Yes thats probably the best option but we can't use this method because we are filming motorsport.

But thats not my problem I just need a good deck that works well with my recorded timecode.

Yep, that's a WHOLE lot different from covering someone cooking fish and shrimp!

It really doesn't matter what deck you use for DV. If there's TC on the tape they'll all transfer it to the computer. The only time I've had a TC issue was when the camera didn't record it properly. Strange thing then was the old DSR-20 would read it but the DSR-11 would loose it from time to time. Not really a drama as Vegas coped with it perfectly.

The best price / performance deck seems to be the DSR-11, well apart from the door getting broken off by being clumsy! Anything cheaper costs you D5 shell tapes (aka DVCAM) and that can be a godsend.

More expensive decks like the DSR-45 give you slightly smoother shuttling and a lot of expensive stuff you'll probably never need like balanced audio and component out. If you've got a bundle to blow the DSR-2000 is the bees knees, if that deck wont track a tape nothing will, however you could buy several XL2s for the price!

You could also consider the new Sony HDV decks, they do DV, DVCAM and HDV so they'll give you some future proofing.

BTW, good luck editing, I've just finished a hill climb with a simulated 5 camera shoot. As the cars go around the track 6 times we shot from 5 positions and edited as a multicam. Fortunately one of the prizes is for who has the most consistant lap times.

But one thing I've noticed, even when everything is 100% in sync the cut can still look mistimed due to the shift of the car / background. I found I had to cut ahead rather than right on.

miniDV camera as capture deck - which one?
 

Hi
I am about to buy a budget minidv camera to use as a capture deck to save my XL2. I have borrowed a couple in the past and both made irritating noises as they stopped/started and had difficulty when asked to shuttle.

can anyone recommend a cheap (£200ish) camera for this purpose?

Many thanks in advance

I use a Canon ZR65 for capture only. It works great, saves wear and tear on my two GL2s and avoids the tape rewind problem that the GL2s sometimes have. I bought the ZR65 for $500 about 3 years ago. How much that is in pounds I don't know.

Whatever you get, test it out with your Xl2 footage first. I have heard that there are issues sometimes between Canon cams and readability on other MiniDV cameras. You can depend on a problem in LP if you sue that and there have been people reporting problems even in SP.

thanks gents for your response.

yeah, i'm worried about that chris which is why i would really appreciate any xl2 users that are using video cameras as decks without any problems to let me know the make and model.

thanks again in advance

Suggestions for miniDV deck
 

Hey folks,

I'm in the market for a miniDV deck mainly for the purpose of outputting video from Premiere Pro 2.0 to my super-nice video monitor. I tried to do it via my video card with an S-video output, but I couldn't make it work because Adobe likes to cripple it's software for some weird reason. Don't get me wrong, it's an excellent NLE, but Adobe makes some really weird decisions. REALLY weird.

So, I was just wanting to get some opinions on the newest, best, and brightest technology you people might have been exposed to. Or, if you know of another way to get preview video from my time-line to my monitor that doesn't cost a thousand bucks, I'm willing to listen.

Thanks a lot!

~Nick V.

Well if you only care about DV->SD previews then just get one of the canopus ADVC 100 or 110 converter boxes. The ADVC's help with capturing low quality analog tape to DV too.

The ADVC's won't save wear and tear on your cameras by capturing mini-DV though. I think the Sony DSR-10(?) is the cheapest real deck out there but many people opt just to buy a cheap DV camcorder to use as a deck to save money. The DSR-10's advantage is mainly durability, and maybe DVCAM format on top of miniDV (not sure about that).

If you want HD monitoring the cheapest approach is the Matrox MXO (which makes a computer monitor act like a TV monitor).

Shayne Weyker
http://weykervideo.com

Shayne is irght, I use a $150.00 mini-dv camera to output to via firewire and haven't had any issues. A $1,200 deck may be overkill. Just depends on your needs. You can also look at the Sony GV-D900 deck, they go for about $900.

Does this mean that you don't use the same camcorder to output to PC? In other words, you use a professional or semipro camera to film and then take the tape out and use a cheap mini-dv camera to output? Is it OK?

Stelios

Professional videographers never use their expensive camera to play back or capture the footage. If money is not an issue but reliability is, then a deck is used. If money is an issue, than a cheap camcorder can be used to capture tapes.

As long as this camcorder works as expected (no dropped frames, no tape messed up mechanically), then there is no difference - capturing video from a miniDV tape is nothing more than file transfer. But of course, if you have to transfer a tape filmed in HDV, you will need an HDV deck or camcorder.

The reason you might want to use a different camera for capture and previews is that connecting and disconnecting the cables a lot from your good camera every time you switch between shooting and editing can wear out the cable connectors and make them loose. That and some cameras (mostly the Canon GL2/XM2) have a fragile tape transport mechanism that lots of capturing can break.

Shayne Weyker
http://weykervideo.com

If you do any extensive logging and capturing multiple clips from tapes, a deck will be MUCH faster.



ash =o)

I can recommmend getting a Sony DSR-11 if you can find the cash. A workhorse of a deck I've found mine to be super reliable and a good investment in time saved now (and likely in the future) for being able log and capture quickly.

Bigger decks are probably a little overkill at the moment in terms of investment unless you see yourself using SD for a fair while still (I do because a lot of the work I am shooting for is going to be highly compressed web based products with little call for high definition masters.)