Hi All

Real sorry if this question has been asked before but currently my video company uses Canon XM2's to capture footage on a frequent basis. Once the filming has been completed, I come back to the studio and bring down the footage via Firewire on to the computer ready for editing.

Now I hate the thought of using the XM'2 to bring down footage from the MiniDV tapes because or wear and tear etc. Not ideal I know.

My knowledge as far as tape decks are very minimal and I was wondering if someone could answer the following questions for me if possible:

[1] Do I get any added benefit by using a tape deck in terms of speed? Are they Firewire?

[2] Can anyone make any recommendations to purchasing a tape deck of reasonable cost. Perhaps between £600 - £1500 ?

Tape Desk is perhaps not the right term but hopefully you will know what I mean.

I would really appreciate your help.

Many thanks

Steven

The miniDV decks will support firewire indeed, and no, they will
not let you capture footage faster. If you want that I propose
you look into direct to disk (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=60) recording solutions.

[1] Do I get any added benefit by using a tape deck in terms of speed? --> Only in FF or REW, not on capture time.
Are they Firewire? --> Yes

[2] Can anyone make any recommendations to purchasing a tape deck of reasonable cost. Perhaps between £600 - £1500 ?--> New, not likely. Second hand, maybee.


My advice: Buy a MiniDV camcorder and use it as a deck to transfer your MiniDV tapes to your PC. Buy one with video/audio inputs; that can be very handy for duplicating tapes or analog to digital convertion.

Best regards,
Arnaldo