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Sony DSR-450WS


Stephen Edwards

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Hello,

Yes, I have just purchased a Sony DSR-450WS and am very happy with it's image quality!! I shoot corporate and broadcast "cut-ins". Can now fill the demand for that 24p look as well as giving them 16:9 if they so desire. My purchase decisions are driven by what my clients want and as of yet HD is not ready for my money. Granted, I feel that this will be the last SD Camera that I will buy but should bridge the gap for a few years until HD is ready for prime time.

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Guest TVTim

Hey there.

 

Great to hear. I am pretty much in the same boat and agree with your reasons. Hope you enjoy it as much as I am.

 

Tim.

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A friend of mine just got one in his TV production company and showed it to me a couple of hours ago, looks great. We're thinking of buying ones in the school I teach. Wish there was a digi beta cam in the same range of price... But when you already have DVCAM decks...

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Congratulations on your purchase, Stephen! I've had mine for about 6 months now and all my clients are very happy with the image quality.

 

My main competition, for whom I used to work, uses an F900! Of course, no one here posts in HD and it's all downconverted. I've used both since being out on my own and would compare SD video head to head all the time. Honestly, it's tough to tell the difference and I'm very picky! Especially when you consider the huge price difference.

 

Anyway, I'm happy to hear we have another in the fold. Congratulations!

 

Jac

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Congratulations on your purchase, Stephen! I've had mine for about 6 months now and all my clients are very happy with the image quality.

 

My main competition, for whom I used to work, uses an F900! Of course, no one here posts in HD and it's all downconverted. I've used both since being out on my own and would compare SD video head to head all the time. Honestly, it's tough to tell the difference and I'm very picky! Especially when you consider the huge price difference.

 

Anyway, I'm happy to hear we have another in the fold. Congratulations!

 

Jac

 

 

I have a question about the DSR-450WS; How do you generate a test tone with the color bars? With my D30 you just put both mic inputs to front and run your bars.

It's not in the manual...

Thanks

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I have a question about the DSR-450WS; How do you generate a test tone with the color bars? ... It's not in the manual...

The info is "hidden" on page 86:

 

MAINTENANCE menu, AUDIO, "AU SG (1KHz)".

 

Set the audio switches to "Front" and then adjust the audio level knobs.

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I know it will be atleast another year before Time Warner in cincinnati begins testing HD inserts for commercials...and even after that it will be downconverted. Sounds like a good investment. You don't want to get one of the lower end HD cameras that have SD capability because the quality won't be as good.

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Hello,

Yes, I have just purchased a Sony DSR-450WS and am very happy with it's image quality!! I shoot corporate and broadcast "cut-ins". Can now fill the demand for that 24p look as well as giving them 16:9 if they so desire. My purchase decisions are driven by what my clients want and as of yet HD is not ready for my money. Granted, I feel that this will be the last SD Camera that I will buy but should bridge the gap for a few years until HD is ready for prime time.

 

Congrats! :D

 

Can you please tell me what is the major difference with Sony DSR-400PAL of yours one? Price difference is alomost 50% . Your one is 50% premium priced.

 

I need comments from Sony DSR 400 PAL user also to take my decision to buy one. Whether I should go with 400 or 450.

 

Thanks for helping me.

 

Regards.

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Congrats! :D

 

Can you please tell me what is the major difference with Sony DSR-400PAL of yours one? Price difference is alomost 50% . Your one is 50% premium priced.

 

I need comments from Sony DSR 400 PAL user also to take my decision to buy one. Whether I should go with 400 or 450.

 

Thanks for helping me.

 

Regards.

 

 

Hello,

The Sony DSR-450WS gives you 16:9 / 4:3 switchable and 24p...

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Hello,

The Sony DSR-450WS gives you 16:9 / 4:3 switchable and 24p...

In addition to its native 16:9 (4:3 switchable) capability:

 

The DSR-450 NTSC version can record 24p, 24pA, 30p, and 60i.

 

The DSR-450 PAL version can record 25p and 50i.

 

The DSR-450 has a Slow Shutter feature (NTSC: 1-8 and 16 frames [1/30-1/4 and 1/2 sec.]; PAL: 1-8 and 16 frames [1/25-1/3 and 2/3 sec.]). Slow Shutter is a interlace video feature (not progressive).

 

The DSR-450 has multiple/selectable gamma curves.

 

The DSR-450 has a composite video output connector (no on-screen displays/menus/markers), in addition to the "monitor" composite video out connector (with on-screen displays/menus/markers).

 

The DSR-450 has an option available from Sony for "live" SDI digital video out ("uncompressed" 10-bit 4:2:2) for improved monitoring accuracy or recording to an external device such as a SDI-equipped Panasonic DVCPRO-50 VCR, or a SDI-equipped bonsaiDrive:

http://www.bonsaidrive.com/bonsai.html

 

The DSR-450 has a 4:3 Aspect Mask VF marker feature not available with the DSR-400.

 

The DSR-450 has port for connecting an optional Sony wired remote control (RM-B150 or B750).

 

The DSR-450 has an option available from Sony to allow input and recording of external composite video.

 

In case you missed it, this info is in the DSR-400/DSR-450 user manual, a copy of which is available in the docs section of cinematography.com

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  • 1 month later...
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Not a 450 owner - just a wannabe owner. Thought I'd chime in on 'bridgin' the gap' before HD takes over and people getting grief for buying SD.

 

I just confounded several colleagues by snagging a used DXC 537 with a Beta back. I like the notion of shooting on Beta for $1,500. That's almost equal to one 8 gig card for the Panny HVX 200!

 

Call me cheap but I like to romanticize it as good business. I'll be more than happy to pick up the pieces from someone else's camera package when they feel the need for the next 'best thing'. Picture's great. Audio's still solid. No complaints here.

 

What caught my eye was this thread. The DSR_WS series looks really interesting. I am jealous. Enjoy your new purchase!

 

Sounds like most everyone here will be primed and ready when our clients / networks are 'really' ready for HD.

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Hi Jac,

 

I don't want to tread too much on other forum owners toes. http://www.simonwyndham.co.uk/phpbb2

 

I was tempted to call them "Just another load of camera forums"! I hope some people find them useful even though some of the subjects might be similar to other places. I am concious of appearing to compete with others though, when in fact I have no intention of competing with great places like this and DVinfo etc. So I hope the mods won't mind me posting that link.

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First, I want to say what a wonderful discovery this website is.

I wish there had been an internet thirty year ago when I began this crazy ride.

Second, the people I work for recently asked me to pick the next set of ENG/EFP cameras.

Having used a BVW600 for several years for interviews and B roll, I was less than impressed with the DSR370's that were purchased without my input.

Now that I have whined and complained for two years, I hope the comments on this thread hold true.

Having only a few hours to make the decision, I chose the 450ws without really understanding what we will be getting. Please tell me it will look a whole lot better than a 370. I know they have full sized CCD's and that should make all the difference I would think.

 

DinoG

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First, I want to say what a wonderful discovery this website is.

I wish there had been an internet thirty year ago when I began this crazy ride.

Second, the people I work for recently asked me to pick the next set of ENG/EFP cameras.

Having used a BVW600 for several years for interviews and B roll, I was less than impressed with the DSR370's that were purchased without my input.

Now that I have whined and complained for two years, I hope the comments on this thread hold true.

Having only a few hours to make the decision, I chose the 450ws without really understanding what we will be getting. Please tell me it will look a whole lot better than a 370. I know they have full sized CCD's and that should make all the difference I would think.

 

DinoG

 

Yes, the 450 is a far superior camera due not only to the new 2/3" 1million pix chips, 30p&24p and extensive custom menue system to give you what ever look you want! I would advise following the camera set-up that Simon Wyndhym has posted and then go from there. The camera has way to much of that snappy detail look out of the box and can do with a bit of tweaking to give it a more organic feel.

Good luck!

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Please tell me it will look a whole lot better than a 370. I know they have full sized CCD's and that should make all the difference I would think.

 

DinoG

 

I love my 450, having sold a DSR-390. I agree with everyone else - there are so many new menu items, you should love it. Having said that, the 450 is no match for low light capability! It's just not good in low light. Otherwise, it can't be beat. (And I got it before the huge Sony rebate.)

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Guest Tim Lucas

I too am really happy with my 450. I have held on my my old DSR300 to use for filming conferences as it usually handles the low lighting situations alot better than the 450.

 

I also mentioned a while ago that the flip out screen on the 450 had a magenta bias on it. That has now been fixed with a new board sent out from Japan. (Although I am sure I can still see too much magenta in the LCD)

 

As for my decision weather to go to XD or HD when I was upgrading my camera I already had a 300 and a PD150, my business was completely setup for DVcam. Most of my work is non-broadcast so I will be giving the format wars a couple more years to sort themselves out.

 

One thing for sure is that my clients are very happy with the quality of work produced by these cameras.

 

Tim.

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