Contemplating purchasing a Z7 and thought while doing so I would put in an order for a smaller cam as well.

The Handycam would act as a balcony camera and feed the footage into the Mac.

The HC9 has been suggested. Would this be a good one?

Is there any particular camera that you would recommend for this purpose?

Thanks -

Scott

I don't have a recommendation for you, but I'd like the ask :

Does the Z7 playback tapes made on the Z1/FX1? I would have assumed they are compatible, but I read one poster write that his Z7 wouldn't do Firewire transfer of tapes made on his Z1. Is this true? If so, are there any small cameras that will play both formats?

I believe a Canon HV30 should work, but I don't know that for certain. I'm sure somebody here has tried capturing, from tapes recorded by a Z7, with an HV20 or HV30.

Contemplating purchasing a Z7 and thought while doing so I would put in an order for a smaller cam as well.

The Handycam would act as a balcony camera and feed the footage into the Mac.

The HC9 has been suggested. Would this be a good one?

Is there any particular camera that you would recommend for this purpose?

Thanks -

Scott

I would get the Sony SR11/12 instead of the HC9 because of it's much better low light performance.

interesting thread, I was also thinking about purchasing a smaller consumer HDV handycam for capturing purposes.

Would there be any difference in quality if i do this?
i.e shoot with the Z7 and say capture HDV via a sony HC-7/9

So long as the camera can read the tapes, and there are no dropouts, the quality is exactly the same. It's digital.

Agree the SR11/12 is nice, but won't do much as a playback deck <wink>, however it would make a very good second cam. If tapeless is the preferred format, then I'd swing that way too, just for the big LCD and latest and greatest technology. Be aware it hunts like a dog with a cold in low light when zoomed in though - It can be worked around, but my CX7 is faster and more accurate when light gets low. In good light the SR11 is stunning.

The HC9 has more manual control, and really isn't that bad in low light, if you need the deck capability or want a small cam with decent control, it's a good choice. I'm guessing for your multiple purposes it's the better choice. It is about as much cam as you can pack into something that size.

I 2nd the HV20. That is what I currently use to dump tapes from my Z7 and FX-1. You can find them for under $700 and it makes a great 2nd/backup camera. I don't think the HV30 offers enough new features for the price difference.
I did read somewhere that someone was having trouble dumping tape from the Z7 that was 30p. I might be confusing myself though ;)

We're using the Sony HC1 & HC3 for this purpose. Works well imo. We're also using the Canon HV30 (great cam btw) as well. In SG, the HV30 is about the same price as a HV20.

But we generally stick to tape, since the main cam is also tape based, easier for archiving and workflow, even though we spend alot of time capturing.

We're using the Sony HC1 & HC3 for this purpose. Works well imo.

So you have shot w/ the Z7 & played out via HC1/HC3 and it worked well?

If so were you shooting 1080i60 or 1080p30?

I know the HC1/HC3 only do 1080i60, but I think the Z7 (like the V1) records the 1080p30 signal to tape in the 1080i60 format so it can be played out w/o any issue & then put back to progressive w/ software in the NLE.

Or do you need your HV30 to play out 1080p30?

Good question, Zach, I'd like to know that too. Next time I'm in the city I'll do a 1080p25 test on a Z7E and see if my HC9E will read it. Don't know if the results will be the same for 30p, though. Might be a week or so.

I bought the HC9 to use as a DV/HDV capture device, mainly because Sony cameras will read DVCAM while Canon will not. I have never once received Canon progressive footage from a client, but get DVCAM all the time.


The Handycam would act as a balcony camera and feed the footage into the Mac.

The HC9 has been suggested. Would this be a good one?

Scott, I've been very happy with the HC9 as a secondary camera.

Good question, Zach, I'd like to know that too. Next time I'm in the city I'll do a 1080p25 test on a Z7E and see if my HC9E will read it. Don't know if the results will be the same for 30p, though. Might be a week or so.

I bought the HC9 to use as a DV/HDV capture device, mainly because Sony cameras will read DVCAM while Canon will not. I have never once received Canon progressive footage from a client, but get DVCAM all the time.




Scott, I've been very happy with the HC9 as a secondary camera.

I think I've missed out on some information. I didn't realize that the HC9 would playback DV or DVCAM. If that's the case then it definitely bumps the value up a bit.

AFAIK, Sony cams are pretty compatible and will play back MOST if not all formats that the other Sonys record. I'd suggest you take a DVCM tape and test, but I'd be surprised if the HC9 didn't play it back - I recall testing this ability with earlier HC series cams, and had no problems playing back.

I'll do a 1080p25 test on a Z7E and see if my HC9E will read it. Don't know if the results will be the same for 30p, though.
.....

I bought the HC9 to use as a DV/HDV capture device, mainly because Sony cameras will read DVCAM while Canon will not.

I'm guessing if the PAL cameras are cross compatible, the NTSC cameras will be as well. I look forward to your test.

I know there were a few Panasonic MiniDV cameras that would play back DVCam, so there seems to be a lot of play-back ability out there on many cameras that don't advertise it.