Raynox 3035/5050 + cx115

[Flinken 0]

Raynox 3035/5050 + cx115

I replaced my workhorse cx105 with the cx115, and now I’m having issues with the sharpness in the footage using Raynox 3035 (same results with the Raynox 5050).
I tried to different cx115 with same results.

When light conditions changes, the picture gets noticeable grainy and out of focus. The cx115 is set to manual focus (infinity), color x.y, steady shot standard, and the rest to there default values.

The attached snapshots are taken from two consecutive clips, in the plane just before climb out and hanging outside before exit.

With a liquid 0.45 I have consistent picture quality (except for the more chromatic abbreviation you get from single element lenses), but we are not discussing this here.

Does some one else experienced the same issues?
Any suggestions for cx115 settings?


Edit: added the pictures
/Flinken

[velvetjo 0]

I've had good results with those lenses on a CX100 with the manual focus between 1.4 - 2.0m. Infinity wasn't sharp up close.

Are you zoomed in at all?

Lance

[Flinken 0]

I also hade good results with the cx105, that’s why I’m so surprised that cx115 doesn’t work as well.

In the posted images I hade an istzybitzy amount of zoom and performed a refocus after that. The zoom was never changed for the whole gig.

I can understand it if the “crappynes” shows up thru out the whole take in all clips, but it seems cx115 with 3035 or 5050 has trouble of handling light shifting conditions as well as my old cx105.

/Flinken

[Shoot 0]

You could try spot focus at 3/4ft

[DSE 5]

Spot focus on hard contrast from 6' away should make this problem go away from you.
Using infinity doesn't work so well with the small HD cams because of the sensor size.

[Flinken 0]

Thank you Shoot & DSE!
I'll try it out this weekend

/Flinken

[Flinken 0]

Quote

Thank you Shoot & DSE!
I'll try it out this weekend

/Flinken

Didn’t help much

I’m suspecting the Auto backlight function causing the problems, didn’t try switching it off yet. If so I’ll have to be more selective on when and when not to film a take (I almost never get to seat where I need/want in the plane).
I will first try to use auto focus for all clips (except for the freefall) to see if it helps (more fiddling but an easy solution if it works)

/Flinken

[PharmerPhil 0]

FWIW, I always use auto-focus for everything except freefall. I spot focus to something 5-6 feet away in the plane after my in-flight interview, and turn back to auto-focus as soon as I land.

Climbs to altitude are usually slow circles. So I try to do my in-plane interviews when the light is more favorable for the student, and I try to avoid having a window right behind my subject (although that can be hard in some planes, including the one in your shots).

I really preferred the auto-exposure compensation in my old HC-5, where I could manually dial in a given degree of compensation. Although I imagine you could set manual exposure for your in-plane stuff (as long as you remember to turn it off before exiting).

[Flinken 0]

Did some jumps this weekend with the Backlight compensation turned off without any success. I still have the “blurry/out of focus effect” as explained at the top off this thread. The only thing remaining is to play with the exposure, but getting it right for every jump would be a PITA. I’m considering giving my Raynox lenses a good long vacation until I retire my cx115 for another model.

/Flinken

[Zlew 0]

Does it have the same issue with the wide angle removed?

Does anyone on here know if the CX115 has an aperture that physically changes to adjust exposure?

This is a long shot I'm sure, but if for whatever reason the lens isn't able to actually get full crispness on your camera (bogus lens, wide angle lens setting isn't turned on, etc.)- the difference in crispness on the pics could be just due to the aperture closing down more in the bright outside light (pinhole camera effect). This is a well known effect in standard photography, and should also be the case for video.

If this is what's happening, it would explain why in lower light conditions (open aperture) the image is more fuzzy, but in higher light settings, the image would be significantly more crisp via the smaller aperture.

Like I said... it may be a long shot...just thinking out loud here.

[Bowen 0]

I too had this set up (CX100) with no issues. sucks its not working with your CX115. what did you replace the CX115 with?

-Bowen

Retired Tunnel Instructor, Sky/Tunnel Coach

Former dealer for 2k Composites, Skysystems, Alti-2, Wings

[sbb 0]

I have the same sort of thing only with a CX150, too. However, raw footage viewed on a computer is sharp and colorful. Viewed after burning to a dvd looks about the same.