Anyone used a Sony DSR-500WS DVCAM
 

Looking for anyone that may have hands on experience with this camera. I'm looking to upgrade (from the GL2) to a shoulder held cam and am pretty impressed with the specs.

Looking at a used one with the following times:

Head drum operating hours - 106
Tape transport hours - 34
Total operating hours - 233

It would be used for shooting everything from Stringer ENG to weddings and corporate stuff. Appreciate any thoughts you may have.

I shot with that camera a couple of time and it is as good as DV gets---(again, its dependent upon the lens you put on it) If you want a more through analysis go over to DV Forums and do a search in the camera forum. There is a guy by the name of Bill KC who owns one and can really give you all the gory details. Also take a look at Ikegami's version of that camera----its considerably cheaper (new its about 10,999) for the body and is every bit as good as the Sony. By the way, that camera is practically new and if the price is right and you can afford decent glass then you should jump all over it.

David,

Thanks! Appreciate the info. Not sure where you're talking about with the DV Forum site though. Can you give me an address?

He's talking about the dv.com forums, and the guy he's referring to is a member here as well -- his name is Bill Pryor. Hope this helps,

Go here to see a brand new DSR-500WS about to be flown on the front of a van. This was the setup for shooting a video short called, "Sharp," written and directed by a friend of mine, Brian Ging (current project is American Yearbook).

Great camera.

http://www.byvideo.com/Mike%20Rehmus%20pictures.htm

I should mention that when I was at NAB last year, one of the Sony reps told me that if I wasn't going to shoot 16:9, the footage from the DSR-370 was indistiguishable from the 570.

I'd guess that is because the 370 and 570 cameras are better than the DVCam 25 Mhz recording medium.