Capturing DVCAM footage
 

I'm having a serious problem. I shot a project on a sony dsr-300 dv cam. I used mini dv tapes but it was shot in dvcam format. so the tapes lasted only 40 minutes. now I'm trying to dump the footage onto my comptuer for editing but I can't because the dsr doesn't have't a firewire output and mini dv cameras don't recognize the dvcam tapes.

what is the cheapest and easiest solution to this nightmare I find myself in?
any help would be much appreciated. thanks.

Almost all Sony DV cameras except the VX-1000 will play back DVCam tapes. Borrow one if you can.

DSR-300 DV output
 

I just checked an old Sony brochure and I'm pretty certain the DSR-300 has DV out. It's on a 6 pin connector rather than the "consumer" 4 pin, so maybe that's confusing things. A suitable cable should allow you to digitise straight from the camera.

I own a DSR-300. It does not have DV out.

The 300A, the 370 and 390 have DV out but not the plain old 300.

follow up
 

thanks for the replies. I just have a couple more questions.

I'm pretty sure but not positive that someone tried to playback the tapes on a pd-150 but it didn't work.

also, would even a one chip sony camera be able to play it back?

in retrospect I should have shot in mini dv format. are there any advantages at all of having shot in dvcam format on mini dv tapes?

finally if the sony cameras can't play it back then what would I have to do then?

thanks again.

Well the PD150 is capable of recording and playing in DVCAM formats, so I'm guessing the head alignment or something similar is out, hence no playback. Wouldn't really be able to advise you on what to do.. maybe a deck would be able to do it?

DVCAM simply offers more security with your shooting, no extra quality or anything like that. It basically helps eliminate the chance of dropouts etc.

Sorry Mike - the brochure I was looking at was a 300A!

But often it causes more trouble than good! :)

My Panasonic NV-GS400 was also able to play back DVCAM format, although it had to align something a few seconds every time I pressed play.

I would see if you can Rent a deck or take the tapes to a local production house and have them transferred if it's mission critical.

Sony has the DSR-11 Deck which goes for about $1600 @ B&H I believe..
The PD-150 and PD-170 both can play and record DVCAM without an issue. If you tried all the tapes through a PD-150 then something else is up as mentioned above, most likely a alignment issue. Your other option is to rent or find another PD150 or PD170 to confirm it's not the tapes..

One possible explanation for this could be trying to play a PAL tape in an NTSC camera, or vice-versa...

Would you believe I played a PAL tape in my NTSC PD-150 without a problem? I was looking at the time code and thought I'd forgot how to count to 29. Noticed when I turned on my JVC monitor the words PAL appeared when it saw the camera. I know someone who says that DVCPro will play just fine in a DSR-11 which can play and record PAL and NTSC DV/DVCAM.

Based on other posts here, the PAL tapes will play on NTSC Sony cameras, but the data sent over firewire is scrambled...

It's probably too late now, but I'd get (borrow)a camera that will convert to firewire. Plug the 300 S-video in and use the other camera's DV out.