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Home: Video University Forums: Sony DV and DVCAM Forum:
PD150 as DVCAM deck? PD100a vs VX2000?

X-Mark_Moran
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Mar 8, 2001, 12:55 PM

Post #1 of 7 (1113 views)
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PD150 as DVCAM deck? PD100a vs VX2000?	Can't Post

I am an Avid film editor in the process of setting up a Final Cut Pro setup for home use. I would like to be able to edit stuff shot on DV as well as offline film projects. I've been told by some editors that DV timecode is not reliable enough for film use and that in order to get SMPTE time code, I should use DVCAM - and that most transfer houses output to DVCAM (not DV) anyway.
So, in terms of getting a relatively inexpensive DVCAM deck which has analog inputs & outputs (ideally S-Video so I can work with VHS/SVHS as well), I figured I might as well get a video camera.
Is the PD-150 the best route to go for this? The PD-100A seems to be about 2/3 the cost (about the same cost as the VX2000, which I know has better optics but no DVCAM support). Is the PD-100A a good compromise as a video deck and camera?
As a side question for my own shooting purposes, is DVCAM really noticeably better than DV?

X-Dave
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Mar 8, 2001, 2:20 PM

Post #2 of 7 (1113 views)
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Re: PD150 as DVCAM deck? PD100a vs VX2000?	Can't Post

: So, in terms of getting a relatively inexpensive DVCAM deck which has analog inputs & outputs (ideally S-Video so I can work with VHS/SVHS as well), I figured I might as well get a video camera.
: Is the PD-150 the best route to go for this? The PD-100A seems to be about 2/3 the cost (about the same cost as the VX2000, which I know has better optics but no DVCAM support). Is the PD-100A a good compromise as a video deck and camera?
: As a side question for my own shooting purposes, is DVCAM really noticeably better than DV?

Get a Sony DSR-20 or 40 DVCAM VTR (40 has component video out/XLR). The main drawback to getting the camera is you can only use mini DVCAM/DV cassettes - 40 minutes max. The deck allows both mini and full size - up to 3 hrs. Full size is preferable to master to anyway. This deck is GREAT for NLE, and takes up minimal room.
DVCAM has no real noticeable difference (in image quality) - the camera lens/electronics etc. used to record the image has the most impact on that in the end. Theoretically, the DV/DVCAM format tops out at 500-540 hor. lines.

X-Adam
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Mar 8, 2001, 4:29 PM

Post #3 of 7 (1112 views)
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sorry, scroll 3 lines down for DV/DVCAM [In reply to]	Can't Post

Sorry,
You might want to read what I wrote 3 lines down in the pd150 question. I posted mine in the wrong spot :).

X-Dave
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Mar 8, 2001, 10:17 PM

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Re: sorry, scroll 3 lines down for DV/DVCAM [In reply to]	Can't Post

: You might want to read what I wrote 3 lines down in the pd150 question. I posted mine in the wrong spot :).

No offense, but your newfound info is a bit off. A higher signal-to-noise ratio?? The main aspects of a digital
tape format (with regards to <b>image quality</b>) are compression and sampling. There is no difference between DV and DVCAM.

X-Adam
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Mar 9, 2001, 2:10 AM

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Re: sorry, scroll 3 lines down for DV/DVCAM [In reply to]	Can't Post

Non taken. Life is a learning process. We're always learning.
So, You're saying that the S/N RATIO doesn't give A CLEANER image when broadcast or copied to the 10th generation ???
-adam-

X-Mark_Moran
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Mar 9, 2001, 2:35 AM

Post #6 of 7 (1113 views)
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Re: PD150 as DVCAM deck? PD100a vs VX2000? [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thank you for the info.
The DSR-20 appears to cost over $2000, and the 30 and 40 even more. For that much money, I'd rather spend a bit more and also have the fun of owning a decent video camera. Being able to support full-size DVCAM tapes (or component video or XLR audio) would be nice, but is it necessary? I assume I could get film or BetaSP tapes transferred to mini-DVCAM tapes almost as easily as to full-size ones, can't I?
But is the camera a reasonably good deck? I assume it plays DVCAM/DV tapes just as well as the VTRs (although admittedly only mini-ones). But is the S-Video pass-through reasonably good on the camera too? What about on the PD100A? Is that a good camera to use as a deck, or at that point am I better off buying a seperate VX2000 to use for fun, and a DSR-20 to use for editing other people's films & DVCAMs?
The PD-150 (or even 100A?) seems like a good all-in-one solution for what I want to do. Is there something I'm missing or overlooking - like the audio inputs suck? Or the time-codes get messed up if I ask a transfer house to convert 1-hour BetaSP tapes or 3-hour DVCAM tapes down to multiple mini-DVCAM tapes?
Or is the DVCAM option not really necessary just for SMPTE time codes? Would I do just as well with a VX2000 (minus not being able to record XLR audio during my recreational shooting).
Thanks again for any thoughts.
: Get a Sony DSR-20 or 40 DVCAM VTR (40 has component video out/XLR). The main drawback to getting the camera is you can only use mini DVCAM/DV cassettes - 40 minutes max. The deck allows both mini and full size - up to 3 hrs. Full size is preferable to master to anyway. This deck is GREAT for NLE, and takes up minimal room.
: DVCAM has no real noticeable difference (in image quality) - the camera lens/electronics etc. used to record the image has the most impact on that in the end. Theoretically, the DV/DVCAM format tops out at 500-540 hor. lines.

X-Dave
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Mar 9, 2001, 8:17 PM

Post #7 of 7 (1113 views)
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Re: sorry, scroll 3 lines down for DV/DVCAM [In reply to]	Can't Post

: Non taken. Life is a learning process. We're always learning.
: So, You're saying that the S/N RATIO doesn't give A CLEANER image when broadcast or copied to the 10th generation ???

I'm saying is that "signal-to-noise ratio" isn't really a relevant term in discussing a tape format's image quality limitations. In terms of an acquisition device used to record the image on a tape, that's different.