Hagen

Okay Michael your are totally right with the 2/3" CMOS Sensor. http://www.drachenfeder.com/aktuelles/drake_tech.htm The thing is it seems that we talk about different topics. I was at ARRI D20 test shootings early this year in Germany where the D20 still had dual HD-SDI cable interface. I talked to the chief engineer and chief electronic mechanic and saw the shot material with high contrast shoots. They compared with 35mm shoots. It is totally right that ARRI should not destroy their reputation and they wont. The images were incredible good. I think the Drake won't take the market for the ARRI while ARRI has the market already (at least in Germany). And by the way: they are German too, so no patriote discussion required... Anyway what I wanted to say is that the Drake is an low level alternative (especially for independents may be) and should be rented always (see my thread above). And yes it is a little bit hobby filmmaking but why not? Why do you creat such a mystery if they are no competitors against ARRI? I think there is no doubt that ARRI is the professional one. But there is still the Drake camera... Just in the end to note: 35mm film window sensor is out of discussion any 2/3" is not really digital cinema...

Well just some brief notes... Michael: why are you fighting against this Drake camera? I am nearly graduated media technology student and I start cinematography studies at Filmakademie Ludwigsburg in South Germany. So far to my technical background and I just want to note some things to think about: DVCPro HD compresses at least 8,29:1 and there is 3:1:1 color sampling as HD CAM does... means you loose color information for post and keying (ask any online effect operator about 4:2:2 or 3:1:1...). It is important to see whats on the tape! Well and DOF is the biggest thing! I shoot one short (www.derverdacht.de) with Pro35Digital lens adapter and Digibeta (www.pstechnik.de). I used this adapter mainly to mount 35mm lenses to get focus pulls like 35mm film camera shooting... One chip is no big deal. I am not sure but I think they use Bayer pattern sensor as ARRI D20 does and there is no disadvantage (just much electronics afterwards...). With 3CCD prism you never get 35mm recording sensor size because the sensors are too far away from the lens then. And last but not least: I would never buy a camera. Rent the Drake if possible and I have to congratulate these German fellows! ARRI needs a whole R&D dep. to develop this camera and these guys just did it home made with very good results! (as I never had contact to these guys). As cinematographer you have to work anyways with so much different cameras and you should be able to operate them. As far as I remember I had DVCPro HD, HD CAM, Digibeta, ARRI SRIII & II ....... and I am just cinematography student and it will be more for sure! Well, we should keep the forum on technical base and not on rumors... ;)

Well, swedish is not far from German... try German schools - I start studies at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart (www.filmakademie.de). Well, people say it is the best for cinematography in Germany right now and the big hit: since now German film schools do not charge anything (like Lodz does)... There they have 35mm, 16mm, HD CAM, Digibeta, big studio, very good equipped post facilities... There three more or less good ones in Germany - HFF Potsdam (www.hff-potsdam.de) near Berlin (oldest German film school and specialized on cinema shooting and best equipped one in Germany but this doesn't really count and has to say nothing...), DFFB (www.dffb.de) in Berlin and HFF München (www.hff-muenchen.de) in Munich. Anyways and there is one post graduate school Filmschule Hamburg where you pay and get 2 years study. Well and I studied one semester in Tampere, Finland at TTVO school (there was one Swedish guy as well) (www.tamk.fi/ttvo) but there is only one programme in English others in Finish :D Well, I recommend German schools or FEMIS in Paris (un des meilleurs!!!), as well for free for European citizens. Good luck, application is quite hard in Germany because you should have made some good short films before.