New strange image problem with my EX1

[Jesse Morgan]

I have the same problem, brand new EX1, I only used it twice before I got the firmware upgrade, then my next shoot this happens 3-4 times.

Have a look:
Sony EX1 Problems, please help! on Vimeo

It is NOT caused by the following:

- artificial light such LEDs, fluorescents or anything else, it was shot in only outdoor light.

- I did not mess the with shutter or any flicker reduction settings.

- It goes away on it's own as you can see at the end of the footage. It happened for about 20 seconds during a 35 minute interview as well when the camera wasn't moving and was in the same spot, light and settings.

I took it to Sony, they gave it back to me today and said there was nothing wrong with it.

Looks like they were wrong.

I hate intermittent problems!!!

[Jon Sands]

Like I said, turn flicker reduction completely off. It's on by default, and will cause this.

[Jay Gladwell]

Originally Posted by John Woo

May I know when you execute the "All Rest" button, will all the settings return to factory default? And will the profile setting be gone too?

Serena has answered the question. However, this is why you need to save and back-up your camera's settings. In the event of a All Reset, you simply re-install the settings file and you're ready to go!

[Ola Christoffersson]

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

Is the flicker reduction turned off? Depending on your region settings flicker reduction can cause flicker!

Of course Alister, you were right. Flicker reduction was set to ON. After turning it off the problem is gone!

I file like an idiot sounding of the alarm when I could have read the manual a third time...

Anyway - thank you everybody for your help on this issue. Hopefully this is a thread that will help others like me in the future!

[Jay Gladwell]

Here is the answer I received from Alpha Cine (where I bought the EX3) in regards to this rolling flutter issue:

"My service guru tells me this is a problem that gets fixed at Sony. You should bring your camera in for my service guys to take a look at it and they will either give you a new camera or send it off to sony for a fix. Supposedly it's a bug where the shutter or the fake electronic frame divider is off."

The only problem is they are in New York and I'm in Miami.

[Steven Thomas]

Originally Posted by Jay Gladwell

Here is the answer I received from Alpha Cine (where I bought the EX3) in regards to this rolling flutter issue:

"My service guru tells me this is a problem that gets fixed at Sony. You should bring your camera in for my service guys to take a look at it and they will either give you a new camera or send it off to sony for a fix. Supposedly it's a bug where the shutter or the fake electronic frame divider is off."

The only problem is they are in New York and I'm in Miami.

LOL..
There is no problem.
Just turn OFF flicker reduction.

You can prove it yourself by turning it ON verses OFF.

[Ola Christoffersson]

Originally Posted by Steven Thomas

LOL..
There is no problem.
Just turn OFF flicker reduction.

You can prove it yourself by turning it ON verses OFF.

So does this mean that Flicker reduction is not supposed to give this effect? Is it something that can be fixed? Or does Jay have a different problem?

[Jay Gladwell]

Originally Posted by Ola Christoffersson

So does this mean that Flicker reduction is not supposed to give this effect? Is it something that can be fixed? Or does Jay have a different problem?

Ola, I think from everything we've seen and read the past couple of days that we had the same problem. It also appears that it was simply a matter of turn off the Flicker Reduction. Why? I can't tell you, because I simply don't know. I didn't even realize it was on!

If the problem returns, we'll know it was more than a matter of turning off Flicker Reduction. At that point, my camera will be going back to Sony.

[Ola Christoffersson]

Originally Posted by Jay Gladwell

Ola, I think from everything we've seen and read the past couple of days that we had the same problem. It also appears that it was simply a matter of turn off the Flicker Reduction. Why? I can't tell you, because I simply don't know. I didn't even realize it was on!

If the problem returns, we'll know it was more than a matter of turning off Flicker Reduction. At that point, my camera will be going back to Sony.

That makes Sonys answer to you seem a bit strange though...

[Jay Gladwell]

Originally Posted by Ola Christoffersson

That makes Sonys answer to you seem a bit strange though...

Yes, I agree with you. However, I took that to be an "educated guess" on their part, not having the camera in hand to examine.

Can we ignore the empirical evidence? Your camera was doing the exact same thing mine was. Turning off the Flicker Reduction appears to have eliminated the problem.

[Juan Martinez]

Ola,

Your instincts and description are correct: "It looks very similar to the rolling effect when recording with a 50 fps shutter in 60 Hz lights. Only this happens outdoors in daylight".

EX1 & EX3 camcorders are shipped with the "Flicker Reduction" set to Auto. In some rare occasions, repetitive luminance changes when panning may falsly trigger the Flicker Reduction circuit ON. To eliminate the possibility of this phenomenom inadvertingly occurring: invoke the the camera menu and turn OFF the Flicker Reduce circuit.

If you are recording 50fps in USA (60Hz line frequency) set the shutter to 1/60th or invoke the Ficker Reduce function.

Juan Martinez
Senior Manager
Sony Electronics

[Jay Gladwell]

Excellent information. Thank you, Juan, for straightening this out for us.

Much appreciated!

[Steven Thomas]

Thank you Juan.

[Juan Martinez]

Jay & Steven,

Thank you for your kind words... I am glad to be able to help.

Juan

[Ola Christoffersson]

Originally Posted by Juan Martinez

Jay & Steven,

Thank you for your kind words... I am glad to be able to help.

Juan

May I just add how extremely valuable it is to have a Sony rep. following this forum and helping out. I am amazed at how well this forum can work sometimes and was almost moved to tears at how fast all you guys helped me sort out this problem!