I actually do have a Minidisc walkman right now, since the concerts I record are usually 3-4 hours long I would like to get it all at once instead of having to switch discs every hour, it's hard enough to sync up one disc to the video much less 4. And yes, I have heard all the "rumors" about the batteries and have looked into getting replacements if I ever need one and they aren't that expensive. Lots of places are now offering them.

my 2c
I have thought of the same thing.. Wow .. I want me a mini MP3 player that records for backup audio. Problem is.. I have been told and cant confirm this as of yet but seems plausable ( The rate and speed at which the mp3 players record audio may be different than the rate and speed of your camera) thus.. the sync will be off slightly as opposed to recording onto minidv.. can nayone in the kjnow confirm this?? Spot??

You can never be 100% certain that any two devices will hold sync over an extended period of time, even two cameras. Ultimately the motors are controlled by crystal oscillators and although they are damn good they'll never be exactly the same.
I have seen gizmos that provide external sync for cameras that can be locked by RF or by setting them all the same prior to a shoot.
To keep audio in sync you really need a machine that'll record time code so it can all be synced later.

All of these systems cost big time and its not that hard to slip a few frames of video here and there to get it back in sync.

My solution (as yet untried in the line of fire) is a M-Audio Firewire 410 and a laptop running Vegas. Bit bigger than an iPod though!

The Sharp MD-MT15 minidisc recorder holds sync pretty well. I don't have the veg file for a recent concert up on the hard drive any more, but I recall that it matched the audio from the VX-2000 camera very well for at least 10 minutes.

It'd have to be pretty sad not to hold sync for 10 minutes, 2 hours is where it can begin to get dodgy but I doubt you'd have two hours of video without a few cuts where you could sneak a few frames to sync it back up.

BTW, I just finished fixing a commercial VHS recording from a few years ago that was 10 frames out the whole way through.

For those of you with $15,000 to spend, you might want to look at this:


aaton cantar

There's a nice review of this unit in this month's "Independent"
(Unfortunately, the review's not online, but for those of you not familiar with this publication: http://www.aivf.org/independent/index.html)

Hopefully some smart soul will come up with a lower-cost version of this piece of professional field gear.

I didnt want to say this before but.. I use the Panasonic family of cameras.. Im using a DVC 80 right now.. Its a really nice camera and It has worked flawlessly.. Im upgrading to a dvx100a here in a few weeks.. My DVC 80 is up for sale if anyone is looking for a good deal.. Ok but my point being is Panasonic has the DV1DC or something of that nature which is basically a DV tape drive with a 3.5 " screen its labeled a field VTR its small and can fit in a pocket.. i plan to purchase one so that i can use it to record to mini dv audio and I can use it as a deck for editing.. this would in my opinion be the most reliable device for good sync..

Scotty:

I guess the conclusion of many folks is that ANY consumer or even prosumer camcorder records a pretty poor digital audio signal. There was a review in DV Magazine last year that pointed this out. Even a $3K-$4K camcorder delivered a noisy audio signal, even when used with an external microphone. The conclusion was that one could get a much better quality by using a DAT recorder (expensive) or a lowly Minidisc recorder. After seeing the article I bought on eBay a cheapo Sharp MD-MT15 recorder, and was stunned by the quality. Think MP3 but with a really high bitrate.

The Sharp Minidisc recorders have become a bit of a cult thing because, unlike the Sony products, you can adjust the recording level while recording. It might be different with newer Sony products--I just don't know.

With Minidisc you are back in the analog world when it comes time to transfer over to Vegas, but that's okay--it still sounds great.

I had mentioned a few posts earlier that the Minidisc does a good job in keeping sync with my camcorder. It actually does an excellent job. I just can't recall how long the actual sync was. I'll try later today to reload that project to see how it fared.

Run away from the iPod like your hair was on fire. Unless you like the idea of paying $99.00 to replace the battery . Of course, you could open it yourself and use a cheaper battery - but that's not supported by Apple, so you'de have to worry if anything else went wrong with the unit.

Shawn

I've had a lot of trouble with my minidisc (a Sony RZ-55) inexplicably stopping in the midst of recording something. I no longer trust it for unattended recording, and have switched to wireless mikes instead. That way, at least I can hear if something goes down instead of finding it out hours later.

Anyone else have this problem, or is it unique to this MD model (or perhaps this particular unit)?