Hi nbrazzi,
Sorry for the delay,
One would think that buying a camera is better than buying a deck. You get a camera and a deck, all in one!!
Unfortunately, this is not the case. You will find many posts in this pastrue as well as others, where people did much the same thing only to realize now they have a camera that doesn’t work well. The most resent post I remember, the person had the camera less than 6 months! Then it died from too much editing use. Video cameras are not design to be playback or recorder units. The heads and support system are far inferior to deck components.
I remember the first time I started working in pro video with a BetaCam camcorder, I was told then, never to use the camera to playback, FF, or Rewind any tapes. It wares out the camera heads and components too much. And this is with a $40,000 unit! So this rule holds true across the entire spectrum of production. WHile DV tapes are small and do put less wear and tear on your camera, it’s still not a good idea.
So, you should probably decide what is best for you now? Would you benifit more from a deck? (because the bulk of your work is editing) or Would it be better to buy a camera? (since you shoot more footage than edit)
Of course this is an over simplifacation, as price, rentals, avalibility, etc matters as well.
q[nbrazzi] ” shot some stuff in DVCAM mode, but was surprised to see that it played back fine in a cheap Mini-DV handycam. Does this mean that I didn’t successfully record in DVCAM mode or does it mean that that handycam has a DV-CAM playback mode?”
It means you didn’t record in DVCAM mode. If a deck CAN play back DVCAM footage that is not a DVCAM deck, then it will usually playback slower. I’m not sure how to check if you’ve shot in DVCAM mode without a deck? Try playing back in the camera with all of your display setting on, one might tell you DV/DVCAM.
[nbrazzi] “Am I right in thinking that there is no difference in FCP when I’m editing DVCAM versus DV? The settings are all the same, right?
“
Yes this is true, DV is DV. The only difference with DVCAM is that you get a better recording because the tape is moving faster (more info over less space is better) and DVCAM is locked audio with video. A lot of editors run across this problem, where the audio will drift away from the video. DVCAM is a little better about this, although I’ve experience the same thing with DVCAM (although not for a couple of years).
Good Luck,
Todd at UCSB
Television Production