Help! Lousy color rendering, especially red tones -anyone else than me?

David Delaney · January 11th, 2007, 07:03 PM

I am not happy about it. I am going to try and talk to Sony about it, tell them it is not a repair, but something that should have been done already. I might just take it back to Circuit City and see what they say...

Jamie Hellmich · January 11th, 2007, 08:48 PM

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...h/DSC00155.jpg

My HC1 does very well with reds. Video or jpg.

Jamie

David Delaney · January 11th, 2007, 08:51 PM

I am not sure which batch of HC1's you have, but mine is more magenta then red when I see 'red' coloured objects, like explained in this thread. That looks great though! Are you capturing using anything? HD connect? Vegas? PPro?

Jamie Hellmich · January 11th, 2007, 09:17 PM

This was actually taken in memory mode (jpg), but is reflective of the video mode as well. This was taken in March right after I got the camera, in full auto.

I keep hearing about people having problems with reds, and just wanted to say mine does well. Plugging the picture in was an after thought.

I thought about throwing a frame grab in from Vegas, but then you can get into...is it real... or retouched. As stated, mine does very well. My wife even says so, and she's the color expert. If her red dress don't look red, she'd let me know, and wonder why I spent all this money :^)

Jamie

Christian de Godzinsky · January 15th, 2007, 03:15 PM

Hi,

Be happy if your HC1 has good reds out of the box. Most of the HC1's have (or should I say had). However, there are (or was) some (early) units (I have now seen 3 of them - out of one was mine) that had really lousy lilac reds. A red ferrary did not look red at all. Light-skinned people in dark indoor light looked as they just had come out from a sauna... The Sony salesman in one of the Sony shops could not believe his eyes when we compared their demo HC1 and my HC1 with other 1000€ cheaper Sony camcorders.

I have seen the HC1 service manual. There is a myriad of adjustments that can be adjusted for good color balance, that are performed using proper equipment and a service controller. I got mine fixed at the Sony service in Paris (shipped from Helsinki, back and forth, on Sonys cost), now the HC1 is totally OK.

I don't know what went wrong originally at Sony, but some units had this problem from the beginning. For fixing such a shortcoming you should not pay anything since it has been there from day one in your HC1. Keep on to your rights.

Christian

David Delaney · January 20th, 2007, 01:14 PM

Has anyone had any luck USA-wise on getting Sony to update the Firmware for free? I don't want to pay the $260.00 for a firmware update if I can help it, but it does seem to help the RED on the camera.

David Delaney · February 7th, 2007, 04:57 PM

Well, I just got off the phone with Sony. They are refusing to admit there is a firmware upgrade or that anything is wrong with the camera. I have a suggestion :
Anyone that has this problem with the HC1, phone into Sony :

1-800-222-7669 (toll free)

Ask for Tech support and tell them the problem. If enough people do this, we might make Sony wake up and smell the coffee. I was told I could send my camera back in for repair to the "red" problem ,but it would cost me $250.00. I told them, this is something that should have been fixed right out of the factory, but they won't budge because they think it is an isolated incident.
Well, that is my two cents. I would like to get a dozen or so phone calls to Sony to make them change their tune on this.

Douglas Spotted Eagle · February 9th, 2007, 11:44 AM

Given that it's been nearly a year since this camcorder was discontinued, there is little point in continuing this particular discussion.
Thanks to everyone for their input.

January 15th, 2007, 03:15 PM	#50
Christian de Godzinsky Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Helsinki/Finland Posts: 131	Hi, Be happy if your HC1 has good reds out of the box. Most of the HC1's have (or should I say had). However, there are (or was) some (early) units (I have now seen 3 of them - out of one was mine) that had really lousy lilac reds. A red ferrary did not look red at all. Light-skinned people in dark indoor light looked as they just had come out from a sauna... The Sony salesman in one of the Sony shops could not believe his eyes when we compared their demo HC1 and my HC1 with other 1000€ cheaper Sony camcorders. I have seen the HC1 service manual. There is a myriad of adjustments that can be adjusted for good color balance, that are performed using proper equipment and a service controller. I got mine fixed at the Sony service in Paris (shipped from Helsinki, back and forth, on Sonys cost), now the HC1 is totally OK. I don't know what went wrong originally at Sony, but some units had this problem from the beginning. For fixing such a shortcoming you should not pay anything since it has been there from day one in your HC1. Keep on to your rights. Christian __________________ The future does not exist - we must invent it !

February 9th, 2007, 11:44 AM	#53
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	Given that it's been nearly a year since this camcorder was discontinued, there is little point in continuing this particular discussion. Thanks to everyone for their input. __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

January 11th, 2007, 07:03 PM	#46
David Delaney Trustee Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Niagara Ontario Canada Posts: 1,121	I am not happy about it. I am going to try and talk to Sony about it, tell them it is not a repair, but something that should have been done already. I might just take it back to Circuit City and see what they say...

January 11th, 2007, 08:48 PM	#47
Jamie Hellmich Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Ormond Beach, FL Posts: 105	http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...h/DSC00155.jpg My HC1 does very well with reds. Video or jpg. Jamie

January 11th, 2007, 08:51 PM	#48
David Delaney Trustee Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Niagara Ontario Canada Posts: 1,121	I am not sure which batch of HC1's you have, but mine is more magenta then red when I see 'red' coloured objects, like explained in this thread. That looks great though! Are you capturing using anything? HD connect? Vegas? PPro?

January 11th, 2007, 09:17 PM	#49
Jamie Hellmich Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Ormond Beach, FL Posts: 105	This was actually taken in memory mode (jpg), but is reflective of the video mode as well. This was taken in March right after I got the camera, in full auto. I keep hearing about people having problems with reds, and just wanted to say mine does well. Plugging the picture in was an after thought. I thought about throwing a frame grab in from Vegas, but then you can get into...is it real... or retouched. As stated, mine does very well. My wife even says so, and she's the color expert. If her red dress don't look red, she'd let me know, and wonder why I spent all this money :^) Jamie

January 20th, 2007, 01:14 PM	#51
David Delaney Trustee Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Niagara Ontario Canada Posts: 1,121	Has anyone had any luck USA-wise on getting Sony to update the Firmware for free? I don't want to pay the $260.00 for a firmware update if I can help it, but it does seem to help the RED on the camera.

February 7th, 2007, 04:57 PM	#52
David Delaney Trustee Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Niagara Ontario Canada Posts: 1,121	Well, I just got off the phone with Sony. They are refusing to admit there is a firmware upgrade or that anything is wrong with the camera. I have a suggestion : Anyone that has this problem with the HC1, phone into Sony : 1-800-222-7669 (toll free) Ask for Tech support and tell them the problem. If enough people do this, we might make Sony wake up and smell the coffee. I was told I could send my camera back in for repair to the "red" problem ,but it would cost me $250.00. I told them, this is something that should have been fixed right out of the factory, but they won't budge because they think it is an isolated incident. Well, that is my two cents. I would like to get a dozen or so phone calls to Sony to make them change their tune on this.