Hi,

I am about to buy a Canon XH A1, but as i am likely to be using it a lot i would like to use another machine to import the material to FCP, instead of wearing out the head on my new camera and am therfore thinking of buying a new but cheap Mini DV Cam for playback purpose only. So here comes the silly question;

Can I use an SD Camera to playback/import material shot on HDV tapes into FCP? And if so, am i likely to lose quality?

Any help would be enourmously appreciated, as i am looking at buying a Mini DV camera as well as the Canon XH A1.

Thanks in advance,

Harjinder.

An SD/DV camera or deck will not playback an HDV tape, even if the blank tapes are physically identical.

Thanks for the quick reply... i guess i'll have to look into getting a cheap HDV cam too..

Or would you reccommend just using the deck built into the XH A1?


Thanks again,

Harjinder

I really don't think just capturing tape from your camera will make much of a difference in its useful lifetime. Shuttling tape back and forth and starting and stopping frequently on the other hand might case premature wear on the drive mechanism, although probably not so much on the heads.

Just my opinion, of course.

A separate playdeck is only useful when you're shooting and importing multiple tapes a day, like at a TV station. Otherwise the wear on the tape mechanism is negligible.

See this thread about the "I need a deck" myth:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?p=763493#post763493

Thanks everyone for your tips, they've all been most helpful...

Seems the second camera is not a must after all, have also discovered some rather cheap rewinding decks on Ebay..

cheers all,

Harjinder

I would definitely stay away from anything cheap! Camcorder tape transport machanisms are very sophisticated, they include electronic sensors of all sorts, and a computer interprets the measurements, shutting off (thus protecting your tape) if problem is detected - none of that present in cheap rewinders.

Best practice: shoot, go home and capture the whole tape all at once, then archive the tape. Do not use camcorder for viewing the tape. Your camcorder will live long after you get bored of it or it becomes otherwise obsolete and you go for a newer/better one.

The Canon HV-20 will play back tapes recorded with a XH-A1 (including 25F footage).

I'm with Andre.

Get HV20.

I use it as a deck and second camera.
The picture is great and you also have back up camera.

I third the HV20; plus, it's a cool B-unit camera. Canon has never made decks before, and probably won't. But never say never; the HV20 records in 30p, 24p and 25p (depending on your region), in addition to 50i and 60i. It plays back 24f and 25f; I think Canon put that function in to sell more units to people not wanting to destroy the tape transport system on their pro cameras.

heath

I also use the hv20...


Good price... good cam.