Thank you! The camera including the kit lens weighs about 5,0 kg. When I put the battery on we land at around 5,8 kg. I haven´t weighed the tripod but it´s probably about as heavy as the camera, so the combination makes for a good workout😀 The tripod leg section is from an old professional Vinten, which I got some years ago. I recently exchanged the old Vinten head for a very nice Manfrotto Nitrotech 612. It´s a bit of a "Frankenpod" now, but a real joy to use.

@@sirvivor_1974 Sounds really good. I have a rather basic Manfrotto head. I took my Sony ENG camera out with the tripod for the first time yesterday. My tripod head is way too flimsy to support such cameras properly, but I managed, and got some nice shots. My shoulders are also still aching from carrying it all around :).

​@@stevecoatesdotnet Cool. The more sophisticated tripod heads feature a counterbalance system, which makes vertical pans so much easier with heavier cameras. Once you try it you don´t want to go back😃 Good luck with your filming!

Danke dir! Ja, man könnte die Kamera tatsächlich noch für gewisse Zwecke einsetzen. Die Herausforderung ist, optimal scharfe Aufnahmen zu bekommen. Ein 1920x1080 Pixel 1/3-Zoll Sensor zeigt schon ab F5.6 eine deutlich verringerte Auflösung aufgrund von Beugung. Gleichzeitig ist das Kit-Objektiv aber v.a. im Tele nicht besonders scharf, wenn man es mit offener Blende oder nur leicht abgeblendet verwendet... Aber echt schön sind die Farben direkt aus der Kamera😃

Thank you! Sounds great I hope the camera works fine. Maybe you could manage to record the video from it directly to digital with a capture device? Either way I´d be happy to hear about any results.

Thank you very much Steve! Exactly, that is a Sony DSR-DU1 Video Disk Unit, which helps to bypass the ever more unreliable tape deck 😀 I got it in 2013 and it still works perfectly today. Actually I´m looking forward to using it in a special recording setup for my "new" Sony DXC-3000 Camera, which I hope to show soon.

@@sirvivor_1974 Cool. I've seen the HDD recorders listed in brochures of the time but I haven't seen one anywhere. I'll look forward to seeing the DXC-3000.

You are perfectly right there is a big difference in overall image quality. Actually it´s mostly hardware related. The DSR-390P´s CCD Block delivers 752 x 582 effective pixels while the DSR-450WSP´s has 1064 x 980. So the 450 is almost an HD Camera hampered by the SD-Video recording section. However that means there is plenty of room for oversampling, which is the best option when dealing with a low resolution final output like DVCAM. Still I would be interested to see if someone can provide better results from the DSR-390. I tried to optimize the menu picture settings but I might easily have missed something. Regarding the MSU Deinterlacer, it´s excellent even when compared to QTGMC, check it out.

@@sirvivor_1974 Yes, the effective number of pixels is much higher than what can be obtained from a camera with the SMPTE 259 standard. For example, the DVW-970/P uses an HD CCD, but the maximum quality can only be extracted through SDI (SMPTE 259). I have two Sony BVP-E10WSP with CCU and WF, but unfortunately, I don't have triax for them. I would like to test them (They are some of the best SD broadcast cameras. Among studio models, the only better one is the BVP-E30/WSP). Regarding the image quality, I meant to say that there is no pixel stretching like in the DSR-450WSP, and for that reason, these ones with native 4:3 should have a sharper image.

@@k.m.1524 Great to hear you could maybe test your BVP-E10WSP sometime! It indeed looks great and seems to feature progressive scan (PsF), which is really nice for a camera from 2001. Recently I was lucky to obtain a Sony DVW-970P in near mint condition for almost no money, crazy times... Additionally I got the fitting SDI-Out Board. Hope I´ll be able to test it sometime. I don´t yet have any experince with SDI though, so maybe I´ll come up with some questions😀

@@sirvivor_1974 I'd be happy to help if you need. Could you provide me with your mail so that we can discuss it there? The fact that it has progressive segmented frame (psf) is not anything special, even the Digital Betacam and DVW-700/P had it back in 1993. I also found a DVW-970P + WF in the original box for 130 Euros recently, but unfortunately, I didn't buy it. I've seen quite a few for sale recently around the 100 Euro mark. Additionally, I found a DVW-790WS/P for 120 Euros, also in excellent cosmetic condition, but I didn't purchase that one either.

@@k.m.1524 Hi, you can contact me: sirvivor@mail.com Cool, I didn´t know the Sony DVW-700 Digital Betacam could do that. It is not mentioned in the brochure or manual therefore I assumed it wasn´t featured. Right, the DVW-970 can be had extremely cheap, but I found the ones with the SDI-Board installed more costly. The SDI out makes the camera much more useful if you don´t want to use an extra Digital Betacam player, like me. At least I hope it will work that way, we´ll see😀

It´s just "Lanzcos3" interpolation (or resampling), which is a slightly more sopisticated non-AI interpolation method than classic "bilinear" or "bicubic". When I set up a new project in my NLE the interpolation algorithm can be specified along with all the other option like resolution, frame rate etc. That´s where I choose "Lanzcos3" for Resampling Method. I use the EDIUS NLE but I´m sure any editing software can be told what method to use. In the case of the DVCAM camera used here, it´s important to note that it records progressive footage as "Progressive Segmented Frame" or "PsF" video. Therefore you need to tell the NLE that the clips are actually progressive even though they are stored in the DV interlaced AVI format. I didn´t realize this in the beginning and got only half the vertical resolution (really bad...) Greetings!

I wish you all the best in your efforts. Using an external recorder is really a good idea, I have been using a Sony DSR-DU1 for that purpose.

Actually I might sell my camera... However I´d need to check that everything is working properly as it hasn´t been used in a while. It is really a lot of fun to use this camera in general, but checking focus in the tiny b/w viewfinder is almost impossible. I think most old Pro Camcorders suffer from terrible viewfinders by today´s standards.

​@@sirvivor_1974 Oh... Well if it's for a good price I might buy it. I'm 15 years old and I have a RU-vid channel and I really want to upgrade my current camera but I don't have a large amount of money. Currently have a Sony CX240e and it does it's job but I want something a bit more professional (like external mic inputs, ND filters, audio monitoring etc.). The picture from this camera is absolutely amazing considering that it's DVCAM and not even HD! Edit: There is a single listing for a DSR 450WSP in the whole of Romania and it's from 2015, I just found it 😭

@@AndreiX1308L Hi Andrei, good to hear from you! You can write to sirvivor@mail.com and we can gladly continue our conversation there if you like. Maybe I have some ideas for you😀

@@AndreiX1308L I am 17 years old, and I bought my first professional camera in 2018 (Sony DXC M3Ap). ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-b3yxRjEhGeM.html This is a test from a few years ago. Unfortunately at that time I only had a primitive DVD recorder on which I could record this and I also did not properly transfer the footage from the DVD to the PC and did not deinterlace them properly, otherwise this picture from this camera can look fantastic. It also only has 400 hours on it!

@@k.m.1524 I have no idea why RU-vid didn't notify my about your comment. Came back here because I'm planning again to buy a professional camcorder and I saw your comment. How much did you pay for that DXC M3? I love the DXC range of cameras but I also love the DSR series. I found some listings on eBay of DSR 370's and 570's, but the price for shipping is very high (from USA, since most of them come from there, to Romania) and the price of the camcorder itself is also a bit high for my taste (50-100$ for just the camera!). I made a friend that is from USA and now I want to ask him if he can bring a camcorder with him (he said he didn't have space on his baggage but he has a container coming in a few months so maybe he has enough space on that). I will probably make a video about the camcorder (if I can get my hands on one) but now it's just a waiting game, seeing if someone posts a listing here locally for a good price or not.

Gerne, ja es ist wirklich diese Kamera. Hier ein paar Original files: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cIk5-piZ2xQyH4kjUGpZUQTe3gaS3WlW?usp=sharing Wenn du deine Kamera ähnlich einstellt, wirst du vergleichbare Ergebnisse bekommen. Wichtig ist, bei meiner Einstellung nimmt die Kamera bis 109% IRE Video Level auf (bis 8-bit Wert 255). Nur so erfasst du den maximalen Dynamikumfang dieser Kamera (ca. 1 Stop mehr als bei clip-Einstellung auf 100% IRE). Um das in den normalen Videolevel-Bereich (max. 100%, 8bit Wert 235) zu bringen und diese Highlight-Details zu sehen, muss man eine Helligkeitskurve anwenden. In meiner Edius-Software heißt das YUV-Kurve. Einfach den Y-Kanal (Luma) mit einem Knoten von 255 auf 235 schieben. Wenn der Schwarzwert im Video etwas hoch erscheint, kann man zusätzlich den 0-Wert etwas runtersetzen. Hierbei am Waveform-Monitor orientieren. Den DSR-DU1 musste ich mir bald anschaffen, da ich einige Theatervideos gemacht habe und da reichte die Spielzeit der MiniDV-Kassetten nicht aus. Wusste damals noch nicht, dass es auch große DVCAM-Kassetten gibt:) Das Objektiv, das mit der Kamera kam war ein Canon. Leider lagert dies gerade woanders und ich kann die Bezeichnung nicht nennen. War aber von sehr guter Qualität und hat auch im Tele-Bereich kaum Qualität verloren. Später hab ich dann ein Fujinon A12x6.8BRM-58 bekommen. Das hatte ein schönes Weitwinkel, war aber im Tele recht beschränkt. Man könnte noch viel schreiben, nur eins noch: Die Crux bei diesen alten Kameras sind die aus heutiger Sicht sehr schlechten Sucher. Die sind schwarzweiß und furchtbar klein. Den originalen 1,5 Zoll DXF-801 habe ich daher durch den 2 Zoll DXF-20W ersetzt. Immer noch klein, aber etwas besser...

​@@sirvivor_1974 Danke für die Antwort :) Wäre es möglich dir per Mail o. Ä. zu schreiben? Dann müssten wir das nicht alles über die Kommentare machen. Muss ich mal schauen ob das mit der Helligkeitskurve bei Shotcut möglich ist. Edius habe ich nicht. Das Objektiv an meiner 450 ist ein Canon YJ13x6b. Mal schauen wie da die Qualität ist, aber 6mm Weitwinkel ist schon nicht schlecht. Aber der DXF-801 ist bei mir auch dran, mal sehen wie ich damit zurechtkomme.

@@hutti Klar, sag mir dann einfach deine Mail-Adresse wenn es eine Frage gibt.

​@@sirvivor_1974So, ich melde mich auch mal wieder, hatte bisher kaum Zeit - die Kamera hab ich letzte Woche bekommen, funktioniert auch alles bestens. Die Bildqualität bei den ersten Tests war unterirdisch schlecht, aber dank deinen Einstellungen sieht das Bild zumindest bei den Innenraumtests schonmal hervorragend aus... Unglaublich, was Einstellungen ausmachen. Outdoor-Tests muss ich noch machen, da trennt sich ja oft die Spreu vom Weizen. Mal sehen, wie sich das Objektiv mit den neuen Einstellungen schlägt. Bei dieser (wie üblich) harten Überschärfung und seltsamen Farben, die vom Vorbesitzer eingestellt wurden, konnte das sein Potential ja nie entfalten ;) Aber von einer SD-Weitwinkeloptik erwarte ich mal nicht zu viel. Hast du da mit deinen Objektiven Erfahrungen, in welchem Blendenbereich man sich am besten bewegt? Ein Problem habe ich aber noch: Bei Progressive-Aufnahme ruckelt das Sucherbild etwas und ist zeitlich minimal verzögert. Man kann trotzdem filmen, aber im Interlaced-Modus läuft das absolut butterweich und ohne Verzögerung. Ist das bei dir auch so oder hab ich da ggf. was übersehen? Wie gesagt, ich habe einen DXF-801 dran. Mal sehen wie lange, fokussieren ist damit unmöglich ohne erst hineinzuzoomen, aber Alternativen sind leider auch teuer...

@@hutti Hallo, wenn du willst, schreib mir gerne eine mail an sirvivor@mail.com. Dann können wir bei Bedarf weiter fachsimpeln😃

Hallo Hutti, danke für die netten Worte! Ich hatte vorher die Sony DSR-390 und hab da schon gesehen, wie sehr alles von einer optimalen Einstellung der Kamera abhängt. Wie du schon angedeutet hast, wird gerne die Kantenschärfung übertrieben. Sony nennt diesen Parameter im Menü leider irreführenderweise "Detail" (!) wodurch wahrscheinlich viele Leute Angst haben, diesen herunterzuregeln. Ich hab gerade noch ein paar kurze Test clips von der DSR-450 gefunden und werde diese entweder auf google drive legen und hier den link posten oder ein youtube Video machen. Danke nochmal und LG!

​@@sirvivor_1974 Würde mich freuen, ein paar mehr Testaufnahmen von dir zu sehen! Mehr oder weniger dank dir hab ich mich jetzt auch zum Kauf einer DSR450WSP verleiten lassen ;) Voll funktionsfähig, in gutem optischen Zustand und mit Canon-Optik für einen guten Kurs, da musste ich zuschlagen. Ich werde die dann mit dem MRC1 betreiben, den ich eigentlich an meiner Z5 habe. Glücklicherweise habe ich dazu auch den Rückteil mit Akku- und Firewireanschluss und Stativgewinde, damit kann man den auch auf jeder anderen DV-Kamera betreiben. DV mit Firewire war schon ein ausgeklügeltes und praktisches System, aber war alles vor meiner Zeit ;) Die Kamera ist fast so alt wie ich...

Hallo Hutti, das freut mich! Es kommt einfach darauf an, was für eine Erwartungshaltung man heute an so eine Kamera hat. Ich habe sie glücklicherweise noch für einige Theater-DVD Produktionen einsetzen dürfen und die Ergebnisse waren sehr zufriedenstellend. Für mich ist die Kamera jetzt einfach ein schönes Demo-Stück japanischer Ingenieurskunst. Für andere wiederum kann sie immer noch ein günstiger Weg sein, den Umgang mit einem professionellen Broadcast Gerät zu erlernen. Vor allem macht das Arbeiten mit so einem großen Profi-Teil einfach viel Spaß. Falls für dich interessant, meine Menü-Settings: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ea8VFFBZjP3UbOv2_mbYyxakNPvDPfqJ?usp=share_link Wenn es Fragen dazu gibt, jederzeit. Ich habe jetzt noch ein paar weitere Test clips von der DSR-450 auf RU-vid gestellt, das Video heißt: Sony DSR-450WSP Camcorder - Image Quality Testing 2

You are right the image could be better as the DV codec used in DVCAM definitely introduces visible artifacts. It just lacks a few MB/s to be comparable to Digital Betacam or similar. Sadly my camera doesn´t have the SDI output option installed. Would love to see results if sombody has it and can try.

Do you mean how to transfer video from the camera to the PC? You need a firewire port (card) in the computer and connect the camera to it. Then capture the video using software like WinDV. It is a slow process as it only works in realtime (you playback, it captures).

@@sirvivor_1974 thanks so much

@@sirvivor_1974 what kind of card do you use? I see a lot of cheap ones

@@foxtrotproductions8200 I surely built in a cheap card and it works perfectly. I don´t think you can go wrong with any designated firewire card. Just check compatibiliy with Win 10/11 if possible.

Thank you Ben! You can watch my settings here: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ea8VFFBZjP3UbOv2_mbYyxakNPvDPfqJ?usp=share_link With the "White Clip Level" set to 109.5 % IRE the camera records its full dynamic range. In editing I bring down these superwhite luma levels from 109 to 100 % IRE by applying an linear luma curve (just one node needed, 255 -> 235 8-bit value). Additionally a bit of color satuaration increase. That´s it.

@@sirvivor_1974 That is fantastic, thank you so much for the info! Interesting technique but it's clearly working

Perfectly right, the viewfinder is much too small by today´s standards and I have the same problem with the peaking. No solution there except using an external monitor or working with the wide depth of field of the small sensor.

Hello OMP - It's maybe your viewfinder - mine is pin-sharp and better than the attached Marshall Monitor as it's only a composite feed. If you get a Marshall there's a "Focus Assist" option - reccommend the V-LCD70XP-HDMI - probably upgraded now but class. Any more info or advice - email me at info@dancefilming.com

I own adsr 450, try to adjust the focus on the viewfinder first if you don't fix the problem then for sure it will be the adjustment at the base where the lens is connected.

if you wanna use that thing on a tripod a external monitor is the way to go

Your focus ring may need adjustment, ths small one by the lens base The viewfinder also has adjustment.

I have an old Sony DSR-DU1, recording the DV stream via firewire from the camera. Mounted it to the back of the camera battery with a heavy duty Velcro. Works perfectly fine.

Use a FOCUS FS-H200 CF recorder straight out of the Firewire and sync the "start recording" to "Parallel" Works a treat so the tape is purely a backup and ingest goes from real-time to 50x time. Means you can re-use those DVCAM tapes a few times...

I don't have the luxury of a monitor yet.. but as an experiment I fed the Svideo from my DSR 300 into the AV of a Sony mini DV Handycam and that worked.. I found I could also just record the 300s 'footage' with the mini DV handy cam tape deck instead of the 300 tape deck while I practice and try to learn...

Absolutely, camera senors and computational power have made giant leaps since 2005 (DSR-450 introduced). Great times to enjoy high quality video. However I´m not shure whether life for video shooters and producers is that much easier today. After all every new technical possibility brings about higher expectations from viewers. 15 Years ago SD resolution was just fine, now 8K is being pushed by the manufacturers (which is total overkill in the home I´d say)

Thank you! Nice to hear you have experience with the DSR-300. Actually I also have a DSR-390 besides the 450. For quite some time we have been in the lucky position of being able to get hold of these formerly prohibitively priced cameras at a bargain. I personally did so to get myself aquinted with professional shoulder mount cameras. For me it is more fun to operate these old beasts despite their obvious shortcomings in the age of 4K... Totally irrational :) I have used the Cams for Theater DVD Productions and private shooting quite sucessfully. As stated, the DSR-450 with its oversampling CCD almost maxes out what SD can deliver. The key is to set up the camera properly. For example with upscaling in mind you should dial down the edge enhancement (miseadingly called Detail by Sony!) completely. DVCAM is a very good SD format. Only sometimes the DV codec introduces visible artifacts in the image. That´s where Digital Betacam is admittedly superior.

What would be a good setting for the edge enhancement if I were to upscale?

@@TheVideoguy67 Well, I dialled it all the way down. You can always sharpen images in post when needed. Alister Chapman has great resources on Sony picture profiles: www.xdcam-user.com/picture-settings-and-luts/picture-profile-guide/