The color green with the FX7

[Leslie Wand]

they always say the other man's grass is always greener....

here in outback aus it's usually various shades of yellow-brown - but where there is grass, and since it's spring there's quite a bit of it, i find shooting with wb on outdoors (little sun symbol) give absolutely spot on colour....

then again, we are upside down, so it might affect our colour sense ;-P

leslie

[Mike Burgess]

Well, I have agonized and agonized some more, until I feel like giving up. It is like shopping for a new car and liking everything about one particular model, except the color is one shade off from what you want.
Ths Sony FX7 displays a very good picture on my Toshiba 42" plasma, even when I burn the downloaded footage to a regular DVD (of course the original directly from the camcorder is still much better). But the one shade of green; that bright, light, spring green found on Aspens and Poplars in the month of May, seems impossible for the Sony to capture and reproduce accurately.
I have footage (purchased DVDs) that was shot from other camcorders (have no idea what brand) that show a much more accurate spring green than anything I have been able to capture and reproduce with the Sony.
So this begs the question. Is there anything that I can do with the Sony to rectify the problem (please tell me there is), or should I consider another brand of camcorder?

Mike

[Leslie Wand]

Originally Posted by Mike Burgess

I have footage (purchased DVDs) that was shot from other camcorders (have no idea what brand) that show a much more accurate spring green than anything I have been able to capture and reproduce with the Sony.
So this begs the question. Is there anything that I can do with the Sony to rectify the problem (please tell me there is), or should I consider another brand of camcorder?

Mike

what dvd's? i can assure you if they are paid for national geo. or discovery channel type dvd's they are shot on cameras that probably cost far in excess of any regular car you're likely to look at ;-)

have you found / seen a green you like as yet from a regular (affordable) camcorder? if so buy it, otherwise, the fx7 is going to be about as good as it gets...

leslie

[Mike Burgess]

Originally Posted by Leslie Wand

what dvd's? i can assure you if they are paid for national geo. or discovery channel type dvd's they are shot on cameras that probably cost far in excess of any regular car you're likely to look at ;-)

have you found / seen a green you like as yet from a regular (affordable) camcorder? if so buy it, otherwise, the fx7 is going to be about as good as it gets...

leslie

No, these other DVDs that I was referring to were those shot by other small time producers like myself. Even though I am not privy to what equipment they were using, I can guess that it would be equipment that cost less than $9,000 (a couple of them I have met and talked to, and do know that their camcorders used were in the $4-8k range).
As for trying other prosumer camcorders, that is virtually impossible up here in the far north of Michigan. No upscale stores available for me to test prosumer HD camcorders, and as of yet, am not aware of anyone up here who has HD prosumer equipment (other than the FX7 of a friend of mine). So I have to depend on what I learn on the net.

Thanks,
Mike

[Vaughan Wood]

Mike,

Maybe you should consider the V1 instead of the FX 7, where you can go in any change colour settings and knee settings as Piotr seggusted, so you could set up a profile to suit your greens as desired.

Cheers Vaughan

[Seth Bloombaum]

Originally Posted by Mike Burgess

Thanks Seth and Dan. I can't try any white balance or whatever yet because the camcorder is not mine and I don't think I should be adjusting anything without permission. ...

Originally Posted by Mike Burgess

Well, I have agonized and agonized some more, until I feel like giving up. It is like shopping for a new car and liking everything about one particular model, except the color is one shade off from what you want....

If you've not yet done a custom white balance you've not really adjusted the camera for optimum color reproduction.

[Leslie Wand]

Originally Posted by Seth Bloombaum

If you've not yet done a custom white balance you've not really adjusted the camera for optimum color reproduction.

how very true!!! it's not as if you're going to pull your mates camera to pieces on the workbench. simply follow the instructions in the manual, it's not rocket science nor can it in anyway whatsoever harm / damage / destroy his camera.

as for your remoteness, i can assure you i am equally remote here in outback australia, but if i'm going to spend $2k> on ANYTHING, it's worth a trip to the city for a touchy-feely session, and to shoot some test footage.

leslie

[Joe Busch]

I use the preset "sunny" white-balance... I've had to color-correct levels and saturation for most of my footage to get it how I liked...

[Chris Hull]

Originally Posted by Mike Burgess

Well, I have agonized and agonized some more, until I feel like giving up. It is like shopping for a new car and liking everything about one particular model, except the color is one shade off from what you want.
Ths Sony FX7 displays a very good picture on my Toshiba 42" plasma, even when I burn the downloaded footage to a regular DVD (of course the original directly from the camcorder is still much better). But the one shade of green; that bright, light, spring green found on Aspens and Poplars in the month of May, seems impossible for the Sony to capture and reproduce accurately.
I have footage (purchased DVDs) that was shot from other camcorders (have no idea what brand) that show a much more accurate spring green than anything I have been able to capture and reproduce with the Sony.
So this begs the question. Is there anything that I can do with the Sony to rectify the problem (please tell me there is), or should I consider another brand of camcorder?

Mike

well the results you got with bright,light,greens are what i get no setting alters it on mine i live with it. other colors are good as is the cam overall.i am not sure what the diffference with the fx-7,s colour level and colour phase settings with the v1 and its change colour settings and knee settings interested how they work.

[Mike Burgess]

If I do go with the sony, then I will definately live with it (the greens). Before I make my final decision, I will try to either find some other cameras in this area, or I will make a several hour drive to some place that has the other camcorders so I can compare. Lousy time of year up here to be doing that.

Let me just say that except for the greens, I was very impressed with the FX7. I just noticed that the price for the FX7 at a popular sellers site, went up $200.00. Whats up with that? Obviously there is something happening in the market that I am not aware of.

Thanks again to all who responded. Hesitation is a terrible thing. Fear (as in being disappointed) is much much worse; especially considering the amount of money envolved.

Mike