I have a few hours of HDV tape that I shot with a Canon XH-A1 that I would like to re-capture in HD. I sold the camera in 2007, so I must find another route.

I think I remember reading in these forums, that some were using the HV10/20/30/40 cameras as a playback deck for capture so as not to add to the hours on the higher end cameras.

I am considering buying a good used HV30 to capture this footage with and also for occasional amateur shooting.

Am I thinking correctly here?

Appreciate other capture suggestions as well.

I capture my XH footage with an HV 30

Actually, most HDV cameras with tape capture capability will likely work. In the early days of digital tape we said it was wise to stick to same brand and/or model of camera for capture purposes, but as things developed, assuming the camera had firewire out, you could usually capture okay across Sony, Canon, and other platforms. I have a SonyFX1 that I shot, and captured footage through my HV30. I actually initially had the HV20, and it died on me, and I bought the HV30 in beautiful condition through someone on this site for about $350.00. It hasn't been used at all because of my 5D and VG20 purchases. Though I have been curious about how it might capture to a Black Magic Shuttle 2 I am buying, I might consider letting it go for same price I bought it if you have any interest.

I am considering buying a good used HV30 to capture this footage with and also for occasional amateur shooting.

The HV30 is a good choice because it also captures tapes recorded using the XHA1's native 24f recording mode. Depending on how casual your casual shooting is, you might enjoy something smaller than the HV30 with better image stabilization. For three tapes, I'm sure lots of people could capture the tapes for you. If you can't find someone locally, the tapes could be sent through mail and the resulting files could be burned without transcoding directly to blu-ray.