Dubbing: Is DVCAM over MiniDV tape worth it?

L

Lkorver

Well-known member
I have about 3 hours of archive footage on DVD and VHS that i'd like to edit into my documentary. The local dub guy can record to minidv or dvcam, but I have to buy the tape. Is it worth the extra $25 bucks or so per/60min of footage. He charges $20 bucks an hour no matter what format we pick.

How much better would the footage be if captured onto the DVCAM tape? I'm editing in an HD timeline and outputting in HD for PBS.

thanks!
 
If it captures without dropouts you will have exactly the same quality, bit by bit. DVCAM or HDV tapes MAY have slightly better overall quality, which MAY reduce dropouts, but I haven't seen any real statistics about usage of HDV tapes vs DVCAM or DV tapes. They all are ME tapes.
 
kwoff said:
I don't know where you're getting that price difference, as a 63 minute Sony DVCAM/HDV tape itself costs $11.99, making it pretty hard to have some other tape cost $25 less.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/623221-REG/Sony_PDVM63HD_DVCAM_for_HDV_Tape.html
Click to expand...

We'll that's a much better price? so my numbers are a little off.

So it seems that as far as codec goes, the formats are identical, its just dropout ratios may be better with dvcam vs minidv?

Follow up questions:

Is an h.264 rip of the DVD going to be better quality than dubbing to dvcam and digitizing into the NLE?

Is their a better way (closer to lossless) to edit from VHS than dumping to dvcam and then digitizing?
 
Ripping DVD costs $0 if you have a computer with DVD drive. Choose a format of your liking. Ripping VHS can be done either through analog-to-digital converter/card (will cost about $50-$100) or through a DV/HDV camcorder with analog-to-digital passthrough mode (~$150 used on eBay).
 
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