Strange Color Shifts in HV20 image
 

My church just purchased a new HV20 last week for use in our sound/video control room. We haven't actually recorded anything to tape with it yet (we probably will need to in the future). Right now it's just set up basically as a camera for our closed-circuit TV system. The signal from the camera goes out through the A/V cables into a VCR from which the signal goes out to several other TVs in the church.

Today, on our very first use of the camera, after it had been on for about an hour and a half, with no tape loaded and running on AC power, suddenly the picture turns a weird shade of green and starts shifting between green and blue. It would turn green, then it would look almost like a solarization effect had been added, and it would shift to purple and back to green, etc. I unplugged it and left it unplugged for 15 minutes, and then it worked fine when I turned it back on for our 2nd service. But then it started doing the same thing again tonight during the evening service.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this other than a defective camera? Does it have something to do with the camera being left on with no tape for extended periods of time and might it be fixable? Or should we just send the cam back and exchange it for another HV20?

Thanks in Advance,
Doug Chambers

Wow...that is definately strange. Before you run it back to the store I would try and switch out the cables to see if this is at fault. it sounds like something similar to what happens when you computer monitor's cable is either going bad or is loose.

Any changes in lighting when this happened?

This may not be your situation, but if using a high shutter speed (faster than 1/60) with discharge lighting (e.g., fluorescent, mercury vapor, etc.) you can at times observe fluctuating color balance.

But that would not cause a solarization effect.

Does this appear on the monitor and the flip-out screen?

M

There was no lighting change when this started. I can't really think of anything that might have triggered it.

And yes it does appear on the flip-out screen too. And nothing I tried would make it go away when it started. I tried changing some of the settings just after and even turned the camera off for a few seconds without unplugging it and it was still doing this when I turned it back on. Only unplugging the AC adapter got rid of it for any length of time.

I would set up a test where the lights and such are controlled and try to replicate the problem. I would put a tape in it and record to it also, as I don't think that would have any effect and would serve to help Canon if you must send it in.

If it does reoccur, it is time to send it in for repair or replacement.

Mike

Are you saying it does not happen when running on battery?

If that is the case, you may have a problem with the A/C adapter

I had the same thing happen on mine. I just figured it was trying to play HD on a SD TV. It might go away if you switch to SD if that's what you are using the camera for.

But it doesn't do it on the flip out screen on mine.

I have noticed a similar effect when I capture a couple of times. In the LCD it would solarize/posterize but it would capture fine.