Is quality lost over firewire with cheap miniDV cam?
 

I shot some video with a rented Sony DSR-PD170 but had to return it before I was able to get it onto the computer (via Firewire). I have a "cheap" Panasonic PV-GS50D that plays the miniDV tapes fine, my question is am I loosing quality this way?

I also have the option of renting a JVC BR-DV3000 tape deck for a third of the price of renting the Sony again...

No, the quality will not be degraded by using your own camera for capturing the video.

It's all digital to me...
 

Brandon,

It shouldn't be a problem, since we're talking about digital data going over the firewire. The data is either good or bad. There's no "in between". Of course, there could be drop-outs, where you see a momentary glitch in the video. But that's more likely to be caused by re-using tape several times.

I'd say go ahead and try it. You won't lose resolution or color accuracy from a digital transfer. If you do see some glitches .... well, I suppose it *might* be the camera if the tape head is clogged with junk from running many, many, many tapes through it.

Ken

If you shot on a PD-170 you might have recorded in DVCam format. The track pitch is wider than MiniDV so the Panasonic might not be able to play back the tapes.

But if it's working, then there shouldn't be any problems regarding quality.

Thanks guys, video looks fine so far.

FWIW, if your media HAD been recorded in DVCam mode, the consumer camera may still have played it back BUT the audio would most likely become "unlocked" instead of DVCam's locked audio.

For many years I used a Sony DHR1000 DV deck (mini and full size) to play back my DVCam recorded material when my PD150 was unavailable for capturing BUT as mentioned, the audio came in unlocked which SOMETIMES posed summation error problems in audio tracks if two "cut" clips were placed side by side on a timeline. Sometimes single frame cross dissolves were required to alleviate the brief "audio buzz" caused by the error.