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Best-and most affordable capture card for Sony Z1u
I have been following the posts and reading the problems/solutions with HDV, and am about to invest in a capture card to take the HDV footage and convert it to DVCPro HD footage, as suggested by quite a few people. (Basic plan is to composite out of the z1u into the card and convert to DVCpro HD signal) However, price is a bit of an issue right now. The Kona 3 card is at the top, but the Blackmagic Decklink HD Extreme card seems to do the basics of what I need for a much better price. Anyone work with these cards, and have any recommendations? Any issues I should take in to consideration? Thanks
Tim
FCP 5.1.4
G5 Quad, 4GB RAM, 1TB internal storage
7TB XRaidTim
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7 Replies
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Taking your video in by composite is the lowest quality route – FYI
Buy a deck and use component or SDI.
If the Decklink will be enough for u – get that one. Decklink and AJA r both reliable w/good support. -
That camera has component out, just last week I captured from it to DVCproHD 1080i and it was beautiful. I’m using the Kona LH.
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Thanks Chris. I just saw (a little behind the times, I guess) the new Sony HDV deck, which I was not aware was out for the lower price. (last I heard, it was a $6k or so price) I assume the deck composited out into the decklink card will provide the best quality? Or is there something better–keep in mind trying to keep the price down. Thanks
Tim
Tim
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[Tim Vaughan] “I assume the deck composited out into the decklink card will provide the best quality? Or is there something better–keep in mind trying to keep the price down. Thanks”
If you want the best quality card and the best support, then the AJA Kona series is what you want. We run two Kona 3’s and one Kona 2 system here and the product and support are second to none.
If you want cheap, then you need to look elsewhere. “Cheap” and “Best Quality” don’t go together.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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Thanks Walter. It’s just the fun part of trying to figure out exactly what needs to be done exactly per my system to make the most bang for the buck, as well as (and more importantly) to give the clients exactly what they want/need. –keeping in mind most clients are trying to keep cost to an absolute minimum… Thanks
Tim
Tim
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I totally agree with Walter…
Don’t sacrifice quality for budget, it will only bite you in the long run. AJA does have the best support in the industry, and that means everything in this business when the cards are down.
The AJA Kona LH will be your best solution for the money. Yeah, you can get the Blackmagic BUT I have heard countless stories from people that the support is absolutely terrible.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
http://www.schazamproductions.com -
Thanks for your help. I believe the end result will be the Kona 3 card. I’ll post in a few weeks with the the settings for anyone else who may want to know the results once we order and install. Thanks all!
Tim
Tim
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