JW Lee

I was just checking out the feature set of the DSR450 and except for the fact it's still DV (4:1:1), it looks to have a lot of potential as an indie/doc camera. I currently shoot on a JVC DV500 with a nice Canon lens, so it's hard to swallow going to a 1/3" chip cam and HDV doesn't seem fully baked yet from what I've seen and read. However, I'd like to shoot 16:9 native and 24p. I do industrial work too, so any camera I consider has to be 4:3/30i capable too and look good in front of corporate clients. I'd like to hear any opinions, good or bad about this new cam. I'd also like hear how it compares to the DVX100 and XL2 in terms of picture quality (low light, high contrast control, resolution and general aesthetic). I'm suprised I haven't heard a lot more about this because short of spending another $10k on an SDX900, this camera seems to have it all over the entry level/prosumer indie cams.

I have a DV500 and the biggest thing I can suggest is to use a different lens than the stock Fujinon that comes with the camera. I switched to a Canon 19x IF lens and it's now a whole different camera. The images are far smoother and don't have quite the same stark video look. I've been mostly doing documentary and industrial work with it, but am interested in noarrative projects. How important is it to have 16:9 capability? I can shoot with the 16:9 guides and then letterbox in post. Is this sufficient for indie type of projects? It seems that unless you have a camera the shoots 16:9 native that there is a variant of that workflow going on anyway. Of course, one can also shoot 4:3 and just go with that.