DVC DECKS

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Permalink Reply by Ray Maynard on October 29, 2008 at 5:13am

Hey Shaw,
I have always used my Sony DV Camcorder. BUT if you are planning on getting a New Deck
I would recommend that you look for details on PANASONIC equipment.
Pros have used their stuff for years. I still use a Panasonic SVHS Deck to run my VHS tapes
through my Sony DV Camcorder. I record them on the Sony then Capture DV. Hope that helps some.
Ray Maynard
The Ad Man

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Permalink Reply by Eric Hvisc on October 29, 2008 at 5:49am

I use a Sony DVC 6 that I retired from active service when I bought a 3 chip. Why spend all the money for a deck? there are no advantages.

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Permalink Reply by Nishi on October 29, 2008 at 11:26am

Hiya Shaw,

I had a JVC deck (when it was new cost about $1200 Canadian) and it's garbage: it ate my tapes, did weird things with audio and no one in my city knows how to fix it despite taking my $200. Other decks started at about twice the price so I got a Panasonic camcorder (PV-GS180) and it's been going strong for 2-3 years now. It cost me $600 (I could have gone cheaper, but this one was 3CCD, not pro but good) and it's really nice having an extra little camera around for small/personal projects.

Unless you need to black tape for timecode, do assembly edits, etc. (although, I guess you could use your good cameras for that) I recommend using a little camera instead of a deck. Then when it fries, just buy another one! It will almost cost as much as getting your deck repaired.

Hope that helps!

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Permalink Reply by NehemiYah Yisrael on October 29, 2008 at 3:05pm

Can anyone tell me why decks are so damn expensive and quirky? I'm using a $125 JVC mini-dv camcorder to capture my dv tapes, and it works great. The only problem is I need to capture footage from a dvd as well. How can I capture dvd footage without buying a $2000 deck?

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Permalink Reply by Shaw Productions Inc. on October 30, 2008 at 10:29pm

The advantage is that you don't wear out the heads on your expensive video cameras.

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Permalink Reply by Shaw Productions Inc. on October 30, 2008 at 10:32pm

Yes, that's exactly what I mean! This last deck I have is a Sony DR7. Except for the fact that it is not made in the U.S. so everything is in japanese it was great because it also captured vhs along with mini dv. It sometimes "eats" tapes and I just can't take that chance with clients stuff so I quickly purchased a cheap samsung camcorder to bring in the footage to my computer. But I miss having a deck!

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Permalink Reply by Shaw Productions Inc. on October 30, 2008 at 10:34pm

You are right except with the decks I owned you could capture vhs too.

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Permalink Reply by Shaw Productions Inc. on October 30, 2008 at 10:35pm

I have looked into that too but I didn't want to take a loan out to buy one LOL.

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Permalink Reply by Graham Tees on October 31, 2008 at 2:30am

I've been using a cheap MiniDV camera as a playback machine for years - my current one has been working for 4 years. It works in my edit suite every day. You don't need a high end deck to play back tapes for digitizing, and my edit system (Avid Liquid) has full control over the camera via firewire.

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Permalink Reply by Shaw Productions Inc. on October 31, 2008 at 2:37am

I know I guess I will stick it out with just using a cheap camera but I do miss having the vhs option too.

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Permalink Reply by Ray Maynard on November 1, 2008 at 4:14am

Shaw Productions Inc. said:

I know I guess I will stick it out with just using a cheap camera but I do miss having the vhs option too.

You can still capture VHS. Hook a VHS Deck (preferably a pro or SVHS version) to your DV Camcorder
with a SVHS cable and Audio Cables. Set your DV Camcorder up to Record from VHS source.
Record it with the DV Camcorder first; then Capture your DV footage to the Computer.

It may take a little testing to get settings on DV Camcorder correct. It may help to get
a Video/Audio Switcher Box. The ones from WalMart or BestBuy will do fine.

Later,
rayboy7

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Permalink Reply by Graham Tees on November 1, 2008 at 3:46pm

You can also use your DV camera as an analogue to digital converter. Hook up from the vhs machine into the camera, put the camera in vcr mode, and then hook up from the camera to your edit system via firewire. (Note, some cameras have a menu setting to allow an AV input.) Then record direct into your edit system without having to first record onto tape. I use this method a lot.

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