Mini DV question! ...

[Boyd Ostroff]

I bought a Sony HVR-M1U deck from Adorama in 2016 for $516, which included sales tax and shipping. But I had a large quantity archival footage of live performances on HDV, DVCAM and DV tapes, shot on high quality cameras. This deck is overkill for personal footage shot on an inexpensive camera, and you don't need HDV capability.

Sony had an older entry level DV/DVCAM deck that was popular, although the model number escapes me. You should also find these on the used market and they'll be cheaper than the HVR-M1U. But these little decks were real "workhorses" and may have seen very heavy use. That's why I like to get this kind of thing from B&H Photo, Adorama or another well-known company that will stand behind it with a warranty. I don't follow prices anymore, but you can research this yourself. Just go to the B&H and Adorama websites and look at their used professional video gear. Shouldn't be hard to find.

[Charles Papert]

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

Sony had an older entry level DV/DVCAM deck that was popular, although the model number escapes me. .

Maybe the DSR-11, which was a half rack size deck? I still have mine and it's going strong.

A few years ago I made the decision to back up my old analog tapes (VHS, SVHS, 8mm, Hi8, 3/4, Beta) to DVCAM rather than straight to disk as I was having a lot of capture errors and the deck seemed to be able to handle it better than the computer. Also I realized the benefit of tape backup on top of hard drives. I thought it would be smart to get a backup deck as well, and discovered that the much more expensive and robust studio DVCAM decks (DSR1800A) were actually selling for less than the "prosumer" DSR11. I ended up picking up two of them, with the optional SDI boards, for $150 and $180 each. Amazing considering the SDI boards alone are still available as new parts, for $1500 and up! What's helpful about that is this makes them more easily compatible with capture boxes and devices like Atomos recorders with the SDI interface.

[Andrew Smith]

Interesting note on capturing VHS footage and some of the interference you can get through the video part (and it's not a particular VHS deck or a tape, but probably a stray electronics issue that wasn't a noticeable problem back in the CRT TV days).

I was spending oodles of tine trying all sorts of things to narrow down where the issue was coming from and/or how to mitigate or fix it. In the end I think it's simply part and parcel of the electronics that make up a VHS unit. I have no other explanation for it.

What I did discover is that when running the video signal through my Sony HVRM25U HDV deck it cleaned up the problem before the video out from the deck made it to my Matrox MXO2 box. Such a nice and welcome development.

So little did I know prior to this discovery that there must have been some extra electronics, included in these decks by Sony, that cleaned and stablised the incoming video signal. Probably makes sens when you consider how heavily compressed HDV is and the need to have recorded video performing as well as possible for the sake of the format and its reputation. Guess that's what we pay the extra bucks for when purchasing the good gear.

So I'm not at all surprised if others find recording to the deck gives excellent results from their analogue tape sources.

Andrew

[Boyd Ostroff]

Originally Posted by Charles Papert

Maybe the DSR-11, which was a half rack size deck? I still have mine and it's going strong

Yes, that's it! I remember really wanting one of those, but had already spent all my money on cameras and computers. :)

[John Nantz]

Locally, near Seattle, there is a miniDV unit with a similar model number, DSR-V10, on Craigs list. It is small as it is a Walkman version. The specs indicate a lot of capabilities so don't know if it could be an option. $225 or best offer. A search for the model number found it also advertised on eBay.
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/e...038071943.html

With regard to what Andrew wrote about unexplained interference, it would be interesting to see if a couple ferrites near each end of the cable would help.You don't see them that often anymore but ferrites were commonly used on cables to cut out electromagnetic interference (EMI). Used to have a couple for a Panasonic mic cable and they were designed to be clamped on aftermarket style and were not molded or built-into the cable as it is typically done.

[Steve Game]

Originally Posted by Grinzy Levine

So, which smart phones are better than minDV / HDV camcorders? Resolution? Zoom? Low light? etc etc..

If like half the world you are in a '50Hz' country*, smartphones can give problems arising from 50Hz lighting flicker, (most smartphones are stuck with 30Hz frame rates.

* I think Melbourne is quite well embedded in '50Hz land'.

[Andrew Smith]

Actually I've never noticed a flicker issue with filming video on a smart phone. On the other hand, it's very rare for me to use a smart phone for filming video.

Andrew