The Gigantic Mini DV Deck / Camcorder as Deck Thread

[Darko Flajpan]

There is no loss of quality when transferring from "el cheapo" at all. I also transferred some DVCAM recordings from Sony DSR370 without any problem or degradation in quality. It's either 0 or 1 and that's nice thing about digital video :-)

[Paul Juhn]

Do you use Premiere pro 1.5? I do.
I usually capture whole tape to computer and make many short clips.
In this way, I do not use much Camera while editing except exporting the final product to tape.
Is this the righjt way to do it?

What's the benefit having a deck other than saving Camera head?

[Richard Alvarez]

Depending on the deck and in addition to more robust heads, there is a stronger faster transport mechanism, more accurate for digital cuts, time code controll, dv/analog transcoding/pal/secam conversion, capacity for larger tapes (The DSR 11 for instance allows you to use the larger DVCAM tapes and format.... and other goodies.

[Peter Jefferson]

the dsr 11 is a nice lil (oops little) unit i have to agree.. i jsut feel that the decks themselves are overpriced..

Paul, send me an email with ur fone number and ill give u call when i get it..

i mwaiting on sony to deliver the bugger, theyre being very slack with their gear lately and im not happy..

[Dan Euritt]

i have a sony gv-d900, and based on my experiences, i would not recommend it to anybody... it's a pile of junk.

the buttons don't work like they should most of the time, and the tape often has to be re-inserted multiple times because of some bastard error message... sometimes i'll end up having to literally unplug the power supply from the wall before the deck will accept a tape.

and you can't fully turn off the power to the deck... if it's plugged in to the power supply, it's live, even with the power switch turned off, hence the need to unplug the power supply to get a cold boot of the deck.

it has also required multiple head cleanings, despite having less hours on it than my xl-1s does... fortunately i'm a tech, so i know how to clean vcr heads.

you can buy several el cheapo dv cameras for the cost of this deck, and if you get an extended warranty, you'll be able to get 'em repaired for nothing.

[Paul Juhn]

I was considering having this unit but your confession told me not to....

Thanks!

[Glenn Chan]

The Panasonic decks look great on paper compared to the Sony DSR11.
lower price
adds 7.5IRE setup
headphone jack
audio meters (nice to have for dubbing tapes)
reads and records DVCPRO, reads DVCAM (doesn't write DVCAM unfortunately)

I can't say I have experience with this deck but it seems like a better choice than the DSR11. I have used a JVC SVHS/mini-DV (the cheapest real deck on the market) but I would avoid them.

If you don't really need a full blown deck, I'd probably try to pick up a used/cheap camcorder. Ebay and camera stores would be places to try if you are comfortable with that (be careful on eBay). If you manage to wear out the heads on a cheap camcorder then you know you may need a deck.

[Peter Jefferson]

i use an old camcorder but ideally i woudl like a deck with a screen to use to show edits to clients without having the need to author a dvd.
Unfortunetaly budget is whats holding me back and i really dont need it when the MX500 im using has a 3 and half inch screen, while teh GDV1000 has a 4' screen, which really isnt all that much of a difference.. and ive got a camera to boot... ;)

[Brandt Ryan]

Workflow question--can I use my sony TRV30 as a deck--so I don't have to use the FX1 for this purpose? I'd use the TRV30 to capture, rewind, fast forward and print to tape--

[Heath McKnight]

Is the TRV30 mpeg2-ts (HDV) compatible? Rewinding and fastforwarding is fine, but you won't be able to play or record HDV footage on a non-HDV device.

heath

[Brandt Ryan]

I'm not sure I understand--I would want to shoot with the FX1--then take the miniDV tape out of the camera and put it into my regular miniDV (standard def), and then firewire xfer into my pc. After editing in an HDV compatible NLE, output then to another miniDV tape to my standard def miniDV camera. Then, take the miniDV tape out of the my camera and put into the FX1 for playback on a hi-def monitor/tv.

Basically--is there any way around using the FX1 camera as a deck--so I don't have to use the heads too much?

<<<-- Originally posted by Heath McKnight : Is the TRV30 mpeg2-ts (HDV) compatible? Rewinding and fastforwarding is fine, but you won't be able to play or record HDV footage on a non-HDV device.

heath -->>>

[Heath McKnight]

You can't do that with a mini-dv camera. It will play green or red video with no audio, because it can't decode the HDV signal. On the JVC HD10, you can flip the iLink (FireWire) output between DV and mpeg2-TS (HDV).

Therefore, you need to use the FX1 to transfer HDV from tape to PC. You'll also need special software to capture the HDV software, such as Aspect HD.

So, you need special HDV software and your HDV camera to get your HDV footage into your computer.

Hope this helps,

heath

[Barry Green]

Right -- just because the tape is the same, doesn't mean that the data's the same.

If you want to shoot standard-def miniDV on your FX1, then you could do what you describe.

But if you want to shoot in HDV mode, you must have an HDV device (deck or camera) to play the footage back. A miniDV camera will choke on an HDV tape, unable to play anything back.

[Brandt Ryan]

I thought that might be the case--just wanted to verify it. You'd think a "consumer" level deck would sell well--but I haven't come across any, even for SD miniDV (at least inexpensive ones). Perhaps I'm over-reacting to those who say that using your camera as a deck can cut the camera's life in half--

Thanks for the quick responses--

[Heath McKnight]

If you shoot in HDV or SD, you will NOT be able to play it, only DV.

heath