Panasonic AG-DV1DC (MiniDV VTR w/LCD)
 

Anyone own or used one of these?
http://www.panasonic.com/PBDS/subcat/Products/vtrs_vcrs/f_ag-dv1dc.html

Seems more compact than the protable range from Sony. Thought it might make a nice addition to my XL1.

I'd go for that Panasonic deck over a Sony - you will probably experience tracking problems with some (not all) of your XL1 tapes on the Sony deck.

You might want to consider just buying a ZR50MC and saving yourself almost a grand. Many editors pick up a ZR to use as a deck in order to free up ther XL1 cams.

- don

Don,

Interesting. I would use the Panasonic as field monitor, to make on-the-road backups, and to log and capture. As such I suppose I could use the ZR50MC to perform the same tasks. I'll think about it.

Since you mention the ZR series, I was considering doing just that. Any input from anybody on the differences between the 40 and the 50? It strikes me that if all you're really, really going to do is VCR capture, there's no need for anything better than the 40, but maybe someone can point out a feature or two that might be worth having the 50 for.

According to Canon, all three ZR's (40, 45MC & 50MC) have real-time analog pass through, which is really what you are looking for. Having the ability to use that ZR not only as a deck but also as a second angle or behind the scenes/ familiy memories camera certainly adds a lot of value to the already highly affordable "under $800" price tag. If you are really only looking to buy a DV deck such as a small clamshell like the Panasonic you described above, save your money and get a ZR for less than half the cost. The only thing better than this would be to spend a couple thousand more for a deck that has component i/o (most people don't require this), SMPTE TC (not entirely necessary), DVCam compatibility (those who actually need this feature know who they are), more robust audio control (if you are tweaking your audio in your non-linear editing program, this feature not necessarily important)...

ZR 40:
18X optical zoom, real time analog pass through, EIS, *color* Night Shot Mode (not green miltary look), extended battery performance times similiar to other brands

ZR 45MC:
same as ZR 40 but also with MMC/ SD card compatible progressive-scan photo capture feature, lighted vcr control buttons

ZR50MC:
same as ZR45MC but also with advanced accessory shoe, extended recording times (up to three hours on 60 minute tape at VHS resolution), lighted vcr control buttons

Again, the ZR40 will work fine as a miniDV firewire deck to free up your XL1S or GL2. Personally, yes I would rather have a 5 thousand dollar DV deck at my disposal instead, but in the meantime the ZR works fine as a DV deck to master to via FireWire.

Just my two cents,

- don

ZR50MC also has a HUGE 22X OPTICAL zoom
 

The ZR50MC also includes a full 22X Optical zoom, compared to 18X Optical (which is still huge compared to many competing cameras with only 12X optical zoom).

wahoooo