Help me decide ~ Deck or Monitor at DVinfo.net

Marco Wagner · May 14th, 2008, 03:29 PM

I can't for the life of me decide. I am stuck between buying a secondary monitor for editing OR a miniDV cam to use as a deck (avoiding using the heads on my expensive cams). I need both. The only thing keeping me from ordering the cam is the fact that most of my new stuff will be HDV and the (deck)cam doesn't do HDV -BUT i do have a LOT of regular DV tapes i need to capture....

So, new monitor or new camera (deck)>>>>>>

Dave Blackhurst · May 14th, 2008, 11:33 PM

Marco - what's your budget? If all you need is a deck for SD, I've got a Japanese Panasonic with a failed CCD... no good as a cam unless you send to Japan to have fixed under warranty (there was a recall on this model) but tape transport and firewire are absolutely fine...

I think I'd vote for the second monitor - I had three for a while but 2x24" is livable, barely. Increased productivity might even pay for the HD ingest deck cam!

Marco Wagner · May 15th, 2008, 09:04 AM

Thanks Dave! My wife made the mistake last night of saying the word "both" heheh

Adam Bauser · May 15th, 2008, 10:38 AM

Do you mean a secondary computer monitor or an NTSC monitor?

If you've only got one computer monitor, I'd go for that. Few things increase your productivity more than a second monitor.

If you're talking about an NTSC monitor. Tough call. If you do broadcast work where color is critical, you gotta have one.

For the camera-as-deck. Tough call. I use a Canon HV10 for an HDV deck (about $600 used), but I often find I used my nicer camera to capture because it just works better with my NLE. I tend to think people worry too much about using their nicer cameras as decks. Unless you are really putting that thing through the ringer (lots of shuttling, batching), it will probably be fine for years. The cost of replacing the heads is probably comparable to the cost of decent camera-as-deck, unless of course you're planning to get a really cheap camera-as-deck for just a couple of hundred bucks.

Marco Wagner · May 15th, 2008, 10:53 AM

Monitor, secondary PC monitor for editing. PURCHASED :-p Now pondering the deck, but you're right -I don't use the HDV cam THAT much to go through footage... hmmmmm

David Kennett · June 9th, 2008, 03:36 PM

I had to get an expensive camera firewire repair to recover HDV footage. My new AVCHD camera has a REMOVEABLE memory card which can be read in a $10 card reader. It's the only way for me.

Marco Wagner · June 13th, 2008, 06:13 PM

Got both LOL

May 14th, 2008, 03:29 PM	#1
Marco Wagner Trustee Join Date: May 2005 Location: Saint Cloud, Florida Posts: 1,043	Help me decide ~ Deck or Monitor I can't for the life of me decide. I am stuck between buying a secondary monitor for editing OR a miniDV cam to use as a deck (avoiding using the heads on my expensive cams). I need both. The only thing keeping me from ordering the cam is the fact that most of my new stuff will be HDV and the (deck)cam doesn't do HDV -BUT i do have a LOT of regular DV tapes i need to capture.... So, new monitor or new camera (deck)>>>>>> __________________ www.facebook.com/projectspecto

May 15th, 2008, 09:04 AM	#3
Marco Wagner Trustee Join Date: May 2005 Location: Saint Cloud, Florida Posts: 1,043	Thanks Dave! My wife made the mistake last night of saying the word "both" heheh __________________ www.facebook.com/projectspecto

May 15th, 2008, 10:53 AM	#5
Marco Wagner Trustee Join Date: May 2005 Location: Saint Cloud, Florida Posts: 1,043	Monitor, secondary PC monitor for editing. PURCHASED :-p Now pondering the deck, but you're right -I don't use the HDV cam THAT much to go through footage... hmmmmm __________________ www.facebook.com/projectspecto

June 9th, 2008, 03:36 PM	#6
David Kennett Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: North Ridgeville, Ohio Posts: 407	I had to get an expensive camera firewire repair to recover HDV footage. My new AVCHD camera has a REMOVEABLE memory card which can be read in a $10 card reader. It's the only way for me. __________________ Dave

June 13th, 2008, 06:13 PM	#7
Marco Wagner Trustee Join Date: May 2005 Location: Saint Cloud, Florida Posts: 1,043	Got both LOL __________________ www.facebook.com/projectspecto

May 14th, 2008, 11:33 PM	#2
Dave Blackhurst Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Apple Valley CA Posts: 4,874	Marco - what's your budget? If all you need is a deck for SD, I've got a Japanese Panasonic with a failed CCD... no good as a cam unless you send to Japan to have fixed under warranty (there was a recall on this model) but tape transport and firewire are absolutely fine... I think I'd vote for the second monitor - I had three for a while but 2x24" is livable, barely. Increased productivity might even pay for the HD ingest deck cam!

May 15th, 2008, 10:38 AM	#4
Adam Bauser Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Princeton, NJ Posts: 73	Do you mean a secondary computer monitor or an NTSC monitor? If you've only got one computer monitor, I'd go for that. Few things increase your productivity more than a second monitor. If you're talking about an NTSC monitor. Tough call. If you do broadcast work where color is critical, you gotta have one. For the camera-as-deck. Tough call. I use a Canon HV10 for an HDV deck (about $600 used), but I often find I used my nicer camera to capture because it just works better with my NLE. I tend to think people worry too much about using their nicer cameras as decks. Unless you are really putting that thing through the ringer (lots of shuttling, batching), it will probably be fine for years. The cost of replacing the heads is probably comparable to the cost of decent camera-as-deck, unless of course you're planning to get a really cheap camera-as-deck for just a couple of hundred bucks.