Hi everyone.
New to the forum and have a quick question.

I'm considering investing in my first real DV camera (XL1s likely) and have started to wonder the best method to transfer video off the tape to the Mac for editing. I could use the camera directly but that would result in a lot of extra wear on the heads/etc. A deck seems to be the best solution, but thats out of the budget. That leaves using a second camera. Would a cheap, consumer camera (already own) be able to capture the full quality from the tape?

Any input would be appreciated.

Just about any inexpensive DV camera should work, as long as it has the appropriate firewire port. DV is just ones and zeros, so there isn't a quality issue as with anaolg. Many use one for just this purpose. You can also use the camera for a D/A converter if you choose to print back out to tape.

You're correct in not using the XL-1 -- too expensive to use as a VCR.

In other threads about this issue I have heard Canon owners indicate there is sometimes a problem with the way some Canon lay down the digital track. Alignment is what I have heard it called. From the sound of it, it is not in all Canon's, but could be peculiar to a particular machine. For years I have used a cheap Sharp DV cam as my deck for my Sony cam, and it has worked great.

Here is one thread with Canon owners: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?p=433541#post433541

I had direct experience with that "feature" on my XL-1 -- after Canon replaced the drum, it has not recurred. All of my XL-1 tapes are played-back on a Panasonic DV-2000 with no problem. This problem shouldn't be considered "normal" operation for a Canon camera.

Tyler, make sure, when you start editing, you listen to the audio coming from the camera/deck via firewire -- don't use the MAC speakers.

Thanks to both of you for your responses. Definitely what I was hoping to hear. My camera actually has a broken viewfinder so it will be perfect just to use for input.

Thanks for the heads up with the audio too. I've had an issue sometimes with the audio being out of synch with the video. Poor voiceover style. Is this what you were referring to?

I have one JVC DVL320U which I got for 100 bucks on eBay, that I use for capturing all my DV from tape, and it works great.

>>Thanks for the heads up with the audio too. I've had an issue sometimes with the audio being out of synch with the video. Poor voiceover style. Is this what you were referring to?<<

If you listen to the audio on the MAC speakers, it won't match-up with the video as it should. The canvas in your editing program is OK for most of your work, but you should watch the final output on an external monitor and speakers via the firewire. Just connect your monitor and audio to your camera's A/V output.