Mini DV Deck - What's the best bang for the buck?
Jim
on my camera heads. I do not do a lot of shooting, but since the
3-chip camera was somewhat expensive, I was considering purchasing
a deck to save camera wear. I was just wondering what other fellows
who are not professionals have found to be reliable and safe to use,
and won't eat the tapes and have good solid transports.
I was thinking of a used PRO deck since lots of stations are now
switching away from tape they may be available at a fair price.
Any suggestions appreciated.
Thanks,
Jim
Brian
Some others might have a better idea but you could buy a cheap new or
second hand camera.
Regards Brian
Frank
in article <Re: Mini DV Deck - What's the best bang for the buck?>,
Brian <bcl...@es.co.nz> wrote:
As Brian said, Jim, plus here are some other thoughts.
With regard to buying used, unless you're in a situation where you
have a close personal friendship with the maintenance engineer at a
local station that's in process of replacing equipment and you happen
to trust this person to accurately describe the history of a given
piece of gear, you've gambling whenever you buy used decks, especially
if it's off of eBay.
With that said, a lot of facilities are dumping old standard
definition equipment and updating to high definition equipment, so you
may well find some bargains out there. A reasonable return policy
would perhaps be a good idea, however.
If you wanted to buy new, the story is a bit different.
You mentioned the term "PRO deck" in your original post. If you're in
the U.S. and we confine this conversation to Sony VCRs, the lowest
cost DV-capable deck still offered, I believe, would be the DSR-1500A,
currently $4999.95 at B&H. It plays and records DV (SP mode only) and
DVCAM, and will play Panasonic DVCPRO tapes. It handles both Mini
(small size) and Standard (large size) DV and DVCAM cassettes.
Personally, I wouldn't consider purchase of a DSR-1500A to be a wise
move at this point in time though.
There are also some other DSR-series decks still offered, such as the
DSR-1600A (playback-only, no record capability, $5449.95), the
DSR-1800A ($7999.95), and the top-of-the-line DSR-2000A ($12,999.95).
Note that when the original DSR-2000 was introduced, it was a $20,000
machine.
All of Sony's lower-cost DSR-series decks, such as the DSR-11, DSR-20,
DSR-25, DSR-30, DSR-40, DSR-45, DSR-45A, DSR-60, DSR-80, and DSR-85,
have been discontinued. Their consumer grade DV deck, the DHR-1000,
has also been discontinued.
A better choice, and one that's certainly more cost effective than a
DSR-series machine, might be an HVR-M15AU, which is a prosumer grade
deck that does DV, DVCAM, and HDV. It's currently $1939.95 at B&H.
The next step up would be the HVR-M25AU for $3229.95.
The next step after that would be the HVR-M35U for $3699.95 after $300
mail-in rebate (good until December 31, 2009).
If you should find yourself evaluating the HVR-M25AU versus the
HVR-M35U, do note that the HVR-M25AU has HDMI out for connection to
consumer grade HDTVs while the HVR-M35U uses HD-SDI out for connection
to a professional grade monitor.
If you wanted something similar to the HVR-M15AU, HVR-M25AU, or
HVR-M35U but true professional grade (a "PRO deck" as you put it),
then your only choice in an HVR-series machine would be the HVR-1500A
for $6299.95, which is less than half of the price of the DSR-2000A.
You didn't say what your camcorder cost you, but your best bet in a
new Sony DV-capable record/play deck would probably be the HVR-M15AU
or the HVR-M25AU, in my opinion.
Note that since we're talking about digital video VCRs here and not
camcorders (where the quality of the imaging system makes a difference
in the final picture quality), the video quality will be the same with
any piece of equipment mentioned above, as it's all just DV25.
Good luck!
--
Frank, Independent Consultant, New York, NY
[Please remove 'nojunkmail.' from address to reply via e-mail.]
Read Frank's thoughts on HDV at http://www.humanvalues.net/hdv/
(also covers AVCHD and XDCAM EX).
Richard Crowley
>I am thinking of buying a Mini DV deck to save the wear and tear
> on my camera heads. I do not do a lot of shooting,
If you do not do a lot of shooting, then it doesn't appear to follow
that you will be clocking significant wear and tear on the heads?
> but since the
> 3-chip camera was somewhat expensive, I was considering purchasing
> a deck to save camera wear.
And add the hassle of maintaining another piece of equipment.
> I was just wondering what other fellows
> who are not professionals have found to be reliable and safe to use,
> and won't eat the tapes and have good solid transports.
My preference would be Sony DSR-11 or DSR-20. However...
> I was thinking of a used PRO deck since lots of stations are now
> switching away from tape they may be available at a fair price.
Buying a used deck is a big gamble, especially from a heavy
user like a TV station, etc. Pro equipment ( like the Sony DSR
series) have built-in hours metering for at least threaded time
and head/rolling time. I would certainly not buy anything without
the option of returning it for refund if you find it to be unsuitable.
If it were me, I would go to my local craigslist and look for (or
advertise for) a Sony mini-DV camcorder with a broken camera
section. Almost all models will playback DVCAM (if that is
what you are shooting?) Should be able to get one for very
cheap. The "quality" of the digital playback is not affected by
the low end equipment.
GMAN
I bought the following from a state surplus, and it works great. Look into the
GV-D900 if you want the newer version with the LCD screen
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-GV-D300-Video-Walkman-Mini/dp/B00009W16B
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-GV-D900-DV-DVD-Walkman/dp/B0000206GD
Ignore the description on amazon, its not a DVD player LOL!!!!