double image or "Tube Like" smears on a brand new XLH1
 

Hi everyone,

I need help! I was in love with my new XLH1 for a few hours, until I found out that when I pan right or left, tilt up or down I see a 'dragging' image like you used to see while shooting a light source with an old Tube camera, when the light source used to burn a dark image of itself on the tube and stay there for a few seconds even after you've panned away from it. in this case is a complete replica of the image i'm shooting, a double image that's being createt as i pan away. the image draggs along for a brief second only but it looks awful.
Has anyone else noticed it or is this a sigle lemon?
btw - it happens with whichever mode i shoot with - HDV, SD, 16:9, 4:3, 60i, 30f, 24f, steady shot or not.
I still have a few days to return the camera, please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks

Yahel

Have you tried previewing on a different monitor?Maybe it's just the lcd.

I used a sony 8" HR CRT monitor, one that I have used for years with all formats and that I trust and it's the same problem. I too, at first, thought it was only in the viewfinder. any other ideas?

Check that noise reduction is off. There are two different kinds and nr.1 introduce severe ghosting. I take for granted that you´re not shooting with slow shutter speeds and that you are familiar with the limitations of shooting 25 progressive.

I have also noticed a slight delay/ dragging in the LCD; but there is nothing like that on the final tape.
So I guess the Lcd is a bit slow, when I connected an other lcd on Video out; that one was good.
I also noticed if I was outside shooting in colder weather the lcd also dragged the picture bad...but looked good on tape.
A lovely camera but the lcd is one weak point maybe.

All the best

Carl

I am not familiar with limitations of shooting 25p, but would love to be.


Yahel, first of all check the NR1, as was said, because it causes ghosting. Also, I had that type of problem several times, I am not sure but the reason could be the temperature, because I think in my case it happened several times when I was in below the 0 temperature, and then I got in the car, heated the camera and it went away. But again I am not sure, if the cold was the reason.

also, the other day I did some shooting in the office, we have shot 6 scenes. We didn't change anything, but on the next day when we captured it in the computer we found out that the first 4 shots strobing effect, and last two are smooth. I have no idea what happened.

Is this effect being recorded to tape? Can you see it on playback... or is it present only in the viewfinder / live monitor output, and not being recorded to tape?

I get this effect in the viewfinder, but NOT on the material recorded to tape. Are you sure it is on your recordings?

This delay/ghosting seems to be a normal feature of the (relatively) poor viewfinder fitted on this (relatively) expensive camcorder.

You get a better viewfinder with the FX1 which is much cheaper.

I guess that came out wrong. I was referring to strobe from 48 or 25 shutter, since Yahel mentioned panning, but since it appears in interlaced too this is obviously not the case.

Thanks guys! + can you share experiences with it?
 

Indeed! it was the NR1!!! I can't believe at the damage this can cause...
As soon as I turned the NR1 to 'off' it went away from the monitor and the recorded tape! there's still a slight 'smear/ghosting effect' in the EVF but I assume that's 'cause it's a cheap thing...

In general guys - can you tell me how happy are you with the camera otherwise? how about some comparisons to the Sony Z1?
I shoot usually with the big boys - Panasonic Varicam and Sony HDCam F900 and recently saw a full length documentary I shot with the Z1 cineframe 25 on a big screen and it looked amazing. what has you experience been with the XLH1 so far?

Thanks,

Yahel

Yahel, I'm in the same boat as you, regarding the larger format cameras. I was very pleased with the 24F cadence as compared to the f900's. I don't have nearly as much experience with the varicam, but from what I've read it's pretty comperable.

Personally I felt like the canon is a stop or so slower then the f900 but it's also 1/3" vs 2/3. I think teh ebst thing you can do is invest in the fu-1000 as that will give you a little closer to what you're used to with the sony's VF.

I took a look at some of the test footage I shot with this camera combined with a mini 35 and was completely in awe of how great the picture looks. I feel like with this camera and a 35 adapter you can get footage that is easily interchangeable with 16mm. and maybe with some practice and what not approach 35mm looking footage.

I did some test shots with the XLH1 last week and found the low-light shots to have a lot more graininess than the Sony HDV cameras, to an extent which makes me wonder if I had something set wrong. Other than that and the fact that the XLH1 is front heavy and lacks a flip-out LCD panel, I liked it. If the graininess was a fluke this camera should have a lot of potential.