Mike,
I’m pretty much in the same boat as you having transitioned from Media 100 to PPro recently. I’m using an AJ-D455 deck via the optional firewire card and it’s no problem capturing video whether it’s DV or DVCPRO. Machine control works fine through the firewire port as well. My understanding has always been that DVCPRO is electronically the same format as DV – the differences between DV, DVCAM & DVCPRO are mechanical in nature, track pitch, tape speed, etc. Monitoring through the tape deck also works pretty well.