DVX Playback/Deck

S

schmolze

Active member
Hi,

Is it bad for the DVX to act as a vcr?

For something like recording a whole tape, rewinding the whole thing in camera, then transferring to computer, is that terrible for the heads to do on a regular basis, or is it ok?

Absolutely critical to buy a deck or cheaper camcorder for playback?

Thanks,
B
 
Re: DVX Playback/Deck

It's pretty bad for the heads. I would stay away from doing it. Camera heads aren't designed for much playback, let alone editing. Get a cheapo canon mini dv cam (around 300 bucks) to use as a deck, or step up to a sony dsr-11 deck. You can get away with it for a while, or on occasion, but in the long run it's going to wear your heads enough to need them replaced. Its also good to get a mini-dv tape rewinder, you can get one for around 40 bucks I believe from EVS. It may seem petty, but you should really seriously consider this, or risk damaging your camera and causing faster wear.

http://www.evsonline.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?
 
Re: DVX Playback/Deck

thank you sir.
so can you get away wtih just getting the tape rewinder? it's really that bad to just roll through the tape on the dvx to transfer via firewire?

this is so discouraging to me for some reason. feeling like i have to drop another $400-$1,000 on a deck.

any thoughts on buying a used deck such as the panny ag-dv1000?
sketchy buying something like that used?


i think i'll go cry to my mother.

-b
 
Re: DVX Playback/Deck

Hi shmolze, you can use the rewinder for rewinding, but I still recommend you get a small cam for digitizing, even if not from us. The way I always looked at it with the DVX, it is such a great machine, i wouldn't wanna use it for playback. It's like running the film backwards in an Arriflex and shining a dedo-light through to project on a wall. Doesn't make sense to everyone, but I have weird sensibilities. ;)

I guess primarily because I have been doing video long before DV showed up, and (back in the day) we'd never think of digitizing footage from a Pro Betacam camera like a Sony 637 or D30. It would play back footage, but the idea was unthinkable. That's what decks were for. They were faster, more reliable, had more bells and whistles, easier to clean, more connections, and besides, who would want to add all those operational hours to a camera, just to have something fail on you in the midst of a $10,000 shoot. That's how guys lost their lunch. :(

Even when DVcam came along, the decks just got more portable, but no one digitized from the camera. I always thought the DVX sort of crossed the line from a handycam to a full pro cam with pro features, and it deserved to be left alone to perform a primary function, that is filming. :)

(slips and falls) Dang it, who left the soap there? ;D
 
Re: DVX Playback/Deck

Not sure you use Final Cut Pro, but if not I'm sure some other FCP dvxusers would appreciate this warning:

If you get a mini dv camera as a deck, stay away from canon. I recently went through this. I first bought a cheap panasonic dv camera as a deck, but it wouldn't read timecode, so i had to return it. Then I bought a canon zr85, and I discovered that canon's don't play nice with FCP. You can read about the problems in apple discussions. I was able to capture with a sony dv camera. I hear they work better with FCP than canon.

Now I have to sellthe zr85 I just bought. Sigh.
 
Re: DVX Playback/Deck

I'd be using premiere most likely. but couldn't i just transfer all the video to my hard drive via firewire and then work with it in premiere? for this type of use i can use the canon, right?

another question:
if playing back footage from a dvx on something like the canon zr-80 on a television set, can it display everything that the dvx is capable of, or will it look like footage shot on the canon zr-80? (probably a dumb question)

thanks to everyone once again.
 
Re: DVX Playback/Deck

Hi shmolze, it will look like it was shot with the DVX. The canon will simply act as a digital playback machine, but the information captured originally will be there :)

Bill, wow, thanks for telling us. Can you post a link to that, I would like to know more so I can warn people. :) Is it all canons and FCP, or just small consumer cameras?
 
Re: DVX Playback/Deck

So it IS better to capture and edit/review footage from a Mini DV camcorder rather than just using the DVX?
 
Re: DVX Playback/Deck

Hey schmolze, thanks for asking the question that I was too embarrassed to ask!! I am looking for a camera to use as a deck and I've also been worried that my nice footage would look cheap and nasty through a 'deck' camera.

Just wondering if anyone can give me any advice on the Panasonic NVGS15? I'm in PAL land, so I don't know if many of you will recognise that model number, but if anyone is aware of any problems that I might encounter in using it as a deck, I'd really appreciate the heads up. As well as reading the timecode on the tape, I need it to work happily with Final Cut Pro...(thanks for the warning, Bill - I was actually considering a cheap Canon, but after reading your post I think I'll steer clear!) ::)
 
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