Which DVCAM/MiniDV Deck?

[Lenny Warren]

Hi guys,

I'm using FCP7 on a Mac Pro, I have an AJA IO Express. I'm thinking of buying a second hand Sony DVCAM/MiniDV deck to ingest a lot of my old Mini DV tapes.

I see that some of these older decks have RS-422A like the Sony DSR-45AP DVCAM recorder. As the IO Express has RS-422 would this work ok? Is there a list of compatible decks? AJA say they don't have a list.

I believe that there is a Sony DSR-60P that has SD-SDI but no firewire, would that be a better option coming into the IO Express through SDI rather than firewire?

So basically, what would be the best to look for on eBay?

Regards,
Lenny

[Eric Olson]

Originally Posted by Lenny Warren

I'm thinking of buying a second hand Sony DVCAM/MiniDV deck to ingest a lot of my old Mini DV tapes.

Unless you have more than 500 tapes, why not just capture using a camcorder?

[R Geoff Baker]

Originally Posted by Lenny Warren

So basically, what would be the best to look for on eBay?
Lenny

I guess I'm not clear what your goal is.

DV & DVCam will transfer bit for bit identical from tape to HDD via Firewire, and you have device control through Firewire too -- you don't lose anything in image or convenience if you avoid RS-422A, SD-SDI or even your AJA card ...

In truth you get a perfect copy from a cheap consumer camcorder -- most Sony's will even playback DVCam recordings -- so why exactly do you want a deck?

Cheers,
GB

[Lenny Warren]

The reason is I've got rid of my old MiniDV cameras, I often get in tapes from clients for edit. I'd have to get another camera, I've ran out of FW ports, I don't want the hassle of farting about with cameras on my edit suite, farting about with cables etc.

I've got a load of tapes, and just want the convenience of a deck. It would fit into my suite, I have a broadcast monitor with sdi inputs, etc. etc. It's convenient to have a deck.

So any recommendations?

[Lenny Warren]

The other reason, recently I had an editing job come into me. The camera used had a damaged FW port. I tried capturing from 3 different cameras and all had issues. I had to borrow a deck and it worked flawlessly. My local hire house advised that decent decks have more tolerance to different tapes.

[R Geoff Baker]

I used to own the Sony DSR-11. It always performed well for me, was PAL/NTSC switchable, played both mini & full size, DV & DVCam. But it used Firewire as the transfer mechanism, so it won't solve your 'not Firewire' problem.

Cheers,
GB

[Adam Bauser]

I used to use a Sony DSR-80. It did not have FW but it had serial control, component in/out, could handle 4 channel audio, and I believe it had optional SDI support. Used mini and full size tapes. It was rock solid.

[Lenny Warren]

That's my idea, rock solid, working with many tapes.

I had seen a DSR-60 on eaby, but he insists on collection only, 500 miles away. :-(

[Lenny Warren]

I'm negotiating for a DSR-60, but apparently there is no board fitted for LTC output on this machine. Which presumably means there may be an issue with time code, if I take sdi out into an aja express would this work ok or would the lack of LTC cause a problem?

[Lenny Warren]

I may be better just getting an additional FW card and picking up a DSR-45P, maybe less hassle in the long run.

[Eric Olson]

Originally Posted by Lenny Warren

I may be better just getting an additional FW card and picking up a DSR-45P, maybe less hassle in the long run.

Capturing through firewire retrieves an exact digital copy of the tape, whereas other methods don't.

[Lenny Warren]

Sorry for all these questions, but a thought has just struck me.

I occasionally get asked to convert VHS or SVHS tapes. If I got a DSR-45 which has analogue inputs, I could input from my VHS player and then capture it via firewire into FCP?

That's right isn't it?

[Sander Vreuls]

Originally Posted by Lenny Warren

Sorry for all these questions, but a thought has just struck me.

I occasionally get asked to convert VHS or SVHS tapes. If I got a DSR-45 which has analogue inputs, I could input from my VHS player and then capture it via firewire into FCP?

That's right isn't it?

Yup did that often with my Panny DVCpro deck. Only downside is that the max quality is DV25.. though that's miles better than SVHS or VHS...so not a problem for you..

[Lenny Warren]

I've won a cheap DSR-40 on eBay so will see how it goes,

Cheers guys...

[Lenny Warren]

Hi guys,

I've now got the dsr-40 connected up, working a dream. I'll need to get another FireWire card but just swap cables meantime.

Turns out it has really low hours, chuffed with it.

Cheers for the info,

Lenny