Sony PXW-Z200: soft image on left side

T

tnburbank

New member
Hello! I recently purchased the PXW-Z200. Had a shoot, marching bands, and during the night portion of the shoot I had to go full wide and wide open on the iris with a manual focus setting. That is when I noticed the soft image on the left side only. So I went back and checked the day time footage basically same type shots and with an iris around f8 and 0db. And upon close inspection I could see the softness though not as obvious due to the wider depth of field. Any thoughts as to what might be wrong and or how to get it addressed? Thank you ahead of time.
 
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This seems like a lens decentering issue. Or something similar with the lens mechanics. If the camera is under warranty I would contact the store immediately and have the issue looked at.
 
Either that or in low light with aperture wide open with shallower dof if the camera focused in the center subject closer on one side could be out of focus.

In addition It is common for lens to be sharper in the center depending on their design and usually wide open the edges become softer. Since I don’t own this camera I can’t speak if this is the case. But owning 1” camcorders they tend to be on the soft side. Under low light low contrast the af isn’t great.

Christopher Frost specializes on lens reviews. If you wanted you could put up a chart on the wall and do sharpness test like he does that will remove all other variables to be able see exactly what's going on. Note that Camcorder lenses are equivalent to the cheapest garbage kit lenses you can find, has always been that way and will always be. But could very well be an out of adjustment lens too.

Here's and example of one his reviews where he compares center and edge sharpness.
 
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On a related note, I once read in Barry Green's book for the HPX250 like 15 years ago how the sweet spot for the camcorder was 1-2 stops from being wide open until about f/5.6 or something (IDR but too much more created diffraction and more softness), and I don't think I ever shot with a camcorder wide open since then. And you'd be hard-pressed to see me shooting with almost any mirrorless lens wide open unless it's like an expensive 35mm+ @ f/1.2 or f/1.4 because then it just looks so special regardless of any sharpness issues.

But, yeah, if not a malfunction then maybe just soft wide open (like hundreds of other lenses) and maybe that particular assembly is affecting one side more.
 
I've seen this a number of times in the past on the three chip 1/2" Sony EX1s and the PXW-Z280, both are cameras models with fixed lenses. Never seen it on single sensor cameras. Though I have heard of it being seen on S35 cameras. In all those case it was axial centreing issues. Workshop correctable only. Ass Bassman suggested. Back it goes with sample footage.

Before you send it back, have you done a full backfocus test? If not, I would run that first, then send it in if the issue still exists.

Back focus adjustments for the Z200 can be found here.

https://helpguide.sony.net/pro/z200nx800/v1/en/contents/flange_back_adjust.html

Also remember that at F/8.0 you are really close to lens diffraction on a 1" sensor. F/4.0-5.6 is the sweet spot on 1" sensors. The diffraction issues are based on my own personal experience with both the X70 and the Z90. Both of which have exactly the same pixel count and resolution on their 1" sensors. Same spec as the new Z200 sensor, so from a physics point of view I would think their behaviours optically would be very similar.

Chris Young
 
While f/5.6 has been the traditional sharpest aperture, lens designers can and do make lenses that are sharpest wide open. In fact most camcorders are this way and 1" camcorder lenses f/3.5 is the widest it can go. I've tested my camcorders I find they only get soft at apertures above f8, f11 if necessary f16+ diffraction becomes a real problem.
 
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Some of the 1" point-and-shoots go to f/1.8 at the wide end but quickly ramp as you zoom. Always found it pretty pointless, might as well just make it fixed and improve the glass IQ (especially since the zoom range is barely anything).

Back then with the HPX, f/8 was definitely pushing it, would be the max I'd use it at. Modern still lenses are more forgiving.
 
cyvideo said:
I've seen this a number of times in the past on the three chip 1/2" Sony EX1s and the PXW-Z280, both are cameras models with fixed lenses. Never seen it on single sensor cameras. Though I have heard of it being seen on S35 cameras. In all those case it was axial centreing issues. Workshop correctable only. Ass Bassman suggested. Back it goes with sample footage.

Before you send it back, have you done a full backfocus test? If not, I would run that first, then send it in if the issue still exists.

Back focus adjustments for the Z200 can be found here.

https://helpguide.sony.net/pro/z200nx800/v1/en/contents/flange_back_adjust.html

Also remember that at F/8.0 you are really close to lens diffraction on a 1" sensor. F/4.0-5.6 is the sweet spot on 1" sensors. The diffraction issues are based on my own personal experience with both the X70 and the Z90. Both of which have exactly the same pixel count and resolution on their 1" sensors. Same spec as the new Z200 sensor, so from a physics point of view I would think their behaviours optically would be very similar.

Chris Young
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Chris, thank you for the info. Heads up....the link you provided about adjusting back focus on the PXW-Z200 does not apply to this camera. It applies to the PXW-Z280. I know, I know. The link site shows a Z200 but the Z200 does not have a back focus function much less the
"Auto FB Adjust" and "Reset" functions in the menu under "Technical" < "Lens" ..... They don't exist. And, I have looked everywhere in the menu for thos functions thinking Sony has changed their protocol in menu listing. Also, I do vaguely remember earlier late last year reading info. on the Sony PXW-Z200 that it does NOT have a back focuus adjustment. Soooooo, I guess I just send it in to Sony for Repair. UGH! Again, thank you all the same.
 
NorBro said:
On a related note, I once read in Barry Green's book for the HPX250 like 15 years ago how the sweet spot for the camcorder was 1-2 stops from being wide open until about f/5.6 or something (IDR but too much more created diffraction and more softness), and I don't think I ever shot with a camcorder wide open since then. And you'd be hard-pressed to see me shooting with almost any mirrorless lens wide open unless it's like an expensive 35mm+ @ f/1.2 or f/1.4 because then it just looks so special regardless of any sharpness issues.

But, yeah, if not a malfunction then maybe just soft wide open (like hundreds of other lenses) and maybe that particular assembly is affecting one side more.
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Haha, I owned that camera after talking to Barry at the NAB way back in the day. He was spot on. But, this issue is different. Unfortunately, I had to shoot wide open for the night time portion of the event I mentioned. But, glad I did because it accentuted the issue I mentioned. I have done further testing to validate this and unfortunately it just got more verified. I didn't see it early on in my usage becasue everything was shot around 5.6-11 and shorter moving clips. But for this event, up high shooting wide, wide open at the 50 yard line of a football field it became very obvious. UGH. Anyway, thank you for the input.
 
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Bassman2003 said:
This seems like a lens decentering issue. Or something similar with the lens mechanics. If the camera is under warranty I would contact the store immediately and have the issue looked at.
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This is what I will be doing. UGH. At least it is still under warranty. THANK YOU for you input.
 
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