[Aric Walken]

Good thing I asked. I see exactly what you are talking about now.

Still there seems to be some inexpensive DVDPRO 50 decks. This one has DVCPRO 50 listed, or am I missing something:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/568663-REG/Panasonic_AJ_SD93_AJ_SD93_Half_Rack_DVCPRO_50_25.html

Then the others jump up considerably in price, making it more feasible to rent.

[Aric Walken]

Thanks for your help.

I was just looking on B&H and I see that the decks aren’t all that expensive (compared to digibeta). It’s a couple hundred hours of footage so perhaps it’s better to buy a deck than to rent. Still working things out.

But is something like this deck along the lines that I should be seeking?:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/386048-REG/Panasonic_AJ_SD255_AJ_SD255_DVCPRO_Digital_VTR.html

[Aric Walken]

Thanks. In researching this–and in an earlier post someone had mentioned using a TBC, recommending a Fortel TBC. My deck is a VO-9800 Umatic SP and I’m not sure how well these handle the tapes compared to the BVU800–both have a dub out.

And in the back of my mind I was somewhat ambivalent to leaving this stuff on harddrives–these tapes have been in an archive for the last 20something years and after we edit this film they will go back to an archive for many more years. I’ve had many harddrives go down in my life and am aware that unless they are booted up every so often they can freeze up. Tape feels a lot safer. Maybe DVCPRO50 is the way to go–so in your opinion that is the next step down from Digibeta?