cheapest dv cam player?
 

hello all my 5000 minutes of footage that i've captured along the years got recorded on a sony pdr-100 wich is a dvcam camera ,now the problem is that i dont have it anymore therefore what would be the cheapest way to transfer my footage on my computer or my external hard ,knowing that i can't afford a new 5000$ camera. any solution out there for my little problem??????? is the only way ,using another dvcam format camcorder????
plz help thx for your indulgence(time)

Many consumer Sony MiniDV camcorders will play DVCAM tapes (all of mine do).

I'd suggest going to your local electronics store with one of your DVCAM tapes (I assume you are using the mini size) and test various models to see which can play DVCAM.

I doubt any consumer camera would play back DVCAM format tapes. DVCam uses a higher tape speed, though still uses dv (or minidv) tape. Did you record solely using dvcam preset? I am not familiar with the pd100, but I know the 150 and 170 can both record standard dv, and if these are mearly dv tapes, not dvcam, then your average minicam will work fine.

If you did record on dvcam solely, your cheapest bet would either to buy a used or rent a sony pdx10, which will play this format and is liable to be cheaper than any deck you'll find out there.

Yes John and no Greg, al lot of cheap Sony consumer cam's can actually play back DVCAM tapes. So, that can be a cheap solution, just bring a tape to a Best Buy or so and find out if the cheapest Sony will take it. If you want a cheap deck? JVC makes a DV deck which plays back DVCAM.

thx guys for helping me yes indeed it was the old sony pd-100 it was like the pdx-10 great camera be the way and will cheap consumer camera a local retail shops and i'll have to buy one with firewire

I can state as absolute fact that all my Sony consumer miniDV camcorders play DVCAM recordings without any trouble whatsoever.

I know this because I used them to capture a whole load of DVCAM recordings in parallel.

How interesting. Just goes to show, you learn something new everyday.