What is Black Shading Calibration???

[Conrad H]

Title says it all.

Jim mentions that it's pretty important, but I don't think I've seen a discussion of it. Can we have a "dummies" version of what it is and how to do it?

Thanks everybody.

 

[Martin Weiss]

Basically it calibrates the sensor. Good idea to do whenever upgrading/downgrading the firmware, when the temperature changes or when doing longer exposures.

Also, the changes are additive, meaning it is a good idea to reset the black shading once in a while.

Here's a good starting point for further reading:

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=site:reduser.net+black+shading&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

 

[Jannard]

Title says it all.

Jim mentions that it's pretty important, but I don't think I've seen a discussion of it. Can we have a "dummies" version of what it is and how to do it?

Thanks everybody.

Technical details of why can come from Deanan, but after you load new firmware in your camera:

1. Put your lens cap on and adjust aperture to T22 (or most closed position).
2. Make sure you have 3 bars or more on your battery... or are on A/C.
3. Go to system menu/maintenance/black shade cal and start the process. Takes a few minutes.

Jim

 

[Deanan]

Title says it all.

Jim mentions that it's pretty important, but I don't think I've seen a discussion of it. Can we have a "dummies" version of what it is and how to do it?

Thanks everybody.

Black shading does an in the field black level calibration.
It takes care of any new stuck pixels or drastic environmental changes.

 

[BigLu]

Can one blackshade too often or is there any problem with blacksading too many times?
Some AC's swear by doing it at every new project, some ive seen not worry to much about it.

Can I think of it as AWB on a BETASP camera? I would do that every day or new lighting set ups.
Basically often.

 

[Stephen Strangways]

Can I think of it as AWB on a BETASP camera?

It's like ABB, Auto Black Balance. That's on Panasonic cameras, but I'm not sure about Sony.

You can't do it too often, it basically just tests and calibrates the sensor when no light is hitting it. It should be done after every firmware update at the very least. Some people choose to do it again when shooting in different ambient temperatures, as the temperature of the sensor can affect dark noise that the black shading is trying to measure and eliminate.

 

[Jannard]

Correct... you can't do it too often, although it isn't necessary to do it except when installing new firmware, extreme temperature changes, or for very long exposures.

Jim

 

[Eric Haase]

You might as well do it at the camera prep for starters.

 

[Tim Whitcomb]

20 Minutes and counting... is this normal?

 

[Eirik Tyrihjel]

20 minutes, never had that here... usually takes maybe 5 minutes.

 

[Tim Whitcomb]

Actually its now 45 minutes and the battery is down to 1 bar... argh... going to power down before it loses power...

Im assuming the newness of the MX sensor is why its taking so long?

now what that I powered it down?

 

[Sean R.]

HI Tim,

Should not be taking that long. Try a different CF card. Please let me know if I can help further.

Sean Ruggeri

sean at red dot com

 

[Tim Whitcomb]

Thanks Sean- sent you an email-

Turms out it was an improperly formatted CF Card. Reformatted and started again, going thru its phases much quicker. I trust that will do the trick.

Thanks again, for others...

MAKE SURE TO FORMAT CF CARD "BEFORE" PERFORIMNG BLACKSHADE CALIBRATION

EDIT: and use spell check when posting on reduser

 

[Esteban Truyol]

Correct... you can't do it too often, although it isn't necessary to do it except when installing new firmware, extreme temperature changes, or for very long exposures.

Jim

What can happen exactly if i do it everyday for example? Some people tell me i should do it everyday. I follow the recommendation from Jim, but i would like to know the reason why i shouldn't do it too often.

 

[Ravi Kiran]

What can happen exactly if i do it everyday for example? Some people tell me i should do it everyday. I follow the recommendation from Jim, but i would like to know the reason why i shouldn't do it too often.

By "you can't do it too often" I think he meant that there's no such thing as "too often." You won't harm anything by doing it daily.