Dave Hall

I am selling my Sony camcorder on eBay, with absolutely no reserve. Comes with a super wide Canon YJ12x6.5 lens. Check out all the features on eBay: http://tinyurl.com/dsr450

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.)

Sounds like it's time to put your hands up and go to an official Sony repair place. In the US they repair that camera with a "pay one price" policy - whatever is wrong you pay the same price. (I don't remember how much exactly, but it's a lot.)

I just finished my first "true" 24P DVD and on my DSR-450 I used the "regular" 24P mode with NDF, 1/48th shutter, film gamma, and captured in Premiere Pro using the "Panasonic 24P" preset. The DVD (authored in Encore) looks positively awesome! I see no reason to use the advanced pulldown. Dave Hall

finally sold for $6250

Lens-wise, at that price range, I guess that Canon and Fuji are fairly similar. You are getting a slightly wider picture with the 8.6mm vs. the Canon 9mm. Wider is always better for me! I don't have an answer for the ugly 24P DVD I made. I'm playing back on a Sony progressive DVD player with upscaling HDMI output into a Sony XBR 42" hi-def plasma. The bottom line is, you get better results with the regular 24P mode and 2-3 pulldown on a 60i timeline, as far as I'm concerned.

I feel like we are hijacking this thread, but I will answer. The tape transport is lousy. Large tapes have a tendency to not load correctly. I find that you have to push on the tape (to load) in the exact spot where the eject button is. I actually just got my 450 back from Sony repair, due to a mini tape getting stuck. Be careful loading tapes. I also just finished a test of a "true" 24P DVD using the 2-3-3-2 pulldown and Premiere Pro 1.51. The results are lousy! I think it looks much better using the "regular" 24P mode on a 60i timeline. What lens did you get? I'm happy with my wide YJ12X6.7 Canon. Dave PS-Make sure you press the LCD display button twice to get brighter colors. It's really only there to check white balance, in my opinion, and for that it's OK.

Did you get it yet? I went through the same thoughts in my mind, and also got the 450. The slow shutter can't be beat!

After a few day delay of having my Sony DSR-450 repaired (for a stuck mini tape) I finally was able to do a full test of the advanced 24P mode and created a genuine 24P DVD without any pulldown. And the results: it sucks! It just looks terrible. It is working correctly - each press of the frame advance button reveals a full new frame, but in normal playback it just looks awful. Has anyone else tried this? I did a lighting workshop a while ago with the "normal" 24P mode (with pulldown) on a 29.97 timeline, and that looked very good on DVD. Today's test: yuck. Dave Hall

Thanks - that was helpful. In Premiere, it looks like I would start a new project and choose "Panasonic 24P" as a preset for the project (even though I don't have a Panasonic.) Obviously, I have some playing to do! From that article, it looks like I need to shoot in the 24P advanced mode as well. If anyone has any more tips, chime in! Dave Hall

your thread seems to have been hijacked, but getting back to your original problem, 2 things come to mind for me. First, the problem above is absolutely a head clog issue. Use a head cleaner tape when you see giant white stripes like that. Also, I don't recall anyone mentioning to STICK WITH ONE BRAND OF TAPE! I only use Sonys, and I don't have any problems. Dave

I was watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit the other day, and at one point I paused the film and watched frame by frame. I noticed that the DVD was in true 24P playback. Each press of the frame advance button revealed a new frame of the movie (no fields). Switching to the bonus features section revealed the ?as expected? 3-2 pulldown ? 3 distinct frames followed by 2 frames of 2 different fields each. My question is, now that I own a Sony DSR-450 with 24P recording, can I make my own genuine 24P DVD, so that each press of the frame advance button reveals a new progressive frame? If so, how do I do it? I use Premiere Pro, After Effects and Adobe Encore. (I apologize if I'm posting this question in the wrong forum.) Dave Hall

So, Simon - i don't recall that you mentioned anything after this email - did you get to test the Bonzai?

I have a 2 year old Sony DSR-390 for sale with a wide Canon lens on it. For all details, pictures and hour meters, go to http://davideo.net/390 Includes manuals, original boxes, soft Sony camera case, and tripod plate. The only thing not included are batteries. This is the ultimate DVCAM low light camera with low hours and an awesome lens! $6500 or best offer. Buyer pays actual shipping. I will deliver to a 50 mile radius of Northern NJ. Contact Dave at 908-790-1516 or email davideo@comcast.net

That's the 0.8X crossover I mentioned in the original post. Having one would get you back to the wide angle you would expect. I've got to imagine it adds a lot of weight to the lens, and it will eventually be obsolete in the magical world of 16x9.

Here is the second of my still tests for the Sony DSR-450WS and the DSR-390. I didn't actually fathom the difference between 16x9 and 4x3 as far as how wide of a shot (angle of view) you can get, until I had my hands on both. I have the equivalent lens on each camera, which is a very wide Canon YJ12X6.5 on the 2/3" DSR-450, and a YH12X4.8 on the 1/2" DSR-390. The bottom line people should know is that when using a 16x9/4x3 switchable camera, the 4x3 view is not nearly as wide as you would hope it to be (which is why the lens companies offer a .8X crossover.) For framing, I used the top of the wall as the top of my safe area in the viewfinder, and from left to right centered on the clock. Lenses set as wide angle as possible. Here are the results: DSR-450 in 16x9 mode DSR-450 in 4x3 mode DSR-390 in 4x3 mode (the only option)

You are absolutely right. My point was that I thought 1/32 was as slow as possible. The question is: where did you learn or read that it's 1/24?

Both in 60i, shutter off and filter wheel 1.

I just posted my results in another thread. I did the comparisons all in 60i so it would be apples to apples.

Peter, I was all set to say you were wrong about the 1/24 shutter, but I can't seem to find anything in the manual about what the 24P shutter speed is by default. I thought that 1/32 was as low as you could go, but the picture seems a slight bit brighter when I switch the shutter off from 1/32... so how do you know it's 1/24 by default? Dave Hall

Low Light test ? 2/3? DSR-450 vs. ½? DSR-390 This is an unscientific test of the low light capabilities of the old vs. new big Sony DVCAMs. I own both cameras, although I?m currently trying to sell the 390. Both my 390 and 450 have the same equivalent wide angle Canon lens (the YH12X4.8 and the YJ12X6.5) Note that one difference between the two is the ½? Canon has a wider f-stop of f1.5 vs. the 2/3? lens with an iris of f2. That?s about a full f-stop advantage for the ½? camera right there. I tried to set both cameras for the same angle of view, and both were white balanced to 5000k (and auto black balanced) and irised wide open. I grabbed bitmaps in Premiere Pro and used Photoshop with a JPEG quality of 10 to display here. I used 100% crops at 360 x 240 pixels ? in other words you?re seeing ¼ of the video frame at full resolution. In hindsight, I accidently left the 390 with a detail setting of +20 ? I should have reset it to zero, but I?m way too lazy to redo the test! The next tests will be outdoor daytime color comparisons, plus angle of view between 16x9 and 4x3. (above) DSR-450 at 0db gain (above) DSR-390 at 0db gain (above) DSR-450 at +6db (above) DSR-390 at +6db (above) DSR-450 at +12db (above) DSR-390 at +12db (above) DSR-450 at +18db (above) DSR-390 at +18db results: The 390 gives you about a 12db advantage, or 2 f-stops. (Compare the 450 at 12db vs. 390 at zero)

I'm about to do a comparison between my DSR-390 and the 450. The 450 has a higher S/N, but it is less light sensitive. I'll post the results soon - hopefully within a day or so.

An update - I got no responses to this... I got my DSR-450WS - love it. After actually owning one, I see that the shoulder pad is fine as is. I see no reason to even try to look for another one. I have it slid pretty far forward to get the balance more toward the back, as I'm using Chinese lithium batteries that are very light.

I always manually white balance outside in the shade. I prefer the results I get that way - the sunlit stuff becomes warmer, and the shady footage is white. You will notice with your own eyes that shade is bluer than sunlit areas. Your camera is giving you the truth!

I finally ordered my Sony DSR-450WS. Can't wait to get it! My question: does someone make a replacement shoulder pad for the 400/450 series cameras? I am used to the DSR-390 "DynaFit" soft shoulder pad. I figure if a soft replacement exists, someone here should know about it! I did a Google search, but no luck.