How many of you use your A1 as a tape deck?

K

kledster

Active member
Hey guys,

i'm considering getting an A1 soon but the fact that i need to buy an additional $1000 tape deck is making me change my mind.

how many of you use your A1 to capture onto your pc? can i do this or should i just not even try unless i have a HD tape deck?

any thoughts would be appriciated :)
 
I think most people are using the A1 itself to capture their footage since there's not a lot of alternative right now. It doesn't do anything bad since the head doesn't even get worn out for a while (800 hours or more).

And I'm assuming you're referring to the HV10 as a capture camera since no tapedeck is currently (or will be) available for capturing footage in F mode.
 
kledster:

You would spend money for a deck with other cameras or have the same problem. You can use a Firestore or other DTE for over $1000 depending on HDD size and have a digital file of your clips. You can buy the HV10 or the soon to be released HV20 for between $950 and $1100.

The Sony Vu1 has its own DTE recorder as an accessory but it cost around $1600.

Sony decks will play the A1 footage back if recorded in 1080i but they don't recognize 24f or 30f frame mode.

If you bought a Sony Fx1 or Zu1 you would still need a deck and the HDV decks are much more expensive than the HV10 or HV20 and they can't act as a B roll camera.

With the Panny HVX 200 the camera is $2000 more before you buy the P2 cards.

Pick your poison

S Cannon
 
Last edited:
Hey Powerdog....

Just curious.......... once you have your footage into DV Rack, what are you editing on?

I have the SD version of DV Rack.... and am considering upgrading to the HD version, and then swapping a Firewire drive back and forth between my DV Rack PC laptop... and my Mac G5 (for editing in Final Cut)....

Any thoughts?

-Taylor
 
Taylor, the process you describe is pretty much what I've done. Until now, I've used the SD version, but I just ordered an HDV camera and the HD upgrade. It works fine, except for the lack of mobility caused by the laptop.

One YMMV note: for me, but I guess not for most people, DVR has been much more stable recording in AVI than in QT. So I convert the clips to QT before importing them into FCP. I'm hoping the HD version will resolve the problem for me.
 
Just yestereday I recorded about an hour's worth of 24F footage from my new A1 using DV Rack HD 2.0. I recorded to M2T format files on an external USB drive with no problems. There was definitely a longer lag with the monitor display but the recording was flawless. My laptop has Athlon 64 3400+ and a gig of memory.
-Dan
 
I did the upgrade from DV Rack SD to HD for $183 from

http://www.provantage.com/

I use a 4 oz. 160gb external drive (USB powered) for capture with my laptop

I bought two more this weekend from Costco for $120 each (terrific gizmos)
 
thanks for the advice guys.

i'm thinking about just using the A1 to capture until i can afford a deck.

i read somewhere that you should never use the same tape twice. is this true? should i just completely fill the tape up with footage, capture the whole thing to my pc, and then discard the tape?
 
What deck are you considering for use with your XH-A1?.....

That Sony M15U (or whatever it is called) won't play back the 24F footage...

Is there something else out there that mere mortals can afford?

-Taylor
 
i'm concidering getting the canon hv10 to use as the deck (around $840 on amazon) but i can't afford that AND the A1, so i'm thinkin about just using my A1 as the deck. maybe i'll get the hv10 later when i can afford it.
 
Unless you're going to shooting a crapload with your camera and capturing nearly every day (like some ENG's) you probably won't have to worry about the heads on your A1 wearing down and exploding or anything.

Personally, I'd consider DV Rack. If you don't have the laptop option, I would look at saving up a little longer and getting the HV20 for use as a deck. It could also serve as a great B-Cam for your 24F/1080 shoots with the A1. Just my two cents.
 
XL-H1 users who used tape had to use the camera as a deck since there was no XH-A1, G1 or HV10 or deck with 24F.
 
kledster said:
thanks for the advice guys.

i'm thinking about just using the A1 to capture until i can afford a deck.

i read somewhere that you should never use the same tape twice. is this true? should i just completely fill the tape up with footage, capture the whole thing to my pc, and then discard the tape?
Click to expand...

For me, it's not worth the extra risk of dropouts to reuse a tape, so I always use new tapes. But discard? No, the used tapes are my backup and I keep them in a dry cabinet to avoid fungus. So it really depends on whether you think there is any possibility that you will need to re-capture any of the footage sometime in the future.
 
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