[MacDV] Question

[Richard Brown]

Every Canon Mini DV camera, up to the XL1, use CANON's flavor of DV,  
NOT the industry standard.
We faced this same problem on a feature film shot with multiple XL1's,  
and could only resolve the issue
by purchasing a JVC Professional Mini DV Deck. JVC, which as a "try  
harder" company due to its
low-tiered place in the industry, has made its professional Mini DV  
decks capable of reading everything
from standard to tragically non-standard Mini DV formats, including the  
abysmal one used solely
by the lowly Canon line.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home? 
O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=228378&is=REG

Above is the link to the deck we bought which solved our Canon debacle.  
I cannot vouch for their cheaper
decks. The BR-DV600UA is about $2400, and it does read, apparently, all  
things Canon, ugly or uglier.

Caveats: DO NOT TRY to dub to standard DV or worse, DVCAM, as the audio  
will go WILDLY out of sync.
Canon DV cams may use a DIFFERENT audio rate EVERY time they are set to  
record. The
variance adds up quickly, and in an hour, do NOT be surprised if you  
are 2-4 SECONDS out
of sync in the dub. You might find success in digitizing (with RESYNC  
ON in FCP!) and then
outputting a shot at a time. You can also, and painfully resample the  
audio and resync the audio.

Canons are a mess, top to bottom, and the nightmares they represent far  
outweigh
the "sexy looks" of things like the XL1. Amateur, in the extreme (and a  
lousy picture, too.)

Keep in mind the Mini DV spec FEATURES audio NOT synced to picture.

The exception is the Panasonic DVX100a which has PLL circuitry. Only  
DVCAM and
the Pro Video formats feature audio synced to picture as standard. If  
you love your VX2000, you will
REALLY love its big brothers, the PD150 or PD170, but WAIT until  
February, as the PD series
replacement, the HVR-Z1U, should become available. It shoot regular SDI  
DVCAM as well
as 1080i Hi Def. This is the big brother of Sony's amateur HDR-FX1 and  
should prove quite
a splashy contender.

More at   http://news.sel.sony.com/pressrelease/5327

Richard Brown
go2rba.com



On Nov 17, 2004, at 4:21 PM, darrell wrote:

> I shoot wedding videos for a living using my Sony VX2000 and a  
> borrowed Canon GL1. Because
> of pinch roller alignment issues the tapes shot in the GL1 will not  
> play back properly in the Sony.
> The video will play back ok but the audio drops frames. I have to use  
> the correct camera to transfer
> the footage into the computer. I have learnt through research that  
> pinch roller alignment and playback
> are a very real concern and I would caution anyone to be aware of this  
> issues when making plans to
> use different cameras. A question I have is... do pro mini DV "DECKS"  
> have adjustable pinch rollers ?
> P.S I think the GL1 sucks... and there has got to be a better camera  
> for the money. Love the VX2000...
>
> Darrell _______________________________________________
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>