The Gigantic Mini DV Deck / Camcorder as Deck Thread

[Peter Richardson]

THanks Rob. Haven't bought anything yet, but leaning towards the Sony deck.

Peter

[Brian Vilevac]

Anyone know of a good case for the Sony GV-D1000 MiniDV Deck? Now that I have invested $1000 for the deck, I thought it would be nice to have a protective case for it!

[Steve Sherrick]

I need to get my Sony DV Walkman repaired and I was looking for some suggestions for relatively quick but dependable service. I'd like to find a place with a very good reputation. Who do you guys use?

Thanks for the suggestions.

Steve

[Chris Hurd]

Sony factory service in Atlanta is your best bet.

[Brian Vilevac]

Sorry - you can disregard this post. I returned the GV-D1000 and purchased the DSR-11 instead!

[Boyd Ostroff]

Can anyone identify the Sony DVCAM deck in this photo? It doesn't match anything in Sony's current lineup. Model number (not legible in the low res photo)? Where could I find specs?

I'm trying to get some info on equipment from the theatre in South America where I'm doing a show this summer, and so far this about all I've been able to learn about their DV capabilities. :-)

Thanks!

[Devlyn Hukowich]

Hi Boyd,
The deck in question is a Sony DSR-80. Here is where I found it.
http://www.fullcompass.com/Products/pages/SKU--13275/

Unfortunatly not a current model in Sony's line up. Also likely does not have IEEE1394 I/O. Has all professional analogue I/O, RS 422 deck control and optional SDI.
If I had one, I'd take a DSR-11 with me, just in case.

Cheers,

[Chris Hurd]

Boyd, you're looking at a Sony DSR-85.

Sold for nearly $20 grand when first introduced back in 1999.

Check out the PDF for it right here. Hope this helps,

[Chris Hurd]

Rats, I guess Devlyn beat me to the punch! Whether it's an 80 or 85, I'll defer to him on that.

[Devlyn Hukowich]

The physical decks are identical.
The DSR-85 looks like a upgrade of the 80.
The only difference I can find between the decks is the 85 looks like it had a new drum mechanism.

The only other question is regarding video standard. South America is split between PAL and NTSC. The west is NTSC and the east is PAL.

The PAL versions of the DSR-80 & 85 will be DSR-80P and DSR-85P.
Also voltage. North East is 120V/60Hz South West is 220V/50Hz with a few places at 220V/60Hz.
Just for your information check exactly what countries you are going to for voltage and TV standards if you are bringing and equipment of your own.

[Devlyn Hukowich]

The DSR-85 Allow high speed transfer of video and audio between similarly equipped decks. e.g another DSR-85 or the EditStation 7.
The DSR-80 has RGB output the 85 does not.
The DSR-80 has a wider range of Digital slow (0 to 0.39) the 85's slow is 0 to 0.25.

[Henry Harrison]

I'm a bit of a newbie here but I've been reading this thread (and others) looking into a cheap way to save the heads on my XL1s. since price (i don't have $1400) is a large factor for me, I'm leaning towards an inexpensive dvcam corder for a deck. All i'm really concerned about is getting the footage into FCP. I noticed the comments regarding the canon ZR series in earlier posts and I'm wondering if anyone knows if they are compatible with the device control functionality in FCP. Or would other cameras be better for this. I'd hate to spend 300+ for the ability to import footage and then have to do it all manually.
Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

[Meryem Ersoz]

i have the exact same question as henry. do the ZR series camcorders, functioning as decks, read timecode? can you batch capture in FCP? i really want a dsr-11 but they're so darned expensive....

[Alessandro Machi]

<<<-- Originally posted by Henry Harrison : I'm a bit of a newbie here but I've been reading this thread (and others) looking into a cheap way to save the heads on my XL1s. since price (i don't have $1400) is a large factor for me, I'm leaning towards an inexpensive dvcam corder for a deck. All i'm really concerned about is getting the footage into FCP. I noticed the comments regarding the canon ZR series in earlier posts and I'm wondering if anyone knows if they are compatible with the device control functionality in FCP. Or would other cameras be better for this. I'd hate to spend 300+ for the ability to import footage and then have to do it all manually.
Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated. -->>>

I can tell you what I read about two months ago on another forum.

The person seemed to think that any time-code number above hour seven or eight was not being recognized if the mini-dv tape was played in a ZR camcorder.

So it appears that higher time-coded numbers and DV-CAM recorded tapes won't playback in the ZR. Otherwise I've made dubs from BetaCam Sp to mini-dv using the ZR-65 and they were later loaded into a final cut pro system.

[J. Stephen McDonald]

<<<-- Originally posted by Glenn Chan : Some models of the JVC DV decks are the cheapest available, but many people report problems with them. It's ok if it won't cost much to refund it.

JVC has combo mini-DV/SVHS which are ok. The SVHS deck part doesn't work very well since it gets really confusing what is routed where. A seperate VHS/SVHS deck would be a better option. -->>>
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I've had the JVC HR-DVS3U for 10 months and have used it daily.
I've had no problems with it, in functions or quality. It has dual mini-DV and S-VHS decks and has internal connections between them. Although there is a complicated set of connecting and routing possibilities, after spending a little time to understand them all, I can make it do what I want. It has a good remote controler, with a jog/shuttle wheel on it. It is recognized by and compatible over FireWire with all my Sony, JVC and Toshiba VCRs, camcorders and DVD recorders and with my computer capture- card. It won't play back DVCAM, but a similar pro-division model by JVC will. As a consumer model, it has full timed-programming functions and a broadcast/cable tuner. The tuner and timer work for both the DV and S-VHS decks. Although it doesn't display timecode frames on its front panel or over an analog output, it does record frame numbers and transfers them, embedded in its FireWire signal. It is responsive to frame-by-frame commands from a computer, over FireWire. The DVS3U has only partial compatibility with Sony Data Code information.

The JVC HR-DVS3U is the least expensive DV VCR. I paid $700. for it and another $80. for a 5-year extended warranty from B&H Photo-Video. I bought it mainly as a backup for my Sony GV-D1000 DV mini-VCR and to have an easy means to transfer DV footage to S-VHS. Many of my friends and relatives have S-VHS VCRs and this is a good way to distribute my videos to them, with fairly good quality. However, since it works so well, I often use it
for NLE and linear editing, saving wear on my more expensive equipment.