I recently started having a white balance problem with one of my cameras and I’m wondering if anyone has any ideas.

The camera causing the trouble is a Panasonic HMC-150. Same chip set as the HPX-170. It’s a few years old but in really good shape. Lately when I white balance I am getting a blue shift in the image. Doesn’t matter the light source (natural outside, daylight or tungsten) or intensity, the image leans blue–like shooting with a betacam on the wrong filter kind of blue.

When I am unable to get a good white balance I check the image against the presets for comparison. As of late they are offering a more acceptable color rendering and I end up using the preset 5.6K or 3.2K. This leads to some extra color grading but I am just at a loss as to what is causing it.

Before this started I had a pretty good paint profile dialed in. Skintone was accurate and the purples were true. I have checked those menu options and they are when I have always set them.

I have tried warm cards and balanced on a warm 1 and then a 2 and it still looks like the wrong filter is being applied.

Could the sensor be going bad? Has anyone, on any camera, run into this situation? If the camera is done I’m OK with that. It has had a good run. If it’s something I can fix–great. If it needs to be serviced I’ll consider it as there is plenty of life left if this issue can be fixed.

I have used a vector scope and compared it to the built in vector scope–both put out the same readings. And of course it only measures the signal the camera gives it. I wonder if my setting are not being applied as accurately as they once were. What do you think?