Mysterious Flicker from Sony PMW-EX3 at DVinfo.net

Anthony Trotter · June 16th, 2014, 11:31 PM

Having a problem with Sony PMW-EX3 image flickering when there's no reason it should be. It's happening quite often, and surprisingly, even outdoors. The "flicker reduce" function is not activated and no settings are on "auto". Apparently it happens when shooting in 1080p30 when the shutter is "off", and 1/50th. Here's a link to a short clip showing this phenomenon.

Password: flicker

Has anyone else experienced this? I appreciate your advice.

Meng Li · June 17th, 2014, 01:20 AM

Sounds like you have chosen the wrong shutter speed. Try 1/30 or 1/60, or even 1/120 and check again. If you are in PAL area then it's 1/(25n) while n is a positive integer you can use.

Robin Probyn · June 17th, 2014, 01:39 AM

I don't think so.. as it seems to happen outside without any lighting ... unless the sun is PAL/NSTC..:) judging from the clip.. very odd ..? flicker in natural light..

Anthony Trotter · June 17th, 2014, 03:04 AM

It happens in ALL environments, even sunlight. Flicker seems to come on strong at first, then dissipate, as if the camera's trying to automatically adjust itself. The other three cameras, EX1R, and PMW-200s do not have the same problem. Thought I'd give the forum a try before I talk to Sony.

Andy Wilkinson · June 17th, 2014, 07:12 AM

For sure Sony will need to look at it - luckily I never saw that effect on my EX3 when I had one! The lack of this on your other cams also excludes the shot environment and any NLE conversion issues anyway. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Daniel Epstein · June 17th, 2014, 08:35 AM

I had something like this flicker happen on an EX3 I rented and I believe it was a menu item which I had to disable. Happened outdoors. Your camera may have a different problem. I never ended up buying one so I don't have the fix memorized.

Andy Wilkinson · June 17th, 2014, 08:41 AM

Interesting.... Anthony, perhaps it's worth doing a full camera reset before you talk to Sony (my guess is that they may well ask you to try doing that first anyway?)

Anthony Trotter · June 17th, 2014, 07:48 PM

Thanks for the advice, all. Andy, I will definitely try the camera reset. Do you think I should nuke all of the picture profiles first and load them again after the reset, or just reprogram the profiles from scratch?

June 16th, 2014, 11:31 PM	#1
Anthony Trotter Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Tokyo, Japan Posts: 51	Mysterious Flicker from Sony PMW-EX3 Having a problem with Sony PMW-EX3 image flickering when there's no reason it should be. It's happening quite often, and surprisingly, even outdoors. The "flicker reduce" function is not activated and no settings are on "auto". Apparently it happens when shooting in 1080p30 when the shutter is "off", and 1/50th. Here's a link to a short clip showing this phenomenon. Private Video on Vimeo Password: flicker Has anyone else experienced this? I appreciate your advice. Last edited by Anthony Trotter; June 17th, 2014 at 12:12 AM. Reason: Change of URL address of reference video

June 17th, 2014, 01:20 AM	#2
Meng Li Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Richmond, BC, Canada Posts: 52	Re: Mysterious Flicker from Sony PMW-EX3 Sounds like you have chosen the wrong shutter speed. Try 1/30 or 1/60, or even 1/120 and check again. If you are in PAL area then it's 1/(25n) while n is a positive integer you can use.

June 17th, 2014, 01:39 AM	#3
Robin Probyn Major Player Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Tokyo Posts: 590	Re: Mysterious Flicker from Sony PMW-EX3 I don't think so.. as it seems to happen outside without any lighting ... unless the sun is PAL/NSTC..:) judging from the clip.. very odd ..? flicker in natural light..

June 17th, 2014, 03:04 AM	#4
Anthony Trotter Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Tokyo, Japan Posts: 51	Re: Mysterious Flicker from Sony PMW-EX3 It happens in ALL environments, even sunlight. Flicker seems to come on strong at first, then dissipate, as if the camera's trying to automatically adjust itself. The other three cameras, EX1R, and PMW-200s do not have the same problem. Thought I'd give the forum a try before I talk to Sony.

June 17th, 2014, 07:12 AM	#5
Andy Wilkinson Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cambridge UK Posts: 2,853	Re: Mysterious Flicker from Sony PMW-EX3 For sure Sony will need to look at it - luckily I never saw that effect on my EX3 when I had one! The lack of this on your other cams also excludes the shot environment and any NLE conversion issues anyway. Good luck and let us know how you get on. __________________ Andy K Wilkinson - https://www.shootingimage.co.uk Cambridge (UK) Corporate Video Production

June 17th, 2014, 08:35 AM	#6
Daniel Epstein Trustee Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New York, NY Posts: 1,267	Re: Mysterious Flicker from Sony PMW-EX3 I had something like this flicker happen on an EX3 I rented and I believe it was a menu item which I had to disable. Happened outdoors. Your camera may have a different problem. I never ended up buying one so I don't have the fix memorized.

June 17th, 2014, 08:41 AM	#7
Andy Wilkinson Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cambridge UK Posts: 2,853	Re: Mysterious Flicker from Sony PMW-EX3 Interesting.... Anthony, perhaps it's worth doing a full camera reset before you talk to Sony (my guess is that they may well ask you to try doing that first anyway?) __________________ Andy K Wilkinson - https://www.shootingimage.co.uk Cambridge (UK) Corporate Video Production

June 17th, 2014, 07:48 PM	#8
Anthony Trotter Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Tokyo, Japan Posts: 51	Re: Mysterious Flicker from Sony PMW-EX3 Thanks for the advice, all. Andy, I will definitely try the camera reset. Do you think I should nuke all of the picture profiles first and load them again after the reset, or just reprogram the profiles from scratch?