AVDC-100 or Camcorder

jared4j wrote on 5/2/2002, 3:00 AM
Hi, brand new here, been reading for a while but have never posted.

I had a Dazzle DV-Bridge but because it doesn't work so great with Vegas Video 3 I have put it up for sale on eBay and will be looking to replace it. At the moment I don't have a camera of my own but have been borrowing a Sony DCR-TRV310 and using it as a pass through. It appears to work great.

For someone who doesn't have a camera at the moment would it be wiser for me to purchase an inexpensive camcorder with pass through or an AVDC-100?

Most of my work at the moment is done with VHS tape. Quality wise is their an adavantage to the AVDC-100 or would quality be just as good with the Sony TRV-120 that I saw mentioned here?

I plan on purchasing a ProSumer Canon DV cam in the future most likely a Canon GL1 or high end Sony. Thanks for any input!

Comments

seeker wrote on 5/2/2002, 5:16 AM
Jared,

I personally would want to quit "borrowing" the Sony DCR-TRV310 and buy a camcorder of my own. You always run the risk that the lender-borrower relationship can lead to friction. And you are "depreciating" the DCR-TRV310. If you were renting or leasing it, that would be more obvious.

If you already had a camcorder you wouldn't have to have the AVDC-100, but it might make sense to get it anyway just to avoid unnecessary wear and tear on your camcorder. A camcorder has a lot of moving parts and is subject to wear while I think the AVDC-100 is a purely electronic device with no moving parts. Of course, when you are using the camcorder as a Codec, I don't think you are exercising any moving parts. Unless, grin, someone trips on a cord and it falls off the table.

You might want to get a somewhat better camcorder than the Sony DCR-TRV310 for your "interim" camcorder to use before your eventual purchase of a prosumer model. Your prosumer camcorder will almost certainly have 3 CCDs, while there are some really good single-CCD camcorders that have recently been released.

One possibility would be the Sony DCR-TRV730 Digital8 model. At a list price of $999, it has a CCD with 1,070,000 pixels, which is not too shabby for resolution. I have seen it advertised as low as $609.99.

For something more upscale, the Sony DCR-TRV30 MiniDV model lists at $1,699 and has a single CCD with 1,550,000 pixels for a maximum resolution of 1360 x 1040, a high quality Carl Zeiss 10X optical [4.2mm - 42mm] zoom lens (a higher quality lens is needed for a higher quality CCD), a color viewfinder, and a 3.5-inch foldout color monitor. I have seen it advertised as low as $949.99. If I were buying a single-CCD camcorder right now, it would probably be my choice.

-- seeker --
jared4j wrote on 5/2/2002, 5:33 AM
Thanks for the tips, When using the camcorder I am not actually playing anything back on it and I believe there are no moving parts being used, since the only thing I am doing with it is using it as a pass through.

I take it that quality-wise a Sony or Canon camcorder would be of the same quality as a DV bridge as the Canopus?

I'll look into some of the models you suggested, although $1,000 is a little more than I can afford right now, a Decent Digital8 might do the trick till I can get an excellent MiniDV, then I could playback all formats :)
BD wrote on 5/2/2002, 6:41 AM
Yes, you would not lose quality by transcoding VHS video to your PC via a Digital-8 camcorder. You also can use the D-8 device to make edit-master tapes of your Vegas Video output (I use a small Sony D-8 VCR for this purpose, with 180-minute Hi-8 tapes which record 90 minutes of D-8 digital video at the normal "SP" speed).

As you mentioned, you need to select a D-8 model that has the "pass-through" feature, if you want to avoid making a D-8 copy of each VHS tape. A reliable, honest, fairly-priced source for photo/video gear is bhphotovideo.com. Sony is the most reliable Digital-8 brand, IMHO, for ensuring a reliable interface to PC editing software.
jboy wrote on 5/2/2002, 11:48 PM
Dont get too excited about the high megapixel chips in the more expensive single chip cameras. These extra pixels usually arent used for the video image, only for stills and digital stabilization. Also, it was my understanding that the TRV 130 did not have a/d pass thru capability. The original entry level model, the TRV120, did have this feature, but the follow-up TRV 130's and 140's did not. Are you saying the model TRV130 has pass-thru, or A/D conversion, capability ? Or are you confusing this feature with some other function ? Quality wise, Sonic EPM has stated there is no difference using this method, and they often do so in their labs.
BD wrote on 5/4/2002, 9:15 AM
These inexpensive Sony digital camcorders have the analog-to-digital pass-through feature, according to bhphoto.com --

MiniDV: DCR-TRV18 (US$740 price was quoted today by B&H)

Digital8: DCR-TRV240 ($550 quoted today)

The DCR-TRV140 does NOT have the pass-through feature.