Pal Footage on GS100?
 

Hi,

Still undecided on my cam purchase, a quick question to the GS100 owners.
I hear that Sony NTSC cams can play PAL recorded tapes into MAC/PC through firewire and back. I would Pana cams to able to do the same but would like to be sure.

I'm in PAL land, don't plan to mix PAL/NTSC footage, will use videos for output for web and/or DVD only, and the $$$ savings on a NTSC cam are significant. Still, the ability to up/download my PAL tapes to my MAC would be an important feature.

With some owners of Pana NTSC cams on this board, I hope that someone can answer on this. I contacted Alan recently and he told me that after talking with Pana reps, he was informed that it is not possible. If Sony's can why not Pana or other brands.

Thanks for any feedback.

Which consumer Sony models can do this? I only heard that the PAL TRV900 could play back NTSC footage, but not moved via the cam's firewire.What Sonys can??

Hi Frank,

I've got this from camcorderinfo forum. One of the senior members, Kerr Avon if my memory is correct, mentions on several threads that Sony TRV19/22/33 can do it. I would assume that all other Sony's as well. This might be BS, but I doubt it, otherwise someone would have come out and denied it.

Well, I really don't know, but what I do know is that the PAL TRV900 could play back NTSC footage, but not upload/download nor convert. The NTSC TRV900 could not play back PAL footage. I have never heard of any NTSC Sony models that could playback or upload/download PAL footage. Perhaps you could e-mail Kerr Avon and find out more about this. This is certainly news for me, but at this point I'm suspect. Feel free to post here what you find out.

Oh, and my PAL MX300 can not play back NTSC. I've tried it. :)

Well, I have insufficient technical knowlegde here, but it would seem to me that while camera optics and chip capture differently for PAL/NTSC, when transferring footage via firewire, this is basically a digital data stream. The editing software would then be the one to determine if it is PAL or NTSC and work it accordingly.

Again, I don't have the technical background but this makes sense to me....

As for mailing Kerr, as far as I know he is Sony user and I would really hear some Pana user to confirm/deny this.

Joao,
I have confirmed information that you can record correct NTSC signal via the FireEire from NTSC to PAL miniDV cam.

Then you can see color image on the PAL cam's own LCD monitor. However when you use the S-video or composite to watch on TV the image is black and white as the signal is NTSC (played back by the PAL cam). You'll need multy system TV to watch in color.

These is slightly different from what you want and reverse too but you can use it as starting point.

No any maker will admit their product can do both formats as it's against their policy.

I don't have any miniDV PAL recorded tapes otherwise I would check for you with pleasure.

I am a Pana user, so is Allan. The Pana NTSC GS100 will not play back/upload/download/convert PAL footage. And I am suspect about your claim about these NTSC Sony models. I suggest e-mailing this "Sony user" or contacting Sony to get more information before you ask why Sony can do this and Pana can't.

I don't expect the NTSC cam to convert PAL to NTSC and v.v., I'm also not interested in the Sony cams and their capabilities.

I've heard a lot of discussion about "if you are in PAL country get PAL cam", but for my purposes, I can't see any reason to buy a PAL model if I can get NTSC for half the price.

Joao, you have a point about prices. But if your country uses PAL, you're going to run into all sorts of problems with using a NTSC cam in PAL territory. Don't make this mistake. Perhaps settle with a cheaper PAL 1 CCD cam.

Blame Europe's import tax system. :)

Best choice is to get PAL cams from Singapore or Malaysia through YowCH. Prices of PAL cams there are much cheaper even than Tokyo, while Tokyo is usually cheaper than Europe. Just have to wait when the PAL would finally be out, and starting street price should be higher than the current price(s) of the Jap GS100. MSRP (if ever they decide to give one) should be less than that of MX500.

Hi Allan,
Quote: "Best choice is to get PAL cams from Singapore or Malaysia through YowCH"

How can I get in touch with YowCH and who is he?

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=15402

He is a well-known member here and he has also posted for many years on dv.com's camera forum.

Don't do it joao. I did the same thing for the same reason (a canon cam) and all the little hassles go a long way towards destroying the pleasure ....

(I mea that about buying an ntsc cam, not about contacting Y :-) )

why the hell would you buy an ntsc camera if you could and do need a pal camera.

i think everyone here would trade their ntsc camera for a pal camera if they could.

NTSC is inferiour, it is a hassle, it is annoying to use in a pal based country. If you can't afford a PAL camera, and want to cheap out by buying ntsc, then maybe you should consider saving longer and buying a PAL camera.

Cheaper does not make it better or easier.

Zac

Just to help clear up a point, Sony NTSC cams do play PAL tapes. I did this using a multi-standard TV, a Canon XL1 and a Sony Palmcorder. It also worked with my friends VX2000. As for firewire transfer we didn't try that so I can't say if it works or not.

However, I agree with Zac, save up and get a PAL camera. I use my PAL XL1 here in Japan and it's a pain if anyone wants a copy of footage I've shot. If I was doing paying jobs here in Japan then I would buy an NTSC camera and sell it before going back to Australia.

<<<-- Originally posted by Adrian Douglas : Just to help clear up a point, Sony NTSC cams do play PAL tapes. I did this using a multi-standard TV, a Canon XL1 and a Sony Palmcorder. It also worked with my friends VX2000. As for firewire transfer we didn't try that so I can't say if it works or not.
-->>>

You mean you could play a PAL recording on a Sony NTSC camera? That's the first time I hear that. What model were the Sonys you tried this with?

The Canon XL1 and Sony Palmcorder were used for what?

Of course this could only work on a multi-system TV.



Carlos

Well, like I said, I know that the PAL TRV900 will play back NTSC, but the NTSC TRV900 will not play back PAL. Perhaps things have changed since that cam. What I'm going to do is take one of my miniDV tapes will PAL footage, go to a Sony dealer, and attempt to play it back on a number of Sony NTSC cams. This is easy enough for me. There are 2 Sony Stores just 5 minutes away from where I live. This will clear this up once and for all. :)

<<<-- You mean you could play a PAL recording on a Sony NTSC camera? That's the first time I hear that. What model were the Sonys you tried this with?

The Canon XL1 and Sony Palmcorder were used for what?

Of course this could only work on a multi-system TV.


Carlos -->>>

I can't remember the exact model on the Sony Palmcorder, and its name/number is probably different from the models in the States etc, but maybe it was a PC100 or a TRV19/22/33. I was shooting a surf comp with my XL1 and we were using the Sony as a playback deck so the competitors could come in and watch their heats while I kept shooting. As I said in my earlier post we were using a multi-standard TV and the Sony was hooked into that.