I am looking for a small economical deck for playback to capture to avoid using the camera itself and running time on the heads. I know Sony used to make one for mini DV will this work for HDV shot on the A1?

There is a Sony GV-HD700 HDV Video Walkman VCR at B&H for $1,250

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/516841-REG/Sony_GVHD700_GV_HD700_HDV_Video_Walkman.html

The least expensive way to do this is get a used HV20... There may even be one advertised on Classifieds here!

will this work for HDV shot on the A1?Which A1 -- the Sony HVR-A1 or the Canon XH A1?

That's a good question, now that I think about it will the Sony HD700 play HDV footage from the Canon XH A1?

That's a good question, now that I think about it will the Sony HD700 play HDV footage from the Canon XH A1?

The 700 will play 1080 I, however it wont play Canons Progressive Frame mode. So 1080 24/30f will have to be captured with the XH A1.

An HV20 might be a better option for you as a deck, it also gives you a second camera.

All Sony HDV decks except the HVR-M35 will play back only 1080i video shot with a Canon 3CCD HDV camcorder such as an XH or XL series camera. No Frame mode 24F or 30F compatibility here.

For 24F and 30F Frame mode playback from a Canon XL or XH, the only compatible Sony VTR is the HVR-M35. A common solution is to use a Canon consumer HDV camcorder such as the HV10, HV20 or HV30, all of which support 1080i and 30F and 24F Frame mode video playback.

Hey Chris,
Do you have confirmation the the m35 will playback Canon Progressive? I was pretty sure it was just the Sony Progressive.

Thanks

Canon USA tells me so, but I haven't seen so myself.

The footage will be shot with a Canon XH A1, so your saying the sony won't work?

Per Chris Hurd's post above. Most of the Sony HDV decks will only playback 1080i video from the Canon A1. Only the Sony HVR M35 HDV deck will playback Progressive 24F and 30F according to Canon.

Best bet is to get a Canon HV10, HV20, or HV30 camcorder to use as a playback deck unless you want to spend a lot of money on a very expensive Sony HVR M35 deck!

Chris,

I hate to dispute what you were told but I have a Sony M25 deck and a Canon XH A1 camera. The Sony deck will only read standard 1080i HDV from the Canon. When I try to read HDV shot in 24F or 30F the deck complains and says to use a tape with an appropriate format, i.e., standard 1080i HDV. I have to disconnect the deck and connect the Firewire cable directly to the XH A1 to download clips into Final Cut Pro 6.02 on my Mac Pro.

I also have a Sony HVR-V1U that shoots in 24P, but it outputs everything in 1080i. In either case, I usually edit the video in ProRes422 and then output 24p using Quicktime conversion or Compressor for uploading to Vimeo and others.

I suppose Sony could update the firmware to make it compatible with Canon's progressive formats, but why would they go to the trouble of supporting the competition?

The M35u is a different animal than the M25u. It was built to support the Sony Native Progressive recording format that is just now coming out with the Z7.

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/product-HVRM35U/

There are also versions listed on the website for the m25au, and the m15au. Both of these are going to have the progressive playback as well. No idea when this is gonna come out though.

Any ideas?>

I did some research and it appears that the new M35 WILL read and write a number of different HDV formats, including proprietary progressive modes like the Canon 24F and 30F. Unfortunately, it also costs around $5k!!! It is nearly double what I paid for my M25.

See the following Douglas Spotted Eagle video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5WTkGKA1yg

BTW - Isn't he the same Douglas Spotted Eagle who plays the Native American flute withe Peter Kater?

...It is nearly double what I paid for my M25.

Don't feel bad Daniel, I bought my M10u three months before Sony released the M15u that would take the full size DVCAM cassettes! Ah, the cost of technology!


See the following Douglas Spotted Eagle video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5WTkGKA1yg

BTW - Isn't he the same Douglas Spotted Eagle who plays the Native American flute withe Peter Kater?

Yes, that is the only one and the same Spot!