Ralph Oshiro

What does a post about "story" have to do with a technical discussion thread?

Film grain can look very cool, and very organic. However, in videoland, unwanted, excessive chroma noise is awful enough on camera masters. After compression (e.g., when mastering for DVD), excessive chroma noise becomes unbelievably distracting, IMO.

Excuse me, but calling RED reservation holders, "imbeciles," seems a bit over the top to me.

This is my personal "minimum" RED system: $17,500 . . . . RED ONE body w/PL-mount (includes LCD, but no EVF) $ 1,000 . . . . .RED DRIVE (160GB on-board HDD, holds 1-hour REDCODE 4K) $ 1,000* . . . .Nikon F-mount adapter *(this is only my personal guess, based on hinted pricing strategy) So, the minimum system would be the body, 1-hour on-board storage, either V-mount or other battery system, and glass. The camera comes with a V-mount battery mount. I already own four Anton Bauer bricks, and a V-mount to Gold Mount adapter. I also already own a ton of fast Nikkors. By the way, what's with all the hostility on this board?

My $0.02 . . . White balance normally: 5600K filter in daylight, 3200K filter in tungsten. I would highly recommend that you perform all of your color correction in POST--keep your camera masters as pristine as possible!

Dear Dream Merchant: If you can afford it, I would highly recommend the DSR450 over the DSR400 or any of the other 1/3" CCD prosumer HDV cameras. With the DSR450, you get a professional production tool that competes nicely with most any other 2/3" SD broadcast camera out there. It has 24-frame, progressive shooting capability to emulate film's motion characteristics, and a native, 16:9, widescreen aspect ratio to further emulate film's wider aspect ratio. These are the same types of features employed by top-of-the-line cameras from Sony and Panasonic such as the HDW-F900 CineAlta and Varicam HD cameras, only the DSR450 is SD resolution and a fraction of the cost. Since your country's broadcast infrastructure is still in its infancy, I think a high quality, professional-level SD camera such as the DSR450 may serve you far better than a small prosumer HDV camcorder. If budget is an issue, and you have an immediate need for HD capability, the JVC HD100 is a nice pro-style product which produces a 720P HDV signal. The HD100 is still what I would consider a "prosumer" camera with its 1/3" CCDs. With the JVC, you'll save a lot of money over the DSR450, and you'll have pictures with greater resolution, but at the cost of higher picture noise levels, lowered low-light sensitivity, and inherently greater depth-of-field (not desirable for "selective focus" photography--a popular cinematography technique). And, your HDV workflow will be a bit more taxing on your editing workstation. In my opinion, the Sony DSR450 is a breakthrough indie-cinema camera at a price that's pretty darn low for what you're getting. Regards, Ralph Oshiro, DP/camera operator

Anyone ever actually try this system configuration out? The CBK-SD01 SDI output board only outputs video only, right (no SMPTE or audio)? Does the bonsai record SMPTE and audio? Does the bonsai respond to any type of record "stop/start" signal from the camera record switch? Thanks for any replies.

SONY DSR450 FORUM PLEA: Well, guys . . . I just sent a lengthy plea to the forum administrator here, Tim Tyler, BEGGING, for a Sony DSR450 forum here at cinematography.com. Perhaps a few more PMs (and maybe even promises of future multiple paid subscriptions!) will entice Tim to see things our way. There are some awfully knowledgable people here at cinematography.com, and I think that this site is a PERFECT fit for Sony's version of the much-heralded SDX900, Sony's DSR450WS! Regards, Ralph Oshiro Proud new owner of the lowest-cost, highest-quality, 24P SD indie-cinema camera, the Sony DSR450, the camera without an online discussion forum to call its own . . .

As a recent DSR450 owner, I agree! Maybe cinematography.com could find it in its heart to give a home to our poor, orphan camera of choice? As a former/current Panasonic DVX100 owner, I used to frequent DVXUSER.com quite often (and still do), but Jarred has chosen to refocus the site to become more DVX/HVX-centric (as well as he should). But, WE NEED A HOME! Cinematography.com seems like a good fit! Anyone know the moderators here personally? Regards Jeff: Great post! It's been so long since I've posted here, that I forgot my old username and had to re-register! Look forward to more of your findings, Jeff! [Rezfactor]