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AJHD1200A
Hi, I hope this is the right forum to post this. I plan to buy a DVCPro deck to archive footage shot on the HVX200. I came upon a vendor offering the AJHD1200A DVCPro HD deck $9000 lower than the regular price. The catch is that it is a Japanese version of the deck. What issues (apart from not having a warranty in the US) should I be concerned about? Has anybody ever bought equipment destined for other countries? Would there be an issue with voltage, Menus in Japanese, NTSC, inverted XLR’s and the such?
Any comments would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Mario. -
9 Replies
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I’d be leery- often these sorts of vendors leave out critical components from the included accessories and then try to charge you serious bucks to get what you need in order just to use your deck/camera or whatever. Not recommended. Which vendor is it?
Noah
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It might come WITHOUT the firewire card….so yeah, “caveat emptor.”
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Exactly- at that price I’d be shocked if it did come with the FW card or a power supply, etc.
Noah
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Thanks for your input guys! The vendor is K.P. Pro Video… according to the guy I spoke with, the unit does include the Firewire card… I guess if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Thanks!
Mario. -
Don’t forget the 1200a must be equipped with the HD-SDI boards if you want to record. The firewire board only allows you to ingest material. This is why the deck is $30,000.
Chris Bell
1200a owner
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Well if this is the ad:
“Panasonic AJ-HD1200A DVCPRO HD/50/25/DVCAM/DV player DVCPRO HD recorder. Brand new in box! Optional Cards Extra.”Cards- i.e. plural- there’s only two cards you can get so there’s your answer.
-Noah
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Yeah, kind of shady stuff, I’m positive the guy mentioned the Firewire board was included even though the ad says the cards are optional… well, just wanted to check anyway… On another note, Chris, you mentioned the FW board only allows you to ingest material. Does this mean I can’t go back to tape with HD material if I ONLY have the FW board? I was under the impression you COULD send HD video back to the deck using FW.
Thanks for all your help!
Mario. -
Yep, but without the HD-SDI card you won’t be able to look at it on an HD monitor. Honestly I see this deck as pretty impractical for an HVX user as it greatly eclipses the price of the camera itself. The 1200A deck really needs both of its optional cards to be truly useful.
Are you looking for a long term storage of your HVX footage? In that case you’re better off simply backing your DVCPROHD footage to something like a DLT drive. Much more suited to long term storage than DVCPROHD tapes. And it’s far, far cheaper to get a DLT drive than a 1200A deck. The only situation where I could see this deck as needed for an HVX user would be if you were working in a facility with other 1200A decks where you were expected to deliver programs on tape.
At the very least I’d strongly recommend waiting another few weeks to see what goodies Panasonic introduces at NAB.
Noah
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Thanks Noah! You’re totally right, NAB is around the corner and any new goodies related to the HVX might be worth the wait.
Thanks for all your help, you guys have really helped me sort things out.
Mario.
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