I'm using a JVC GR-D30 as a deck. Got it from B&H Photo Video for $349. It uses the IEEE 1394 Firewire, has a flip out color screen and the standard b&w finder. It's cheap, works great and comes in handy as a backup cam. Here's the link:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=273696&is=REG

Thanks all for the resources. I was able to get the GV-D1000 financed through SONY interest free for 12 months and I'm able to use it as a record deck from my camera to make dubs as well.

Will let you know how it works out.

I have a friend whos been using one for a while with no problems, one thing if you havent already bought from sony...bh has it for about $250 dollars less than the sonystyle website. (or it did last week think it was 1049.00)

m

For years I used a Sony GV-D900. It is like the newer GV-D1000, but better in that it had a 5.5" screen instead of the current 4" screen. The screen and its portability set it apart from usind a cheap DV cam as a deck. The 5.5" screen made it quite practical to show clients or others your footage, or to use it for proofing or just enjoying your footage while still out in the field. Also making it far better than a cam as a deck is the fact that the controls are much more accessible on the GV-D900 (or GV-D1000) than on a camera. This matters for simple things like cueing up or reviewing manually (not by device control from your NLE).

Jonas

I have a cannon xl1s, and I was looking into purchasing a miniDV deck to get my video onto my computer via firewire connection. Which deck would you recommend?

Do a search on miniDV decks. This topic must be one of the top 5 most frequent discussions.

found this on :

http://www.cdromshop.com

***********************************************
Yes, we ship to Belgium on a daily basis.

Minidv/Svhs Combo Deck - Firewire Enabled, Built-In Editing Features
Price: US$1236.82 = 1169.96 (IN STOCK!)
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would this be any good ?? someone using this please ?
I can't find any reviews about this deck

thx
jacko

You don't give enough information to know of which deck you are speaking.

the dual JVC decks have some bad press. I purchased 2 second-generation units for the local community college and they have been great. SVHS/VHS & miniDV with analog and digtial transfers to and from the computer (Apple G4's)

Mike,

thx for the reply

yes it's JVC indeed

If it has had bad press, then I'll forget about it

Um. . .this maybe dumb, but just how bad IS using the cam for playback, capture, etc.? I don't do it every day, but maybe a few hours a week of rewinding, capture, etc. Also. . .while we're at it. . .any bad side effects of using the camera as a D/A converter for use with an external monitor (Vegas 4).

Using the camera as a deck will put more hours on its heads. If you are running over a hundred hours on it then maybe you want to consider a deck. However, a replacement for your camera will probably still be cheaper than a real deck!! In professional environments their cameras are expensive and gets hundreds of hours on them so a deck is a good idea.

I don't know of any problem using it as a A/D converter.

How would a new Canon XL1s be cheaper than a deck? Or did you mean the heads? Aren't the heads like $900?

Yes, I too have an xl1s... I think compared to the $4000 on it and all its accessories i've purchased, $1250 isn't too bad. But I think I'm just going to get a cheap $300 camera and use it.

Tell me which one you're gonna get. . .I might do the same. I was looking at Panasonic Dv53s on Ebay. Some good prices. . .if you're willing to accept whatever's wrong with them. I want something that will read and acknowledge anything weird I do in camera with the framerate (30p. . .if I ever get another cam, 24p, etc.).

How would a new Canon XL1s be cheaper than a deck? Or did you mean the heads? Aren't the heads like $900?

Many people here have consumer cameras that cost a lot less. For them, their camera is cheaper than the cheapest deck you can buy.

Sorry. . .my camera conceit got the better of me.

jeez guys, where are you going with this?

Sony DSR-11 is probably the most recommended deck in the DV world. If only it had timecode display!

Lol, thanks for throwing out an actual answer.

Any particular models? All the stuff I've seen is still around $400.

I just saw a JVC on Home Shopping Network for about $360...it's not on their site at that price, so (unfortunately) you have to sit in front of the tube and watch HSN all day...

I've been heavily using a Sony Walkman mini-dv deck for about 5 years without any problems, and it' still plugging along. It's invaluable for presentations, and making final tapes. I recommend it highly. Mike

Got a model number on that? Sounds interesting.

I'm not at my video editing station- but I think it's the GV300, without the LED screen- cost about $1000 from B&H Photo, New York. If I had to buy again, I'd go ahead and get the unit with the screen- it would be real handy as a small monitor to view work on the road while on assignment, or just to share video with others without a major hookup. Mike Rupp

Hello All!
I was wondering if anyone has had experience using MiniDV (Consumer) in broadcast. Specifically, my school is looking to buy a few decks to use in our (old) production van.

We still use analog video (composite) for the video throughout the van.


These will be replacing 2 Betacam SP units (a UVW-1800 and a PVW-2800), which have been (ab)used by the students. They need genlock capability. We'd like at least one of the units to have a jog-wheel (like the PVW-2800). Audio inputs would be unbalanced XLR, but we might be able to hack something to work with a different connector.

I'm eyeing the JVC BR-DV6000U and the BR-DV600UA, but they are a bit pricey. We've budgeted around $1500, but if someone can justify a higher price, we'll be able to get the funds.


So, this is what we need:
Jog-Shuttle (1 unit)
BlackBurst/Genlock Capability
XLR Audio (could be adapted/modified)
Composite Video
Low Price :)

Any Suggestions?



Hope I posted in the right forum!

The only I know is that if you have a good enough DV camera the
footage is definitely broadcast quality, no doubt about that!

You don't get much for $1500 in DV these days.

Are you sure you can live with a 1 hour tape load?

For recording purposes, the decks don't need genlock. If you need to play one back to your switcher for B-roll, why don't you dig out an old TBC and run it through that? That's what I do in the local college control room. Works very nicely. Since I had the TBC, it was a lot cheaper than purchasing a big deck.

These small transports don't have the kind of control you experienced with the BetaSP decks. So you might want to try some hands-on before you buy. BetaSP-quality deck control (fast response to operator input) means an expensive deck from what I've seen.

The only decks that I know of that use the DV transports are the DVC Pro line from Panasonic. But get ready to spend some money. They do have the jog/shuttle wheels though.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Rob: DV is considered broadcast quality if you have broadcast sources. You're right about the camera; if the camera is a "cheap" Canon ZR20, then the footage captured on there isn't going to be very high quality (due to the single small CCD and the small, medium quality optics). However, if we take a Panasonic AG-DVC200 or even the AG-DVX100, then the quality could be considered broadcast quality, due to the higher quality lenses (Leica or Fujion) and the larger, triple CCD.

Mike: 1 hour is fine (we only broadcast for 5 minutes in the morning for the school news), but if we needed to we could go to "large-format" DV, which has running times of up to 276 minutes. I need to double-check on the Genlock, because our Betacam SP units complain like crazy if we try to record to them without Genlock. One option we're considering is using a TBC with a few JVC BR-DV3000U units. They don't have the jog-dial or genlock, but the TBC would be able to compensate for the lack of genlock.

James: We aren't ready or willing to spend the money on a DVCProLine VTR, but it would definitely satisfy our needs (except for low-cost ;) ).


I'd just like to thank you all for looking at this thread and contributing. Thanks!

You don't need genlock on the decks per se if the signal isn't going to be mixed with other video signals. Genlock allows the use of black burst or some other version of House Sync to be used to sync all the other decks together and devices (DVE, Special Effects Gen, Chyron etc.). If the signal is run through a TBC, as Mike suggests, it can be synced to other signals via the Genlock on the TBC.

I switch 4 XLs with a Panasonic MX-50 switcher with internal sync. Decks can be substituted for the sources as well. Simply plug either a composite or Y/C connector into the switcher and that's it! I mix to a Panasonic AG-DV2000 deck that uses mini and full size DV cassettes. This is all plug and play, affordable and space friendly for what you can do with it compared to using seperate TBCs for each source.

I found a really good price for this dvcam online (299) and decided to grab it. I'll be using it primarily to transfer footage from my DVX100. Now I know most of you are going to say that this camera isnt built to do this type of work, but is there anyone who actually tried using this camera (or any other similar JVC product for that matter) for this type of work? How did it do? Thanks.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with using a cheap camcorder as a feeder deck. In fact, we have a number of threads on this topic. A lot of folks like using the Canon ZR40 or ZR60. I don't see why your JVC wouldn't fill the bill -- go for it!

The JVC will work great as a deck...as far as DV qualities, chroma keying doesn't seem to work right with video taken with the JVC. Video shot with my GL2 and fed to NLE via JVC works fine....

I currently shoot with an XL1 and when I complete my editing I create a master on a SVHS deck. I would like to record directly to my XL1 so as to make a better quality master. I have read the XL1 manual and can't seem to find out how to do it and would appreciate some advice and help.

I am able to make a master on my Sony digital 8, simply by setting it on VCR and recording off of the editing bay and would like to do the same with the XL1.

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

Do you want to record from an analog source or from your
computer over firewire? The first is only possible on the XL1S
(the later model!) if you put it in VCR mode (you can't do this
if a firewire cable is connected!!).

The second is possible if you play from the timeline or do a
print-to-tape from your NLE application (you might need to
hit record on your XL1 which again must be in VCR mode).

I've been watching and reading the threads for quite some time now regarding Final Cut Pro 4 and Express (now version 2) compatibility with the JVC SR-VS30U dual deck vcr (mini-dv and s-vhs). Many people were having tedious issues with this deck, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it works for a minute then quits, etc. After a while it was basically accepted that they weren't compatible and the subject was dropped.
Today, I was told by a professor that the bugs had been worked out and Final Cut now controlled the deck flawlessly. I didn't get to actually see it in action, so I don't know what to think. Has anyone had any positive experience with this deck and current versions of Final Cut Pro and/or Express?

Hey everyone,

Things are starting to pick up here, so its time to purchase a DV deck for capturing, playback, etc instead of killing my XL1s

I'm currently torn between panasonic's AG-DV2500 and JVC's BR-DV3000U.

Which one is a better bang for the buck considering they are roughly the same price? Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with either deck?

Please let me know
~Mike

P.S. does any one know of any places that offers student discounts on these products? (i'm gonna try to milk the student thing while i still have it considering what i have paid to be a college student!!!!!)

$1999.95 list price for the AG-DV2500 for capture and playback?
If you don't need the additional tape formats, get a used or even new cheepie miniDV camcorder. You'll love the portability,
LCD screen and audio monitoring.

True, i could get a small camera for that purpose, i'd rather invest in a true VTR. At the moment, i can find these models in a 1300-1500 price range

I know in the future i want to offer to work in DV in addition to Mini-DV which those models can handle (even DV-CAM playback & Capture)

Also what is the lifespan for the heads on elcheapo cameras? ie would i end up using 2-3 cameras over the same time as the dedicated deck?

~Mike

I have seen these on ebay for less than $200. I am looking for a cheap cam in order to save the heads on my VX2100. I did a search on the JVC and only came up with three threads that did not fully address my question. So... Have any of you used this cam as a transfer deck and if so how do you like it? If not, then what cam do you use for transfer only?

O.K. I did another search on the JVC GR-D30 instead of the 30u and found a few more threads. I guess the cameras are similar. I would still like to know what the most popular unit is for transfer.

Hello,
I have a PD150 and don't really want to use it as the deck to import all my footage into the NLE. I was wondering if Sony make a small DVCAM deck that I can use for importing all my footage. If not, would a Mini DV deck work for my DVCAM tapes, that is if they make one? Thanks so much for your help,
Todd

Check out the Sony DSR-11. It is a small DVCAM deck along with being Sony’s cheapest desktop system.

I got the DVX-100A and I do not want to use that camera as my deck. Can anyone recommend me a good camera that is cheap and will work well for my purpose? Thanks.

Any cam will work as long as it's dependable- the signal will be the same when transferring it through firewire between a cheapo DV cam to a pro cam. I personally have a DVX100a and I use my old Panasonic DV852 which was a great cam a year ago and still is today. They discontinued the model but BHPHOTO still has it brand new for like 400 bucks or so. I'd reccomend it.

Everyone recomends doing this it seems, but I wonder if it costs more than $500 to replace the worn out parts in your DVX? It seems that if it's only like $300 or so to send it to the manufacturer for repair, you save money by doing so. Anybody know what this repair costs on a Pany and Canon?

If I'm going to buy a separate drive, I'll spend $1100 on the JVC dual miniDV and S-VHS deck.

Replacing the tape mechanism in my Canon XL1 cost me a little bit more than 1000$.

Daaaang! Yeah, I'm buying the JVC deck.

I think it's more of the inconvenience of sending the cam off that really turns me off. I bought the 4 year mack camera warranty as well but I only have one DVX100a and no backups other than my DV852 which won't really cut it any more. I want to keep the DVX by my side for as long as possible before having to send it off for head maintenance etc., but maybe that's just me. Unless you plan on doing an extensive amount of rewinding etc. of your DV tapes (just get a DV tape rewinder), I could never justify buying a seperate deck for around a G, unless I was in a professional environment, which I'm not. If my tape mechanism ever did go out and I was about to face a $1,000 replacement or repair fee, I'd just get a Quick Stream or other Hard Drive based system and say goodbye to tapes forever. It's the future of our cameras anyways..... Just MO.

Sure, but it seems like a waste of a whole extra camera to spend $400-500 on a little dvdeck with no "deck" features.

I'm just saying, if your willing to spend $500, you should probably wait a little while and spend twice that on a real deck rather than waste it on a little camera you'll never use.