Mini DV Decks

[Vic Owen]

David --

I have used a DV-2000 deck for quite a while. I've had no problems playing tapes shot on my XL-1. I have the deck tied into a MAC G3. During playback of recorded tapes, I get an occasional drop-out, but other than that, it's a pretty good deck. I also use the deck to make archive copies of projects on full size cassettes.

--Vic

<<<-- Originally posted by David Phillips : Hi all, I just logged on and there was a subject that's causing me a lot of grief at the moment Perhaps someone can throw some light on the prob.
We recently bought a Panasonic DV 2000 deck to save wear & tear on the XL1. When the tape is played back through the camera all is fine, but when we play the tape through the Panasonic deck the sound breaks up badly.
Panasonic inform us that the XL1 is at fault by not being properly aligned, whereby Canon inform us that that there is nothing wrong with the camera, but the deck in not compatible.
Who's telling the truth? Has anyone had similar experiences, if so what's the remedy?
Regards to all
David -->>>

[Edward Troxel]

We also have a Panasonic AG-DV2000 and experienced sound problems with tapes recorded in an XL-1. We actually have 3 XL-1's and two their tapes played fine while the third one gave us problems with sound (which played fine in the XL-1 itself).

The bottom line was that the bad XL-1's heads were out of alignment. Upon repair, tapes from that camera played in the deck again (however, the bad tapes would no longer play in the camera because it was back in alignment and the tape was not). However, within 3 months, the camera was exhibiting the same symptoms once again. This time, canon replaced the heads and, to this point, we have not had another problem with that camera.

[Justin Walter]

<<<-- Originally posted by africats : There's also the slightly cheaper Sony DSR-11 DVCAM/DV/miniDV deck that's nice and small. It is PAL/NTSC switchable. I've been using one with FCP and ShuttlePro and it works great! Only drawback I've found, so far, is that there is no timecode display. -->>>

I also read that you can connect an analog source to the deck's inputs and have this video passed through the deck, straight over Firewire to a PC or Mac connected to it. If you need to import analog sources to your Firewire editing system, you don't need to record to DV tape first and transfer that to the computer later. With this deck, you can do that in one single pass.

This might be a stupid question but is the opposite also true? Can I connect an analog source to the deck's outputs and have the video passed from the computer through Firewire to the deck and out the composite video without recording to DV tape first?

[Vic Owen]

Yep -- Works just fine. My DV-2000 feeds a DA (Dist. Amp) and you can either record a DV tape simultaneously, or just use the deck as a D/A converter.

Cheers, Vic

[Mike Butler]

Hey, that sounds great, sure wish my Elura would allow for Firewire capture of analogue sources without first making a digital master--it sure would save time. It does though, do direct to analogue going the other way, I can bang out VHS tapes right off the timeline feeding out of the A/V jacks on the Elura into the DA (dist amp) feeding my VHS decks. Of course I also am recording on the Elura at the same time anyway, may as well make a digital master of the finished edit while we're at it, it doesn't take any longer, but I don't have to.

[David Phillips]

Hi all,
many thanks for all your replies and offers of sollutions to our problem. However, we have now solved it in the following way.
The camera plays back perfectly, the problem only arises when we play back through the DV-2000, this is presumably because the Canon heads are not aligned properly.
To solve the problem we record a 'master' from the XL1 to the DV-2000 which then plays back perfectly.
We have also experienced a similar sound problem when using
Maxell tapes, which we no longer use.
Many thanks
David Phillips (Gemini Productions)

Any recomendations on a mini dv deck?
I have been looking at the JVC and Panasonics in the $1000 to $1500 price range.
I would like to hear any pros and cons about the different models out there.
Thanks,
Jeff

[Ken Tanaka]

Jeff,
Using the Search function you should find many discussions related to DV decks here. The Sony DSR-11 is a (relatively) low-cost standard for miniDV/DVCam. I use a Panasonic AG-DV1000 deck (miniDV-only and many others use the AG-DV2000 with good results.

[Chuck Eichmeyer]

I use the AG-DV2000. It works great for me.

[B. Moore]

I use a mini-dv canon ZR-10 (now discontinued, bought it right after it became discontinued, $399)
with the firewire it connects to my G-4 AND I have an extra camera in a pinch. I usually shoot with an XL-1

[John Locke]

I've always gone straight from my XL-1 to my Mac. What are the advantages of using a deck over the way I've been doing it? Mainly reducing wear and tear on the camera?

[John Locke]

I've always gone straight from my XL-1 to my Mac. What are the advantages of using a deck over the way I've been doing it? Mainly reducing wear and tear on the camera?

[Ken Tanaka]

Certainly, wear and tear on your camera's tape transport is a primary reason to use a deck for capture. But beyond that you'll quickly discover that deck transports are -much- quicker to cue and are designed for jog/shuttle operations that are so hard on cameras. Once you've used a deck you'll never want to go back to using a camera's transport.

[Vic Owen]

Uh-Oh, John -- you have an echo......

Wear and tear is only one reason, from my perspective. My DV-2000 is also much more versatile and is always available. I print my masters on the full size cassettes, since many of the performances run 2 - 21/2 hours or so. The deck is connected to my DA, so it's an easy matter to make the VHS dubs.

If you're not doing the mastering and subsequent printing, then it's just a matter of doubling the wear and tear on a $4000 camera by using it as a VCR.

[John Locke]

Thanks. Looks like yet another purchase I should probably add to the list. Never ends, does it?

Not sure if I can go with JVC or Panasonics in the price range Jeff1769 mentions. I'll check out the DV-2000 and see how much of a dent it'll put in my wallet.