Green Cast In Images From EOS C100 Mark II Camera - So Disappointed!

[LarryCook]

I just received my new Canon EOS C100 Mark II video camera several days ago and I am running numerous tests and I am discovering that the white balance is pretty much horrible. I have tested in C-Log, CP7, various exposures, and have used all of the white balancing options, includig manual (with a white/grey card), auto (horrible color), preset (horrible again) and kelvin adjust. I've tested with my professional 5500 daylight fluoresecnt lighting (in a softbox) and consitantly get a green cast over the entire image - it's just a matter of degree. I ran a test with professional 3200 tungsten lighting and it is much less pronounced, but still there. I've Google searched this issue and I see numerous other people have had similar problems with white balance on this camera. There is talk of adding magenta in the camera settings - but why should I have to do a workaround like that? A $1,000 cheap video camera gets better white balance than this $4,500 prosumer one!

I have a Panosonic HPX170 camera and have zero problems white balancing it under any of these lighting options. Not one issue at all. No matter the camera profile I select.

I also own a Sony Z1U camera and used to shoot with it quite a while ago, and again, used the same lights and had zero problems with white balance.

So, what I am now trying to figure out is whether or not I have a defective camera, or if the C100 ships this way and everyone simply does workarounds with a poorly created white balance system. Honestly, this should not be a concern of mine! Just figuring out the entire process of applying LUTs in post production should be plenty enough for me to figure out without needing to concern myself with a camera that produces a green cast. 

Any feedback you may have would be most appreciate. Keep in mind, I've been shooting for quite a while so I know how to get  "proper white balance" with properly functioning video cameras.

Thank you.

Larry

[Tim]

Hello LarryCook, 

We are sorry to read of the green color cast that seems so pervasive in all of your captured footage.  Under normal circumstances brand new out of the box cameras should not require such drastic action just to get an image which is nominally color corrected.  Without a doubt some customization would be in order to adjust to certain specifications or tailor to a unique situation but from the sounds of things that's not what is happening here.  

Canon operates a dedicated 24 hotline for the EOS Cinema products and I'd like to refer you there first because live step by step support is an excellent way to talk settings through with an agent and hopefully avoid having to send the camera in for service.  

1-855-CINE-EOS (1-855-246-3367)

[LarryCook]

I've ran some more tests today and I have concluded the C-Log has a green cast to it. I did call the ciema line and I'm taking the camera to Canon tomorrow so that it can be examined. I hope they can fix the problem. I've spent days on this to determine that it really is the camera and not operator error.

[LarryCook]

UPDATE: I took the camera to the Canon repair facility in Hollywood, CA. The tech there confirmed that there is too much green in C-log mode, and made adjustments. However, after I got the camera returned I ran another test and I see that there is still green in the image, though, much less. I think the problem at the repair facility is that the tech only used a monitor to view the camera image in the C-log format. If you have a C100 then you know that in C-log the image is washed out and low contrast, for the most part. When I put the footage into an editor and only adjusted contrast, blacks, whites and exposure (e.g., did nothing to color), there was still green in the image (most obvious in the darker parts of the footage). 

Since I purchased the camera from B&H, I'll be exchanging it for another camera. 

On another note, I told the rep at Canon that this problem has been mentioned in several online forums and he was not aware of that. If your C100 is shoting green in C-log, let Canon know!