Barry, what about the Drake?

G

Gary_McClurg

Well-known member
Since Barry you're the guru of knowledge.  I was wondering what you think of the Drake?

Took this off dvinfo.net so hopefully the links will link up.

Hey folks,

Don't blame us for not making it our first priority to update this forum. We have a simple motto: work first, talk later.

Everybody had the chance to show up in Leipzig. Some did and we hat a great time there, doing real time color correction, showing the material on a big HDTV beamer and playing around with the 35mm print.

For everybody who couldn't come, here are some Drake pictures, showing the prototype. The final case will be ready in January, be titanium and dark blue, everything else will look rather identical. What you can't see is the focus pulling device, it's currently being prepared for the big shooting in 4 days. And the handles are missing, so I uploaded the 3D concept images, where you can see them. The big screen is detachable and can be mounted on a tripod or whatever. New job for the camera assistant, to see where the best position for the screen is for each shot.

Expect some interesting video clips about the usage of the camera on set in early january and please be patient if you have emailed me with questions. It'll take a few days but I will answer them all.

Greets
Markus

www.drachenfeder.com/int/Drake.jpg

www.drachenfeder.com/int/Drake_and_Rai.jpg

www.drachenfeder.com/int/Drake_back.jpg

www.drachenfeder.com/int/Drake_Glas2.jpg

www.drachenfeder.com/int/Drake_Glas3.jpg

Just thought of this also. Barry what do you think about Juan's mod to the DVX?
 
Re: Barry, what about the Drake?

Barry, I am also interested in your opinion of the Drake camera, as well as the SDX900 if you are familiar with it.

I am considering renting the SDX900 next year for a feature, but if the Drake or Juan's mods are pretty close in terms of getting the 24p film look and resolution, I would rather buy a camera which would allow me to shoot another feature in 2006.

This is assuming of course that the Drake and Juan's mod come out to around $5000 to $8000 roughly.
 
Re: Barry, what about the Drake?

My thoughts on Drake:

Seems like a great system. The only downside is the 8bit capture and low saturation IMO. Otherwise it's amazing. The Drake easily beats the SDX900 for resolution hands down. DV vs HD. Not much of a comparison there. The Drake will allow 24p and will also, I believe, have the ability to "overcrank."
 
Re: Barry, what about the Drake?

"The guru of knowledge"? Whoa -- that's a promotion I don't deserve! :o

Actually, I have paid little attention to the homemade cameras as of yet. It may be shortsighted on my part, but until a product is shipping I don't tend to get too caught up in it... after years of waiting for Play's Trinity and other vaporware, I find that there's only so much time you can devote to each subject and it's best to spend that time on tangible product. So I look forward to the Kinetta, or to the Z1, or to Panasonic's rumored DVCPRO-HD prosumer line, or JVC's $20,000 3-CCD HDV model they've announced, but I don't spend much time on 'em. So I don't really know much about the Drake or the other homemade cameras. It all looks promising, and you've got to cheer for the little guy taking on the establishment and building the camera everyone wants, but until it's done I'm afraid I haven't paid that much attention to it. That's not to say there's not something exciting about it, only to say that there's only so much time to go around, and until the product's "real" I don't budget a lot of time to prototypes/etc... As soon as they have a finished unit available for review, I'd be delighted to put it through its paces.

As far as Juan's mod, I've asked to be put on the beta-test list. It warrants investigation, certainly. I don't know how practical it will be -- you give up CineGamma, CineMatrix, all DSP controls, all image controls, etc... but hey, you gotta love the inventiveness, and if it does what he says it will, it certainly looks worthy of exploration. But again, I'm not paying attention to the hundred thousand posts on dvinfo.net about it until the beta unit shows up in my hot little hands... and if/when it does, you can bet I'll pay an awful lot of attention to it! :)
 
Re: Barry, what about the Drake?

What's the estimated price tag? If under 10k I would definitly consider gettting one.
 
Re: Barry, what about the Drake?

I appreciate your response Barry. I honestly wouldn't buy anything until you had a chance to look at it. You tend to be fair in listing the pros and cons of equipment as well as mentioning what it might be best suited for.

This lets people make up their own minds since our needs are different.

From my understanding tomorrow is D-Day for the Drake system. They are supposed to put up a website mentioning the price and the details on buying it. (If I read correctly).

It is supposed to be available in February. I am not sure of the price, but I hope they set up a service company here in the States. I would hate to send it to Germany for repairs.

I am seriously interested in Juan's mod. I am just don't know enough about video to ascertain what kind of quality it is supposed to compare to. Are we talking HDV or SDX900 (in theory)?
 
Re: Barry, what about the Drake?

Until I get the unit, I wouldn't want to speculate. There's something like 20 pages of speculation on it already, but like I always say, I'm not interested in what something's *supposed* to do, I'm a lot more interested in what it *does*. So if they accept me for the beta-test, I'll know a lot more about it once I get it! :)
 
Re: Barry, what about the Drake?

You are a stronger man than I. But a I should start taking your advice to heart and stop waiting for the next great thing. It's tough these days. I (luckily) missed Play's Trinity. What was that?
 
Re: Barry, what about the Drake?

Trinity was a super-hyped product that a group called Play hyped at every NAB, every CES, every year they kept talking about how it was just the greatest thing, a TV Studio In A Box, with a live switcher, live keyer, live graphics overlays, all this stuff. And the CEO was some gal named Kiki Stockhammer who *really* liked her own picture; every marketing brochure, every ad, every magazine layout, every live demo always had Kiki in it.

I think that after three or four years of vaporware they finally released a bug-ridden product that went down in flames.

But I don't remember, I quit paying attention to it after the second or third year of "vaporware".
 
Re: Barry, what about the Drake?

Gee, now I'm going to give away how old I am. But she used to be the spokesperson for the old Video Toaster system as far back as the Amiga days.
 
Re: Barry, what about the Drake?

[quote author=Hayden_Rivers link=board=sony;num=1102953464;start=0#10 date=12/13/04 at 17:34:46]:o :o :o :o
Google is amazing.  Evidently Kiki now plays in a sci-fi punk rock band, called Warp 11, based in Sacramento, CA.

http://www.warp11.com/kiki.htm

http://www.warp11.com/Images/bandGroup.jpg
http://www.patswayne.com/kiki/kiki4.jpg
http://www.patswayne.com/kiki/kiki3.jpg

and to be fair: http://www.patswayne.com/kiki/kiki5.jpg
[/quote]

Those guys are freaks.

Yes, I just happened to watch "Trekkies 2" yesterday.  They were prominently featured.  Along with a lot of other Star Trek themed bands.

Trinity 2.2 got some decent press, though it seemed a little more like Hardee's current ad campaign -- "we used to suck but now we don't."
 
Re: Barry, what about the Drake?

[quote author=Shaw link=board=sony;num=1102953464;start=0#2 date=12/13/04 at 10:10:50]My thoughts on Drake:

Seems like a great system.  The only downside is the 8bit capture and low saturation IMO.  Otherwise it's amazing.  The Drake easily  beats the SDX900 for resolution hands down.  DV vs HD.  Not much of a comparison there. The Drake will allow 24p and will also, I believe, have the ability to "overcrank." [/quote]


After spending an hour going through old posts, I found where they mentioned it needs a lot of light because it has an ASA 50 equivalent rating.

My first attempt at filmmaking was Super 8 Kodachrome. I don't particulary want to go back to ASA 50/25 again.

Maybe it will work for some people, but it is not going to fit my needs if it needs that much light. I don't plan on remaking Antonini's "Zabriskie Point" any time soon.
 
Re: Barry, what about the Drake?

AWWWW KIKI,
I got insanely drunk with her at an NAB, about 5 years ago. She can go the distance...and aside from the BS she really knows the gear.

AWWWW KIKI... :P
 
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