HVX200 Offloading Darker Than Filmed
 

Hi all,

Our company is having a very strange problem with our HVX 200. Here it goes:

In any format (480i or 720p, PN, etc.), when we look through the viewfinder and LCD, a well-lit subject looks normal. However, when we import the footage using P2 contents manager into our non-linear editing system (using Adobe Premiere CS3), the footage looks darker in certain areas (there is less detail). For example, take the example of a person wearing a black coat. In the viewfinder/LCD, we can see the ruffles and wrinkles, but in Premiere, it appears as one solid black blob.

Interestingly enough, when we open the P2 video files in windows media player, the footage looks normal (so after p2 ingestion, the computer plays the files normally). It is only after we import it that things get funky. To further complicate things - (1) we've never had this problem up until 2 weeks ago (2) the problem persists when using a Firestore 100 drive and (3) the problem DOES NOT occur when we record to tape and digitize. One more thing - we've also reset the camera to factory settings and still have this issue.

Anyone who has any clues to this mystery - we would greatly appreciate the wisdom. I have not been able to find any information about this issue online.

Thank you.

Sounds like your problem is with Premiere not the camera. Do you have a way of looking at the waveform of the clips when they are in Premiere? You could be getting a playback pedestal level issue which is making you think the footage is darker than it really is. One thing to check is how the footage plays back when in the HVX-200 to a monitor. If it looks correct then you have to look at your edit system for some setting which might be changing the contrast. Do you have an older project around from before the issue started happening? How does it look now? Good luck

Maybe your computers display card, try your camera and files on another computer.. process of elimination.
or go back two weeks and look for what has changed....
Cheers
Tom

Most unlikely to be camera. It has to be either the computer or the monitor.

Panasonic HVX200
 

For some unknown reason, Adobe Premiere CS3, like Final Cut Pro, does need to be reloaded once in a while to work properly.

I use Canopus EDIUS - and I don't suffer from this problem. Maybe Premiere CS4 might have solved this problem?

Never noticed this problem while I was still using HVX202. Now I am on HPX172. Or maybe it is only on NTSC versions? I am on PAL land.