well, u would think this would exist

jaydeeee wrote on 4/20/2007, 5:15 PM
buddy calls me asking about any affordable mini dv players (not cams) for just playback/dumping over his mini dv (via fwire).
I said i'll look for the best price out of the lot and shoot him a link, i was never asked this Q before.

w...wait a sec...only a handful of DV "players" out there for this purpose?
All costing more than $1000?
Not many "basic" products like these? ridiculous.
If someone wants to save the wear and tear on their cams...the only option is to buy a fwire capable mini dv CAM (used, bruised - but at least capable of playback/fwire output).

Can anybody suggest some cheap mini dv cams (now "player") with fwire out there right now for such purposes? He's leary of any ebay "used" mini dv cams (and i would normally agree when it comes to cams...but his usage might make this more viable option).
Maybe there are some old models to look for at best buy, etc. that are cheap for this kind of usage.

One would think a rewinder/player would have been kicked out.
Hmm, weird.

Comments

Former user wrote on 4/20/2007, 5:41 PM
I see MINI DV cameras in the ads for under $300 all of the time.

How cheap are you wanting?

Dave T2
riredale wrote on 4/20/2007, 5:43 PM
Tell him not to fear eBay, as long as he does some homework. I'd be comfortable with pretty much any Sony or Canon miniDV camcorder that was less than 5 years old. I' make sure the seller mentioned that it worked well, and that the camera could be returned if it didn't.

Frankly, I also would not be all that concerned about the wear and tear on his current camera. These machines are designed to operate for thousands of hours, and I still have my Sony TRV8, purchased in 2000. For two years it was used in making some 1-hour documentaries with Studio7, and back then I used the "proxy" feature of Studio7 to edit a low-res copy of my video clips, which meant that at the end the software would automatically shuttle the miniDV tape back and forth dozens of times, pulling out relevant clips during the final assembly. Even with all that mechanical shuttling, the camera still works great, and has never had or needed service on the transport.

I can understand the aesthetics of having a dedicated player device at the editing station, but at least in my experience there is no downside to using the camera to do the transfer task also.