred me that someone would get in touch with me within 24 hours.
Well...Thursday came and went.
When I didn't hear back from anyone I finally decided to contact Spec Comm.
I got an immediate reply from Andrew, who told me he would they could take a look at the camera immediately if I wanted to send it back to them instead. When I explained my hectic shooting schedule to him, and the fact that I can't really be without a camera right now - he said that they could possibly supply me with a loaner HVX in the meantime. I couldn't have asked for a better response. BUT - I figured I would give Panasonic until the end of the week to get back to me seeing as I'd already started the process.
Well...after not hearing from anyone that day, I waiting until the afternoon on Friday and finally called back AGAIN (this is now the 3rd time). Keep in mind this is now the 2nd time I'm waiting for a call...and its 48 hours after I was assurred that an engineer would call me within 24 hours. Well this time a man answered the phone and I really wish I had thought to ask him his name - because he honestly could only have been ruder had he insulted my mother. He sounded as if he was doing me a favor by answering the phone. I explained the situation to him, and he cut me off saying "Well we can't do anything. You need to call the West Coast center," in a tone of voice that made it sound as if he thought I was an idiot and should have known that.
I asked him for the number, he told me it was on the website. I told him I was in the car at the time, and he finally gave me the number.
I called the West Coast service center - went through the extensive menu, was on hold for about 5 minutes when finally a voicemail greeting answered. I left a message after the beep, clearly stating that I needed to talk to someone about sending in my camera, and I repeated my name and phone number.
It is now Tuesday afternoon and I have yet to hear back from anyone.
So I think I've been patient enough.
After 10 days of not being able to get a hold of anyone at Panasonic that seems interested in helping me get my camera looked at, I just contacted Spec Comm again.
I'm not posting this with the intent of slamming Panasonic.
I just thought it would be good for others to hear this story - if my experience is an anomoly I would like to know. But if others are having the same problems with customer support - I think its important for other people to know that as well.
I think I'm a rather reasonable and patient person.
But having 10 days go by without being able to talk to anyone who can even give me the basic information of what I need to do seems a little extreme.
If anyone at Panasonic finally calls me back, I'll let you know.
But I'm not holding my breath.
I thought it might be good to share this story so far, in case anyone had any advice or similar experiences.
I bought an HVX from Spec Comm back in Februrary (and I can't recommend them enough by the way).
About a month later we were shooting in a studio, and looking at the monitor saw that we had what appeared to be a red cast on the left side of the screen, and a greenish/cyan cast on the right side of the screen. I assumed at first it was an issue with the lighting, but once I panned the camera around and saw that the cast was staying with the image I realized it wasn't the lighting at all.
I then jumped to another wrong conclusion and assumed it was my monitor. The camera was brand new...the monitor is rather beat up... etc etc. Well, once I got back to the edit room it was clear it was on the footage itself. So, it was coming from the camera.
After much testing I found that the problem is occurring behind the lens. The color cast is there at every focal length as far as I can tell - so it's not a lens issue.
Clearly this wasn't something I was going to solve on my own.
Luckily the camera is still under warranty - so, after going out of town for a while, and waiting for a break in my schedule, I finally was able to get on track with getting the camera looked at.
I emailed Jan and she responded to me almost immediately and told me where to go on the Panasonic site to find the right place to call, etc. She was helpful as she always is.
The Panasonic site said to call the "Panasonic Broadcast DV" service center.
In fact, it said:
As the owner of a Panasonic Broadcast DV Product, you're entitled to our special DV Product Service. Please call 1-800-524-1448 and our representative will give you all the information on this service and they will issue you a special RA #.
They are open saturday, so I called on 6/23 in the morning (the first day I wasn't shooting in a very long time). A customer service rep answered and I gave her my story. She said that an engineer would call me back at the start of the week to go over the problem with me. Sounds good.
By the following wednesday I hadn't heard from anyone - so I called back around noon that day (6/27). The woman I talked to this time told me that they had no record of my original call and that she would have to enter the info again. This kind of thing happens, and she apologized for the oversight - I'm okay with that. We all make mistakes. She assurred me that someone would get in touch with me within 24 hours.
Well...Thursday came and went.
When I didn't hear back from anyone I finally decided to contact Spec Comm.
I got an immediate reply from Andrew, who told me he would they could take a look at the camera immediately if I wanted to send it back to them instead. When I explained my hectic shooting schedule to him, and the fact that I can't really be without a camera right now - he said that they could possibly supply me with a loaner HVX in the meantime. I couldn't have asked for a better response. BUT - I figured I would give Panasonic until the end of the week to get back to me seeing as I'd already started the process.
Well...after not hearing from anyone that day, I waiting until the afternoon on Friday and finally called back AGAIN (this is now the 3rd time). Keep in mind this is now the 2nd time I'm waiting for a call...and its 48 hours after I was assurred that an engineer would call me within 24 hours. Well this time a man answered the phone and I really wish I had thought to ask him his name - because he honestly could only have been ruder had he insulted my mother. He sounded as if he was doing me a favor by answering the phone. I explained the situation to him, and he cut me off saying "Well we can't do anything. You need to call the West Coast center," in a tone of voice that made it sound as if he thought I was an idiot and should have known that.
I asked him for the number, he told me it was on the website. I told him I was in the car at the time, and he finally gave me the number.
I called the West Coast service center - went through the extensive menu, was on hold for about 5 minutes when finally a voicemail greeting answered. I left a message after the beep, clearly stating that I needed to talk to someone about sending in my camera, and I repeated my name and phone number.
It is now Tuesday afternoon and I have yet to hear back from anyone.
So I think I've been patient enough.
After 10 days of not being able to get a hold of anyone at Panasonic that seems interested in helping me get my camera looked at, I just contacted Spec Comm again.
I'm not posting this with the intent of slamming Panasonic.
I just thought it would be good for others to hear this story - if my experience is an anomoly I would like to know. But if others are having the same problems with customer support - I think its important for other people to know that as well.
I think I'm a rather reasonable and patient person.
But having 10 days go by without being able to talk to anyone who can even give me the basic information of what I need to do seems a little extreme.
If anyone at Panasonic finally calls me back, I'll let you know.
But I'm not holding my breath.
Last edited:
